Scripture: for teacher background: Philippians 4:13 2 Cor 12:9 Zechariah 4:6 Romans 6:11-14; 1 Tim 6:6-14
Making
contact:
Toys are such
fun and collecting cards and little things and swapping them at school is also
fun.
Maybe you could
play a game with the children where they have to collect a set of 4 things and
swop them with each other. You will need to have the correct number of cards
for the number of children.
Another way to
play is to whisper in their ears which animal they are. Choose different
animals that make a noise. Then the children must find the other animals the
same as they are and the first group to be together wins.
Exploration:
Unfortunately,
not all the things that we can collect in crisp packets, cereal packets and other places are
good toys. There are some that we must stay away from.
For example
there is one set called the Dragon Bulls and when you have gathered all seven
together, the Eternal Dragon is summoned.
Be warned –
games like this are not just games, and you might be causing real problems. It
has happened in schools that the children got so carried away with these kinds
of games that violence broke out.
Was this just fighting between children that
always does happen, or was this bad power coming through these games?
They
really seemed to have power to make children greedy and totally out of control.
Many schools had to ban them.
There are also
computer games and Play station games that are addictive and very unhealthy.
There is a real
enemy on this earth who tries to get children to do bad things.
He used to be a
special angel in Heaven and then he rebelled against God.
When God threw him
out of Heaven he took a third of God’s angels with him. His name is Satan and
his angels are demons.
Even though Jesus has won over him on the cross, he is
still trying to trick people so that they don’t follow Jesus.
Ugly things
happen on this earth because of him.
God doesn’t want suffering to happen, but
Satan is full of hate and lies and he wants to destroy this world and spite God
by destroying God’s people.
Some people
pretend he and his demons don’t exist, but if we give him an open door or
window, he will come in and mess things up. So the answer is not to give him a
chance but to follow Jesus and walk in the light.
The other thing
Satan uses is greed and here he hooks people into an activity called gambling.
People think
that by putting in a little bit of money they can win a lot. One way to gamble
is by buying Lotto tickets or going to casinos and playing on the machines, or
with cards.
This is the dark
side of money that leads to greed, vengeance and even to violence.
Now as it happens there is no actual commandment in the Bible that says "Do not not gamble."
However, gambling goes against everything in the Bible. - the Lordship of God, stewardship, 'Do not covet" love for other people, and the warning not to be brought under the power of something other than the Holy Spirit.
Gamblingt is like a
disease that you catch like a cold. It is addictive and you can’t get
rid of it easily and it brings poverty. Somebody called it “Idiots tax.”
If you had to
work out the chances of winning, they are so slight that it is actually even a
stupid thing to do with your money.
The Bible tells us that we must work, and
that we must be wise with our money. Gambling is a way of trying to get
something without working and it is not a wise thing to do.
People who get
hooked spend a lot of time away from their family and this is also bad It is
like a drug and helps them forget life.
The
worst picture in the Bible is of our Saviour Jesus dying on the cross and what
were the soldiers doing? – They gambled for His clothes while he hung there
dying.
I would never want to be found gambling while my Saviour watches with
tears running down His face because games like this have destroyed families as
people have even sold their children’s clothes to pay their debts.
Remember that gambling on a computer over the Internet is still
gambling!
Gambling is the
opposite of trusting God. We pray – “Give us today our daily bread.” Then if we
gamble to try and win money we are insulting God and saying we don’t trust Him
to give us our daily bread and will try and win it instead.
Many of the
electronic games are leading people further and further into a dark world of death
and destruction. Some games also are so addictive that children then hardly do
homework and eventually can’t sleep.
Ask yourself if you could see Jesus
sitting next to you enjoying the game. Whatever we do, we should feel
comfortable that He is with us, watching over us.
A concerned mother
wrote this:
“All the games the kids are playing
now is about death and war. Then they type in cheat codes and they can't
die......... or get extra ammunition. Apparently the terrorist
that crashed in the world trade centre also learned to fly and crash a plane
from the flight simulator.... scary.”
Application
Don’t gamble
even with small things, because this could grow into a bigger addiction later
on.
A lot of these toys and games are about who is powerful and who can
destroy whom.
Ask yourself, “Do I want to take part in fun that helps the
devil?”
So don’t play
with ugly toys and games that pretend to hunt down and hurt. Don’t play with
cards that gamble. Before you play anything think and ask yourself if the toys
or cards are showing the glory and beauty of God or are they ugly and hateful.
Challenge to Mission
You could help
the kids at school to play with good toys and play fun and clean games.
Warn them if
they are gambling and playing with evil toys and games. Never join them just to keep friends with them.
Consolidation
A picture of
a boy flying a kite is symbolic of doing everything for God’s glory – rising
above the games and gambling that are so bad for us.
Memory
Verse
“The
love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”
1 Timothy
6:10
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