ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES God reveals Himself to us through the Bible, and it is 100% accurate, reliable, and authoritative.

Transcription

1 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME Chief Executive Officer Reggie Joiner Creative Team Kristen Ivy Mike Clear Molly Boylan Elloa Davis Elizabeth Hansen Jessica McKee Brandon O Dell Greg Payne Phil Pierce Dan Scott Jon Williams Contributing Writers Jodi Blackwell Holly Crawshaw Becky Jarrett Mike Tiemann John Tillman Editors Molly Boylan Elloa Davis Dana Wilkerson Illustrations & Graphic Design Brian Bascle Mike Davis Joe Goode Technical & Web Support Hadley Brandt Orange Specialists Amy Grisham Joy Bowen Abbey Carr Amy Fenton Leslie Galema Misty Phillips Stephanie Porter Courtney Templeton Statement of Faith ABOUT GOD God is the one and only true God, yet He exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is the Creator, so everything belongs to Him and is under His control. God is holy, so He is righteous, majestic, and loving. God is all knowing and purposeful, so He s at work to bring about His will. No person, thing, or idea compares to God. ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES God reveals Himself to us through the Bible, and it is 100% accurate, reliable, and authoritative. ABOUT PEOPLE People are made in God s image and for His pleasure. But everybody falls short of God s intention, or ideal, for people. In other words, everyone has sinned. As a result, we are all separated from Him, even though He wants an intimate relationship with each of us. ABOUT SALVATION That s why Jesus God s Son came and lived on this earth, died, and rose again. God offers His free gift of salvation to all who believe in Jesus and accept Him as Savior the only way to be forgiven and reconciled to God. Anyone who accepts this gift is adopted as a son or daughter into God s family and will live with Him forever in heaven. User Agreement Orange gladly grants permission to churches, schools, and other licensees to tailor 252 Basics materials to fit their unique leadership requirements, locale and format preferences, and physical environment needs. However, if you wish to edit the content substantively, including Bible stories, learning activities, scripts, and any other content in which biblical principles and concepts are presented, you are obligated to do so within the doctrinal guidelines we ve expressed in our Statement of Faith. These resources are intended to be downloaded and printed for use by the subscribing entity only and may not be electronically transferred to or duplicated by other non-subscribing entities. Any unauthorized reproduction of this material or incorporation into a new work is a direct violation of US copyright laws The rethink Group. All rights reserved. 252 Basics and the 252 Basics logo are trademarks of Orange and the rethink Group. Scripture marked NIrV is taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL READER S VERSION. Copyright 1996, 1998, 2014 Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of Biblica. Scripture marked NIV is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

2 SOCIAL PRELUDE STORY WORSHIP HOME BIBLE STORY Just Hit Stop (Too much of a good thing) Proverbs 25:16 BOTTOM LINE Know when to STOP. MEMORY VERSE A person without self-control is like a city whose walls are broken through. Proverbs 25:28, NIrV LIFE APP 15 MINUTES 25 MINUTES 10 MINUTES 25 MINUTES PRELUDE: Setting the tone for the experience For Leaders Only Create the Environment SOCIAL: Providing time for fun interaction Ideas for Early Arrivers Pull Back! STORY: Communicating God s truth in engaging ways Opener Worship Bible Story Prayer Closer WORSHIP: Inviting people to respond to God Unshakeable from Movin Me By Your Grace from Walk This Way Close from Walk This Way : Creating a safe place to connect Captain Enuff! Had Enough? Enough Is Really Enough Prayer HOME: Prompting action beyond the experience GodTime Parent Cue Self-control choosing to do what you should do, not what you want to do. BASIC TRUTH I need to make the wise choice. PAGE 2

3 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME BIBLE STORY Just Hit Stop (Too much of a good thing) Proverbs 25:16 BOTTOM LINE Know when to STOP. MEMORY VERSE A person without self-control is like a city whose walls are broken through. Proverbs 25:28, NIrV LIFE APP Self-control choosing to do what you should do, not what you want to do. BASIC TRUTH I need to make the wise choice. GETTING READY SOCIAL: PROVIDING TIME FOR FUN INTERACTION (Choose one or both of these activities.) Early Arriver An offering container Pull Back! Rubber bands Masking tape With the tape, outline a small circle inside or near each Small Group area : CREATING A SAFE PLACE TO CONNECT (Choose as many of these activities as you like.) * If you don t have time to do all these activities, be sure to do activity #2. 1. Captain Enuff! (application activity / review the Bible story) Print the Comic Book Page Activity Page; 1 for each kid Colored pencils 5/6 Challenge: Print the Comic Duo Activity Page on cardstock; 1 per Small Group A phone or tablet that can record video Scissors Craft sticks Tape Scrap paper * 2. Had Enough? (application activity / possible environment-wide activity) 2 beach towels or small blankets Mini beanbags, rolled socks, or ball-pit balls 5/6 Challenge: The Great Pizza Debate (Optional) Empty pizza box (Extra-optional) If you re feeling generous and don t care about breakfast taboos, you could actually serve pizza during this discussion. If your service time is too early for delivery, consider filling a regular pizza box with (heated) frozen pizza or allowing kids to make their own English muffin mini pizzas. PAGE 3

4 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME 3. Enough Is Really Enough (memory verse activity) Chopsticks; 1 set for each kid 2 sets of blocks Lots of pompoms, cotton balls, and/or foam beads Prayer Print the Stop Signs Activity Page on red cardstock; make enough so each kid will have one stop sign Clothespins; 1 for each kid Tape or putty Permanent markers or pens Additional Resources: Make copies on cardstock of this week s GodTime and Parent Cue cards. Tell parents about our additional family resources: Studio252.tv, CUE Box, and the Parent Cue app. To find out more about these great resources, go to PAGE 4

5 PRELUDE STORY WORSHIP HOME SOCIAL SOCIAL: PROVIDING TIME FOR FUN INTERACTION Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up. Get ready to experience today s story. Before kids arrive, pray for each regular attendee by name. Pray for those who might visit your group for the first time. Ask God to help kids with the concept of knowing when to stop. Pray that they ll be able to think forward enough to understand that too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Ask God to reveal to your kids in what areas they need to know when to stop. 1. EARLY ARRIVER IDEA WHAT YOU NEED: Offering container Greet kids as they arrive and encourage them to place their offerings in the container. After some catching up, play a game. Kids can do any silly motion or annoying sound they want, but they must stop when you say, Stop! Play a couple rounds, but then vary up your stop by using a few different words and languages: cease, desist, halt, Arretez! (French); Pare! (Portuguese); Stoi! (Russian); Dur! (Turkish); Raut! (Burmese); Tingzhi! (Chinese); Daina! (Hausa/ Nigerian). Talk about why the word stop is so important and has so many synonyms and interpretations. 2. PULL BACK! WHAT YOU NEED: Rubber bands, masking tape circle Give kids rubber bands and see if they can shoot them into the target on the floor. Experiment with ways of launching them. Pay special attention to the mechanics of pulling back just enough to hit the target. Be careful no one shoots their eye out! If you have extra time, set up tournaments and offer small prizes. You had to figure out how to pull back just enough or your rubber band was out of control. [Transition] Let s go to Large Group and see how someone else learns enough is enough. Lead your group to the Large Group area. PAGE 5

6 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME : CREATING A SAFE PLACE TO CONNECT Create a safe place to connect and learn how the Bible story applies to real life experiences, through interactive activities and discussion questions. 1. CAPTAIN ENUFF! (application activity / review the Bible story) WHAT YOU NEED: Comic Book Page Activity Page; 1 for each kid, colored pencils Give each child a copy of the Comic Book activity page and set out the colored pencils. Help them brainstorm what the villain, 2Much, does or makes too much of and how the Captain knows when to stop. Kids can be over-the-top and funny, but encourage them to keep some of the story details grounded in reality. Allow plenty of time to illustrate their stories. 5/6 Challenge: WHAT YOU NEED: A phone or tablet that can record video, scissors, craft sticks, tape, Comic Duo Activity Page, scrap paper Do the activity as described above. Then let kids pick the most compelling storyline amongst them and re-tell it together using the Comic Duo Activity Page (cut out and taped to craft sticks), plus any paper props they need to make. After a rehearsal, record it on a phone or tablet to play back for parents or post to your family ministry Website. Those are some great comics! It s easy to see how 2Much got carried away with all that stuff. We can get carried away too, whether it s by watching too much TV or eating too many potato chips. You can even do too much good stuff, like eating so much broccoli that you get a stomach ache, or playing a sport so much you hurt your knee, or studying so much you miss spending time with your family, or cleaning your room so much you don t enjoy your stuff. These are all good things, but like Captain Enuff says, you have to [Bottom Line] know when to STOP. * 2. HAD ENOUGH? (application activity / possible environment-wide activity) WHAT YOU NEED: 2 beach towels or small blankets; mini beanbags, rolled socks, or ball-pit balls Divide the group into two teams, give each a blanket, and make sure everyone stands around the blanket, holding onto the edges. Choose one team to be the Tossing Team and the other the Catching Team. Whisper a number (between one and the number of balls you have) to the Catching Team. The Tossing Team should throw balls to the Catching Team one by one, quickly tightening their blanket to create the tension needed to fling them across the space. The Catching Team will catch the balls in their blanket. When the Catching Team exceeds the assigned number of balls, they ll tighten the blanket quickly and fling the balls back at the Tossing Team. Then the teams switch roles. PAGE 6

7 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME When you were the Tossing Team, you had no idea what was enough! But boy did you find out once the Catching Team flung them all back. It was like the blanket threw up gross! That happened to me once; well, not exactly that, but one time I didn t know when enough was enough. [Make It Personal] (Share about a time when you didn t show selfcontrol and know when to stop. It could be as simple as overeating or a complicated issue like neglecting an old friend because you were wrapped up in a new friendship. It could be a time management issue like watching TV for too long when you had schoolwork or a self-absorption problem like talking so much about your great Christmas present that you didn t notice your friend had a problem.) We can all get caught up in too much of a good thing. That s why you have to [Bottom Line] know when to STOP. 5/6 Challenge: The Great Pizza Debate WHAT YOU NEED: Optional: an empty pizza box OR pizza Ask the group how much pizza is enough for them (you can pass around the pizza box if you have it). How do they know how much is enough? Have they ever eaten an entire pizza by themselves? What kind of factors determine how much pizza they want to eat? What happens if they eat too much pizza? Are there consequences for themselves or others? You could substitute pizza with almost anything else in that debate video games, time with friends, makeup, sports, etc. You are in the middle of discovering for yourself what your boundaries are in many things, and you can hold firm to them. You don t have to eat a whole pizza, wear a face covered in makeup, or play video games through an entire weekend no matter what your friends do. (This also could lead into peer pressure/substance abuse discussions. Look for opportunities and be sensitive both to the group and the Holy Spirit s leading.) No matter who else is around or what your friends are doing, you need to [Bottom Line] know when to STOP. 3. ENOUGH IS REALLY ENOUGH (memory verse activity) WHAT YOU NEED: Chopsticks; 1 set for each kid, 2 sets of blocks, pompoms, cotton balls, and/or foam beads Divide the group into two teams and give them chopsticks and blocks. Dump the pompoms (or other items) on the floor in the middle of your Small Group area. Announce that the game will be over when the winner has collected enough pompoms by using their chopsticks. Refuse to elaborate if/when they ask questions. Drop hints and guide kids to figure out that they can build a wall/corral with their blocks and put the pompoms inside. When the wall is built and the pompoms fill the center, they can confidently declare that they have enough and say the verse together to win. PAGE 7

8 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME Our verse talks about broken walls, and we saw how important those are. Without strong walls, you had no idea what was enough. When you don t have self-control, you can never resist going after more and more and more one more video game level or cookie or text with your friend during a test or comic book after lights out. Or maybe you never go after anything and you become too lazy to turn off the TV when unwise shows come on, or you never get off the couch and help your dad unload groceries or your elderly neighbor weed her garden or your teacher haul those books. Self-control is the most important tool to help you [Bottom Line] know when to STOP. If you lead mostly older kids, consider asking these discussion questions: What kind of walls do you need to build by using your self-control? (Walls that keep you from watching too much TV, or gossiping about other people even though everyone else is doing it, or eating too much unhealthy food, or worrying too much about the future) How might things turn out if you don t have these walls up? (In asking the question, revisit some of the examples the kids have already mentioned.) Can anyone give examples of this being played out in your own life or others you have observed (while not naming names)? Look up 2 Timothy 1:7. How do you build those walls? How does having God s Spirit giving us love and power help build walls that keep us safe? Can power help overcome the desire for more potato chips? Can love motivate you to turn off the TV and play with your younger sibling? Has anyone ever shown love to you in this way? What difference did it make for you? PRAY AND DISMISS WHAT YOU NEED: Stop Signs Activity Page; 1 stop sign for each kid, clothespins; 1 for each kid, tape or putty, permanent markers or pens Give each kid a clothespin, a stop sign, some putty or tape, and a marker or pen. Direct them to attach the stop sign to the clothespin with putty or tape and use the marker or pen to write: [Bottom Line] Know when to STOP on the other side of the clothespin. Tell kids to clamp the pin in a place they ll see it when they need self-control: around a power cord for a tablet, on a bag of junk food, on their purse they take to the mall, in an inconspicuous spot on their sports gear, on the far side of their pillow, etc. Dear God, please help us have self-control this week and know when to stop. Thank you for your Spirit that gives us the love and power we need to do that. Give each child a GodTime card. Pass out Parent Cue cards as adults arrive to pick up, and draw their attention to the kids comic strips. Show the 5/6 Challenge video if you made one. PAGE 8