Tech Que: “Emoji Madness” Title Graphic

Hello everyone. I’m so excited you’re here Hello everyone! I’m so excited you’re here! Today is the first day of a super fun series called “Emoji Madness!” Emoji’s are so awesome! With just one little picture, we can show people how we’re feeling— happy, sad, scared, or mad! Did you know there’s a book of the Bible that talks about all of these emotions?

It’s called the Book of Psalms It’s called the Book of Psalms. Psalms is different than any other book in the Bible. It has 150 chapters, but no stories! That’s right—zip, zilch, ZERO! Instead, the Book of Psalms is filled with poems, songs and prayers to God. Most of them were written by King David. It was a way for him to tell God how He was feeling.

Each week during “Emoji Madness,” we’re going to look at a different emotion and see what the Book of Psalms has to say about it. Are you ready to see which emotion we’re going to look at today? (Kids respond.) Drum roll please! (Prompt kids to create a drumroll along with the “Emoji Reveal” video.)

Tech Que: Emoji Reveal Fear Video This week we’ll be looking at fear Tech Que: Emoji Reveal Fear Video This week we’ll be looking at fear! The truth is that we’re all afraid sometimes. You might be afraid of the dark, afraid of thunderstorms, afraid of your family falling apart, or afraid of fiery ferrets falling from the sky. (Well—you could be!) Whatever you’re afraid of, though, fear not, for the Book of Psalms has something for you. Let’s look at what David said about fear in our Psalm for today:

Tech Que: “I looked to the Lord, and he answered me Tech Que: “I looked to the Lord, and he answered me. He saved me from everything I was afraid of.” Psalm 34:4 (NIrV) Let’s dive deeper into that Psalm by looking at a story from another book of the Bible. We’re going to look at the story of a fear-filled servant in the Book of 1st Kings, but I’m going to need some help!

Choose 3 kids to play the following Bible story characters: King of Aram, Elisha, and Elisha’s Servant. Place the appropriate emoji box over each kid’s head with side #1 facing forward.

(Stand behind King.) Many years before Jesus was born, the evil King of Aram declared war against God’s people. The king would say to his officers, “Let’s set a trap for the Israelites in such and such a place.” (Stand behind Elisha.) But the Israelites had a secret weapon! His name was Elisha and he was a prophet of God. God would tell Elisha about the traps and Elisha would warn the Israelites so they could avoid them.

(Turn King box to side #2: Anger (Turn King box to side #2: Anger.) After a while, the evil King of Aram started getting angry. He called for his officers and yelled, “One of you must be a spy! Who’s telling the Israelites how to avoid my traps?” The officers said, “It’s not us, your majesty! It’s the prophet Elisha. He knows what you say even if you whisper it in your bedroom.” (Turn King box to side #3: Binoculars.) So the King said, “Then go! Find him and bring him to me!”

When the officers found Elisha, they gathered a huge army with horses and chariots and they surrounded the city. (Turn Elisha box to side #2: Cool.) When Elisha saw the army, he stayed cool. (Turn Servant box to side #2: Afraid.) But Elisha’s servant was shaking in his boots. (Turn Servant box to side #3: Blind.)

That’s because the servant couldn’t see what Elisha saw That’s because the servant couldn’t see what Elisha saw. So Elisha prayed, “Open my servant’s eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” (Turn Servant box to side #4: Surprised.) The servant was shocked! Suddenly he could see what Elisha had been seeing all along. They weren’t alone—an army of fiery angels filled the hills all around Elisha.

(Turn Elisha box to side #3: Sneaky (Turn Elisha box to side #3: Sneaky.) As the enemy army came charging after them, Elisha came up with a sneaky plan. He prayed to God, “Strike this army with blindness.” And God did it—the entire army went blind. Then Elisha walked up to them and pretended to be someone else. He told them (disguise voice,) “Elisha isn’t here anymore. Follow me and I’ll lead you to the right place.” (Turn Elisha box to side #4: Hilarious.) Elisha couldn’t believe it—his trick was working!

The blind soldiers didn’t know who he was and they followed him The blind soldiers didn’t know who he was and they followed him. When Elisha got to his destination, he prayed to God, “Give them their sight back.” And God did it—the entire army could see again, but they didn’t like what they saw. They hadn’t been led to Elisha. Instead, they had been led straight to the king of Israel and his waiting army. Thanks to God, not only had the Israelites avoided their enemy’s trap, they had trapped their enemy!

Tech Que: “Big Bible Story Questions” Graphic At the end of the Bible story have the kids turn briefly to their small groups and discuss the following questions: For Younger Kids: What was your favorite part of this story? Why do you think Elisha wasn’t afraid of the enemy army, but his servant was? After a few minutes, draw their attention back to the teaching area.

Tech Que: “Emoji Madness” title graphic Isn’t that an amazing story Tech Que: “Emoji Madness” title graphic Isn’t that an amazing story?! Why do you think Elisha wasn’t afraid of the enemy army, but his servant was? (Take answers.) That’s right— Elisha could see the army of angels protecting him, but his servant couldn’t. The servant couldn’t see that God was right there with him. It’s kind of the same for us. Let me show you what I mean.

The servant was afraid of the giant enemy army, but what kind of things are kids like you afraid of? (Write answers on a paper pad or butcher block paper using a black marker.) The Bible tells us that whenever you’re facing fears like these, God is right there with you. (Using a red marker, write the word “GOD” in large letters over and around the fears.) He guides you and protects you.

He gives you the courage to stand up to your fears, just like He did for Elisha. But sometimes, when you’re facing those fears, it’s hard to see that God is there. (Lower the red cellophane so that it covers the paper. The fears will remain fully visible, but “GOD” won’t.) And when you can’t see that God is there, your fears seem even bigger and scarier! You start to shake in your boots just like the servant did. When that happens, though, you can do what Elisha did.

How did Elisha help his servant see the army of angels. (Take answers How did Elisha help his servant see the army of angels? (Take answers.) You got it! Prayer—that’s the answer to overcoming fear! Elisha prayed that God would open his servant’s eyes so that he could see that God was right there with them. He did what our Psalm for today says to do. Let’s take a look at it again. (Encourage kids to open their Bibles to Psalm 34:4. When ready, choose a kid to read the verse aloud or read it aloud yourself.)

Tech Que: “I looked to the Lord, and he answered me Tech Que: “I looked to the Lord, and he answered me. He saved me from everything I was afraid of.” Psalm 34:4 Whenever we’re face to face with one of our fears, we can look to the Lord just like Elisha did. (Lift cellophane so that “GOD” is visible again.) We can pray that God would open our eyes so we can see that He is right there with us and that He is bigger than our fears.

We might not see an army of angels around us like the Elisha and his servant did, but that doesn’t mean that God is not there. He is! And just like the Psalm says, He will answer you and save you from your fears. In fact, I think that’s what we should do right now! Let’s pray that God would open our eyes so that we can know that He’s with us when fear attacks. Tech Que: “Emoji Madness” Title Graphic