8th July 2013 - Friends

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”)

Other suggestions:

• 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!

 

<end>