PACT for the Last Week of April

Two Friends and a Broken Toy   Read this week's Bible story in Matthew 18:23-35 about forgiveness and challenge kids to come up with a modern version of the story. (How about one involving a younger and older brother? Or how about two friends and a broken toy?)   Give them time to work on it and then have them act it out. If you like, videotape and then watch it.   In this story, which one is the most like God? (The 1st one who was willing to forgive a really big debt) Which one are you more like in this story?   God is generous and forgiving. When we forgive others, we are acting more like Him.       Steps to Forgiveness   Items needed: pieces of copy or construction paper, and markers/pens   Students in the upper elementary classes learned some Steps to Forgiveness. Review and illustrate the steps. Assign the steps to different kids and ask them to illustrate someone doing that. (They could even write the words in a word bubble above the character's heads.) Talk about each one.    Acknowledge that you were wronged. It's okay to feel sad and angry when someone hurts you. It's okay to admit that what they did was wrong. God is sad when we are hurt.  Communicate. Talk about it. Words such as: I felt sad when you broke my CD; I felt hurt when you made fun of me, can help others understand how they wronged us. Others may not have realized they have hurt us. Going to them privately and talking about it is what Jesus said to do in Matthew 18:15. Forgive. Come to an agreement and forgive. If you can work it out, you have gained a friend back. Ask yourself: Is what he or she has done bigger than what I have done in sinning against God? Forgiving means you are giving up your right to get them back. It means you are trusting God to take care of it. Pray. Every time the bad feelings come back, tell God you want to obey and ask for His help to forgive. Tell Him you trust HIM to handle it. Pray for the person who wronged you.   Use these steps when family members have a disagreement.      Forgiving Others   Students are memorizing Ephesians 4:32. This verse fits the song, Frere Jacques (Are You Sleeping?). Sing the song together to review the verse. Once they have memorized it well enough, try singing it in a round. Divide into two groups and the second group would begin singing at "tenderhearted."   What is the opposite of tenderhearted? (Hard hearted—not wanting to forgive, but wanting to get revenge)   Why should we forgive others? (God has forgiven us)   God's forgiveness to us is the reason we can forgive others. Others have not hurt us more than our sin hurt Jesus. Our sin against God is bigger than any sin that others have done to us. God forgives us; we can forgive others.   On the journey with you, Pastor Beau