Dear Parents, Have fun and enjoy the journey, Launch Children s Ministries

Transcription

1 Dear Parents, Over the past year, your child has been on a Chronological Journey through the Bible. Now, we would like to invite you to join in this journey with us. This is a packet of activities that you can do with your children that will reinforce the things we are learning in Kid s Church. We have just learned about several minor prophets including: Amos, Hosea, Jonah, and Joel. Each prophet was given a specific word from God for either the Israelites, or in Jonah s case for one of Israel s enemies, Ninevah, the capitol of Assyria. Whether they were presenting a warning or proclaiming God s love for people, each prophet came simply and humbly, showing that God can use anyone! We will now enter a unit focusing on the prophet Isaiah. We will talk about his call from God, until his message about the coming Messiah. While studying these stories, your child will learn how to seek God in every situation, learn the importance of being used by God, and learn the importance of listening and obeying God s voice. Have fun and enjoy the journey, Launch Children s Ministries

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3 Session 1: God Called Isaiah (Isaiah 6) Activity: Here I am Game Select one kid to be the first guesser. The kid must stand with his eyes closed and his back turned to the remaining kids (and/or adults!). Guide kids to silently select one kid to be the first caller. Allow the kids to spread out around the room. After the group spreads out, instruct the guesser to call out, Who will go? The caller will answer, Here I am. The guesser will open his eyes and make one guess. If he is right, he may select the new caller. If he is wrong, the caller becomes the next guesser. Continue play as time allows. Craft: Planting Supplies: spray bottle with water, drop cloth or tarp, small pots, seeds, soil, trowel Provide each kid with an empty pot and seeds. Guide kids to scoop some soil into their pots, place their seeds inside, and cover the seeds with soil. Say How could Isaiah stand before God? Isaiah could stand before God because God took away Isaiah s sin. When we repent of our sins and trust Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we are like the little seeds we just planted. What does a seed need in order to grow into a strong, healthy plant? (water, food, light) What do we need to do in order to grow to be mature Christians, to be like Jesus Christ? (read the Bible, spend time with God, pray, memorize Scripture, go to church) [As kids name an answer, spray one of the plantings with water.] Every time we do one of those things, it s like a spray of water has been given to our seed. But we aren t only supposed to grow. What else are we to do? Hint: It s part of the name of our farm. We are supposed to go tell others about Christ. Isaiah s answer to God was Here I am. Send me. As Christians, our response to God should also be Here I am. Send me.

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5 Session 2: Isaiah Confronts Ahaz; Isaiah 7 Activity: Silver and Gold Toss Supplies: Muffin Tin or containers of Various sizes, pennies, paper Place a small piece of paper in the bottom of each muffin tin with a point value ranging from 1 to 100 points. Form two teams and give one team gold coins and one team silver coins. Allow teams to line up and begin tossing their coins into the muffin tin. After every team member has tossed their coins, add up each team s points. Note: If you can t locate silver and gold coins, use pennies but provide each team with its own muffin tin. Say What did you toss in today s game? Coins or money. Why do people give other people money? During the time of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, kings would often pay other kings to be their allies and to protect them. It was called paying a tribute. In our Bible story today, a king paid silver and gold to another king to have protection. Craft: Hardware Wind Chimes Supplies: scissors, markers, glue, wooden craft sticks, string, nuts (3/kid), washers (3/kid) Guide boys and girls to glue three craft sticks together to form a triangle. Next, kids should print on two sides of the triangle the phrase Trust God or today s big picture question and answer. While the glue sets on the craft sticks, help girls and boys cut seven pieces of string. The strings should be the same length, approximately 8 or 9 inches. Instruct kids to tie each string to a piece of hardware or jingle bell. After all the hardware is attached, tie each string to the bottom section of the wooden triangle. The hardware pieces need to be even at the bottom, so they can hit one another when the wind blows. Say Who was afraid in our Bible story? Ask a couple of volunteers to read Isaiah 7:2-4. Say What can we remember when we are afraid? Who is our Immanuel? Jesus is God with us.

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7 Session 3: Hezekiah, Israel s Faithful King; 2Kings Craft: Prayer Boxes Supplies: shoe boxes or small bags or ziplock bags, markers or crayons, stickers, small pieces of paper. Distribute a shoe box or other container to each kid. You may even substitute a bag or ziplock bag if necessary. Invite the kids to write My Special Prayers on the container and decorate it with you meet? markers or crayons and stickers. Encourage the kids to keep the containers. Provide them with some small pieces of paper to put in their prayer boxes. Invite them to write a prayer request on one piece of paper each day this week and place it back in the container. Non-writers may draw a small picture of the request if they would like. Ask them to make their first request now. Say Each day this week, take out the prayer requests you have added and pray for each one. How should we pray? We should pray with confidence. God hears our prayers. Activity: Basket Toss Supplies: 4 Baskets or Buckets, Balls of any size, paper, markers, tape Using a piece of paper and a marker, label each basket or bucket with one of the following types of prayer: Praise, Thanksgiving, Others, and Personal Prayers. Then provide each kid with a ball to toss into one of the baskets. Challenge them to try and make it into each basket. Kids should voice one thing they could pray that fits in the category the ball landed in. (Example: Praise category I can praise God for creating the world.) Say Name one thing Hezekiah prayed to God about. (protection from Assyria and healing from his illness) How should we pray? We should pray with confidence. God hears our prayers.

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9 Session 4: Isaiah Preached about the Messiah; Isaiah 53 Craft: Cross on a Hill Supplies: Styrofoam cup, wooden craft sticks, markers, glue Invite the kids to color a foam cup green. Provide each kid with glue and two craft sticks. Demonstrate how to glue the sticks together to make a cross. The kids may color the cross if they wish. Turn the cup upside down. Take the cross and gently push the bottom part of it through the bottom of the cup. This creates a statue of a cross on a hill. Say This week you learned about a prophecy about Jesus dying on the cross, keep this as a reminder of what He has done for you. Activity: Blame Game Supplies: small towel Choose a volunteer to stand at the front of the room and face away from the kids. She may not look around. Place a small towel behind her. Secretly choose a kid to come take the towel and hide it behind his back. Give the volunteer permission to turn around and face the kids again. The volunteer must choose someone to blame for taking the towel. If correct, the volunteer chooses a replacement for the next round. If incorrect, the one hiding the towel becomes the next volunteer. Say Today, we will learn about a Suffering Servant who was blamed for something He didn t do.

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