Gospel Kids Group Guide (10/8)
Introduction:
Last unit, we looked at the spiritual disciple of worship. We focused on the truth that there is only one true God, and that He is deserving of all our praise and worship. For our next unit, we will be discussing the spiritual discipline of repentance as we look at three prophets and their ministry leading up to the fall of Israel to the Assyrians.
What comes to your mind when you think about repentance? Maybe you think of a U-turn in the road or a soldier doing an about, face. Whatever may come to your mind, it is important to remember that repentance is an active turning away from sin and turning toward God in faith and obedience.
On Sunday, kids learned about the prophet Elisha and the miracles that he preformed by God’s power. It is important to recognize that the same God who gave Elisha the power to preform those miracles also has the power to pay the price for the forgiveness of our sin through Jesus Christ. Our repentance shows God’s power through our recognition that He is the only one who is able to save us from our sins.
This Wednesday, we will introduce the idea of repentance as we encourage kids to contemplate God’s power not only to work powerful miracles through Elisha, but also to forgive their sins and restore them to a right relationship with Himself.
Discussion Guide:
The first 2 questions are designed to review material from the previous weeks:
Each week we gather to learn about spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines are practices that help us do what? (grow in love for God and godliness)
What are some spiritual disciplines we have talked about recently?
Introducing the Spiritual Discipline of Repentance
What does sin mean?
What is an example of sin?
In the Bible story this week, we talked about Elijah and Elisha. What was Elijah’s job?
Who gave Elisha the power to preform miracles?
CHRIST CONNECTION: Read Luke 24:46-47.
SAY A long time before Jesus was born as a baby and lived as a human, God told people that one day the Messiah, a person who would save them, would die, be raised from the dead, and forgive our sin. God is powerful. Before the world was created, He had a plan to save people from their sins. He chooses to give us forgiveness for our sin when we repent and put our faith in Him.
Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect life. He is the only person to never sin. We can talk to God and turn to Him when we repent because Jesus has already paid the price for our sin. He died on the cross so that when we turn from our sin and put our faith in Him, we can be saved from the punishment for our sin.
Close in prayer, focusing on God’s power to work the miracles that Elisha preformed and also His power to provide the payment for our sins. Pray that He would open our eyes to see our sin and give us the strength to repent of that sin and turn to Him.
Activity Ideas:
GROUP GAME: REPENTANCE RUN AROUND
Choose a space where kids have room to run. Encourage kids to line up against a wall or on a line at the edge of an open space. Stand at the other end of the game area. When you say Go!, kids will race from the line to you, then back to the line. The first kid back to the line wins. Play again, moving forward and backward to change the distance between you and the kids. Add variety by asking kids to skip, hop, crabwalk, or spin.
SAY Repentance is an active turning away from our sin and turning to God. Just like when you got to me and you turned and went the other way, we should turn and go the opposite direction from sin. When we run away from sin, we need to run toward God. He is powerful and will forgive our sins. Just like when you got to where I was standing, you turned around and ran the other direction, we should run the other direction from sin. When we run from sin, we should run to Jesus.
GROUP DEMONSTRATION: FOOD COLOR RUN AWAY
Required supplies: food coloring, milk, pie plate, cotton swab, dish soap
Gather kids so that everyone can see the pie plate. Pour enough milk into the plate to fully cover the bottom of the plate. Drop food color in the milk so that there are at least five or more drops around the plate. Dip the cotton swab in the dish soap then in the milk plate. Watch as the food color spreads away from the cotton swab.
SAY Do you see how quickly and immediately the colors move away from the cotton swab? This is how we should treat sin. We should move immediately and quickly away from it, turning to Jesus instead.
FLICK AWAY: Give each kid a handful of craft pom-poms or cotton balls. Lead the kids to sit around tables and demonstrate how to flick the cotton balls or pom-poms away from them. Challenge kids to see how far they can flick them. Tell kids that this is how we should treat sin; we want it to be far away from us.
