Where in the World?

July 31st, 2016 .:. .:. Room 301

Pathways Kids Weekend Small Groups

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This curriculum is for the 4th, 5th and 6th graders.

This Weeks Scope

Love Will Keep Us Together

Bible Story: Love Will Keep Us Together (One body. One spirit. Jesus is the head.) Ephesians 4:4-6,
15b-16
Bottom Line: The story of Jesus changes how we work together.
Memory Verse: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faithand this is not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God Ephesians 2:8 NIV
Life App: Faithbelieving what Jesus did can change me.
Basic Truth: I should treat others the way I want to be treated.

Welcome Time
Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up. Get ready to experience
todays story.
Before kids arrive, pray for each regular attendee by name. Pray for those who might visit your group
for the first time. If you dont normally pray with other Small Group Leaders before or after Groups, take
a moment to do so today. Ask God to give you ideas for how to work together with other leaders to help
kids build relationships with each other, with God, and with their families.
What You Need: Offering container
What You Do: Collect offering, check in with the kids and read the Bible story.
Ephesians 4:4-6, 15b-16
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one
Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him
who is the head, that is, Christ. 1From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting
ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
What do the kids think this means? Have them keep this in mind throughout small group.

Activity #1
What You Need: Paper, pens
What You Do:
Assign groups or pairs of kids to an ingredient in pizza: dough, cheese, sauce, toppings (if you
have a lot of kids you can also add salt, spices, and the pizza box!).
Give them pens and paper and some time to brainstorm reasons why their part of the pizza is
the best and most necessary part; without them, it isnt really pizza at all!
Let kids debate the issue, making sure to keep it light and funny, without any hard feelings
afterward.
What You Say:
Okay, really, to make the best kind of pizza, you need all the parts of a pizza: a crust, sauce, cheese,
toppingseven if its more cheeseand of course salt, spices, and even the box all contribute to
making pizza the amazing vehicle of awesomeness that it is.
Pizza is more than just a bunch of soggy veggies and flour in a bowl of milk. Theres a lot that goes
into pizza that makes it more than bare ingredients. Theres cooking and mixing and tossing and rolling
and shredding and topping and baking and cutting. Therere people involved. Thats kind of like the
churchwere just a lot of ingredients. We need someone to bring us together to make us more than
just humans who are standing near each other in a big building.
We need Jesus. He is who makes us the actual church. Thats why the church is called Jesus body.
We need our differences, but we also need to be united around Jesus who leads us and guides us,
helping us make wise choices to love and serve others with our individual talents and gifts. Were not
here just to have fun or see our friends or get a snack after service, although those things ARE pretty
great. We dont come here just to hear some happy songs or because we have nothing else to do on a
Sunday morning. Were all here because of Jesus, and all of us who serve in [name of your elementary
environment] are here to work together to remind all of you that Jesus loves you and came to rescue
you. Once you understand that, you can join me and the rest of our team in telling everyone that great
news. You become part of our team in your own way and you are an irreplaceable member of the body
of Christ. Thats how [Bottom Line] the story of Jesus changes how we work together.

Activity #2
What You Need: No supplies needed
What You Do:
Divide your group in half and give each kid a number. Repeat the same numbers for both
teams. If you have an uneven number of kids, draft a Small Group assistant or a helper to even
up the teams.
Line the teams up shoulder-to-shoulder facing each other, with a large space in between. Stand
in this space.
Call out two numbers (1 and 5; or 2 and 3; or 4 and 4). The kids on each team with those
numbers (the first number for the team on your left and the second for the team on your right)
will run out to the center.
Then call out one of the following three options: Elbows, Heels, or Elbows and heels.
The kids in the center have to match up the corresponding body parts and say the verse
together before running back to their teams.
Play as long as interest holds, making sure every kid gets a turn.
What You Say:
We dont give elbows and heels a lot of credit, but think of all the things we couldnt do if we didnt
have them. If our arms didnt bend, we couldnt play sports or write letters or type or even feed and
dress ourselves! If we didnt have heels, wed be wobbly and off balance. We couldnt run or stand for a
long time; our calf muscles would cramp up and wear out.
There are a lot of people like that too. We forget how blessed we are to have people who take care of
us, both personally and in the churchpeople who are part of the Body of Christ and have incredible
gifts in making sandwiches and sweeping floors and calming squirmy babies and cleaning windows and
driving minivans and buses and keeping the computers running and remembering all the details of
keeping a building in good repair. We need to remember that all these skills are a gift from God, just like
grace. Celebrating these unseen gifts because they come from God is another way that [Bottom Line]
the story of Jesus changes how we work together.
Ask these discussion questions:
How do you feel when you have to work with other people on a project? How can remembering
that we all receive grace from God and all have different gifts help you work with others?
Can you think of a time when you were part of a group that worked together really well? What
were you able to accomplish as a group that you wouldnt have been able to do alone? Or what
was done better or differently since you were working as a group?
How could you thank one person here at church who serves because of the story of Jesus?

Prayer
Opposites

Time

What You Say:

(Use the following as a discussion starter.) This week at home, see if you can plan something together
and divide up the work. You could plan a party, a trip, a movie night, or a game nightwhatever you
like. Then talk about what needs to be done beforehand, during the event, and afterward. Make a list.
Take volunteers for different parts of the preparation and cleaning up afterwards. Write their names
beside tasks to help everyone stay on the same page. What strengths do each of you have that might
be helpful to making it a success?
Remind kids of the Bible story and pray with your kids.
What You Say:
Thank You, God, for sending us Jesus and making us one body. Thank You that we can care about
each other and work together to love others and love You. Amen.
Lead your kids to large group.