God Is a Covenant Keeper (Part 1)

Sept. 11, 2016 God Is a Covenant Keeper (Part 1) DATE PONDER POINT Genesis 6 9 (Noah) THE BIG GOD STORY Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Psalm 90:2 REMEMBER VERSE The large group room will be divided into three sections. Please help kids find which section they should sit in according to their grade: 1st2nd, 3rd-4th & 5th-6th. The Big God Story (20 minutes) & Response Creates space for children to hear God s word and respond to the Holy Spirit in worship response. Tiffany Blum will be dismissing kids into small groups Toward the end of small group time, we will knock on the door/wall as your 3 minute warning and we will open your door or curtain when it is time to regroup in the large group meeting space. 5th & 6th Graders can go directly to snack shack after small group time, rather than regrouping in the large group space. Welcome and Worship (10 minutes) Begins class creating an inviting atmosphere for kids to feel welcome and engage kids in worship through singing and communion. Small Groups (20 minutes) Kids will build relationships with each other and their leaders, and respond to what they learned in the Big God Story. Bless & Dismiss (5 minutes) Bless kids to send them out with a sense of peace so they can be a blessing to others. SCHEDULE Large Group Small 3 Min Group Warn. Re-group/ Dismiss 5th-6th 1st Service (9:00) 9:00 9:30 9:57 10:00 2nd Service (10:15) 10:15 10:45 11:12 11:15 3rd Service (11:30) 11:30 12:00 12:27 12:30 1

GOAL: Worship & welcome is all about engaging kids and helping them enter into worship, letting them know that class has begun preparing their minds for what they are going to hear. WELCOME (Host): Stage Lights On, VIDEO LOOPS: Welcome Loop, 5 Min Countdown, Welcome Image We are so glad you are here today. (Give a brief welcome to the class) (Talk about how each section of the room is colored and talk about where we want kids to sit) Let s all stand and hear God s word and sing our praise to him... OPENING WORSHIP SONG (Worship Leader): Turn out main overhead lights, REMEMBER VERSE VIDEO VIDEO 1: You Are (9:00 & 10:15), Good News (10:15) VIDEO 2: Movin Me (9:00 & 10:15), Unshakable (10:15) (Kids may be seated) TIMELINE VIDEO (Storyteller) The Big God Story: Point out that what kids are about to hear is true and is recorded in the Bible. Open your Bible to the passage and leave it open and visible throughout The Big God Story. Invite kids to open their Bibles and follow along as you storytell. Children respond to what the Holy Spirit is teaching them as they reflect on the day s portion of The Big God Story. The Prayer of Release: This allows children and leaders to pause, be still, and ask God to quiet their hearts and minds. Before you pray, you might ask the kids to hold out their hands, palms up, in a spirit of releasing their worries and distractions in order to better receive what the Holy Spirit might have for them today. Then encourage the kids to quiet their voices, take a seat, and pray with you. 2

The Big God Story: Worship Response: Butcher paper (6 ) with outline of a rainbow drawn on it with colored markers. Construction paper (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple; 1 sheet of each color for every 5 6 kids), cut into six pieces per sheet. Pencils or pens Tape or glue Storyteller Script Last week we heard about the beginning of the best story ever The Big God Story. In the beginning, only God existed, and He created everything in the whole universe! What other things have beginnings? Interact with responses. The first people, Adam and Eve, lived in perfect relationship with God. Sadly, they disobeyed Him, and their sin separated them from God. But God made a plan to restore this broken relationship. He would make a covenant an extra-special promise. And God always keeps His covenants. God is a Covenant Keeper. Before we hear what happened, let s pray. Lead children in Prayer of Release. Hundreds of years after Adam and Eve, their descendants children, grandchildren, and so on lived on the earth. The Bible says that during this time, people became very, very evil. When God saw how wicked the people had become, He felt very sad! Let s watch this Video to see what God does next in His Big God Story. Tech Cue: Storytelling Video God s covenant with Noah is also a covenant with us! When we see a rainbow, we can remember that God is a Covenant Keeper. He always keeps His promises. And God kept His promise to send His Son Jesus to save us from our sins. Because of Jesus, we get to live with God forever. What a loving God! He always keeps His promises, He wants to be in relationship with us, and He invites us to be part of the big story He s still writing even today. Share a personal story of a time God showed you His love and faithfulness. Storyteller continues into Worship Response MUSIC: Spotify Response playlist - play very softly Rainbows are beautiful. They re even more beautiful if you know what they represent. Rainbows represent the fact that God made a covenant an extra-special promise and will keep it forever. God also promises that we get to be a part of His story! 3

Today we re going to worship God and tell Him we re grateful for the fact that His promises last forever. As you respond to Him, if you want, tell Him you re thankful that He keeps His promises and that He invites you to be a part of His story. Invite the kids to choose a piece of colored paper (or a few pieces, if you have a smaller group). Have them write their names on their papers. Then encourage them to respond to what the Holy Spirit may have spoken to them today by taping or gluing the papers to the butcher paper as they fill in the outline of the rainbow. IMAGE: Worship Response - If you are grateful that God s promises last forever take a piece of colored paper, write your name on it and help make a rainbow. IMAGE: It s time for small groups Turn main overhead lights on Dismiss for small groups Turn on ceiling speakers and play Spotify small group playlist 4

GOAL: Kids build relationships with each other and their leader as they respond to what they heard in the Big God Story. CONNECT: Spend a minute or two talking about rainbows with your group. When was the last time you saw a rainbow? Where did you see it? SUPPLIES: Bibles: Pass them out from your cabinet or let kids use their own. Ensure every couple of kids has a Bible they can see. Remember Verse Cards RELATE: Noah was a righteous man who lived in a time when the earth was full of violence and evil. Ask a volunteer to read Genesis 6:9. The earth was so evil God decided to send a flood to destroy all living things. But God chose to save Noah and his family by having him build a huge boat to protect them from the flood. Ask a volunteer to read Genesis 6:19 20. What did God want Noah to keep inside the ark? Allow answers. Yes! God wanted to save at least two of every animal inside the ark. Noah, his family, and all the animals lived in the ark during 40 days and 40 nights of rain and then about a year more until the water dried up enough to let them out. And when they came out of the ark, God made a covenant with Noah. What s a covenant? Allow answers. A covenant is an extra special promise, and God always keeps His promises. God promised to never again destroy all living things with a flood. Ask a volunteer to read Genesis 9:13 15. What was the sign that God gave Noah to remind him of His covenant? Allow answers. It was a rainbow. When we see a rainbow today, we re reminded that God keeps His covenants. Work on memorizing today s remember verse: Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Psalm 90:2 Pass out a remember verse card to each kid. If most of your class can read, let volunteers take turns leading the class in saying it. If you have nonreaders, assign children who can read to be their partners. Seat everyone in a circle. After you ve reviewed the verse together as a group several times, choose a child to start by jumping up and saying the first word, then sitting down quickly. The next child pops up to the say the next word, then sits down. Continue in this way around the circle. Go around the circle again, this time with each popper saying two or three words at a time. Challenge the kids to do it as quickly as possible with no mistakes. If you have time... Get children moving with this active version of the classic game I Spy. Be It first to model for the kids how to play. Start by saying, I spy with my watchful eye something (color of an object in the room). Have all the children move around the room, stand next to something that color, and touch it gently. 5

GOAL: Kids build relationships with each other and their leader as they respond to what they heard in the Big God Story. Reflect: God Is a Covenant Keeper God is a Covenant Keeper. He always keeps His promises, and we can trust Him. The rainbow reminds us that God always keeps His covenants and loves us very much. Tell a story of a time you saw a rainbow. Then choose 3-4 of the following questions and encourage the kids to look up the Scripture references in their Bibles. Questions for Younger Kids After he left the ark, how did Noah respond to God? Genesis 8:20 What was the sign of the covenant that God gave Noah? Genesis 9:12 13 With whom did God make His covenant? Genesis 9:16 How do you think you will respond the next time you see a rainbow? Questions for Older Kids Why did God cause the flood? Genesis 6:11 12 Why did God save Noah and his family? Genesis 6:9 What is a covenant? Why are covenants important in the Bible? How does God feel when people His very creation disobey Him? Genesis 6:5 6 How does that make you feel? After he left the ark, how did Noah respond to God? Genesis 8:20 How do you want to respond to God today? Create: Fruit Loop Rainbow or Mosaic SUPPLIES Fruity O-shaped cereal Paper Plates RELATE God put a rainbow in the sky as a sign of His covenant with Noah. When we see those colors, we can remember that God always keeps His promises. Today we re going to make a colorful mosaic or rainbow out of yummy cereal. As you work, we are going to take turns talking about God s promises to us and what you know to be true about Him. He is good and trustworthy! Encourage children to work together or individually to create a colorful mosaic on their paper plate. They can make a rainbow if they want, but leave this response time open-ended, allowing the kids to respond to whatever God may have been speaking to them today. Let kids eat it or throw it at the end of small group time. Close in prayer. 6

GOAL: Bless kids to send them out with a sense of peace so they can be a blessing to others. CLOSING REMARKS/ANNOUNCEMENTS (Host): Wall Speakers On VIDEO LOOP: Thanks, Glad you were here. BLESSING (HOST): Explain to your kids that for the final portion of today s blessing, you will read a statement and they will respond by saying, Holy and awesome is His name (from Psalm 111:9). Leader: God spoke the world into being and breathed life into man and woman. Children: Holy and awesome is His name. Leader: God placed a rainbow in the sky as a sign of His covenant with Noah and with all living creatures, including you and me. Children: Holy and awesome is His name. Leader: God fulfilled His promise to mankind. He sent His own Son Jesus to earth to die so we could be in relationship with Him. Children: Holy and awesome is His name. Leader: Nothing can separate us from God s love, and He invites us to be a part of His story today! Children: Holy and awesome is His name. May you know and experience God as Covenant Keeper this week. May you see God s faithfulness in your life. CLOSING WORSHIP SONG (Worship Leader): VIDEO 3: Our God (9:00 & 11:30), Glory To God (10:15) DISMISSAL (HOST): 7

The summer after college, I worked on a palm tree farm in Kauai. While I worked on that farm, God began to uproot weeds of sin that had long been choking my spirit, my soul, and my life. The gracious thing about this experience was that I wasn t even fully aware of the extent to which I needed God to weed my soul. At the time, I only knew that this experience felt like a deluge of pain and grief. Now I know it was God s gracious act of saving me from myself as He realigned my relationship with Him. In the account of Noah and the flood, God was uprooting the pandemic of evil and violence that had infected mankind. God did this in order to redeem his people. His flood was a terrifying display of His power and His sovereignty. It was also a gracious display of His love and His desire to correct, uproot, and heal a situation that had gone terribly wrong. God literally drowned the evil and sin that had permeated the world so deeply in order to bring redemption to the people He had created to bring them back into right relationship with Him. In doing this, God made an everlasting covenant that He will always keep a covenant wholly based on His loving mercy. Tori Funkhouser ROCKHARBOR Church The word covenant as used in the Bible refers to a promise, agreement, or contract. There are four major covenants in Scripture: Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, and the new covenant. These are sometimes referred to as the redemptive covenants because, in these covenants, God defines His relationship with mankind and progressively reveals more about the structure and scope of His plan of redemption. The Noahic covenant introduces the idea that God is entering into a contractual relationship with mankind. It somewhat previews the four major redemptive covenants to come. In the Noahic covenant, God establishes a covenant relationship with mankind in the context of sin and His judgment on it. God had created the earth and blessed it, but human rebellion had jeopardized that blessing to the point that God nearly wiped out the entire planet. Here we see God promising that even though man would continue to sin, He would never destroy them completely. And here we see the purpose of God in establishing covenants with man. God s holy nature requires punishment for sin. Man s fallen nature ensures that he will continually fall into sin therefore, man would always be in danger of the wrath of God falling upon him. So God establishes covenants with man, promising him initially that He would not destroy the earth in the same way again and then, through a series of covenants known as the redemptive covenants, promising to provide the ultimate way of salvation from that ever-present sin. 8

This portion of The Big God Story invokes the terror and awe of a sovereign and all-powerful God. However, it also invokes gratitude and love for a God who kept (and continues to keep) a covenant He made with sinful people a God who offers us the chance for redemption even when we don t deserve it! God desires relationship with us. He loves people (who hurt Him), entrusted Noah with the responsibility of repopulating the earth, and made a lasting covenant which He remembers forever. How does it make you feel to know you serve a God who is this gracious, powerful, and loving? As you lead kids through this awesome portion of The Big God Story, pray they will understand how deep and wide God s love is. Pray that they hear, deep in their hearts, that God s covenant with Noah also applies to them. Pray they feel thankful to be a part of The Big God Story. 9