Opposite Day - Week 2
Up is Down. Right is Left. Cold is Hot. That’s right, we’re celebrating opposite day this whole month (or should we say, not celebrating? This could get confusing!) This series will give our families a chance to talk about the counter-culture things Jesus said. It sounds impossible to believe that struggles bring us closer to Jesus or that our enemies can teach us about love. However, these beautiful opposites remind us that a God we can’t see is always with us and that it’s better to follow Jesus than our own instincts. Happy Opposite Day!
Click HERE to watch this month’s memory verse video!
Our struggles bring us closer to Jesus
Preschool/Elementary MV: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." II Corinthians 12:9a (NIV)
TODDLER MV- "God's power makes me strong"- II Corinthians 12:9
READ: Blessings and Woes: Luke 6:17-26
WATCH:
Preschool- teaching video
Elementary- teaching video
SONG: I Have Decided
ACTIVITY:
INSTRUCTIONS: Use a yellow piece of construction paper, draw an outline of a snowman in pencil and help kids outline it with glue. Give your kids mini marshmallows to glue on to create their own summer snowman. They can draw in the face and arms before they glue on the marshmallows if they want.
Ask: What normally happens to snow in summer?
Disney's Olaf (from the movie Frozen) dreams about summer even though he’s a snowman. But he doesn’t think about all the things that could go wrong for him during summertime — like melting! Olaf talks about all the
fun things he could do!
We can try to be a little bit like Olaf. Whenever we struggle with something, we might cry or scream. We get sad or angry.
But what is our Big Idea? Our struggles bring us closer to Jesus. That means, instead of doing what we normally do, we can tell God about it.
Let’s make our own snowman in summer to help us remember to think about how much Jesus loves us and cares about us even when we are struggling.
COLORING: Blessings and Woes
DISCIPLE:
Read Luke 6:17-26 as a family. The reason Jesus said these things is because when our life is full of blessings only, it’s easy to forget about God. When we don’t need anything, we don’t talk to God. But when we have woes in our life, we remember that we are not alone. Even when we are sad or lonely, we remember that God loves us. So a lot of times, it’s during times of woe that we get closer to God!
INSTRUCTIONS: Gather newspapers, magazines, scissors, glue sticks, a poster board or large paper ahead of time. Have you family draw a large outline of the word "BLESSING" on a poster paper. Fill in the block letters with images that remind your family of blessings. Designate a space on a wall where you can put the posters up on display.
As you work to create your collage, don’t forget that blessings are not only the
good things in life. See if you can spot some images to include that might not look like a typical blessing, but you know that it can be when you bring it to Jesus! Because many times our struggles bring us closer to Jesus.
Pray: Dear God, thank you for showing us that we don’t have to face our struggles alone. Even when times are tough, help us to always remember we can talk to you about anything and we can grow closer to you even in our struggles. Amen.
DISCUSSION:
What was an example of a “blessing” in today’s story?
What was an example of a “woe”?
Why did Jesus call such good things a “woe” instead of a blessing?
Read Jeremiah 17:8. What is the benefit of a tree that’s planted by the water? How is that like someone who trusts in God?
What are some struggles that are going on in your life or in the world we live in?
How does a struggle bring us closer to God?
Can you think of a struggle that brought you or someone you know closer to God?