A Firm Foundation

You will need:

• a set of building blocks

Scripture: (Matthew 7:24) "Everyone who hears these things I say and obeys them is like a wise man. The wise man built his house on rock."

[Make a tower by stacking building blocks. The higher and more precarious the tower, the better. Consider asking a few of the older children to help stack the blocks very carefully.] Well, we have built quite a tall tower, haven't we? Good job, kids. Now, what do you think would happen if I moved this bottom block just a teeny, tiny bit? Do you think our tower would keep standing? Let's try it and see. I'll just move it a little bit. [Move a key block just enough so that the entire tower tumbles.]

Wow! To think I moved just one little block a tiny bit, and it made the whole tower come crashing down. If we were to talk to a carpenter—someone who knows all about building things—he would tell us that the foundation—the bottom part of the building that all the rest of the building stands on—is the most important part of all. If the foundation shifts even a few inches, the whole building will become weaker. And if the foundation shifts a great deal (as it might in an earthquake), the whole building may come tumbling down just like these blocks did.

The Bible tells us that we should build our lives on the foundation of Jesus Christ. The Bible calls Jesus the Cornerstone. The cornerstone of a building is the point of the foundation that the rest of the building is built from. If the cornerstone is strong and straight and true, the rest of the building will be strong and straight and true as well.

The Bible teaches us that Jesus is the truth, so there is nothing stronger that we could build our lives on. And how do we do that? How do we build our lives on Jesus? By following Jesus' teaching and the example of his life.

To take home: Give each child a building block or a simple block of wood on which you have written the scripture verse.

A Permanent Solution

You will need:

• writing tablet

• a permanent marker

• an eraser

Scripture: (Proverbs 3:3) Don't ever stop being kind and truthful. Let kindness and truth show in all you do. Write them down in your mind as if on a tablet.

[With permanent marker write the words "kind" and "truthful" on a tablet.] I've written two words on this tablet. Can anyone tell me what the words are? I have an eraser with me. Would you [choose a child] try to erase these words for me, please? You aren't able to erase the words, are you? The marker I used is a permanent marker, so that means anything you write with this marker is on there for good.

Listen to this Bible verse from Proverbs 3. The heading in my Bible says that this is advice to children, so you should listen very carefully. [Read scripture.] Just as I wrote on this tablet with a permanent marker that will always be there, so are we to always think about being kind and truthful in all we do.

What are some of the things that we do each day? [Suggest answers such as go to school, play with friends, play sports, help Mom or Dad.] In all of these things that we do in our lives, the Bible says we are to be kind and truthful. How could we be this way at school? [Be kind to the teacher and the workers at school, as well as to the other kids; do not cheat on school- work, and so forth.] How can we be kind and truthful with our friends? [By letting them have their way sometimes and by always being honest.] What about in sports? When we get caught up in winning, isn't it sometimes hard to be a good sport and to be kind and truthful during the game? We may be tempted to be rude to members of the other team. But remember that scripture says we are to be kind and truthful in all we do. What about being kind and truthful when helping our parents? How could we do that? [Don't argue or complain when our parents ask us to do a job, for example.] It would be kind to do the job willingly, wouldn't it? And we can be truthful by doing our very best job at anything we are asked to do and by not taking shortcuts.

To take home: Write the words "kind" and "truthful" on the cover or the first page of small tablets. Give one to each child.

Bear One Another's Burdens

You will need:

• a basketful of stuffed teddy bears

• two Bibles (a King James Version and the New Living Translation)

Scripture: (Galatians 6:2 KJV) Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

[Read the scripture from the King James Version of the Bible.] This verse from Galatians is from a very old Bible called the King James Version. I like it because it uses the word "bear," and, as you can see, I like bears! I brought a whole basket of bears with me today to help us remember this scripture. The verse tells us to "bear one another's burdens." But what does that mean? Burdens are problems and feelings that weigh us down and make us sad or tired. And the word "bear" here isn't like the fuzzy kind of bears I have in my basket. The word "bear" means to "hold up" or "carry." This is how that scripture reads in a newer translation of the Bible: "Share each other's troubles and problems" (NLT). So to bear each other's troubles and problems means to share each other's troubles and problems, doesn't it?

But how can you share someone's problems with him or her? Do you have any ideas? What if one of your friends is having trouble with a bully on the way home from school? How could you share his problem? Maybe you could walk home with him and help him stand up to the...