LESSON 1 WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THESE ACTIVITIES?

LESSON WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THESE ACTIVITIES? LESSON GOAL: The children will learn that we can and should be in constant prayer to God. MAIN POINT: I Will Keep On Praying! BIBLE STORY: Nehemiah prays to God for help. (Nehemiah -2:8) BIBLE VERSE: Never stop praying. Thessalonians 5:7 (NLT) ADVENTURES IN RACING CHALLENGE (WEEKLY OPENING ACTIVITY) This weekly opening activity will introduce the children to the lesson of the day. SEND THEM UP! (OPENING ACTIVITY) This opening activity will help the children learn that we should pray to God over and over again and not just one time. SKIT AND BIBLE STORY (LARGE GROUP ACTIVITY) The Skit and Bible Story will teach the children that we can and should be in constant prayer to God. AUTO-MOEBIUS RACING REVIEW (WEEKLY REVIEW CRAFT ACTIVITY) This weekly activity will help the children review the lesson and give them a visual reminder of the lesson to take home. PRAYER ROPE (APPLICATION ACTIVITY) This activity will help teach the kids that we can have a closer relationship with God by praying to Him often. KNOT BY SIGHT (APPLICATION ACTIVITY) This application activity will help the children learn that God is there for us everywhere and every day and we should talk to Him through prayer. PRAY BRACELET (APPLICATION ACTIVITY) This application activity will help remind the children that they should keep on praying wherever they are and whatever they are doing. RACIN REVIEW! (REVIEW GAME LARGE GROUP ACTIVITY) This is a strategic time to review and reinforce the content of the lesson. 20 Fellowship Church

LESSON I Will Keep On Praying! Teacher & Co-Teacher using the Perform It Live DVD Performing the Bible Story and Skit Live PURPOSE: This Skit and Bible Story will teach the children that we can and should be in constant prayer to God. MATERIALS NEEDED: Costumes for all characters (see video), large champion medal, directional sign that can be spun to face the wrong way. Lead the children through the Opening Activity. logo Begin Worship Time. Note: For this lesson use Sound Track CD #. Hello, my friends, and welcome to our brand new series: The Great Race! It s a series all about racing and never giving up! CO- Awesome! On your mark... (confused) What are you doing? CO- Get set... Wait! We re not racing yet. CO- Go! No! Not yet! The racing comes later. In this series we ll travel around the world, see some incredible races, and learn about a man from the Bible who refused to give up! But first, we have a new song to sing. CO- Oh...in that case. (to children) On your mark... 20 Fellowship Church

Not again. CO- Get set...stand up! We ve got a song to sing! 2 song 2 Teacher and Co-Teacher lead the children in singing the song. CO- That was awesome! I look forward to singing that song with all of you again. (to Teacher) So now it s time to race, right? Almost. We need to tell the kids what we re going to be learning today. CO- You mean our Main Point, don t you? (thinks) Aha! That gives me a great idea. Let s me and you race each other to see who gets to present the Main Point. Okay, where are we racing to? CO- To the back of the room and back. (to children) And we need all of you to cheer. On your mark...get set...go! 3 Teacher and Co-Teacher run to the back of the room and back. Teacher wins. That was fun. But I win so I get to present the Main Point for today. [3] Here it is, I Will Keep On Praying! So on your feet, everyone! We need shouting, and we need motions, but most of all we need to remember this Main Point! 3 main point The Teacher leads the children by first demonstrating the Main Point 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 Main Point, have the children repeat it with motions two or three times. CO- (to children) Great job! Watching you shout and do the motions always helps me remember the Main Point. (to Teacher) But I need some help understanding this one. I know how to pray, it s easy, you just talk to God. But how do I keep on praying? That s a good question. But I need the kids help to answer it. (to children) Raise your hand if you pray when you get up in the morning. Okay. Now raise your hand if you pray before you eat. All right. Now raise your hand if you pray before you go to bed. Good. 2 20 Fellowship Church

CO- I pray at all those times, too. But this Main Point says to keep on praying. That sounds like I m supposed to always be praying. Yep. CO- Wait...I m supposed to always be praying? Yes. God is always with us and we can pray to Him all the time. And I have a Bible Story that tells us about doing that. Let s check it out. 4 Bible Story Video 4 BIBLE STORY 5 5 6 6 7 7 I ve always loved to travel! There are so many incredible places to go and amazing things to see, [5] places like the Roman Colosseum, or the leaning tower of Pisa, or the Grand Canyon. And what s cool is that today, with all the different methods of travel, like airplanes, trains, cars, and boats, we can get to these places very quickly no matter where they are on the planet, which is saying quite a lot because the planet is a big, big place! But, you know what? No matter where on this big planet I go, there is something that is always true. Whether I am in Africa, or the Adirondacks. Madrid or Mozambique. Zurich or Zambia. God is always with me, and not only is He with me, He is always listening to me, ready to help me whenever I need Him. Knowing this, I try to take advantage of God s presence and remember to talk to Him all the time, just like the man in my Bible story for today. This man s name was Nehemiah and he was someone who really understood the importance of talking to God. [6] Nehemiah was from Jerusalem, but for many years he had been living in the far away city of Susa where he had been working for the king. One day some of Nehemiah s family came to visit him and when they did Nehemiah asked them how things were going back in his hometown of Jerusalem. Sadly, things were not going well. The people living in Jerusalem were in great trouble. The walls of the city had been destroyed, and the gates had been burned down. This was terrible news because back in those days, a city had to have walls and gates because without them it couldn t defend itself from attacks. [7] Well, when Nehemiah heard this news he sat down and wept. The Bible says that for many days Nehemiah mourned and he fasted, which means he didn t eat anything. But Nehemiah did even more than that, the Bible says he also prayed. And this is what he said... NEHEMIAH (IN VIDEO) O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God...listen to my prayer!... Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me. 5 Bible Story animation 6 Bible Story animaa- tion 2 7 Bible Story animaation 3 3 20 Fellowship Church

8 8 9 Remember, Nehemiah worked directly for the king and this particular king was the ruler of the entire Persian empire and was one of the most powerful men in the world! How cool would it be for Nehemiah, and the people of Jerusalem, if the king decided to help? [8] Well, one day, Nehemiah was serving the king his wine, and the king noticed that Nehemiah looked rather sad. So the king asked, KING ARTAXERXES (IN VIDEO) Why are you looking so sad? You don t look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled. This was a very important moment and Nehemiah was very afraid of what the king might say or do, but Nehemiah knew that God was with him so he said to the king, [9] NEHEMIAH (IN VIDEO) Long live the king! How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates destroyed by fire. 8 Bible Story animaation 4 9 Bible Story anima- tion 5 0 9 KING ARTAXERXES (IN VIDEO) Well, how can I help you? Okay! The door for Nehemiah to ask for what he needed was open and now was his chance. [0] But before he asked, Nehemiah prayed one more quick prayer to God. Then he said to the king, 0 Bible Story anima- tion 6 0 NEHEMIAH (IN VIDEO) If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried. When the king heard this he told Nehemiah that he could go. But the king didn t stop there! He did even more for Nehemiah. The king sent letters with Nehemiah that gave him safe passage through the lands to get home. He also gave Nehemiah lumber from his own forest so that Nehemiah could rebuild the gates, the walls, and even a house to live in. But that s still not all! The king also sent army officers and horsemen to protect Nehemiah while he traveled. The Bible says that the king did all of this for him because the gracious hand of God was on Nehemiah. God had heard and answered his prayers! I love this story because it demonstrates the power that prayer can have. [] Nehemiah found himself in a difficult situation. A situation that needed prayer. And so he prayed to God through the entire process. Nehemiah knew that no matter where he was, or what type of situation he found himself in, he had to keep on praying, and when he did God answered him. Bible Story animaation 7 The great thing for you and me is that what was true for Nehemiah, is also true for us. No matter where we are, or what type of situation we 4 20 Fellowship Church

find ourselves in, God hears and answers our prayers too. So remember 2 that the next time you face a difficult situation. [2] Maybe you ll be at school with a hard test coming up. If so, pray that God will help you as you study and help you remember everything you studied for the test. Or maybe you ll be at home and you aren t getting along with your parents. If so, pray that God will help you know what to do and say so that things will go better between you and them. The point is that, just like God was with Nehemiah, He is always with us too. So be sure to talk to Him often throughout each day, and remember... He s always there and He s always 2 listening! 2 Bible Story anima- tion 8 Teacher closes the Bible Story in prayer. CO- Wow! Nehemiah prayed a lot! Yes, he knew that God was always with him and would always hear his prayer. It s the same for us. God is always with us and He wants us to talk with Him. So keep praying when you wake up, before you eat, and before you go to bed. But also pray when you re on your way to school, when you re playing with friends, and when you re just hanging out in your room at home. CO- So I really can pray to God all the time? Yes, and the Bible tells us to in a verse. CO- Wait, I sense a Bible Verse coming on. Let s race to see who gets to present it. Okay. Are we running to the back of the room again? CO- No, this time let s walk backwards...across the room. (to children) We need you to cheer for us again! That ll work. On your mark...get set...go! 3 Teacher and Co-Teacher race across the room while walking backwards. Co-Teacher wins. CO- Yes! I win, so let s see our Bible Verse for today. 3 Bible Verse Never stop praying. Thessalonians 5:7 (NLT) 5 20 Fellowship Church

CO- Hey, that s a really short verse! Yes, this verse is short and it s easy to memorize. But it s hard to actually do what it says. We have to decide to pray to God. We have to make the time for it every day. It s something you will have to think about and you ll have to remind yourself to pray. But the good news is, that the more you pray, the easier it is to pray and talk to God. The more you pray, the more you ll want to pray. CO- That sounds tough, but I think I d like to try that out...starting right now. (to children) Everyone, please bow your heads and pray with me. (praying) Dear God, thank You for always being there for us to talk to. Please help us all to remember to keep on praying to You. Help us remember to pray to You all the time. Amen. Amen. That was a good prayer. And remember, we can pray to God when we have a problem and we can pray when things are going well. We can pray when we have doubts or questions. We can even pray to God, like you just did, thanking Him for who He is and for always being there for us. CO- That s awesome! However, I do have a question about this series. Okay, what s your question? CO- This series is The Great Race, but the only races we ve seen so far have been you and me. When do we get to the races that are...you know...great? Right now. CO- Really? We get to watch the world famous, champion racer Kip Daring compete today! He races all over the world and he has never lost. CO- Really?! The Kip Daring?! Yes, but there s a villain in this story, too. Doctor Despair! CO- Oh no! The Doctor Despair?! 6 20 Fellowship Church

Yes. This should be quite intense. Let s see where in the world they are and what in the world will happen. 4 Skit Intro Video 4 Note: Play Skit Intro Video chapter # 4. 3 4 Video ends. Scene is the Teams Ready Area. BOB KUDOS (OVER THE LOUD SPEAKERS) Race fans and fans of me, Bob Kudos, please welcome the physician of failure, the MD of bad deeds, the evil guy who makes you cry, Doctor Despair. Doctor Despair enters. SFX of Audience booing. Quiet, you! And you too! I ll show all of you...all of you I say! BOB KUDOS (OVER THE LOUD SPEAKERS) And now, welcome the current holder of the world s champion racer medal, you know him, you love him, the one, the only, Kip Daring! Kip Daring and Jenny Alright enter. SFX of Audience cheering. BOB KUDOS (OVER THE LOUD SPEAKERS) (speaking quickly) Followed by his assistant Jenny Alright. You re late, do-gooders! You could have saved time by not showing up at all. (holds up champion medal) But then who would have won my champion medal? Me! (tries to grab medal) Just hand it over now! I must have that medal. Kip holds the medal out of reach and keeps Doctor Despair at arms length. You ll only get this by beating me in a race. And we both know that won t happen... (tries to break it up) Gentlemen, please. Both Doctor Despair and Kip Daring ignore Jenny Alright. Because I m Kip...DARING! (echoing voice) 7 20 Fellowship Church

5 6 Heroic music starts as fans swarm Kip with autograph requests. Doctor Despair gives up and walks to his side of the stage. Bah! Just you wait, Kip Daring! I ll beat you no matter what it takes...lying... cheating...stealing...mwahahaha! Little does he know that I ve requested a new henchman from the Villainous League of Bad Guys. With their help, there s no way I can lose. (looks at watch) In fact, my new henchman should be arriving any moment now. Frankie Neutral enters. (speaking slowly) Um...hello? Are you Doctor Despair. Yes. Who are you? I m your new henchman...frankie Neutral. The most boring person ever. (confused) What? Doctor Despair starts to nod off as Frankie speaks. I defeat my enemies by being so boring that they give up...or fall asleep. Yeah, sometimes they just fall asleep. And it s not just my enemies...when I talk to normal people they fall asleep, too. Some people say it s my voice that does it. I think it s more the tone of my voice that- Doctor Despair snaps out of it and interrupts Frankie Neutral. Enough! We need to discuss my villainous plan for victory! If you say say so. Kip and Jenny are finishing up the autographs. And finished! Now to go win the race! Kip starts to exit. Wait, Kip, we haven t discussed the the plan for the race. 7 Right you are, Jenny. My plan is to run fast, and win the race. Let s go. 8 20 Fellowship Church

Wait. Wait. You want me to do what now? Pay attention! (holds out the race map) I want you to go to the area that I marked on the map and look for the sign that tells the racers where to go. Before you go. I think that we should pray before the race. Prayer? You mean we should talk to God before the race? I m not sure. Wouldn t it save time to just go race on my own. I m sure if I do my best, then I won t have any problems. Kip will have problems, Frankie, all kinds of problems! All because of a very simple and ingenious plan. When you find that sign, I need you to turn it so it faces the wrong way. The wrong way? Yes! The wrong way! It will make Kip go the wrong way! No, Kip, that s the wrong way to start this race. We should take a moment and pray to God. And we should even pray to God during the race. Really? But why? Because during the race, there are plenty of things that can go wrong. Switching this sign will cause Kip s race to go horribly wrong! You could run into trouble. He ll run into all kinds of trouble! And in those moments, you will need help. And there will be no one to help him! 9 20 Fellowship Church

And God will be there to help you. Yes, I think you re right, Doctor. Yes, I think you re right, Jenny. Of course I m right. Now, let s scheme! Thank you. Now, let s pray. Doctor Despair and Frankie Neutral huddle and whisper as Kip and Jenny bow their heads. (praying) Dear God, please help Kip to do his best and to stay safe in the race today. Help me to run really fast. And please help Kip to avoid any traps, schemes, plans, and anything else that Doctor Despair has cooked up. Amen. Amen. Kip walks over to Doctor Despair and interrupts their huddle. (holds out hand) Well, Despair, may the best racer win. (pushes Kip s hand aside) Oh, I m absolutely certain that I will. Mwahahaha! (pretends to see something off stage) Oh my, what s that over there? Kip and Jenny both turn to look offstage. Doctor Despair motions for Frankie to sneak away with the race map while Kip and Jenny are distracted. Hmmm? What is it? What am I looking for? Wait a moment, Kip. Isn t that Hank Happy, your number one fan? Why yes, I think it is. (shouts offstage) Hello, Hank! How are you? 0 20 Fellowship Church

5 Note: Play First Hank Happy Video chapter # 5. 5 First Hank Happy py Video That Hank Happy...what a great fan! Well, it s time to get to the starting line. See you afterwards, Kip. I ll be praying for you for the entire race. Thanks, Jenny. Doctor Despair pushes past Kip and Jenny as he exits. Arrrrrrgh! Out of my way! Kip exits after Doctor Despair. Jenny waves as he exits. 6 Race Part Video 6 Note: Play Race Part Video chapter # 6. Video ends with a slide that says Meanwhile... Scene has changed to the Mid Race set. There is a sign pointing to the left side of the stage. 8 Frankie Neutral enters carrying the map. (looking at map, speaking slowly) Hmmm, well this is where I m supposed to be on the race course. (sees the sign) And that s the sign I m supposed to find...i guess I found it. (walks over to the sign) Now I need to turn the sign the wrong way so Kip will lose the race. (turns the sign the wrong way) There, I did it. (looks around) I guess I ll go wait at the finish line. Frankie Neutral exits. 7 Note: Play Second Hank Happy Video chapter # 7. 7 Second Hank Hap- py Video 9 The sign that Frankie turned the wrong way suddenly shifts and points back in the right direction. Doctor Despair enters. (slightly out of breath) Excellent I m still in the lead. Aha! Here s the sign that my henchman pointed in the wrong direction. Which means I need to go this way. (points in the opposite direction) Good luck finishing the race, Kip Daring. Mwahahahaha! Doctor Despair runs off in the opposite direction of the sign. After a brief moment, Kip Daring enters slightly out of breath. He is finishing a prayer as he enters. 20...and please help me to run fast and not to miss any of the signs for this race. Amen. (sees the sign) Ahh, and here s one of the signs. Thank you, God. 20 Fellowship Church

8 Kip runs off in the direction that the sign points. Note: Play Race Part 2 Video chapter # 8. 8 Race Part 2 Video 2 22 Scene changes back to the Teams Ready Area. Frankie is standing there looking offstage for Doctor Despair. Jenny is cheering and clapping as Kip enters holding up his champion medal. Way to go, Kip! You won! I was praying for you the whole time! Thank you, Jenny. I prayed during the race, too. And I think it helped. I really feel like I ran a good race. You did! (looks around) But what happened to Doctor Despair? Doctor Despair enters covered in trash and limping. He pushes past Jenny and Kip and heads straight toward Frankie Neutral. Oh my! What is that smell?! (to Kip and Jenny) Quiet, you! (to Frankie) This is somehow your fault. I followed our plan and ended up running through the town dump! What happened to my brilliant plan? Answer me! (speaking slowly) I don t know. But you probably shouldn t have run through that dump. That s why you re covered in trash and don t smell very- Enough! You re soooo boring! And you ruined my plan! You re fired! FIRED, I SAY! If you think that s for the best. Frankie exits. Well, Doctor Despair, thank you for today s race. I found it to be quite enjoyable. Goodbye. Kip and Jenny exit. 2 20 Fellowship Church

23 Enjoy your victory while you can, Kip Daring. I ll get that champion racer medal from you if it s the last thing I do! Mwahahahaha! (notices that he s still covered in garbage) Ewww! End. 9 Video 9 Note: Play Pizza Pizza Video chapter # 9. CO- Whew, I was nervous about Doctor Despair s wrong way sign plan. I m glad Hank Happy was there to save the day. Me too, but I m also glad that Kip learned the importance of prayer. They prayed before the race, and even during the race, asking for God s help and thanking Him. We should have that exact same attitude and be in constant prayer to God. And when we make the choice to speak to God in prayer, it s more than simply talking to Him, it s worshiping Him. Let s spend a few moments worshiping God together through singing to Him, through giving our tithes and offerings, and through prayer. Everyone, please stand. 20Teacher and Co-Teacher lead the children in singing the song, and then begin the offering time. 20 song 2 Now we re going to receive our tithes and offerings. This is a special time for us to show God our thanks for who He is and for all He s done for us. We do that by giving back just a small amount of all that He s given to us. Please bow your heads and pray with me as we prepare to give. 2 offering 2 OFFERING 2 Note: 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 prayer. So, you might say, God, thank You for loving us so much that you listen to us when we speak to You. Please help us to take prayer seriously and also help us to pray to You all the time. Amen. Take up the offering. 22 Thank you all for worshiping with us and joining with us in prayer. We re going to learn more about prayer in our Small Groups! [22] Note: If the children do not change rooms for the Small Group time, review the Main Point before you begin the activities. If the children do change rooms for the Small Group time, have the children review the Main Point while they exit. Also, encourage the children to exit the room while performing some sort of creative motion. 22 small groups 23 main point still 23 SMALL GROUPS Teacher greets the children as they return from Small Groups. 3 20 Fellowship Church

Welcome back! Today, we ve been talking about prayer. We ve seen people in the Bible pray and we ve seen people in races pray. But now, we ll see what you ve learned about prayer and we ll even give you a chance to test 24 your racing skills. Let s play a little Racin Review! Note: For specific instructions on how to lead the children through this Review Game, you will need to print out Review Game Lesson from your Lesson Materials CD-ROM. Lead the children through the questions. Press play on your DVD when a child has given you the right answer. CLOSING Now those were some impressive racing and question answering skills. I hope you all come back next time for another Great Race! And remember our Main Point: I Will Keep On Praying! See you next time! 24 review game still 4 20 Fellowship Church