God is Dishonored - Acts 5

Because of July 4th, my two Monday clubs did not meet this week. I will be teaching "God's Work (Lame Man)" to my Thursday club.  After next week, all my clubs will be learning the same lesson.  So this lesson "God is Dishonored" was only taught to my Tuesday Club.  The other clubs will learn about this lesson next week, while the Tuesday Club has a mid-summer review week.

As the kids arrived, they went to Miss Jean to signed in, said memory verses and received Bible Bucks.  Then I got them started on T-Shirt Bags.  I got the idea from here: http://www.instructables.com/id/No-Sew-10-Minute-T-Shirt-Tote/  I had everything pre-cut.  All the kids had to do was knot the bottom.  All, but my kindergartners were able to tie knots.  For the kindergartners, I tied the knot and they pulled it tight.  I used my sample bag later on when I taught the memory verse to show them how a Bible time farmer would sow seeds.

After the kids finished their bags, they were allowed to play various board games (ie. Mancala, Guess Who, Countdown, Sorry, Checkers, Connect Four, Battleship).  I have gathered a number of different games from local thrift stores. I found a Mancala game that used different color animal beads instead of colorful stones.  I think the kids had more fun playing with the animals than playing the game. The all time favorite was Guess Who.  I have three sets and they all got used!

At "tent time", we began with singing.  "That You May Believe" (John 20:31), "You Will Receive Power" (Acts 1:8), "Give Thanks" (1 Chronicles 16:8-9), Galatians 6:7 (to the tune Ring Around the Rosey), "Let Your Light shine" (Matthew 5:16) and Matthew 5:44 (to the tune Lord, I lift your name on high).  As you can see our songs are Bible Verses set to music.  I also put motions to many of the words using ASL.  By the end of the summer, most of the kids will know many if not all the memory verses we have worked on.

Because the Bible Lesson is directed at children who are saved, I like to give a Gospel object lesson.  This week, I used Five Simple Steps to Salvation.  I am sure this came from Child Evangelism Fellowship.  Step One:  Jesus Loves Me (John 3:16a); Step Two: I Am a Sinner (Romans 3:32); Step Three: Jesus Died for Me (Romans 5:8): Step Four: I Trust Him (Acts 16:31), Step Five: I Have Eternal Life (John 3:6).  I used the wordless book colored hearts with the different words written on them.  I had the kids say the words out loud for each step.  This group was very attentive for the object lesson.

Our Memory Verse for this lesson is Galatians 6:7 "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows."  My parents had their own business (before they sold it and retired two years ago).  One day in the course of business, they realized someone passed them two counterfeit dollar bills.  I used these counterfeit dollars to explain to the kids what it is to deceive someone.  Since the word "deceive" is in the memory verse and it is the word of the day for our lesson, this was a powerful illustration.  After showing the kids where to verse is found in God's Word (Bible) and explain what the verse means, we played "Verse Bounce".  I grouped the kids into three-four groups.  When I pointed to their group, they had to say the next word in the memory verse.  Then I chose a kid to be the director.

Our Bible Lesson is from Acts 4:32-5:14.  Ananias and Sappahira thought they could deceive the apostles and God into believing they were extremely generous when the sold land and gave the money to the apostles to use. The problem was they gave the appearance that they gave all the sale price, but in reality they only gave a portion of the sale price.  Because of their deception, God disciplined them severely.  They both died.  The early church learned that you can't deceive God.  I hope the kids learned this lesson also.



Then it was SNACK time!  This week, the kids got ice cream and rice krispie treats.  Some how to people signed up for snacks this week.  The kids sure didn't mind having to eat both snacks!

Group Games came next.  This group has been begging to play Kubbs.  I often play this game with my small groups (12 and less).  My youngest son and my father-in-law made the game for me about three years ago. The kids make the funniest expressions when they throw the sticks!




Then it was back into the tent for our missionary story.  This week's story was about Saint Nicholas. His story of courage and generosity in the face of persecution from the government and conflict within the church is for anyone and can be told anytime of the year. By any Christian definition, Nicholas was indeed a saint.  Under the cruel Roman emperor Diocletian, Nicholas was thrown in prison for refusing to deny Jesus as God. However, he did not deny Christ. Upon his release, he continued following in the footsteps of Christ through his unreserved giving and courage.  He later met further opposition, this time from the church. After Constantine took the throne, a false teaching began to invade the church. At a meeting of church leaders, Nicholas stood up for Christ and slapped the face of the man spreading the lies. For this, Nicholas could no longer be a leader in the church, but that didn’t stop him from going out of his way to share the love of Christ by helping children and others in need.

We concluded by playing "Zonk".  I divided the kids into two teams.  I asked them a question alternating between the two teams.  If a kid answered correctly, he could reach into a bag filled with orange and green bottle caps.  He could pull as many caps as he wanted, but if he pulled a green cap he lost all points and his turn was over.  The orange caps were worth 500 points.  It is fun to see who takes chances and who does not.

Before the kids leave, they can shop at the club store.  They earn Bible bucks in various ways.  They get a Bible Buck for coming to club, and for each memory verse they say each week.  We had a number of kids who could say all three verses we have worked on so far.  So they received 3 Bible bucks!  You get 5 Bible Bucks for inviting a friend and having them come to club.  And each week in the Jerusalem Journal there are coupons, contest, etc to earn more Bible Bucks.   I have discovered the kids love buying candy more than little trinkets/toys.  This week a lot of Bible Bucks were spent.