Lesson Continued...

• Begin by reading together Galatians 5:22-23.

• What is goodness? Goodness models Christ’s actions of love, humility, and forgiveness. It shows integrity, honesty, and compassion towards others. It is only possible through God’s power at work in our heart. I love the reminder in our verse this week that it is God at work in us that fulfills His good purpose. It’s all Him, not us. "For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." [Philippians 2:13, NIV] Not only can we see God’s goodness displayed through the way He loves, guides, and cares for us, but we can also see it everyday in creation. Creation reflects God—His nature, character, and goodness. 

Directions:

1. Pass out a banana to each child.

2. Instruct everyone to decorate the outside of their banana. *Note, you can really have fun with this. They could decorate them to be a bad guy and relate it to God providing his goodness to someone who isn't use to being good if that person becomes saved. You could just have them decorate them as a happy banana and talk about how even people that try their best need God's gift of goodness in their lives because hard things happen in life.

3. Once everyone is finished decorating, peel open the bananas. Talk about how what we see on the outside appearance of a person doesn’t show us what is on the inside (in their heart). Only God sees our hearts & only the Holy Spirit working inside of us can create goodness in our heart. If someone opens up a banana that has brown spots, that’s a great opportunity to reiterate how what’s on the outside doesn’t always show us what’s on the inside.

Relation to Goodness: When we allow God into our lives He fills us with His goodness regardless of what happens on the outside of our lives. He always gives us His goodness so that we can forgive others, love other, be kind to others and show God's love to others.

Directions

• Jesus teaches in Mark 10:18, "No one is good but God alone." "Good" is such an all-purpose term, especially for children, that it loses any real sense of meaning. To help children better understand what it means that God is good, have them cut out large yellow or orange circles and inch-wide strips of paper. Brainstorm together synonyms of good and specific examples of God's goodness. Write one idea on each strip and glue the strips around the edge of the circle as sun rays. Write a caption in the middle of the sun such as, "I know God is good because …" or "God's goodness is a shining light."

Directions

Have kids stand in a straight line. Say: Let’s see how fast we can pass a banana up and back down the line. Here is the catch: You can’t use your hands. You must hold the banana with your chin. Pass the banana, chin to chin, up and down the line. If someone drops the banana, you must start over.

Place the banana beneath the chin of the child in front of the line. Show that child how to hold the banana between his or her chin and chest. Odds are that the banana will drop to the floor a few times during the game. Allow children to express frustration, but redirect unkind words. If children have an especially difficult time, modify the rules so kids can restart the game with the same partner who dropped the banana.

When kids have finished, gather them around you in a circle. Ask: • Was this game easy or difficult for you? Why? • How did you feel when someone dropped the banana? Why? • If you dropped the banana, how did you feel when you heard the group’s reaction?

Say: It’s easy to feel impatient when things don’t go your way. Sometimes people do things that make it hard for you to get what you want. When we get impatient, we’re tempted to say things that aren’t nice. We can make others feel bad. But we can learn patience. The Bible says that he gives us the power to be patient with others in the same way that he’s patient with us. Show kids that patience is a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. 

Directions

This is a lot like hide and seek meets heads up 7up. Start with 3 kids standing in the front holding a banana. Then, everyone else sits crisscross on the floor and hides their eyes in their lap. The three people with the bananas go and gently sneak their banana in front of a child hiding their heads. When the three bananas have been passed out, everyone can raise their head and see if they received a banana. If they did, they guess which of the 3 people gave them the banana. If they guess correctly, they swap places with the person, if they don't, they try again next round and the person who placed the banana stays up and gets another turn.