Gift= TALENTS

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For this craft you will need the PDF printout (1 page per child), scissors, a glue stick, & a craft knife. A cutting mat and ruler suitable for the blade may also be helpful. NB:I’d strongly recommend printing on thicker paper / thin card for this craft. I use 140g or 160g which will work on the majority of home printers. For printing in Colour PDF – one page For printing with Reduced Colour (suitable for grey-scale) PDF – one page

Start by making the slits with the craft knife. Firstly this is easier when the piece is flatter before cutting, secondly it allows you to do this in advance if you don’t want blades around the children. The craft knife lines are marked with bold dotted lines, they form the tent door and the supports for the freestanding objects.

Now get cutting. The king tent would have been lavish so there are lots of pieces! If you wish you can score the tabs now too.

This craft is one where you start with the main piece and just keep adding. Just below the lamp is a small line where the flap needs separating. Cut along the dotted line on both sides then onto folding.

Fold all the flaps towards you, the ones in the floor, the ones on the edges and the end of the tent too.

Now time to get curling. While you can do this with your fingers a thin pencil, or paintbrush makes it easier. Curl both the tent flaps and the lamps. (Tent flaps not shown, sorry)

Grab the glue and add a wall. Glue the big tab on the floor first and the little one below the lamp second – make sure you get the lamp on the inside.

The banners are a bit more fiddly. If you wish you can leave them a s a single piece, but if you want a more layered effect then cut along the dotted lines. Either way you need to fold the small white flap that will hook over the top of the wall.

To attach the banners you need to add a little glue to the flap and stick in place.

Feel free to skip the bunting as it’s fiddly to cut and stick in place, I’ve put it along the side of the printout so you can conveniently snip it off before handing out the templates. If you want to add it in then you need to fold the flap that attaches to the door side, then bend the strip at the darker yellow lines. Add a little glue to both the flap and the ends of the bunting to stick in place.

Once your tent is complete it should look a little like this, except you won’t have forgotten to bend the doors in!

Lastly, a drop of glue lets you place the freestanding pieces on the tabs provided.

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Most bible passages and stories depict very ordinary people experiencing a very extraordinary God, but this one is quite the opposite. A secret king in waiting, living a very ordinary life, is spotted as a good musician and brought before the king to soothe his woes. These games look at the power that music held and the willingness of David to serve.

Name that tune

All Ages

Any size group

Requires setup time

Noisy game

Can be seated

A super simple game that just requires any musician or a CD of backing tracks, at a push you could just hum the melody of songs. Play in teams, if you have plenty of children, have them call out or write down the answer.

Link to David being a very skilled musician.

Name-beat

All Ages

Small group

No Setup time

Noisy game

Can be seated

For this game, you will need the children’s names written out. Look closely at the child’s name and turn them into a drum beat by counting the number of lines in each letter. Have the children start by clapping their names – e.g. KATE = 3324, ADAM = 3234. Once you have worked out a child’s beat, have the whole group join in, then move to the next child’s name. Most music relies on a sense of rhythm and the majority of us are blessed with this skill, though some children may struggle, so try to work as a group to ‘mask’ this. 

I can serve by…

Under 7’s

Any size group

No Setup time

Quiet game

Can be seated

Split the children into small groups (with an adult if they are younger) and hand out paper and pencils. Each group has one minute to write down how many ways they can make someone smile. Dependent on time, have the kids demonstrate some of their suggestions, and /or challenge them to do at least 5 before they go to bed tonight.
Link to : Serving doesn’t need to be complex, David’s task was to ‘lift Saul’s mood, and bring him peace’, something we can all do for each other.
 

Restoring Saul

All Ages

Small group

Requires setup time

Noisy game

Space needed

Puzzle meets treasure hunt meets musical statues, this is a game full of familiarity, best played after the story has been told. Print the picture of Saul shown here and the outline page. Cut along the lines to form pieces and hide those around the room. Tell the children that this is a game of musical statues with a difference, when the music plays they can hunt for the pieces of Saul, but they must freeze when the music stops. As each piece is found, place it into the outline. When completed, stop the music and ask how Saul felt after hearing David’s music, draw the expression on his face.

Musical chairs

All Ages

Any size group

Requires setup time

Noisy game

Space needed

If restoring Saul seems just too much work, play a simple game of musical chairs, talk about how the chair gives us comfort and stability, a safe place to rest, and how David’s music did the same for Saul.

The post Servant David (1 Samuel 16) | Games appeared first on Jesus Without Language.

For this craft you will need the PDF printout (1 page per child), scissors, a glue stick, & a craft knife. A cutting mat and ruler suitable for the blade may also be helpful. NB:I’d strongly recommend printing on thicker paper / thin card for this craft. I use 140g or 160g which will work on the majority of home printers. For printing in Colour PDF – one page For printing with Reduced Colour (suitable for grey-scale) PDF – one page

Start by making the slits with the craft knife. Firstly this is easier when the piece is flatter before cutting, secondly it allows you to do this in advance if you don’t want blades around the children. The string marked with dotted lines must be cut, try and aim for the middle of the line, don’t cut the string without a dotted line!

The second set of slits are through the blue lines, these are there both as stabilisers and to form a stopping mechanism so the craft can’t be pulled apart

Now grab those scissors and cut everything out, 5 pieces in total. Top tip : Make the image look cleaner by leaving as little of the black line on the edge as possible!

We’ll start by assembling the blinds, so you’ll need these 3 pieces. The grey boxes on the largest piece show where you should add the glue.

When gluing add the piece with the eye first – as well as lining up the edges and making sure it is centred in the grey box, you need to made sure it goes behind the other blind tab.

Repeat with the piece with the shield. NB: The edge of the design shows because the blind tabs are not fully removed when the final picture is revealed, if they were then it would need to be reassembled manually each time!

Onto threading. Start with the piece showing a bit of the shield. Fold it backwards from the other pieces to separate it a little then thread through the corresponding slit.

Continuing to bend back and thread until you’ve added the remaining 2 blind pieces.

Turn over and take the final lose piece, this will form a second pull tab. Add glue to the lose piece and glue onto the mechanism

Lastly place the securing tabs in place using the blue slits and the odd little bumps on the mechanism side. This will stop you pulling the blinds all the way out.

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Names you need to know

 
Samuel – the great judge and prophet (pretty quiet around now)

David – means beloved, youngest son of 8, anointed king, spirit filled

Jesse – David’s dad (we don’t know who mum was)

Saul – The present king, who’d messed up so God had left him

Armor-bearer – This is a title such as lord or knight, it was literally the one who carried the kings armour and was a great honour, though not an exclusive one.
 

Historical significance

 
King Saul is being afflicted by an evil spirit send by God. Samuel had left him, God had left him and the thought must have crossed him mind that his kingship may be taken from him too. Meanwhile the region is not actively at war but is far from stable, it’s pretty safe to assume his ‘court’ would have been rather unsettled right now. The calming power of music, an idea by what must have been a desperate attendant, is grasped upon swiftly and a hunt ensues.

Enter David, a youngster not fully grown. Saul, who is supposed to be quite imposing, would tower over him. Filled with Gods spirit by a rush of wind at his anointing by Samuel, David is not only godly, but handsome, strong and brave, plus a good speaker – all kingly qualities, but also ones that make him memorable by the kings servants. Samuel had gone to Bethlehem with the rouse of sacrificing a cow, anointing David in the presence of his brothers. Apart from a few prominent townspeople, David’s destiny was not common knowledge. It’s clear Saul had no idea who it was he was inviting into his presence, because it’s pretty safe to assume Saul would have killed him.

Instead David is given a small glimpse at what is to come. A chance to witness how a king lives, rules, and is treated by his subjects. He’s here to work, his kingly qualities qualifying him as a perfect kings servant. For to him the notion of his kingship is merely a promise, not a title to be taken. Soon he’s sending letters home to Jesse, signed with the kings seal. David’s given an intimate position of Armour bearer, one that shows great trust and honour. Yet the irony can’t be lost, the most direct preparation for his kingship comes through the lowliest of reasons – while being the youngest and least important son sent to guard the sheep, he had taken his harp or lyre to pass the hours. David who sings to his lambs and serenades the hillsides is now playing those same tunes for the most powerful man in his world.

Then the passage ends, leaving us thinking that Saul had come to love David, to give him a permanent position… but that’s not the case. The next chapter starts and David is back to being a shepherd and when David fights the Goliath Saul is unsure of his identity. It’s a point of contention, some claim David would have been brought into a darkened tent with a confused king, too deluded to really comprehend the musician, others argue the early stories of David are by no means in chronological order. More simple arguments wonder if David had aged and would look different from a distance, perhaps Saul had grown tired of David’s songs of a God who had abandoned the king, perhaps the evil spirit had calmed and David was called upon less frequently of late. Whatever the reason Saul and David are not so close as chapter 16 alone may lead one to believe.

If you want to put David’s like in context there is a great info-graphic by the good book company. (Pictured in small here)
 

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Here are the images you need for the hero’s attributes linked to Servant David (1 Samuel 16).
Each hero set contains a high quality graphic of the character, a take home bible card and a colouring page.

The images are displayed small here, click on the image you wish to have, then save the image that loads.
(Please note : these images have no watermark but are not copyright free, they are only intended for classroom use.)

English

Extra’s

The post Servant David (1 Samuel 16) | Character Images appeared first on Jesus Without Language.

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I wonder if you have a talent or a knack for something. Some of us are really good at our studies, at sports, and making friends or creating beautiful things. Sometimes it’s hard to see what your talent is, other times it’s easy, it’s often easy for others to see too.

Having a talent is great, but how can our talent help us achieve something for God. in the book of Corinthians it tells us when we do anything, even just eating and drinking, we should do everything for the glory of God.

David is a good example or this. Samuel had told David that one day he would be king, he even poured some special oil on his head to show David he was chosen by God. But David was still young, and Israel had a king, a king named Saul. So what did David do after Samuel left? David went back to being a shepherd.

Can you imagine what it was like for David, knowing you’d be king but stuck out in the hills? David must have had a lot of time to think. He could have just waited for the time God would make him king, but he didn’t, instead he decided he would glorify God in the little things.

So David became a great shepherd who protected his sheep from wolves and bears and any other creature that may attack.
He spent time getting to know God, he took care of the body God had given him, thought about how he would speak to people and became a good speaker.

But most of all David developed the talent God had given him to play the harp, until he could play it really well. David made up lots of songs that we still have written to use today.

David tried to do everything in a way that would glorify God, and God was with him in everything he did. It wasn’t long before people started to notice, one day one of King Saul’s servants noticed David and had a brilliant idea….

Saul was not a happy king. He had not done what God had asked him to do and he could not find peace. One day he was so troubled the servants suggested that he listened to calm music, perhaps then he could relax. The king agreed and David was called to the kings tent where he played beautiful music. The music was soothing and the king found when he listened he felt calm for the first time in a long long time. He sent a messenger back to David’s father ‘Jesse’ to ask if David could stay a little longer. Soon David would visit the king often, the king was so impressed with David he gave him the honour of carrying his armour.

David would do great things in his life, he would also make big mistakes. But, at this point in his story, he was doing everything with God and for the glory of God, even if that just meant playing soothing tunes on the harp every now and then. Playing the harp may seem like a strange gift for God to give a king, but it was all part of God’s big plan.

What talents have you discovered? How can you use your talents to serve God?

Today’s hero is the Servant David because he shows us the gift of Talents
 

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