Wrapped Up

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December 28, 2014 .:. Small Group Team Time

Pathways Church Childrens Ministry Weekend Elementary

This Weeks Scope

Bible Story: Have Yourself a Myrrhy Little Christmas (wise men visit Jesus) Matthew 2:1-12
Bottom Line: Get wrapped up in giving.
Memory Verse: Be rich in good deeds be generous and willing to share. 1 Timothy 6:18, NIV
Life App: Generositymaking someones day by giving something away.
Basic Truth: I should treat others the way I want to be treated.
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This week, were discovering:

The wise men knew how to be generous. In Matthew 2:1-12, we read about the men who came to visit
Jesus. Through the time they spend traveling and the gifts they brought, they went above and beyond
to worship Jesus and show generosity.
Our Bottom Line is: Get wrapped up in giving. Generosity isnt something we only show at Christmas
time. Rather, generosity should become part of who we are. We can give of our money, time, talents,
and resources to help others all throughout the year.
Our memory verse is 1 Timothy 6:18, Be rich in good deeds be generous and willing to
share. (NIV) Our verse this month challenges us that there are many ways to be generous besides
giving gifts that cost money.

Welcome Time
What You Need: An offering container
What You Do:
Collect kids offerings as they arrive. Talk about some gifts they have received. Ask questions such as:
What is the most special gift you have ever received? Why is it special to you? Who gave it to you? On
what occasion?

Activity #1
Wrapped Up in Giving (application activity / great for active learners)
What You Need: Ball
What You Do:
Stand in the middle of your space. Ask the kids to get into a circle around you and spread out. Tell kids
that you will close your eyes as they toss a ball while saying, Get wrapped up in giving. Theyll say
one word per toss. The next person who catches the ball has to come up with a way they can give to
others and shout it out before you can open your eyes, spot the kid with the ball, and tag his shoulders.
If the kid gets tagged, he sits down and is out of the game.
What You Say:
You know, its really fun to give. When we make someone elses day by giving something away, it feels
good for us, too. Yes, somehow we still get wrapped up in the getting. Its crazy! Have you ever given
someone something really special? What did they say or do when you gave it to them? (Pause for
responses.) Oh, so cool! I hope you remember that moment forever. Im proud of you for being
generous. When we [Impress] get wrapped up in giving, it helps us focus more on other people
rather than ourselves. [Apply] Thats another way we can be like Jesusputting others first and
thinking about ways to be generous and share with them.

Prayer Time
What You Need: Note cards, pens
What You Do:
Give each kid a note card, ask them to divide it into four sections (two on the front and two on the back)
and label them:
1) Time
2) Energy
3) Money / stuff
4) Intentionality
Talk about some examples of what it would look like to be generous in those four areas. Then ask each
kid to come up with four ways they can [Impress] get wrapped up in giving and plan how they can
give their time, energy, money/stuff, and intentionality to others. They should write an example on each
section of the note card. When they have their cards all filled in, ask them to trade cards with a friend
and pray for each other to be generous in these areas. (Make sure kids get their own cards back before
they leave so they can remind themselves of what they wrote down.)
What You Say:
You guys came up with some great ideas of how to be generous, and we can all see that even kids
your age can be generous just like God tells us to be! [Apply] I want you all to take your cards home

and continue to pray about being generous in all four of the areas. And I pray you are all brave
enough to follow through with your ideas. You will really make someones day! Have a great week, and
Ill see you soon!

Activity
#2
What You
Need: Paper, markers
Generous All Around (review the Bible story / application activity)
What You Need: Generous All Around Activity Pages, Bibles, craft sticks, scissors, tape
What You Do:
Ask kids to open their Bibles to Matthew 2:1-12, and read the Bible story aloud. Then talk through how
the wise men were generous in these four areas:
1) Timethey traveled possibly for years just to come see Jesus
2) Energyit wasnt easy to find Jesus, but they did it anyway
3) Money / Stuffthey gave very precious gifts
4) Intentionalitythey didnt just happen upon Jesus, they went out of their way to worship Him
Then hand the kids an Activity Page, two craft sticks each, and scissors. Tell them to cut the four
images apart on the cut lines and then tape them to the craft sticks so there is an image on each side of
the two craft sticks. Point out that the pictures they are taping onto the sticks are the four different ways
they can be generoustime, energy, money and stuff, and intentionality.
Then read the following list of situations aloud and ask kids to hold up what type of generosity they
think it is.
Note: Technically, energy and time could work for all of these situations. You may have a very literal
kid or two (or three!) who get caught up on this technicality. As long as theyre not being disrespectful or
smart-alecky, hear them out on their reasons why they would choose time and/or energy. Ask them to
give reasons for another type of generosity that would work in the particular situation youre discussing.
Situations:
1) Maggie and her mom took her extra clothes to a local thrift store. (money / stuff)
2) Ben and his big brother volunteered to sit and wait for a delivery so their mom could go run
errands. (time)
3) Jack helped his neighbors with yard work and picking up sticks. (time and energy)
4) Sarah saw a girl sitting alone and went and sat with her and became friends with her.
(intentionality)
5) Max noticed he had lots of toys, so he gave half of them away to kids who didnt have any toys.
(money / stuff)

6) Charlotte used her free time to help her Small Group Leader cut out pictures for their upcoming
class activity. (time)
7) Lizzy helped her teacher pack up all the library books and carry them across the school to the
library. (time and energy)
8) Sam made sure everyone in his gym class got picked for a team and felt included.
(intentionality)
What You Say:
Its easy to think that being generous and giving has to do with money and kids dont usually have
very much money, do they? But as we can see from the wise men, its not just about money. You can
be generous in many ways! And I bet most of you really do have some extra stuff, too! So lets
[Impress] get wrapped up in giving and find ways that we can learn from the wise men and be
generous. We do call them wise men, after all. They must be onto something! [Make It Personal]
(Tell the kids about a way you can be generous this week with something other than money, and
tell them how you plan to do it.) [Apply] Who wants to share a way they plan to give this week?
What type of generosity is it?