Be on God’s Team
The example of choosing up sides for a game illustrates the point that everyone is chosen to be on God’s Team and our special job on that team is to love one another.
Themes:
Love; responsibility to God; being chosen by God; (Colossians 3:12-14)
Preparation:
Prepare ahead of time small slips of paper—a sufficient number for each child to have one. Print a heart on each slip (or use a sticker). Fold the slips over twice so the heart is not visible. Put folded slips of paper in a small basket, bag or box for later distribution to the children.
What to say:
Have any of you ever been at school when people chose up sides for a game—like softball or red rover? Or playing with a group of friends when they were choosing sides like who would be the cops and who would be robbers? (Acknowledge affirmative responses from children.)
When you are chosen, you have something special to do for that side, don’t you? Like hit or catch the ball, or catch the bad guys. Right? When I was in school and they chose up teams, sometimes I was one of the last ones chosen because I’m not a very fast runner. Has anything like that ever happened to you? (Wait for head-nods and affirmations here, not stories. Choose someone who nodded “yes” at the last question and ask that one:) What does it feel like to be chosen last? (Sad, left out, lonely…)
Today, I am acting as God’s helper, and we are going to choose people to be on God’s Team. OK? I want you each to take a piece of paper from my basket here. Don’t unfold it until everyone has one. Does everyone have one? If there is something printed on your paper, you are chosen. If your paper is blank, you are not. OK, everyone open their paper now!
That’s great! You’ve been chosen! Does everyone have something on their paper? You all do? How wonderful! You’ve ALL been chosen to be on God’s team. Now that you’re on a team you have a special job to do for that team. Your paper tells you what your job is. What is it? LOVE! Right! Being on God’s team means our job is to love other people—our friends, our families, our neighbors… Our job is to love even when it isn’t easy to love. Sometimes it’s difficult to love. But that’s what God wants us to do.
Contributed by Melany Burrill
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