Kindergarten-2nd April 11-12, 2015 BRAVE Journey: ADVENTURE Luke 5:1-11; Joshua 1:9 Jesus is calling you to follow him on an adventure. Adv. Bible for Early Readers (pp. 1200-1201, 249) Connect Time (15 minutes): Five minutes after the service begins, split kids into groups and begin their activity. When kids first arrive, talk about bravery. Ask them what it means to be brave or about times they have had to be brave. Large Group (30 mi nutes): Begin 20 minutes after the service starts. Model what it looks like to be engaged in large group. Small Group (20 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. The Daily Talk Starters have important ways for adults to connect their BRAVE Journey experiences with their kids experiences. Make sure you hand them out! Jesus called Peter to follow him, and Peter did. He found out that following and obeying Jesus isn t always easy. It requires a lot of bravery, but it is totally worth it!
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. SIMON SAYS Line kids up in a row. Their job is to follow Simon (you!) by doing what you do. Stand a few feet away, facing them. Explain that you will give them a command. Before some commands, you will say, Simon Says. ( Simon says take two steps forward! ) If Simon says it, the kids should do it. If Simon doesn t say it ( Jump backwards once! ) the kids should stand still. Intentionally make of some of the instructions really hard and some really easy. Here are some ideas you can use (adding Simon Says, of course): o Touch your toes (easy) o Rub your tummy and pat your head (hard) o Do a jumping jack (easy) o Do the splits (hard) o Hop up and down (easy) o Balance on your tiptoes (hard) Debrief: o Was it hard to follow Simon? Why or why not? o Did you ever have to be brave to follow Simon? Why or why not? Then ask kids to share the best and worst parts of their week. Before you head into Large Group, remind them of your expectations for behavior: (1) be kind, (2) listen when somebody speaks, and (3) follow the leader s instructions.
Goal: Kids will (1) understand that Jesus wants us to follow him, (2) recognize that following Jesus sometimes requires bravery, and (3) identify one way they want to follow Jesus this week. Why? It s important to be prepared to be brave when we make the choice to follow Jesus. Tip: Make sure to repeat the verse frequently today. Repetition will help kids remember it! REVIEW THE STORY 1. What does it mean to follow Jesus? 2. How did Peter follow Jesus? 3. Do you think Peter had to be brave to follow Jesus? Why or why not? 4. Is it possible to be brave even when we re scared? Explain. 5. Why is it sometimes easy to follow Jesus? 6. Why is it sometimes hard to follow Jesus? 7. Why don t we ever have to be afraid to obey Jesus? (let kids respond but make sure to refer to the verse) APPLICATION ACTIVITY ASK: Did anybody hear God asking you to do something to follow him? What was it? o Write or draw it on the footprint-shaped piece of paper (Or help kids come up with something: it can be a doing a chore for a sibling, sitting with a classmate at lunch, or inviting a friend to church. Help them think of concrete examples.) o Share it with the group. Then give each kid a bag and say: Following Jesus is an adventure! We don t know what he ll ask us to do but we know he ll help us. Decorate the bags with markers and have kids put their footprint inside. Then hold up a compass decal. Ask kids if they know what it is. Explain that a compass shows us where to go, just like JESUS shows us where to go. Choose one kid to hold the compass and lead the group on an adventure around the room. Then return to small groups. Give each kid his or her own compass decal to take home and put up somewhere as a reminder to follow Jesus wherever he leads! (Continue on the following page)
2 *Pray together, asking God to be with us this week as we follow him. Then give each kid a Peter coloring sheet. See if they can recall the story while they color it. Use the verse card and read the verse out loud. See if kids can say it with you while they color. If you still have extra time, you can let other kids lead adventures. Or play some more Simon Says! Let kids take turns leading and choosing easy or hard commands (commands that require bravery).
1 Today s goal is to introduce the idea that sometimes Jesus asks us to do things that require bravery. But we don t want to make following Jesus seem scary, so really focus on the verse and how God is with us no matter what. While we have the same mission as Peter, it will look different in each of our lives. It s important kids learn to hear God so they can follow his lead. Make sure to set up the Love Beats Fear video so that kids use the time to talk to God. *Click to play intro music. It s a brand new song called We Are the Brave Ones. Hi everybody! Welcome to Kids Club. It s great to see you here. I m extra excited today because this is the first week of the all-church journey. That means everybody at Crossroads is learning the same thing. And this is called the BRAVE Journey because it s all about how God made us to be brave. We ll talk a whole lot more about being brave in a minute. But first, I want to hear about the Simon Says game you just played. Raise your hand if you thought it was hard to follow Simon and took bravery to do what he asked you to do (let kids vote). Raise your hand if you thought it was easy to follow him and didn t take any bravery at all (let kids vote again). And for some of you, it was probably a mix, right? PETER S MISSION It s important to think about following, because there s somebody who wants us all to follow him. It s not Simon does anybody have a guess who it might be? (Let kids guess.) Yep, Jesus! And we re going to learn how to follow Jesus by watching how a guy named Peter followed Jesus. By the way, does anybody know Peter s other name? (Let kids guess.) You got it: Simon! We re going to find out a lot about Peter during the BRAVE Journey, and we re going to start with a story from right after Peter started following Jesus. We re going to watch a video about the story. As you watch, see if you can figure out ONE way Peter followed Jesus by obeying what Jesus said. Ready? Video: God s Story / Peter Fishes for Men OK, so what was one way Peter followed Jesus in this story? (Let kids respond.) Yes, Jesus told him to go out into the deep water to fish, even though he had been fishing there all night.
Now, do you think that was hard or easy? Let s vote again. Raise your hand if you think it took bravery to obey (let kids vote) and raise your hand if you think it was easy (let kids vote). Great! Well, Peter knew how to fish, so that part wasn t hard. But he had been fishing there ALL night. So he was probably tired and didn t want to go out and try all over again. It s kind of like if you lost your favorite video game and you spent 3 hours cleaning your room and couldn t find it anywhere. But as soon as you told an adult at your house, they asked you to go back into your room for 3 more hours and look for it again! But Peter knew that he wanted to obey everything Jesus said, even when he didn t feel like it. So he did. And when he went back, did he catch fish? (Let kids say: Yes!!) Yes, he sure did! More than he could carry in two boats. WE CAN FOLLOW After Peter obeyed Jesus, he got another special job to do. Remember how Jesus said, From now on you will fish for men? Does anybody know what that means? (Let kids respond.) Yes, it means that Peter s job is to show others how to follow Jesus! Because following Jesus is something that Jesus wants EVERYONE to do. So if Jesus wants everyone to follow him, raise your hand if you think he wants YOU to follow him (let kids raise hands). Yep, and sometimes that will be easy and fun. But sometimes we have to be brave to follow Jesus! Let s play a game to think about that for a second. Everybody, stand up! (Let kids stand.) OK, so I m going to give you some examples of ways people in the Bible followed Jesus. You might never have heard about these people before, but that s OK. I m going to tell you what God asked them to do and you can tell me if it s brave. If you think it sounds easy, then give a shrug, like this is simple! (model) If it sounds like it takes bravery, stick your fist in the air, like this (model). And it s alright if you guys have different answers some things are hard for one person and easy for another, and vice verse. Ready? (Go through the following bullet points and let kids choose.) A woman named Rahab hid two people in God s family to keep them safe, even though she knew she could get in big trouble. A guy named Daniel obeyed God by praying, even though he got thrown into a room full of lions. A guy named Naaman had a disease; he obeyed God by washing twice in a dirty lake and he was healed. A woman named Deborah heard truth from God and obeyed him by telling others what he said. A guy named John the Baptist followed Jesus by baptizing people and preparing other people to meet Jesus. Great job! Now have a seat (let kids sit). Yes, a couple of them are definitely hard. But when we decide to follow Jesus, our job is to act like Jesus and do what God tells us to do no matter
what anybody says, even if people make fun of us or even when we don t feel like it. Let s put our fist in the air to show that WE can be brave (let kids respond). GOD IS WITH US The good news is, God knows that we sometimes need to be brave to follow him. And God makes us a promise in Joshua 1:9 that we re going to try to memorize over the next few weeks so that we can always remember it. Here s what it says: SLIDE: Joshua 1:9 This is my command be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. Can you guys say that out loud together? (Lead them to repeating. Have them say it at least three times. The second too can be in silly ways, like in a robot voice, in a deep voice, with a British accent or while holding their noses.) Great job! RESPOND Now let s take a minute and talk to God about how he wants US to follow him bravely. We re going to watch a music video. As you watch, ask God to show you how to follow him this week: what does he want YOU to do bravely? Maybe, like Peter, he wants you to show another person how to follow him. Maybe he wants you to choose to follow him for the first time, even when none of your friends do. Maybe he wants you to show his love by being kind to somebody you really don t like. See if he brings an idea to your mind as we watch this music video: Video: Love Beats Fear Did anybody think of a way to follow Jesus this week? (Let 3-5 kids share.) Awesome! The rest of you can share during small group. But let s all get ready to follow Jesus bravely! WORSHIP Now, let s stand up! Let s thank God that he loves us and loves having us as part of his family. And that he ll always help us and never, ever leave us alone. With him, we can be brave! Song: Bravery PRAY Ask somebody to come and thank God for calling us to follow him.
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Simon Says game no supplies needed Per kid Coloring page: Peter 1 footprint cut-out: On Amazon, search Carson Dellosa Footprints Cut-Outs White paper bag 1 compass decal Per group Markers 1 Adv. Bible for Early Readers (pp. 1200-1201, 249) Cardstock with verse printed on it (reused) Adv. Bible for Early Readers (pp. 1200-1201, 249) 1. Song slide: for when kids enter the room (We are the Brave Ones; Mae will have file) 2. Video: God s Story / Peter Fishes for Men (if not on Vimeo, Dave/Mae have file) 3. SLIDE: Joshua 1:9 This is my command be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. 4. Music Video: Love Beats Fear (https://vimeo.com/113716523) 5. Music Video: Bravery (https://vimeo.com/49923937) Tell me about Peter. How can we follow Jesus? Daily Talk Starts separate document