The Kingdom of Heaven. February 16-17, Matthew 6:33; Matthew 13:31-32, Pg and in NIV Adv. Bible

Transcription

1 rd th 3-5 February 16-17, 2013 The Kingdom of Heaven Matthew 6:33; Matthew 13:31-32, Pg and in NIV Adv. Bible Hang out with kids (10 minutes) Large Group (30 minutes) Small Group (20 minutes) Video and song review (10 minutes) Remind kids to let their clay sculptures sit for a couple of hours and dry! Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven! When small group ends, transition your kids into a game together. Play Pictionary, Hangman, or Charades. Today we re talking about what Jesus tells us about the Kingdom of Heaven. It s a hard concept to understand. If kids ask questions, go to the Bible for answers! And it s okay to say it s hard for you to understand, too.

2 Goal: to prompt kids to respond to God s voice (in large group) by creating a personal and tangible reminder to seek first the kingdom of Heaven Why? Jesus tells us to seek God s kingdom above all else in Matt 6:33 (Pg. 1059) Feel free to read it again for kids. Tip: think of some personal examples ahead of time of what it looks like for you to treat Jesus as King (seek the Kingdom of Heaven). Just make sure they are 100% kid-friendly! QUESTIONS CONNECT 1. Tell us your name and if you pictured anything on the sheet of paper during prayer. Did God show you a picture of something to remind you to treat him as King? (If kids didn t get a picture, encourage them that it s okay ask them to share a picture of the Kingdom of Heaven they like best.) REVIEW 2. **GO TO THE ACTIVITY 3. What is the Kingdom of Heaven? (It s where God is treated as King--in Heaven, but also in people on earth who follow God. Now we can all treat God as King and if we follow Jesus, one day we will live forever in in the perfect kingdom Jesus re-creates. 4. The Kingdom of Heaven can be hard to understand. Jesus tells us some things about it. What does he tell us about its size? (It starts small, like a mustard seed, but can grow big! It s still growing and we can keep showing other people the Kingdom of Heaven) ACTIVITY We re going to make something to put next to our beds maybe near our alarm clocks or on a bedside table--to remind us to wake up thinking about the Kingdom of Heaven and looking for ways to treat God as our King. You all are going to get some fastdrying clay. You don t have to put this in the oven or anything, just let it dry for a few hours! You can create whatever picture God gave you to remind you to think about making God your King and following him like Jesus did. (Remind kids of the pictures again: Maybe it s a picture of a castle to represent the Kingdom of Heaven. Maybe it s a footprint to remind you to follow Jesus. Maybe it s a tree to remind you to show others how to follow Jesus. CONYINUED ON NEXT PAGE:

3 2 QUESTIONS 5. How valuable is it? (worth losing everything else to follow Jesus and make God the King) 6. When Jesus says to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and focus on it above all else, what do you think that means? (let kids speculate, but lead them to: 1. it means to wake up thinking about how to treat God as king, 2. tell others about it to help it grow, 3. put following God above EVERYTHING else) REACT/RELATE 7. How would your life change if you woke up thinking about the Kingdom of Heaven and treating God like your King? (Help kids brainstorm personal though kid-appropriate examples of how they can follow Jesus. Give them kid-friendly examples from your life, too. Here are some general ideas to get you started): a. Situations with friends we would put others first and always show love b. We love our enemies, even bullies c. We might help a sibling get ready for school or greet our parents warmly d. If all of our friends are doing something we know is wrong, we might back out (even if we lose friendships. Remind kids, the Kingdom of Heaven is more valuable than anything) *Pray together, asking God to help the kids (and you!) to remember to focus on making him King this week! (If extra time, return to bottom of activity column) ACTIVITY Maybe it s a crown to remind you to make God your King. Maybe it s a little treasure box to remind you that the Kingdom of Heaven is more valuable than anything else you could possibly want. It can be anything. As kids sculpt, GO BACK TO QUESTION #3. **If you have extra time, discuss how Jesus treated God as King or how other people in the kids life treat God as king. Look for practical, tangible examples of people putting others and God above themselves. Also, let kids share what they created. If the kids seem ready to wrap up discussion, grab a group game and play it together!

4 1 Today we re trying a new way of prayer one to help kids personally respond to God. Pray that the Holy Spirit leads you as you lead them. Are you losing their attention? Try sitting on the edge of the stage or walking in the crowd. Sometimes all you need is a little movement to get kids to focus. *It s really important to try it out, because the kids will refer to it for the activity in small group! WELCOME AND INTRO Hi everybody! Welcome to Kids Club! I m so glad you re all here today. We ve got some pretty amazing stuff to talk about. But first, I want you to think about one question: What s the first thing on your mind when you wake up? Maybe it s a friend you want to text, a video game you want to play, a boy or girl you want to impress, or even the fact that you want to go back to bed. As you re thinking about what you wake up for, let s watch this video together. As you watch, see if you can figure out what this guy wakes up for: Video: Nike Commercial (about 1 minute) What does that guy wake up for? (Let kids respond: tryouts/football) Yes, tryouts. He wants to practice; he wants to beat his best. He calls it his End Zone dance, which means it s as important as winning to him. SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN Now let s look at what Jesus tells us to wake up for. It s in Matthew 6:33 in the Bible. He says not to worry about anything, even things we think we need, like food and clothes. Jesus says: SLIDE: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Jesus is telling us to wake up thinking about God s Kingdom or the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is where Jesus is the perfect KING. It s in Heaven, but it s also inside of people on earth who follow Jesus and treat him as king by worshiping him, loving him and loving other people, and even telling others how great he is!

5 The Kingdom of Heaven can be hard to understand because we live on earth, not Heaven. And here, nobody always treats God like the king, even people who LOVE to follow Jesus. We mess up. The only person who did it perfectly was Jesus! But Jesus told us some pretty cool stuff about the Kingdom of Heaven in the Bible to help us understand. Let s check it out! THE KINGDOM STARTS SMALL BUT GROWS LARGE First of all, he said the kingdom of Heaven would start small, but can end up being huge! Matthew 13:31-32 tells us it is like a tiny mustard seed (hold up can of mustard seeds take one out and show kids the size). This is a mustard seed. SLIDE: [Jesus] said, The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. Someone took the seed and planted it in a field. It is the smallest of all your seeds. But when it grows, it is the largest of all garden plants. It becomes a tree. Birds come and rest in its branches. Think about it: Jesus came to earth from Heaven. He brought the Kingdom of Heaven to earth and showed us how to treat God like our King. Then some other people started acting like Jesus and following God. They showed their friends how to follow God, who showed their friends, who showed their friends. And the Kingdom really grew like a tree: Video (30 seconds): And guess what? There are more people who don t know what it s like to make God their king. When we or others show them how to love God and find joy in obeying him, the Kingdom of Heaven keeps growing! We can make it even bigger! THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS IMPORTANT Jesus also told us that treating God as King is worth more than ANYTHING on earth. Matthew 13:44 says: SLIDE: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure that was hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again. He was very happy. So he went and sold everything he had. And he bought that field. Raise your hand if you ve ever saved up to buy something or WANTED to buy something if you had the money. (Let kids raise hands). Turn and tell one friend what you saved up to buy. (Let kids tell a friend) Now raise your hand again if you sold everything else, all your clothes except the outfit you were wearing, your shoes, maybe even a year s worth of lunch money to get it (Let kids raise hands or, rather, not raise hands.) Jesus tells us the Kingdom of Heaven is worth that! CONCLUSION We should want to treat God as king WAY more than getting stuff for ourselves or making sure things work out the way we want them to. When Jesus tells us to seek God s kingdom FIRST, he means to wake up thinking about (1) how we can follow him and (2) how we can show others how to follow him, before anything else.

6 WORSHIP We ll talk more about what that might look like in our own lives once we break into small groups. But for now, let s take a few minutes and sing to God, telling him how much we love him! That s one way we can show him he is our King and we love him more than anything! Song: Better than the Best Song: Come with Me PRAY (PERSONAL RESPONSE) (Feel free to just read off this sheet as kids pray.a) Today, for prayer, everybody sit quietly and close your eyes. We re going to respond to God on our own. (Give kids a couple of seconds to close their eyes, sit down, and get quiet.) Everybody pretend you re looking at a blank sheet of paper. Ask God to give you a picture to remind you to treat him as your King. -Maybe it s a picture of a castle to represent the Kingdom of Heaven. -Maybe it s a footprint to remind you to follow Jesus. -Maybe it s a tree to remind you to show others how to follow Jesus. -Maybe it s a crown to remind you to make God your King. -Maybe it s a little treasure box to remind you that the Kingdom of Heaven is more valuable than anything else you could possibly want. It can be anything. -Maybe it s something just between you and God! It can be anything. Take a few moments to let God draw a picture to remind you to make him King so you can show other people what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. (Take 1 minute or so. Then say): Thanks for sending your Kingdom to earth through Jesus. Help us to focus on following you this week and wake up thinking about how to make you our King, in Jesus name, Amen.

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9 1 air-dry clay pouch per kid (OT: IN-56/8019) NIV Adv. Bible (Pg and ) 1. NIV Adv. Bible (Pg and ) 2. 1 jar/bottle (small is fine) of mustard seeds (should be easily opened so presenters can show one tiny seed) 1. You Tube video: 2. SLIDE: Matthew 6:33: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 3. Matthew 13:31-32: [Jesus] said, The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. Someone took the seed and planted it in a field. It is the smallest of all your seeds. But when it grows, it is the largest of all garden plants. It becomes a tree. Birds come and rest in its branches. 4. You Tube Video (first 30 seconds only!): 5. SLIDE: Matthew 13:44: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure that was hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again. He was very happy. So he went and sold everything he had. And he bought that field. 6. Music Video: Better Than the Best (Music Video with full dance moves) 7. Music Video: Come with Me (Music Mae) None Tell me about the Kingdom of Heaven. How can we treat God as King? In Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells us to seek God s kingdom above all else. But the Kingdom of Heaven can be a tough concept to understand. Jesus tells us a little bit about it in Matthew 13:31-32 and Read it with your kids. Ask them what they made: everybody sculpted something to remind them to wake up thinking about ways to treat God as king.