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Daniel 6

Key s to Liv i ng a S uc c es s ful Chris ti a n Li fe i n a P a ga n Worl d 6. BE A WIT

ESS

Bi!le Passage: Daniel 2, 4, 6 Bi!le Truth: Daniel's contact with people resulted in their praising and giving glory to God. Lesson "!#ective: That students desire to be a witness who brings praise and glory to God What you need: coin, a spoon! darkened roo", candles#one larger $or the leader and a s"all one $or each student#and "atches, have a napkin $or each student to catch the hot wa%, &it would also be a good idea to have a $ire e%tinguisher, or a bucket o$ water or wet cloth 'ust in case you need it(, three blank pieces o$ paper and pencils "$ening )hockwave. Divide the group into two tea"s and have the tea"s sit in parallel lines $acing each other. t one end o$ the lines place a spoon &or any ob'ect easy to grab( on a chair at the end o$ the lines within reach o$ the last person on each tea" while you stand at the other end o$ the lines. *%plain that you will toss a coin, so that the $irst person in each row can see i$ it lands on heads or tails. *veryone else will be seated with their head down, eyes closed &keep watch throughout the ga"e to "ake sure all eyes are closed, e%cept $or those o$ the $irst person in each line( and holding the hands o$ their tea""ates seated ne%t to the". +$ it lands on heads, that person will s,uee-e the hand o$ the ne%t person and the s,uee-e should pass on down the line until the last person, upon receiving the s,uee-e tries to grab the spoon be$ore the person $ro" the other tea" does. The $irst person to grab the spoon then "oves to the $irst seat and everyone on the tea" "oves over a seat. The goal is to be the $irst tea" to return to their original positions. +$ the coin lands on tails, nothing happens and you toss the coin again. +$ so"eone passes a s,uee-e and the tea" grabs the spoon on tails, or i$ anyone on a tea" opens their eyes, the tea" "ust "ove one place backwards, so be watching the". /lay as "any or $ew ti"es as ti"e allows. Then "ove the chairs back into a circle and ask:

What factors helped or hurt your team? How important was it to pass on the squeeze?

In this game it is important that you receive and then pass on information. In the same way, in your Christian life you have received God s grace and love and the good news a!out salvation in Christ, and it is important that you pass that information on to others.

Interactive Learning &+$ your "eeting is during the day and in a roo" with windows, be$ore class cover the windows with paper, sheets, or whatever "aterial you have handy, to prevent light $ro" co"ing in. 0ave a candle and "atches handy so you can light it in the dark.( Turn o$$ the lights in the roo" so that it is as dark as possible and ask the students,

How do you feel a!out !eing in the dar"?

What does dar"ness often sym!olize? &evil, $ear, ignorance, being lost, etc.( *%plain that the 1ible o$ten uses the i"age o$ darkness to represent being separated $ro" God because everyone has at so"e ti"e $elt the $ear and insecurity o$ being in the dark and knows what a relie$ it is when light co"es into that darkness and you can see "ore clearly. 2ight your candle and by it's light read 3t. 4:54#56

#ccording to these verses what do we desire that people do when they see our good wor"s? &praise God( $oday we are going to see what happened in people s lives as a result of their contact with %aniel .
&Turn the lights back on.(

Bi!le A$$lication 1e$ore class prepare a chalkboard or a large piece o$ paper with the $ollowing written on it: Cha$ter % & 6 5( What is the crisis' 2( What does (aniel say a!out )od' 6( What does )od do' 5#6 27#28 59,44&b( 4#7 24#24 66 55#56 25#22 25#22

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Daniel 6

4( What does the *ing say a!out )od as a result'

46,47

2#6,64#64, 67

24#27

Divide the students into three groups and assign a chapter to each group &chapters 2, 4, 6.( Give a piece o$ paper and a pencil to each group and ask the students as a group to answer the $our ,uestions based on the verses given $or each ,uestion. :hen they have $inished, co"e together again and have a representative $ro" each group give the answers to the $our ,uestions $ro" their verses.

What response do we see in people s lives as a result of their contact with %aniel? &/eople praise and give
glory to God. so"eone "ay also "ention the other satraps that wanted to kill Daniel, in which case you "ight talk about how people who hate God are going to hate us because we represent hi"(

What do we see %aniel doing to produce these results? &trusting in God and clearly telling people what God can do
and has done(

&ur si'th "ey to living a successful Christian life in a pagan world is ()e a Witness.( $he world around us, li"e the world around %aniel, is dar" in that it doesn t "now who God really is and what he is li"e.

Co++it+ent:
When it comes to trying to !e a good witness to God with our lives, here is a prayer I thin" we can all identify with* %ear +ord, so far today I ve done all right. I haven t gossiped, I haven t lost my temper, haven t !een greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, over,indulgent, or told anyone to mind their own !usiness and stay out of mine. I m really glad a!out that, !ut in a few minutes, God, I m going to get out of !ed, and from then on I m pro!a!ly going to need a lot more help. -eriously, let s thin" a!out practical situations in which we can (let our lights shine( so people can (praise our .ather in heaven.(

Who do you come in contact with regularly? &write on the board their answers like $a"ily, $riends, neighbors,
class"ates, teachers, people we work with(

/ow, each of you is going to thin" of a person or group of people with whom you have the opportunity to share something specific that God has done in your life or could do in their lives. .or e'ample, it could !e that you have a classmate who is not getting along with their parents and you could tell them a!out how God has helped you in your relationship with your parents. &r it could !e that your !rother or sister is having a really hard time at wor" or at school and you could offer to pray with them. It could !e that you can t thin" of a specific situation !ut there is a person that you "now really needs some of God s light in their life.

Then ask the" to divide into pairs and share the situation you want to be a witness in. Closing 0ave the students turn in their 1ibles to 3t. 4:54#56. Then turn o$$ the lights and light your candle.
0ust li"e we read in that prayer, we don t get too far into the day !eing a good witness on our own. In closing we want to as" God to !e at wor" in our lives so we can !e good witnesses, and also !e at wor" in the situations and the hearts of people so that He will !e glorified. 1ou may not thin" that you can do much, !ut even a very small candle ma"es a difference in a dar" room.

/ass out candles and napkins to everyone. *%plain that you will open with prayer and then light the candle o$ the person sitting ne%t to you. That person should pray silently or out loud, whatever they $eel "ost co"$ortable with, asking God to help the" be a good witness in the situation the shared with their partner, then they should light the candle o$ their neighbor, and so on, until all o$ the candles are lit.