Gratitude-Letting others know you see how they've helped you.
November 2020 • Week 1 Family Home Lesson
Today's Bible story: Give Thanks No Matter What Happens • 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Monthly memory verse: "Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good. His faithful love continues forever." Psalm 136:1 NIrV
Memory Verse for 2's - Pre-K: Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good." Psalm 136:1a NIrV
Life Application: Gratitude-Letting others know you see how they've helped you.
Suggested songs: Be Strong In the Lord, How Great is Our God and What a Beautiful Name
Praise & Pray: Sing along with the provided worship videos and pray. Access songs here
What you might pray: "Dear Lord, I know you are good. Help me to see how gratefulness honors you. In Jesus name we pray, amen."
Read God's Word together: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (Need a kid-friendly Bible? Check out our suggestions.)
Family Devotional & Discussion
What you do: Watch the complementary video together as a family and discuss today's question.
What you discuss: When we aren't grateful, when we don't give thanks, there are consequences. Not having gratitude can turn you into someone who is rude, grumpy, and unhappy all the time. That isn't good for you. So, what are you grateful for?
Bible Story Review
What you need: Bible
What you do: Read 1 Thessalonians 5:18 together and discuss the following questions.
- Where was Paul when he wrote these verses? (in prison)
- Have you ever been in a long time out or grounded? How did you feel toward your parents?
- How do you think you would feel if you were in prison?
- What does it mean to be ungrateful?
- What would you say are the main reasons people are ungrateful?
- What does it mean to be grateful?
- Do you think we can be grateful even when we don't feel happy? Why or why not?
- What's the best way to change an ungrateful attitude to a grateful one?
Pray and bless your family
What you need: No supplies needed
What you do: Explain to the kids that you're going to teach them hand motions to help them remember part of this month's memory verse from the Bible.
- Teach kids motions for the phrase: His faithful love continues forever.
His (point to heaven)
faithful love (cross your arms over your chest with your hands in loose fists)
continues forever (stretch your arms and hands straight out in front of you with palms facing each other).
What you say:
"The Bible tells us to 'give thanks no matter what.' We can give thanks no matter what because God is good, God is faithful, and He loves us more than we can imagine. His love for us will NEVER stop! Let's thank God for Who He is and for His never-ending love."
- Tell the kids that you're going to pray in a special way with words from the Bible.
- You're going to speak a sentence from the Bible out loud. After you read it, the kids will say, "His faithful love continues forever," doing the hand motions they learned.
- Lead kids in a responsive prayer using the verses below: Psalm 136: 1-4, 23, 26 (NIrV).
LEADER: "Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good."
KIDS: "His faithful love continues forever." (with motions each time)
LEADER: "Give thanks to the greatest God of all."
KIDS: "His faithful love continues forever."
LEADER: "Give thanks to the most powerful Lord of all."
KIDS: "His faithful love continues forever."
LEADER: "Give thanks to the only one who can do great miracles."
KIDS: "His faithful love continues forever."
LEADER: "Give thanks to the God who remembered us when things were going badly."
KIDS: "His faithful love continues forever."
LEADER: "Give thanks to the God of heaven."
KIDS: "His faithful love continues forever."
Additional Activities
What you need: Provided in Kit: 2 - 3 feet of cut yarn (you will need the yarn again for week 4), scissors, and Bibles
What you do: Set out prepared yarn pieces or set out yarn and scissors.
- Tell kids to cut a piece of yarn about 24 inches long.
- Encourage kids to use the yarn to make a shape or outline of something they are grateful for.
- Challenge the kids to guess what each kid has "drawn."
- Give kids a Bible.
- Look up 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and read it out loud.
What you say: "You came up with a lot to be grateful for! No matter what, you can give thanks to God for the things He gave you to enjoy, for the skills or talents He has given you, and for the people in your life. But most importantly, you can give thanks to God for sending Jesus so you can have a relationship with Him now and forever. He is with you, no matter what you're going through. When you have Jesus in your life, you always have something to be grateful for."
What you need: Provided in Kit: orange construction paper (cut the long way into 6 - 1.5 inch strips; if you want to make the gratitude pumpkin bigger you can add more strips), ¼ sheet of green construction paper, At Home Supplies: marker, glue, scissors, stapler
What you do: Have kids write something they are thankful for on each strip of orange construction paper. Be sure to leave about a 1 inch space on the sides of the strip so the writing isn't covered up when stapled together.
- Use a stapler to attach the orange strips at the top and then at the bottom to form a pumpkin.
- Cut a few strips from the green construction paper to make vines leaving the rest of the green construction paper to make leaves.
- Roll up the green construction paper around a marker or pencil to help curl the vines.
- Attach your leaves and green vines with a stapler.
What you say:
"Life is filled with ups and downs. There are times when things are going well, and times when things are not going well. It's easier to give thanks when everything is going well-when you and your friends are getting along, when you're getting good grades, or when everyone in your family is happy and healthy. It can be hard to remember to be grateful when things aren't so good-when there is drama with your friends, you're struggling at school, or when you are lonely or sad. But God wants you to remember you always have something to be grateful for. No matter what happens around you, no matter what ups and downs you experience, God loves you and He is always with you, through the good times and the tough times."
[Make it Personal] (Share about a time when things weren't going well and what you were grateful for during that time. How did finding something to be grateful for help you get through that hard time?)
What you need: Provided in Kit: "Psalm 136:1 Cards" (DOWNLOAD HERE) (2 sets are included in the kit. Larger families may need to photo copy the "Psalm 136:1 Cards" or print additional pages from the downloadable link on the website), At Home Supplies: Bible, painters tape or yarn as a starting line, scissors
What you do:
Give kids a Bible.
- As a family, help kids find Psalm 136:1 and read it out loud.
- Give each family member a set of "Psalm 136:1 Cards" and a pair of scissors.
- Tell everyone to cut apart the cards by cutting along the dashed lines.
- Collect all of the "Psalm 136:1 Cards."
- Create a starting line with painter's tape or yarn etc.
- Shuffle the "Psalm 136:1 Cards" (there will be several sets mixed up).
- Place them on the opposite side of the environment from the starting line.
- Line family members up on the starting line.
- Participants will run, hop, skip, roll, etc. to the cards, select one card, and return to the starting line. Participants need to pay attention they are picking up a card they need.
- Participants place the card on the starting line and race back to get another card.
- The first family member to collect one of each of the four cards, place them in the correct order, and shout out the verse, wins.
What you say: "Things are always changing around us. The weather is always changing-you're ready to go outside to play then it starts to rain. Maybe you're going to fly a kite and the wind dies down. Relationships can change-you hung out with your best friend all the time until they moved to a different town. Maybe the kids you hung out with in kindergarten are not the same kids you hang out with now. Maybe you started school online due to Covid, but now you get to go to school every day. But even when things change around you, you always have something to be grateful for. God doesn't change! He is always good. He always loves us. And that is something you always have something to be grateful for."