Kingsford Church of Christ

Christian Experience (Term 4 even years: 2012, 2014, ...)

Term 4 is usually a short term as we finish before life starts getting hectic in December.

We cover Faith, Church, Prayer, Worship, and Bible reading.

Faith

Start with a game.  One volunteer chooses a friend who remains in the room. The volunteer steps out where they are blind-folded.

The furniture in the room is rearranged so that the the volunteer won't know where they are and a target object, probably a bible, is placed somewhere.

Then the volunteer is invited back in.

The friend must guide the volunteer to the target with simple directions.  The  others may try to distract but the whole process must be kept orderly.  All children must stay well away from the volunteer.

When the target is found the blindfold comes off and we ask what it felt like to have to trust just one voice, and how that voice in distinguished.

Then give another child a turn.

Refer to  2Cor5:7 - we walk by faith, not sight.

We cannot see the future, at least not clearly.  But we can trust in God - if we can learn to recognise his voice.

Possibly try to create a list of synonyms for faith: trust, depend on, rest, stand, rely, believe, wait.  Explore who and  what we do have faith in, or we don't have faith in.  How can we learn to have faith in God - taste and  see!

Prayer

We build friendships by talking to each other.  As we get to know each other we learn to trust each other.

One way to grow in our faith in God is to talk to him, and to listen to him.  This is prayer.

Where, when, what should we pray.

When we talk to each other we talk about our selves, the other person, and what we have in common.  Same goes with God.

WHAT: Worship, Humility, Asking, Thanking.  These are 4 useful prayer groups (Which we look at again next year)

Church

On the board, with "CH__CH" - and ask what is missing.

Find photos of people "Doing Church" in lots of different ways in different countries: inside, outside, day, night, around a meal, small groups large groups, etc

Read Acts 2:42-47. and Eph 2:22, and discuss implications.  The church isn't the building, it is our hearts.

Explore How, When, Where, Why, What, Who.

Worship

TBA

Bible Reading

2 Timothy 3:16-17

A worksheet is handed out containing this verse (paraphrased a little) with the key words replaced by a blank.

We read the passage, fill in the blanks, talk about how it is useful for teaching, correcting, training, and making our lives whole.

Final Lesson

In the last lesson each year the children have an opportunity to pray a prayer of acceptance and commitment to God.  We talk about what it means to be a Christian and we go through the prayer and talk about what it means.  Then I pray aloud and the children are invited to prayer long silently if they wish to.

I then have a response card where the children can indicate if they think they are a Christian, if they prayed the prayer, and a couple of related questions.