CrossKids Devo | Sharing & Caring
Activity – Tell Me Thumbthing
Say: When people like a movie, they sometimes give it a thumbs-up. Demonstrate. Really like the movie? Two thumbs-up. If they dislike or really dislike the movie, they give it one or two thumbs-down. Demonstrate.
Please rate how this past week has gone for you. Was it a one or two thumbs-up week? A one or two thumbs-down week? Or maybe you'd give it one thumbs-up and one thumbs-down--it was a good and bad week.
Rate your week now.
After kids rate their weeks, give kids 30 seconds each to explain why they rated their weeks as they did. You'll go first, sharing a story that models the sort of brief, personal stories you hope kids will share too.
Children will express themselves more over time, and hearing their stories will help you adapt this session to make it even more relevant to your kids' lives. Bible Time – Sharing & Caring – 1 Thessalonians 5:15, 5:12-24 Verse Of The Day: 1 Thessalonians 5:15
Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24
Story: Annie loved Jesus very much. She always shared with her friends about Him and anyone else who would listen, except for Kelli. Kelli was a girl at school who would not listen when Annie was talking about Jesus and Kelli would make fun of her no matter how nice Annie was. Kelli didn’t let Annie finish any of her stories. She was rude and tried to make Annie forget what she was saying. After a while Annie found it was very hard to be nice to Kelli at all, but she knew the Lord desired her to love everyone, even Kelli. The Lord desires to make us perfect in Him, blameless.
One night after dinner Annie was reading the Bible, and she read a verse that made her think about Kelli. Annie somehow knew in her heart that God wanted her to pray for Kelli right then. Annie got on her knees and began praying for the girl who had been mean to her for so long. Annie prayed for Kelli, asking God to help her and to change her heart. The next day, she was surprised when she found out that Kelli had been in an accident on her bike and was in the hospital. Annie believed God wanted her to visit Kelli and pray with her. Annie was afraid of Kelli making fun of her again and telling her to leave, but she felt the Lord really wanted her to go and so she trusted God. She cut some roses from her garden for Kelli and took her Bible.
Kelli was so surprised that Annie came, but inside her heart glad that she did. Annie told her about the prayers the night before. Kelli said a car had hit her bike that night and the doctors were very surprised that only her arm was broken. Annie told Kelli how much God loved her and wanted her to have a relationship with Him. The two girls ended up becoming great friends and Kelli gave her heart to Jesus. As they grew up, they told everyone about the miracle God did for Kelli and for their relationship.
Why would Annie pray for her enemy?
Why did Kelli and Annie become friends?
Can you think of someone you could pray for right now?
Kid's Bible Dictionary
Blameless: Not causing hurt. Being without fault in a matter.
Pray