Exit Saul, Enter David

Our story this past week was really too long. I wanted to end the OT unit, & Saul's death & David finally getting to be king, seemed like a good stopping point. But I needed to flesh that transition out a bit, and it ended up a bit too fleshy (like me)!

Story Part One:

Saul is really miserable. Because he was jealous of David, David had left & didn't lead the army anymore. So they didn't have the success in battle that they used to. Nothing is as good as it used to be!	introduce Saul (in crown)
In the past, there was Samuel to teach Saul how to do what pleased God.	introduce Samuel (in red mantle)
But Samuel has died.	Samuel sits down
Saul says to himself, if Samuel hadn't died, I could ask his help. Even if he has rejected me, he might have been willing to help seek God's blessing just for Israel's sake. But now what should I do?
What are the choices Saul has?	Three kids help put three choices up on board: confess sin & beg for God's mercy ask David to come back & lead the army ask his advisors what to do
Which one of these should he choose?	get adults to come to a consensus. Have one child find it on chart and ü.
Do you think Saul chose that one?	(ask all)
Nope. He didn't choose any of them! Now, when he had first become king, and he was still concerned about keeping Israel holy, he had gotten rid of all the mediums and sorcerers in the land.	put "magician's headdress" on girl, send her away. (Have her take off headdress & take it with her) (to kitchen)
But now? Saul calls on some of his servants and asks them if there are any mediums still around somewhere, because he wants to ask for some advice.	he sends servants to look for her.
They go find her, then come tell Saul there is a medium at Endor.	They come back & point to where she is
Saul disguises himself, so that no one will know what he is doing.	takes off crown, puts on jacket
He goes and finds the medium. He asks her to call up the spirit of a dead person for him. She answers, why are you asking me to do that? Don't you know that the king has ordered all mediums out of the land?	Saul goes to kitchen, girl comes out to talk
But Saul promises her that she won't get in trouble. So she prepares to call up a spirit for him.	They set up a table, girl puts on headdress & takes out "crystal ball"
Saul tells her to call up Samuel. Pretty soon, she says she sees an old man in her crystal ball. The man is very unhappy about being disturbed, and says that whoever had decided to disturb him deserved to die—indeed, he would die, very soon!	Girl acts like she is seeing things in ball.
Saul is terribly frightened and hurries back to the palace.	Saul gets up & runs back to sofas
Not long after, once again they are fighting with the Philistines.	Saul & several others fight with swords
Saul's son, David's good friend Jonathan, has already died.	one boy "dies" (pushed down on sofa)
Saul is badly injured. He's really afraid of being captured by the enemy; he'd rather die! So he falls on his sword on purpose to kill himself.	Saul falls on his sword.
The Philistines celebrate!	Philistine army high-fives each other

Story part two:

Israel has a very hard time for the next several years. They're constantly being attacked by the Philistines.	Philistines keep waving their swords around
Finally, someone says they should really find David and get him to come and be king in Saul's place. Everyone thinks this is a great idea.	a couple of Israelites high-five
They go find David.	choose a boy to be David, crown him.
David has to spend the first several years conquering the Philistines.	more fighting
Finally, he is triumphant, and there is peace. David can finally just enjoy being king for a while.	David sits on throne, given scepter, people bow to him
So one of the first things he does is gather his servants and ask: are there any of Saul's family left in Israel? I would like to show kindness to them for the sake of my dear friend Jonathan.	Calls a couple of servants to come before him
One servant says, are you crazy? Saul was your enemy who wanted to kill you! It wouldn't be safe to let any of his family get close to you!	One servant makes "x" sign
But David says, I don't care of the whole family hates me, I still want to be kind to them.
A second servant says, well, there's a son of Jonathan's, called Mephibosheth. But you definitely don't want to have anything to do with him. He's crippled from when he fell as a child. Can't walk. Obviously he is a bad-luck person and would bring bad luck to your kingdom.	second servant makes "x" sign
But David says, if he is a son o fmy friend Jonathan, then I don't care how good or bad my luck is, I'll be thrilled to have him around! Go get him and bring him here! Hurry!	They go and get Mephibosheth. A lame child if we have one! Otherwise have one use a walker.
David is very happy to meet Jonathan's son. He commands one servant to be in charge of tending Saul's family fields and making sure Mephibosheth gets the profit from them.	One servant bows & leaves
And he welcomes Mephibosheth to come and live with him and eat with him at his table for the rest of his life.	David & Mephibosheth embrace

Like I said, a bit too long. And too much talking & not enough action in the second part. Sigh.

We played a simple ring toss game—the rings were supposed to "fall on the sword".

We made scepters for a craft—wrapped Styrofoam balls in soft clay, stuck them on the ends of gold-painted chopsticks, and then rolled them in glitter. They ended up looking more like golden caramel apples than scepters, ha! And I inadvertently chose a clay that was a bit too wet & most of the kids don't like getting their hands that grungy. So mainly the adults did the crafting. Sigh.

For Bible study, we chose Romans 12:16-17, about being willing to associate with the lowly, and not taking revenge on your enemies.

David and Jonathan

Our story:

Last time we saw David kill the giant Goliath	introduce David
Was Saul happy?	face without mouth, have child draw "happy"
Saul took David home with him to his palace & made him head of the army. He succeeded in whatever he did.	Saul (with crown) shakes David's hand
The Israelites loved David, especially the women, who would dance and sing songs praising him.	Have all girls/women dance with tambourine & noisemakers, singing: "Souloh saatsei chin, chin; Daaihwaih saatsei maahn, maahn."
Was Saul happy about that?	have child draw "unhappy" mouth on 2nd face
In those days Saul was often unhappy. Sometimes he would have David sit near him and play on his harp so that the music would make him feel better.	Saul on chair, David on stool with harp
But sometimes, even the music didn't help. Once or twice, when David was playing the harp for him, Saul lost his temper and tried to spear David! But David got away safely.	Still sitting together, Saul grabs spear and goes after David, who runs away.
Now, Saul had a son called Jonathan. Even though Jonathan knew that David was destined to be king, he wasn't jealous. He and David were very good friends.	introduce Jonathan (smaller crown)
Today they are out in a field together practicing their archery.	put quiver on David; let them both try shooting a few arrows at target
David tells Jonathan that he is afraid that sooner or later, Saul is going to kill him. Jonathan doesn't want to believe this. But David is afraid to go back to the palace. So they figure out a way for Jonathan to find out what Saul's attitude really is.	(someone can be helping them shoot while this is being explained)
Jonathan says to him, okay, don't come back yet. I will come back here in three days. You be hiding behind this rock here. I will do target practice like today, and bring a boy with me to pick up my arrows. If I tell him that the arrows are beside him, then you know it is safe to come home. But if I tell the boy, you have to go farther ahead, then you will know that you need to go away, because my father really does want to kill you.	Pull stacked stools covered with blanket out as indicated hiding place. Have boys repeat instructions until David can say what he is supposed to do. They shake hands & part
That night, everybody in the palace had dinner together. Saul noticed David was missing, but he wasn't too worried yet.	all but David sit around tables, pass out small crackers to all
The second night, they all ate together again, and again David wasn't there. This time Saul asked Jonathan where he was.	2nd round of crackers.
Jonathan answered, I told him he could go home & visit his family. Saul had a huge reaction: You and David are plotting things behind my back! You're planning to betray me! He grabbed his spear and tried to kill his own son in anger, but Jonathan got away.	Saul grabs spear and tries to throw it at Jonathan, who gets up & runs away.
So on the third day, Jonathan gois back to the field and does a little target practice.	Jonathan & another boy (wearing quiver). Jonathan shoots a couple of arrows.
He tells the boy to hurry and chase the arrows that are way out in front of him. Then he has the boy bring the bow and arrows back home while he stays there.	servant boy picks up arrows and leaves
David comes out from behind the rock and they embrace. Jonathan gives him some food for his journey into exile.	they hug, Jonathan gives him some food (the leftover crackers). David leaves.

Kevin had bought some toy bow & arrows a long time ago which we never used. They really came in handy for this story; thanks Kevin! The kids weren't very good at shooting them (neither am I, if you want to know the truth, even if my highest grade ever in gym was in archery!), but it was fun to try. Having David repeat the instructions for what to listen for turned out really well. We had a new (second-time) boy playing David, who is very much smarter than any of the other boys, but this little exercise showed up his particular difficulty in concentrating on instructions. Great practice for him!

Our game could have been a craft, but I couldn't think of another game. So I had sixteen hearts cut into two in various configurations. Half of each heart was pasted to a large sheet of paper at the front of the room. The kids took turns receiving a half heart & finding its mate. I was afraid it might be too easy, but I think it was just about right. This was to illustrate how good friends are like two halves of one heart.

For craft time we made quivers from paper towel rolls (I have been saving them up for such an occasion; now I'll have to start over!) and ribbon.

Bible study was on I John 4:8-12, loving one another. I ended the study by saying that, while the Bible does say we must love with our actions and not just with words, it is also good to say it in words. So I went around the circle & told each one a reason or two that I love them. (And I really do!!) They all were a little embarrassed, perhaps, but I think they all liked it anyway!

David and Goliath

We all know the story, so I won't bother putting it into English!

上次我們見掃羅得罪神	介紹掃羅 (戴冠冕)
誰會接他作王﹖	問大家
原來撒母耳已經揀選了和稿了 一個後生子﹐叫大為﹐但他要等神的時候先作王	撒母耳 (穿紅色袍) 倒些香水在大為 (最細的男子) 的頭上
大為暫時要留在父親的家﹐幫他看羊	貼羊群在牆
有時看羊很平安﹐很靜。大為會彈 手琴﹐唱詩歌	大為坐下﹐彈手琴
但有時很刺激﹗試過有獅子來吃羊﹐他要追牠﹐救羊子釋放﹐打死獅子	一個人辦獅子﹐開次吃羊﹐大為打牠
今天﹐大為的父親耶西來找他﹐叫他去軍營﹐問候他幾個哥哥﹐將些母親煮的食物送給他們	一個人將些食物給大為﹐叫他行走
去到戰場就怎樣呢﹖這邊是以色列軍隊﹔那邊是非利士軍隊。	所有人分兩組﹔其中一組有掃羅王﹔第二組有戴牧師。
非利士軍兵其中一個叫歌利亞。他九尺高。他的槍﹐他的檢﹐又長又重。很恐怖﹗	歌利亞 (戴牧師) 企在凳上﹐把槍﹐檢﹐和盾牌
他大聲說﹕不要很多人打仗而四喇﹗你們只要派一個人出來與我一對一 打交。那位死的﹐他的國家就要永遠服侍得勝的國家﹗	(這樣說)
個個都很恐怕。甚至掃羅王都恐怕。但大為呢﹖他反而生氣﹗他對掃羅說﹕請你讓我去殺死這個神必要他死的人啊﹗	大為向掃羅說話
掃羅說﹕你又年輕﹐又沒有打仗經驗﹔你怎能打死他呢﹖	掃羅笑他﹐想退他走
但大為答他說﹕我是看羊的。若有獅子來抓羊﹐神曾賜力量給我打死獅子為救羊群。何況為殺死這個不敬畏神的非利士人﹗	獅子起身﹐辦惡
掃羅看他的膽量﹐就讓他代表以色列。他將自己的戰衣給大為穿上	掃羅幫大為戴頭盔﹐盾牌﹐和護膝﹐有帶檢
大為行幾步﹐就說﹕沒有可能用這些戰衣﹔我不習慣。	大為摘脫戰衣
他在溪水裏揀五塊石頭子﹐放在袋裏。就行出去對著歌利亞。	拾五塊石子﹐放在褲袋裏。行到歌利亞對面
歌利亞見他出來﹐就笑得很大聲	又笑﹐又說些看輕大為和以色列的說話
但他還笑的時候﹐大為將一塊石子﹐扔去歌利亞額頭﹗	辦扔石子
歌利亞跌低﹐大為跑去﹐將歌利亞自己的檢﹐殺死他﹐割他的頭	歌利亞跌落地﹐大為將他的檢為打他
以色列人非常歡喜﹗掃羅就很欣賞大為﹐叫他和自己的兒子一同回王宮住。	以色列人拍手。掃羅恭喜大為﹐帶他一齊走。

Some of our highlights: We like to do more staging than talking if we can, so we had a little segment showing David as a shepherd, first sitting playing his harp & then fighting off a lion. The lion, a guest wearing a mask, grabbed a pillow "sheep". Our intrepid David grabbed the sheep away from the lion—and then started beating the lion over the head with it! Poor little sheep!

We had fun outfitting David in "Saul's armor"—sword, shield, motorcycle helmet, and some splints over the calves. After he (actually a she) shed the armor, he was supposed to take some stones out of a stream. My original idea was to have some little rocks in water for David to put in his pocket, but then to only pretend to throw one at Goliath. Mr. Lei suggested using marshmallows instead, and then David could throw them (we skipped the sling; I don't know how to use one; do you?). So we just used blue crepe paper for the water. Our David threw all five marshmallows, and none of them actually hit Goliath (Bruce on a stool) in the forehead, but he fell mightily anyway.

A sling is a seemingly insignificant little weapon. So for our game we used some other insignificant little weapons—pea shooters!—to knock down some paper giants. I'm not sure if it was actually the peas or the blowing that knocked the giants down, but, whatever!

We made lion faces for craft. Faces were already drawn on paper circles; they just had to glue spiral macaroni around the circle for a mane.

Bible study was from Romans 8:31-32, focusing on why David—and we—could have confidence to fight big battles.

Saul follows his own way

 

Last time we saw how Saul started out humble, and was blessed by God. Unfortunately, he didn't maintain this good attitude.	introduce Saul (wears crown)
Samuel had already started to have doubts about whether God was going to let him continue as king.	introduce Samuel (in red paper robe)
Today, Samuel commands Saul: Here is the command of the Lord: King Agag and his people the Amalekites are both your enemies and mine.	introduce King Agag (also in crown), and two or three others near him (then they can sit back down)
You must go to battle against them, and whatever has breath, be it man, woman, child, ox, sheep, camel, or donkey, must be utterly destroyed.	Have a paper with these categories listed; have child (ü)each one as named
Saul led the Israelites out to battle against Amalek.	Saul and 2-3 others fight with Amalek.
Suddenly, Saul says—wait a second. Let's not kill the king; how much more satisfying will it be to capture him and make him our slave!	They stop. One Israelites wraps string around Agag.
And another thing, says Saul: Let's not kill ALL the sheep and oxen. If we take them back and offer them as sacrifices to God, surely He will be pleased with us!	Second Israelite takes sheets of paper with herd of cattle and flock of sheep.
Was this a good idea?	(ask all)
Now they can all go home, but first Saul sets up a monument to himself commemorating the victory.	Put up paper "pillar" and have kids put up the words 掃羅這裏得勝 (Saul had victory here)
Now, Samuel comes looking for Saul. Is he happy?	(ask all)
Samuel says: God is very upset with your behavior today. You had best confess your sin quickly, or you will surely be punished. But Saul responds: what did I do wrong? I did exactly what God commanded!
But even as he is saying this, they here the sound of cattle and sheep. Samuel asks what that sound is.	Have all make moo and baa noises
Saul says, Oh that? Well…the people wanted to spare the best of the animals to sacrifice to the Lord.
Samuel responds: Do you really think the Lord would be more pleased to have you kill the animals as sacrifices at the altar instead of right here on the battlefield like he told you to? Saul says: Sure, why not?
Samuel is very angry!	grabs Saul and shakes him
Saul says, what is the big deal? I obeyed the Lord! I captured the king, and killed all the people, and all the animals except these ones we planned to offer to the Lord. So what's the problem?
Samuel says, WHAT? The king is still alive? Bring him here right now!	have someone bring out King Agag
Sameul grabs a sword and kills King Agag	kills Agag
Samuel says to Saul: That is how the Lord deals with his enemies. And today you, Saul, have become His enemy. Be sure you shall be punished! He turns to leave.	Samuel turns to leave
But Saul doesn't want him to go; he grabs him by his robe and it tears.	Saul tears Samuel's robe
Samuel turns and says—this is a sign from God! Just as you have torn my robe, so your kingdom will be torn from you and given to someone else more deserving! He leaves.	Samuel leaves

The story didn't go super smoothly this time. Too much monologue, not enough action. I think everyone followed it though. We had a little trouble convincing Samuel to keep his robe on, but everyone else cooperated okay!

The game turned out to be too hard. I might like to try something similar sometime, because it was a fun idea. The adults could do it and seemed to quite enjoy it! And at least one boy couldn't do it because he was laughing too hard, so he at least thought the idea was funny! The idea was ("unlike Saul") to leave nothing behind. We had 8-10 2"x2" paper sheep in the first child's bowl (on a stool). He was supposed to move them to the next child's bowl a few steps away by sucking at it with a straw. Child #2 would then move it to the next bowl while child #1 was moving the next sheep to bowl #2, etc., around the circle. Problem was, when I tried this to see how it would work, I was using a small piece of lightweight paper. The sheep were just too heavy. It wasn't impossible, but the lighter paper would have been much better. Live and learn.

For a craft, each child had a picture of "Samuel in his underwear" and, as Saul had torn his robe, they had to tear out an entire robe for Samuel, trying to follow the drawing on the back of colorful wrapping paper. At first at least one parent protested it would be too hard, but then as they got into it, it turned out fun.

Bible study was on Proverbs 14:12—"There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death."

Saul Starts Out Well

I am not keeping up with my posting here. Not that it matters, since I don't think anyone is reading it but me! I am having trouble just keeping up with writing the stories etc., so blogging takes a back seat. But, let's play catchup here. On March 1^st, we did this story:

Who remembers the name of Israel's first king?
Usually, where does a king live? And what does he do?	card with different possible answers
So let's see where Saul is and what he's up to.	exchange crown for farmer hat, plow with pushbroom
In time of peace, he's not needed to help his country, so he is humbly working on his father's farm
But today? The Ammonites have besieged a small city	2-3 with swords
The people cannot go in & out; very soon they will have no food or water.	3-4 hide behind table
So the leaders of the city say, enough, we will surrender and be your servants	waves white flag
But the commander of the Ammonites says, that is too simple! We don't really want you for servants anyway. We just want to prove we're stronger than you so you don't forget. Just let us put out the right eye of everyone in your city, and then we will let you all go.
Did they accept these terms? They did not! They send someone to Saul to let him know what is happening.	1 person sneaks out, goes to Saul.
Saul is very angry! He takes the oxen he was plowing with and rips it apart and distributes it among the Israelites. He says, whoever won't go with me to rescue this city, this is what will be done to his oxen!	Saul rips apart craft cow; messenger passes pieces out to others
So a lot of people wend with Saul to fight the Ammonites.	3-4 with swords incl. Saul (with shield)
They win. Everyone congratulates Saul.	Ammonites "die". All give Saul laisih
Then some people say to him, You know, there were some people who didn't want you to be king over us. Now they should be made to eat their words! Let us kill them to avenge your honor!
But Saul said no. Today God has blessed me and blessed Israel. We shouldn't have any killing among ourselves, only thanksgiving!	Saul stuffs his laisih in the offering box.

That's how I wrote the story, but—oops, I got so involved that I didn't want to keep referring to my paper. So I totally forgot to have Saul rip the oxen apart. He just got his news and rounded up a bunch of soldiers. Too bad; I know our Saul would have enjoyed ripping the oxen apart. Being destructive is something he does well! And it would have been a good use for our craft cows from a few weeks ago. None of our kids ever takes their craft home.

For our game, we had a large picture of a face with the right eye fitting loosely into its spot. We threw "bean bags" (I don't have any beanbags but washcloths folded in eighths and secured with rubber bands work fine) to try and put the eye out.

Craft time was simple, but everyone enjoyed making shields like Saul's. Afterward everyone got their picture taken dressed for battle. Mr. & Mrs. Lei always ride their motorscooters to church, so we had a helmet handy for even better realism!

For Bible study, we used Jeremiah 9:23-24, about boasting only in God. We had some really good discussion about how boasting about ourselves makes God and others unhappy, but boasting about God is fine and better than not boasting at all. Why? Because we all love to complain too much, and words of praise and thanksgiving for all we have are much better! I basically came up with that application for myself, but all our parents, believers and unbelievers alike, identified with it.