===================================================================== Title: Primary Sabbath School Program, December 19, 1998 From: NAD Children's Ministires (author: Lisa Seeders) Date: November 1, 1998 Abstract: Activities to use in place of program helps to teach the lesson, BATTLE WITH A GIANT ===================================================================== Lesson Aim: God will do great things for me if I trust Him. Memory Verse: "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty." I Sam. 17:45, NIV GETTING THEIR ATTENTION - GIANT TOWER Materials needed: 10 large boxes (About the size of citrus fruit boxes; grocery stores throw them away all the time.) Permanent markers WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Stack the boxes one on top the other. Draw a large giant so that a piece of his outline is on the one side of each box. When they are stacked on top of each other you should be able to clearly see a giant. On the opposite side of the box tower, print the following words. Top box: "You come 2nd down from top: against me 3rd down from top: with sword 4th down from top: and spear 5th down from top: and javelin 6th down from top: but I come 7th down from top: against you 8th down from top: in the name 9th down from top: of the Bottom box: Lord Almighty." WHAT THE STUDENTS DO: Set the boxes on the floor at the front of the room so that the giant outline drawings are facing the children. Choose volunteers to help stack the boxes so that the picture on the front of the tower is complete. (It make take several tries) Explain to the children that the giant in our bible story today was at least this tall if not taller. How many of them would like to take him on? GO STRAIGHT INTO THE BIBLE STORY. (The memory verse words on the back will be used in the next activity.) GETTING INTO SCRIPTURE - GIANT MEMORY VERSE TOWER Materials needed: Boxes from previous activity WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) There are no advance preparations necessary WHAT THE STUDENTS DO: Review again the size of the giant compared to the size of David. Tell the children that David may not have been as big in size as Goliath, but he had a giant helper that Goliath didn't have. Take the tower back down. Turn the boxes around to the memory verse word side. Look up the memory verse in the Bible. Have the children unscramble the words and place them in the correct order reading from the top down. Give the children an opportunity to walk around and see the giant on one side and the memory verse words on the other. Have fun knocking the tower down together. Reassemble it as often as time allows to commit the verse to memory. GETTING INTO SCRIPTURE - FIVE SMOOTH STONES AGAINST TEMPTATION Materials needed: 5 small smooth stones for each child (Card board discs could serve as a replacement for stones.) Permanent markers WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Wash and dry the stones so there is no grit or fine dirt to hinder the children when writing on them. WHAT THE STUDENTS DO: Give each child 5 smooth stones and permanent marker and a Bible. David used five smooth stones to fight Goliath. Goliath represents sin and evil. Look up the following texts together and discover what weapons Jesus gives us to use against evil and the devil's temptations. Write each weapon on a different stone with a permanent marker. 1. Matt. 17:21 - prayer 2. Matt. 17:21 - fasting 3. Matt. 5:4 - God's word (Bible) 4. Acts 1:8 - Holy Ghost's power 5. James 1:5 - wisdom Use the stones in the next activity. ACTING ON SCRIPTURE - FIVE SMOOTH STONES AGAINST TEMPTATION cont... Materials needed: 5 smooth stones from previous activity (Each child needs a set) 5 buckets (Large soft butter type) Permanent marker Masking tape WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Place the buckets in various spots throughout the room. Place a small strip of masking tape a specified distance from each bucket. (For example: Place the masking tape 1 foot from one bucket, 18" from the second bucket, 2 feet from the third etc.) WHAT THE STUDENTS DO: Before beginning the activity ask the children to name some temptations that the devil puts in our way. (Primaries are sometimes reluctant to talk about their own private temptations and sins, but they will talk in a general sense.) You may wish to write some of their answers on the butter buckets or masking tape in front of the buckets. Have them look at their stones and remind them of the five weapons Jesus gives us to battle against the devil with. Each child is to make a complete round of the buckets. Standing behind the masking tape, they toss one of the stones into the bucket. If they miss, they can have four more tries with their other stones. If they miss after all five tries, they move on to the next bucket. Whenever they get one stone into any bucket they have obtained victory over that temptation and may move on to the next bucket taking all their stones with them. The buckets do not have to be done in any particular order. Make sure there are not too many children at one bucket waiting for a turn. When all children have completed the activity, have them return to their seats and ask them the following questions. 1. How many of the temptations were you able to overcome with just one weapon? 2. How many of the temptations required all five of your weapons to overcome? 3. Could you overcome any of the temptations without any weapons? 4. What's the most important thing you've learned about giants or temptations? (That we can only have victory over them and win the battle with God using His weapons.)