Parable of the banquet. February 20-21, God invites everyone to be a part of his kingdom. Luke 14:15-24; John 3:16-17

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1 rd th 3-5 February 20-21, 2016 Luke 14:15-24; John 3:16-17 Connect Time (15 minutes): Five minutes after the service begins, split kids into groups and begin their activity. Large Group (30 minutes): Begin 20 minutes after the service starts. Model what it looks like to be engaged in large group. Parable of the banquet God invites everyone to be a part of his kingdom. Find a kid and start an intentional conversation. Ask them questions that will provoke an extended response, instead of just yes or no. Questions like, What made you laugh today? or What was the hardest part of your week? Small Group (15 minutes): Keep kids in small groups until parents arrive. If you all have extra time at the end, you can review the video and songs together. Ask kids what their invitations mean, and what it means to be a part of God s kingdom. Today is about a parable that Jesus told his disciples. It s a story about how God wants EVERYONE to be a part of his family, no matter who they are or where they come from.

2 GOAL: Connect Time is all about engaging kids in an activity that allows them to connect with each other right away while simultaneously piquing their curiosity for Large Group and preparing their minds for what they re going to hear. PLAN A PARTY Split kids into several groups. Lay out a large sheet of tear-off paper and markers. Tell kids to imagine the coolest, most fancy, wonderful party they could possibly go to. What it would be like? Give kids the following prompts, and let them draw pictures/write for about 2-3 minutes after each prompt (Some examples are provided): o Where would the party be? o What food would be at this party? (Pizza, ice cream, mountains of chocolate ) o Whom would you invite? (It could be anyone they know, or don t know, like someone famous!) o What fun things would you do? (Laser tag, board games, rock climbing, dancing, opening presents ) Have kids stay in their small groups and bring their papers to Large Group. TALK ABOUT IT What s the best party you ve ever been to? Have you ever had a party yourself? Who did you invite, and why? Before you go to Large Group, you can ask kids how their week went. You can also remind kids of the expectations for Large Group behavior: (1) be kind, (2) listen when somebody speaks, and (3) follow the leader s instructions.

3 Goal: Kids will (1) retell the parable of the great banquet (2) understand that God invites everyone to be a part of his family and (3) identify how we can invite others to be in God s family too. Why? When the Rescuer came, he invited EVERYONE to be a part of God s family. Understanding this concept is one of the most important parts of following Jesus! Tip: Turn on music during small group to make it seem more like a party! REVIEW THE STORY 1. In the parable, what happened when the man invited his friends to a banquet? (All of his friends said yes, and then made excuses and didn t come) 2. What did the man tell his servants to do when his friends rejected his invitation? (He told his servants to go invite people who were poor, and those who couldn t walk/see) 3. Do you think that those people were used to getting invitations to parties? Why? (No; they probably got left out a lot, and no one wanted them to come to fancy parties) 4. Who are the people in our society who aren t typically invited to parties? (Help kids apply the idea to their own lives.) 5. What does this story show us about God s kingdom? (Everyone; people who already believe in him AND those who don t. Even people that others don t like.) 6. What do we have to do to be a part of his family? (Accept his invitation and believe that Jesus came to rescue us) Have you accepted God s invitation, or do you want to? (Make sure you don t force kids to answer this question if they re not ready/uncomfortable with it. Just give them the opportunity to talk if they want to. Help kids understand how to accept God s invitation by sharing your own story of how you accepted Jesus.) MAKE IT PERSONAL Give each kid an invitation. Read it together and tell them to write their name in the top blank space. On the back of the invitation is the verse they learned in Large Group. Kids will be having a competition to come up with the best motions for the verse! (Continue on the following page)

4 2 Split kids into two teams. Show them how the verse has been broken up into sections: o John 3:16-17 o God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. o Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. o God did not send his son into the world to judge the world. o He sent his son to save the world through him. Each section gets one motion. Let kids brainstorm and practice motions. After they re done, they ll do it for the whole group. Let teams take turns doing their motions, and then declare a winning team! Extra Time? Have kids sit in a circle, and pick one kid to sit in the middle with their eyes closed. Have the kids in the circle pass an invitation to each other behind their backs. The kid in the middle says, Stop, and opens his/her eyes, then tries to guess who has the invitation hidden in their hands. Whether the guesser gets it right or wrong, have him/her pick a new kid to sit in the middle.

5 1 Today s story video is a little longer than normal (about 6 minutes), but it goes by fast! Just make sure you pace yourself, and have enough time to include all the components of the lesson. Here s a link to the video: There s an opportunity in the script to share a personal example of how you ve been challenged to invite others into God s kingdom. Prepare for it by thinking of a time that it was hard for you to share Jesus with others, and then how God helped you overcome it. hwo_wjhy *Click to play intro music WELCOME AND INTRO Hey guys! Welcome to Kids Club. I m so glad to see every one of you. Today is all about Throwing a huge party! Well, kind of. First, let s talk about the parties you all just brainstormed in Connect Time. I ll need a couple kids from each group to bring your paper up, so go ahead and decide who that will be right now. (Give kids a minute to decide.) Okay, let s have this group bring their paper up first. (Choose one of the groups and let the kids bring up their paper and hold it in front of the whole room.) This looks amazing! Can you tell me some of the best parts of this party? (Let kids point out their favorite things from the paper.) Good job, you can go ahead and sit down. (Proceed to let all the groups bring up their paper to the front and explain their party.) Great job guys, these parties sound great. You know there s a party I would LOVE to go to, and it takes place at a museum! Let s watch a short clip to see what it s like. Video: Night at the Museum Party That looked awesome, I would love to party in a museum with dinosaurs and cavemen! Now I want you to take a minute, and silently think about all the people you would want to invite to your party. (Give kids seconds to think.) Can someone tell me who you would invite? (Let 2-3 kids to share, but limit their response so they don t go on too long.) Those guests would be really fun to have at your party. What if you invited people to your party that you didn t know? What if you invited people who couldn t bring you a present, or maybe someone other people don t like? Today we re going to talk about how God s family is like a giant party too, but he doesn t just invite the cool people, or the ones who love him the most. He invites every single person to be a part of it.

6 INTRO: THE PARABLE OF THE BANQUET One day Jesus was eating a meal at a Pharisee s house. Does anybody know what a Pharisee was? (Let kids respond if they know.) A Pharisee was a special person who knew all about the law. He could tell you everything there is to know about what you should and shouldn t do. A lot of Pharisees didn t think that everyone should be a part of God s family. They only wanted their own people to be in God s family. People who already knew God, and were part of the Israelites! Jesus didn t think that way. He was the Rescuer, who had come to earth to save everyone from all the wrong choices they make. He came to invite everyone to be a part of God s family. Jesus liked to tell parables. A parable is like a story that teaches us truth. Let s watch a video to see what kind of parable Jesus told. It s about a man who throws a special banquet, which is another word for a party. As you watch, pay attention to the kinds of people that the man ends up inviting to his party. Video: Kidz Church / The Parable of the Great Banquet What a great story! Who can tell me what kind of people ended up getting to come to the party? (Let a few kids respond.) Yep, people who were poor. People who couldn t see or walk. They were outcasts of society. They never got invited to special banquets! JESUS INVITES EVERYONE INTO HIS FAMILY Even though the story was talking about a party, what do you think Jesus was really talking about? What does he want us to invite people into? (Let kids respond. They may or may not be able to pick up on the meaning of the parable already.) That s right, Jesus wants to invite everyone to be a part of his FAMILY. It s the whole reason he came to earth! It doesn t matter who you are, and where you come from. Jesus wants you in his family. Jesus wanted to show us that we should have people in our lives who don t know him yet. People who can t give a whole lot back to us like others can. That way, we can share Jesus with them, and they can join his family too. WE CAN INVITE PEOPLE WHO DON T KNOW JESUS YET This is all part of God s rescue plan. A long time ago, God started the plan with a group of people called the Israelites. (Click to show image of Israelites.) God built this family so he could send a rescuer. But the rescuer wasn t just for Israelites; he was for the whole world!! What kind of people do you think God wanted to be part of his family? (Let kids guess.) Yep, he wanted all kinds of people to know him. Especially people who didn t believe in him yet. And definitely people who didn t obey him! Back then, that probably shocked the Pharisees! (Click to add image of unbelievers to the Israelites.) See all of these people outside of this circle? Even if they don t know God yet, God wants them in his family. It doesn t matter if they don t go to church, or they don t know about the Bible. It doesn t matter if they re a bully, or nobody likes them. God wants ALL of us to be a part of his kingdom.

7 Sometimes, I forget that God wants me to include people who don t believe in him yet. Sometimes I only hang out with other people who follow Jesus. (Share a personal example of a time you were going to ignore somebody but felt like God wanted you to show them his love.) RESPONSE TIME God invites us to be part of his kingdom like this guy invited everyone he could find to come to his party. What do you think it means to be part of God s kingdom? (Let a few kids respond.) Thanks guys. Being a part of God s kingdom means we re in his family, and we follow him. We try to live like Jesus wants us to live. Is God s kingdom just in heaven? (Let kids respond.) Nope, when Jesus came to earth, he brought God s kingdom here! We can be part of it right now. The thing is, if we want to be a part of his kingdom and his family, we have to accept his invitation. Let s read a verse to see what happens when we do that. You may have read it before: Slide: John 3:16-17 God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. God did not send his son into the world to judge the world. He sent his son to save the world through him. When we say Yes to God s invitation, we say Yes to Jesus rescue! That means we ll get spend the rest of our life with him, and someday, live with him forever. We re going to listen to a song right now, but we ll stay seated. You might have heard it before. It s all about Jesus asking us to come follow him. As you listen, feel free to lay down or close your eyes and talk to Jesus. If you want to accept his invitation to be a part of God s kingdom, tell him Yes! Music Video: Come With Me PRAY Invite a kid to come up and pray for the group, asking God to help us accept his invitation into his kingdom. WORSHIP Now let s stand up and show God how glad we are to accept his invitation. Let s party! Music Video: Grow Up Like Jesus *Dismiss kids to small groups

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10 Per small group: Large tear-off sheet of paper, markers Per kid: Invitation (2 invitations per 8 x 11 colored cardstock paper) Per group: Markers Bible 1. Song slide: for when kids enter the room (All that You Need instrumental; mp3 only; can be downloaded on website) 2. Video: Night at the Museum Party (KC/SM media videos songs>videos>movie clips>night at the Museum Party) 3. Video: Kidz Church / The Parable of the Great Banquet ( stop at 6:00) 4. Slide (Click to show Israelites image, then click to add unbelievers image)(coming from creative, not yet on server) a. Israelites b. Israelites and Unbelievers 5. Slide: John 3:16-17 God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. God did not send his son into the world to judge the world. He sent his son to save the world through him. 6. Music Video: Come With Me (no motions) ( 7. Music Video: Grow Up Like Jesus ( Why did Jesus tell a story about a party? Who s invited to be part of God s kingdom?