ANGER DANGER: Part One (Angry Thoughts)

Anger Danger

     Angry Birds Themed Series - Righteous and Unrighteous Anger

     Series Power Verse: “In your anger, do not sin.” – Ephesians 4:26 (KJV)

     

      Angry Thoughts (Cain is jealous of his brother Abel.)

      In the game Angry Birds, the birds are seeking revenge on the pigs because the
      pigs have stolen their eggs.  In the Bible, God asked Cain and Abel to offer him their best.

 

□    SNACK TIME

□    RESTROOM BREAK & WARM UP SONG/COUNTDOWN

“Give Your Heart To Jesus” – Yancy (WorshipHouseKids.com)

□    WELCOME

□    COOL RULES

1.     Be kind to your neighbor

2.     Listen to your leaders

3.     Stay In your seat

□    OPENING PRAYER

□    POWER VERSE SHOUT:

“In your anger, do not sin.” – Ephesians 4:26

I ask the kids to stand during our Power Verse Shouts.  I would shake my fist like I was having a tantrum while we yelled “in your anger” and then stomp a foot with each word as I said, “do not sin”.  The kids enjoyed acting the verse out, and several of them knew the verse by heart before they went home.

□    TITHES & OFFERING: Malachi 3:10  

□    HIGH ENERGY PRAISE & WORSHIP SONG:

“God Is For Me” – Yancy (WorshipHouseKids.com)

□    POWER VERSE SHOUT:

“In your anger, do not sin.” – Ephesians 4:26

□    BOYS VS GIRLS GAME:

Angry Birds Ball Toss

Using a large cardboard panel, we created a sort of beanbag toss game.  We cut circles out of the cardboard and taped pictures of the green Angry Birds pigs in the back.  We bought a pack of cheap plastic balls and taped angry bird faces on them.  The object of the game was to throw your “Angry Bird” at a pig.  It was  very cheap to make and wasn’t the prettiest thing in the world, but the kids absolutely loved it!

□    HIGH ENERGY PRAISE & WORSHIP SONG:

“All Because of Jesus” – Amber Sky Records (WorshipHouseKids.com)

□    PUPPET SONG:

“I Get Down” – Amber Sky Records (WorshipHouseKids.com)

 

□    HIGH ENERGY PRAISE & WORSHIP SONG:

“No One Greater” – Amber Sky Records (WorshipHouseKids.com)

□    POWER VERSE SHOUT:

“In your anger, do not sin.” – Ephesians 4:26

□    POWER VERSE RACE:

“In your anger, do not sin.” – Ephesians 4:26

The object of the Power Verse Race is to help teach the kids how to use their Bible in addition to scripture memorization.  The kids have to find the verse in their Bible, stand, and read it.  Everyone who can gets a piece of candy. 

□    BIBLE STATEMENT:

This is my Bible!

I am what it says I am!

I can have what it says I can have!

I can do what it says I can do!

My mind is alert.

My heart is open.

I am about to receive a life changing message

And I will never be the same

In Jesus’ name!

□    SERMON

(My sermon included a personal story from my childhood, so you will want to use your own story.  The kids really seemed to relate to the anger I felt towards my brother, and it tied in with both the Angry Birds theme as well as our Bible story about Cain and Abel.  The sermon I have included is actually somewhat different than the sermon I actually presented to the children.  The written copy was simply an outline to follow.)

 

ANGER DANGER: Lesson One – Angry Thoughts

 

            Who all has played Angry Birds?  It’s a lot of fun, isn’t it?  I’ve got a little video clip to show you to help those who haven’t ever played the game understand what Angry Birds is.

Play the Angry Birds Cinematic Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bk_nqUQ0fc

            So the birds were all standing around their nest of eggs, right?  And then what happened?  How did the birds act when the mosquito landed on one of their eggs?  That’s right!  They got very angry.  One bird bounced on the mosquito until he squished it, didn’t he?  Well, I don’t like mosquitos too much either, but I think maybe they over reacted a little don’t you?  What else happened while the birds were busy squishing the mosquitos?  That’s right!  Those mean ole pigs came and stole the eggs right out of their nest and ate them!!!!  How did the birds react?  Yep, they started trying to kill the pigs didn’t they!  Now, we know why they call the game Angry Birds, don’t we?  They don’t play around.

            How many of you have ever had someone do something mean to you?  If you’ve got a brother or sister, you’ve probably had your share of punches when mom and dad weren’t looking, huh?  I grew up with an older brother and a younger sister.   My sister and I fought all the time.  She was so mean back then.  She would sneak up on me while I was watching television or playing on the computer and hit me with something or throw something on me.  I was a lot older than her, so I would wait her out and get my revenge by outsmarting her.  I once drew all over her face with permanent marker but convinced her that it was washable.  Now, I regret it a little bit but boy, do we have some funny stories from our childhood.  My brother and I were close in age, and we got along well.  We played pranks on one another but not really any big fights.  Of our few fights, the one I remember the most is on our vacation to the state capital.  To this day, I cannot tell you the first thing about what we did at the capital.  All I can remember is getting my fingers pinched.  Back then, my Dad had this little S-10 truck.  The three of us were crammed in the front seat for hours.  My brother and I would rotate turns in the middle, which was a very crampy, uncomfortable place to sit, every time we stopped at a gas station or to get something to eat.  I had to sit in the middle first, so when my Dad announced that we’d be making our first stop.  I was so relieved.   Finally, I’m getting out of the middle seat!  My brother wasn’t so happy about having to switch seats.  He was going to be in the middle.  While we were getting out of the truck at a gas station, my brother Wes slammed the door on my fingers.   I screamed.  He told my Dad it was an accident.  He was just tired and didn’t mean to.  I was furious!  I just knew he did it on purpose because he was mad about having to give up his good seat.  My fingers were throbbing.  My mind was plotting.  Already, I was thinking of all the ways I could get him back.  I could just haul off and hit him.  I could “accidentally” trip him.  He was older and smarter so I couldn’t trick him like I could trick my little sister.  But it just kept eating away at me.  I couldn’t stand the thought of me riding the rest of the way with these sore fingers while he sat over there smiling, even if he was in the bad seat! 

            You know all this talk of anger and revenge is a lot like a story about two brothers in the Bible: Cain and Abel.  They were actually the first brothers ever.  I bet they spent a lot of time together playing and having fun when they were growing up.  I bet their mom and dad even had to break up a few of their fights.  I wonder if Cain ever smashed Abel’s fingers?  I’m just guessing their childhood was pretty normal because the Bible doesn’t mention anything specific about them as boys.  In the Bible, we don’t meet Cain and Abel until they are grown up.  Cain became a farmer.  Abel became a shepherd.  Just regular folks like you and me.  Their parents had taught them about God and the importance of giving an offering to the Lord… remember how we learned about giving God our FIRSTFRUITS during our last series?   Cain and Abel went to give an offering to the Lord.  Cain, the farmer, took a little of his fruit.  Abel, the shepherd, took several of his very best lambs to God.  Cain gave what he could spare.  Abel made a sacrifice and gave God the very best that he had.  God was very pleased with Abel’s offering, but with Cain’s he wasn’t pleased at all.  Cain became very angry.  God asked Cain why he was angry and gave him a very serious warning about his anger, “if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

            When Cain became angry, God knew it immediately because he is God.  He knows everything about us.  He knew that Cain’s anger might make him sin.  Do you know why?  Anger is one of the many, many things the devil, our worst enemy, loves to use to make us do the wrong thing because when we do the wrong thing, our sin separates us from God.  Remember our power verse this series is, “in your anger, do not sin”.  It is so tempting to sin, or do something that is wrong, when we’re angry.  God knows this.  But we have to let go of it and forgive those who have made us angry. 

            I need a volunteer.  A really good listener.

            (Pick a volunteer)

            When my Dad and brother and I first started out on our vacation, I had no anger.  Show the kids the empty backpack.  But as the day wore on, little things started getting on my nerves. 

            I had to sit squished in the worst seat in the truck. (Add a book.)

            My brother elbowed me when we went around a sharp curve. (Add a book)

            Every time we hit a bump, his knee would jab into my knee. (Add book)

            Little things he did kept piling up and piling up.  I kept getting more and more aggravated.

            So, that when he slammed my fingers in the door, it was so much anger that I couldn’t ignore it.  (Fill the bag the rest of the way with books.) I had to do something about it.  I had so much anger that it weighed me down.  We all get to this point when someone has made us so mad we just want to punch them in the face!  I’ll be honest that’s exactly what I wanted to do to my brother.  Well, technically, I wanted to slam his fingers in the door, too, but you get the point.  We want to act out our anger on someone because we think it’s the best way to get rid of it.  But it’s not.  Sure, you might feel better for a minute, but when you have to face the consequences of your actions, it’s not too fun, is it? 

            I’ll go ahead and confess my sins.  While my Dad pumped gas, my brother and I went in the store to pick out a drink and snack.  Then, when we got back to the truck, my brother had to get in first so he could be in the middle.  He hesitated for a moment while he was trying to slide in.  And there it was.  One of his legs was still hanging out of the truck.  It wasn’t the same as smashing his fingers but I leapt on the opportunity for revenge.  I pulled the door bag as far as I could and slammed it as hard as I could on his leg.  I was so busy concentrating on my anger that I forgot my dad was standing right there watching.  The consequence of letting my anger get out of control….?  My Dad didn’t let me have my turn in the good seat.  All the way to Montgomery, my brother stared out of the passenger window from the good seat with a smile while I stared down at my hurting fingers.

            (Ask the volunteer if their anger is getting heavy.)

            When we get so angry that we can’t take anymore, we don’t have to seek revenge.  If we pray and ask God to help us, He’ll come and take away the heavy load.

            (Remove book bag from volunteer’s shoulders and ask them to sit.)

            If we let go of our anger, God will give us peace in our hearts and forgiveness so we can move on. 

            (Ask for altar music.)

            Even if you’ve already messed up and let your anger cause you to do something wrong, God can still help you.  We serve an awesome God who forgives all sins.  There is no sin He won’t forgive.  There isn’t anything you can do that is so bad He would quit loving you.  You are so very special to God.   We’ve been saying this special prayer together every week, and we’re going to keep saying it together.  It’s the most important prayer any of us can pray.  It’s to ask Jesus to come and wipe away all the wrong things we’ve done.  To clean all the sin out of our heart, so that He can come live inside of it forever.  If you’ve prayed the prayer before but you feel like you need to pray it again, that’s fine too.  We’re going to pray and then anyone who needs special prayer, you can come down front and we’ll pray with you.

□    ALTAR SERVICE:

Play soft music.  We invite children down to pray for special prayer needs.  They love to stand in a circle and pray for one another.  The altar service is one of the kids' favorite parts of children's church. 

□    GAME TIME:

Angry Birds Relay

Cut out the shape of the red angry bird on red poster board.  Cut out the shape of the blue angry bird on blue poster board.  (I used a projector to enlarge the two birds and traced them out.  I also cut out and painted the facial features of each bird on two pieces of white poster board.

I cut the facial features into 9 pieces.  The kids formed into boys vs girls teams.  They had to run to a table where the birds were.  We chose a random facial feature: right eye, left eye, right eye brow, right eye brow, etc. and handed it to them.  The taped it onto the bird and ran back.  Thus the game went until both teams had completed their birds.  The only two rules were:   You can’t move anyone else’s facial features even if they are in the wrong place, and you can’t tell your teammate where to place the facial feature.