LESSON 2: FORGIVENESS GOD DOES NOT LACK, TO HIM YOU CAN ALWAYS GO BACK! Teacher & Co-Teacher using Watch & Train DVD Watching the Bible Story and Skit on DVD Purpose Statement: This Skit and Bible Story will teach the children that, after we sin, we can and should turn back to God and ask Him for forgiveness, knowing that He is faithful to forgive us. Materials/Props Needed: Lesson 2 DVD materials, 1 whistle or bell, 1 pile of clothes, 1 laundry basket. 1 Lead the children through the opening activity Too Late To Turn Back? No! logo Begin Worship Time. 1 Note: For this lesson use Sound Track CD # 1. # 1 TeacHER (CD Track # 1) Welcome, travelers, once again to one of the strangest places you will ever visit: Upsidedown Town! 2 CO- Yeah...last week was pretty weird...i m kind of nervous about being back here. Well how about we ease the tension with a nice opening song? Everybody up! Teacher and Co-Teacher lead the children in singing the song. (CONT D) Everyone did even better than last time on that song! (to Co- Teacher) So, feeling a little less nervous? CO- Not really? I know the weird people that talk funny are coming up and I m still not really sure about this place. Well, yes, things are strange here in Upsidedown Town. And of course we don t mean that the people walk around on their heads or that they put ceiling fans on the floor. When we talk about being upside down, we re talking about living life in a way that God doesn t intend. God has a plan for us and if we live life like He wants, then we will be living life right side up. 2 opening song 1 2009 Fellowship Church
3 CO- That s right, because upside down things are just crazy! I can barely handle em. Then you re really going to love this next game. I need some volunteers for our Upside Down Challenge! 3 Upside Down Challenge Oh no! CO- The next section of the lesson is a relay game. There will be a pile of laundry at one end of the room or stage and an empty laundry basket at the other. The goal is for the children to take the laundry basket to the other end, fill it with clothes and bring it back. For the first round of the game, the children have to try and carry the laundry with the basket upside down. This obviously won t work very well. The Teacher will have the children start over, but this time they will carry the laundry basket right side up. For the third round, the Teacher will have the kids start with their baskets right side up, but then randomly ring the bell or blow the whistle. Every time the bell rings, the kids will have to flip their basket opposite of how they are holding it. (Ex: If the child is holding the basket upside down, then when the bell rings, the child will have to flip the basket right side up, and so on.) After the game the Teacher will wrap up the activity using the following lines. Wow! Great job, everyone. Now let me ask you something. Did the game work better when we carried that laundry basket right side up or upside down? (allows children to answer) CO- Yes, of course it worked better to carry it right side up. Trying to play the game with it upside down was crazy! You re right. And that s what this series is all about. We re learning how to live right side up instead of upside down. In fact, I think we need to see another example of upside down living from the residents of Upsidedown Town! CO- Oh no. They re not going to wear funny clothes and talk in rhymes again are they? We ll have to wait and see. 2 2009 Fellowship Church
Note: Play Skit Video chapter # 4 followed by Race Video 4 skit intro chapter # 5. 5 Co- Wait...what happened to Jack? 4 TeaCHER We ll never know. He just kept running away when he made mistakes. People were willing to forgive him but he just couldn t return and accept their forgiveness. He believed his sins were too big. 5 race video But that s crazy. CO- 6 You re right. We don t have to live life that way. Now we might come across some people in life who won t forgive us, but God will always forgive us. There is nothing that we could ever do that is so bad that God won t forgive us. I don t know about you, but good news like that is worth remembering. Let s try this for our : Forgiveness God Does Not Lack, To Him You Can Always Go Back! Let s get up and shout this! 6 The Teacher leads the children by first demonstrating the with motions. These motions should be similar to cheerleader-type hand motions. The Teacher can make up the motions or have the children help come up with them. Once everyone has gone over the have the children repeat it with motions two or three times. (CONT D) Great shouting everyone! Don t forget that we can and should always come back to God and ask for forgiveness! CO- Wow, now I feel even more sorry for Jack McZack. Yeah, in fact he almost stumbled onto a really great Bible Story about forgiveness when he was in the museum. He asked about a painting, but then didn t listen to the story. I think it might help us if we could hear the story that Jack missed. We saw what upside down living looked like when we followed Jack McZack. Let s see what right side up living looks like with our Bible Story. If you brought your Bibles, you can follow along. Open your Bibles to Luke chapter 15 starting at verse 11. Allow children time to look up the Bible Story before starting. You may need to help younger children find the Bible reference. 3 2009 Fellowship Church
Note: Play Bible Story Video chapter # 7. 7 Bible Story intro TeaCHER (CONT D) Now we know the story that Jack missed. The son had messed up really badly. He had insulted his father, left home and foolishly wasted all the money. But even though he had made many bad decisions, he finally made a wise one. He decided to go back home and ask for forgiveness. CO- And his father welcomed him back with open arms. 7 8 And that s exactly how God feels about us. Yes, we re going to mess up and make bad choices. But there is nothing that we could ever do that would make God stop loving us. We can always return to Him and ask for forgiveness. That s one of the best things about following God, I know that no matter what happens or what I do, I can always turn back to God and He will forgive me. And here is a verse that proves it. 8 Acts 3:19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. NLT CO- Just so we re clear maybe we should explain what it means to repent. 9 Good idea. When we repent, we apologize to God for our sins and we turn from our sins back toward God. The Bible tells us that God is faithful to forgive our sins when we repent. And because God is always faithful to forgive us, I believe we should take some time and worship Him. Everybody up, I need your help to sing. Teacher and Co-Teacher lead the children in singing the song. (CD Track # 1) Thank you for worshiping with us. We re going to continue learning about God s forgiveness in our Small Groups. (10) Note: If you are staying in your room, transition to the Small Group activities by reviewing the. You can have the children say it fast, slow, while hoping on one foot, or even while walking around the room. Challenge them to get back to their seats before you can finish reciting the. If your Small Group(s) travel to a second room or location, have the children repeat the while walking in various ways. Ex: Marching, skipping, crawling, walking backwards, pretending to fly, etc. # 1 10 4 2009 Fellowship Church 9 10
# 4 11 12 SMALL GROUPS Note: The offering time can take place in either the Large Group time or the Small Group time. If you take up the offering during your Small Group, then skip the next section of the Large Group script. OFFERING (CD Track # 4) Now that we re finished with our Small Groups, I want us to continue to worship God with our offering. This is another important way to worship God. We give back to Him a portion of what He has given us. This is our way of saying thanks and showing that we trust God to provide for us. Let s pray. Lead the children in prayer. If you want to, include elements of the lesson you are teaching today. For instance, today we are talking about the freedom to return to God and ask His forgiveness. So you might say Dear God, we know that we will mess up and disappoint You sometimes. We ask You to forgive us when we sin against You and we know that You are faithful to forgive us. Thank You, God, for always letting us come back to You. Amen. Take up the offering. CO- Thank you for worshiping with us. (to Teacher) So that s it, right? We re done with all the goofiness of Upsidedown Town and we get to go back to the real world. 11 12 Yes! Good. CO- 13 After our review game. What?! CO- It s time for Milton McGoo s Upsidedown Town Review! Answer these questions and show us what you ve learned. Note: Lead the children through the questions. Hit play when a child has given you the right answer. 13 5 2009 Fellowship Church
CLOSING # 1 TeACHER (CD Track # 1) Great job, everyone! Don t forget what we learned about here in Upsidedown Town today: Forgiveness God Does Not Lack, To Him You Can Always Go Back! We ll see you back here next time! 6 2009 Fellowship Church