Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (1 minute)

Welcome, everyone! Today, we will watch a Superbook adventure called “Naaman and the Servant Girl.” In our video, his name is pronounced “Nah-AH-man.” Naaman was a powerful commander in the Syrian army. We will see how he learned something from a lowly, young, Israelite servant girl—something that changed his life forever! Now, let’s begin the video and see what Chris, Joy and Gizmo are doing today!

Play Video 2: Chris and Joy’s Dilemma (3.5 minutes)

Chris and Joy's Dilemma

Joy thinks she’s too important to serve at a food drive.

SuperTruth and Discussion (2 minutes)

“God uses simple things for His glory.” This is today’s SuperTruth. Let’s say it together. “God uses simple things for His glory.”

You see, God can use anyone or anything. You don’t have to be powerful, wealthy, super intelligent, or talented. God takes simple people and things and makes them extraordinary! Why do you think God does this? He alone receives the glory. That means God receives all the praise, honor, and credit instead of people or things.

What was Joy doing to make her feel so important? She was in charge of organizing a service project and had many responsibilities.

Joy certainly did have a big and important job to do. Yet, instead of giving God and others credit for helping her, she said she was doing it all by herself! Whether we accomplish a small or large task, we need to point to God and give Him the glory!

Play Video 3: Bible Story and Resolution (19 minutes)

Superbook takes Chris, Joy and Gizmo to meet Naaman, a Syrian commander with leprosy. A lowly servant girl offers him hope, yet he must lay aside his pride to be healed.

Bible Story and Resolution

Play Video 10A: SuperVerse Graphic 1

Graphic loops 2.5 minutes without audio; turn off or freeze video after children repeat the verse.

SuperVerse Graphic 1

SuperVerse Discussion (1 minute)

Our SuperVerse today is 1 Corinthians 1:27:

But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.

Let’s have the boys say the first part of the verse up to the word “shame.” The girls will then finish the verse. Are you ready? Go!

Okay, let’s try it one more time!

Now, quickly shout the answer: did God choose the wise things or the foolish? Foolish!

Did He choose the weak things or the powerful? Weak!

God’s choices sometimes surprise us, right? Yes; however, there is one choice we know He will make every time—the right choice!

Children will have more time to learn the SuperVerse in Small Group.

Prayer and Send-Off (1 minute)

Dear God, You use simple things for Your glory. You used the faith of a young servant girl to lead a powerful commander to give thanks and worship You. Help us to be willing to share our faith to bring You glory in all that we say and do. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

The Bible tells us that Naaman brought 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing to give as gifts. Was Elisha excited to receive all the gifts? No, he refused to take any gifts from Naaman.

That’s right; Elisha knew that he was only a servant of God. He knew God alone was worthy to receive glory for Naaman’s healing. So, in our game today, you are going to return the gifts to Naaman! Now, let’s go to Small Group and find out how to do that.

Teachers take children to Small Group classes for Grades 1–3 and 4–6. If the combined group is small, all children may stay together for Small Group time.

Game

Why did Chris, Joy and Gizmo think that Naaman was a zombie? He had a disease called leprosy.

How did Chris and Joy scare Gizmo in Chris’ backyard after their SuperBook adventure? Joy played the zombie ring tone that Chris had downloaded on her phone.

Zombies are not real. However, the disease that Naaman suffered from is real. Today, leprosy can be cured with medicine. Back in Bible times, though, there was no medicine to cure it. That’s why Naaman was so relieved and thankful to be healed by God. He brought silver, gold and clothing as gifts to Elisha. The prophet refused to take any gifts because he felt he was only a servant of God. Elisha did not want to claim any of God’s glory for the healing!

Hold up the bowls. Let’s say that Naaman’s gifts of silver and gold are the coins in these bowls. In this game, you will return Naaman’s gifts to him.

Naaman had to follow Elisha’s exact instructions to receive his healing. You will follow my instructions on how you will travel, the number of coins you should get, and how you will carry them. If any coins fall to the ground, you must stop, pick them up, and continue from that point.

Divide the class into two teams. Divide each team in half again.

Have half of each team form a line behind one mark, and the other half of each team stand behind the mark at the opposite end of the room.

Choose from the instruction list below or add your own; repeat as desired.

Shout the instruction; it is the same for both teams. The players will move to the other end with the “gift” and then pass it to a teammate.

That player then follows the same instruction to return the gift to Naaman’s bowl again.

Repeat until one team’s players have all taken a turn. That team is the winner. Play again, starting with players who may not have taken a turn in the first game.

Whenever possible, pair older children with each other and give them more challenging instructions.

Instruction list: Pair any movement with any gift.

Movements: walk quickly, big steps, shuffle, sideways, backwards, skip, hop on one foot, hop on two feet, tip toes, etc.

Gifts:

1. Place a coin on back of hand, two coins, or a coin on each hand.
2. Stack two coins, three coins, etc.
3. Place a coin on a finger, one on two fingers, etc.
4. Place a coin on one arm, or one coin on each arm.
5. Balance coin/s on top of head.
6. Place coin/s on shoulder.

Conclusion: You did it; all the expensive gifts were returned!

Teaching

Syria and Israel share a border. Back in Naaman’s time, Syrian soldiers often made quick raids into Israel. During one attack, they took the young Israelite girl captive and brought her to the city of Damascus in Syria. There, she became a maid for Naaman’s wife.

If you were captured by an army and forced to become a servant, how would you feel?

Would you want to help your master?

The young Israelite girl did! She was taken from her family, friends, home, and her country. She easily could have been bitter and angry. She could have thought that Naaman’s leprosy was a punishment for what he did to her people. Instead, she wanted to help her master. She wanted him to experience God’s healing power, love, and mercy. God’s love was in her heart, not revenge!

The enemy took the servant girl away from her people, yet they could not take her away from God! It is the same for us. No matter where we are, or who we are with, God is with us; and He will use us for His glory! God was able to use the lowly servant girl because she remained faithful to Him even when bad things happened. She knew that God could heal her master and she shared her faith!

Who remembers the SuperTruth from Large Group?

Let’s say it together. “God uses simple things for His glory.”

Yes, God used a simple, young servant to bring His love and healing power to an important, powerful, foreign commander. Why do you think that God chose to use someone simple like the servant girl instead of someone who was powerful or rich or famous?

The young servant was actually a slave; she was not free to come and go. She did not have wealth, pride or possessions to hinder or distract her. She had nothing to boast or brag about. Point to the board.

The one thing she did have was her relationship with God. Write “GOD” in very large letters to fill the board. She could not boast or brag about herself; she could only boast in God!

People would know Naaman’s miracle came from God, not from a person. Only the Lord would receive the glory!

Our SuperVerse, 1 Corinthians 1:27, says:

But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.

The world would consider the servant girl weak and foolish for sharing her faith in God. Now, let’s see what a wise and powerful man looks like in the world’s eyes.

Erase GOD and write HUMAN in large letters in the center of the board. Then, write the following words around the word “human” to fill up the board as you discuss each one: POWER, IMPORTANCE, WEALTH, and PRIDE.

The world would say that the king of Israel had POWER, right? He was in charge and commanded people to do things. The king had a lot of IMPORTANCE and made a lot of big decisions. He ruled his kingdom, made plans, and formed strategies. The king also had great WEALTH. He was probably filled with PRIDE because of his position and accomplishments and riches.

Did the young servant girl have any of these things?

Did she have power, importance, wealth, or pride?

She had something more important though; what was it? She had faith in God!

She had something greater than power and wealth; she had faith in God. In comparison to her faith, the king was poor! He did not trust in God’s power like the servant girl.

Read 2 Kings 5:7:

When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, “This man sends me a leper to heal! Am I God, that I can give life and take it away? I can see that he’s just trying to pick a fight with me.”

The king believed Naaman’s request was a trick. He didn’t think of calling on God’s power to heal Naaman. He just panicked.

What happened when Elisha heard about the king’s response? Elisha sent a message telling the king to send Naaman to him.

Why?

Elisha wanted him to know there was a true prophet in Israel and God would be glorified!

Let’s say the SuperVerse together. 1 Corinthians 1:27:

But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.

This is why God chooses to use what the world says is simple, foolish and weak; He can receive glory!

Act as if you want to write on the board but there is no room. The king had all these things, yet there isn’t room for God, is there? The wise and the powerful are often too full of other things. They do not rely on God and they do not bring Him glory. Erase the board and write GOD to fill it.

However, when weak and helpless people rely on God, He fills them with His strength, power and wisdom. He shows them His plans so they know the right thing to do. And God receives all the glory.

Naaman, a powerful and important man, was healed and began to worship the one true God through the simple faith of a young girl!

The young servant was willing to share all she had with her master—her faith in God. We serve the same God that the servant did. We personally know the Lord of lords and the King of kings. We have even more—Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to live inside us and give us His power, wisdom, strength, and provision. And He gives us the power to share our faith with others!

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Display the model you made before class. Give each child a Clothes Basket Pattern and a Garment Pattern for Lesson 1, plus children’s scissors and pencils. Children will follow the instructions to assemble their baskets, then carefully cut out the three blue garments for Lesson 1. Have them write their names on their baskets and place the garments inside. Assist any children with special needs.

In the video, the servant girl was folding and carrying some things. What were they? Clothes, towels, cloths.

The servant girl did small but important tasks to serve her master and his wife in their home. She was a simple, humble servant, and God used her for His glory. Did you know that we are to be humble servants, too? Yes, we are humble servants of Christ. When we choose to serve Christ, we are clothed by Him—not with physical clothes that you can see with your eyes, but with spiritual clothes.

When we allow God to put these clothes or garments on us, we can serve others and bring God glory through simple acts of service and love! In your baskets are three garments you cut out. On each garment is a scripture for you to look up at home and discover what you are clothed with by God! Fill in the blanks on the garments, and we will discuss your answers the next time we meet. Then, you will receive three more garments to continue the challenge. As an additional challenge, ask the Holy Spirit to help you “wear” these spiritual garments to bring God glory!

Optional: If time allows, have the children look up the scripture on each garment: Colossians 3:12; 2 Chronicles 6:41; and Proverbs 31:25. Have them write the answers on their garments, then discuss how God can help us show these qualities in our lives.

Answers: Colossians: mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience; 2 Chronicles: salvation; Proverbs: strength and dignity.

SuperVerse

This verse is part of a letter that the apostle Paul wrote to believers in the church of Corinth. He was encouraging them to continue in their faith regardless of what others said about them and about their faith in Jesus. Some people who thought they were wise said that Jesus was foolish and weak for dying on the cross.

Was He really foolish to do that?

Why not?

He died to pay the price for our sins.

Was Jesus weak when He rose up from the grave?

No, He conquered sin and death!

Very few of the believers were wealthy or famous or powerful; yet God chose them. Why did God do this?

So no one could brag. Salvation does not come from our good works, or from our wisdom, or from our power. Salvation comes by faith in Jesus; it is as simple as that! The simple message of the cross puts the wise to shame—as our SuperVerse says!

Have the class read the SuperVerse on the board together once or twice, then erase it. Choose ten children to stand side by side in the front of the room. Scramble the ten pages of the SuperVerse pattern and give one to each child. Optional: choose five children and give each child two pages to hold, one in each hand.

Starting on the far left, from the class’s perspective, have the children create a “wave” by holding up, reading aloud, then lowering their individual pages. The phrases will be out of order. Ask the class if that sounded right. The answer will be no! Ask the class to tell you which reader should be first, second, third, etc. Rearrange the children in that order and have them read their phrases again, creating a “wave” with their papers. Ask the class if the verse is now correct. If not, have the class rearrange the readers again until they can say the phrases of the verse in the proper order. Finally, have the entire class follow the “wave” to say the verse together two or three times, going faster each time.

Younger children may not be able to memorize the entire SuperVerse. They may simply repeat it several times, while older children may memorize part or all of it. Be sure all children understand its meaning.

Prayer

Have the children sit down. Imagine that you are in the Bible story. Who do you think people might consider to be wise and powerful—not in God’s eyes, but in their own eyes? Naaman, possibly his wife, the king of Syria, possibly Naaman’s soldiers, Israel’s King, possibly some would consider Elisha to be wise.

Who would you say is humble? The servant girl and Elisha.

Yes, God did not use the powerful and wise of the world. He used a lowly servant girl and a humble prophet to offer hope and demonstrate the power of God to them.

God uses simple things. The servant girl had nothing to offer her master except simple faith in God’s power. And her simple faith in God was more powerful than anything in the world! When we humble ourselves before God, He will use the simple things we have in powerful ways.

Today, let’s sit silently before God for a few moments.

Allow time for children to think as you slowly name the following things.

Think of what you have: your possessions … your talents and abilities … your willingness to work hard … your faith … your desire to serve others … your hopes and dreams. God can use them all! As simple or small as these things may seem to you, they are powerful in God’s hands! As you think of them, quietly ask God to use these things in your life for His glory, to accomplish His will on the earth.

Allow a few moments for children to pray silently.

Close in Prayer: Dear God, we give You all that we have and all that we are. We praise You for choosing to use simple things for Your glory. We are amazed at how You choose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. Thank You for choosing the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame. Now, we pray that You will use us for Your glory, just like You used the servant girl’s faith! To God be the glory! In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Let’s say our SuperTruth together as a statement of faith—and let’s add one word to make it personal. Let’s say, “God uses MY simple things for His glory.”

Balloon Game

Elisha told Naaman to wash in the Jordan five times, right?

No, it wasn’t five times! I am glad that you listened to the Bible story. How many times did Naaman dip in the water to obey Elisha’s instructions? Seven times.

God then performed a miracle to heal Naaman of his incurable disease.

In the Bible, there is another story about God telling a different person to do something seven times. I’ll give you some hints to guess who it was.

Give as many hints as necessary:

We can read this story in the Old Testament.

There is a book of the Bible named after this man.

He was the commander of the Israelite army.

He led them in an attack by having them march around a city seven times.

After the seventh time, the army blew their trumpets and shouted.

The walls of the city fell down!

The name of the city was—Jericho.

The name of the man was—Joshua!

If you were inside Jericho watching the Israelites march around the city, you would have thought they were being foolish. But God performed a miracle.

Yes, in the Bible, the number seven is identified with something being finished or complete. God rested on the seventh day after creating the heavens and Earth for six days. The seventh day is to be set apart for God.

How many words are in our SuperTruth today? Seven.

Yes, seven! Let’s say the SuperTruth together: “God uses simple things for His glory.”

Let’s play a simple game to help you learn today’s SuperTruth.

Divide the children into teams of four. Smaller classes can make teams of two or three. Mix older and younger children on teams.

Have each team form a circle—standing several feet apart from other teams.

Give a balloon to each team.

Start the time and play for 1 or 2 minutes.

The first player says the first word of the SuperTruth and at the same time taps the balloon to the player on the right.

The second player says the second word and taps the balloon to the third player. Continue this pattern until the entire SuperTruth is said aloud.

The balloon can only be touched once by each player.

If a balloon hits the floor, is hit twice by the same player, or is caught by any player, that same player must start the round over again with the first word of the SuperTruth.

Once the SuperTruth is completed, the next player immediately starts over by saying the first word without stopping play. Remind the children to keep track of how many times they complete the SuperTruth.

When the time ends, the team that completed the SuperTruth the most times wins.

Play more rounds as time permits.

Object Lesson

When Naaman was healed, he came back to Elisha and tried to give him a gift. What happened?

Elisha would not accept the gift or the glory. He said that he was only a servant of God. In other words, Elisha knew that he was only a simple vessel or instrument for God to work through. The miracle did not come not by Elisha’s ability or power, so he would not accept the praise, honor or credit for doing it.

Hold up the dry sponge with the stick figure on it that is not inside the bag. Let’s say this person prays for someone who is sick and God heals the person. The healed person comes back and begins to praise the person who prayed. This bottle represents the praise, thanksgiving, honor, and glory that belong to God! Begin to spray the sponge and continue the presentation.

What is happening to the sponge? It is absorbing the praise. It is getting large and saturated. It is getting bigger!

That’s right; the person absorbed and accepted the glory that belongs to God. Now, what should the person have done? Not accepted the praise; pointed the person to God to give Him all the glory and praise.

Hold up the sealed plastic bag holding the sponge with a stick figure drawn on it. Now, let’s see what happens to this person. Begin to spray the bag. The water will be deflected by the bag.

What do you see happening now? The sponge is not absorbing any water.

Pull the dry sponge out of the bag and rub it to show it is dry. Yes, this person did not absorb or accept God’s glory, but directed it back to Him. God wants to use simple things, like the young, servant girl and like us to do powerful things. And, like Elisha, we must always be careful to direct the glory to God!

Read Psalm 115:1:

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name goes all the glory for Your unfailing love and faithfulness.

Craft

Give a coloring page and crayons or washable markers to the children. As they color, lead a discussion with the questions below:

• Why was it unusual for the servant girl to want to help her master? She was taken away from her family in Israel and became a slave to the Syrians.
• How did God receive glory from the servant girl’s action?
• What does that tell us about sharing our faith?
• Why do you think God uses simple things to do great works?
• What do you think would happen if God only used powerful or wise people?

Conclusion: God uses simple things. He uses the young and the old, the weak and the foolish, to show that He alone is God!

Bible Study

Have children match up in pairs. Encourage children to pick someone they don’t know well to be their partner for this activity. Give each pair an activity sheet, pencils, and a Bible if needed. The children will look up and read the Bible passages, then unscramble the foolish or simple thing/s used for God’s glory. After about 10 minutes, have the pairs share their answers and use the Answer Key to lead a discussion. Discuss what happened when the character used the foolish or simple thing/s. Consider having some pairs begin at the bottom of the page and work up, so all of the questions are completed.

Close in Prayer: Dear God, You choose the foolish things to put the wise to shame. You choose the weak things to put the powerful to shame. Help us give You all that we have—our strengths and our weaknesses—so that You may use them for Your glory! In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.