2.2 Large Group Lesson Elementary

Transcription

1 September 9 th, 2018 Slime Time God Provides a Sacrifice: Isaac BIG IDEA: God is trustworthy, so I can follow Him anywhere. BIBLE BASIS: Genesis 22 KEY VERSE: Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. In all your ways remember him. Then he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3: minutes minutes 7 15 minutes minutes Scripture marked NIV is taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of Biblica. Scripture marked NIrV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader s Version, Copyright 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. All scripture references are taken from NIrV unless otherwise stated Mooblio. All rights reserved. 1

2 User Agreement: The GO! curriculum by Mooblio is intended for download and print by subscribing entities only. It may not be transferred electronically to or duplicated by other non-subscribing entities. If the GO! curriculum is cost prohibitive for your organization, please contact us about assistance. We are awesomely generous! All use must be in accordance with the Terms of Use agreement as described on the website I ve always been a roller coaster junkie! The more twists, turns, and loops, the better. If it had a corkscrew, I actually drooled a little. On summers when we could vacation at a theme park, I was beside myself. One year in particular, we ended up going to a theme park in Kansas City, Missouri. At the end of the day, we finally worked up the courage to ride one of the tallest and faster rollercoasters in the park. As much as I loved roller coasters, I just couldn t get over how high this one climbed, how fast it flew or how loud the riders were screaming. As we neared the front of the line, though, we noticed two things. First, the coaster was actually much, much taller than we had even first thought. And secondly, the cars didn t have any discernable means of holding people in. No lap-bar, no harness, no seatbelts nothing. People would just hang on. Nowadays this seems crazy. At the time it was only slightly less crazy! Not wanting to chicken out, though, I put on a brave face and stepped into the car. My dad sat down next to me and with one hand he held onto the front of the car while the other hand embraced me tightly. As I had expected, the roller coaster was fast, and at times it felt as though I was going to float up and out of the car. During the ride it truly felt like I was depending on my dad for my life, but with each twist, turn and drop, my dad just held onto me tighter and tighter until we safely returned to the station. I am happy to say that the coaster has since been retired. When I think about the story of Abraham and Isaac, I can t help but think of my time on that roller coaster. I can t help but wonder what Isaac must have thought as he carried the bundle of wood up the hill with his dad. What went through Isaac s mind? Dad, where s the lamb for the sacrifice? But at the end all he could do was trust. He trusted his dad as he lay down on the wood and allowed himself to be tied down. And Abraham trusted his Father, too. Following God was a wild ride for Abraham and at times a dangerous one, but Abraham trusted God to hold on to him and not let go. And as always, God came through. We can trust our Daddy. He always comes through. Always! John Garrison GO! Contributor 2017 Mooblio. All rights reserved. 2

3 Telling Personal Stories There are few communication tools as engaging and powerful as a well told personal story. At times the GO! curriculum will prompt you to tell a personal story, but feel free to add one anywhere you think it s appropriate. Consider these few things when telling a personal story: Be sure it s age appropriate. For some of us, our lives before Christ may have been rated PG-13 (or dare I say R). Be mindful that the content and details of your story are appropriate for General audiences. Be sure it s relevant. Your recent conversation with a co-worker about the rumors of a corporate takeover may be the perfect metaphor for sin s infiltration of the world, but your kids could care less. Be sure your story takes place in a world that is familiar to your audience. Consider telling a story about something that took place when you were a kid. The kids in your ministry will eat that up! Be sure that it fits. Sometimes we have a story that is so great we can t wait to tell it, even if it doesn t fit. Don t force a story to fit the lesson or vice versa. The perfect story is one that you can tell and the kids will understand the connection with little explanation. If you have to explain the connection too much, you might just want to save it for another time Mooblio. All rights reserved. 3

4 What kid doesn t secretly like a little slime? It s ooey, it s gooey, and it s perfect for telling the next part of The Big Bible Story! During the Slime Time series, kids will be molding, shaping and diving into (with their hands that is) green globs of goo to uncover some of the grosser parts of God s Word. Place the clear bin of slime in the teaching area at a level where the kids in the audience can easily see it. See the Resource Folder for instructions on how to make the slime. Write down each of the 4 Bible Story references on different slips of paper. Place each slip of paper into a different plastic egg (or other sealed capsule). At some point prior to service time, place the 4 eggs into the bin of slime. Consider placing a plastic tarp in the Slime Pot area to help manage the mess. Put a bucket of water and a towel near the Slime Pot in order to clean off hands and eggs. Using a different slime recipe, create moldable slime for the kids to form their story pictures. Divide the moldable slime up evenly between the small groups. See the Resource Folder for instructions on how to make the moldable slime. Place a Bible in the teaching area for the Large Group Leader to use. Consider providing additional Bibles for kids who don t bring their own. Each small group will need to have at least one Bible during the large group lesson. Use the cones, hula hoop, chairs, rope and anything else you come up with to create a miniature obstacle course in your room. Place it in a spot where it won t be in the way of the other kids during large group. Place a blindfold near the beginning of the obstacle course. Choose which of the Reflect and Respond stations you would like to make available. Set out the appropriate materials for each of those stations Mooblio. All rights reserved. 4

5 Sound: Slime Time title graphic PLAY upbeat music as kids move to large group area Note: During Small Group Connect, the groups will have used slime to form some pictures or objects that will be used during the telling of the Bible Story. See the corresponding Small Group lesson for more directions. If the slime pictures begin to lose their shape before the Big Bible Story, give the kids 10 seconds to reshape it before they present. For added excitement, do a 10 second countdown. SLIME TIME INTRO Large Group Leader: Hello everybody! Welcome back to ickiest, stickiest, slimiest hour of your week. Are you ready for some Slime Time? (Kids respond.) That was pretty good, but I think you can do a lot better. I said, are you ready for some Slime Time? (Kids respond loudly.) That s a lot better! During our 4 weeks of Slime Time, we re sinking our hands into the ooeyer, gooeyer and grosser parts of God s Word to reveal the next part of the Big Bible Story. But first, I want to ask you a question. What s the craziest thing you ve ever done? (Take a few answers from kids.) Those are some pretty crazy stories. In today s part of the Big Bible Story, God asks Abraham to do something that at first seems totally crazy. To figure out what it was, though, we re going to need some volunteers who aren t afraid to get messy because it s time to reach into the Slime Pot! Sound: Slime Pot slide (Optional) PLAY upbeat music as kids are searching through the slime There will be a clear container on the stage filled with a slime mixture. Inside of the slime will be a number of plastic eggs or other containers with a Bible reference in them. Choose some volunteers to reach into the slime pot. Ask them each to pull out one egg. Have a bucket of water nearby to clean off hands as well as the plastic eggs. When all of the eggs have been pulled out of the slime, open them up and pull out the slip of paper with the Bible reference on it. Divide the Bible references up between the small groups and have them each open their Bibles to that particular reference. Have some towels handy so that the volunteers can clean themselves up. Way to get slimy! Does anyone remember who we talked about last week? (Take answer from kid.) That s right Abraham. We learned that even though Abraham was a super old dude, God gave him a son named Isaac. And that s where today s story picks up. The Big Bible Story graphic THE BIG BIBLE STORY GOD S COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM In the Book of Genesis Chapter 22, we see that Isaac is no longer a baby but has grown up quite a bit and Abraham is now really, really old. God once again speaks to Abraham and asks him to do something that sounds completely crazy. Let s see what it is Mooblio. All rights reserved. 5

6 Have the group or groups who made the knife out of slime hold it up for the rest of the groups to see. Let the other groups guess what it is. When they ve guessed correctly, have someone from the group who looked up Genesis 22:2 read it aloud. For younger kids, consider having the leader read it. Doesn t that sound a little bit crazy? God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Abraham had waited so long to have Isaac and he loved him so much. More than that, how was God going to fulfill his promise of making Abraham the father of many nations if Abraham had to kill his only son? Do you think Abraham was able to obey God even though it didn t make sense to him? (Take answers.) Let s see. Have the group who made the sticks hold it up so the other groups can guess. Have someone from the group who looked up Genesis 22:6 read it aloud. As crazy as it sounded, Abraham obeyed God. He took his son, Isaac, to the place of sacrifice. Isaac didn t know that he was going to be the sacrifice, so he said Hey, isn t something missing? We have the fire and wood, but where s the lamb for the offering? Abraham said, God will provide. Even though Abraham didn t understand, he trusted that God would make everything work out. (Pantomime the following actions.) So he tied Isaac up, put him on the altar, and raised his knife high in the air. But then something happened. Have the group who made the angel hold it up so the other groups can guess. Have someone from the group who looked up Genesis 22:11-12 read it aloud. Can you imagine the relief Abraham must have felt? God was just testing Abraham to see if he would trust and follow Him, and Abraham passed. At that moment Abraham heard something in the distance. He looked up and saw that there was something caught in a bush. Have the group who made the ram hold it up so the other groups can guess. Have someone from the group who looked up Genesis 22:13 read it aloud. Not only had God kept Isaac safe, but he provided a replacement for Isaac. God provided Abraham a ram to sacrifice instead. In fact as a way to remember, Abraham named that very spot Yahweh-Yireh, which means the LORD will provide. BIG BIBLE STORY QUESTIONS At the end of the Bible story, have the kids turn briefly to their small groups and discuss the following questions: For Younger Kids: Why do you think God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac? If you were Abraham, how would you have felt if God asked you to sacrifice your son? Would you have done it? For Older Kids: What do you think this story teaches us about God? If you were Abraham, do you think you could have sacrificed your son? After a few minutes, draw their attention back to the teaching area. You may want to ask the kids for some of their answers to hear what they were thinking Mooblio. All rights reserved. 6

7 SLIME TIME: THE COVENANT RITUAL There s one more thing I want to point out about this story. This story had a lot of talk about sacrifices, but what s the deal with that? Well it s pretty interesting and um well a little bit messy. Take a look at this and see what I mean. VDO: PLAY Animal Sacrifice video Animal Sacrifice VDO script: Hey kids if you brought your pet goat today, you might want to cover his ears. In the Old Testament, God required people to perform animal sacrifices. What s an animal sacrifice, you say? Well, to sacrifice means to give something up, but in this case it meant the animal had to be killed. It was pretty messy and not too popular with the animals, but it s what people had to do for the atonement of their sins. Wow atonement that s another big word. Atonement just means to cover up. So you see, when an animal was sacrificed, it s kind of like the blood of the animal covered up the person s sin. For an animal to be sacrificed, though, it had to be perfect no spots, no blemishes, not even a speeding ticket. Thousands of years later, God would take care of our sins once and for all by sacrificing His perfect son, Jesus. But this time, the blood didn t just atone or cover up our sins, it washed them completely away forever. That s why we don t have to sacrifice animals anymore. So tell your goat to just relax. Slime Time title graphic TRUST WALK Our story today makes you wonder how Abraham could have trusted and obeyed God that much. In order to really understand how Abraham could have trusted God so much, I want to show you something. Call on one volunteer. Ahead of time, prepare a small obstacle course somewhere in the room using objects such as sports cones, a trash can, chairs, rope, etc. You could even use other kids in the room as obstacles. Decide on a starting and ending point. Blindfold the volunteer and begin giving her verbal directions to get through the course without running into anything. Once the volunteer has reached the end of the course, have the kids applaud and invite her back to the teaching area. Ask her the following questions: What was it like to walk around without being able to see? Was it kind of easy or pretty hard to trust me to steer you around the obstacles? Why? How would it have been different if you didn t have someone who could see guiding you? (Thank your volunteer and dismiss her.) You know, it was kind of the same way with Abraham. Abraham was like the person with the blindfold on. (Walk through the obstacle course to illustrate the next points.) He couldn t see what was in front of him. In other words, he couldn t see what was in the future, but who could? (Kids respond.) God could. God was like the person without a blindfold giving Abraham directions. God could see what was ahead of Abraham and he could steer Abraham in the right direction. God could see that Abraham would be the father of a great nation, so he directed Abraham to start a family despite being 100 years old. God could see that Abraham s faith had to be tested, so he directed Abraham to sacrifice his son. Abraham trusted God with his whole heart because he knew that God could see things that he couldn t. In fact, that s exactly what our Bible verse for today says to do. Let s look at it together Mooblio. All rights reserved. 7

8 (Encourage kids to open their Bibles to Proverbs 3:5-6. When ready, choose a kid to read the verse aloud or read it aloud yourself.) Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. In all your ways remember him. Then he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIrV) What that verse is saying is that God knows and sees things that we don t. He loves us and He ll always steer us in the right direction. God is trustworthy, so we can follow Him anywhere. GOD S ULTIMATE SACRIFICE Now that s all pretty cool, but do you know what the coolest part of this story is? The story of Abraham and Isaac gives us a picture of God s big rescue plan to save the world from sin. In our story today, God asked Abraham to give up his only son to be sacrificed. And because Abraham trusted and followed God, God freed Abraham from his sins. Thousands of years later, God himself would give up His only son, Jesus, to be sacrificed for the forgiveness of our sins. And now, when we trust and follow God, we can be freed from our sins too, just like Abraham. Close the Large group time by praying for the kids in whatever way the Holy Spirit prompts you. Following the prayer, explain to the kids which of the Reflect and Respond Stations will be available. Remind them to move about the stations very quietly. Tell them they are free to respond to God in whatever way the Holy Spirit leads them, but if they need suggestions, some of the stations will give them ideas for how to pray, write, or draw. Give each child one GO! Home sheet and instruct them to take it with them to the stations. Place small group leaders at the different stations to quietly help the kids. The stations listed below are just the ones that have prompts that are specific to today s lesson. For more instructions on how the Reflect and Respond Stations work as well as a full list of possible stations, see the GO! Guide. Sound: Slime Time title graphic (Optional) PLAY quiet instrumental music Prayer Station prompt: Write a prayer to God thanking Him for always being there for you and providing you with what you need. Journal Station prompt: Write a letter telling God about some things you need help trusting him with. Bible Station prompt: Read it for yourself: Genesis 22. Tell or write to God what was your favorite part of the story. Tell Him why you liked it. Art Station prompt: Create a picture of the ram God provided to Abraham as a sacrifice. While you re drawing, talk to God and tell Him thanks for all of the things He has provided for you Mooblio. All rights reserved. 8