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Large Group Series at a Glance for Elevate About this Series: Have you ever wondered what all the stories in the Bible have to do with you? After all, they happened thousands of years ago. In this series, we ll be exploring God s huge story, starting with the beginning of time and still going on today. Through this history, we ll hear tales of kings, prophets, and discover our own place in the greatest story of all. Memory Verse: Hebrews 1:1 2 In the past, God spoke to our people through the prophets. He spoke at many times. He spoke in different ways. But in these last days, he has spoken to us through his Son. Weekly Overview: Lesson: Topic: Big Idea: Lesson 1: February 17/18 Lesson 2: February 24/25 : Lesson 4: March 10/11 Lesson 5: March 17/18 Lesson 6: March 24/25 *Lesson 7: March 31/April 1 The Beginning Genesis 1 3 The Nation Exodus 13:21 22; 40:34 38 The Kings 2 Samuel 7; 2 Chronicles 36 The Prophets Isaiah 11, 61 The Son John 14:6 7; Matthew 14:22 33 The Savior Luke 19:28 42; Hebrews 4:14 16 The Lord John 18 19; John 21 God created me to be part of his story. God can guide me through my life. When life is hard, God is my defender. In every part of life, God is my hope. Jesus shows us what God is really like. Jesus gave his life to be my Savior. I can make Jesus the leader of my life. 2
Lesson 1: The Beginning Series at a Glance for Elevate (continued) You may have heard of Genesis 1:1, the first verse of the Bible: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. It s amazing to picture our world being crafted and designed by God himself, but God s creativity doesn t end in Genesis. God is still our creator today, and he has known our stories from the moment time began. Lesson 2: The Nation The nation of Israel had one of the strangest road trips in history. Their path went out of Egypt, through a sea, and into the desert. No matter where they went, God s people knew that they were on the right track, because God led them in an incredible way. God still leads us today! : The Kings Under the rule of the kings, God s people in the land of Israel had some of their best moments, and some of their worst. God s wonderful promises to king David were almost forgotten as the kings after him disobeyed God, and did what was wrong. Through their stories, we see the power of God as our great defender. Lesson 4: The Prophets Few people knew God better than the prophets. Their job was to tell people what God wanted them to know whether or not they wanted to hear it. There were many different prophets, with many messages from God, but one was always the same. If you need hope, you just have to turn to God. Lesson 5: The Son At every point in God s story, there are hints pointing forward to the greatest story of all. From the beginning, God said sin would be defeated. When Jesus came to earth, that promise became true. He is God s Son, the one everything in God s story points to. Jesus shows us what God is really like. Lesson 6: The Savior Jesus story showed us clearly who God is. He is our rescuer, our defender, and our hope but the greatest act of Jesus life showed us that he is even more than that. Jesus stepped into our world and took the punishment we deserve, and gave his life, all to become our Savior. Lesson 7: The Lord Jesus life was extraordinary. Everywhere He went, people noticed something unique about Him. He had authority, knowledge, and power that no one else ever could. Also, he did something no one else ever will. Jesus took our punishment, and defeated death. Still today, Jesus is more than a king, more than a great person. He is the Lord; the one God s story is all about. He is the one we can trust to lead every part of our lives. 3
Lesson Outline for Elevate Lesson Segment Engage Opening Song (2:00) Welcome (1:00) Question of the Day (2:00) Group Activity (10:00) : The Kings Total Running Time Worship: Higher Than the Sky (5:00) 0:00 20:00 Involve Media: Part 1 (4:00) Lesson Intro (1:00) Group Time (15:00) 20:00 40:00 Challenge Memory Verse Challenge (3:00) Media: Part 2 (7:00) Application (5:00) Worship: Sons and Daughters (4:00) Wrap Up (1:00) 40:00 60:00 Video Cue Slide Cue Audio Cue Tech Notes 4
Opening Song 2:00 (Roll when directed) Elevate Opener Welcome to Elevate! It s time to get started! Throw your popcorn away and come up to the front! First graders, can I see your best dance move? Nice! Second graders? Fourth graders? Fifth graders? Third graders? Awesome job! (Auto advance) Elevate Slide and Underscore Welcome 1:00 Welcome to Elevate! My name is. I m excited to hang out with all of you for the next hour! Coming up we ll play games, hear incredible stories, and answer some questions with our squads. You can tell which squad you re in by finding the flag with your grade printed on it! Could I have the leader(s) of the white squad wave? What about the orange squad? Silver? Teal? And finally, the black squad. Question of the Day 2:00 Let s get started by getting to know each other with a question of the day! Question of the Day Video (Auto Advance) QOTD Slide: If you were the queen or king of Minnesota, what is the first thing you would do? If you were the queen or king of Minnesota, what is the first thing you would do? Turn to someone in your squad, and talk about your answers. Do This: Emcee as the kids are sharing their answers. Encourage them to share with the people around them, and encourage any kid whose story you hear. 5
Know This: Allow kids time to interact with one another. Feel free to ask a few of them what their answer is, but you don t have to have them share with the whole group. I definitely heard some interesting ideas. Later we ll hear a story about some kings who had great ideas, and some who didn t do so great. Now, let s try a group activity! Group Activity 10:00 Game Title Slide: Air Raid For this game, each of your squads has several blocks of wood. Your job is to throw dodge balls at the other team s blocks, and knock them over. You can block the other team, but if you get hit, you have to sit down. You can keep playing, but you have to stay sitting unless I say everyone can stand up. You can t throw any dodge balls unless you are in your team s area either. When you throw, remember, your goal is to hit the wood blocks. The last team with wood blocks still standing are the winners! Do This: Before the hour begins, make sure there is a large area on the ground for each group to stand in. You may make this area with masking tape, or by putting up cones. You could even put colored duct tape on the cones to designate which area belongs to which group, and streamline this setup a bit. It s time to get into your groups, and get ready for Air Raid! Once you have your blocks set up, get everyone into your square, and give me a thumbs up! Ready? Set? Go! 5:00 Countdown and fun game music (Auto Advance) Worship Slide and clear audio Good work, everyone! That was wild. You did a great job defending your team s blocks. Throw the dodge balls into a bin, and come back to the front. You ll want to stay standing, though, because it s time to worship. 6
Worship 5:00 Worship is a word for showing God that we love him. Singing about God is a fantastic way to worship him. That s why the songs we sing at church are all about how much God loves us, and the great things he does. That s what this song is about, too. Let s sing it together! Song 1: Higher Than the Sky (Auto advance) Worship Slide God s love for you is higher even than the sky! Whenever you want to talk, he will listen. We call talking to God prayer, and it s another great way to worship. Let s close our eyes to help us stay focused, and talk to God now! God, you are incredible. Thank you for loving us, and for helping us no matter what. Help us to learn more about you today. In Jesus name, amen. Media: Part 1 4:00 Let s see what s happening at the Light Force base this week. Light Force: Part 1 (4:00) (Auto advance) Series Title Slide: I wonder what the solution is? That s a really tricky problem. Lesson Intro 1:00 I love this series:. For thousands of years, people have loved to tell stories. Everywhere we go, movies, magazines, books, they all tell us things using 7
stories. Even the pictures we share on Instagram are tiny stories. Every one of us is a storyteller, and we re all part of the greatest story of all: God s story. He has been creating a huge story since the beginning of this world, and all of us are part of it. Last week we heard how God led his people through the wilderness, even when they felt lost. Today, we have a serious question to ask: What can we do when things go wrong? All of us have done wrong things, and all of us are hurt sometimes, so what can we do when that happens? That s what you ll be talking about in your group time. You can find your leader by your team flag, go ahead and do that now. I ll see you after group time. Group Time 15:00 (Optional) 15:00 Group Time Countdown 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 search for answers in the Bible, and 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. When this time ends, transition into the memory verse challenge. Bumper Video (1:00) (Auto Advance) Memory Verse Slide: Hebrews 1:1 2 In the past, God spoke to our people through the prophets. He spoke at many times. Memory Verse Challenge 3:00 We have an interesting memory verse this series. This is part of it, but as we go through this series and discover more about God s story, it will get longer. This week, the verse just got longer! Let s read it together. Do This: Read the verse from the screen. 8
God used to speak through people called prophets. They were men and women who talked to God, and told others what he wanted them to know. The part we added today says He spoke at many times. God has spoken to us a lot. He has never left us without help, never left us alone. He still speaks to us today through the Bible, through the church, and wants to have a personal relationship with you. Let s try saying the verse again. When I point to one of your squad flags, everyone in that squad must say the verse. I might switch halfway through, so watch out! Do This: Point to different flags throughout the room. Make sure everyone gets a chance to read the verse all the way through. Media: Part 2 7:00 Nice job! You can sit down. Speaking of stories, I m ready to find out what happens in the Light Force s story! Let s find out. Light Force: Part 2 (7:00) (Auto advance) Series Title Slide: It s amazing how God was always there for the kings of Israel, they just had to look for him. The Light Force learned a super important lesson there, too! Application 5:00 Sometimes, we feel like King David, like we re doing everything right, and we re super tight with God. Other times, we might feel like some of the other kings. We feel like we ve messed up so bad, and gotten in such big trouble, that we can never ever fix it. Sometimes we may feel like we are under attack by people that want to hurt us or make us feel bad. The stories of the kings remind us that God is always strong enough to help us and defend us, but it didn t stop with them. The Bible tells us story after story of God defending his people. Remember that totally awesome king named David? Even though God absolutely loved him, David went through tough stuff. He lost battles, was forced 9
to run from people who wanted to hurt him, and even had one of his sons tried to fight against him. After all this had happened, David looked back, and wrote about it. This is how he started. 2 Samuel 22:3 My God is my rock. I go to him for safety. He is like a shield to me. He s the power that saves me. Do This: Read the verse from the screen. David thought of God like a rock, something that can t be moved. There s one really important thing I want you to know. Check this out. Do This: Set a rock and a beach ball on the table on stage. Know This: Ahead of time, have a table on stage, and a large fan set up facing the table. When God defends us, David says he s like a rock. He s solid, strong, and there for us. Some of those kings went to other things for safety, though. They thought I m smart enough, or I m strong enough to do things without God. That seems fun at first, like this beach ball. When things are going great, we might start to think that we don t need God s help anymore, but when things get tough, it might feel like a storm is going on. Do This: Turn on the fan, full blast. Allow the beach ball to blow away, then turn the fan off. Even when everything else goes wrong, God will be there for us. If we re following him, talking to him, and trusting that he has a plan for every part of our lives, bad things will still happen. That s just the real world, but no matter what happens, God will be there for us. God can be your defender, like he was for the kings that followed him, like he still is for every person that follows him. With God as our defender, it means we don t have to fear being rejected, failing, or making mistakes. Those things will happen, but God will still be there for us. All you have to do is ask him. Follow him. Sometimes God steps in and defends us himself, but he can also send other people to stand up for us. God made everyone with a special purpose, and loves every person. Everyone needs to know that God is there for them. I want to give you a challenge. With God defending you, you have nothing to fear. Who could you defend this week? When we stand up for someone who is being bullied, help someone who is struggling, or encourage someone who is feeling sad, we are doing for them what God does for us every day, being their defender. That s something you can even do today. Stand up for others, because God will always stand up for you. 10
Worship 4:00 Let s take a few minutes to worship God, and think about how much he loves us. You can stay sitting down for this song, but you can also sing along, and spend this time thinking about how much God cares for you. Song 2: Sons and Daughters (Auto advance) Series Title Slide: Wrap Up 1:00 Let s finish up this time by talking to God. To help us stay focused on Him, let s close our eyes and bow our heads while we pray. God, thank you for all the love you give us every day. Help us to trust you and turn to you every time we need help. In Jesus name, amen. I ve had so much fun hanging out with you all today, I hope to see you again next week! Elevate Slide Start hangtime music videos 11