Unit: Positioned in the light: Week One Focal Biblical Truth: If we want God light and character to shine through us we must get in the light moving into position is an act of faith. Biblical Case Study: Consistent story: Four Men Mark 2:1-14 Week One: The woman who touched Jesus (Mark 5:21-43) Week Two: Lazarus (John 11) Week Three: Naaman (2 Kings 5) Week Four: The man by the pool (John 5:1-14) Overall take-away points: o Being in the light is something you have to want, move to, tune in to etc. Being in God s service as a living prism is an act of your will. This Week This week will focus on the woman who touched Jesus. She was willing to position herself for reception of God s power. Opening Activity: (15 minutes) In the Hallway Music Midnight Radio by John Denver There will be radios in various stages of disrepair and the kids try to put them together and get them to work. Then we will get them to try different stations.there will also be poster board around for them to write down the answers to this question: What does it take to make a radio work? There will also be paper at tables for them to make signs for their favorite radio station. Have an example on an easel. Also have Prisms available for them to look at and experiment with. Have a couple flashlights that they can shine on them. SUMMARY POINT: o Radios will be our metaphor for this unit on positioning ourselves in the light! o Discuss how light comes into a prism and exits as the rainbow. o How is a prism like a radio? (The prism receives and gives) o Transition to worship As we worship today focus on receiving from God his messages. Enter the big room through any of the four doors! Worship Time: (15 minutes) Momentum Team (In Large Room) Worship is usually three songs Worship team will dismiss the group Tech person will play music as they cross the hall.
Shepherd Time: (10 minutes) (Shepherd time is in small classrooms SALT and worship team arrange the Large room for class time while Shepherd time is going on. Shepherds know shepherd time is over when they hear the music in the hallway I usually play it softly at first to give them a wrap up warning and then turn it up about 30 seconds later.) Question - Discuss with your partner or with the table, What station do you like to listen to on the radio and why? What s the most frustrating experience you ve ever had with a radio? Examples: driving in the car and loosing the signal Batteries quit working and you don t have others You can t get the signal in Blue Bucket cards and Shadow cards are written. (see Living Prism Cards) Prayer Cards are utilized by the shepherds if they want. (The question is utilized by teachers if they want, or can be ignored if they want to spend the time a different way. The only mandatory part of shepherd time is prayer and filling out the blue and white cards.) Large Group Time: (15 minutes) Blue Buckets/tithe/announcements The Blue Bucket tradition accomplishes three things: 1. Gives ceremony to teach intentionality in use of the days of their lives. 2. Gives an anchor point to the three years of gaining MOMENTUM toward being a Living Prism. 3. Gives ceremony to teach the benefit of routinely dismissing shadows from your life. Process: Each January starts with the filling of a rock bucket with 52 rocks each December ends with the bucket of rocks empty and the blue buckets full. Students WATCH all year long as the time symbol decreases and the heavenly reward earning cards increase! Students come into the large room to music picked by the tech people unless you give them something specific. Upfront teacher will pick someone to throw a rock out the door. The worship team sets out the buckets of rocks for you. I sometimes pick a person who has the most Advance Team points, or from a certain grade, or has a birthday, or shows the most enthusiasm The rock thrower is given a drum roll by the rest of the class and then runs to the door and tosses the rock out. Upfront teacher makes reference to the following points by week, assigned so that none of them get lost. o Week one: You have thrown the rock out the door to symbolize that another week is gone the question is how did you spend it? There are no do-overs. It is just like spending a dollar once it is gone It is gone and what you have in your hand is what you exchanged for it something worth the dollar or something you wasted your dollar on. Spiritually we don t want to waste our time. We want to intentionally build reward for ourselves in heaven. o Week two: Were you a living prism for God this week or were you overcome by shadows? A prism accepts the white light that shines through it. Out the other side comes a rainbow of color (roy g biv). Does the prism make the color? No it separates the color.
o o White light is the presence of all colors the rainbow comes from the prism separating the color out so we can see it. Now point to a living prism (They point to one another). A living prism is one who allows the light of God to shine through them not blocking that light with shadows from anger or bitterness or unforgiveness or rebellion. Then others can see our rainbow of Godly character traits coming from God and shining through us. Week three: Blue buckets don t get us into heaven. Jesus will ask you if your have given your life to following him and if you have said, yes then he will let you into heaven. AND THEN he will ask you for your blue bucket. Week Four: We do this to help you train yourself to do two very important things: To intentionally earn reward for yourself in heaven while living on earth and To routinely think about what you need to confess to God to keep your heart free from sin and burdens of despair. ALWAYS: say the poem.. You say ONLY ONE LIFE They say WILL SOON BE PAST You say ONLY WHAT S DONE They say FOR CHRIST WILL LAST Mention where the bucket are and that the tithe bucket is in front on the stage. Tech person will crank some music and let the kids go freely to the buckets and drop their cards in them the white cards are often shredded up so no one can read them. If you can get the kids to clap or dance to the music that sometimes adds fun. Begin Large Group class time by introducing the theme: What helps us receive the light of God? Let s think about it by looking at the way a radio works..so how does a radio work? Use a flip chart and record their answers (or a powerpoint) Ask them what it needs to work? They will give you many more than you need! Explain the Radio Concept: In order to make a radio work you need an antennae, a power source, for a transmitter to be sending a program over the air waves, and then to tune the radio to a specific channel Then we will move into the idea of the living prism and moving into the light of God. We know the light comes from God. We know it needs to shine through us. We know we need to deal with shadows. We know what we do with God s light is channeled through us into the rainbow of character (color) traits. But how do we get into the light to begin with? Well it is like a radio.. Shepherd Teaching Time: (20 minutes) Teachers teach the story of the woman who touched Jesus Mark 5:21-43 Positioning yourself for reception! 21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." 24 So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?" 31 "You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' " 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." 35 While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?" 36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe." Summary Point: The air waves were transmitting and contained the song of healing o In fact he was on his way to heal someone at the time she found him The power source was there o Jesus was healing people all the time. o In fact he was on his way to heal someone o She knew that other power sources were in effective o Jesus knows that she has been healed because power left him. The channel was clear o The woman could hear the message of her own healing enough for her to find Jesus, but there was still static. She needed to get closer. She needed to get connected to his power by touching him. And she did! The Antennae had to be moved to remove the static. When she did this the power of God was affective in her life and Jesus acknowledged her, healed her and sent her on her way in peace, a healed woman. Closing Activity - (15 minutes) From the front summary: What the woman had to do was find Jesus and let that message come into her life with clarity. She had the faith to move her antennae and receive healing. She had to maintain hope (This was a 12 year journey she could have given up) She had to cross boundaries ( she shouldn t have been in the crowd illegal ) She knew she had to get closer and get in touch with the power source
She could have hidden from Jesus, but because she came forward she was a testimony to everyone. Teach the story journey of Four Men ( See Video ) Four men came carrying a paralyzed man to Jesus, who was preaching in a house. They could not get through the crowd so they dug a hole in the roof and, lowered the man on his mat to Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Immediately Jesus knew what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralytic, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" Closing We need to be active in finding our way into the light. It doesn t just fall on us. We have to want to be in it, find its location and move to it the light will then do all the work. Just like in our story today the woman got herself to Jesus and he did the healing. Moving toward God is an act of faith. We call this program Momentum because it is necessary to move to God as he draws you if you want the most out of your relationship with Him! Think of a way that you can move yourself into a better position to receive light from God this week. Write it down on the cards provided and take it home with you. Pray and dismiss