Jan. 21, 2018 DATE God Rescues PONDER POINT Daniel 3 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego THE BIG GOD STORY Jesus answered, It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. REMEMBER VERSE Luke 4:8 Welcome and Worship (15 minutes) Begins class creating an inviting atmosphere for kids to feel welcome and engage kids in worship through singing and communion. The Big God Story (18 minutes) Creates space for children to hear God s word and prepare respond to the Holy Spirit in small groups 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 as well as how to apply it to their lives Bless & Dismiss (4 minutes) Bless kids to send them out with a sense of peace so they can be a blessing to others. The large group room will be divided into three sections. Please help kids find which section they should sit in according to their grade: 1st- 2nd, 3rd-4th & 5th-6th. Toward the end of small group time, A/V Tech will play the 2 minute warning sound followed by a song. During or immediately following the song please regroup in the large group meeting space (not before). 5th & 6th graders can go directly to Snack Shack after small group time, rather than regrouping in the large group space. Host Administrative To Do s: Make sure no group is too large Make sure each group has enough supplies Close curtains and divider wall for small groups at 9:00 and 10:15 (and re-open after 9:00) Cue the tech when to play the 2 minute warning with song. Call names for dismissal after blessing SCHEDULE Large Group Small Group 2 Min Warn. Regroup/ Dismiss 5th-6th 1st Service (9:00) 9:00 9:33 9:53 10:00 2nd Service (10:15) 10:15 10:48 11:08 11:15 3rd Service (11:30) 11:30 12:03 12:23 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. Welcome the kids in your own words and finish by saying, 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 (Host should pass out connect question cards during worship: one to each SG leader) WORSHIP VIDEO 1: Jump Up WORSHIP VIDEO 2: Because of Your Love (Direct kids to get with their groups and circle up with their small group leader before sitting down) CONNECT QUESTIONS (Host): 4 MINUTE COUNTDOWN VIDEO Have you ever been rescued or seen someone rescued from danger? What was that like? Let s say that you now live in a new country with laws that go against God s law. You will be punished if you do not follow that law, what do you think you would do? Do you think God still rescues people today? What has God recued you from? 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: There is a Storytelling Video today! Storyteller Script In The Big God Story today, we ll hear about how God rescued three of His servants from danger. Before we discover more, let s ask God to teach us today. Lead kids in a Prayer of Release to pause, be still, and ask the Holy Spirit to quiet their hearts and minds. We have a story telling video for you today...so let s give our attention to the screens. Tech: Cue Storytelling Video God still rescues today. When we trust in His Son, Jesus, God rescues us from the punishment of death that we all should face because of our sin. And even though we might not be thrown into a fire like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we still go through times when we need God to rescue us. Sometimes God doesn t take away the hard things in our lives, but we can still trust Him and know that He loves us. We can pray, as these three men did, that even if God doesn t take away these hard things, we can still trust Him and follow Him. He comforts His people. He is always with us. Tell a personal story of a time you saw God rescue you or a time God didn t take away a hard situation but you still chose to trust and follow Him. Tell the kids we are going to close the Big God Story by worshipping him. Tell kids during worship they can give offering or take communion if they have made Jesus their savior and been baptized. WORSHIP VIDEO 3:Beautiful Name Fade out song slowly at Worship Leader s prompting. (As the song comes to a close Worship Leader tells groups to head to their small group space. Say something like, Let s continue responding to what God is teaching us as we dismiss to our small groups. Please follow your small group leader at this time. ) IMAGE: It s time for small groups Turn main overhead lights on Dismiss for small groups refer to map for small group locations ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the end of small groups... Tech cue: 2 minute warning with exit song, using ceiling speakers, at the host s prompting Turn speakers back to wall speakers for blessing, closing song and dismissal. 3
GOAL: Kids build relationships with each other and their leader as they respond to what they heard in the Big God Story. Rescue Knots SUPPLIES A piece of Rope (one per child) White tags with strings (one per child) Pens ENGAGE Have kids sit in a circle; you say the following : When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fiery furnace, only the ropes that had tied their hands had been burnt! God rescued His servants from death. Because God is mighty to save, we can bring our fears, worries, or hard situations to Him in prayer. We are going to take a few moments and take turns going around the circle. I want each one of you to tell me a fear or worry that you have right now in your life. Allow each child to share. Because God is mighty to save, we can bring our fears, worries, or hard situations to Him in prayer. Though God does not always or quickly take away the hard things in our lives, He listens to our prayers and comforts us through His Holy Spirit. Let s spend some time praying for each other. We will go around in the circle again. If you would like, you can say a prayer out loud; If you are not comfortable praying out loud that is okay, you can pray along silently... When everyone is finished who wanted to pray, I will say the final prayer. Now that we have shared our fears and worries, I am going to give you a white tag. These tags are for you to write your fear or worry on..once you have done that, tie it to this piece of rope by putting the string from your tag inside the knot (show as an example) as a symbol of giving that worry or fear over to God so He can rescue you. You may take your ropes home to remind you of the Big God Story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. God Rescues! God rescued them, and He will rescue you!! 4
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): Invite your group to kneel in a posture of worship. Then open a Bible and read Psalm 91:14 15: Because he loves me, says the Lord, I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. Finally, end with this blessing: May you know that God rescues and protects His children. He is always with you DISMISSAL (HOST): Choose some transition videos to play in Easy worship or play Spotify playlist Call names of kids as parent come to pick up and welcome kids who are being dropped off. Encourage parents to enter the room and encourage kids and parents to exit out the middle door (103) 5
Years ago I traveled to India on a mission trip with my youth group. One night, we held a ministry event in a rural town, and hundreds gathered for worship and prayer. In the middle of prayer, a local man came up to my friend and me, shoved us aside, and began shouting in his native tongue. We looked down to see that he d pushed us away from a deadly scorpion, which had quietly crept up to my friend s foot. We were hours away from the nearest hospital. God had rescued us from danger that we hadn t even been aware of. That night, Luke 10:19 came to mind: I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. God will always give us victory over the power of Satan! We knew that we d always remember how God rescued us from a dangerous situation. And no matter what happens in our lives, our powerful God still rescues us today. Rae Lynn Lott ROCKHARBOR Church God rescued His people, the Israelites, even in their disobedience and captivity. When Babylon defeated the nation of Judah and destroyed Jerusalem, the conquerors took captive Hebrew men of nobility to serve the Babylonians. Among those who were chosen were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego (Daniel 1:6 7). Part of the Babylonians strategy as a world power was to assimilate any potential leaders from the next generation of Hebrews into the Babylonian culture. One way they did this was by changing all Hebrew names to Babylonian names. This was only part of the effort of the Babylonian king to turn the followers of Israel s God into loyal followers of Babylonian culture and religion. The Babylonians tried to make these Hebrew men conform to their culture. And although, in many ways, Daniel and his friends reflected Babylonian culture on the outside in the names they were given and the language they spoke the similarity stopped there. They may have looked and spoken like Babylonians, but the men s hearts did not serve their gods. Daniel and his friends chose to serve only the one true God, even in the face of death. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego spoke to Nebuchadnezzar, after they d been threatened with death from the fiery furnace, they said, If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods (Daniel 3:17 18). These men knew that even if God doesn t choose to save us from the hard things in life, He is still worthy of our devotion. Spend some time thinking about how God is sovereign and has absolute authority over our lives. Every day, every moment, every breath is a gift from Him. This week, spend some time thanking God for the fact that He gave you life. Spend some time marveling that He controls everything, loves you, and wants to be in relationship with you. 6