Cancelled, But I Still Remember
Game ·
Upper elementary ·
5 min
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Grace Community Church
POWERED BY KIDOLOGY
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GAME · Ages 9–11 · 7-11 MIN · Matthew 18:21-35
Cancelled, But I Still Remember
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BIG IDEA
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God forgives by cancelling the debt and not bringing it back up — and he tells us to forgive the same way.
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GENERATED WITH 1 EDITOR NOTE · READ THEM AT THE END BEFORE YOU TEACH
SUPPLIES · 4 ITEMS
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Whiteboard or large sheet of paper |
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Marker |
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Eraser or cloth |
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A Bible |
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SET UP
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Write the charges
| DO |
On the whiteboard, write eight short, ridiculous 'charges' numbered 1 to 8. Examples: Ate my last taco. Called me Sir Sniffles. Lost my left shoe. Sat in my spot. Left the milk out. Said my drawing looked like a potato. Won't stop humming. Blamed me for the smell in the van. Keep them silly, nothing that could sting. Keep the board covered or turned away until the game starts. |
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1
1-2 min |
Memorize the Board
| DO |
Reveal the board. Have everyone crowd in close enough to read it. |
| SAY |
You've got twenty seconds. Memorize every charge on this board — the number and what it says. There's a quiz coming. |
| DO |
Give them the full twenty seconds. Let them point and mutter the list to each other, building it up like a real contest. |
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2
2-3 min |
Wipe It, Then Quiz Them Anyway
| DO |
Erase the whole board in one clean sweep while everyone watches. Don't explain why yet. |
| SAY |
Every charge on that board is cancelled. Gone. Wiped out. Nobody owes anybody anything anymore. |
| DO |
Say it lightly, like good news. Then, without missing a beat, point at the blank board. |
| SAY |
Okay — pop quiz. What was number four? Number seven? |
| DO |
Let kids shout answers. They'll do it instantly and proudly, and they'll be right. Ask for one or two more numbers the same way. Once it's clear everyone is reciting a blank board perfectly, stop and point at it. |
| SAY |
Wait a second. I erased that board. I said it was cancelled, gone, never coming back. So why does everybody still know exactly what used to be on it? |
| DO |
Let a couple of kids answer. Then include yourself — most leaders can remember plenty of cancelled boards too. |
| SAY |
I do this too. Somebody says 'it's fine, I forgive you,' and two weeks later I'm still keeping score in my head. The board was wiped — I just never actually let it go. |
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3
2-3 min |
Read the Servant
| DO |
Open the Bible to Matthew 18:21-35. Summarize the story in your own words, then read the one quoted line below. |
| SAY |
Peter once asked Jesus how many times he had to forgive somebody — was seven times enough? Jesus told him about a servant who owed his king an amount of money he could never repay in a hundred lifetimes. The king cancelled the whole thing. That same servant walked out, found another servant who owed him a small amount, grabbed him by the throat, and had him thrown in prison until he paid it back. |
| SAY |
Here's what the king said when he found out, straight from the passage: 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me. Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?' — Matthew 18:32-33 (WEB) |
| SAY |
His debt was erased — but somewhere in his head, he still had the other guy's coins memorized. That's exactly what we just did with that board. Forgiving somebody God's way means the board is actually empty, not just erased on the outside while we keep score on the inside. |
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4
2-3 min |
One Thing Off Your Board
| SAY |
Here's a question worth sitting with: is it possible to really forgive someone and still remember what happened? What do you think actually changes when you truly forgive? |
| DO |
Let a few kids answer out loud if they want to. There's no single right answer — the point is the difference between forgetting it happened and refusing to keep using it against someone. |
| SAY |
Now think of one person — a brother, a sister, somebody at your lunch table. Think of the one thing you keep bringing up about them, the thing where if they made you mad again you'd say 'you ALWAYS—' and then say it. |
| DO |
Give a few seconds of quiet. Don't ask anyone to say it out loud. |
| SAY |
Before Wednesday, when you feel that 'you ALWAYS' coming, don't say it. Not because saying it earns you anything, and not because holding it in makes God love you more — he already cancelled your whole debt before you did one thing right. This is just what it looks like to actually believe that. |
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THE PASSAGE · Matthew 18:21-35
Peter asks Jesus how many times he has to forgive someone — seven times? Jesus tells a story about a servant who owes his king an amount of money he could never repay in a hundred lifetimes. The king cancels the whole debt. That same servant then finds another servant who owes him a small amount, grabs him by the throat, and has him thrown in prison until he pays it back. When the king hears what happened, he is furious that the servant wouldn't forgive someone else the way he'd just been forgiven.
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STILL BEING FINISHED · 1 EDITOR NOTE
This piece is usable as it stands. An editor has flagged the points below — read them before you teach, and use your judgement where they apply.
NOTE |
The brief asks for about 5 minutes total. Summing the live steps (excluding the pre-session 'write the charges' setup) gives 7-11 minutes: Memorize the Board (1-2), Wipe It/Quiz (2-3), Read the Servant (2-3), One Thing Off Your Board (2-3). That's well over the target, even at the low end. Trim the discussion prompts in the last two steps and tighten the spoken lines in 'Wipe It, Then Quiz Them Anyway' so the whole piece can run closer to 5 minutes. |
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BEFORE YOU TEACH IT
Please review and adapt all generated content before use.
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Grace Community Church · GAME · Cancelled, But I Still Remember
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