rd 3 5 October 26-27, 2013 Acts 16:16-40 (Pg.1220-1221 NIV Adv. Bible) Connect Time (15 minutes): Five minutes after the service begins, split kids into groups and begin their activity. Large Group (30 minutes): Model what it looks like to be engaged in large group. And don t be afraid to redirect kids who aren t! th Kingdom Come Journey Week 3: OBEY Obeying the King Brings Freedom As kids enter, ask them if they listened to their Receive CD and how they felt loved by God this week. Share your experience listening to the Receive CD. Oh, and if kids didn t get a CD, tell them to have their parents ask for one at the Crossroads main Info Desk. Small Group (15 minutes): Keep kids in small groups until parents arrive. If you all have extra time at the end, you can review the video and songs together. As kids leave, remind them to do the challenge on their challenge cards! Encourage them to share their plans with a family member or friend. Part of being part of God s Kingdom is submitting to the King s authority. Today, we re talking about how obedience actually brings freedom.
GOAL: Connect Time is all about engaging kids in an activity that allows them to connect with each other right away while simultaneously piquing their curiosity for Large Group and preparing their minds for what they re going to hear. WHO S YOUR BOSS? There are large pieces of paper (shaped like bodies). Set out the appropriate number (e.g. one body per 8-10 kids, even if one person is leading the whole group). Kids should each take a marker On the bodies, kids should brainstorm authority figures in their lives by writing (1) names of people who they have to obey and (2) rules they have to obey. As kids write, prompt them to think of different types of rules: What do they obey at home? School? The pool? Music lessons? Soccer practice? Etc. If kids are out of ideas, you can have them walk around and look at other groups rules/bosses. If you need to add to the activity, here are some steps to follow: o Ask kids to as a group circle rules that are really hard to follow o Ask kids to as a group draw squares around rules that are easy to follow o Ask kids to as a group talk about WHY we have certain rules. Dialogue with them to help facilitate constructive conversation. Think about how to guide them to this truth: obedience brings freedom. This is also a time for you to connect with kids*: While kids do the activity, ask them their names, talk to them about their week, or even remind them of the expectations you have for Large Group behavior: (1) Be kind, (2) Listen when somebody speaks, (3) Follow the leader s instructions. *Here are some sample connect questions: 1. What was the best part of your week? 2. What was the worst part of your week? 3. Who brought you to Kids Club today? 4. What s your favorite Activity? Movie? Superhero?
Goal: Kids will (1) recognize that Jesus is the authority for those who follow him, (2) understand that obedience brings freedom, and (3) identify specific ways they can be obedient in their own lives Why? When we accept the love of the Father (Week 2), we also submit to his authority as King! Tip: Some kids may not recognize Jesus as their authority. That s OK. Focus on how he IS the authority in God s Kingdom and the king of everybody who wants to be part of it! REACT / DIG DEEPER (CHOOSE the questions that will best fit your group! You probably will not have time for all of them.) What s the one thing we need to do to obey Jesus? (follow him) Do you guys think we need to obey Jesus? Is he really our authority or our boss? Why or why not? How did Paul and Silas obey Jesus? (Let kids list different things) How did obeying Jesus lead to freedom and joy for them? How do you think it can lead to freedom for you? (Or how has it in the past? Ask kids to consider a specific time they obeyed.) Why do you think people obey Jesus in God s perfect kingdom? What s the difference between following rules and following Jesus? Discuss. Does one of those seem easier? Why or why not? ACTIVITY: FOLLOW JESUS AROUND YOUR WORLD Split Group into 5 smaller groups. Give a different piece of cardstock. Choose one person to write. They have 2-4 minutes to brainstorm different ways kids can follow Jesus at the place on their sheet of paper. The group with the longest list of good examples wins. Here are the scenes: In class at school At home with your family With a few friends at your friend s house At your soccer or basketball game During large group here at Kids Club/church (Continued on the following page)
Ask groups to share their three best examples. Discuss with kids. Ask if there s one anybody wants to try. Then distribute EXPERIMENT CARDS: ACTIVITY: EXPERIMENT CARDS Give each kid an experiment card. On the back, kids are asked how God wants them to be obedient at a specific place this week. Kids can share ideas they have or borrow ideas from the small group activity. If they didn t get a card they want, they re free to trade. The card also has Matthew 6:9-10 written on it: Our Father in heaven, help us to honor your name. Come and set up your kingdom, so that everyone on earth will obey you, as you are obeyed in heaven. Encourage kids to memorize that verse and pray for more of God s Kingdom on earth. Then remind them that they are a part of God s Kingdom when they obey! *Pray together, asking Jesus to help us follow him this week, even when it s hard. Extra time? Ask kids to make up motions to remember Matthew 6:9-10. Or, play Simon Says to remember that obedience can be fun! Line the kids up in a row. Stand a few feet away, facing them. Explain that you will give them a command. Before some commands, you will say, Simon Says. ( Simon says take two steps forward! ) If Simon says it, the kids should do it. If Simon doesn t say it ( Jump backwards once! ), the kids should stand still.
This week contrasts rules with Jesus one simple command: Follow me. The idea is that large group highlights the simplicity of obedience to Christ. In small group, we ll talk about how it looks practically. During the game that highlights the simplicity of Jesus command, try to really get the kids up and moving. Use your own presentation style to make it fun. Hi everybody! Welcome to Kids Club. I m so glad to see you. Remember, we re talking about God s Kingdom. We started by talking about how God promised a perfect king and how Jesus fulfilled that promise! The King loves us SO much. And last week, we just enjoyed his love. This week, we re talking how WE should respond to the King s love. When we are loved by a perfect king, we want to obey him. Before you guys sat down here, you made lists of people and rules you have to obey. Who are some people who you have to obey? (Let kids share.) Yeah, and even I have to obey people! (*List kid-friendly personal examples.) Do you guys ever feel like it s hard to obey rules? (Let kids say: yes!) Yeah, it is. INTRO: RULES And we all have different areas where we have to obey different rules. Maybe your parents set the rules for your house. Maybe your teacher sets the rules for the classroom. Maybe your coach sets the rules for your soccer team. And maybe at your friend s house, you have to obey rules that their parents set. Gets confusing, doesn t it? Let s look at an example of a dad setting rules for three girls he adopted. As you watch, see if you think his rules would be hard to obey. Video: Despicable Me / Ground Rules OK, so would those be hard to obey? Why? (Let kids respond.) Yes, Gru gives rules to keep the girls out of his way. The rules don t seem very nice, do they? OBEDIENCE BRINGS FREEDOM This is the exact opposite of why Jesus wants us to obey. He doesn t give us a bunch of rules to keep us quiet and out of his way. He wants us to obey because it brings us close to him. He wants us to enjoy obedience. In fact, this week, we are learning the next part to the Lord s Prayer. It goes like this:
SLIDE: Matthew 6:9-10: Our Father in heaven, help us to honor your name. Come and set up your kingdom, so that everyone on earth will obey you, as you are obeyed in heaven. Woah! So WHERE do people obey God? (Let kids say: heaven.) Yes, in heaven. That s God s Kingdom, where everything is perfect and there s only love no meanness or rudeness or death or anything bad. Sometimes rules can feel strict to us. But did you guys know that when we obey, we are actually more FREE? That means we feel more joyful and peaceful. I mean, think about this: what might happen if cars didn t obey the rule to stop at a red light? (Let kids respond.) That s right! They d crash. When people obey traffic laws, we re free to drive wherever we need to go safely. And I ve got another example. You guys are in a competition: this half of the room vs. this half of the room. (Pretend to divide room.) First side gets a prize. Ready, set, go! (Give kids a second to let them react.) Wait, you guys don t know what to do, do you? Well, then I guess I can t tell who wins. Games need rules so we know how to play, right? Well, when we obey Jesus, it actually makes us free! That s because he makes it really EASY for us and even the things he asks us to do are out of love. HOW JESUS MAKES OBEYING EASY (ONE COMMAND) Let s play a little game to see how this works. Everybody, stand up! (Let kids stand.) OK, we re going to play a game. Here are the rules (they should be confusing). Rule #1: Listen to what I say. Rule #2: You can t do something unless I say to do it. If you do, you re out. Rule #3: You have to do the exact thing that I ask you to do. If you don t do it you re out. I might tell you to do some really crazy stuff. So Rule #4: Be prepared to do some crazy stuff. You guys ready? Hold on a second Does anybody feel confused? (Let kids respond.) Sometimes a long list of rules is confusing. What if I just said, We re playing Simon Says. Do what I do. You follow me, you win! Raise your hand if you think that s easier. (Let kids respond.) Yeah, me too! And the point is, Jesus makes it easy for us to obey. Did you know he gives us ONE rule? Does anybody know what that is? (Let kids guess.) It s Follow me. (Play a quick round of Simon Says if your group seems engaged. Otherwise, they can sit.) Sure, following Jesus means we obey certain rules sometimes because Jesus did! And we obey our parents or people who are in charge of us because Jesus obeyed his parents! And we definitely obey what God says in the Bible because Jesus obeyed what God said! But really, we re just following our king! PAUL AND SILAS OBEYED AND FOUND FREEDOM Let s look at a story in the Bible where obeying Jesus actually made two men more FREE. Their names are Paul and Silas. They both loved to serve or obey Jesus. As we watch, you ll see that things didn t go perfectly for Paul and Silas. But see if you can find a time that Paul and Silas were joyful or free when they could have been scared.
Video: God s Story / Paul and Silas So how did Paul and Silas obey or act like Jesus? (Let kids share.) And how did following Jesus actually make them free? (Let kids respond. They may say that Paul and Silas eventually were let out of jail but dig a little deeper and help them see their rejoicing as freedom. Also, you can talk about how they were free to tell the jail guard s family about Jesus. This can be a tough concept though, so if you re not getting the level of depth you d like, that s OK. We ll talk about it more in small group.) Yes, so obeying Jesus didn t mean everything always worked out perfectly for Paul and Silas, because this is an imperfect world where not everybody wants to be a part of God s kingdom. But it DID mean that they were joyful and they were free to love and praise Jesus. And because they obeyed, other people got to know Jesus too! WORSHIP God tells us all that obedience actually leads to freedom. We re going to talk about that more in small group. For now, let s worship God and sing about following Jesus. Music Video: Come With Me Song: Because You Love Me (hand motions) PRAY Ask somebody to come and thank Jesus that we can follow him.
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1. Per small group: cut-out in the shape of a human body (something like this: http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/co uple-cardboard-cutout-silhouette4449197.jpg; please include male 1. Per kid: 1 Challenge card (There are three options; have a variety for each group) 2.*Per group: 5-page doc printed in color on cardstock and female and use colors that aren t human like green, blue, purple, etc.) 2. Markers Markers *Partner churches, we put tiny images on each page and do not own the rights to those images. You can simply label the top of 5 different sheets of paper according to the categories listed in small group. NIV Adv. Bible (Pg.1220-1221) 1. Video: Despicable Me clip : Ground Rules (can be purchased here: http://www.wingclips.com/movieclips/despicable-me/ground-rules) 2. SLIDE: Matthew 6:9-10: Our Father in heaven, help us to honor your name. Come Tell me about how we can obey Jesus. How does obedience make us more free? Printed separately and set up your kingdom, so that everyone on earth will obey you, as you are obeyed in heaven. 3. Video: God s Story / Paul and Silas 4. Music Video: Come With Me (musicians music video) 5. Song: Because you Love Me (hand motions)