Samson and Delilah
Games #2 Workshop
Choices and Temptations
Summary of Lesson Activities:
A “What Do You Do?” activity.
Scripture Reference:
Judges 16:4-30
Supplies List:
- picture of “strong arm”, picture of “kitten”
- “strong arm” cards – at least one for everyone (these will be taken home at the end of the class)
- two sets of cards with ‘choice/temptation’ written on them, shaped like big question marks. The situations are all different.
- one set has the temptation and the choice made written on it
- 4 or 5 cards to be used at the beginning of the “Stronger than Samson” or “Weak as a Kitten” activity.
- the other set has ‘temptation’ only and the words “What do you do?” or “What would you do?”
- two sets of colored index cards, each a different color. The cards have a word or phrase from the memory verse written on them. Each color, when put together, will have the entire memory verse.
- chairs or pillows – one for each child
- CD player and Christian CD
- memory verse written or displayed somewhere in the room
Leader Preparation:
- Read the scripture ahead of time.
- Gather the materials.
- Prepare the cards
- Put the pictures of the “strong arm” and the “kitten” on the wall.
- Put the questions written on the backs of the large question marks (the set without the choice given) on the wall (preferably a different wall), put a bunch of “strong arm” pictures up on the wall.
- “Hide” the colored cards.
- As a closing activity, the students will be on a “hunt” to find all of the cards of the same color. They should be hidden in rooms/areas that will not be in use at the end of the Sunday School hour, preferably all downstairs. We don’t want them running through the church as people are arriving for worship.
Presentation
Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Greet the children and introduce yourself.
Open with a prayer.
Begin Temple with a memory verse warm up game. Play “Memory Chair”.
This is played like musical chairs, except that one chair is placed in the middle of the circle of chairs.
- Play the music.
- When the music stops, everyone finds a chair.
- The one person who doesn’t have a chair sits in the middle and says the memory verse. They may look at the words if they need, especially the first player or two.
- Play continues until everyone has been in the middle.
- If a player is in the middle for a second time, he/she chooses someone who hasn’t had a turn, so that everyone gets a turn, but just one turn each.
Dig-Main Content and Reflection:
Opening discussion: Review some of the basic ideas in the story of Samson.
- Samson was a special servant of God and would begin to rescue Israel out of slavery.
- Samson had tremendous strength given to him by God.
- Samson was very strong and a leader but did not always make wise choices.
- Sampson was tempted and fell to temptation. Who else fell to temptation? (Adam and Eve, Jonah, Zacchaeus, Cain/Abel, Prodigal Son, Peter’s Denial, Sodom/Gomorrah)
- Samson was physically strong but not spiritually strong enough to ward off the evil of temptation
- Our strength is not our own, but a gift from God. We need to use God’s gifts wisely.
- How hard it is do choose the right thing to do?
Play “Stronger than Samson” or “Weak as a Kitten”.
- Use one set of choice/temptation cards to work with kids.
- Read the card and as a group decide whether the choice that was made was “Stronger than Samson” (because Samson wasn’t able to make wise choices, the kind of choices God would like), or “Weak as a Kitten” (the kind of choices Samson did make, which choices God would not like).
- Put the card up under the appropriate picture. After 4 or 5 of these group decisions, the kids then make individual choices.
- Each one chooses a question card from the wall. They are then asked on the card, “What do you do?” or “What would you do?”
- After they say what they would do, the group decides if the decision was a good one and “stronger than Samson”.
- If it was, the child then chooses a “strong arm” card to take with them to remind them that they made a wise choice.
- Continue until everyone has had a turn.
- If both answers are right or acceptable in a situation, discuss which would be the stronger choice of the two and why. Maybe they are both strong – if the kids can support their choice with integrity, it is a strong choice.
***We will probably want to have different choices/temptations for the 1st/2nd grade than we do for the 7th/8th grade. Some choices/temptations will be appropriate for both, but some need to be age specific. Use different colors for the questions. Blue – everyone, Red – younger kids, Yellow – older kids.
Closing memory verse activity.
- If there is time, kids participate in another memory verse activity.
- Use the colored cards that were hidden earlier.
- Divide the class into 2 teams. Tell them how many cards they are looking for.
- When they have found all of the cards in the color they are searching for, they come back to the Temple room, put the cards in order and read the memory verse.
Closing:
End with a prayer.
These are the situations used at the beginning of class time with the “strong arm” and “kitten”.
They are used to discuss strong choices – those that please God, and weak choices – those that do not please God.
They are glued onto the back of question marks (I used orange to separate them from the other class activity questions), then read aloud.
As a class, the kids decide if they are strong or weak and they are put up on the wall under the “strong arm” or the “kitten”.
You have come to a meeting at church with
your dad. So have a couple of your friends.
While the meeting is going on the friends say,
“Let’s go down to the drama room and put on
the costumes.” You say, “We aren’t supposed
to do that. We are supposed to leave that
stuff alone when we aren’t in Sunday School.”
Your mom told you that you could not go
to the movie today because you didn’t have
your chores or homework done. So, you
decided to ask Dad. He said you could go.
You went to the mall with your friends and
bought a few things in one of the stores
there. When the cashier told you the amount
it wasn’t as much as you thought it would be.
When you looked at the receipt, she had
forgotten to charge you for one item. You
decide, “This is my lucky day. I just got that
for free!”
You went to the mall with your friends and
bought a few things in one of the stores
there. When the cashier told you the amount
it wasn’t as much as you thought it would be.
When you looked at the receipt, she had
forgotten to charge you for one item. You
decide, “I need to go tell her and pay for
the thing she forgot.”
You are walking home from school and see
some kids teasing a dog that is tied up in
its yard. They are throwing sticks and rocks,
and getting it to chase them until it gets to
the end of its chain and chokes itself. They
are doing this over and over. You walk to
the other side of the street and don’t say
anything.
A whole group of friends is going to an Iowa
State game. Your best friend calls and says
he has broken his leg and can’t go to the game.
You decide to go to his house, keep him
company, and just watch the game on TV.
"What do you do?" Situations
Your parents tell you not to turn your music
on while you are doing homework. Your
friend calls and wants you to listen to a
song playing on the radio. When you tell
him you aren’t supposed to listen to music
he says, “Use your headphones and your
parents won’t ever know.” What do you do?
A song comes on the radio that has lyrics
that use bad language. You are all by
yourself. What do you do?
You go to a friend’s house where
teenagers are drinking beer. The
parents are home and think it is OK
for teenagers to drink beer once in
a while. What do you do?
You forgot to do your homework and
if you don’t turn it in you’ll get a zero for
the assignment. If you get a zero on the
assignment you won’t be able to do to
the dance Friday night. Your best friend
says, “Here. Mine is done. Just write
them down.” What do you do?
All of your friends are invited to a birthday
party, except your best friend. Your
friend finds out about the party and knows
he/she is the only one not invited. What do
you do?
There is a big bowl of M&Ms on the counter.
Your mom told you not to eat any of them.
No one else is home right now. What do you
do?
The computer is supposed to be off until
homework is done. When you get home from
school, no one else is there and the last
thing your friend said to you is, “Get on MSN
when you get home, OK?” What do you do?
You have a choice between going on a skiing
trip with all of your friends or going to your
Grandpa’s 70th birthday party. What do you do?
You have been grounded from using the phone.
No one is home but you and the phone rings.
It is the girl/guy you have a crush on and they
just called to chat. What do you do?
Your friend has her school permit, which allows
her to drive straight to school and straight home.
You have to walk half a mile out of your way to
someone’s house. Your friend calls, “Get in, I’ll
take you across town!” What do you do?
Your parents have expressed concern over the way
some of the teenagers drive in town. Luke pulls
up, opens the door and says, “Jump in, let’s go
get ice cream.” Luke is older and pretty cute.
But he is one of the drivers your mom has expressed
concern over. What do you do?
Everyone that went to basketball camp got
a cool basketball with the team logo on it.
Yours has been missing for several weeks.
You see a basketball just like yours laying
around, except it has an “X” on it. You would
like to take it and mark over the “X” with your
name. What do you do?
Your mom always makes you change the
TV channel when “The Simpsons” come on
because of the bad language and bad
attitude. Mom is working late tonight. “The
Simpsons” come on TV. What do you do?
You get to bed on time and ask if you can
read the last 2 chapters of your book. Dad says
no. After he leaves you realize you have a
flashlight and that if you read under the covers
nobody will know. What do you do?
You just got asked to play on two soccer teams.
The one with most of your friends isn’t as talented
as the other team. Which one do you choose?
You play the trumpet and are in the band at school
Some lady from church asks you to play a song
to the “old folks” at the nursing home where they
are having a program. It will be Saturday morning
(when you like to sleep in or watch TV). What do
you do?
*The program is at 2:00 p.m. Thursday which means
you get out of school early. What do you do?
Basketball practice is Wednesday night from
5:30-7:00 p.m. Youth Group at church is at
6:00 p.m. Which will you choose?
Your aunt gave you and your sister each a pack
of gum. Your shared yours with your friends and
yours is gone. Your sister’s pack of gum is sitting
open on the counter only half gone. If you snuck
a piece she would never miss it. What do you do?
You are invited to a friend’s house – someone you
know from church. While you are there you hear
an argument between your friend and his older
brother. It ends with “You don’t know anything!
Just shut up!” You go home. Later, you have a
disagreement with your brother. You’d like to say,
”Just shut up! You don’t know anything!” What
do you do?
You are shopping with your mom and see a new
toy you want. You ask mom if you can have it
and she says no. What do you do?
Your mom told you that you could not wear your
favorite shirt to school today because you have
already worn it this week. You love that shirt and
the teacher said everyone should wear their
favorite shirt today. What do you do?
Your mom told you and your sister/brother to
buckle your seatbelt. Your buckled yours, but
your sister/brother didn’t buckle theirs. They
look at you and say “Shhh”. What do you do?
You know you are not supposed to throw a
ball in the house, but you were doing it anyway.
Now you have broken a picture frame sitting
on the table. What do you do?
You are staying overnight with a friend and you
know you are not supposed to watch scary
movies. Your friend wants to watch one and
says, “It’s not that scary. Besides your mom will
never know.” What do you do?
You have been told that you are not supposed
to run around in the church. But, every Sunday
your friends want to play tag and ask you to
play. What do you do?
A lesson written by Linda Norem.
A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.
