Missionaries and Prayer

Day 4:	Missionaries and Prayer
Bible Lesson:	Hannah's Prayer: When we have problems, we should pray to God
Memory Verse:	from James 5:16
Missions Concepts:	Missionaries spend a lot of time in prayer to God. We should pray for them, too.
Missions Questions:	What kinds of problems do missionaries face? What do you do when you face these problems? How has God answered your prayers concerning these problems?
Bible Passages:	Psalm 61, Psalm 119:49-56, 113-120, Jeremiah 32 (esp. v.13-17, 27-28, 42-44), Romans 8:28-39

Introduction:

In the Bible lesson, Hannah had a problem that she could not solve herself, but she prayed to God, and he looked out for her. We all have problems. Even missionaries have problems, and it's important to talk to God about them.

Procedure: Picking Questions from the Box

Call a child volunteer to pull out each of the questions. Help them read it aloud to the group. You can use a microphone and/or repeat the question yourself so that everyone can hear it.

After reading the question, introduce each missionary before reading their answer. You can also show a photo and/or their country's flag and a map if desired. Then read and explain their answers. If there's time, you can lead a brief discussion of the answers or ask a few comprehension questions.

After each question, check the time, and if enough time is available pick a new volunteer to pull the next question out of the box. Finish up by having two or three children pray out loud for the missionaries before you dismiss to the next activity.

Pastor Tom Ricker

Tom Ricker is a church planter and home missionary in Burlington, Vermont. He and his wife Janelle went there in 2008 to try to start a Bible study that might grow into a church. A home missionary is someone who is a missionary in his own country. Pastor Tom is from Galion, Ohio, so when he want to Vermont, with his wife, he had to leave his family and friends, but he stayed in his own country. He is a Home Missions pastor and a church planter.

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Pastor Zambo Solomon

Pastor Zambo Solomon is a missionary in Northwest Cameroon. He left his hometown, studied a foreign language and the Bible, and moved across the country with his wife and children to start churches. Pastor Solomon has started several churches in Northwest Cameroon. Once he starts a church, another man becomes the pastor, and Pastor Solomon can move on to start another church in another town. He is an evangelist and a church planter.

Question #10

What kinds of problems do missionaries face?

Answer: Pastor Tom Ricker

Even here in America, there are people who do not want God's church to exist. They say hurtful things, and they try to discourage you -- and sometimes it works.

There are times when people do not give [money] to help you continue to do God's work. As a missionary, when you see this it makes you wonder how long you can keep doing what God has called you to do, and why people do not understand the importance of his work that you are a part of.

Pastor Tom sees two problems: people in the community where he is don't always want him to start a church, and sometimes even Christians from other churches don't care enough to really support his ministry by providing the things he needs in order to stay there and do the work.

Answer: Pastor Zambo Solomon

[They have] financial problems [and must leave] their wives and kids alone many times. They have no privacy sometime[s]! They have no agenda [of their] own: people make their agenda [for them], and [everything] that they planned for themselves mostly does not come to pass... The worst is when there are fights within the church.

Missionaries often have financial problems: that is, they have to be very careful with the small amount of money they have, because they only money they get is what the churches give, and sometimes people don't give as much. So missionaries don't always have enough money for food and clothes. Sometimes missionaries can't do the things they had planned, because there's something more important. And sometimes there are fights in the church, which makes things very hard for pastors and missionaries.

Question #11

What do you do when you face these problems?

Answer: Pastor Tom Ricker

I cry out to God in prayer. I place it in his hands, sometimes over and over in one day, until I leave it there. For our God is a strong tower, a fortress, and my protector. He can handle these problems; I can't. I then read his Bible— often the Psalms, so that I may be comforted by his word. Sometimes I call and talk to those whom I know that walk closely with God, to gain their perspective on things as well.

So Pastor Tom prays to God when he has problems.

Answer: Pastor Zambo Solomon

You pray ... more, seeking God's leadership! You share with some other brothers, and they support you in words and prayers. Some of the problems bring you to adjust more.

When Pastor Solomon has problems, he prayes. He also talks to other Christians about his problems and asks them to pray for him, and sometimes other pastors give advice. And sometimes he just has to change the way he thinks: maybe it wasn't as big a problem as it seemed.

Question #12

How has God answered your prayers concerning these problems?

Answer: Pastor Tom Ricker

He has reminded me that he is in control of all things, that he can conquer everything, that nothing goes on without his allowing it, and finally that he works all things out for good to those who are called according to his purpose that we might be conformed to the image of God.

So Pastor Tom has faith. He knows that God is in control, not only of growing his church, but also of providing food and clothes and a house to live in for Pastor Tom and his wife.

Answer: Pastor Zambo Solomon

Sometimes I had to find a [second] job to provide more [money] for my family. I left some villages because of ... persecution, and other minnistries were able to [be] start[ed], [such] as [the church in] Kumbo.

When the churches didn't send enough money for Pastor Solomon's family to have food and clothes, he was able to get another job. Another time, when the village where he was trying to start a church treated his family very badly, they had to leave, but because they left that village they were able to start a church in another place, where there were people who were willing to hear about Jesus. So even what seemed like a setback at first turned out to be something good that God was doing.

Conclusion: Prayer

Finish up by having two or three children pray out loud for the missionaries before you dismiss to the next activity.

Invitation: Praying for Missions

Invite any children who want to pray for missionaries to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.

Missionaries and the Good News

Day 3:	Missionaries and the Good News
Bible Lesson:	Look and Live (The Bronze Snake and the Son of Man): We should look to Jesus, trusting in God for our salvation.
Memory Verse:	John 3:14-15
Missions Concepts:	Missionaries share the good news so that people can be saved.
Missions Questions:	How were you saved? How do you share the gospel where you live? how can a child share the gospel?
Bible Passages:	Romans 10:9, 1st Corinthians 15:1-11

Introduction:

In the Bible lesson, Jesus told Nicodemus that the Son of Man had to be lifted up for people to believe in, so they could be saved. Missionaries not only believe this for themselves; they also tell other people this same message. That's what it means to be a missionary.

Procedure: Picking Questions from the Box

Call a child volunteer to pull out each of the questions. Help them read it aloud to the group. You can use a microphone and/or repeat the question yourself so that everyone can hear it.

After reading the question, introduce each missionary before reading their answer. You can also show a photo and/or their country's flag and a map if desired. Then read and explain their answers. If there's time, you can lead a brief discussion of the answers or ask a few comprehension questions.

After each question, check the time, and if enough time is available pick a new volunteer to pull the next question out of the box. Finish up by having two or three children pray out loud for the missionaries before you dismiss to the next activity.

Pastor Tom Ricker

Tom Ricker is a church planter and home missionary in Burlington, Vermont. He and his wife Janelle went there in 2008 to try to start a Bible study that might grow into a church. A home missionary is someone who is a missionary in his own country. Pastor Tom is from Galion, Ohio, so when he want to Vermont, with his wife, he had to leave his family and friends, but he stayed in his own country. He is a Home Missions pastor and a church planter.

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Pastor Zambo Solomon

Pastor Zambo Solomon is a missionary in Northwest Cameroon. He left his hometown, studied a foreign language and the Bible, and moved across the country with his wife and children to start churches. Pastor Solomon has started several churches in Northwest Cameroon. Once he starts a church, another man becomes the pastor, and Pastor Solomon can move on to start another church in another town. He is an evangelist and a church planter.

Question #7

How were you saved?

Answer: Pastor Tom Ricker

I was saved when I was three years old. After a children's teacher at church talked about Jesus dying on the cross for me, I asked my mom at home if God would want me to ask Jesus into my heart. She said he would, and so at my bed in West Point, Ohio, I prayed to receive Jesus as my master, my God, and my savior.

[Pastor Solomon's answer to this question is too long and complicated to fully explain in a fifteen-minute lesson. The executive summary is, he'd been raised Catholic, got involved in the occult, became convicted that it was effectively idolatry, left that, began reading the Bible, and repented when he read Romans 10:9.]

Question #8

How do you share the gospel where you live?

Answer: Pastor Tom Ricker

One thing I do is clean bathrooms at businesses, for free, to share Jesus' love with them in a practical way. You should see the faces at those places when I ask if I can clean their bathrooms. This has led to them asking why I would do this, and I can share that because Jesus died on the cross 2000 years ago for our sins and then rose from the dead, I accepted him as my Lord and savior from my sins -- and they can too!

By cleaning bathrooms, Pastor Tom is creating a chance for people to ask him questions, so that he can share with them. He doesn't know a lot of people in the community, because he's new in town, but if he cleans the bathroom where they work, they can get to know him, and can tell he's a nice guy, so then they're not afraid of talking with him. That gives him a chance to tell them about God's love.

Answer: Pastor Zambo Solomon

I have three ways: publicly, individually, and door-to-door. I always ask [for] the leadership of the Lord to send me where he is at work! I may use tracts, direct quotations from the Bible, or illustrations.

Pastor Solomon doesn't just preach about Jesus on Sunday Mornings. He also shares with people he knows, people he meets, and sometimes even with people that he goes out of his way to meet, just so he can share Jesus with them.

Question #9

How can a child chare the gospel?

Answer: Pastor Tom Ricker

When I was little, I simply asked my friends if they knew Jesus and if they [had] asked him to be their Lord and savior. If not, I told them I had and what I did to do so. I then would ask if they wanted to do it. I led many friends to Jesus while we talked in a sandbox, sat on swings, or played Star Wars. Any child... can easily do the same thing. Just pray to God for boldness, and then step out in faith.

Answer: Pastor Zambo Solomon

By telling others [how] he was saved... He also has to talk to his [friends] and invite them [to] activities of the church. They may be saved then.

What do you need to tell someone for them to know how to be saved? That Jesus died for their sins, to pay the penalty for the wrong things they've done, and that he raised from the dead, that he conquered death so that they can go to heaven and live with him. You can tell your friends this good news anywhere you are, even on the playground.

Conclusion: Prayer

Finish up by having two or three children pray out loud for the missionaries before you dismiss to the next activity.

Invitation: Local Missions

Invite any children who want to start sharing the good news with their friends to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.

Missionaries and the Bible

Day Two:	Missionaries and the Bible
Bible Lesson:	Do What It Says (Ezra & Nehemiah and the Feast of Booths): We should study God's word and obey it.
Memory Verse:	James 1:22
Missions Concepts:	Missionaries study and obey God's word.
Missions Questions:	Why is it important for missionaries to study God's word? Is it hard for you to obey God's word? What blessings do you see for being obedient?
Bible Passages:

Introduction: God's Word

In the Bible lesson, you learned about how Ezra read God's word to all the people of Israel, and they listened and obeyed. Did you know that missionaries also read and study and obey God's word?

Procedure: Picking Questions from the Box

Call a child volunteer to pull out each of the questions. Help them read it aloud to the group. You can use a microphone and/or repeat the question yourself so that everyone can hear it.

After reading the question, introduce each missionary before reading their answer. You can also show a photo and/or their country's flag and a map if desired. Then read and explain their answers. If there's time, you can lead a brief discussion of the answers or ask a few comprehension questions.

After each question, check the time, and if enough time is available pick a new volunteer to pull the next question out of the box. Finish up by having two or three children pray out loud for the missionaries before you dismiss to the next activity.

Pastor Tom Ricker

Tom Ricker is a church planter and home missionary in Burlington, Vermont. He and his wife Janelle went there in 2008 to try to start a Bible study that might grow into a church. A home missionary is someone who is a missionary in his own country. Pastor Tom is from Galion, Ohio, so when he want to Vermont, with his wife, he had to leave his family and friends, but he stayed in his own country. He is a Home Missions pastor and a church planter.

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Pastor Zambo Solomon

Pastor Zambo Solomon is a missionary in Northwest Cameroon. He left his hometown, studied a foreign language and the Bible, and moved across the country with his wife and children to start churches. Pastor Solomon has started several churches in Northwest Cameroon. Once he starts a church, another man becomes the pastor, and Pastor Solomon can move on to start another church in another town. He is an evangelist and a church planter.

Question #4

Why is it important for you, as a missionary, to study God's word?

Answer: Pastor Tom Ricker

It is the only way for me to know God and to know what he wants me to do, what he wants me to say, and how he wants me to live.

Since Pastor Tom doesn't have a pastor or a Sunday School teacher there teaching him, if he doesn't study the Bible on his own, he won't be hearing from God's word for a long time. We all need to study the Bible, but it's especially important for missionaries.

Answer: Pastor Zambo Solomon

I can only give what I have. If I have the word, as Colossians 3:16 [says] dwelling abundantly in me, I will be able to give in abundance the word.

Pastor Solomon can't share God's word with others unless he has studied it himself.

Question #5

Is it hard for you to obey God's word?

Answer: Pastor Tom Ricker

Sometimes. Because sometimes I don't want to be kind to people who don't like me. I don't want to keep reaching out to people when they are going to reject me and Jesus. But I know that he commands me to.

Answer: Pastor Zambo Solomon

Yes, sometime[s], when I face trials, [like] when [there was] sickness [in] my family, [or when my] brother and sisters [were] not faithful, I was tempted...

Just like all of us have trouble always obeying God all the time, pastors and missionaries are no different. They have to work hard at it too.

Question #6

What blessings do you see for being obedient?

Answer: Pastor Tom Ricker

Such joy when I think of him watching me and smiling. I live to make him smile.

Answer: Pastor Zambo Solomon

The Lord always opens doors where I cannot imagine. He will give me works with some souls.

God creates opportunities for Pastor Solomon to tell people how they can be saved. Sometimes there's an unexpected chance to share with someone Pastor Solomon did not think he would be able to talk to.

Conclusion: Prayer

Finish up by having two or three children pray out loud for the missionaries before you dismiss to the next activity.

Invitation: Missions

Invite any children who want to do missions work to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.

Elisha and the Shunammite

Friday:	Elisha and the Shunammite
Story Passage:	2nd Kings 4:8-13
Other Passages:	[NEEDED]
Objective:	God is pleased when we help other people
Visuals	Available (updated 2016)

Introduction:

[Needed]

Story: Elisha and the Shunammite

Elisha was a prophet of God. (Show picture of Elisha walking to a town.) He traveled to lots of places telling people what God wanted them to know and to do. One day he went to a town called Shunem. (Show picture of lady's house.) A lady there invited him to stay at her house for a meal. So after that, whenever he was in Shunem, he would stop and eat with her and her husband.

One day the lady said to her husband, I know that this man who often comes here is a man of God. Let's make a small room up on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay here whenever he comes. (Show picture with added room on roof.) So that's what they did. They built a nice room for him on the top of their house. The next time Elisha came to town he had a nice surprise. (Show interior of the room.) The people were very kind to him, weren't they?

Application: Helping

We have been learning this week about "following the footsteps." That means to do what someone else did that was a good thing to do. The Shunammite woman and her husband built a special room for Elisha when he came to visit. Do you think God wants you to build a special room for Elisha? (NO) Well then, what can you do that they did? There are other ways to be kind and to be a helper. (Show pictures). Look at these boys. They are sharing their toys. Do you think God likes us to share? Here's a girl setting the table. She is helping her mom. That's a good thing to do, isn't it. What are some other ways you can be a helper? (Let kids come up with ideas, or suggest picking up toys, watching your baby brother, or whatever.) Another way to make God happy is just by being nice to people, any way that you can. We can all share and be nice helpers.

Invitation: Helping Others

Invite any children who want to be good helpers to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.

Copyright © 2004—2010, Jill Eady and the Galion Grace Brethren Church. See licensing for information about rights and permissions. Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Hannah Prays

Thursday:	Hannah Prays
Story Passage:	1st Samuel 1
Other Passages:	Matthew 6:24-34, James 5:13-20, Luke 18:1-8, Philippians 4:6-7
Objective:	When we have problems, we should pray to God.
Visuals	Available (updated 2016)

Introduction: Hannah Wants Kids

Did you know that there is a woman in the Bible named Hannah? There is. Our lesson today is about her. Hannah was very sad. Even though she had been married a long time, she did not have any children. She wanted children very badly. She wanted to be a Mom.

Story: Hannah's Prayer

One day, when she was at the Temple (which was kind of like church) she began to cry because she was so sad. She was crying and praying to God. Eli, the priest (kind of like a pastor) saw her crying and wondered why she was crying.

She told him, I am very upset and am pouring out my soul to God. That means she was begging God for something. She was begging God to give her a baby, wasn't she?

Eli said, Go in peace, and may the God of Israel give you what you have asked him for. When she got up and left, she wasn't crying anymore. She did not look sad. She had a big smile on her face.

The Point: God Answers Prayer

Does God answer prayer? Yes, if we ask for good things, he does. (He doesn't always say yes though, does he?)

Do you think God answered Hannah's prayer and gave her a baby? Yes! He did. She named her baby boy Samuel, which means, God heard me. Hannah said, There is no one like the Lord. He is a God who knows. Hannah was very thankful to the Lord for answering her prayer.

Epilogue: Samuel

Samuel grew up to be a very important man who served God. There are two books in the Bible about him.

Application: Prayer

When there is something you need, do you just wish for it, or do you remember to ask God? God doesn't always answer with a Yes, OK. If we just ask for candy and ice cream for every meal, do you think He would say Yes? Why not? God wants things that are good for us. We should ask carefully, but we know that God always hears us, and He will give us what we need.

Invitation: Prayer

Invite any children who want to learn to pray to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.

Copyright © 2004—2010, Jill Eady and the Galion Grace Brethren Church. See licensing for information about rights and permissions.

The Bronze Snake

Wednesday:	Snakes in the Desert
Story Passage:	Numbers 21:4-9
Other Passages:	John 3 (especially v.14-15)
Objective:	We should look to Jesus to save us from our sin.
Visuals	Available (updated 2016)

Introduction: People are Whiners, Did You Know That?

Remember what we said Monday when the people wouldn't listen to Caleb and Joshua? They had to wander around in the dessert for 40 years.

They didn't like it. And even though God took care of them, they fussed. They fussed at Moses and they fussed at God. God got tired of their fussing, so he sent a punishment.

Story: Snakes in the Desert

God sent poisonous snakes to bite them. When someone got bit by one of these snakes, they got so sick that they died. So the people ran to Moses and begged for help. We're sorry! We were wrong. Pray to God and ask him to make the snakes go away. Moses did pray, but God didn't take the snakes away.

Instead, God told Moses what to do to keep the people from dying from the snake bites. He told Moses to make a metal snake and put it up high on a pole where everyone could see it. God said that if someone was bitten by a snake, they should look at the metal snake on the pole, and then they wouldn't die. And because God said it, it worked: when people who were bitten by the snakes looked at the metal snake, they didn't die. But the people who wouldn't look at it, did die. It was their choice.

Application: Trusting God

There was nothing magic about the metal snake. But the people had to trust God and obey Him. They had to believe that he could save them. Looking at the snake was how they showed God that they trusted Him and would obey Him.

Story: Nicodemus

Many years later, when Jesus was on earth, he told a man named Nicodemus that he needed to be born again. He needed to be saved from sin. But Nicodemus didn't understand. So Jesus told him, Just like when Moses lifted up the metal snake in the dessert and people were saved from snakebite, someday I will be up on a cross, so that people can believe and have their sins forgiven.

Application: Salvation

Just like the people who got bitten by the snake had to believe God and look at the snake to be well, we must believe that Jesus died for our sins and ask Him to forgive us.

Invitation: Salvation

Invite any children who want to be forgiven to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.

Copyright © 2004—2010, Jill Eady and the Galion Grace Brethren Church. See licensing for information about rights and permissions.

Ezra Reads the Bible

Tuesday:	Ezra Reads the Bible
Story Passage:	Nehemiah 7-8
Other Passages:	James 1:22
Objective:	We should hear the Bible and obey it.
Visuals	Available (updated 2016)

Introduction: Ezra & Nehemiah

Ezra and Nehemiah were two men long ago who loved God. They were part of God's people, the Israelites. The Israelites had been away in another country for a long time. They had been slaves. While they were away, they had not been able to study the Bible. Now they were back in their own country. Nehemiah was their governor and Ezra was their priest (pastor). Ezra and Nehemiah knew that reading the Bible was important. They wanted the people to know what God said. And they wanted the people to DO what God said.

Story: Reading the Bible

Back then people didn't have their own Bibles. Many of them didn't know how to read. So a day was planned when Ezra would read the Bible to all the people. They built a big platform for him to stand on. He was up high so everyone could see and hear him. On that day, everyone came to hear Ezra read the Bible. Even the children who were old enough to understand came. Ezra read all morning. All the people stood very still and quiet so they could hear. It would be hard to stand still and quiet all morning, wouldn't it?

While Ezra read the Bible, the people started to cry. There were things in the Bible that that they didn't know about. They had not heard the Bible for many years. They were sad because they found out they had not been obeying God.

Ezra and Nehemiah told them to stop crying, because this was a GOOD day. They had heard the Bible now and could begin to obey God. So the rest of the day they ate and celebrated. They were glad to find out what God wanted them to do.

Application: Doing What the Bible Says

But even more important that finding out what God wanted, was for them to DO it. So the very next day, they began doing the things that God wanted them to do. We should listen to the Bible too. We want to learn what God wants us to do. Then we need to DO it.

The Bible says, Don't just listen to the Bible... Do what it says. This week at VBS, we are learning some of the things God wants us to do. Now we will be able to do what God wants. What did we learn yesterday? (We learned to trust God and obey Him.)

Invitation: Obedience to the Bible

Invite any children who want to learn to listen to what the Bible says and obey it to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.

Copyright © 2004—2010, Jill Eady and the Galion Grace Brethren Church. See licensing for information about rights and permissions.

Caleb and Joshua Obey

Monday:	Caleb & Joshua Obey
Story Passage:	Numbers 13-14
Other Passages:
Visuals	Available (updated 2016)
Objective:	We should learn to trust and obey God.

Introduction: Following the Footsteps

This week we're going to be learning about some people in the Bible, whose footsteps we should follow. What does it mean to follow in somebody's footsteps? (Accept some answers). It means to do what they did, or be the kind of person they were. Today we are going to learn about Caleb and Joshua and how they obeyed God.

Story: Caleb & Joshua

God was leading his people, Israel, to a new place to live. Moses was their leader. Moses picked Caleb and Joshua and ten other men to go look around in the new land to see what it was like. They looked around for forty days. They looked at what kind of people lived there, what the cities were like, what the food growing there was like. Then they went back and told Moses. They told him that the land was very good. They showed him a big bunch of grapes that was so big that it took two men to carry it.

Caleb said, We should go take the land. He knew that God had said he was giving them the land. Caleb trusted God to help them get it. Caleb wanted to obey. Joshua did too. But the other ten men forgot to trust and obey God. The others told Moses and the people, The people there are stronger than we are. They are so big, they make us look like little grasshoppers. But Caleb and Joshua said, We should not be afraid of them. God is with us, we should obey God.

The people would not listen to Caleb and Joshua. God punished the people for not obeying. He made them walk around in the dessert for forty years. None of them ever got to go into the new land that God and promised them. except, Caleb and Joshua did get to go. They had trusted God and wanted to obey. I think they were sad that the others wouldn't obey.

Application: Obedience to God

Have you ever been playing with friends and they started doing something wrong? Maybe they started hitting or calling names. Or maybe they went across the street where they weren't allowed to go. If this ever happens, you can tell your friends to do what is right. But if they will not listen to you, and they disobey, you can still obey. God wants us to obey, doesn't he?

Invitation: Obedience

Invite any children who want to learn to obey God to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.

Copyright © 2004—2010, Jill Eady and the Galion Grace Brethren Church. See licensing for information about rights and permissions.

Associating with a Skunk

Friday:	Associating with a Skunk
Bible Passages:	1st Corinthians 15:33-34, 1st John 2:15-26
Objective:	We should be careful about the corrupting influence of the world.

Introduction: Excursions

Zeke likes to go for walks. He likes to go for walks in the woods, and across the fields, around the neighborhood, and through the parks. He's willing to go any time of day or night.

Story: Playing with Skunks

Sometimes Zeke gets to go for a walk in places where there are other animals. He loves to chase bunny rabbits, butterflies, squirrels, and geese. But there are some kinds of animals Zeke shouldn't get too close to.

One time, Zeke got very close to a skunk. That was bad. Do you know why it's bad to get very close to a skunk? The skunk sprayed its stink all over Zeke's face, and he came back smelling like skunk spray. It smelled very bad. Zeke had to have two baths, with special soap, and then he still smelled bad for a month. Yuck! Zeke shouldn't play with skunks.

Application: Bad Friends

Just like Zeke should be careful about getting close to some kinds of animals, there are some people we need to be careful about being around too much, because they don't love God, and they act in very bad ways. Sometimes those people talk us into doing the wrong kinds of things. We start to behave the way they do. We might start talking like they do, or disobeying our parents like they do, or other yucky things. When that happens, God thinks we stink. He still loves us, but he doesn't like the stink.

So we should be careful who our best friends are, to pick people who don't make us stink to God.

Invitation: Picking Good Friends

Invite any children who want to pick good friends to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.