SEPTEMBER W-2 2 PRELUDE 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 Stuart Chapman Kristy Hecht Emily Meredith Kelly Nishi Julie Tiemann SOCIAL 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 STORY WORSHIP 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. 0 1 5 K-1 HOME 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. 2015 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.
SOCIAL PRELUDE STORY WORSHIP HOME BIBLE STORY Building Permit (Nehemiah asks to rebuild the wall) Nehemiah 2:1-9, 11-18 BOTTOM LINE When you see what needs to be done, don t wait for someone else to do it. MEMORY VERSE Work at everything you do with all your heart. Work as if you were working for the Lord. Colossians 3:23a, 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 My Jobs STORY: Communicating God s truth in engaging ways Opener Worship Bible Story Prayer Closer WORSHIP: Inviting people to respond to God Every Move I Make from Walk This Way Let It Be Known from Movin Me : Creating a safe place to connect Build That Wall It s MY Job! Build a Verse Prayer HOME: Prompting action beyond the experience GodTime Parent Cue Initiative seeing what needs to be done and doing it. BASIC TRUTH I need to make the wise choice. PAGE 2
PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME BIBLE STORY Building Permit (Nehemiah asks to rebuild the wall) Nehemiah 2:1-9, 11-18 BOTTOM LINE When you see what needs to be done, don t wait for someone else to do it. MEMORY VERSE GETTING READY SOCIAL: PROVIDING TIME FOR FUN INTERACTION (Choose one or both of these activities.) Early Arriver An offering container LEGOs, Lincoln Logs, ZOOBs, or other building blocks (Note: Ask volunteers or parents to borrow these items if you don t have them on hand, or you could order LEGOs online here: http://www.amazon.com/ Building-Bricks-Blocks-Pieces-Compatible/dp/B00NAPJ8DM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF 8&qid=1428551096&sr=8-1&keywords=building+bricks) My Jobs Paper Crayons or markers Work at everything you do with all your heart. Work as if you were working for the Lord. Colossians 3:23a, NIrV : 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 #1. * 1. Build That Wall (application activity / review the Bible story) Masking tape Building blocks from Early Arriver LIFE APP Initiative seeing what needs to be done and doing it. BASIC TRUTH I need to make the wise choice. 2. It s MY Job! (application activity) Paper Markers or crayons 3. Build a Verse (memory verse activity) Building blocks Masking tape; write each word of the verse (plus a corresponding number for each) on the tape and put each one on a separate building block Markers Prayer No supplies needed PAGE 3
PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME 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 http://www.studio252.tv/leaders. PAGE 4
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 use kids natural impatience to prompt them to stop waiting for someone else to do the things that they can do themselves. Pray that Nehemiah s story would encourage kids to take action when they see a need instead of waiting for someone else to meet that need. 1. EARLY ARRIVER IDEA WHAT YOU NEED: An offering container, building blocks Greet kids as they arrive and encourage them to place their offerings in the container. Ask the kids a few questions about their week as they build with the building blocks provided. What was the BIGGEST job you had to do this week? Why did it feel so big? Initiative is seeing what needs to be done and DOING something about it. Did you show initiative? Why or why not? 2. MY JOBS WHAT YOU NEED: Paper, crayons or markers As a group, talk about some jobs kids are normally asked to do like make their bed, clean their room, gather the trash, set the table, brush their teeth and hair, etc. Talk about what happens if you don t do those jobs. Hand out the paper and place the markers or crayons in the center of your area. Ask kids to choose one of their regular jobs. Tell them to draw a picture of what it might look like if they never completed this job. Maybe it s a messy room, maybe it s a mouth full of cavities, or maybe it s a bathroom with towels and water all over the floor. Wow, some of these pictures are pretty crazy. I would bet that if you didn t get your jobs done, hopefully someone would step in before things got this bad. But the truth is you need to learn to show initiative now. Your job should be YOUR job! You can t wait for someone else to do it. [Transition] Let s head to Large Group and find out how someone saw a big job to be done that didn t wait for someone else to do it. Lead your group to the Large Group area. PAGE 5
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. BUILD THAT WALL (application activity / review the Bible story) WHAT YOU NEED: Masking tape, building blocks Mark off a small area around your Small Group area with tape. Discuss today s Bible story using the questions below. As you review the story, ask the kids to construct a wall with their building blocks, along the tape line. Review Questions 1. Why was there a wall around the city of Jerusalem? (To protect the city and keep the people safe) 2. Why was it bad that the walls were broken down and the gates were burned? (Because without the wall, the city could be easily attacked and the people wouldn t be safe.) 3. What did Nehemiah have to do before he could go to Jerusalem? (He had to talk to the king and get permission to go.) 4. Once he arrived in Jerusalem, what did Nehemiah do before he could start rebuilding the wall? (He went to inspect or check out the wall with a group of people. He went at night and did find that the wall was badly broken and the gates were burned.) 5. When the people saw how bad things were, what did they do? (They agreed to help Nehemiah rebuild the wall.) You guys did a great job building your wall. Nehemiah had a MUCH bigger job in front of him. He could have easily said, Oh, I m sorry. That s just WAY too much. Find someone else, please. But instead, he showed initiative by not only seeing what needed to be done but also by getting busy DOING something about it. When there is a job to be done, the easy thing is just to assume that someone else will take care of it. But what if everyone thought that way? Then nothing would ever get done! Just like Nehemiah showed initiative, we all need to take responsibility and follow through when there s a job to be done! [Bottom Line] When you see what needs to be done, don t wait or someone else to do it. 2. IT S MY JOB! (application activity) WHAT YOU NEED: Paper, crayons or markers Allow kids to select a partner. Once they re paired up, ask each pair to think of a job that they are regularly asked to do. Then give them five minutes work together to draw a picture of that job. When finished, ask them to fold their papers in half and place them in a pile in the center of your Small Group area. Mix up the papers. PAGE 6
PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME Let each pair take turns drawing a paper from the pile and acting out the job for the group to see if they can figure out what it is. When finished, lay out all the drawings and discuss what happens if they DON T do these jobs. When there is a job to be done like the ones you ve drawn here, it s tempting to just ignore them, isn t it? I would bet that most of the time, you just hope that either your mom or dad won t notice or that they will do it instead. But initiative means that you DO something about it. Initiative means that you see this (hold up one of the papers) and say, It s MY job! This week, when you see something that needs to be done, I want you to say to yourself, It s MY job! and then DO it. Just think how much better things will be if we all choose to show initiative when there s a job to be done. What if we all said, It s MY job? Remember this week, [Bottom Line] when you see what needs to be done, don t wait for someone else to do it! 3. BUILD A VERSE (memory verse activity) WHAT YOU NEED: Masking tape, prepared building blocks Open your Bible to Colossians 3:23a and read it aloud to your group. Make sure to stop after the word Lord. Repeat the verse together several times. Show the group the prepared building blocks. Ask them to work together to stack the blocks in verse order. To make it more interesting, time them to see how long it takes for them to build the verse. Take the tower apart and try again to see if they can beat their time. I love how this verse reminds us that even in the little things like making our bed or putting our backpacks away, those jobs can be done as if we re doing them for God! What a great thing to remember as we work at showing initiative this week. [Make It Personal] (Tell the kids about one of your jobs that you don t really enjoy. As an adult, talk about how you don t have a mom or dad in your house to pick up the slack if it doesn t get done. Discuss how you will make sure to have the right attitude this week and remember that all your work should be for the Lord anyway.) My challenge for you this week is that [Bottom Line] when you see what needs to be done, don t wait for someone else to do it. Look at the tasks in front of you and say, It s MY job! and remember that God sees your hard work and He is SO pleased. PRAY AND DISMISS WHAT YOU NEED: No supplies needed As a group, take a look at the kids Job pictures from the It s MY Job activity. Remind them to say It s MY job! this week as they see something that needs to be done and DO it. Pray together that they would follow through with this challenge this week as they show initiative. PAGE 7
PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME When Nehemiah finally saw the broken down walls and just how bad the problem was, did he give up? Did he wait for someone else to do it? NO WAY! Nehemiah knew that it was HIS job. [Bottom Line] When you see what needs to be done, don t wait for someone else to do it. Say to yourself, It s MY job! and then get busy getting it done! Let s pray and ask God to help us show initiative this week. Dear God, we love You. Thanks for reminding us today that You care about us and that You are always there to cheer us on. When we see a job that needs to be done this week, help us to DO it. We don t want to wait for someone else to do something that we can do. Help us to follow through and say, It s MY job, this week. In Jesus name we pray, amen. Give each child a GodTime card. Pass out Parent Cue cards as adults arrive to pick up. PAGE 8