Best Friends 8th July 2013
1. Game – Here I Sit
(see description of this here)
2. Activity-Best
Friends
Ask the children to get into pairs. Each pair should think
of a surprising friendship, either from the Bible or from television or movies
- like Shrek and donkey or Danny and Sandy - people that you wouldn't expect to
be friends.
Each pair should pretend to be the friends that they have
chosen and introduce themselves to the rest of the group, eg “Hi, we are (Shrek
and Donkey). We have been friends for (a while) now. People are surprised that we
are friends because (he's a donkey and I'm an ogre. Also he never stops talking
and I am a grumpy watsit who likes peace and quiet.) “
The ones chosen in this session were
-
Princess and Frog
-
Him and Himself (?)
-
Oberon, Puck and Titania (never know an 11 year old boy knew
that much about Shakespeare”)
- Adam and Eve
- Bill and Ben
- Jack and Jill
- Kermit and Miss Piggy
- Lady and the Tramp….
When each pair has been introduced write their (fictional)
names on a flip chart.
Ask the children to think about which of the pairs were the
most surprising friends. Each child should take a slip of paper and vote for
one of the pairs.
Count the votes and see who has been voted as the most
unlikely friendship.
Finished off the activity by talking briefly about what
might make very different people want to be friends with each other. What makes
a good friendship?
3. Activity /Drama FRIENDS IN NEED
We talked together about the difficulties we go through at
different times and the things that might make us feel very sad or very happy. The
reactions of our friends can either help us or make things worse for us.
Kids then took turns at:
- Pretending to need help (eg being bullied, feeling ill, and failed an exam…)
- Somebody else – saying negative things to them
- Somebody else- saying good things
The kids loved this, but we used it as an example of how we
could build people up or not...
Song – Dave Godfreys
Holy Washing Machine
With actions (of course)
Bible Study
Kids split in to groups, and went thru the following verses
and tried to answer questions…
John 15:12-14
- What commandment has Jesus given his disciples?
- What is the greatest thing you can do for a friend?
- Can you think of any commandments God has given about how we are supposed to treat other people?
- What can you learn about friendship from this passage?
Acts 24:23 and 27:3
- What did Paul's friends do for him?
- What sort of things do you think his friends helped Paul with?
- Should friends give things to each other without expecting things back in return?
Proverbs 17:17, 27:6
- When is a friend loyal?
- Can you think of times when it would be difficult to be loyal to a friend?
- What do you thinkthat "wounds from a friend" are?
- Why might a good friend sometimes do something that upsets you - can you think of an example?
- There is a saying "cruel to be kind" - what does this mean? Do you think that this passage is about being "cruel to be kind"?
- Why is it better to be told the truth by a friend than to be flattered by someone who doesn't care?
- What can you learn about friendship from this passage?
The Point: To look at different Bible passages about
friendship. John gives us Jesus' commandment to love one another; Acts shows us briefly that Paul's' friends
responded to his needs - which raises questions about how much friends should
be prepared to give one another - and Proverbs looks at the times when friends have to be cruel to be
kind!
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