TURN IT UP ELEMENTARY Week 3 t God s Promise to Abraham t CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Reggie Joiner CREATIVE TEAM Kristen Ivy Cara Martens Elizabeth Hansen Brandon O Dell Greg Payne Phil Pierce Dan Scott Colette Taylor Jon Williams CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Wyndi Beck Emily Meredith COPY EDITORS Elloa Davis Jennifer Davis Dana Wilkerson ILLUSTRATIONS & GRAPHIC DESIGN Mike Davis Dan Scott Brian Bascle Joe Goode Hudson Phillips TECHNICAL & WEB SUPPORT Hadley Brandt ORANGE SPECIALISTS Amy Grisham Joy Bowen Abbey Carr Becky Kizer Misty Phillips Stephanie Porter Susan Richards Courtney Templeton Small Group Leader Tips One consistent leader for the same 8-10 children all year. We suggest you start and end in small group so kids connect relationally with one leader and other similar-aged peers. If you have multiple small groups meeting in one room, try using circle area rugs to give each group their own spot. Offer as many of the activities as your time, space, and resources allow. USER AGREEMENT: Orange gladly grants permission to churches, schools, and other licensees to tailor the One Big Story 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. 2012 The rethink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. One Big Story and the One Big Story logo are trademarks of Orange and the rethink Group. Scripture marked NIrV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader s Version, Copyright 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture marked NIV is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. 1
TURN IT UP ELEMENTARY Week 3 t God s Promise to Abraham t 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. 2
TURN IT UP ELEMENTARY Week 3 t For Leaders Only t GOD VIEW: the connection between God s Big Story and us. God has been telling One Big Story throughout history. The story begins before time itself. God has always been. He created a Magnificent Paradise where everything was good. Adam and Eve had everything they could ask for, but they broke the one rule God placed in the garden. When they broke God s rule, the world became broken. In this Broken World, life was difficult and became worse with each generation that passed. The world became so broken that God decided to start over and sent a worldwide flood to destroy everything and everyone except Noah and his family. Noah s family was the hope for the future, but soon enough, the newly populated world still broken by the curse of sin decided once again to try and be like God. They created a tower to reach to the heavens. God decided to confuse their languages and make rebellion more difficult. The people scattered, creating tribes who wandered the earth. God didn t give up on these Lost Tribes. Out of everyone on earth, God chose a man named Abraham. Through Abraham and his family, God would bless all tribes and nations. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation who would have land and God s blessing upon God kept His promise to Abraham. He did have a large family, that over generations, became the nation of Israel. God protected them through slavery, traveling through the wilderness, and exile. And at each step of the way, through each time He rescued His people, each judge and king, no matter how often the Israelites rejected Him, God promised a Savior who would once and for all make a way for everyone to have a relationship with God. Thousands of years after Abraham on a quiet night in Bethlehem, The Promised One, Jesus, was born. He grew up and lived the perfect life that we couldn t live. Though Jesus never sinned, never did one thing wrong, He was arrested and sentenced to die on a cross. His death was the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, and three days later He rose again, defeating death itself and making it possible for us to live forever with God. Before Jesus went back to heaven to be with God, He left instructions to His followers to be the Shining Witnesses to spread the light of His love throughout the entire world. God s One Big Story is far from over. As the church, we continue to shine His light today. We wait for the time in the future, when we will live with God forever in the New City He is preparing for us. God s One Big Story is a story of His never-ending love for His people. This love drove Him to send His only Son for us. God keeps His promises to us forever. We can trust Him no matter what. Nothing can separate us from the love that He has for us. This series, let s think about how: (1) God created the world for us. (2) God continues to love us even when we broke His rule. (3) God kept His promise to us and sent His Son to rescue us from our sin. (4) God can be trusted no matter what. This week, we re discovering: 3
TURN IT UP ELEMENTARY Week 3 t Week 3 t HERE S A SNEAK PEEK OF WHAT YOU LL BE DOING IN KINDERGARTEN AND 1ST GRADE THIS WEEK: Small Group Activities to Focus the Energy (Choose one or both of these activities) Ideas for Early Arrivers Skyscrapers Interactive Large Group Experience to Engage the Heart Opener Worship Prayer and Bible story Worship Closer Small Group Activities to Make the Connection (Choose as many of these activities as you like.) Noodles Relay Promise Dig Verse Catch Sand Prayer DISMISSAL Prayer, share and reflect on today s lesson before leaving 4
t Week 3 t GETTING READY : FOCUS THE ENERGY (Choose one or both of these activities.) Early Arriver An offering container Skyscrapers Spaghetti noodles Marshmallows Option use plastic straws and masking tape) : MAKE THE CONNECTION (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 #3. Activity #1 is particularly good for children who need to move in order to stay engaged not just for boys.) Noodles Relay (Bible story review) 2 small plastic cups per child 2 plastic beach buckets filled with macaroni noodles per group 2 empty plastic beach buckets per group Promise Dig (Application Activity) Bibles Bucket of macaroni noodles used in previous activity God s Promise Activity Page cut into strips, 1 per group Verse Catch (memory verse review) Bible Beach ball, 1 per group Marker Sand Prayer (prayer) Bible A baggie of sand per group Sand Prayer Activity Page, 1 per child Week 3 Timeline Activity Page, 1 per child Pens The Lost Tribes stickers, 1 per child (Stickers are available for purchase from www.therethinkstore.org, or you can choose to make your own) 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. 5
t Week 3 t : FOCUS THE ENERGY (SMALL GROUPS, 10-15 MINUTES) Focus the energy on today s Bible story in a Small Group setting with an engaging discussion question and an interactive opening activity. 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 will learn more about God s big promise to Abraham. Pray they will see how much God loves His people, even when they make bad choices and get lost along the way. Pray kids will feel comfortable, have fun and share honestly with each other. 1. Early Arriver Idea (to be used for Plug In or anytime during Small Group) What You Need: An offering container As the kids arrive, engage them in conversation by discussing the following questions. How do your parents, teachers or family show that they love you? What kind of promises do they make to you? Before you go to bed or as you ride in the car, what kinds of things do you think about? Let kids put their offering in the container. 2. Skyscrapers What You Need: Spaghetti noodles and marshmallows (or straws and masking tape) What You Do: Divide the kids up into smaller groups of three or four. Give each small team a bunch of noodle or straws and some marshmallows or masking tape. Their goal is to try and make the tallest tower they can that stands on its own. They will have five to 10 minutes to work together. What You Say: You guys made some awesome towers! I loved the way you worked together to do it, too. Was it easy or hard to make these towers? (Take some responses.) [Transition] Let s go to Large Group and hear about some other people in God s big story that made a tower. Lead your group to the Large Group area. 6
t Week 3 t : MAKE THE CONNECTION (SMALL GROUPS, 25-30 MINUTES) Make the connection of how today s Bible story applies to real life experiences through interactive activities and discussion questions. 1. Noodles Relay Bible story review What You Need: 2 small plastic cups per child; 2 plastic beach buckets filled with macaroni noodles per group; 2 empty plastic beach buckets per group What You Do: a. Divide the group into two teams; you may even choose to do boys vs. girls or by age. (If you have a group too small to divide into teams, let them race against a timer instead of each other.) b. Place a beach bucket full of noodles near each team and an empty beach bucket about 10 feet from the starting line. Give the first person in line on each team a plastic cup. c. Ask the following Bible story review questions. The first team to raise their cup gets to answer the question. d. If they answer correctly, they have 15 seconds to walk their cup full of noodles to their team s beach bucket. e. If the first team answers the question incorrectly, the other team has the chance to steal. f. The team with the most noodles in their bucket after all of the questions are answered, wins. Bible story review questions: a. Who created the world and everything in it? God b. When Adam and Eve broke God s rule, what was ruined? Everything; Paradise was ruined; man s relationship with God was ruined c. Who did God keep safe from the flood? Noah, his family and the animals on the ark d. After the flood, who did God make a promise to? Abram/Abraham e. What did God tell Abraham to look at in the sky to show him how many children he would have? The stars f. What was Abraham and Sarah s firstborn son s name? Isaac g. What did God provide for Abraham to sacrifice instead of his son? A ram What You Say: Can you count the amount of noodles in the bucket? It s hard, isn t it? Did you know that God made a promise to Abraham? What was that promise? That he would have as many descendants (children/grandchildren, etc.) as the stars in the sky. In another part of the Bible, God also says Abraham s 7
t Week 3 t descendants would be like the grains of sand on the seashore. That s a lot of descendants! The coolest part of this story is that God made a promise to Abraham and He kept it. God always keeps His promises. 2. Promise Dig Application Activity What You Need: Bibles; bucket of macaroni noodles used in previous activity; God s Promise Activity Page cut into strips, 1 per group What You Do: a. Before the kids arrive, cut the God s Promise Activity Page into strips. After the first activity, stuff the strips of paper down into the bucket that is filled with noodles. b. Ask the kids to sit in a circle. Take turns having them dig out a Promise Paper. c. Have them hand the paper to you and read aloud for the group. d. As you read each promise aloud, talk about what each promise means. Keep it as short and simple as possible. God s Promise Verses John 3:16, NIV 1984 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Psalm 89:1-2, NIrV LORD, I will sing about your great love forever. For all time to come, I will tell how faithful you are. I will tell everyone that your love stands firm forever. I will tell them that you are always faithful, even in heaven itself. Psalm 136:26, NIV 1984 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever. 1 John 4:19, NIrV We love because he loved us first. Romans 8:38-39, NIV 1984 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:4-5, NIrV But God loves us deeply. He is full of mercy. So he gave us new life because of what Christ has done. He gave us life even when we were dead in sin. God s grace has saved you. 8
t Week 3 t What You Say: What promise do all these verses have in common? What does God promise to do? To LOVE us. We don t have to earn His love. We don t have to change anything about ourselves, or try to be perfect. God loves us because He IS love. I m so thankful that God s promises are true. And I hope you ALWAYS remember that even when you mess up or think you have to try to be good, that God loves you. Period. And His love will never change. 3. Verse Catch memory verse review (Matthew 5:16) What You Need: Bible; beach ball, 1 per group; marker What You Do: 1. Prior to the kid s arrival, write each word of the verse in a different place on the beach ball. Starting with one, also write a number with the corresponding word of the verse. 2. Look up Matthew 5:16. Read it out loud to your group twice. 3. Have the group form a circle. Pass the ball across the circle saying one word of the verse in order with each pass. (If they cannot read yet, ask them to look for the number in order and help them sound out the word or give them hints.) 4. If someone drops the ball or forgets the word, you have to start over! Make sure to laugh a lot and keep it light not too serious. What You Say: Remember last week we talked about the first part of the verse Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and how do we do that? By SHOWING others with how we treat them, by taking care of them and helping The second part of the verse says, and praise your Father in heaven. That means when we treat others the way we want to be treated, they will see that we love Jesus. It s not always easy, but it s the only way others will know that we trust and follow Jesus. 4. Sand Prayer prayer What You Need: Bible; a baggie of sand per group; Sand Prayer Activity Page, 1 per child; Week 3 Timeline Activity Page, 1 per child; pens, The Lost Tribes stickers, 1 per child Read Psalm 139:17-18, NIV 1984 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. What You Say: What does this verse say? Did you know that God actually 9
t Week 3 t THINKS about you? And that He thinks about you A LOT! So much, that the number of times He thinks about you would outnumber the grains of sand in this baggie! (Hold up the baggie with sand in it.) Have any of you ever been to the beach? Think about ALL the sand on that beach you visited. Do you think you could count each grain of sand? No way! Guess what? God thinks about you and you and you and you and me all of us THAT much. And He wants us to tell Him what we re thinking about too. I don t know what s going on in your life right now. Maybe you and your brother or sister don t get along very well. Maybe your friends are not being kind. But guess what? God knows. And He wants you to talk to Him about the things you re thinking about. Pretty amazing, right? And how do we talk to Him? Through prayer. (Have the kids draw a picture on their Sand Prayer Activity Page that shows what they ve been thinking about lately. Then, give them a minute to pray on their own. Ask them to silently tell God what they drew on their pages. Then close out the group in prayer.) What You Say: Before we leave Small Group, let s add the sticker to our Timeline Activity Page to remind us what this Age of the story is. Today, we talked about God s promise to Abraham, and Abraham lived during a time we call The Lost Tribes. There were a lot of people wandering around without God they were lost. But God always loved them and always keeps His promises. Remember, God will always love us and we can trust Him no matter what. (Allow the kids some time to put The Lost Tribes sticker on the Timeline Activity Page.) Great job today! See you next week! 10