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Series at a Glance for Elevate ABOUT THIS SERIES Parents love to give their kids gifts, but did you know that our Heavenly Father loves to give us gifts even more? God made each of us unique and gives us unique gifts too! These special gifts God gives us are called Spiritual Gifts. In this series, we will help kids learn about what Spiritual Gifts are and their purpose. We will also teach them how to discover their unique gifts, as well as some next steps in applying them. MEMORY VERSE We all have gifts. They differ in keeping with the grace that God has given each of us. Romans 12:6 WEEKLY OVERVIEW Lesson Topic Big Idea Lesson 1 Aug 6/7 We are all unique. Romans 12:6-8 God gave us special gifts. Lesson 2 Aug 13/14 Same but different. 1 Corinthians 12:12 Our gifts are important! Find your flow. Matthew 14:22-31 We can discover our gifts. Lesson 4 Aug 27/28 Give it back. Luke 10:38-42 We can use our gifts to help others. Lesson 5 Sept 3/4 The next step. 1 Corinthians 13 We can use our gifts to show love. 2
Spiritual Gifts Series at a Glance for Elevate (cont.) Aug 6/7 - We are all unique. God created us uniquely. God did not make duplicates. Every single person is so incredibly special, there are no two fingerprints alike. We will learn how God has given each Christ follower a Spiritual Gift. We will learn about some of the Spiritual Gifts that God gives us, which will pave the way on what we are learning the rest of the series. Aug 13/14 - Same but different. There are various Spiritual Gifts, but they work best when they work together. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 we learn a great metaphor of the Spiritual Gifts working together as one body with many parts. Just like there are different flavors of M&Ms, every gift is important, but no one gift is better than the other. Our focus will be on when we use our Spiritual Gifts together, we can do big things for God. - Find your flow. Most people are not able pick up a yo-yo or paddle ball and be a master the first time they try it. To become good at something, it takes practice. God gives us Spiritual Gifts and wants us to take time to discover what they are. One of the ways we can discover our Spiritual Gifts is to try different areas of serving. Just like Peter jumped out of a boat and water, we need to step out and discover what our Spiritual Gift is too! Aug 27/28 - Give it back. God didn t give us Spiritual Gifts for our own success, but to dedicate them to His service. We will learn a Bible story through a new lens of Spiritual Gifts as well as help point kids toward next step in how they can use their Spiritual Gifts! Our focus will be on how to apply and use our Spiritual Gifts. Sept 3/4 - The next step. Learning about Spiritual Gifts, what they are, how and why we should use them is an important step after we have made Jesus the Leader of our lives. But the next step of all this information hinges on one of the most famous passages of Love, 1 Corinthians 13. The Bible tells us that we are to be Jesus for others, and we can use our Spiritual Gifts to do that. We will learn that Spiritual Gifts are gifts from God and that we can use them to show love. 3
What You Need to DO and KNOW Each Week Opening Do This: Encourage everyone to gather near the stage, and have FUN! Give high-fives, welcome the kids by name, dance to the music, and let kids know we re going to have fun today! Interact with the crowd! Create a buzz about what is going to happen. Know This: This is intended to be a fun time! You as the leader need to set that standard so kids can feel comfortable. If you re not willing to open up and be silly, they won t either. It s ok if some kids are shy or stand-offish, but YOU should model what we d like to see! Welcome Do This: Greet the kids with enthusiasm without being overwhelming. Know This: During this time you are working to gain the kids trust. Something as simple as telling them what is going to happen during the hour can help relieve some anxiety that they may have. We will also gain their trust by showing them that this is a place that is not weird or different from what they see in other places. Worship Do This: Perform the provided actions to the songs and demonstrate enthusiastic worship for kids. Encourage kids to join in, but don t force them to participate. Read aloud any verses that are on the screen (unless the song features a voice over). Direct the kids attention towards God. Call out upcoming lyrics when appropriate and help the kids engage in singing. Know This: It s okay if some kids don t sing or do actions to the songs. They may worship by just reflecting on the lyrics and listening. Our music set is generally made of high-energy songs to help kids get engaged in worship. Media Do This: Sit or stand to the side of the screen (s). Watch the media and appear engaged with appropriate non-verbals. Know This: Although this is a good time to catch your breath and gather your thoughts, you are still technically on. Kids may be looking at you to see if you are watching the videos, and if you don t look engaged, they may not choose to engage either. Prayer Do This: Ask the kids to be respectful and quiet; you will pray out loud, while they pray quietly in their hearts and heads. Sit or crouch down and engage the kids as you pray. Know This: We want the kids to learn how to pray by seeing you model this. Feel free to say your own prayer this one is simply a suggestion. Bible Verses & Memory Verse Do This: Read any verses from the side screen aloud. Make the memory verse fun! After you ve read it, do something silly like challenge the boys to be louder than the girls, jump up and down, add actions, or have the kids recite the verse using different voices. 4
Lesson Outline for Elevate : Find Your Flow. Lesson Segment Total Running Time Opening Song (2:00) Welcome (3:00) Worship (10:00) 0:00-15:00 Bumper Video (1:00) Lesson Intro (8:00) Booger Remix: Part 1 (4:00) Share Your Story (3:00) Memory Verse (5:00) Booger Remix: Part 2 (4:00) Message (8:00) Wrap Up (3:00) 15:00-51:00 Game Time (9:00) 51:00-60:00 Video Cue Slide Cue Audio Cue Tech Notes 5
Opening Song 2:00 (Roll when directed) Elevate Opener Hey everybody! It s time to get started, so please clean up your areas, turn off the games, and if you have popcorn, throw it away. Then come on over and join me by the stage! As you are heading over, hop on over to your seat. I mean, hop on over like a kangaroo for real! Do This: Hop around in the audience and have some fun with the kids. (Auto advance) Elevate Slide and Underscore Welcome 3:00 Welcome to Elevate everyone! My name is. Some of you are really great at hopping. Way to go! Well it is so great to see all of you here today. Some of you come every week, or as much as you can. Some of you might be here for the first time. Either way, we love having you here today! We have a great day planned where we are going to be signing some songs together, learning something new together, and of course having a TON of fun together. Sound like a plan? Each week, we connect with one of our friends who has a question of the day for us. So lets connect with them and see what today s question is! Would You Rather Lindsey Question Slide Do This: Emcee as the kids are sharing their answers. If time allows, you can ask a couple of kids to share their examples with the larger group. 6
Worship 5:00 Do This: If the worship team did not do the welcome, the teacher should invite them to the stage at this time. Worship Slide We are going to spend some time worshipping God. Worshipping God is a way we can connect with Him and show how much we love him. We are going to sing a song that talks about how every move we make is for Him. God created every hair on your head. He created the world, and the skies, and the sun and moon! He is so awesome and deserves our praise. So please sing out with me on these songs! Song 1: Every Move I Make (Auto advance) Worship Slide It's so fun to move and dance and sing to God. Let s continue singing about how great our God is. This song celebrates how incredible and big our God is, just like we talked about. If you know this song, please sing along. If you don t, that s okay too! Song 2: Our God (Auto advance) Worship Slide 7
! The part where the song says, And if our God is for, then who can be against us? is unbelievable! Isn t it fantastic to know that God is on our team? The God that created everything loves us, is on our side and never leaves us. That is why we worship him and take time to sing to him and talk with Him. In fact, let s talk to God right now and pray. Dear God, thank you for this time. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being a great big God that loves us. Amen. Lesson Intro 8:00 Do This: During the bumper video, the teacher comes on stage as the worship team leaves. Bumper Video (Auto advance) Hi everyone! Welcome to Elevate! My name is and it is fantastic to see you here today. Today makes the third week of a series we are in called. Does anyone know what the word means? Do This: Let kids answer. Wow, great answers! Let s look a definition together. - 1) Make something appear larger than it is, 2) glorify means to make something appear larger than it is AND it means to glorify or praise. If you have ever used a magnifying glass, then you know when you put it up to something, it looks huge right? In this series, we are going to take a look at some special gifts that the Bible talks about. What is cool is that we will find out that these gifts help us to praise or worship or glorify God! Since we are talking about taking a look at something and making it appear larger in this series, let s have a little fun and play a little game. We are going to see 8
some close ups or magnified objects on the side screens. If you think you can figure it out before the answer pops up, give a shout out okay? Check out the side screens! Close Ups, Version 3 (2:55) (Auto advance) That was a lot of fun! Some of those were really tough. I mentioned a little earlier that we were going to be talking about some special gifts that we find in the Bible. Do This: If you don t already have it on stage, bring out or reference wrapped gift box. Why do people give us give us gifts sometimes? Do This: Have a few kids raise their hand and answer. Be sure to repeat what they said so others can hear what the answer was. Those are some great answers. Thank you for sharing. God gives special gifts to those of us that have made Jesus the Leader of our lives! If you are still trying to figure out who Jesus is, or this is your first time hearing about Jesus, that s awesome! We will learn more about these gifts in the next couple weeks, and will get a chance to learn more about what God wants us to do too! So, is anyone curious about this gift? We ve had some random gifts in this box the last couple weeks. Who wants to guess what is inside this week? Let s open it up and discover what is inside, shall we? Do This: Open up the box and remove the paddle ball. Does anyone know what this is? Do This: Let kids answer. Yes! It is a paddle ball! This is one of those things that you have to try and bounce the ball as many times as you can. Here let me show you my skills! Do This: Whether you are good or not, make a show of how bad you are. Try to use the handle or side portion of the paddle to hit the ball. The point is to misuse the paddle ball. 9
It appears that I do now know how to use this properly. Do any of you know how to use this? Do This: Have one or two kids come up and show their ability on the paddle ball. Keep them up there to ask a few questions. Great job! Let me ask you a question okay? Have you practiced paddle ball before? How long did it take you to get good at paddle ball [or are you just skilled with coordination]? Do This: Let kid (or kids) answer. If neither of them have ever practiced, ask them how long they think it would take to figure this out. Thank you for helping me with the paddle ball! You can go back to where you were sitting. This paddle ball can seem impossible if you don t get it right away. It may seem really complicated to use too! But if you take time to learn, through some coaching and practice, you can really get great at using the paddle ball. Has anyone ever heard the term sweet spot? Let s check out what sweet spot means together. Sweet Spot - The place on a bat, club, racket, or paddle, where it is most effective to hit a ball. A sweet spot is the term used when you use the place on a bat, club, racket, or paddle where it is most effective to hit a ball. In this case, the center of the paddle on the paddle ball is the most effective to hit the ball. Sure, we can use the side or grip to maybe hit the ball but it is not the sweet spot. It is not the most effective. If we use the side, we might be able to hit the ball, but it won t go where we want it to. When we discover the sweet spot, we can be most effective in getting done what we hope to get done. In this case, we are talking about a paddle ball. If we want to be really awesome at this, we would need to figure out the sweet spot. The sweet spot on this paddle is the center of the paddle. That is the best, most effective place to hit the ball. Through this series we have been talking about the fact that God gives those of us that follow Jesus what is called a Spiritual Gift. We learned that Spiritual means Spiritual - not of this world, comes from God 10
Spiritual means not of this world, it comes from God. When we are talking about Spiritual Gifts, they are not gifts you can buy at the store or anything like that. These gifts are not things we can have or hold or look at. When we get these gifts, it might take a while for us to figure out what they are. We might need a little coaching or help to discover what our Spiritual Gift is. It might even take some practice. Maybe we need to try something new like volunteer to see if we have a Spiritual Gift in a serving area. When we figure out our Spiritual Gifts, we can learn what our sweet spots are! When you discover what your Spiritual Gift is and use it, it is like you are in your sweet spot. In just a little bit, we are going to talk more about what the Spiritual Gifts are and hear a story from the Bible that talks about someone that discovered their gifts and sweet spot. Video One 4:00 Right now, let s connect with some familiar faces that we have been following through this summer. Booger Remix, Pt. 1 Share Your Story 3:00 (Auto advance) That looked like a really tough level for Lindsey! I can t wait to see what Maddy s Spiritual Gift is. Have you ever discovered you were better than you thought at something? Like maybe you were better at singing than you thought initially? I remember a time when 11
Do This: Share a 2-minute appropriate, relevant personal story about a time that you discovered a talent OR your Spiritual Gifts and how you used them. It took me a little while to figure out my [talent/gift], but I am so thankful that I did. Whenever I do that now, I lose track of time when I do because I am having so much fun doing it! Memory Verse 5:00 Each series we learn or review a new memory verse. This week our Bible verse comes from the New Testament. Before we get to our Bible verse, let s take a one-question quiz! There are two parts of the Bible, what are they called? A) Phineas and Ferb B) Front and Back C) Old and New Testament The correct answer is C) Old and New Testament. One of the ways you can think of it would be Old Testament is before Jesus, and the New Testament is with Jesus. As we talk more about Spiritual Gifts, we hope you understand that these are special gifts that come from God for those of us that have made Jesus the leader of our lives. Let s check out the memory verse for this week. I would like us all to read this together. (Memory Verse) Romans 12:6 We all have gifts. They differ in keeping with the grace that God has given each of us. Great job reading, everyone! Let s read it one more time but this time we will plug our ears as we read it. Ready? Go! Do This: Have fun with this. Way to go! That was a little crazy. So what does this verse mean? 12
It starts out saying that we all have gifts. God tells us in the Bible that for those of us that have made Jesus the leader of our lives, we get gifts which are a lot like abilities. We have been learning what some of these gifts, or Spiritual Gifts, are through this series. The next part of this verse tells us that they differ. Each of us are given a gift, but each gift is different. The fact that these gifts are different is important and will get to that in a different lesson this series. The next phrase is, in keeping with the grace that God has given each of us. Whew! That seems like a really complicated verse so let s really break that one down. Grace = getting something we don t deserve. Grace means getting something we don t deserve. You see, we didn t do anything to earn these gifts that God gives us. He gives them to those of us that have decided to follow Jesus as the leader of our lives. But we don t earn them. He loves us and wants us to have these gifts. Let s see that verse again. (Memory Verse) Romans 12:6 We all have gifts. They differ in keeping with the grace that God has given each of us. Everyone has a gift if they have made Jesus their leader. Each of these gifts are different, and they are given to us because God loves us. That is the simple version of this verse. Video 2 4:00 Let s get back to Booger and Lindsey. Booger Remix, Pt. 2 13
Message 8:00 It was great to see Lindsey step out and not only step out and try to do that game again, but she dominated it! Way to go Lindsey! Today, we are going to talk about a story in the Bible that is not actually about Spiritual Gifts, but we are going to learn an important lesson that we can apply to our lives. This is a really cool story and is amazing because it is true! The story we are going to hear about happens right after Jesus had performed some miracles. If you remember, a miracle is something that might seem impossible and doesn t always make sense, but happened because God made it so. Jesus and his closest friends, the disciples, were going to head to their next destination. The fastest way to get there was by boat, so the disciples hopped in the boat but Jesus wanted to pray for a bit and hung back on a hillside to thank God for being part of the miracles that had happened. What you need to know is that most of the disciples were fishermen. That means they were used to boats and they were used to sailing. These guys had spent a lot of hours on the water and had seen just about every kind of storm that came their way. They knew how to deal with storms and they knew how to make it through a storm. As the disciples were getting where they needed to go on the water, the wind picked up and a storm came in. The waves were pounding on the boat in a big way. They were far from land. Sometime later, Jesus went out to the disciples, but he wasn t in a boat. The Bible does not say that Jesus was surfing or swimming out to them. The Bible says that Jesus was walking on the water! No one can walk on water, right? Jesus can though! They saw him walking on the lake and were terrified. It s a ghost! they said. And they cried out in fear. John 14:26 Jesus immediately said, Be brave, it is I. Don t be afraid. 14
There must have been a lot of things happening with the disciples. A storm was happening, and in the middle of everything going on, Jesus is walking on water! That must have been quite a sight to see! If you saw someone walking on water, what would be the first thing that YOU would yell out? Do This: Let kids respond. Those are great answers! Well, one of the disciples named Peter said to Jesus, 28 Lord, is it you? Peter asked. If it is, tell me to come to you on the water. John 14:28 Peter told Jesus to call him out on the water! Would that be your reaction? Would you be the kind of person that if you saw someone walking on water, you d point and say, HEY! I want to do that too!? Did Jesus tell Peter that he would sink? Did Jesus tell Peter that he shouldn t jump out of the boat because it wasn t safe? Did Jesus tell Peter to put on a lifejacket first? NO! Jesus said Come on out! Peter got out of that boat and walked on the water toward Jesus! Peter had no idea that he could walk on water until he actually he tried it! Jesus wants us to come on out too. Just like he wanted Peter to step out of that boat, he wants us to step out, and make a decision to follow him and discover our Spiritual Gifts. Jesus asked Peter to come on out in the Bible, and he wants us to the same thing today. Since we are talking about Spiritual Gifts, you should know that water walking is NOT a Spiritual Gift. But this story shows us that Peter never would have known he could walk on water if he had not stepped out of the boat and tried it because he trusted Jesus! A couple weeks ago, we read a verse that listed a few of the Spiritual Gifts found in the Bible. Let s read that again so we can remember what they were. Do This: Open your Kids Quest Bible to page 1470 and read the verse. 15
We all have gifts. They differ according to the grace God has given to each of us. Do you have the gift of prophecy? Then use it in keeping with the faith you have. Is your gift to serve? Then serve. Is it teaching? Then teach. Is it telling others how they should live? Then tell them. Is it giving to those who are in need? Then give freely. Is it being a leader? Then work hard at it. Is it showing mercy? Then do it cheerfully. Romans 12:6-8 We learned that from this verse, some of the Spiritual Gifts are Prophecy, Serving, and Teaching. We learned that telling others how they should live was really a different way to say that we should encourage others. Then we having Giving, Leadership, and Mercy. Mercy could also be compassion which is when you have a heart to help others that need it. We can discover our Spiritual Gifts by reading what the Bible says. We can have our parents read the book, Discovering Your Kid s Spiritual Gifts. They can take a test that will help them figure out what your gift is. You can ask an adult or friend what they think your Spiritual Gift might be. You can also serve to figure out what you may or may not think your Gift is. There are so many ways we can discover our Spiritual Gifts, but we need to take a chance and try things, just like Peter did when he stepped out of the boat. Remember, water walking isn t an actual Spiritual Gift. The point is that Peter tried something new. When we try something new, we can discover our gifts. Do This: Pick up paddle ball again One of the great things about discovering your gift is that when you figure out what yours is, time flies by! Some people call that a sweet spot, just like we talked about with the paddle ball. When that happens to you, you might just be in your sweet spot, and you might have just discovered your Spiritual Gift! When you do figure this out, tell someone about it! Tell an adult what your gift is, and then see if you can find more opportunities to use it! Next week, we are going to learn more about what we are supposed to do with our gifts and how we can continue to learn more about them. Isn t is so great to know first off that God gives those of us that follow Jesus, gifts? 16
Wrap Up 3:00 Don t miss next week as we talk more about what we do with our Spiritual Gifts some more, but as you leave today, I want you to remember We can discover our gifts! Do This: Hold up the Family Connection Card On your way out, we want to make sure you have this special edition of the Family Connection Card. Normally, this would be just a regular paper that you would hand to your family. This series, we want you to be able to learn what your Spiritual Gifts are, so we created a special tent Family Connection Card! Do This: Show kids how to trifold the card. This take-home can actually can be folded on its three sides and you can place this at your table! We always love when you read the Family Connection card because it will help you remember what we learned and tell your family what you learned today. You can also practice the Bible verse we are learning! One more thing you need to know about this Family Connection card. It talks about a book that we recommend them getting. You and your family can pick it up in the bookstore if they want. This book will really help them understand what we are teaching and help you too! Check it out on the Family Connection card! Game Time 9:00 Let s have some fun as we end our time together. Today, we have an awesome relay! Who is ready for a crazy and exciting game? Move it! 17
I am going to need four groups of three people each. You are going to each have a straw, and your job is to blow this pom-pom out to that line and back. Your first player will go out and back only using the straw and their breath to move the pom-pom. When they get back, it will be player two, then finally player three. First team to do this, wins! Who is ready to play? Do This: Have kids raise hands. Modify however you need to make this game fun and best for your space. You can have 4 teams of 2 or max 4 teams of 4 at one time. We planned for 3 rounds of 4 teams of 4 players (48 players) Know This: Decide a line or starting point (could be stage) and decide a line or end point that they have to cross and return to. Game music Elevate That was fun to watch! Great job everyone. You can have a seat. Before we dismiss, let s take one more moment to talk to God and thank him for today. God, thank you for giving us gifts. Thank you for the fact we can discover our gifts. We love you. Amen. Do This: Dismiss however you like best. Know This: If you get done early, you could dismiss to games. 18