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Large Group Series at a Glance for Elevate About this Series: This series is all about re-thinking the way we feel. From shame to sadness, and from joy to peace, our emotions are an important part of who we are. Over and over in the Bible, people who are hurt, angry, and afraid discover that with God s help, they don t have to stay that way. Explore how God can help us turn sadness to joy, anger to peace, bitterness to forgiveness, and so much more, in this series. Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 3:4 - There is a time to weep. And there s a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad. And there s a time to dance. Weekly Overview: Lesson: Topic: Big Idea: Lesson 1: September 8/9 Lesson 2: September 15/16 Re-Start Jesus understands- Hebrews 4:15; Luke 19:41; Matthew 21:12-17; Matthew 26:30; Re-Think (Shame to Belonging) Jesus heals a blind man- John 9 I can live like Jesus did. God accepts me for who I am. Lesson 3: September 22/23 Re-Do (Sadness to Joy) David at Ziklag- 1 Samuel 29-30; Psalm 56 I can follow God, even when things go wrong. Lesson 4: September 29/30 Re-Act (Anger to Peace) Isaac s wells- Genesis 26:12-33 I can choose how I respond to what happens. Lesson 5: October 6/7 Re-Make (Bitterness to Forgiveness) Joseph forgives- Genesis 45 I can choose to forgive. : Re-New (Hurt to Loved) Mary Magdalene- Luke 8:1-3; John 19:25; 20:1-18 (Decision) I can follow the God who loves me. 2
Series at a Glance for Elevate (continued) Lesson 1: Re-Start Does it ever seem like other people just don t understand how you re feeling? They don t know how sad or angry you are, or don t get why you re so excited. This week, we ll find out why Jesus understands what we re going through, no matter how we feel. Find out as we kick off a new year in Elevate! Lesson 2: Re-Think (Shame to Belonging) Is there a place where you just feel great? It could be when you re tucked into your warm bed, in your own secret place, or hanging out with your best friends. Feeling like you belong is awesome, but feeling left out can be awful. Fortunately, there is never a moment where God leaves you out of his plan. With Him, you will always belong. Lesson 3: Re-Do (Sadness to Joy) When we feel sad, it s easy to wonder Why did this happen to me? Why would God do this? A person we read about in the Bible named David asked those same questions. He is known for writing music about how wonderful God is, but also wrote about times when he felt incredibly sad. With God s help, David kept going, even when it seemed like everything was going wrong. Lesson 4: Re-Act (Anger to Peace) Every day, things happen to us that we can t control, but there is one thing you can always control: yourself. This week, we ll see the power of choosing peace over anger, and see how Isaac made wise choices, even when bad things happened to him. Lesson 5: Re-Make (Bitterness to Forgiveness) Is there something that happened a long time ago that you re still mad about? Other people hurt us sometimes, but staying mad about something for a long time can hurt us, our friendships, families, and every part of our lives. How can we choose to forgive instead of holding a grudge? : Re-New (Hurt to Loved) When Jesus met a woman named Mary, she wasn t doing well. She was sick, and couldn t even think straight. Jesus healed her and changed her life, but her story doesn t end there. Mary was always there for Jesus and his followers. When all of the disciples ran away, Mary was still there for Jesus. She followed Jesus with her whole life, because he had shown her God s love. 3
Lesson Outline for Elevate Lesson Segment : Re-New Total Running Time Opening Song and Welcome (1:00) Team Time (7:00) 0:00 8:00 Media Part 1 (Video) (6:00) Group Time (15:00) Media Part 2 (Video) (10:00) 8:00 39:00 Application (3:00) Worship (7:00) Wrap Up (1:00) 39:00-50:00 Video Cue Slide Cue Audio Cue Tech Notes 4
Opening Song and Welcome 1:00 (Roll when directed) Elevate Opener Welcome everybody! It s time to get started! We ll wrap up the black light games for now, but they ll be back soon. For now, throw away your popcorn, and find a place to sit. (Auto advance) Elevate Slide and Underscore We ve got a lot to do today, let s get going! Team Time 7:00 Series Title Slide: We re on the last week of our series about emotions, called. It s been fun talking about our emotions for the past few weeks, and today we ve got something super important to talk about. We ll hear the story of someone who knows exactly how you feel, and cares about every one of you. We ll also play some games, and have fun music! Do This: Keep this section moving quickly, to ensure that the hour ends ten minutes early. Since this is an emoji themed series, we re going to start with an emoji game! In case you haven t heard that word, s are the small pictures we use to text, like a smiley face or a frowny face. Today s game is kind of like a puzzle. We re going to show you a movie, but we ll only use emojis. Your job is to guess what movie it is! Let s go! Let s find out what our first movie is! Cinderella s and fun background music 5
What are your guesses? Do This: Give them about thirty seconds to talk, then allow groups to guess. The answer is: Cinderella s with text: Cinderella. Alright, that was a good one to start with. Let s try again. Finding Nemo s What are your guesses? Do This: Give them about thirty seconds to talk, then allow groups to guess. The answer is: Finding Nemo s with text: Finding Nemo. Finding Nemo! Ahh, yes, there are a lot of fish. Getting the hang of it? Let s go again! 101 Dalmatians s What are your guesses? Do This: Give them about thirty seconds to talk, then allow groups to guess. The answer is: 101 Dalmatians s with text: 101 Dalmatians. That s a lot of dogs. It s 101 Dalmatians! Oh, that makes sense. Let s try one more time! The Grinch who stole Christmas emojis. What are your guesses? 6
Do This: Give them about thirty seconds to talk, then allow groups to guess. The answer is: The Grinch s with text: The Grinch who Stole Christmas. That was tough, it s not even close to Christmas yet. Good job everyone! Series Title Slide: and clear audio You can come back to the front, and we have something new to try out, it s our challenge wheel! Challenge Wheel Video (Auto Advance) Challenge Wheel Slide: Play a game of rock, paper, scissors with five different people, in the next thirty seconds! Play a game of rock, paper, scissors with five different people in the next thirty seconds! Whether you win, lose, or tie, just keep going! Ready? Go! Do This: Play rock, paper, scissors with any kids who want to. Wow, that was intense! I hope you met someone new, I sure did! Media: Part 1 6:00 The Source Team was also facing some challenges last week. Trixie was angry at the others, and we learned that her mom is very sick. I wonder what will happen? Let s check in with them, and find out. The Source: Part 1 (6:00) (Auto advance) Series Title Slide: 7
What can we do when we feel hurt, like Trixie does? How could we help others who feel that way? That s what you ll get to talk about in group time! Look for your grade s flag, and head that way, I ll see you again in a few minutes. Group Time 15:00 15:00 Group Time Countdown (Auto advance) Series Title Slide: 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 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. Media: Part 2 10:00 Hey everyone! You can come back to the front. While you re coming up here, what answers did you come up with? What do you think Trixie should do? Do This: Allow one or two kids to answer. Great ideas, let s find out what happens next! The Source: Part 2 (10:00) (Auto advance) Series Title Slide: 8
That s amazing! It took a lot of courage for Mary to follow Jesus when everything seemed to go wrong, but she was incredibly brave. Every one of you can make the choice to follow Jesus too, no matter what is going on in your life. Application 3:00 Like Rue said, if you ve never made the choice to follow Jesus, you can do that today. You can choose to live for him, to make the choices he wants you to, and believe that that is the way God made you to live. In a minute, we ll talk to God, and you can ask him to forgive you for the wrong things you ve done, because of Jesus. Then, you ll say you want to follow Him with your whole life. That s all it takes. Maybe, though, you still have questions, like Trixie did. If you re not sure about Jesus, or the story you heard today, any one of the leaders in here would love to talk about it more with you! Your questions are so important, and we love it when you ask questions, because that shows you care, and this choice is super important. So, talk to me or any one of the other leaders if you re feeling unsure about this important choice. Finally, if you ve already made this choice, remember that God will always be with you. You will always be God s child, and can always talk to him, spend time with him, and learn more about him. In a moment, we re all going to close our eyes, and talk to God. If you want to decide to follow Jesus, you can repeat these words after me. You should know, though, that saying the right words isn t what saves you, it s really meaning them, and choosing to live for Jesus. Let s all close our eyes, and talk to God. God, I know that I have sinned. I ve made bad choices, and I am sorry. I believe that Jesus is your son. I believe that he died on the cross, took my punishment, and came back to life, so that I can be forgiven. 9
Jesus, I ask you now to be my leader, Savior, and friend forever. I choose to follow you. Amen. Congratulations! If you just made that decision for the first time, congratulations! You just made an incredible choice, to live for God every day. We want to help you all we can with that journey, so if you just made that choice for the first time, we have this booklet to give you! Do This: Show kids the Following Jesus booklet. You can go with, who will answer any questions you may have, and show you how this book can help you on your journey with Jesus. The rest of us are going to spend some time worshipping God! Worship Slide Worship 7:00 God s love for us is incredible. This is a song about how awesome it is to follow Him. Song #1: I Will Follow You (EBC) (Auto-Advance) Worship Slide This next song, Brighter, has kind of been our theme song for this series. It s all about how our God is the greatest! This week, let s brighten things up even more with some glow worship! Let s go! Do This: Toss several packs of glow sticks, and some beach balls, into the audience! Do the actions for this song with glow sticks, and make sure other leaders are ready to dance all out, toss glow sticks, and have fun with this song! Turn off all lights aside from black lights for this song! 10
Song #2: Brighter (Auto advance) Series Title Slide: Wrap-Up 1:00 It s almost time to start up our Glowlympics event! I have one announcement, though. If you brought a friend who is new to Elevate this week, you were entered into a drawing, and could win Nickelodeon Universe wristbands! I have the winners right here. Do This: Read the list of winners. Tell kids where to get the Nick Universe wristbands. Make sure a volunteer is prepared to give these out ahead of time. Kids must come up to the volunteer with their friend to get the prize. If their friend is in a different section of Elevate (1-3/4-5 th ), they may come up after the hour ends. Know This: If you have extra wristbands, save them, you do not have to give them all away. Before you start the black light games, let s finish up by praying and thanking God for changing our lives, and for how much he loves us. To help us stay focused on God, let s close our eyes and bow our heads while we talk to him. God, we love you. Help us to follow you every day. Thank you for sending Jesus for us, and forgiving us, even when we don t deserve it. In Jesus name, amen. I ve had a lot of fun hanging out with you all today, I hope to see you next week! Elevate Slide Start hangtime music videos 11