Elijah Part Four Topic: Elijah Kids Bizz Lesson Outline: If the Lord is God, follow him! 1 Kings 18:21 Lesson Objective: That the children learn about the story of Elijah Memory Verse Welcome 5 minutes Page 1 Worship 10 minutes Page 1 Recap Last week 5 minutes Page 2 Story 10 minutes Pages 3-4 Activity 10 minutes Page 5 Memory verse 5 minutes Page1 & 2 Prayer 10 minutes Page 6 Lesson Review 5 minutes Page 2 Wrap Up 2 minutes Page 2 Please note that this is a guide only Welcome Welcome all the kids. Ask them to tell you what they most enjoyed about their week. Worship We believe in and value worship at Northridge. The Facilitator will let you know when it is time for Kids Worship. Please come downstairs and join with the other children for Worship Please encourage the children to join in and help the younger children to engage. We would also ask that you participate as the children will watch you also. Feel free to speak to the kids worship team or the Facilitator if you have any questions. If the Lord is God, follow him! 1 Kings 18:21 Please feel free to be creative with this lesson you may like to think of a different way to tell the story or have an activity that will demonstrate the lesson more clearly. During the activity time the children have several choices please encourage them to complete the main activity before they engage in other activities Kids Bizz,
Recap & Introduction: Ask the children what they remember from last week. For example: What did we talk about? What did they learn? Etc. This month we are spending time thinking about a man in the Bible whose name is Elijah. Elijah lived on earth more than eight hundred years before Jesus. When we want to find out about Elijah, we can read all about him in a book in the Bible called 1 Kings! Elijah was a man who loved God! He was a prophet, which means he told people messages from God. He is the hero in the story. There are two baddies in the story and their names are King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Ahab and Jezebel were evil, and anyone who loved God was there enemy! At the start of the story, we heard all about how Elijah went to speak to the king and Be told Gentle him that there Code would be no rain until he asked God to send it again. The king and Queen were so angry with Elijah, and so God told Elijah to run away. First of all God told him to wait by a steam, where God sent birds with food for him. Next God told Elijah to so to find a widow in a nearby town, who would give him some food. Then God told Elijah to go back to the king, and God sent fire from Heaven to burn up Elijah s altar and show he was the real God, and not like the pretend ones!...and finally, just like he said he would, God sent the rain again, that s where our story begins again today! Story: Please see Page 3-4 for the story today. Activity: Please see Page 5 for the craft today. Lesson Review The memory verse for this week is: If the Lord is God, follow him! 1 Kings 18:21 Find a creative way to help the kids to learn this verse. You will need to explain what the verse means and how it applies to our lives. Noticeboard focus: Ask the children to tell you what they learnt about today then add the memory verse poster to the noticeboard (the card can be found in the folder in the leaders resource spot). Give each child a memory verse card and tell them that if they can remember this verse next week they will get a sweet. (Memory verse cards are in the Leaders Resources spot) Please remember to do this as they are an important part of us connecting with the children s families. Wrap up: Have a leader or helper close in prayer. Make sure kids take their craft at the end of the lesson. Please ensure that they are signed out by a parent or guardian before they leave the room. Once all the children have left please assist us by making sure the room is tidy and ready for the next group. Please also make sure that the blue sign- in folder is returned to the kids table.
1 Kings 19:7-14 God appears to Elijah (paraphrased by Vineyard UK) When Jezebel heard what had happened and how Elijah had shown the people that his God was the true God, she was mad with anger! She sent a message to Elijah, saying that she was going to kill him. When Elijah heard this, he was terrified and ran into hiding. While he was hiding in the desert, the angel of God came to Elijah, shook him awake again, and said, "Get up and eat some more you've got a long journey ahead of you." He got up, ate and drank what he needed, and set out. He walked forty days and nights, all the way to a mountain called Horeb. When he got there, he crawled into a cave and went to sleep. Then the word of GOD came to him: "So Elijah, what are you doing here?" "I've been working my heart out for you, God," said Elijah. "The people of Israel have stopped following you, and murdered your prophets. I'm the only one left, and now they're trying to kill me." Then God told him, "Go and stand on the mountain and wait. I will pass by." A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks, but God wasn't to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake came, but God wasn't in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn't in the fire; and after the fire there came a gentle and quiet whisper. When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he covered his face with his cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there. A quiet voice asked, "So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?" Elijah said it again, "I've been working my heart out for you God, because the people of Israel have stopped loving you, and have killed your prophets. I'm the only one left, and now they're trying to kill me." God said, "Stop hiding in fear! Go back the way you came. You are not alone! There are actually seven thousand people in Israel who also love me! Stop hiding in fear! Go back the way you came.
What s this got to do with me? Have you ever complained about something? Maybe you ve even complained to God about something? Perhaps things haven t been great for you or something wasn t fair and you complained about it. Elijah complains to God in the cave. He s so stressed out that he hides out in the cave in the dark, where no-one can see him. He is in lots of bother and he s fed up with how things are going and he has a big moan about it! But God is listening! And God knew he had to remind Elijah that he knew what was happening and that he had a plan. Elijah needed to be reminded who God was. Elijah was stressed out! Have you ever been stressed out? I ve been stressed out and then if someone shouts at me, or is really noisy where I am, it stresses me out some more! But sometimes my mum or someone who loves me comes along and speaks to me really gently and lets me know that they re there for me. That s just what God is like in this story. God tells him to stop for a while. He tells him just to listen. And then He whispers to Elijah and quietly calms him right down. Elijah tells God his problems again, but this time he knows God is there with him. He knows God has a plan and God calls him out of the cave and out of hiding, because it s time for the next thing! Finally, God shows him that he isn t alone like he thinks he is! He isn t the only person who is living for God. There are in fact 7000 other people that have still love God! Do you listen to God when you re stressed or worried? Do you talk to God about your problems? You can, just like Elijah did in the story! Sometimes we can just bottle things up or moan, but when we take time and listen to God we find he s there waiting and ready to comfort us and calm us down and gently whisper in our ear. Where do you listen to God? What things get in the way of listening? Sometimes we need to just take a little bit of time and be quiet and wait for God. You ll feel his presence and hear him just like Elijah did, and then you can tell him what the problem is and let God take care of it. Ministry: Take time to worship quietly and listen to God. Pray that the children would really feel God s presence and hear his voice whisper to them. Take time to share pictures / things we feel God is saying to us. Also allow the children some time to share what God s presence in worship felt like to them. Have ministry time. Vineyard Kids Curriculum These notes are part of the Vineyard Kids Curriculum produced by Katie Rogers of Belfast City Vineyard and distributed fordownload through www.vineyardkidsuk.com. This is a free curriculum based on vineyard values and produced with the supportof Vineyard Churches UK. If you have downloaded & made use of this material we would be grateful for any feedback orcomments you may have. Please post them on our website www.vineyardkidsuk.com. THIS MATERIAL IS STRICTLY NOT TO BE USED OR REPRODUCED FOR COMMERCIAL GAIN. Katie Rogers 2011
Every Step I Take! This craft will help to emphasize to the children that God is always with us no matter where we go. Use the footprints made from this craft to decorate your classroom or bulletin board. The children will be drawing their own feet. You will need: Instructions brown card stock, pencils, scissors, markers or crayons, pins or a stapler (to attach the feet to the walls). 1. Lay several sheets of poster board on the floor. 2. Have each child stand on the poster board and trace their feet. 3. Let the children cut out the outlines of their feet. 4. Allow them to decorate their feet with crayons or markers. 5. They can draw shoes if they like or draw toes. 6. Leave enough space to write, I want to walk in the Spirit! on the footprints. Craft from: http://children.cccm.com/otteacherguidepdf/curot100.pdf
Leading Prayer in Kids Bizz Come Together: Bring the children together in a circle. Ask if there is anything that they would like to pray for. Some Questions you may ask to help them think: Is there something that you would like to praise God and thank him for this week? Are you sick or do you need healing? Have you hurt anyone or been hurt by something this week that you need to ask forgiveness for? Pray: Pray together there are two choices here: They can pray for each other or they can pray for themselves (out loud). Praying for Each other: If they would like someone else to pray for them ask the child to sit in the middle and for another child to pray for them (ask for volunteers). If both children are comfortable they can lay hands on as they pray. Praying for themselves: If they would like to pray for themselves they can either sit in the middle or stay where they are. Ask them to pray in a loud voice so everyone can hear. We want them to be comfortable so be flexible and sensitive to the Child s needs. Continue through the group until everyone has been prayed for. Listen: Then take time to sit and listen to God and see if there is anything that He would like to say to the group. Ask each child to sit silently and listen to God. Explain that God may speak to them all in different ways, e.g. a picture, an idea a colour etc. Then after a minute ask if there is anything the children felt God was saying. Write: If anyone has anything please write it in the Kids Bizz Prayer Journal with the date, service time and child s name. Then have a leader thank God for the lesson and any healings, words or pictures.