PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME Chief Executive Officer Reggie Joiner Creative Team Kristen Ivy Mike Clear Molly Boylan Elloa Davis Elizabeth Hansen Jessica McKee Brandon O Dell Greg Payne Phil Pierce Dan Scott Jon Williams Contributing Writers Jodi Blackwell Holly Crawshaw Becky Jarrett Mike Tiemann John Tillman Editors Molly Boylan Elloa Davis Dana Wilkerson Illustrations & Graphic Design Brian Bascle Mike Davis Joe Goode Technical & Web Support Hadley Brandt Orange Specialists Amy Grisham Joy Bowen Abbey Carr Amy Fenton Leslie Galema Misty Phillips Stephanie Porter Courtney Templeton Statement of Faith ABOUT GOD God is the one and only true God, yet He exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is the Creator, so everything belongs to Him and is under His control. God is holy, so He is righteous, majestic, and loving. God is all knowing and purposeful, so He s at work to bring about His will. No person, thing, or idea compares to God. ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES God reveals Himself to us through the Bible, and it is 100% accurate, reliable, and authoritative. ABOUT PEOPLE People are made in God s image and for His pleasure. But everybody falls short of God s intention, or ideal, for people. In other words, everyone has sinned. As a result, we are all separated from Him, even though He wants an intimate relationship with each of us. ABOUT SALVATION That s why Jesus God s Son came and lived on this earth, died, and rose again. God offers His free gift of salvation to all who believe in Jesus and accept Him as Savior the only way to be forgiven and reconciled to God. Anyone who accepts this gift is adopted as a son or daughter into God s family and will live with Him forever in heaven. User Agreement Orange gladly grants permission to churches, schools, and other licensees to tailor 252 Basics materials to fit their unique leadership requirements, locale and format preferences, and physical environment needs. However, if you wish to edit the content substantively, including Bible stories, learning activities, scripts, and any other content in which biblical principles and concepts are presented, you are obligated to do so within the doctrinal guidelines we ve expressed in our Statement of Faith. These resources are intended to be downloaded and printed for use by the subscribing entity only and may not be electronically transferred to or duplicated by other non-subscribing entities. Any unauthorized reproduction of this material or incorporation into a new work is a direct violation of US copyright laws. 2015 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. 252 Basics and the 252 Basics logo are trademarks of Orange and the rethink Group. Scripture marked NIrV is taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL READER S VERSION. Copyright 1996, 1998, 2014 Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of Biblica. Scripture marked NIV is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
SOCIAL PRELUDE STORY WORSHIP HOME BIBLE STORY Select Mute (Reckless words) Proverbs 21:23 BOTTOM LINE SELECT your words carefully. MEMORY VERSE A person without self-control is like a city whose walls are broken through. Proverbs 25:28, NIrV LIFE APP 15 MINUTES 25 MINUTES 10 MINUTES 25 MINUTES PRELUDE: Setting the tone for the experience For Leaders Only Create the Environment SOCIAL: Providing time for fun interaction Ideas for Early Arrivers Word Scramble Slam STORY: Communicating God s truth in engaging ways Opener Worship Bible Story Prayer Closer WORSHIP: Inviting people to respond to God Let It Be Known from Movin Me Every Move I Make from Walk This Way This Is Amazing Grace from Movin Me : Creating a safe place to connect Giant Words Fighting Words Filtered Words Prayer HOME: Prompting action beyond the experience GodTime Parent Cue Self-control choosing to do what you should do, not what you want to do. BASIC TRUTH I need to make the wise choice. PAGE 2
PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME BIBLE STORY Select Mute (Reckless words) Proverbs 21:23 BOTTOM LINE SELECT your words carefully. MEMORY VERSE A person without self-control is like a city whose walls are broken through. Proverbs 25:28, NIrV LIFE APP Self-control choosing to do what you should do, not what you want to do. BASIC TRUTH I need to make the wise choice. GETTING READY SOCIAL: PROVIDING TIME FOR FUN INTERACTION (Choose one or both of these activities.) Early Arriver An offering container Word Scramble Slam A few sets of the Scrabble Slam game OR print the Word Scramble Slam Cards Activity Pages on colored cardstock and cut apart; 1 set for every 4 kids : CREATING A SAFE PLACE TO CONNECT (Choose as many of these activities as you like.) * If you don t have time to do all these activities, be sure to do activity #2. 1. Giant Words (application activity / review the Bible story) Plain white shower curtain liner Duct tape Permanent markers Poster board or easel pad and markers. Spread the shower curtain out and tape it on all sides. Using the markers, make a giant QWERTY keyboard on the shower curtain and let it dry. Stick the poster board/easel at the top of the keyboard or on the wall near the Small Group space. 5/6 Challenge: Sticky notes, preferably the conversation bubble shaped ones Pens Print the Texts From Yesterday Activity Page; cut the cards apart and cover the From section of each card with a piece of sticky note * 2. Fighting Words (application activity) Shower curtain liner (from previous activity) Silly string; 1 can for each kid Masking or duct tape Optional alternate supplies: one tube of toothpaste for each two kids, spoons, and a plastic tub PAGE 3
PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME 3. Filtered Words (memory verse activity) Shower curtain liner (from previous activities) A container of water with sand at the bottom Smaller empty plastic container Ladles/scoops As many of these items as possible: o Colander o Pasta strainer o Fine mesh strainer o Coffee filters o Cheesecloth An empty pitcher Prayer A spinner from a board game (or you can use the spinner provided in the free Lead Small smartphone app) Additional Resources: Make copies on cardstock of this week s GodTime and Parent Cue cards. Tell parents about our additional family resources: Studio252.tv, CUE Box, and the Parent Cue app. To find out more about these great resources, go to http://www.studio252.tv/leaders. PAGE 4
PRELUDE STORY WORSHIP HOME SOCIAL SOCIAL: PROVIDING TIME FOR FUN INTERACTION Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up. Get ready to experience today s story. Before kids arrive, pray for each regular attendee by name. Pray for those who might visit your group for the first time. Pray that kids would understand how powerful their words are, for both good and bad. Ask God to give them the self-control to select their words carefully and think before they speak. 1. EARLY ARRIVER IDEA WHAT YOU NEED: Offering container Greet kids as they arrive and encourage them to place their offerings in the container. After you ve caught up about their week, play a quick game of word association. Say various words (doll, hot, mustard, school, Minecraft, church, purple, house, etc.) and let them all shout the first thing that comes to their mind. Mention how powerful words are and how they re connected to a lot of our thoughts and feelings. 2. WORD SCRAMBLE SLAM WHAT YOU NEED: A few sets of the Scrabble Slam game or Word Scramble Slam Cards Activity Page; 1 set for every 4 kids Give each kid a pile of cards, keeping four cards for yourself that form a four-letter word. Put your cards down to form the word in the middle of your space. Kids then scramble to place their cards on top to form new words, one letter change at a time (i.e. M-E-A-T, S-E-A-T, S-E- A-M, T-E-A-M) When no one can improve the word, start over again with a new word. You can play two or three words at a time if your group is large. Just make sure you have enough cards. The first kid to play all of his cards wins. Sometimes what we start to say is not what we end up with. [Transition] Let s go to Large Group to hear about how important using the right words can be! Lead your group to the Large Group area. PAGE 5
PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME : CREATING A SAFE PLACE TO CONNECT Create a safe place to connect and learn how the Bible story applies to real life experiences, through interactive activities and discussion questions. 1. GIANT WORDS (application activity / review the Bible story) WHAT YOU NEED: Prepared keyboard shower curtain, poster board or easel pad, markers Gather the kids in a line at the bottom of the keyboard and pick one to be the Writer at the poster board/easel and another to be the Typist. When you whisper a word into the Typist s ear, she has to hop on each letter of the word in order on the keyboard. The Writer has to watch and write down each letter to guess the word. The Writer must let the Typist finish the word before guessing. No talking is allowed. Once the Writer guesses correctly (the Typist can re-do the word if necessary), he goes to the back of the line and the Typist becomes the new Writer. Play until everyone has played both roles. Some word suggestions: bubble, monkey, plunger, awesome, question, mountains, fluffier, amazing, bunches, wastepaper, dinosaur, plastic, quibble, hopefully, zoologist, maximum. Be prepared to help with spelling. That was some great work! You had to really think about which letters were in your word when you were the Typist. And you had to pay close attention to the Typist when you were the Writer. It took self-control not to just fling yourself at the keyboard, and it took self-control to let the typist finish the whole word. When you re using words with other people, whether you re talking in person or messaging online or texting, you must show self-control. You can t just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind, good or bad, and you can t just jump in and talk over someone. You really have to [Bottom Line] SELECT your words carefully. 5/6 Challenge: WHAT YOU NEED: Sticky notes, pens, Texts From Yesterday Activity Page Put the Texts from Yesterday cards in the center of your group, making sure parts that show who the texts are from are covered up. Let kids write a text response on their sticky notes to each of the situations on the cards, and then reveal the author of the texts. How did it change your responses when you saw whom the texts were from? Are there times when you are more careful about your words than others? Often we watch our words around either people who have authority over us like parents and teachers, who can enforce consequences for bad choices or people whom we want to like us our friends, the cool kids at school, etc. But why would it be important to watch our words around other people, like strangers or little kids or our siblings? (Because we have influence over younger kids who are watching us and look up to us. Because we follow Jesus and want our actions/words to reflect His character.) Knowing how to [Bottom Line] SELECT your words carefully is an important skill. You never know how much your words impact others. PAGE 6
PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME * 2. FIGHTING WORDS (application activity) WHAT YOU NEED: Shower curtain liner (from previous activity), silly string, masking or duct tape Optional: Toothpaste, spoons, plastic tub Divide the group into two teams and tape a line down the center of the shower curtain keyboard, which is now your battlefield. Give each kid a can of silly string and let them have a fight, staying on the battlefield on their side of the line. When the battle winds down, announce that the real winner is going to be determined by the team that can get the biggest amount of silly string back into their cans. (Keep an eye on safety here; don t let kids puncture the cans or put them in their mouths.) Optional: If you need a less messy game, feel free to split the group into pairs, give them toothpaste and spoons in a tub, and play this game on a smaller scale. Encourage the kids to squeeze out the paste the fastest, but then announce that the winner is the one with the most paste put back into the tube. It was pretty fun getting all that stuff out, but pretty much impossible to put it back in. In the same way, it s really hard to take back your words once you ve said them even when you re sorry about hurting someone. Maybe you ve landed yourself in trouble because you ve told a lie or made something up, and you know that words can have a permanent impact. [Make It Personal] (Share an age- appropriate story about when you said something you regretted and tried to take it back. Maybe as a teenager you made fun of something your parents did in front of your friends and it hurt your parents feelings. Maybe you insulted a friend because of a bad mood. Maybe you said you liked something that wasn t wise just to seem cool and then had to live with the consequences.) Because what you say can t be unsaid, you need to [Bottom Line] SELECT your words carefully. 5/6 Challenge: Give the kids a few tongue twisters to say: toy boat, toy boat, toy boat or she sells seashells down by the seashore or unique New York, unique New York or the cat catchers can t catch caught cats. Those are tricky because what our minds want to say is different than what our tongues want to say! We think we can just decide to say these sentences perfectly, but that s not what happens; the muscle memory in our tongues takes over and something totally different comes out! That happens a lot when we re talking, too. We plan to say one thing but we say another word out of habit. It s why you have to practice using wise words in order to [Bottom Line] SELECT your words carefully. 3. FILTERED WORDS (memory verse activity) WHAT YOU NEED: Shower curtain liner (from previous activities), container of water with sand at the bottom; a smaller empty container; ladles/scoops; an empty pitcher; colander, pasta strainer, fine mesh strainer, coffee filters, and/or cheesecloth PAGE 7
PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME Set up a line of items over your shower curtain liner (now a drop cloth): the container with sand at the bottom, the empty container, then the colander, the fine mesh strainer, the cheesecloth, the coffee filter, and lastly, the pitcher. (If you have different items, make sure the strainer-type items are in line from biggest holes to smallest holes.) Let kids work together to scoop water from the muddy container and pour it through the filters one at a time from largest to finest until it s clear enough to put into the pitcher. Once the water is clear, say this month s memory verse together. In this verse, it talks about strong city walls, but there are other kinds of walls too, like the walls in these filters. They wouldn t let everything through to the bottom, so little by little the water got cleaner. Self-control is like a filter for your words; it provides walls so that your words come out just the way you want them, without a lot of other stuff like anger or bitterness or selfishness mixed in. Putting your thoughts through a self-control filter and only letting the good stuff go through is a great way to [Bottom Line] SELECT your words carefully. If you lead mostly older kids, consider asking these discussion questions: What kind of filters should our words go through? Do we have to talk like we re from another century in order to show self-control? How do you decide what to say to your friends or your family or your principal or your coach or your little sister? Is your filter tighter for someone younger or older? How do you select your words when you re angry or tired or frustrated? Does your filter get a little wider then? Read Ephesians 4:29 together. Ask the group what kind of filter that is. What kind of words are helpful and build others up? What about the opposite (not helpful, tear-down words)? What s different about how people may react to helpful words versus hurtful words? PRAY AND DISMISS WHAT YOU NEED: Spinner from a board game or Lead Small app Gather the group into a circle and place the spinner in the middle. As you pray, spin the spinner at the places indicated. The person the spinner lands on gets to SELECT and contribute a word to the prayer. Encourage a reverent environment. This isn t silly or time to use all the conjugations of to vomit. Tell them this is an opportunity to [Bottom Line] SELECT your words carefully. Dear God, thank You for giving us words to use to communicate with others words that we can tell people when we are (spin, select word, insert word child says), or when we need (spin, select word, insert word). Please help us when we feel (spin, select word, insert word), or (spin, select word, insert word), or when others act (spin, select word, insert word). I know You ll give us the power to SELECT our words carefully. PAGE 8
PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME Give each child a GodTime card. Pass out Parent Cue cards as adults arrive to pick up and demonstrate all the ways the shower curtain keyboard helped us learn to [Bottom Line] SELECT your words carefully. PAGE 9