DIGGER DEEPER WITH JESUS WEEK 3 OCTOBER 20 & 21 4TH & 5TH GRADE
WEEK THREE OCTOBER 20 & 21 Bottom Line: Wanting what others have can make you miserable. The BIG IDEA: Contentment-Deciding to be okay with what you have. Bible Story Passage: I Kings 21:1-19, 27 King Ahab and Naboth s Vineyard Our Memory Verse for October: Then He said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against wanting to have more and more things. Life is not made up of how much a person has." Luke 12:15, NIrV Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what! PRAY IT OUT 1. Please ask if there are any prayer requests or answered prayer. 2. When a request is shared, please ask someone in the group to pray for that specific request. 3. THE BEST PART!! Pray together as a small group. 2
SEARCH IT OUT Recite the verse together. See if anyone has it memorized and would like to say it out loud for the group. Reward with two coins. October Memory Verse: Luke 12:15 Then He said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against wanting to have more and more things. Life is not made up of how much a person has." September Memory Verse: Colossian 3:23a Work at everything you do with all your heart. Work as if you were working for the Lord. August Memory Verse: James 1:5a If any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. He will give it to you. July Memory Verse: Philippians 1:6 "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." June Memory Verse: Psalm 27:13 "I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." May Memory Verse: Proverbs 10:9 Anyone who lives without blame walks safely. But anyone who takes a crooked path will get caught. April Memory Verse: Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord. Be strong and don't lose hope. Wait for the LORD! March Memory Verse: Romans 14:19 So let us do all we can to live in peace. And let us work hard to build up one another. February Memory Verse: Luke 6:31 Do to others as you want them to do to you. January Memory Verse: 1 Timothy 4:8 Training the body has some value. But being godly has value in every way. It promises help for the life you are now living and the life to come. (NirV) December Memory Verse: 1 Timothy 6:18 Command the rich to do what is good. Tell them to be rich in doing good things. They must give freely. They must be willing to share. (NirV) November Memory Verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks no matter what happens. God wants you to thank him because you believe in Christ Jesus. 3
SEEK IT OUT Bible Story Passage: Week 3 I Kings 21:1-19, 27 King Ahab and Naboth s Vineyard *Leaders: Please read YELLOW Story summary to your group. WRITE IT OUT & TALK IT OUT Any kids who complete these questions will earn 5 coins today! Complete the devotions at the back of this booklet and earn 10 coins! 1. Read I Kings 21:1-3. Why did King Ahab want land that belonged to someone else? Have you ever wanted something that someone else had? 2. Read I Kings 21:4. How did the King respond? How much land for vegetable gardens do you think the King had? Have you ever been so mad because you didn t get your way? 3. Read 1 Kings 21:6-7. How did his wife respond? What happens when someone is used to always getting their way? What happens to us? 4. Read 1 Kings 21:11-14. What terrible things did Jezebel do to make sure her husband got his way? Was a vegetable garden worth it? 5. Read Luke 12:15. This verse is a protection for us. Pray together for the Holy Spirit to help us let go of always wanting more. 4
DAY 1 READ 1 KINGS 21:1-19, 27 It s hard to imagine a bigger crybaby than King Ahab. He was the king. He was in charge. He lived in a palace! But somehow that wasn t enough. He just had to have Naboth s vineyard so he could plant a new vegetable garden. But Naboth, understandably, didn t want to give up his family s land. Look at what happened when Naboth dared to refuse Ahab s request. READ VERSE 4 AGAIN. Yikes. Does that sound like the way a king should act? For Ahab, it probably wasn t even about the vineyard anymore. It was about the fact that someone had told him No. He couldn t snap out of it and that s why Jezebel ended up coming up with her evil plan to get rid of Naboth. NOW READ VERSE 27 AGAIN. What was the deal with this guy? Why wasn t he happy? I mean, didn t he just get what he wanted? Naboth was gone, and the vineyard was his! But it didn t matter. No one could help Ahab now. He was absolutely miserable. It s so obvious when we read it now. For King Ahab, it all came down to his terrible attitude. What if he had just been content with his incredible palace? It s funny how our attitude can affect the way we live each day. We might not have any control over what happens to us but we can control our attitude. We can either choose to accept things and be content or we can choose to whine and pout like Ahab and make ourselves (and everyone else) miserable. How about you? How s your attitude today? DAY 2 No matter how much stuff you have, you ll always want more. We talked about that last week. It s impossible to reach that magic amount of money or things where you feel like you (finally) have enough. That s not how stuff works. It was never meant to satisfy us over the long term. Sure you don t really expect to own a Lamborghini or a private yacht. But you do wish you had new soccer cleats like your teammate does. You do wish you could go see that new superhero movie in the theater like your friend did. Come to think of it, you wish you had as many Pokemon cards as he does, too. So many times we get jealous of the things we see right around us. We see them so we want them. THE QUESTION IS... WHY? Why can t we be happy for what other people have without needing to have that same thing ourselves? Do we feel like life has to be fair meaning fair for us? That idea that things have to be fair is what drives a lot of our jealousy. And it s not going away as you get older. The solution? Talk to God about it. Ask Him to help you remember that your relationship with Him is enough! HEAR FROM GOD PRAY TO GOD 5
DAY 3 DAY 4 How do you keep from feeling jealous of what other people have? There s one way that might surprise you. INSTEAD OF TRYING TO IGNORE IT WHAT IF YOU CHOSE TO TALK IT OUT? What if you complimented your friend on her new jacket instead of wishing you had one just like it? What if you asked your friend to show you his Lego collection instead of spending your time staring at commercials? What if you offered to play catch with your brother instead of being mad that he got that cool new football? Don t let jealousy hurt your friendships. Don t let envy give you a bad attitude. Make the first move and choose to be happy for your friends. It ll help you be a lot more content, too! WHAT CAN YOU DO WHEN ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS WHAT SOMEONE ELSE HAS? Worship is more than just singing. You can worship God with the way you live. You can live on purpose and make choices that bring honor to Him. It s natural to get jealous and complain when things aren t fair. That s why it stands out so much when someone chooses to show contentment instead. That someone could be you! If you hear that a friend is going on an amazing vacation... Don t roll your eyes and say, I wish I could go. Say, I m happy for them. That s so fun that they get to go! If your friend gets that new game the day it s released... It s fine to say, You re so lucky! Don t whine or complain about it. Ask if they can show you how to play it sometime. If your sister gets an award at school... Congratulate her. (And actually mean it.) That sounds pretty simple, right? But it isn t easy. It s all about re-framing the way you look at things, or things that happen. Think about it like you re putting a picture frame around whatever you see, so that you remember to look at it in a different way. CHOOSING CONTENTMENT COULD BE ONE OF THE BIGGEST AND BEST WAYS TO WORSHIP GOD. It reminds you (and everyone else) that He s in control of your stuff, or your circumstances, of your life! TALK WITH GOD LIVE FOR GOD 6
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