3rd-5th

September 28-29, 2013

Daniel 1-2, Daniel 4, and I Corinthians 14:3

Daniel

God Can Speak to Others Through Us

Hang out with kids (10 minutes): Ask kids about their week. Get kids into groups and play games together. Large Group (30 minutes): Model what it looks like to be engaged in large group. And don’t be afraid to redirect kids who aren’t! Small Group (20-30 minutes): Keep kids in small groups until parents arrive. If you all have extra time at the end, you can review the video and songs together.

As you engage with kids at the beginning of the hour, find at least one way to encourage or affirm each one. Stick to non-superficial strengths. For instance, say, “Wow, you are really good at making new kids feel welcome,” instead of (or in addition to), “Hey! Awesome shirt.”

As kids leave, remind them that they have “homework.” They should share their postcards!

Today, we’re talking about some lesser-known stories of Daniel: the times God helped him interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams. We’re touching on the idea of prophecy, but the emphasis is on how God wants us all to make his truth known to others!

                                                                                                               

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Goal: to help kids understand how Daniel heard from God and boldly shared it—and identify ways they can do the same. Why? It’s important to consider whether God wants us to take that next step of sharing what he’s teaching or saying to us.

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Tip: If kids ask questions about prophecy, it’s OK to say you don’t know the answer. Keep referring to what you do know in Daniel 1-2 and 4, and I Corinthians 14:3.

 

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CONNECT 1. Share your name and one word to describe the best part of your week (if you’ve

already connected before large group, move directly to question #2). 2. Have you guys ever gotten truth from God that you either shared or wanted to share

with someone else? Tell us what happened. REVIEW THE STORY / DIG DEEPER

3. What’s the most surprising (or your favorite) part of this story? 4. How did Daniel know what King Neb had dreamed and what it meant? 5. In what ways does God speak to us today? 6. What does it mean to “prophesy”? Is the definition new or surprising to anybody?

(Spend a little time discussing. If this is a new concept, refer to I Corinthians 14:3) 7. Why was it hard for Daniel to share truth with the King? 8. How did what happened to King Neb actually strengthen him? (He realized God was

in control, not him—and eventually started following God.) 9. When is it hard for US to share God’s truth?

ACTIVITY Read today’s verse again: I Cor. 14:3: But anyone who prophesies speaks to people. He says things to make them stronger, to give them hope and to comfort them.

• Put a piece of paper in the middle of the table/small group space and ask kids to share at least one “truth.” It can be something they know about God, something they heard from God, a Bible verse or worship song lyric they remember, etc. Read them all aloud—and encourage kids that they’ve just shared a message from God with the whole group!

(Continue on the following page)

                                                                                                               

 

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• ASK: Can anybody think of someone who needs comfort, strength, or encouragement?

• Choose a postcard. • Each kid should choose one of the truths from the paper in the middle to re-write onto

the card. They can decorate it with markers if they want. • On the other side, they should put somebody’s name, as if it’s a postcard

“addressed” to someone. • Their job is to share this message to help comfort, encourage, or strengthen

somebody this week!

*Pray with kids, asking God to speak to us this week—and give us the courage to share it! Extra time? Have some fun with favorite songs and movies that kids started sharing in Large Group. Play Pictionary or Create-A-Man (nicer version of hangman) using movie titles. Or play “Name that Tune” with songs, if there are a few kids confident enough to start humming their favorite songs while other kids guess.

                                                                                                               

The idea of prophecy can seem complicated. Today, focus on how Daniel heard from God and shared truth with King Neb. Then share the verse from I Cor. 14:3. Make sure kids understand prophecy doesn’t mean foretelling the future or even interpreting dreams (that just so happened to be the case for Daniel). Really, it’s just encouraging, strengthening and comforting.

Use the phrase “sharing God’s truth” more than you use the word “prophesy.” We want to introduce the idea of prophecy, but—more than understanding what prophecy is—we want kids to understand that God can speak to others through us!

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Hi everybody! Welcome to Kids’ Club. I’m so glad to see you here today. The story we’re talking about today is CRAZY. Literally, somebody in the story goes crazy. Just wait until you hear it! But first, I want to think about things we hear and share with each other. Raise your hand if you’ve heard a song that’s so good, you just have to share it with a friend. Or maybe a movie (Let kids raise their hands.) Hey! Let’s share it right now. Turn and tell a friend your favorite song or movie—or both! (Let kids tell a friend; 3-5 can share with the whole group.) Why do we share our favorite songs and movies? (Let kids respond.) Yes, we just like them so much, don’t we!? We know they are so good that others will want to hear. And raise your hand if you’ve ever heard an awesome song that a friend shared (let kids raise their hands). Well, has anybody ever shared God’s truth with a friend? Maybe something God has said to you or something you read in the Bible? Raise your hand if you’ve done that. (Let kids respond.) God’s truth is pretty exciting—it’s really the most important thing we can share with people! In fact, sometimes God shows us truth…specifically so we can share it with others! Today’s we’re going to hear the story of a guy who heard from God and shared God’s truth, even when it was really hard. Let’s check it out. QUICK HISTORY OF GOD’S FAMILY God’s family, the Israelites, had been defeated by a city called Babylon. They were all captured and forced to leave their homes. They were stuck in Babylon, serving a king who did NOT follow God. His name was Nebuchadnezzar…but let’s just call him Neb. King Neb asked a few of the really smart, young, healthy Israelite men to come into his palace and serve him personally. A guy named Daniel was one of those men. And one of the special

                                                                                                               

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things about Daniel is that God helped him understand what other people’s dreams meant. KING NEB HAS A DREAM So one night, King Neb had a dream. Now, that might not seem like a big deal, but he knew this dream meant something. And he wanted to know what. But he didn’t want people to make up a meaning—he only wanted to hear from somebody who knew the truth. So he asked all the wise men if anybody could tell him what he dreamed before he even asked what it meant. Think about that. That would be like if I said, “So guys, what did I dream last night?” Anybody know? (Let kids guess, if they want.) See, normally, we don’t know what other people dream unless they tell us. And none of the wise men knew what King Neb had dreamed. Except Daniel. Because God told him what King Neb had dreamed! We’re going to watch a quick video about Daniel telling King Neb his dream. Now, for the sake of time, this clip makes it look like God told Daniel quickly, but really, Daniel spent a WHOLE NIGHT praying to God and listening to him. So let’s watch it, and as you watch, try to figure out why telling King Neb God’s truth about the dream …would be really HARD to do! Video: The Bible DVD / Daniel Interprets King Neb’s Dream Okay, so why would it have been hard to tell King Neb what his dream meant? (Let kids say: it meant he wouldn’t be king forever; the king got angry easily, etc.) Yeah, it sure would have been hard! But the King realized that Daniel had gotten real truth from God, since Daniel somehow knew what the king had dreamed. He put Daniel in charge of several whole cities! KING NEB HAS ANOTHER DREAM Well, awhile later, King Neb had another dream that scared him. So again, he asked the wise men to come and tell him what he had dreamed AND what it meant. And again, only Daniel knew…because God had showed him. But again, telling King Neb what the dream meant…would be really, really hard. Here’s what King Neb’s dream meant: (1) First, GOD would give an order against King Neb. (2) Then, King Neb would be driven away from his kingdom (3) (show picture of the cow) King Neb would live outside and eat grass like a cow…for seven periods of time! That might have meant seven years! (4) Then King Neb would believe that GOD was in control, not him. (5) And finally he would get his Kingdom back. OK, that’s pretty crazy, right? But guess what? It really happened. And in the end, King Neb followed God and worshiped him! INTRODUCING: PROPHESYING Sometimes, God tells us things that he wants us to share with others, like he did with Daniel. We’ve talked about how we can hear God speak. But sometimes, he speaks to us, specifically so that we can share what he said. Does anybody know what it’s called when we share a message we hear from God? (Let kids say, “Prophesying.”) Yep, that’s called prophesying.

                                                                                                               

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Prophecy can be hard to understand. For Daniel, God told him what the king had dreamed—and what the dreams meant. When Daniel shared that, he was prophesying. BUT prophets don’t always know the future or what other people have thought. Did you know we can ALL prophesy? Here’s what I Corinthians 14:3 says about those who prophesy: SLIDE: I Cor. 14:3: But anyone who prophesies speaks to people. He says things to make them stronger, to give them hope and to comfort them. So what are three things prophecy does, according to this verse? (Let kids say: strengthen, give hope or encourage, and comfort.) Yes, it strengthens, gives hope, or comforts people. Sometimes, God brings a verse to our mind and we might share it with a friend who is upset to give them hope. Or maybe God helps you realize that someone is sad, and tells you to go over and remind them that they are loved. That’s comfort! Maybe you have to share truth that is hard for somebody to hear, but ends up making them stronger and bringing them closer to God. We can share God’s truth with others, just like Daniel shared God’s truth with King Neb! WORSHIP (*skip the last song if you’re running out of time) Let’s spend some time worshiping God today. Ask him if there’s any truth he wants to speak to you—and if he wants you to share it with anybody. The first song is all about sharing God’s truth. The second song might sound familiar. It’s about walking in the light of Jesus—learning his truth, so we can share it! Song: Radio (music video) Song: I’m Gonna Walk (dance video with moves kids can do; can learn it ahead of time by clicking on the link on the last page of this lesson) PRAY Ask somebody to come and thank God that he speaks to others…through us!

                                                                                                               

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Per small group: 1 large piece of paper markers Per kid: 1 postcard (please purchase at three different brightly-colored options from this site:

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http://www.desktopsupplies.com/poscar4perpa.html and give each room a variety, so kids have a color choice; please divide before distributing)

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Bible

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1. Video: Daniel and King Neb (the Bible DVD: 16:47-19:43 or just use http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3dgarO_G-M)

2. Image: cow (jpeg in curriculum folder) 3. SLIDE: I Cor. 14:3: But anyone who

prophesies speaks to people. He says things to make them stronger, to give them hope and to comfort them.

4. Song: Radio (music video)

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5. Song: I’m Gonna Walk (music video with moves found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rITJmnFE6vc)

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None needed

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Tell me about Daniel. How can you share God’s truth this week?

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Today, we learned about how God gave Daniel special insights. Then Daniel boldly shared these insights with the king of Babylon! Sharing a message or truth God has given is called prophesying. We talked about how God sometimes gives us truth to share too. When we make God’s truth known we encourage, strengthen, or comfort others (I Corinthians 14:3). Ask your kid about it. Then read today’s story together in Daniel 1-2 and 4.