Week #2
The Belt of Truth
Welcome to week #2 of Home-made JAM!
Start HERE
We’re learning how we fight evil with truth, and one way we can do that is by telling the truth about God when we hear lies about God. Let’s practice looking for the truth with some fun, tricky pictures.
- Use the Optical Illusions handout.
- Study the first picture, are the lines are crooked or straight? The black and white boxes in the picture don’t line up, and that tells our eyes a lie that not all the lines are straight, but they are. The picture sort of lies to our eyes!
- Study the second picture without touching it, does it look like there's a ball under the paper. This picture can confuse our eyes into thinking there’s a ball under the paper, but the truth is it’s just lines on flat paper.
- Study the third picture and decide which line is longer. The first line is exactly the same length as the other, but the circles make our eyes see them differently.
Lies about God can be tricky, but we won’t get tricked when we remember the truth about God. We fight evil with the truth that God is real, God loves us, and God is always with us.
Let's Sing!
This week we are focusing on two songs. The first one reminds us we can Stand Strong because Jesus is always with us. The second one reminds us that because of Jesus and the armor God gives to us I Will Not be Afraid.
Take some time to learn these songs and sing them with your kids!
Craft - Belt of Truth
Supplies
- “Truth Catcher” handout
- scissors
- markers
- pens
Give each person a “Truth Catcher” handout. Set out the remaining supplies to share, and follow these directions to make Truth Catchers.
- Cut out the larger square.
- Fold the corners along the dotted lines toward the center of the blank side of the square.
- With the printed side up, fold the corners in toward the center dot.
- Then fold the squares in half one way, undo that fold, and fold them in half the other way.
- When you undo that fold, you should be able to hold your Truth Catchers by inserting your thumbs and fingers into the outer flaps.
Decorate
- Draw a belt on each of the four outer flaps of the Truth Catchers, using a different color for each belt.
- On the eight inner triangles, write the names of places where they need to remember the truths that are hidden under the triangles. For example, if you feel lonely at school, you might write “school” on the triangle that covers “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” Other places could include home, sports practice, church, the car, at a friend’s house, and so on. It’s to repeat the same place if more than one verse is relevant there.
- Under each place, write any number from 1 to 8.
Play
- To use your Truth Catchers, hold them so you can see the four outer flaps.
- Choose a belt shown on one of the flaps, then open the Truth Catcher one way and then the other for each letter in the name of the belt’s color. For example, you would open the Truth Catcher three times for the color red.
- Then choose a number from one of the inner triangles that’s showing and open the Truth Catcher that many times, repeating for a total of three turns and then choosing a place that’s showing. Then open the panel with the place they chose and read the truth underneath.
• How did you decide on the places you need to hear each truth?
• Lift up one flap at random. What evil or lie can that truth help you fight?
Our enemy surrounds us with lies: lies about God, lies about our faith, and lies about ourselves. But we fight evil with truth. When you need to fight a lie, put on your belt, take out your Truth Catcher, and fight!
Game - Get it off
Supplies
- Sheet or LARGE towel
- painter’s tape
- colored pompoms
- upbeat music
- music player
Easy Prep
- Use painter’s tape to make a large heart in the middle of the parachute.
Sometimes we hear things that aren’t true. Share something silly that isn’t true. It might be something like the sky is purple or dogs quack.
Those were just silly things that weren’t true. But sometimes we hear things about God that aren’t true. If we believe things that aren’t true about God and let them into our hearts, it makes our hearts sad. But we can fight that evil with the truth about God.
Gather around the sheet/towel. Show everyone the pompoms, and pretend the pompoms are things about God that are not true, work together to get them out of your heart!
- Throw pompoms into the middle of the sheet, and encourage everyone to shake the sheet to get them all off.
- After all the pompoms have flown off, gather them, and play again.
- Play upbeat worship music while you play.
In your game, you worked to get all the pompoms off the heart shape. God’s truth helps us keep lies out of our real hearts. That’s how we fight evil with truth!
Family Together Time
Write out a Bible verse on a large piece of paper or on a mirror, with a truth your family needs to be reminded of (If you have kids who can't read, add a symbol that represents the verse. When the kids see that symbol, they will be reminded of the verse).
Put the verse somewhere you will see it every day, so you’ll be reminded of the truth all week!
Try these verses, or choose your own:
- Romans 12:18: “Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.” (Draw two people holding hands.)
- 1 John 3:1: “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!” (Draw a heart.)
- Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Draw a smiley face.)
Wrap it Up - Pray the Truth
Pray It
This week we learned we fight evil with truth. We heard how God’s friends told the truth about God and beat God’s evil enemy. Let’s talk to God now about things we know are true about God and us.
Dear God, thank You that we can fight evil with Your truth. We know it’s true that You love us! Here are some other things we know are true about You and our friendship with You. Take turns sharing something true about God or yourself in relation to God (it could be things like God made me, God is my friend, God cares for me, or God is strong).
God loves when we say true things about Him! It’s also how we fight God’s enemy. Thank you God for Your truth!
Resources
- Knight Handout - Use the same one EVERY week
- Optical Illusions - Use with this week's intro video
- Truth Catcher - Use for this week's craft