SERVE
SERVE
SERVE
SERVE
SERVE
SERVE
HIM ONLY
ONE ANOTHER
WHOLEHEARTEDLY
LIKE JESUS
HIM TOGETHER
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SERVE
Session 1: Serve Him Only
Goal: Lay the foundation for campers to understand that God is over all and
that our ultimate purpose is to serve Him.
Biblical Focus: Elijah (1 Kings 18:17-40)
Virtue: Integrity - Being whole and complete in moral and ethical principles.
– “May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.”
Psalms 25:21
Memory Verse: “Jesus replied, The Scriptures say, “You must worship the
Lord your God and serve only Him.” Luke 4:8 (NLT)
Supplies: flip chart, markers, balloons (2 bags), tape (2 rolls), paper (1
sheet per person), tennis balls (6), gray or brown paper (1 sheet per
person), glass cleaning wipes or glass cleaner and paper towels
Session 2: Serve One Another
Goal: As a result of serving God, the overflow of our relationship with Him
should cause us to want to serve one another in love.
Biblical Focus: The Good Samaritan, Mary and Martha (Luke 10:25-41)
Virtues: Perseverance - steadfast in doing something despite difficulty or
delay in achieving success. Determination - Working intently to accomplish
goals regardless of the opposition. – “Blessed is the man who perseveres
under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of
life that God has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12
Memory Verse: “use your freedom to serve one another in love.”
5:13 (NLT)
Galatians
Supplies: flip chart, several rolls of gauze, small paper cups filled with water
(2), construction paper (1 sheet per person), markers
Session 3: Serve Wholeheartedly
Goal: When you serve God with all of your heart, others will want to serve
Him, too.
Biblical Focus: Daniel (Daniel 6)
Virtue: Courage - Fulfilling my responsibilities and standing up for
convictions in spite of being afraid; the Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me . . . Psalms 118:6)
Memory Verse: “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not
men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever
good he does, whether he is slave or free.” Ephesians 6:7-8 (NIV)
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Supplies: flip chart, markers, blindfolds (1 per person), card stock (1/2
sheet per person), paper (1 sheet per person, with verse), tape, large sheet,
flashlight, small trash bags or grocery bags (1 per person)
Session 4: Serve Like Jesus
Goal: Jesus came to serve us by giving His life. We should serve Him by
giving Him ours.
Biblical Focus: Jesus (Luke 2:1-20, 8:40-55, 23:26-24:11, and John
13:1-12)
Virtue: Humility - Seeing the contrast between what is perfect and my
inability to achieve that perfection. – “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or
vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves…”
Philippians 2:3
Memory Verse: “But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a
leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first
among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man
came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for
many.” Mark 10:43-45 (NLT)
Supplies: flip chart, marker, pictures (nativity, healing, disciples and cross/
tomb), paper towels, bucket of water, trash bag
Session 5: Serve Together
Goal: We should talk about Jesus and serve Him with our friends.
Biblical Focus: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3)
Virtue: Optimism - A tendency to expect the best, or at least, a favorable
outcome. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those
who love him, who have been called according to his purpose…” Romans 8:28
Memory Verse: “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend
themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12
(NIV)
Supplies: flip chart, marker, pictures (buildings, sub sandwiches), candle,
matches/lighter, birthday candles (1 per person), hole punch, index cards (5
per person), pens (1 per person), twine (1 piece per person)
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serve
Session Schedule:
Intro. Activity
10 - 15 min.
Lesson
10 - 15 min.
Life Application
5 -10 min.
Memory Verse Activity
5 - 10 min.
Prayer
5 min.
Serve
10 - 15 min.
Challenge to the leaders:
ARE YOU READY TO BE OFFERED?
Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service
of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all.
-Philippians 2:17
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Serve
Session 1: Serve only God
Goal: Lay the foundation for campers to understand that God is over all and that
our ultimate purpose is to serve Him.
Biblical Focus: 1 Kings 18:17-40 (Elijah)
Virtue: Integrity - Being whole and complete in moral and ethical principles. –
“May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.” Psalms
25:21
Memory Verse: “Jesus replied, 'The Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord
your God and serve only Him.’” Luke 4:8 (NLT)
Supplies: flip chart, markers, balloons (2 bags), tape (2 rolls), paper (1 sheet per
person), tennis balls (6), gray or brown paper (1 sheet per person), glass cleaning
wipes or glass cleaner and paper towels
For the Bible Study Leader: To start off we need to define the word that is the
driving force behind camp: SERVE. We will define SERVE as “Using our actions to
promote someone else by obeying God.” This means we are doing something that
shows those around us that someone else is more important than we are in a way
that follows God’s plan and honors Him. Sometimes serving is small and sometimes
it is big.
The lesson in session 1 comes from 1 Kings 18. I chose this story because Elijah is
an amazing representation of the life of God’s servant. We could literally talk about
him in every session during the week. He truly understands that God is over all and
that our ultimate purpose is to serve Him. In 1 Kings 16, we learn that Ahab is
King, he has married Jezebel and they are worshiping false gods. In chapter 17
Elijah boldly tells King Ahab that the God he serves has told him there will be a
drought until he says otherwise. Then Elijah goes to live by the river and God sends
ravens to feed him. That sounds pretty gross. I believe it would really take a true
servant of the most-high God to trust that he will be provided for through the food
left by birds. Anyway, when the river dries up, the Lord moves him to an area
where he asks a dying widow for her last bit of bread. When she agrees, her flour
and oil are never used up. Then her son dies and the Lord heals him through Elijah
and it is then that the lady fully realizes he is a man of God. Then, Elijah goes to
present himself to King Ahab again. Ahab calls him a troublemaker and Elijah says,
“No, you are the troublemaker for worshipping other gods.” Elijah challenges Ahab
to find out who the one true God is by meeting all of his other prophets on Mount
Carmel. The god who sends fire will be known as the one true God. Elijah mocked
the other prophets while they called out to their gods because nothing was
happening and they were wearing themselves out and bleeding. Then our God
shows up in a totally awesome way, by sending fire after Elijah prays the prayer of
the most humble servant.
Elijah served the Lord and only the Lord. Even when the odds were stacked against
him, he knew that he served the one true God. You can see that Elijah’s life is
marked by service to our Lord. God is over all of his life and Elijah sees that his
ultimate purpose is to serve Him. He doesn’t back down. He is not afraid. He
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doesn’t follow his own desires. He hears from the Lord and obeys immediately. His
ultimate purpose is to serve God only. Elijah promotes God through his obedient
actions.
Intro. Activity
First, to start this lesson let’s define “serve” with the kids. We will begin with an
activity that aims to discover what serving is not. It’s kind of like in 1 Corinthians
13 when we read all the things love IS along with things that love is NOT. On your
flip chart write the word, “SERVE.” Below it allow the kids take turns writing things
that serving is NOT. You can be silly and write things like jumping rope or eating
lunch, but then challenge them to come up with serious things like not holding the
door open for someone else or not allowing someone to be part of their team. Talk
about why these things are not serving and then share our definition of service.
“Using our actions to promote someone else by obeying God.”
Next, divide the group into two teams. Give each team a bag of balloons and a roll
of tape. Give them 5 minutes to design and build the tallest freestanding tower.
(This can be extra challenging if you are outside and it is windy. If so you may not
worry about the “freestanding” part.) This is a good chance for them to learn about
teamwork. When their time is up, declare the winners. Let both teams know that
you will be using their towers as you tell the story. The winning team’s tower will
become the altar to all the false gods and the losing team’s tower will represent the
altar of our true and living God. You may have to have one kid hold each “altar” as
you tell the story.
Lesson
Tell the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 18:17-40 by narrating DRAMATICALLY and having
the kids act out a play according to your directions. You will need: Elijah, King
Ahab, most kids can be the prophets of the false gods and onlookers and you will
also need 4 water pourers. The students should pantomime their character’s words
and actions. To impress important parts, have the actors repeat underlined phrases
in the story, after you.
Alternate option: Perform a one-male/one-female play where you act out all of the
characters yourself, moving from side to side and using different voices.
Narrator: After Ahab became King and began worshipping gods other than the one
true God, Elijah was sent to share a word from the Lord to King Ahab saying that
there would be a drought. Three years into the drought something amazing
happened. This is where our story begins.
Elijah went to meet King Ahab. When Ahab saw him, he exclaimed, “So, is it really
you, you troublemaker of Israel?”
“I have made no trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “You and your family are the
troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the Lord and have
worshiped the images of Baal instead. Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount
Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who
are supported by Jezebel.”
So Ahab summoned all the people of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel.
Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver,
hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God,
then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.
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Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal
has 450 prophets. Now bring two bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever
one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without
setting fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood on the altar, but
not set fire to it. Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of
the Lord. The god who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God!” All the
people agreed.
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “You go first, for there are many of you.
Choose one of the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do
not set fire to the wood.”
So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the
name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But
there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they
had made.
About noontime Elijah began mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he
scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself.
Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”
So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves
with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. They raved all afternoon until
the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no
response.
Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here!” They all crowded around him as
he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. He took twelve stones,
one to represent each of the tribes of Israel, and he used the stones to rebuild the
altar in the name of the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough
to hold about three gallons. He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and
laid the pieces on the wood.
Then he said, “Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering
and the wood.”
After they had done this, he said, “Do the same thing again!” And when they were
finished, he said, “Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said, and the water ran
around the altar and even filled the trench.
At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to
the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that
you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at
your command. O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you,
O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”
(Speak this part with great excitement.) Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed
down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the
dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! And when all the people saw it,
they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the
Lord is God!
Even when the odds were stacked against him, Elijah knew that he served the one
true God. You can see that God is over all of his life and Elijah sees that his ultimate
purpose is to serve Him. He doesn’t back down. He is not afraid. He doesn’t follow
his own feelings. He listens to the Lord and obeys immediately. Elijah knows that
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God is in control and his ultimate purpose is to serve God only. We define the word
serve as: “Using our actions to promote someone else by obeying God.” And Elijah
promotes God through his obedient actions.
Life Application
Elijah showed Integrity - Being whole and complete in moral and ethical principles.
– “May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.” Psalms
25:21
Share with the kids that most likely they will not be told to climb a mountain and
take on a thousand people that don’t like them or our God. Everyday they have
simple choices to make that can be their own version of Elijah’s Mt. Carmel and the
kids can be an example of integrity to those around them.
Give each camper a sheet of paper and a marker.
Option #1: Have them draw a picture of something that could happen in their daily
lives where they are challenged to stand up and serve God only with integrity, even
if it would be easier not to. Give them some time to think and draw. After a few
minutes allow them to share their drawings. Then discuss different ways they could
approach the situation.
Option #2: Have them fold the paper into fourths and unfold it. This will give them
four boxes on the paper. Come up with a situation where it might be hard to serve
God with integrity. In the first box, have them write a phrase that describes the
situation (i.e. “I can serve God even when other people are mean). Then have them
draw the situation in the second box. In the third box write something good that
might happen by showing integrity (i.e. When I serve God others will be kind!) In
the fourth box have them draw a picture describing what happens when they show
integrity.
Let them know that it doesn’t matter how big or small their action is, showing
integrity no matter what and serving Him only is our ultimate purpose in life!
Bible Verse Activity
“Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only Him.’” Luke 4:8 (NLT)
Write the verse, in 6 parts on 6 tennis balls with a permanent marker.
Ball 1: Jesus replied,
Ball 2: “The Scriptures say,
Ball 3: ‘You must worship
Ball 4: the Lord your God
Ball 5: and serve only Him.’”
Ball 6: Luke 4:8 (NLT)
Go over the verse a couple of times with the group then line them up in two lines
facing each other. Hand the first child in line, ball #1, have him read it and pass it
to the person across from him. When she catches the ball, have her read it and
pass it to the person diagonally across from her, then hand ball #2 to the first
person and have him read it, then pass it. Once all the balls have moved all the way
down the line, start over from that end of the line. (see diagram below)
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Option #2: If you have older kids, you can make the last person carry the ball to
the front of the line after he reads his part of the verse. Then he starts the next ball
going down the line. This will keep the line constantly changing and the verse
constantly moving.
Option #3: If you have younger kids you can sit in a circle and hand the ball to the
next person going clockwise around as you read it aloud. When every part has been
read, you can all say the verse together. Then try passing the verse counterclockwise.
Prayer
Move the group into a circle and give each student a sheet of brown or gray paper.
Have each one write their name on the paper. Then, have them wad it up into a ball
so it resembles a rock. Let them know that God has a special plan for each of them
just like he did for Elijah. When Elijah went to pray, he set a stone at the altar for
each tribe of Israel. Tell them that today before you pray, you will set up their
stones to show that each of them is represented in the prayer and that you are
praying that they will stand strong, like a rock, as they try to serve only God
everyday. Allow each child to share a prayer request as they place their rock in the
center of the circle. Close your time in prayer with everyone kneeling like Elijah
might have kneeled before the altar of the Lord. (Save the “rocks” and put them
out each day during prayer time as a reminder that our God is the only living God
and He shows His power when we pray, just like He did for Elijah!)
Serve
Tell the kids that we aren’t just going to talk about serving this week; we are going
to get down and dirty doing some fun projects to serve people around us. Some will
be easy, some will be harder, some will be messy and some will be nice and clean.
You can serve people in many different ways. Today, take a trip to the parking lot
and clean the windows of the cars, trucks and SUVs. Either use a pack of glass
cleaning wipes or a bottle of glass cleaner and paper towels. Show the kids how to
clean the windows and mirrors really well. Even let them shine the headlights,
taillights and license plates for a little extra fun. (In advance: Let the organization
you are working with know about this project so they can park their cars in a
specific area if they want to take part and another area if they do NOT want kids
touching their vehicle).
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