LARGE GROUP 1
Series at a Glance for Elevate Traveling is awesome! When we travel, we get to explore new places, spend time with friends and family, and talk to different and exciting people. Making Jesus the leader of your life is just the start of an amazing journey! In this series, we will walk alongside the very first church as they follow d s mission for them. Through their adventures, we will discover how to live for Jesus, wherever we are. Get ready to! Weekly Overview: Lesson Topic Big Idea Memory Verse Lesson 1 Jan 7/8 Prepare to Launch! Acts 8:26 40 Baptism is a big step on my journey with d! 2 Cor. 5:17 Anyone who believes in Christ is a new creation. The old is gone! The new has come! Jan 14/15 Get on Board! Acts 2:42 47 I am an important part of the church! Acts 2:42 The believers studied what the apostles taught. They shared life together. They broke bread and ate together. And they prayed. Lesson 3 Jan 21/22 Lesson 4 Jan 28/29 Take Time to Refuel! Acts 4:23 37 Set Your Course! 1 Timothy 4 and 2 Timothy 3 d refuels us when we pray. The Bible shows us the way to go. Philippians 4:6 Don t worry about anything. Instead, tell d about everything. Ask and pray. Give thanks to Him. 2 Timothy 3:17 By using Scripture, a man of d can be completely prepared to do every good thing. Lesson 5 Feb 4/5 See the Sights! Acts 16:16 40 Our goal is to love d! Psalm 145:3 Lord you are great. You are really worthy of praise. No one can completely understand how great you are. 2
GO! Series at a Glance for Elevate (continued) Jan. 7/8 Prepare to Launch! 5 4 3 2 1 BLAST OFF! The beginning of an adventure is always exciting! It s the thrill of meeting new people, seeing new places, and trying new things! The first step on our journey with Jesus might not be what you expect. In fact, it is something the very first church started, that has been done for over 2000 years! When someone starts following Jesus, they are usually baptized with water. This week, find out what baptism means, and why it is one of the best first steps we can take on our adventure with Jesus! Jan. 14/15 Get on Board! All aboard! On this adventure with d, church is the best place to start! When the first church started, some people didn t understand why they had to join the church to follow Jesus. This week, see how d makes big things happen when we stick together, and find out why the church an important part of our adventure with Jesus. Jan. 21/22 Take Time to Refuel! The people in the first church were praying about some big problems. They were being thrown in jail, just for talking about Jesus. Some people felt like giving up. As they were praying for d s help, something happened that totally refueled the church! d gave them courage to talk about Jesus around the world. This week, find out how prayer can get us re fueled with courage from d! Jan. 28/29 Set Your Course! Timothy had been given a huge responsibility. Paul, a great leader in the church, had left him in charge of an entire church! To make things worse, some people started telling lies about d in the church Timothy led. Things weren t looking good, so Timothy asked Paul what to do! Paul told Timothy about a guide that would always tell him the truth. That guide was something we still have today, the Bible! To find out what Paul wrote, check out 2 Timothy 3:15 17! Feb. 4/5 See the Sights! It looked like the adventure was over for Paul and Silas. They were thrown into prison for talking about Jesus. Instead of trying to dig their way out, they started singing! This week, we will look at the reason why we worship. Paul and Silas chose to worship d wherever they went. Whether they were in prison, at work, or at home, Paul and Silas wanted everyone to know they loved d! How would our lives look different if we chose to worship d like that? 3
What You Need to DO and KNOW Each Week Opening Do This: Encourage everyone to gather near the stage, and have FUN! Give high-fives, welcome the kids by name, dance to the music, and let kids know we re going to have fun today! Interact with the crowd! Create a buzz about what is going to happen. Know This: This is intended to be a fun time! You as the leader need to set that standard so kids can feel comfortable. If you re not willing to open up and be silly, they won t either. It s ok if some kids are shy or stand-offish, but YOU should model what we d like to see! Welcome Do This: Greet the kids with enthusiasm without being overwhelming. Know This: During this time you are working to gain the kids trust. Something as simple as telling them what is going to happen during the hour can help relieve some anxiety that they may have. We will also gain their trust by showing them that this is a place that is not weird or different from what they see in other places. Worship Do This: Perform the provided actions to the songs and demonstrate enthusiastic worship for kids. Encourage kids to join in, but don t force them to participate. Read aloud any verses that are on the screen (unless the song features a voice over). Direct the kids attention towards d. Call out upcoming lyrics when appropriate and help the kids engage in singing. Know This: It s okay if some kids don t sing or do actions to the songs. They may worship by just reflecting on the lyrics and listening. Our music set is generally made of high-energy songs to help kids get engaged in worship. Media Do This: Sit or stand to the side of the screen(s). Watch the media and appear engaged using appropriate non-verbals. Know This: Although this is a good time to catch your breath and gather your thoughts, you are still technically on. Kids may be looking at you to see if you are watching the videos, and if you don t look engaged, they may not choose to engage either. Prayer Do This: Ask the kids to be respectful and quiet; you will pray out loud, while they pray quietly in their hearts and heads. Sit or crouch down and engage the kids as you pray. Know This: We want the kids to learn how to pray by seeing you model this. Feel free to say your own prayer this one is simply a suggestion, but do keep it short. Bible Verses & Memory Verse Do This: Read any verses from the side screen aloud. Make the memory verse fun! After you ve read it, do something silly like challenge the boys to be louder than the girls, jump up and down, add actions, or have the kids recite the verse using different voices. 4
Lesson Outline for Elevate : Get on Board Lesson Segment Total Running Time Opening Song (2:00) Welcome (3:00) Song 1: This is our Time (5:00) Song 2: We won t be Quiet (5:00) 0:00-15:00 Bumper Video (1:00) Group Activity (6:00) Lesson Intro (1:00) Spark Plugs: Part 1 (4:00) Share Your Story (2:00) Memory Verse (2:00) Spark Plugs: Part 2 (5:00) Message (6:00) Spark Plugs: Challenge (1:00) Wrap-Up (2:00) 15:00-45:00 Group Time (15:00) 45:00-60:00 Video Cue Slide Cue Audio Cue Tech Notes 5
Opening Song 2:00 (Roll when directed) Elevate Opener Welcome to Elevate, everybody! It is so awesome to see you all here! Turn to someone you haven t met and say I m so glad you re here! (Auto advance) Elevate Slide and Underscore Welcome 3:00 I am so excited that you came here today! You can go ahead and sit down. My name is. I want to get to know all of you! I m going to give you ten seconds to find out the name of the person next to you. Then, when I say, yell out their name so I can learn it! This is going to be an awesome day! We are traveling through a series called that shows us the next steps we can take in our adventure with d! We will get to sing some songs, play games, learn an amazing lesson, and hang out with other kids and leaders in our group time! Once again, I am so glad all of you are here! It s important to know the people you are adventuring with, so let s start with a Question of the Day! Question of the Day Video (Auto advance) QOTD Slide: What is your favorite thing to do on a team? Your question is: What is your favorite thing to do on a team? For example, you could be on a sports team, part of a team while playing a game with friends, or be part of a music group. Do This: Emcee as the kids are sharing their answers. If time allows, you can ask a couple of kids to share their answers with the larger group. 6
Great answers! One of my favorite things to do with others is worship d! Let s do that right now! Worship 10:00 d is our leader and savior. There is no better person to have as your guide! This song is all about how we can do great things because of d s love for us! Song 1: This is our Time. (Auto advance) Worship Slide It is so awesome to know that d has great plans for us! That s why we worship Him, because we want everyone to know how much we love d. Worship is a lot more than just singing! We can worship with how we treat others, how we give, and how we act at school. In fact, whenever we show that we love d, it is worship! Let s really let our love for d be known with this next song! Song 2: We won t be Quiet. (Auto advance) Worship Slide That is so awesome! We really can t be quiet about our awesome d! Great singing, Elevate. You can all take a seat, and check out the side screens! Group Activity 7:00 Elevate Bumper Video (auto advance) The Name Game! Today s lesson is all about the people we are traveling with. When we are following d, he gives us a great group of people to share life with, a group called the Church! Let s start with an activity that is all about working together! 7
This is a competition for your group! You have one minute to come up with a team name! Make sure your team name doesn t give away who you are! (Can t involve your own names, or say what grade you are in) When you decide on a name, your group leader will come up and tell me what it is. Don t tell anyone else your team s name! Keep it a secret. You will have to guess which name belongs to which team! Remember, don t tell anyone else your group name! Do This: Give the kids time to get into their groups, and think of their team names. Group leaders, come up and tell me your names, one at a time! Do This: Don t give away which team is which. After all of the leaders have told you their team names, write them in random order on a whiteboard so everyone can see what they are! Ok it s time to get started! I m going to read off all of the team names, and give one team a chance to guess! If anyone guesses your team name correctly, your team is out, and must sit down. Do This: Keep this fast-paced. When a group misses a guess, let the team whose name they tried to guess have a turn. When all but one team is out, that team wins! Game Music (auto advance). Great job, everyone! Now that you have met your teams, you are really ready for this adventure! Today we are talking about another team, one that it is super important to be a part of. That team s name is the Church! Lesson Intro 1:00 d has an amazing purpose and plan for each of us. That s why this series is called! Following d is a great adventure. If you were going to travel to a faraway land like France or North Dakota, how would you get there? A plane, car, or train? Almost no matter how we travel, we have to have help from someone else. The people that made the car, train, or plane that we are in helped us. The pilot or driver is helping us, we have help every step of the way! So when we need help on an adventure with d, where does he want us to turn to? 8
Video One 4:00 Where do we turn when we need help? It sounds like the Sparks are having a problem a lot like that! Let s see if they can answer our question. Spark Plugs: Part 1 (Auto advance) Share Your Story 2:00 Where do we go when we need help? Do you have anyone you know you can always ask for help? Maybe you ask your mom, dad, or other grown up. You could turn to one of your friends, or your brother or sister, or even a leader here at church! Do This: Share a personal, age-appropriate story about a time the church (or someone in the church) helped or supported you. We all have different people who help us, like our parents, friends, or teachers, but d gives all of us a special group of people to grow with. That group of people is called the Church! We get together here in church, in Elevate to grow, help each other, and learn more about d! Actually, that reminds me of our memory verse for today! Memory Verse 2:00 Our memory verse this week was written about the very first church ever! If you asked someone to tell you what the church was all about, they would probably say something like this: Do This: Read the verse aloud from the screen. Memory Verse Acts 2:42- The believers studied what the apostles taught. They shared life together. They broke bread and ate together. And they prayed. Do This: Have kids recite the verse with you 3-4 times. Make this time fun by incorporating goofy accents, movements and silly exercises, or competitions (boys vs. girls or split by grades) to see who can be louder. When we are talking about The believers in this verse, we are talking about the people of the Church! They were there for each other in a big way! The verse says they shared life 9
together. What a cool idea! This means they spent time with each other, and were there for one another no matter what happened. I think I can show you how that works, but first, we still have to see what happens to the Sparks! Video 2 5:00 Let s check in with them now. Spark Plugs: Part 2 (Auto advance) Message 6:00 That was quite a story! The first church knew something really important. If we try to go through this adventure alone, we won t make it very far. The problem is, not everyone believes or acts like they believe that. Sometimes when people face problems or pain, they try to figure it out themselves, instead of asking for help from other people, or even from d. Let s try a test to see how well that works! Do This: Indicate the Ker-Plunk container. This game is called Ker-Plunk! Normally, you pull out sticks and try not to let the marbles fall to the bottom. Today there is a twist! Let s imagine that this stick is me. I m a teacher, I love to be on stage leading you all! I fit in right here! Do This: Slide your stick into place in the container. Cool! Now, I want to get to know d, I want to be a good friend and family member, I want to be who d made me to be! The problem is, when challenges come, there are some things I just can t do on my own! Do This: Pour several marbles into the container. The marbles are supposed to stay up here! That didn t really work. There s no way I could do all these things alone! If you have been trying to go through life alone, without asking for help, without d and others to help you, you know how this feels. When we feel alone, or feel like we will never be good enough, it could be a sign that we are trying to do too much on our own. So what can we do? 10
Do This: Invite the other leaders up to the stage. There are a lot of great leaders here at church. When we come to church, we get help and support from others! We meet new friends, we learn about d, and we have fun together worshipping d and talking in our small groups! When we are a part of that, something amazing happens! Do This: Have the leaders each put a stick into the container. Then pour several marbles in again. We did so much better that time! How many marbles do you think we caught? When we are together, we can do the things d wants us to so much better! We aren t the whole church, though, there s still more. We need all of you! Do This: Invite up at least one kid from each grade. Give them each a stick, and let them put it in as you talk. Even when we are following Jesus, tough things will happen to us. When you feel angry, tired, or lonely, those things will weigh you down. When life gets difficult, you may even feel like you want to give up. You won t get far on an adventure if you try to go it alone! That s why d gave us the Church. Remember our memory verse? The first church did everything together. If one of them had a problem, the others were there for them. That s why we are here today. Whenever one of us is struggling, the others are right here to help them out! Do This: Pour the rest of the marbles into the container. Most of them will be caught by the sticks! We can do so much more as a team than we can on our own. Do you know what this means, kids? You are such an important part of this church! You can help others and you can make Elevate an awesome place to be. On the other hand, if you feel stuck today, like you can t go on, talk to any of the adults here in Elevate, we would love to help! We are here for you! Every one of you is important! You have a great job in the church: to support other people. When you are a friend to others, you are following one of d s biggest goals for us, to be a part of the Church! Spark Plugs Challenge 1:00 I am so glad we get to follow Jesus together, and be there for each other! Another way to get better is by taking on challenges! Our friends from Spark Plugs have a challenge for you this week! Spark Plugs Challenge: Thank someone who has helped you. 11
(Auto advance) I m excited to do that challenge! There are so many people who have been there for me, I have a lot of thanking to do! Wrap-Up 2:00 Elevate, if you only remember one thing about this lesson, remember this. I am an important part of the Church! d has made you with amazing gifts, and created a place for you here in the church! The church wouldn t be quite the same without you! Every one of us is an important part of the church! We can let other people know this, too! Turn around and say that to someone behind you. You are an important part of the Church. Now, say it to the person in front of you! You are an important part of the Church! Whether we are at the start of an adventure, or we have been traveling with d for years, d has a place and a mission for every one of us as part of his church! If you are feeling like you are on this journey alone, any one of the leaders here in Elevate would love to listen to you and help you out! After all, that s a big reason why all of us are here in church, to help each other! Group Time 15:00 We have something to give you today! If you are following along in our passport, there are awesome challenges and activities for you to discover this week! If you haven t gotten a guide book yet, be sure to get one as you leave today! This book also shows where you 12
have been on this adventure! We have a new sticker for you, only available this week, so be sure to get it as you leave, and save it in your guide book! Before we go to group time, let s take a minute and talk to d. Dear d, Thank You for loving us so much. Thank you for the church, and the friends we have here. Thank you for putting us on this adventure together. We love you. Amen. Have fun at Group Time! Do This: Dismiss to Group Time. Group Time Slide Group Time Music Elevate Slide 13