The Israelites Escape From Egypt Exodus 11:1 12:36

Session 13 The Israelites Escape From Egypt Exodus 11:1 12:36 Worship Theme: God s freedom lasts forever. Weaving Faith Into Life: Children will praise God for setting them free from the bondage of sins and burdens. Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies Let s Praise God! (about 25 minutes) Sing My God Is Powerful Be Strong in the Lord (Ephesians 6:10) My Hope Is in the Lord Praise Him Wisdom Wave Power Shuffle He Is the Light KidsOwn Worship Kit: KidsOwn Worship DVD Classroom Supplies: Bible, a spool of thread, scissors, handful of bubble gum, several sheets of red paper, glue sticks, video equipment, poster board with song lyrics from Session 1 Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies Let s Learn the Point! (about 25 minutes) * Freed From Egypt Follow Moses out of Egypt. Free to Be Form a human chain and try to do a job together. * Disappearing Problems Paint a picture with disappearing ink, and thank God for taking care of their troubles. Classroom Supplies: Walking stick, bathrobe, masking tape, newsprint, marker, 1 red crayon per 3 children Classroom Supplies: Laundry bluing, water, bowl, measuring spoon and cup, paper, 1 paintbrush per child 172 KidsOwn Worship Summer Quarter

Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies Let s Learn the Point! (about 25 minutes) Trapped Walk through the experiences of the Israelites as they were set free. * Forever and Ever Watch a video about how people try to set themselves free but can t ever seem to do it. Tangled Up Tangle themselves and try to do a job. KidsOwn Worship Kit: Finger Traps Classroom Supplies: Bible, large black trash bag, paper chain from Let s Praise God! KidsOwn Worship Kit: KidsOwn Worship DVD Classroom Supplies: Video equipment Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies Let s Pray! (about 10 minutes) The Offering Offer their gifts to God, and thank him for setting them free. My God Is Powerful Form a human chain to sing My God Is Powerful. Classroom Supplies: Paper chain made on arrival, offering bowl KidsOwn Worship Kit: KidsOwn Worship DVD Classroom Supplies: Video equipment Pick-Me-Up Praise Help someone stand, and praise God for setting them free. * Starred activities can be used successfully with preschool and elementary children together. Customize your session to fit your needs. You can separate preschoolers and elementary children for Section 2. Or, if you keep the children all together for the entire worship session, we suggest you choose from the starred activities. Session 13 KidsOwn Worship 173

Bible Background for Leaders The Israelites Escape From Egypt Exodus 11:1 12:36 In last week s study, we looked at the plagues that God inflicted on Egypt to demonstrate his power. This week we take a close look at the last plague. One of the first things to notice is that the last plague is the only one in which God required that his people respond in a particular way to be safe from the plague. We don t know if the Israelites suffered from other plagues. We do know that the plague that killed many of the Egyptians animals didn t kill the Israelites livestock (Exodus 9:1-6). We also know that the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was not hit by the plague of hail or the plague of darkness (Exodus 9:26; 10:23). However, up to this point, the protection God provided for the Israelites didn t require any faith or action on their part. They had seen the devastation of the Egyptians compared to their own safety; they had seen God s power at work. It was time for them to exhibit some faith! The act of faith required by the Israelites was the sacrifice of an innocent lamb, whose blood was to be displayed on the doorposts. The lamb died in place of the firstborn child. This sacrifice became a symbol that the Israelites understood: An innocent life had to be taken to spare them from death. Although they didn t understand it at the time, that sacrifice looked forward to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who shed his blood and died so that all who believe in him might be saved from spiritual death and eternity apart from God. For 400 years, the people of Israel had lived in a foreign land, and they must have been very familiar with the Egyptians gods. But through the plagues, God showed the Israelites what he could and would do for them. When the time came for them to step out in an act of faith, they were ready. It appeared that God had finally gotten through to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The hurried nighttime departure of the Israelites was not just their attempt to get away before Pharaoh changed his mind again. The Egyptians wanted them to leave because they feared that God would kill all the Egyptians if the Israelites weren t freed (Exodus 12:33). At God s direction the baking of unleavened bread became a tradition among the Hebrew people. God wanted them to eat unleavened bread each year at the time of the Passover to remind them of what he had done to free them from slavery in Egypt. On that horrible and wonderful night, the Lord kept vigil to free his people from slavery in Egypt. Isn t it wonderful to know that we serve a God who keeps a vigil over us, freeing us from sin through his Son, Jesus, and protecting us from those who would draw us away from him? What a wonderful and mighty God we serve! Devotion for Leaders We are all slaves until God sets us free. Because of Jesus, we have new life and can grow closer to him every day. Weaving Faith Into Your Life: Reread this week s Bible Background on this page. More than another Bible story, this is our story. Once we were slaves to sin and living in darkness. Now Jesus blood protects us from death and assures our eternal life. Pray: Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice, for my freedom, and for my life. 174 KidsOwn Worship Summer Quarter

Why We Worship for Leaders The children of Israel desperately needed a deliverer. God sent Moses to set them free after more than 400 years of slavery. As Christians we know that God still wants to set his people free. We re familiar with the frustrations and bondage that come when we re caught up in habits of sin, worry, or fear. God s plan was to send Jesus to us to set us free and to restore our lives with his forgiveness and healing touch. In this session kids will discover that God wants to set us free as he did the Israelites long ago. They will identify areas of their lives where they need Jesus help and freedom. Use this session to lead kids in praising a God who loves them so much that he came to set them free forever. Easy Prep for Leaders Let s Praise God! Make sure your video equipment is ready. Make a paper chain with about half a dozen red links. Tape the chain to the top of the door frame inside the worship room. Cut extra strips for kids to use to add to the chain as they arrive. You ll need at least one strip for each child. Set the extra strips and glue sticks near the doorway. Forever and Ever Watch the video segment titled Forever and Ever before the children arrive. Preschool Activities Refer to the preschool pages for preparations. Let s Praise God! Play music videos from the KidsOwn Worship DVD as children arrive. Ask some children to stand at the door and welcome everyone who comes into the room. Ask them to smile and shake hands and say Welcome! Have them invite kids to make a paper link and add it to the paper chain hung at the doorway. This will be used later during offering time. When everyone has arrived, begin the worship session. Hello, everyone! I m excited to be at children s church today because we re going to worship God for setting us free! God s freedom lasts forever. Think with me for a moment about freedom. There s the kind of freedom that the slaves needed before the Civil War they needed to be set free from the slave owners. There s the kind of freedom teenagers want when they graduate from high school and want to live on their own. But I m not talking about those kinds of freedoms. I m talking about the freedom God wants us to have on the inside. What are some things we might need to be free from on the inside? (Sins; things we re afraid of; worries; sadness.) Session 13 KidsOwn Worship 175

Sins, worries, and fears are all things that can keep us from being free. They make us feel unhappy, sad, or worried. They keep us from being able to praise God and freely receive his love. Let me show you what I mean. I need a volunteer someone who thinks he or she is strong. Have a volunteer come to the front and stand with his or her hands together. Wrap a strand of thread around the volunteer s wrists to handcuff them, and tie it. Sometimes we think one little sin let s say telling a lie is no big deal. This thread represents that one little lie. You can probably break free of one little lie. Have the child break the thread. Then, as you continue speaking, wind the thread around the volunteer s wrists 10 to 12 times. But then one lie leads to another. And another. And another. Pretty soon you re tangled up in a web of lies. You might still think it s not a big deal. But it is. Ask the volunteer to try to break the threads. Now you re stuck. You can t stop lying, and you ve created trouble and hurt for yourself and others. But you might think to yourself, Maybe if I try again, really, really hard, I can stop all this lying. Have the child try to break free again. No matter how hard you try, you can t stop. Guess what? You need to be set free! And God is just the one to do it! Cut the threads with scissors. God forgives you when you say you re sorry. God lets you start fresh. You might need to go to people and say you re sorry. At first that might be hard to do, but in the end it makes you feel even freer! The same is true for worries and fears. If we let ourselves worry all the time or be afraid, pretty soon we can t stop. Worries wind around and bind us just as the thread bound [name of person] s hands. But God can help you and set you free. He will keep helping you every day. His freedom lasts forever. Our next song says that God is stronger than strong. That means that God has the power to set us free from the things that bind us up. Let s stand and sing My God Is Powerful. Sing My God Is Powerful. Heads up everyone! Catch! Toss a small handful of bubble gum, about five or six pieces, to kids. Those of you who caught the bubble gum: If you know how to blow bubbles, unwrap the gum and start chewing. I need you 176 KidsOwn Worship Summer Quarter

to come up to the front. You re going to blow some really big bubbles for us, but not until I tell you. Come up now, and get ready. If you don t know how to blow bubbles, find someone close to you who can and give that person the gum. The Israelites had it tough. They had been slaves for over 400 years, and they desperately needed God to save them. When God sent Moses, the people followed him. But they didn t know from one day to the next what would happen. They had to trust God and trust Moses. They got in many sticky situations, but God set them free. Let s see if our bubble blowers are ready now. Encourage the kids with bubble gum to blow the biggest bubbles they can. Have kids keep blowing bubbles until someone gets bubble gum stuck to his or her face from a burst bubble. Have the child clean the bubble gum off his or her face. Thank the bubble blowers, and have them sit down. ALLERGY ALERT See Session 1. Do you ever get bubble gum stuck to your face? What do you do about it? (All the time, but I just wipe it off; I have to peel it off.) Sometimes our lives are like bubble gum on our faces. We get into sticky situations, and we can t get ourselves free. But God promises to set us free just as he set the Israelites free. John 8:36 says, So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. We need to be strong in Jesus and believe that he ll set us free just as he said he would. Let s stand and sing Be Strong in the Lord. Sing Be Strong in the Lord (Ephesians 6:10). The Israelites followed Moses out of Egypt. There were times they got scared and tired and worried. But they obeyed God and Moses. When we get tired and worried, God wants to encourage us and help us. Our next song is about hoping in the Lord. Let s sing My Hope Is in the Lord. Sing My Hope Is in the Lord. When God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, he led them through the desert until they reached the Promised Land. God promises to lead us, too. Let s praise him for that. Sing Praise Him. Our next song is about God s wisdom. Let s sing the song together now and worship God. Sing Wisdom Wave. Our next song is Power Shuffle. God is always faithful. He never changes. He wanted to set his people free long ago, and he wants to set you and me free today. When we did the thread demonstration, we saw how sin and worry and fear can bind us and make us like prisoners. Close your eyes for a moment, and let s get quiet. Session 13 KidsOwn Worship 177

Think of something in your life that you need God to free you from. Maybe it s lying, the example we used in the thread demonstration. Maybe you constantly worry about a certain situation. Maybe you re always afraid. God wants to come and help you. Pause a few moments to let children think. Open your eyes now, and let s sing Power Shuffle. As we sing, give your situation to the Lord. Ask him to set you free. Worship him because he has power to heal your broken heart. Sing Power Shuffle. When God sets us free, we often feel joyful and happy. It makes us love him and want to worship him. Let s lift our hearts to God now and praise him for giving us freedom that lasts forever. If you want, lift your hands in the air as we give God glory. Sing He Is the Light. God, we thank you so much that you sent Jesus to set us free. We give you our lives today and ask you to work in us. We want your freedom, God. We love you and thank you because your freedom lasts forever. In Jesus name, amen. Let s Learn the Point! Preschool Activities, pages 181-182 At this time, have the preschool leader invite the preschoolers to go to their own room for this section of activities. Tear out the Preschool Activities page, and give it to the preschool leader. Have the preschool leader bring the preschoolers back to participate in Let s Pray! with the older children. If you prefer to keep all the children together, do the starred (*) activities. They will work well with both elementary and preschool children. Elementary Activities Trapped Have kids form six groups. Give each group a Finger Trap from the KidsOwn Worship Kit. Have kids in each group experiment with the trap. Tell them to put their fingers in the tube and try to pull them out. Have children find ways to free themselves from the trap. How did you feel when you couldn t get your fingers out of the Finger Trap? (I was worried I wouldn t be able to get them out; it felt weird; I knew I d figure it out eventually.) 178 KidsOwn Worship Summer Quarter

How did you feel when one person knew how but you didn t? (I thought I should have known; I was glad someone told me how.) What s the secret of getting out of the Finger Trap? (Pushing in; twisting your fingers.) When you pull straight out, the design of the trap causes it to lock all the harder around your fingers. To get out you have to do something unexpected. You have to push your fingers together and twist your fingers in the opposite direction to make it loosen up. How are our sins, worries, and fears like the Finger Trap? (There s only one way to get out of them; the more we try to pull ourselves out, the harder it gets.) What s the secret to getting out of life s traps? (Trusting God; having a relationship with Jesus.) What kind of freedom does God give us? (Freedom from sins; freedom to love him; God gives us a way to deal with problems.) Our problems our sins, fears, and worries are like traps. They seem to choke us. The harder we try to get away from them, the more difficult it is to get free. We think it should be easy, just like getting out of the finger trap seemed so easy, and we think we can do it on our own. But often we can t. The secret to getting free inside is something that some people don t expect. The secret is this: We can t do it ourselves. We need God s help and forgiveness. Then he sets us free. Gather kids near the doorway with the red chain attached to the door frame. Long ago, God s people, the Israelites, were trapped in Egypt by Pharaoh, the wicked ruler. He made them work as slaves for more than 400 years. God s people cried out for help, and God finally answered them! God sent Moses to set his people free. He sent nine plagues upon the Egyptians, but Pharaoh still refused to let the people go. The 10th and final plague was a horrible one. God said the firstborn son of every family that did not obey him would die. Pharaoh and most of the Egyptians didn t believe Moses message. Let s pretend you re the Egyptian families now and show us how they might have looked. (Pause.) God had a plan to protect his people and anyone who believed him. He told Moses to have each family kill a perfect lamb and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the door frame of their house. The plague would pass over every house that had blood on it, and those houses would not be harmed. Why do you think God told them to use the blood of a lamb? (Because it was perfect; it would die in place of the firstborn child.) The lamb, which was innocent, died so they could be protected and saved. This was a symbol of what was to come the true Lamb of God, Jesus, who died on a cross to free us from our sins. Session 13 KidsOwn Worship 179

When you arrived today, you added to the red chain on the doorway. That chain will represent the blood of the lamb. We re going to pretend we re an Israelite family. Hold up the large black trash bag. This piece of black plastic represents the last plague. I m going to pass it over each of you. As this plague passes over you, I want you to say out loud, God protects me and frees me! As you move around the room, quickly wave the black plastic just over each person s head. Then put it away, out of kids reach. Spread out around the room now. Choose a spot to stand in by yourself. Wait while children find a spot. Close your eyes. Think about the Israelites. Think about how they were slaves and prisoners for more than 400 years. How did they feel waiting that long? (Pause.) Then God sent Moses to convince Pharaoh to let them go free. Imagine how they felt when the first nine plagues didn t convince Pharaoh. Were they scared? frustrated? (Pause.) Now imagine the Israelites as the last plague passes over their homes, destroying the Egyptian families. How did the Israelites feel as the plague passed over them? Answer that to yourself. (Pause.) Imagine the Israelites as Moses comes to them and tells them to follow him out of Egypt. Put yourself in their position. Someone just told you that you were free after all that time in bondage. No more Pharaoh, no more slavery, no more unfair work. How do you think they felt? Answer that to yourself. (Pause.) God wants to help you in your life in a similar way. He sent Jesus to set you free, too. Think of an area of your life where you need God s freedom. What kind of a trap are you in? A trap of lying? cheating? Are you a slave to talking back to your parents, and no matter how hard you try you can t seem to stop? Are you in a trap of worry? About your family? your future? Are you afraid of something? everything? Take the first thing that comes to your mind. If you don t feel like you re in a trap, think of someone you know who is. (Pause.) Now talk to God, and ask him to set you (or the person you re thinking of) free in that area. Give children a few moments to talk to God. John 8:36 says, So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I m going to go up to one of you, tap you on the shoulder, and say, The Son sets you free indeed. When you get tapped, go to someone else, tap that person, and say, The Son sets you free indeed. Let s do that until everyone is set free. (continued on page 183) 180 KidsOwn Worship Summer Quarter

Preschool Activities The Israelites Escape From Egypt Worship Theme: God s freedom lasts forever. Exodus 11:1 12:36 Using Theo Session Consider using Theophilus the FaithRetriever puppet today in these ways: 13 Easy Prep for Leaders Freed From Egypt Use tape to mark a circle on the floor adjacent to a wall. Make the circle large enough for kids to sit on the floor in distinct groups of three or four. You ll need a walking stick and a bathrobe for Moses costume. Draw a doorway on newsprint, and tape it to the wall next to the circle. Disappearing Problems Mix 1/8 teaspoon laundry bluing with one cup of water, and pour the mixture into a shallow bowl or pie tin. Bluing can be found in the laundry section of most grocery stores. You ll also need small paintbrushes or cotton-tipped swabs (one per child) and white paper. Have Theo lead the preschoolers from the main worship area to the preschool room. Have Theo join a family in Freed From Egypt. See the KidsOwn Worship Kit for a puppet skit written for today s worship session. * Freed From Egypt Help children form groups of three or four, and have them sit on the floor. Let s pretend your group is an Israelite family. Can you count how many people are in your family? (Pause.) Good job! That s a nice size family. Remember, the Israelites were slaves and prisoners of the wicked Pharaoh for a long, long time. Everybody get inside the circle now and pretend you re in Egypt. Choose someone to be Moses, and have him or her stand outside the circle holding the walking stick and wearing the robe. The Israelites that s all of you families were slaves to Pharaoh. They had to work very, very hard making bricks for Pharaoh s buildings. Show me how you would make bricks. (Pause.) Mean old Pharaoh says, Work harder! Everyone! Work harder now! (Pause.) The people became so tired, many were sick, and everyone was sad. Show me how you would look if you were sick and sad and tired. (Pause.) Oh, so sad! You need help! The people prayed that God would set them free. Have children kneel and pretend to pray. So God told Moses to tell Pharaoh to let his people go. Have Moses say to you, Let my people go! But Pharaoh wouldn t listen. So God did some miracles to try to change Pharaoh s mind. He sent bad things, called plagues, to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. But God kept the Israelites free from the plagues. God sent little flying bugs and flies to bother the people of Egypt. Have children pretend to swat flies. He sent flying grasshoppers to eat their food. Have children pretend to brush away bugs near them. God sent a bad storm that rained hail on the people. Have children cover their heads. And God even made it nighttime during the day. Turn off the lights for a moment and then turn them back on. But Pharaoh would not believe. So God sent one last plague on Egypt. God told his people that if they would put a red mark on the doorway of their house, then no one inside would be hurt. Session 13 KidsOwn Worship 181

Preschool Activities * Freed From Egypt (continued) Give one child in each family a red crayon. Have the family walk to the newsprint doorway, and have the child with the crayon put a mark on it. Pharaoh and the Egyptians could choose to be protected, too, but they didn t believe Moses. When the last plague came, God protected all the Israelite people because they put a mark on their doors. Then Pharaoh finally let them go. Instruct Moses to leave and to lead the children around the room, winding around tables and chairs, then back to the masking-tape circle. You ve been on a long journey! Let s sit down and take a rest. How did God set the Israelites free? Why do you think God set them free? How does God set us free? God set his people free by sending Moses to tell Pharaoh to let them go. He did it because he loved the people so much. God sets us free, too. He wants to take care of our worries and fears and help us do right things. God s freedom lasts forever! Free to Be Have children form a straight line and link arms with one another. Wow! You look like one long human chain! Keep your arms linked now. Listen to my directions, and then do what I say without letting go of each other s arms. Remember: Don t let go! Instruct children to walk to the other end of the room. On their way across the room, have them stop and turn around without letting go of one another s arms. Have them do this several times. Good job trying, everyone! Now let go of one another s arms. This time walk by yourself to the other side of the room, and then come back. Wait while children follow your instructions. Then have them sit down around you. How did it feel to do something while you were chained to the others? How did it feel when you could move all by yourself? How do you feel when you do bad things? Sometimes we feel sad or mad when we do bad things. Sometimes we feel scared and we worry. We get all tied up on the inside, the way we were when we were chained together, arm-in-arm. Then it s hard to do what we re supposed to do. * Disappearing Problems We just told one another about things that we worry about and that scare us. Those things are problems. When Jesus helps us, he makes our problems disappear. I have some special paint today that will help us remember this. It disappears when it dries, and Jesus makes our problems disappear when we trust him! What are some things you worry about? What are some things you re afraid of? Preschool Leader Tip If your class is large, have children form small groups of six to eight. When you worry or are afraid, it makes things harder, just like it was harder to move when you were linked to everyone else. You could move better and faster when you were free to move by yourself. God doesn t want you to worry or be afraid. If you ask God to help you, he ll come and be with you so you won t be afraid or worried. And when you do bad things, he ll forgive you. That s so exciting it makes me want to jump up and down! Let s do that together. When we jump up and down, let s shout, God s freedom lasts forever! Encourage children to shout, God s freedom lasts forever, as they jump up and down. While we paint designs on our papers, let s take turns thanking God for taking care of our troubles. He forgives us when we do wrong, and he helps us when we re afraid or worried. We can thank him for his freedom that lasts forever. As children paint with the laundry bluing, encourage each child to say a simple prayer to thank God for his help and freedom. Lay the paintings aside. Have the children take them home. 182 KidsOwn Worship Summer Quarter

(continued from page 180) * Forever and Ever Show the video segment titled Forever and Ever. It explores how a perpetual-motion machine works. The video will explain how people have tried for years to create a machine that would last forever, but no one can really make a perpetual motion machine. Only God can make things that truly last forever. The video will explain how people try to set themselves free rather than depend on God for freedom. How does the perpetual motion machine work? (It keeps moving; once it s started, it doesn t ever have to be restarted.) Why doesn t a perpetual motion machine work perfectly? (Nothing goes on forever; other things make it stop working.) How is working to create a perfect machine like trying to free ourselves from sin? (It doesn t work; we ll fail every time; it s impossible to free ourselves from sin just as it s impossible to create a perfect machine.) Why do we need God to set us free? (God is the only one who s perfect; God is powerful enough to set us free from anything.) Why does God s freedom last forever? (Because God lasts forever; God wants to be with us in heaven forever.) There are some things no human being will ever be strong enough to do. One of those things is to have power over sin and to set people free. Only Jesus is strong enough to do that. That s why we need him to set us free. God s freedom lasts forever. Tangled Up Have kids form groups of at least four. Have children in each group knot and twist themselves together so that each person is connected to the others in some way. Challenge them to get as tangled as possible. Suggest joining hands, wrapping an arm around a head, grabbing someone s shoulder, and then stepping a leg over someone s arms, and so on. When everyone is twisted up, give each group a job to do. For example, ask two groups to trade places, or ask a group to move across the room to turn on or off the lights or open or close the door. Make sure kids don t disentangle while they do their job. When everyone has had a chance to do a job while tangled up, continue. Good job, everyone! Untangle yourselves now, and form one big circle. Turn a quarter-turn to your right so that you re standing behind one another, but still in a circle. Good job! Let s all sit down now scratch the back of the person in front of you! Scratch backs for a few minutes; then have everyone turn toward the center of the circle. Session 13 KidsOwn Worship 183

How did it feel to do a job when you re all tangled up together compared to doing a job when you could move on your own? (It was harder when I was tangled up; I needed the freedom to move around.) It s difficult to do a job when you re all bound up. Life is like that sometimes it s hard to do what we re supposed to do when we re bound up in fears and worries and sins. John 8:36 says, So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. What does it mean for God to set us free? (He helps us not worry about things; he takes our sins away; he sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins for us.) What do our lives look like when we re free? (We worship God for setting us free; people can tell that we re following Jesus; we re more joyful when we re free.) As Christians, we live lives free from the punishment and the bondage of sin. And we know that God s freedom lasts forever! Let s give God our offerings of thanksgiving for setting us free. Let s Pray! The Offering Remove the paper chain from the doorway. Place it on a table with the offering bowl. We ve been talking today about giving our sins, worries, and fears to God so that he can set us free. The chain we made represents the things that bind us or keep us locked up inside. Each link represents a sin, fear, or worry we re giving to God. As each of you comes up to the table, tear one of the links off the chain and put it in the offering bowl along with your offering if you brought one. As you do that, give your troubles to the Lord. Then thank God for setting you free as you return to your seat. Have the children walk to the front to give their offerings. My God Is Powerful Have kids link arms, forming a human chain across the room. Let s sing My God Is Powerful. Keep your arms linked and think about holding on to God the way we re holding on to each other. Sing My God Is Powerful. 184 KidsOwn Worship Summer Quarter

Pick-Me-Up Praise Have the children sit down. We ve had opportunities today to talk to God about the things that bind us and keep us prisoners. We ve asked him to set us free. Let s take time now to thank him for the freedom he gives us. Let s praise him in a way that s sure to pick us up and put us on your feet! First, take a moment to silently thank God for taking care of the things you gave him today. Give children a few moments to pray silently. Let s praise God now because he truly sets us free. That s sure to pick you up even if you re having a down day! Take a child s hand and pull the child to his or her feet. You are free indeed! Now you pull someone up and say the same thing. Whoever you help up will pull someone else up and say, You are free indeed. Continue until all of us are standing. Let s praise God for his freedom! God, we praise you for sending Jesus to set us free! We love you and want to walk with you forever. Lead us in your way, step by step, God. Help us to ask you for help as soon as we need it. Thank you for your freedom that lasts forever. In Jesus name, amen. Session 13 KidsOwn Worship 185

Encouragement for Leaders Your love for children and willingness to share your time and effort will have an eternal impact. Thank you! 186 KidsOwn Worship Summer Quarter