Boys and girls ladies and gentlemen, bullfrogs and butterflies, welcome to God’s Spiritual Training Camp. Are you ready to get trained in the Lord? What?  I didn’t hear you - I said are you ready to get trained in the Lord? You’ve come to the right place because today we’re going to become champions in the Lord.

God tells us in the Bible that “Physical training is of some value, but godliness is of great value.” 1Timothy 4:8.

If you swim every day for 8 hours a day for 6 days a week that training is going to be of value right? You may become a good enough swimmer to get a college scholarship. Or maybe even good enough to try out for the Olympics. Can you image winning a gold medal? How awesome would that be?

But God said that’s only of some value. I have to wonder what in the world is of more value than a gold medal? The Bible tells us that, Godliness is of Grrrrrrrrrreat {great} value not only for this life but for the life we’re going to have in heaven .

All of you will do some valuable things in your life. You may go to college and become a doctor or teacher. You may save the life of a person who is choking. You may play football for the NFL or become a famous movie star. But the most valuable thing you will ever do with your life is to be trained up in Godliness.

You get Spiritually fit when you read the Bible, memorize verses or listen to God’s word being taught at Sunday school. And that’s’ what we’re doing right now. This is one of the most valuable things you’ll ever do in your life.

So are you ready to become spiritual champions in the Lord? Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get this chicken-kicken!

Back Ground Material

1. Foam board for back ground:

*Hobby Lobby. It’s in the back you have to ask for it.

* Alabama Art Supply. The website address is www.alabamaart.com. The size of the board I got was 40x60 ½ inch thick. I cut it into three sections. With the two side sections the same size of { one foot wide and five feet tall}. Once you cut those two pieces you’ll have one piece remaining. That piece is a little bigger than the other two pieces. It will be used for the top board.

I used Velcro to stick the boards onto the pvc pipe {Click on pvc pipe for instructions}. I pull the boards off the pvc pipe in order to fit them in the car, for storage and for the protection of the boards.

Items on the Board

1.Party City, Olympic Theme:

World Games party city ring set

Paper torch Gold trophy’s Gold medal International flag hanging swirl decorations. I cut the string very short so they wouldn’t tangle.

2. Teachers tool supply

Cut outs of children doing sports

Pledge Poster
 

I have chosen to use a game show theme to review the rules each week. This makes the rules fun.

Each week an adult volunteer picks a helper (kid) to hold up the rule board. The adult volunteer says something like this “Who would like to be the first contestant on Name (naaaaaaaaaaaaaaame) those rules? Pick a child and say “come on down you are the first contestant on name those rules.” Ask child “what is rule (ruuuuuuuule) # 1?” Pick another child ask “what is rule # 2” Same for rule #3

Each contestant who names a rule gets a prize ticket. $$$

Purchase:

• 1. Foam Board
• 2. Lights with batteries-easier to find during the Christmas season
• 3. Numbers1-3.
• 4. Fun decorative items

Each week an adult volunteer picks two helpers (kids) to hold up the posters of the pledge. And the adult holds the Bible (the one with the compass glued on the back). Then the adult ask all the kids to stand up and put one hand on their heart and hold up their Bible with their other hand. Then the volunteer leads them in the pledge to the Bible. Not all of the kids will have their Bible and that’s okay. But the children that do bring their Bibles to hold up during the pledge get prize tickets. $$$

The first week you say the pledge to the Bible tell the children that the word allegiance means the utmost honor and respect. Then after the first week ask the children what the word allegiance means.

After the pledge turn the Bible around so the compass side is facing the kids. Then ask “Boys and girls do you know what this is called? You’re right it’s a compass. Do you know what a compass is used for?” (After they answer), say “ it’s a special tool that points us in the right direction. It can help us find our way when we’re lost. The Bible is a compass for our life. It’s a Spiritual compass that points us to Jesus and leads us to the path of righteousness. Jesus said “ I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14;6 (NIV)

You can use the compass to teach many different spiritual lessons. Change it up throughout the year.

The pledge to the Bible\ compass talk is said each week. I bought two posters of the pledge. I had the posters laminated. I bought two poster boards and glued each laminated poster onto a poster board. And a cheap light weight plastic compass.

Purchase:

• 1. American-classroom-supply.com
• 2. Your local teacher’s supple store may sell the posters and laminate.
• 3. There are lots of places to buy this poster. Do a google search.

This is such a fun way to encourage children to know the memory verse. I give one memory verse every three weeks. If you give them one verse a week most of the kids will not know it.

How it works:

Someone comes out in an ice cream costume and screams “I scream, you scream, we all scream for: (let the children shout)

"Ice Cream"

The children have been instructed to stand up if they know the memory verse.

The ice cream person picks a child to recite the verse. Repeat several times. If the child knows the verse they receive a prize ticket. $$$

Send the daily training cards home with the children each week.

These cards are a great way to encourage children to have a relationship with God.

As the children arrive have them put their daily training cards in the box or jumbo gold plastic trophy. Decorate a box with an Olympic theme, or buy a cheap jumbo plastic gold trophy for the kids to put their daily training cards in each week as they arrive.

Each week an Adult volunteer pulls out the daily training cards from the box/trophy and calls up the children who turned in their card. Then the volunteer says something like this,

“Boys and girls I’m so proud of you. You took time this week to be trained up in Godliness, Which is the most valuable thing you’ll ever do in your life. All of you are becoming spiritual champions in the Lord. Remember that everyone who turns in ten daily training cards by the end of the school year receives a trophy at our last club meeting.”

Then I take one topic from the card and spend a minute or two talking about that item For example:

Wk 1: Prayer: God said “call upon me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things.” Jeremiah 33:3 He is your Father in heaven and He wants to have a relationship with you. Then I engage the children by asking them if any of them called upon the Lord this week. If a child answers I have them stand up and tell us about it.

Wk 2:Bible reading: Man does not live on bread alone but from every word that come from the mouth of the Lord. Matthew 4:4 Just as your body needs food to grow healthy and strong so does your spirit.

Wk 3: Exercise faith: For we live by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7 It’s important to exercise our faith in God. We do this by trusting God in difficult times. One of my examples is, “ One time I had to drive over a long bridge in a storm. I was really scared. I started praying and asking God to protect me. I turned up my Christian music and began to sing and praise the Lord. I could barely see to drive, but I kept singing and praising the Lord. And a spirit of peace came over me. Before I knew it I was over the bridge.”

Each week give each child 3 prize tickets for turning in their daily training card.

$$$

At the end of the year the children who turned in their daily training cards ten times or more during the school year will receive a nice trophy.

Pie in the face anyone? If you’re up for a little fun you could always throw a pie in someone’s face. Tell the kids that if more girls bring back their daily training cards than the boy’s the following week, then one of the male adult’s gets a pie in the face. But if more boys bring back the most cards then a female adult volunteer gets a pie in the face. I ask “do the boys rule and the girls drool or do the girls rule and the boys drool?” I always let one of the kids from the winning side smash the pie in the adult’s face.

I don’t use whip cream since it is sticky and tends to sting the eyes it’s also hard to get out of hair. But goggles and a plastic hair net help. I put shaving cream (Barbasol) in an empty pie tin. Some of my volunteers prefer whipped cream.

Before the Bible story a volunteer comes out in a chef’s costume, I call myself Chef Dee Whizz but you’re welcome to name your own chef. I also have a background I sit in front of while I tell the story. It has a Bible verse and cute drawings on it. If you don’t have an artist in your church you can purchase cute cut outs from a teacher’s supply store. The background helps draw the kid’s attention to the speaker, but it’s up to the speaker to keep their attention. Therefore it’s important to:

• 1. Know what you want to say
• 2. Keep it short & simple.
• 3. Repeat, repeat &repeat the main point

Chef Dee Whizz Skit:

Hey boys and girls, I’m Chef Dee Whizz and I am here to serve you up some tasty tid bits from the Bible. God said “that man does not live on bread alone, but from every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (NIV) That means just as your body needs food to grow healthy and strong so does your spirit. What would happen if you didn’t eat? You would get weak and sick. And eventually you would die. Just as your body needs food to grow healthy and strong so does your spirit. So I am here on an assignment from God to feed your spirits. So I hope you’re hungry and ready to:

Puppet skit:

Puppet: comes out spitting the Bible (tiny bible) out of his mouth and says:
“Yuk, this Bible taste awful!”

Chef Dee Whizz says: Oh my gosh what in the world are you doing?

Puppet: I don’t want my spirit to starve to death so I’m eating God’s word.

Chef: What, that’s not you eat God’s word, is it boys and girls? The kids will shout “no.”

Puppet: How in the world do you eat God’s word?
 

Chef: You eat God’s word by reading God’s word, listening to God’s word in church or by memorizing God’s word. Eating God’s word is like the opposite (I shout the word opposite then lower my voice) of eating food. When we eat food we open our mouths but in order to eat God’s word we close our mouths, open our ears and most importantly we open our hearts. So let’s do that together right now. The volunteer takes her hand and makes a motion to zip her lips closed. Then cups her hands to her ears and opens her ears. Then she puts her hands in a prayer stance next to her heart and opens them. Then she says “now you’re ready to be feed God’s word.” Then the Bible story follows. The chef can tell the Bible story or she can Welcomeduce the volunteer giving the Bible story as her sous-chef.

If you don’t have a puppet:
After you say “so I hope you’re hungry and ready to eat” but wait, eating God’s word is like the opposite of eating food. When we eat food we open our mouths, but in order to eat God’s word we close our mouths, open our ears and most importantly we open our hearts. So let’s do that together right now. The volunteer takes her hand and makes a motion to zip her lips. Then cups her hands to her ears and opens her ears. Then she puts her hands in a prayer stance next to her heart and opens them. Then she says “now you’re ready to be feed God’s word.” Then proceed with the Bible story.

Helpful Hints for Teaching Bible Lessons

* Know the main points you want to make.

* Repeat, repeat & repeat. Children learn from repetition.   

* Don’t over load the children with to much information.

* Don’t go over 15 minutes.

* Have a question and answer time after the Bible story. Give away several  

  prize tickets for the right answer. 

*If possible try to find a skit, object lesson or a drama that relates to the

 story.

*Aaron Reynolds wrote one of the best articles on teaching Bible lessons to children that I have ever read. It is titled “No One’s Lazy in Lazy Town.” It should be mandatory reading. Here is an example of some of my favorite lines from his article:

“say it, don’t spray it”

“less is more (if you’re going for retention)

“memorable hook”

This is a short article. Please, please, please read this article. I have sat in children’s ministries that were soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Long and boring I thought I would scream!

www.christianitytoday.com

*I always read scripture to children from a children’s Bible story book or from a NIRV Bible. I believe in serving childern solid meat but it must be in bite sized portions or they‘ll starve. Reading to children from the King James Bible (which is fine for adults) is like giving a baby a t-bone steak. If  you want to reach children you must meet them at their intellectual level other wise it will be lost on them.

Boys and girls do you know that there is something in heaven called the Lamb’s Book of Life?

At the end of our life, a long, long, long time from now hopefully when we are really, really old we will die. It is appointed to man once to die. When we die we will stand before God. And He is going to open up the Lamb’s Book of Life. If our name is not in it the gates of heaven will not open up. But if our name is the Lamb’s Book of Life the Gates of heaven will open. How exciting is that? Now this is not the real Lamb’s Book of Life. God has it up in heaven. I try to imagine what the Book of Life looks like. I wonder if it’s made of pure gold with rubies and jewels all over it?

But the real question is not what the Lambs Book of Life looks like but rather how do you get your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?

It’s as Easy As the ABC’s, Just Jumbled

B: Believe Jesus is God’s son and He died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day. He is in heaven and will return some day.

C: Confess our sins. We were born into a sinful world, we all have a sinful nature and all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Tell God you are sorry for your sins.

A: Ask Jesus into our hearts. Put Him at the throne of our heart. Love Him more than money, talent success and friends. Be in a relationship with the Lord and serve Him for the rest of your life.

Ask the children if they would like to invite Jesus into their hearts.
Then lead them in a prayer using the example of the ABC's above.

Give children this bookmark to commemorate this important decision.

Lamb’s Book of Life

• 1. Foam board: Hobby Lobby.
• 2. Gold paper: Michaels
• 3. Sticky back letters: Hobby Lobby? / Big, ABC Letters : Hobby Lobby

Box

Picture box: Hobby Lobby/ Small metal on ribbon: Hobby Lobby