3 s and 4 s/pre K. A Journey Home Week 6: God s Reminders. November 10-11, God reminds us of his love. Matthew 14:22-34, 16:13-24, 26

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1 3 s and 4 s/pre K November 10-11, 2012 A Journey Home Week 6: God s Reminders Matthew 14:22-34, 16:13-24, 26 God reminds us of his love SCHEDULE for all sites: First 10 minutes of the service hour: Relationship-building time (kids get to know each other and the volunteers) Next 25 minutes: Large group teaching and worship Ten minutes before you head into large group, ask kids if they have to use the restroom. It should help eliminate the number of kids who ask to go during the story. Last 30 minutes: Story review, snack and small groups, activities/crafts If you finish early, have kids engage group games as parents arrive. Check out the end of the activities section to find an idea for this week. As you check-out, tell parents we talked about ways God reminds us he loves us. Tell them that their kid has a tattoo on their hand and why. Every time they play or eat or get dressed this week, they should look at it and remember God s love for them. Remembering God s love for us can be hard. Today we re going to look at some reminders from the Bible and practice remembering that God loves us. *Also, don t be shy: redirect rowdy kids so the presenter can focus on presenting.

2 Goal: To give kids a tangible and personal way to remember God loves them Why? We re looking at several different ways God reminded people he loved them in the Bible, but we want to simplify it for kids and help them associate memory of God s love to one specific item. Tip: Let the kids choose which hand they want the tattoo on, but don t expand their options further than that. You ve got a lot of tattoos to apply today! QUESTIONS Lead the kids to RETELL the story: 1. Do people forget that God loves us? (yes) *For the following questions, show the appropriate images (screenshots from the God s Story video all provided) as you ask the question. 2. What did God give Noah to remind him to trust him? (a rainbow) 3. What did God ask his family to do for one week every year to remind them that he takes care of them? (sleep in tents) 4. What two pictures did Jesus give us to remind us that he gives us food and clothes? (birds and flowers) 5. What reminds us of Jesus rescue? (bread and wine: communion) 6. What reminds us that Jesus died and came back to life? (baptism) 7. What did the prodigal son get from his dad to remember he was a son? (a ring and a robe) 8. Does God want to remind you of his love? (Yes!) ACTIVITY Lead the kids to APPLY the story: SAY: Today, we re going to get something to remind us that God loves us: A tattoo of a cool leaf. God wants us to remember that he loves us. So put this on your hand. Every time you eat or play or get dressed this week, you ll see it and remember that God loves you. You can even say, God loves me! just like we practiced in large group. And after the tattoo fades, look around at the leaves outside. Remind yourself: God loves me! DO: Apply tattoos to each kid s hand. Ask them to tell you what they are supposed to remember when they see it. ( God loves me! ) Then, ask them to go find a friend, show their tattoo, and say, God loves me!

3 2 QUESTIONS ACTIVITY Crazy Parade (OPTIONAL IF TIME PERMITS) Walk around the room in a variety of ways: on your heels on your toes forwards backwards quickly slowly left right standing tall bent over arms in front arms behind hands on head hands on toes with a partner in a curved line etc.! You can lead or choose kids to be leaders. To mix things up, add music.

4 1 The goal today is to get kids to practice saying God loves them when they see specific reminders. In small groups, they ll get a reminder to take home. In large group, your goal is to help them understand what to do when they see a reminder object (say, God loves me! ). Show 'em the Word! Cut and tape parts of the script into the kids' Bible in the props box. This will allow you to show the kids where you're getting the lesson from - and remind you of your lines at the same time! We want kids to know these truths are grounded in the Bible. Presenter: Hi Friends! Welcome to (your ministry s name). I'm and I'm really glad you're here today. Before we get started, I want you to meet my friend, HOPS. She s going to remind us of the kind of choices we can make today in (your ministry). Video: HOPS 2 Obey Your Leaders (approx. 1 minute) Presenter: (holding up the Bible for kids to see) This is God s story. Out of all the stories in the world, this story is the most important. This is God s story God s Rescue plan. REVIEW Remember how God made the whole world and everything was good? It was perfect and beautiful. And God wanted us to live there as his family forever. But then something bad happened. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sadness and death came into the world. Show me your sad face (pause for kids to make their sad faces). Things kept getting worse and worse. But God had a plan to rescue us and invites ALL of us to join his family. But God planned an amazing rescue! And does anybody remember how God rescued us? (Let kids respond. Guide them toward responses like, He sent Jesus to take our punishment, He sent Jesus to beat death, He sent Jesus to die on the cross and come back to life, etc.) Yes that s right! And now we are free to believe Jesus took our punishment, join God s family, and follow him forever! INTRO: OUR SON AND DAUGHTER-SHIP After Jesus rescued us, we are free to join God s family. Let s look inside the box this week and see what we can learn about God s family after the big rescue.

5 Video: The Attic / Week 6 (approx. 30 seconds) Wow, adoption papers?! That s what you get when somebody is adopted into a family forever. This is really exciting because God wants to adopt all of us as sons and daughters in his family. He wants to love us and take care of us. Would you say this is good news (thumbs up) or bad news (thumbs down let kids respond). That s right (thumbs up) this is awesome news!! WE FORGET GOD LOVES US But you know what? Sometimes we forget God loves us. Can you believe that? Have any of you forgotten who your family is? (Let kids respond.) That s silly, right!? But people have actually forgotten that God loves them. We all do it sometimes. But I have some really good news: God wants to remind us. And he s given some people really special ways to remember that he loves them. We re going to watch a story. As we watch, try to figure out ONE way that God reminds us that he loves us and keeps his promises. Video: God s Story / God Reminds Us He Loves Us. (approx. 4 minutes) Hold up a finger if you figured out ONE way God reminds us he loves us! (Let kids respond guide them toward rainbows, a new name, tent, birds, flowers, communion, and baptism but they don t have to get them all. Just take a few answers and move on.) Great job! And give yourself a hug if God wants YOU to remember that he loves you! (Let kids respond.) PRACTICE REMEMBERING That s right! He wants ALL of you to remember he loves you. So let s practice. And let s use some of the reminders God s given other people. I m going to show you some pictures. If this one reminds you of God s love, I want you to hug yourself again and say, God loves me! in your most excited voice! Here we go! (Show rainbow then model response) Great job! Yeah! Rainbows remind us of God s love! Time for another one This time, if it reminds you of God s love, stand up and whisper God loves me! Ready? (Build a little suspense, then show picture of a tent. Model response with kids) Yep, God s people slept in tents to remember that he loves them so much that he gave them good homes. (Let the kids keep standing) We ve got another one. This time, spin around, right where you re standing if it reminds us God loves us. (Show bird and model response) Yes! You guys have great memories! God gives birds food because he loves them. We can remember this every time we see a bird. Let s do a couple more. For our next one, sit down as fast as you can if it reminds you God loves you. (Show flowers and model response) Oh wow, you guys are good. You re right! Flowers remind us God loves us. Flowers never have to buy new clothes, but they are always beautiful. Look at these amazing colors!

6 KEEP REMEMBERING God gave these reminders to people, because he WANTS us to remember that God loves us and invites us to join his family and be adopted as sons and daughters. (Show picture of communion and baptism) And there are lots of other ways he reminds us, like through communion and baptism, to remind us of the most loving thing ever, when he rescued us! Today, in your small groups, we re going to get a really cool reminder for you to take home with you. But first, let s thank God for his love. (Pray, breaking the prayer into smaller, repeatable phrases) Pray: Hi God! Thanks for loving me even when I forget! Thanks for reminding me! Help me to remember you love me! I love you too! Aaaaaaaaaa-men! Now let s sing and praise God for his love! It is thiiiiiis deep (do motion from Deep and Wide song) and thiiiiiiiis wide (do motion from Deep and Wide song). Sing: Deep and Wide Sing: King of the Jungle Dismiss kids to small groups. (Be creative as you dismiss them. Ask them to come give you a high five first, or maybe tiptoe or hop to their groups.)

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9 1. Coloring pages 2. 1 tattoo per kid (OT: IN-39/2003) 3. Small bowl for water 4. Sponge or paper towels to apply tattoo 5. One set of the following pics per small group: Noah with a rainbow People sleeping in tents Birds and flowers Bread and wine Baptism Ring and robe on prodigal son Jesus Storybook Bible Adoption papers (extra large size) Suitcase/treasure 1. Video: HOPS 2 Obey Your Leaders 2. Video: The Attic / Week 6 3. Video: God s Story / God Reminds His Family He Loves Us 4. The following images: a. Rainbow (jpeg in curriculum folder) b. Tent (jpeg in curriculum folder) c. Bird (jpeg in curriculum folder) d. Flowers (jpeg in curriculum folder) e. Communion (image in Jesus Storybook Bible, pg. 293 / splitscreen with baptism image) f. Baptism (image in Jesus Storybook Bible, pg. 207 / split-screen with Communion) 5. Song: Deep and Wide 6. Song: King of the Jungle What are some of the reminders God gave? How can you remember that God loves you? Today, we looked at several stories in the Bible. In each of them, God gave his family an object or action to help them remember his love. Ask your child about it. Or read about the reminders in Genesis 9:1-17, Genesis 17:5, Joshua 2-4, Matthew 6:25-34, Mark 14:12-26, Matthew 3:13-16, and Luke 15: Your child was also given a glitter leaf tattoo as a personal reminder of God s love. IN BOX AT THE BOTTOM OF PARENT PAGE, PLEASE ADD You can also watch a video of today s story together on Facebook. Just search for Crossroads Kids Club.