Video Game Sunday School Lesson
Video Game Sunday School Lesson for Kids:
BOTTOM LINE:
Sin and selfishness are incompatible with the Christian life.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will choose one “incompatible” thing they want to take out of their life.
KEY PASSAGE:
Galatians 5:13-18, 22-26, Live by the Spirit
(Should you decide to include verses 19-21, it is recommended that you use a kid-friendly version like the NirV and consider re-wording some of the adult content to fit your audience)
MEMORY VERSE:
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
SUMMARY:
Isn’t it frustrating when a cool new game comes out but it’s not on the game system you own? Just as some games and game consoles are incompatible, some things are incompatible with being a Christian. God wants us to focus our minds on things that are good and true.
SIMPLE PRAYER:
Dear God,
Teach us to live a good life that will please you.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
MEMORY VERSE
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
“Finally, my brothers and sisters, always think about what is true. Think about what is noble, right and pure. Think about what is lovely and worthy of respect. If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things.” Philippians 4:8 (NIrV)
LARGE GROUP:
Divide the room between girls and boys. Have the boys read the verse aloud, then have the girls read it aloud. Who can read the loudest?
SMALL GROUP:
Ask the kids what they think the writer was trying to say when he wrote these words. Then ask them how this verse is connected to today’s story.
SKIT
INCOMPATIBLE
ITEM NEEDED:
A video game system
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:
1M/1F
CHARACTERS:
Eddie - A Christian kid
Vicki - Eddie’s friend
Eddie and Vicki walk on stage.
VICKI: Thanks for inviting me over for a play date, Eddie.
EDDIE: Thanks for coming. It’s been forever since I had anyone over who wanted to play video games.
VICKI: Whoa! Is that your game system?
EDDIE: Sure is!
VICKI: I’ve never seen anything like it! What is it, a PlayStation?
EDDIE: No, no, it’s a PrayStation.
VICKI: PrayStation? Never heard of it. Does it have a lot of games?
EDDIE: Best games in the world.
VICKI: Really?
EDDIE: You bet!
VICKI: Cool! Let’s play Death Race 3000!
EDDIE: Umm, it doesn’t have Death Race 3000.
VICKI: No Death Race? That’s odd. That’s a really fun game.
EDDIE: It’s a violent game, isn’t it?
VICKI: Oh yeah, lots of mayhem and destruction.
EDDIE: Sorry, Vicki, I can’t play that on PrayStation.
VICKI: What about Zombie Avengers?
EDDIE: No, don’t have that either.
VICKI: Super Car Thief?
EDDIE: Nope.
VICKI: Blow Up Your Teacher?
EDDIE: No.
VICKI: Blow Up Your Teacher 2: Revenge of the Coach?
EDDIE: No.
VICKI: Blow Up Your Teacher 3: The Substitutes Strike Back?
EDDIE: How many of those games did they make?
VICKI: Goodness, Eddie, that PrayStation sounds kind of boring.
EDDIE: This is no ordinary game system, Vicki.
VICKI: Tell me about it. I thought every game system had Blow Up Your Teacher 2: Revenge of the Coach.
EDDIE: Those kinds of games are incompatible with PrayStation.
VICKI: Then what is compatible?
EDDIE: Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. And Self-Control.
VICKI: Dude, those are some weird names for video games.
EDDIE: When you play PrayStation, you can’t hurt anyone, but you can do a lot of good. You can spread love and joy to others. No one gets hurt, and no one’s feelings get hurt. And at the end of the day, new friends can become best friends.
VICKI: Eddie, that PrayStation has to be the weirdest game system I’ve ever heard of. But it sounds really cool to me.
EDDIE: Trust me, Vicki. You’re going to love it. OBJECT LESSON
ITEMS NEEDED:
A video game system and a game for a different system
Since we’re starting a new series on video games, I thought it might be fun to play a video game today. Who wants to play a game?
Choose one kid to come up in front of the group. Ask him to put the game into the game system. To really drive home the point, hand the kid a cartridge from an older game system like a Nintendo and use a more modern game platform for the game system.
Sorry to tease you guys like this, but this game can’t be played on this system.
Any time a new game comes on the market, everyone who loves games wants to know, “Is this game compatible? Can I play the new game on my XBox system, or Playstation, or Nintendo?” Every game system has a lot of games available, but because of brands and because of the ever-changing technology, there are some games you just can’t get for the system you have at home.
That’s a lot like being a Christian. When you are a Christian, you’ve given your life to Jesus. You have chosen not to play the games of this world, but to follow Christ.
The world wants us to play selfish. The world wants us to sin and to lie and to rebel. God wants us to be loving, to be peace-makers, to do good to others. He wants us to love our neighbor, and if we play that game well, we will draw other people to Jesus.
Don’t waste your time on things that are incompatible with Jesus. Focus on Christ, and play life God’s way. LARGE GROUP GAME
GAME SET MATCH
ITEMS NEEDED:
Four music stands, eight signs
INSTRUCTIONS:
Write the following four game signs:
Mario Brothers
Halo
Sonic
Legend of Zelda
Write the following four game system signs and place one on each music stand:
Nintendo (2 signs)
XBox
Sega
Choose one player for this game. The player has sixty seconds to put the four signs with the game names next to the game systems they are compatible with. (Mario and Zelda are Nintendo only; Sonic goes with Sega; Halo matches with XBox.) After the player has put all four signs up, he will turn to a judge (an adult leader) who will tell the player how many are wrong. The player can continue changing the signs around until he gets them all right, or until he runs out of time.
VARIATION:
For older kids, give them thirty seconds instead of sixty.
Also, you can do a harder version of this just for fun with the adults. Pick some exclusive games from the older game systems, and see if one of the adults can match them up. The kids won’t know the games, but it would be fun for them to see the adults trying to play a matching game as well.
WHAT’S THE POINT?
Some things are just incompatible with following Jesus. LARGE GROUP LESSON
BOTTOM LINE:
Sin and selfishness are incompatible with the Christian life.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will choose one “incompatible” thing they want to take out of their life.
KEY PASSAGE:
Galatians 5:13-18, 22-26, Live by the Spirit
INTRO:
How many gamers do we have with us this morning? How many of you play video games at least once a week? How many play games at least once a day? How many of you are playing video games every single chance you get?
Video games have been consuming our imaginations and our time for more than four decades. The first home video game system was released way back in 1972. It was called the Magnavox Odyssey, and the games available on that system looked very different than the high tech games you all play today.
Of course not everyone is a fan of video games, and there are many adults who think that video games will rot your brain. We aren’t going to get into the pros and cons of playing video games here, but we are going to spend the next few weeks looking at some things video games can teach us about following Jesus.
That doesn’t even sound right, does it? I mean, what can the Mario Brothers and Halo and Angry Birds possibly teach us about following Jesus? Those two ideas seem completely incompatible.
You know what else is incompatible? A Mario Brothers game with an XBox. Have you ever played Mario on XBox? You can’t, can you? Mario Brothers belongs to Nintendo, and the only game systems with Mario Brothers are Nintendo game systems.
You won’t find Halo available for Nintendo either. Halo belongs to Microsoft and you can only find Halo on XBox. Some games are incompatible with some game systems. That’s a good reminder to us that some things are incompatible with following Jesus.
READ GALATIANS 5:13-18, 22-26
(Should you decide to include verses 19-21, it is recommended that you use a kid-friendly version like the NirV and consider re-wording some of the adult content to fit your audience)
MAIN POINT:
Paul tells us in Galatians that there are two ways we can live. We can live like the world, and we can live by the Spirit. He also tells us that if we want to be faithful followers of Jesus, we cannot live like the world. The things of this world are incompatible with following Jesus. They include lying, cheating, being selfish, being hateful, and being unkind to others. Anyone who does these things is not living by the Spirit of God.
Instead of living like the world, God wants us to live by the Spirit. Paul lists nine things we call the Fruits of the Spirit that will mark our lives as believers. Living by the Spirit means we don’t play with sin. Instead, we choose to live a life filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Living God’s way means we’ll share God’s love with others. We will love them the way Jesus loves us, and in doing so, we will spread the good news of Jesus to other people.
DRIVE IT HOME:
How many of you have ever known the frustration of seeing a cool new video game advertised, only to find out it doesn’t work on your game system? Doesn’t that make you mad? It’s the brand new game everyone’s talking about, and you can’t get it on your system. Maybe your game system is a generation too old. Maybe it’s the wrong brand. Whatever the reason, you know you won’t be getting to play because you don’t have the right game system.
Living by the Spirit can be frustrating because we are sinful people. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control do not come naturally to us. Our natural instinct is to be selfish and sinful. We want paybacks when someone hurts us. We lie to get out of trouble. We take what we want, and we don’t care whom we hurt to get it. We think only of ourselves.
God wants us to live life differently. He wants us to live the way Jesus did, putting other people and their needs ahead of our own. The Fruit of the Spirit is all about treating other people with respect. Developing these characteristics is the key to loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. When we live by the Fruit of the Spirit, we treat others with love and we show them that Jesus loves them.
Some games were not meant to be played on Nintendo. Same goes for XBox and Playstation. The game just doesn’t work. Living by the world doesn’t work with following Jesus either, but it’s up to us to keep those games off of our system. Fill your heart with the Fruit of the Spirit, and play life the way God wants you to play it.
CLOSE WITH A SIMPLE PRAYER:
Dear God,
Teach us to live a good life that will please you.
In Jesus’ name,
AmenSMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (K-2ND)
ICEBREAKER:
What is your all-time favorite video game?
MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY:
Philippians 4:8
Ask the kids what they think the writer was trying to say when he wrote these words. Then ask them how this verse is connected to today’s story.
SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY:
Share a snack with the kids of two things that aren’t compatible. For example, dip some tortilla chips in mustard, or dip a cookie in ranch dressing. How does it taste? What would go better with those chips or those cookies?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Read Galatians 5:13-18, 22-26
(Should you decide to include verses 19-21, it is recommended that you use a kid-friendly version like the NirV and consider re-wording some of the adult content to fit your audience)
What one command does Paul say sums up all of God’s laws?
What kinds of things are incompatible with being a Christian?
What are the Fruits of the Spirit?
Is there something in your life, something you do or have done, that is incompatible with following Jesus?
What can you do to eliminate the incompatible things from your life?
SIMPLE PRAYER:
Dear God,
Forgive us for the sins we’ve committed, and help us to live a life that is compatible with following Jesus.
In Jesus’ name,
AmenSMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (3RD-5TH)
ICEBREAKER:
What is your all-time favorite video game?
MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY:
Philippians 4:8
Ask the kids what they think the writer was trying to say when he wrote these words. Then ask them how this verse is connected to today’s story.
SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY:
Share a snack with the kids of two things that aren’t compatible. For example, dip some tortilla chips in mustard, or dip a cookie in ranch dressing. How does it taste? What would go better with those chips or those cookies?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Read Galatians 5:13-18, 22-26
(Should you decide to include verses 19-21, it is recommended that you use a kid-friendly version like the NirV and consider re-wording some of the adult content to fit your audience)
What kinds of things are incompatible with being a Christian?
What compatible things should we put in our lives instead?
Is there something in your life, something you do or have done, that is incompatible with following Jesus?
Why is it so hard to stay compatible with Jesus?
How can we get the incompatible things out of our lives and replace them with the Fruit of the Spirit?
SIMPLE PRAYER:
Dear God,
Forgive us for the sins we’ve committed, and help us to live a life that is compatible with following Jesus.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
For your convenience, you can also download the entire PDF version of this Video Game Children's Ministry Lesson (just click the link).
Take a look at the links below for other ideas for teaching a Video Game Sunday School Lesson:
100 Bible Games (with Videos) Kids Will Love in Sunday School
103 Sunday School Games - Zero Boredom Policy
10 Active Indoor Sunday School Games That Help Kids Grow Their Faith