Oct. 2, 2016 God Is a Covenant Keeper, Part 2 DATE PONDER POINT Genesis 12; 15; 17 (Abram) You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things. Revelation 4:11a THE BIG GOD STORY REMEMBER VERSE Worship & Welcome (5 minutes): Begins class creating an inviting atmosphere for kids to feel welcome and to worship in song. Celebrate (10 minutes): Establishes community and engages kids, drawing them in and preparing them to hear God s word. The Big God Story (15 minutes): Creates space for children to hear God s word. Small Groups (20 minutes): Kids respond in small groups to what they heard in the Big God Story. Small Group Leaders: More important than just completing the task or game that is planned for you, make sure you are spending time getting to know and praying with your kids. Even the littlest ones can tell you if they have had a good or bad week. Make sure you pray with them and they know how much God loves them. There is a storytelling video this week. Remember Verse & Bless (5 minutes): Allows children to practice their memory verse and be sent out with a sense of peace so they can be a blessing to others. 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: IMAGE: Welcome We are so glad you are here at Critter Land today. You can go put it in the squirrel feeder right when you come in. OPENING WORSHIP SONG: VIDEO: (9:00 & 11:30) Jesus By My Side VIDEO: (10:15) Unshakable 1
GOAL: Establishes community and engages kids, drawing them in and preparing them to hear God s word. Kids get to participate in various worship elements such as offering, scripture memorization and their curiosity is peaked as they discover what will be in the wardrobe of wonder. RULES MAIL TIME WORSHIP IN SINGING VIDEO: CHLOE S RULES VIDEO: Mail Time Intro Video IMAGE: Remember Verse You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things. Revelation 4:11a VIDEO: (9:00 & 11:30) - We Believe VIDEO: (10:15) - God of Love Motions: You are worthy: Point to sky then place hands on heart. our Lord and God: Make letter L with right index finger and thumb at left shoulder. Move L diagonally down to right hip. to receive glory: Hold out open, bent arms, palms up. and honor: Keep arms out and tilt head back to face up to sky. and power: Make strong arms. for you created all things: Cross arms over each other in front of body and then open arms up and out. VIDEO: Wardrobe of Wonder Intro Choose 1 volunteer. Volunteer picks two hats from wardrobe one for himself, one for host. Tell other kids to put on their imaginary thinking caps. Volunteer peeks in the What s It box. Host gives 3 clues, kids get to vote on what they think it is. WARDROBE OF WONDER What sit: Suitcase Then as host you say. If you think our clue is a, raise your hand. If you think our clue is a, raise your hand. If you think our clue is a, raise your hand. Let the child volunteer tell which answer is correct! ASK: What do you think a suitcase is doing in the Wardrobe of Wonder? Allow volunteer to give you some suggestions. If she s having difficulty, invite all the kids to give suggestions. When do you use a suitcase? What would you put inside one if you were traveling or moving? I wonder how the What sit connects with what we re going to hear today from The Big God Story! Friends, what do you think? Let s find out because it s time for 2
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 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. The Big God Story: Video: The Big Story Intro Storyteller Script Hi Friends. I m so glad you are here today. Our story today is about a man named Abram. You may have heard his name before. He is known in the Big God Story for his great faith in God. But before we jump into the Big God Story, let s stop and ask God to teach us. Lead children in a Prayer of Release. Today our story is told in a storytelling video. So we are going to give our attention to the TVs while we listen and watch carefully our Big God Story. Tech: Cue the storytelling video We can remember God s great love for us when we hear this part of The Big God Story. We heard how God blessed Abram s family with so many people through the years, it would be like trying to count the stars in the sky. God gave Abram s family a special job to tell everyone about Him! God wants every person to know who He is and His great love for every single person. His great love is even for you and me! 3
GOAL: Kids respond in small groups to what they heard in the Big God Story. Stars in the Sky Supplies: Stars in the sky coloring sheet Crayons Star stickers Read out loud the scripture at the bottom of the stars in the sky coloring sheet. Pass out the coloring sheets and help kids put their names on the page. Place the crayons and star stickers in the middle of the table so the kids have access to them. Today you are going to make a starry sky. God told Abraham the would have as many descendants as stars in the sky. While kids work on their picture, ask the Wonder Questions to get the conversation started. God made covenants with Noah and Abram. A covenant is a very special promise. When God makes a promise, He will always keep it, no matter what! We heard how God made the covenant with Abram. God promised Abram a huge family and that God would bless the whole world by sending the Savior through his family. God keeps His promises! I wonder What did Abram see when he was traveling to his new home? I wonder How did Abram show that he trusted God? I wonder What are some of the ways I can show God that I trust Him? 4
GOAL: Kids respond in small groups to what they heard in the Big God Story. Abraham obeys God Supplies: Suitcase (one per kid) Star stickers God keeps His promises! label (one per kid) Velcro dot (one per kid) Crayons We can remember God s great love for us when we hear this part of The Big God Story. We heard how God blessed Abram s family with so many people through the years, it would be like trying to count the stars in the sky. God gave Abram s family a special job to tell everyone about Him! God wants every person to know who He is and His great love for every single person. We re going to decorate our suitcases with these stickers and crayons. While you are decorating your suitcase I want you to remember that God wants us to go and share the good news with other people who may not know any of the Big God Stories. When you are finished with your suitcase, you may take it home to help you remember that God keeps His promises. I wonder How hard do you think it was for Abram to wait for a child? I wonder How scary would it be to leave the only home you have known and move to a different place? I wonder Does God know how many stars are in the sky? 5
Review the Remember Verse: You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things. Revelation 4:11a Children are blessed through a prayer of commission, a portion of Scripture, and words of encouragement and guidance from their leaders. May God guide your steps. May you know His love, His blessing, and that His words are always true. 6
I grew up in the church and went to a Christian school, so by the time I was working in ministry I was sure I had it all figured out. I knew all the stories from the Bible and had memorized a bunch of verses. In my own ignorance and pride, I assumed I didn t have much to learn. (I was just setting myself up for a wake-up call!) One Sunday, I was serving in our elementary ministry when our families pastor got onstage to share what she called The Big God Story. In 15 minutes or so, she went through the entire Bible from creation to the resurrection and the beginnings of the church. Now, the pieces of this story were nothing I hadn t heard before. But even with all my education, I never understood that they flowed together as one big story! I was blown away at my previous state of ignorance. But that wasn t all. She wrapped up this epic story by explaining that this story never ended, but continues today. Suddenly, I realized I m a part of the same story that began in the garden and continued with Abraham, Moses, David, Esther, Paul, and so many others. This was the wake-up call that forever changed my understanding of God of His Word of myself. I began to see the truth of who God is in a whole new light! God is weaving a master story throughout all of history, so we may know who He is and be in relationship with Him. Matt Barnes ROCKHARBOR Church In the very first verse of Genesis 12, God tells Abram, Go from your country, your people and your father s household to the land I will show you. Today, it could be easy for us to skim over this passage without fully comprehending the magnitude of what God required in this verse. In Abram s culture, a man s identity was fully encompassed by three crucial categories: geographical heritage, family lineage, and his father s identity. To begin, God commanded Abram to leave his country. Genesis 11 identifies that Abram s family was located in Ur of the Chaldeans, which was a city in southern Babylonia modern-day Kuwait. Archaeologists discovered that this had been a highly advanced and urban city in ancient days, booming with trade by both land and sea. For Abram to depart from such a well-developed society in order to head to an unknown location would have been extremely challenging and uncomfortable. It would have taken a lot of faith in God! In addition, Abram didn t come from a family line that worshiped Yahweh alone. Abram lived in a culture and society that worshipped false gods some even created images to represent their various gods. Actual relationship or communication between man and God would have been quite unexpected. God called Abram to abandon everything: his family, his idols, his inheritance, and his country. Essentially, he was commanded to relinquish his identity. God was going to use Abram to bless the entire world. But first, it required great faith and sacrifice a foreshadowing of the sacrifices that were to come. 7
As you prepare for this lesson, spend time reading these passages from Genesis. As God keeps His promises to the people in His Word and in your life today, how have you come to know Him more fully? What have you learned about this God who keeps His promises? May God use you to bring the children into a time of experiencing Him in the church setting, and may your leading be infused with the passion and conviction that come from an overflow of your soul. May the conversations you share together encourage the children to have further discussions with their families during the week. May the families in your ministry be transformed by their encounter with God that they ll know Him better and respond to Him with faith and obedience. God is a covenant keeper, and we can trust Him. 8