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Large Group! About this Series: What is the greatest gift you ve ever received? A game? A pet? Maybe a visit from someone you love to see? Did you know that you can give a gift this Christmas that could change someone s life? One of the most incredible gifts we can give someone is an invitation. When you invite someone to be your friend, to spend time with you, you show that they matter to you, and they matter to God. God sent Jesus to give us all an invitation, a chance to be part of God s family. That s what the first Christmas is all about. Memory Verse: John 13:34- I give you a new command. Love one another. You must love one another, just as I have loved you. Weekly Overview: Lesson: Topic: Big Idea: Lesson 1: Nov. 25/26 The Great Party Luke 14:15-23 Everyone is invited to know God. : Dec. 2/3 The Wise Men Matthew 2:1-12 God invites everyone on earth. Lesson 3: Dec. 9/10 The Shepherds Luke 2:8-20 God invites people who don t expect it. Lesson 4: Dec. 16/17 Simeon and Anna Luke 2:22-40 I can keep on inviting. Lesson 5: Dec. 23/24* The Baby Luke 2; John 18-20. Jesus came to show me God s love. 2
Lesson 1: The Great Party! Series at a Glance for Elevate (continued) One of the most powerful gifts we can give is an invitation. That s because telling someone You re invited also tells them You matter. Jesus believed that every person mattered. When He was asked about heaven, Jesus compared it to a party where everyone is invited. Imagine what a difference you could make this week by inviting someone to be your friend, to talk about how much God loves them, or to come with you to a huge Christmas party in Elevate and learn about God s love. : The Wise Men We have a lot in common with the people we love. We might not know it, but we also have things in common with people we ve never met! God didn t just invite people from the town of Bethlehem to see Jesus. With a star, He invited people from around the world, and they came. This week, we ll connect with people around the world, and see how big this Christmas party really is! Lesson 3: The Shepherds An invitation can mean the world to someone, especially someone who isn t expecting it. On the first Christmas, God invited a group of humble, average shepherds to meet his son. After meeting Jesus, the shepherds told everyone they could, Great news! Jesus, the Savior is here! They knew that everyone was invited to experience God s love. Who do you know that isn t expecting an invitation this Christmas? This could be your chance to show them God s love, and maybe even change their life. Lesson 4: Simeon and Anna Not all of our invitations will go as planned. Some people may say no. Some may not want to be invited. No matter what happens, though, we can trust that God is doing something good. That s what Simeon and Anna did. God told them years before the first Christmas that Jesus was coming. They waited, and trusted that God s promise was true. Every day, they watched for Jesus, and when he arrived, they were ready. Who can we be ready to show God s love to this Christmas? Lesson 5: The Baby Finally, everyone s here, and we re ready for the party! This week, take some time to remember why Christmas is a celebration: it s the day we celebrate Jesus coming as a baby to show everyone that they were loved by God and invited to be a part of his family. Join us in Elevate as we celebrate Christmas! 3
Lesson Outline for Elevate Lesson Segment Engage Opening Song (2:00) Welcome (1:00) Question of the Day (2:00) Group Activity (10:00) : The Wise Men Total Running Time Worship: Come and Sing (5:00) 0:00-20:00 Involve Media: Part 1 (4:00) Lesson Intro (1:00) Group Time (15:00) 20:00-40:00 Challenge Memory Verse Challenge (3:00) Media: Part 2 (7:00) Application (5:00) Worship: What a Glorious Night (4:00) Wrap Up (1:00) 40:00-60:00 Video Cue Slide Cue Audio Cue Tech Notes 4
Opening Song 2:00 (Roll when directed) Elevate Opener Hey everyone! You can throw away your popcorn and come down to the front, because it s time to get this party started! (Auto advance) Elevate Slide and Underscore Welcome 1:00 As you can see, we ve got an awesome Christmas party going on in Elevate this December. Today, we have some great Christmas games, a story about the first Christmas ever, and a super important question for you to answer. You ll have to keep listening to find out what it is! Question of the Day 2:00 Christmas is a great time to get to know each other! Let s start with a Question of the Day. Question of the Day Video (Auto Advance) QOTD Slide: What s your favorite game to play at a party? What s your favorite game to play at a party? It could be something you ve done at a birthday party, a fun game you and your family have played, or even one of the games we have here in Elevate! Turn to someone near you and tell them about your favorite party game! 5
Do This: Emcee as the kids are sharing their answers. Encourage them to share with the people around them, and encourage any kid whose story you hear. Know This: It s more important that the kids interact with each other than with you. Allow them time enough to share with each other, and don t have them share with the whole group. Parties are awesome! That s why this whole month is an amazing Christmas party here in Elevate! Actually, we ve got a party game for you to play right now! Group Activity 10:00 Game Title Slide: Wise Guys. You may have heard of the Wise Men, the people who came to visit Jesus after he was born, and brought him amazing gifts. Well, this game is called Wise guys, and it s going to test your knowledge of all things Christmas. In just a minute, you are going to get into your groups. It s easy to find your group leader, because they have your team flag! Then, I ll ask you some questions about Christmas. For some of them, your team might have to decide on an answer, but for others, you might have to give as many answers as you can for your group leader to write down, so you have to pay close attention to what kind of question is on the screen! Do This: Before playing, make sure each group leader has paper and a writing utensil. Now it s time to find your group leader, so we can get started with some Wise Guys trivia! Fun Background Instrumental Christmas Music: Looping Let s go to our first question! Christmas Question Slide: The first song broadcast from space was a Christmas song. Which song was it? This is a multiple choice question, so I want to see your entire group strike the pose next to the answer you want to choose. 4 Poses Slide: Wise men picture- Silent Night ; Angel picture- Jingle Bells ; Reindeer picture- O Christmas Tree ; Snowman picture- Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. 6
Strike your pose! Your whole group has to do the same one! Let s find out who is right. Fade out all but: Angel picture- Jingle Bells Jingle Bells is correct! It was sung by two astronauts on a space station in 1965. Let s try another kind of question. For this one, your team has to think of as many answers as you can in thirty seconds. If you think of an answer, tell it to your group leader, and they will write it down. I ll read the question, then start the timer! Christmas Question Slide: What kinds of decorations do people put up for Christmas? What kinds of decorations do people put up for Christmas? Name as many as you can in thirty seconds! Ready? Go! 30 Second Countdown (audio continues from earlier). How many did your group get? First grade? Second? Third? Fourth? Fifth? Nice job! We ve got a lot of decorations up here on stage, did that help? Let s try another question! This is a multiple choice question like the first one, so get ready to strike a pose! Christmas Question Slide: How tall is the largest snowman ever made? How tall is the largest snowman ever made? Wow! What are our options? 4 Poses Slide: Wise men picture- 50 feet ; Angel picture- 77 feet ; Reindeer picture- 201 feet ; Snowman picture- 122 feet. 50 feet, 77 feet, 201 feet, or 122 feet. Which one is it? Show me the pose next to your answer! Let s find out if you are right. Fade out all but: Snowman picture- 122 feet. One hundred and twenty-two feet! That s huge! Do we have a picture of that snowman? World s Largest Snowman Picture 7
That s incredible! Let s keep the questions coming! This next question has nine answers, so your whole group has to work together to see how many you can get! Christmas Question Slide: What are the nine reindeer names in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer? What are the names of the nine reindeer names in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? That s a tough one. See how many you can write down in thirty seconds! Tell your group leader if you have an answer. Ready? Go! 30 Second Countdown (audio continues from earlier). Let s see how many you got! Here are the answers. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph. Did anyone get all nine of them? Who thinks they have the most correct? Nice work! Let s try one more question. Christmas Question Slide: If you got all the gifts from the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, how many presents would you have? If you got all the gifts from the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, how many presents would you have? Let s see what our answers could be. 4 Poses Slide: Wise men picture- 12 ; Angel picture- 145 ; Reindeer picture- 364 ; Snowman picture- 543. Strike your pose! Let s see if you got it. Fade out all but: Reindeer picture- 364 Three hundred and sixty-four presents! That s a ton of wrapping paper. Well, I ve learned a lot of new things about Christmas! You can come back to the middle of the room, but stay standing, because we re about to sing and worship God! 8
Worship Slide and clear audio Worship 5:00 When we say Worship, we are talking about showing God that we love him. When we celebrate Christmas, we praise and thank God for sending his son Jesus. Singing about God is an awesome way to worship him. When we serve others, spend time with God in prayer, and give, we are worshipping God, too! Let s sing this Christmas worship song together! Song 1: Come and Sing (Auto advance) Worship Slide I love getting to sing about God with all of you. God hears us when we sing, but also when we talk, or just think about him. We call talking to God prayer. God will listen, even if you don t pray out loud to him. Let s close our eyes and bow our heads, and talk to God now! God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for Christmas, and for sending Jesus to show us how much you love us. You are wonderful. Amen. Media: Part 1 4:00 You can all sit down. It s time to find out what the Light Force team is up to this week. Light Force: Part 1 (4:00) (Auto advance) Series Title Slide: Wow! What an interesting problem. It can be hard to get to know someone who lives around the world, but God loves them just as much as he loves us. I wonder what the Light Force team is going to do about that. 9
Lesson Intro 1:00 This series is called! In a few weeks, we are going to have an epic Christmas party right here! We ve been getting ready for the party but really need your help. You see, last week we talked about a story Jesus told, where he said that everyone was invited to a huge party. Since Jesus thinks everyone should be invited, we want to let as many people as we can know that they are invited to come here this Christmas! We re inviting them to have fun, party with us, but most of all, we re inviting them to learn how much God loves them. That s what makes this party the best one of all. Like the Light Force team learned, though, it s not easy to get to know someone who doesn t live near you. We have help from the internet, phones, and tv, but it s still not easy. That s what our big question is about today. How can we invite people from around the world to learn how much God loves them? Go ahead and find your group leaders because, it s group time! Group Time 15:00 Optional: 15:00 Countdown Do This: Make sure each kid finds their group. Help group leaders if there is a need. Encourage kids as they work to answer the question. Know This: This is a time for kids to search for answers in the Bible, and see how they can use the Bible to investigate and better understand life. This time is designed for kids to interact and deepen their understanding. They won t get all the answers, but allow them to question and discover as much as possible. Be ready to support group leaders in any way needed. Do This: Give the groups a warning about one minute before this time is up. When this time ends, transition into the memory verse challenge. Bumper Video (1:00) 10
(Auto-Advance) Memory Verse Slide: John 13:34- I give you a new command. Love one another. You must love one another, just as I have loved you. Memory Verse Challenge 3:00 Come on up to the front, it s time for our memory verse challenge! We learn words from the Bible every week here in Elevate, because it helps us remember things that God wants us to know. The Bible is His message to us! This verse came from Jesus himself. He said: I give you a new command. Love one another. You must love one another, just as I have loved you. That s awesome! Jesus wants us to love others just like he loves us. Jesus love isn t a silly or mushy kind of love, either. He showed people love by being a good friend, by spending time with people that no one else would talk to, and by giving his life for others. We can show that same love to the people in our families, in our neighborhoods, and around the world! Jesus loves every person on earth, wherever they live. Let s practice saying that verse together. John 13:34. I give you a new command. Love one another. You must love one another, just as I have loved you. For the challenge part of this memory verse challenge, we re going to try to sing that verse to the tune of some Christmas carols! We ll put the carol up on the screen with the verse, then try to sing it together. Ready? Know This: Beforehand, try singing the verse to these tunes until you are reasonably comfortable with it. It need not be perfectly in time or tune, but have fun with it! If you feel like kids don t know the tunes well, feel free to sing the beginning of the tune on a la before singing the verse. Once you reach the end of the verse, stop, wherever you are in the song. Memory Verse Slide: Jingle Bells. John 13:34- I give you a new command. Love one another. You must love one another, just as I have loved you. Let s try another one! Memory Verse Slide: Away in a Manger. John 13:34- I give you a new command. Love one another. You must love one another, just as I have loved you. One more time! Memory Verse Slide: Frosty the Snowman. John 13:34- I give you a new command. Love one another. You must love one another, just as I have loved you. 11
Media: Part 2 7:00 It s great that we can learn so much from God s amazing story in the Bible. You all thought of some great ideas in group time, that could help us invite people around the world to know God s love. Let s see what the Light Force team has decided to do about their challenge. Light Force: Part 2 (7:00) (Auto advance) Series Title Slide: There is so much we can do to show God s love for others, even if they live far away. Application 5:00 Even at the first Christmas, God wanted us to know that everyone on earth was invited. He put a bright, shining star in the sky that people around the world saw! That s an awesome way to invite someone to your celebration. None of us can get a star to shine in the sky, so how can we let people around the world know that God loves them? Well, that s part of our mission as a church. We have church partners all around the world who do an amazing job telling people about God. They are different churches, in different countries, and they even speak different languages, but we all have something in common. God loves every person on earth, and wants all of them to know Jesus story. Some of the churches we partner with are in the country of Norway! Norway worship picture The people in this church love and worship God, and want to invite as many people as they can to get to know him. If you visited this church, there would be some differences. They might speak Norwegian, which would be difficult for us to understand. They might celebrate Christmas with different foods and traditions than we do. One thing 12
would always be the same, though. The people in the churches in Norway love Jesus, just like we do. At Christmas, they are celebrating for the same reason they are. Jesus came to earth to show them, us, and every person on earth how much God loves them! Series Title Slide: Wherever you find someone else that knows Jesus, you have something in common with them. Jesus cares about and loves both of you. That s why inviting everyone we can to know about God is super important. What can we do, then? How can we share God s love with people that live in a different state or even a different country than we do? There are two things all of us can do. Pray for them. The first thing all of us can do is pray for them. Pray that God will lead them, that he will help them make good choices, and that he will give them what they need. We can also pray for people around the world that don t know God, and ask him to help them learn about his love. Every time we pray, God listens. We may not see what He does about it, but He will always hear us. Invite them to watch online! The second thing you can do is invite others to watch online. Our adults church is all online, so if you have a friend or family member in another state, or even another country, you can invite them to watch online at eaglebrookchurch.com. You can also look up all the episodes of Light Force online, so you can show your friends what we ve been learning in Elevate! No matter where someone is in the world, they are invited to know about God s love, and you can give them that invitation! Worship 4:00 Everyone on earth matters so much to God. He sent Jesus because he loves the whole world. Christmas is a party, because it s the day we celebrate Jesus coming to invite all of us to know God s love. Let s stand up and praise God for the amazing gift he gave at Christmas, Jesus! 13
Song 2: Oh What a Glorious Night (Auto advance) Series Title Slide: Wrap-Up 1:00 At Christmas, we celebrate the greatest gift ever. God sent Jesus to show us how much he loves us. Let s give as many people as we can a chance to know about that gift. We can celebrate Christmas with people around the world by worshipping God, but for people near us, we are throwing a Christmas party! Our huge Christmas party is a great way for people to find out about God s love, so try inviting someone to that this week! It will also be a super fun party, with snowball fights, Christmas games, and so much more! As you get ready for Christmas, remember that we are celebrating Jesus with people all around the world! Talk to your parents about some ways you can help out other kids or churches around the world this Christmas! Actually, we have something that can help you do that. We call this our family connection card. It has some things you can tell your parents about the message today, fun stuff, and some ideas of ways your family can help others all around the world! Do This: Show kids the Family Connection Card. Make sure you get one of these when you leave. It s a different card each week of this series. If you have someone you would like to invite to our Christmas party, you can take an invitation when you leave, too! Simply fill it out, and give it away, and you ve given someone the chance to learn about how much God loves them. Let s finish out this time by talking to God. To help us stay focused, we ll close our eyes and bow our heads while we pray. God, you love this world so much, we can t even imagine it. You are so good and kind to us. Thank you for sending Jesus and for everything that Christmas is about. Help us to see everyone in the world as someone who you love. Amen. I ve loved hanging out with you, come back, because we ll continue the Christmas party next week! 14
Elevate Slide Start Christmas hangtime music videos 15