Gratitude November 2017 Large Group

Transcription

1 Gratitude November 2017 Large Group

2 252 Groups November 2017, Week 1 Large Group Script Bible Story: Keep Psalm and Be Thankful (A psalm of thanksgiving) Psalm 100:1-5 Bottom Line: Celebrate what God has done. Memory Verse: Give thanks no matter what happens. God wants you to thank him because you believe in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIrV Life App: Gratitude letting others know you see how they ve helped you. Hosting Props: CG only Storyteller Props: 4 Dry erase boards Dry erase markers Teaching Tips: Elbows Use this term to get the kids to quiet down. Say it loud and make it fun at the beginning of the day. When you say, elbows the kids must grab both elbows with their hands and focus on you. Loud and Quiet Use the art of being loud when you want their attention back or quiet when you want to really bring them into a pivotal moment in the lesson. Remember that your version of loud and quiet is different for each storyteller. Check for understanding You can periodically check to see if the kids are following by having them do one of the following things: o Pause without completing a sentence and see if the kids will say it for you. o Ask questions to have them engage. o Have the kids do motions to the bottom line with you each time you say it. INTRO AND WELCOME Intro Slide w/ Music [As the kids are entering the room, walk around and ask a series of questions to have them discuss with one another. Have some kids raise their hand to share their answer with everyone on the handheld MIC. ASK: Do you enjoy celebrating Thanksgiving or Christmas more? ASK: If you had a party, would you rather go to Disneyland or Disneyworld? GAMETIME (8 MINUTES) CG: Freeze Dance Party [keep music low volume] HOST: WELCOME ALL! We are going to start the day with a game called, Freeze Dance Party. Everyone needs to get up on their feet and play this game with us.

3 252 Groups November 2017, Week 1 [PREP and RULES: This game is completely ran by the TECH team with CG. What you will do is click the slide with the music and the host will instruct the kids to dance. On the top right corner there is a pause button that stops the audio. Randomly pause the music and when that happens the kids have to freeze. Become random with your timing on pausing and unpausing the music to have fun. Host will dance and interact with the game along with the kids. Play this game until the host ends it over the microphone.] HOST: In just a second we are going to play music and during the music I want you to dance like crazy. However, it is freeze dance which means when the music stops you must FREEZE! Are you ready? [Wait for responses] alright, CUE the music. CG: Freeze Dance Music [PLAY THE GAME] THEME OF THE MONTH HOST: That was such a fun game to play, My name is [Host s name] and I am SO glad that you re hanging out with us today! I want to say WELCOME to [your environment s name], the place where we have the most FUN time with the most FUN people! If you like having fun, raise one arm like this! (Raise your right arm.) Then raise your other arm like this! (Raise your left arm.) And give yourself a high-five and say, Let the fun begin! HOST and KIDS: (Give yourself a high-five) Let the fun begin! HOST: I like the way you guys think! Having fun is the best! And today we start talking about something that I happen to think is super-dee-dooper WHOPPER-level fun. And it all has to do with a big word called gratitude. Can you say that with me? HOST and KIDS: Gratitude. HOST: Gratitude, that s right! Who thinks they know what that word means? Raise your hand. (Look around the room.) You do?! All right, let s find out together! CG: Gratitude Slide Gratitude is letting others know you see how they ve helped you. Why don t we all read that together? HOST AND KIDS: Gratitude is letting others know you see how they ve helped you. HOST: In other words, gratitude means you say or show others that you are thankful. Like when your mom packs your favorite lunch and you give her a hug on your way out the door or when your friend lets you borrow a pencil at school and you give them a fist bump and say thanks, THAT S gratitude. There are like a bajillion different ways to express gratitude! Gratitude IS fun. And you know what else is fun? Celebrations. Celebrating someone is a super easy way to show gratitude.

4 252 Groups November 2017, Week 1 CG: Blank Slide WORSHIP (7 MINUTES) Let s bring up our worship team to the stage and let s worship together. [Teach the song since it s the first week of the month. Afterwards jump into the worship song.] CG: Worship: At the Top of our Lungs Amber Sky STORY (15 MINUTES) STORYTELLER: Great job worshiping with us today. I want to share with you what we are going to be learning today. Let s look at the screen and say this with me. CG: Bottom Line Slide Celebrate what God has done. Great job. Now let s have a little fun with it with some motions. Celebrate (Raise the roof) what God has done (hammer a closed fist together) [You can create your own motions to make it fun for the kids throughout the lesson. Use this as a tool to CUE the kids into the point of the lesson every time you say the bottom line.] STORYTELLER: Let s practice some gratitude right now. Everyone look at their neighbor and say, Hey, thanks for being here! STORYTELLER and KIDS: Hey, thanks for being here. STORYTELLER: See? Gratitude is cool! Do you know what else is cool? Discovering something amazing about God s Word! And wow, we have something AMAZING to discover today! Hold up the Bible. Did you know that there is a whole book of the Bible filled with lyrics to worship songs? It s true! It s called the Book of Psalms. These lyrics, that we call psalms, were written thousands of years ago, but we still use them in many of the songs we sing today! Crazy, right?! The writers of these psalms used their words to express their trust and hope in God. Many of them were songs of praise for all the amazing things that God has done! They did this because they knew to Celebrate what God has done (MOTIONS) And the Psalm we get to look at today talks about taking time out to show gratitude to God and celebrate all He s done for us! Let s look at it together. CG: Psalms 100:1-5 NIrV (Open the Bible to Psalm 100 and read.) Shout for joy to the LORD, everyone on earth. Worship the Lord with gladness. Come to him with songs of joy. Know that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him. We are his people. We are the sheep belonging to his flock. Give thanks as you enter the gates of his temple. Give praise as you enter its courtyards. Give thanks to him and praise his name. The Lord is good. His faithful love continues forever. It will last for all time to come (Psalm 100:1-5 NIrV).

5 252 Groups November 2017, Week 1 This psalm was written a really long time ago, but these are things we should remember right now too! Let s dig in and find out how. CG: Blank Slide Walk to the first board, open a dry erase marker, and draw a circle in the middle of the board. Raise your hand if you like drawing. (Scan the audience.) That makes... (pretend to count) well, that makes a LOT of us. Which is good, because I have some things I ll be drawing this morning and I ll need you to guess what those things are. Are you ready? (Pause for response.) Okay! Let s do it! GOD GAVE / CREATION Begin filling in details on the earth, with water and land. STORYTELLER: The Bible tells us in the book of Genesis the very first book in the Bible that God actually created some pretty cool stuff. One of the things that God created is super, super important for us. It s round. It s got land on it... and water. We live here. It s... Point to the drawing. Hold hand to ear.... the EARTH! That s right! God created the earth. He created the earth the entire universe, actually and everything in it. But God didn t just create the earth so we d have somewhere to live; He also created some pretty cool things on earth for us to enjoy, like flowers. Draw a flower. And He created the sun. Think about how boring the sky would be without the sun in it. And He created the ocean. Who likes swimming? Draw the sun. Draw a wave. And we CAN T forget about all our favorite animals. Draw a puppy face. Would you look at all that cool stuff? God didn t have to create these things. He did it so we could enjoy them. So we could learn more about Him and so we could see His creativity, His sense of humor, and His love for us. Draw a stick figure man and woman. But God wasn t done! God created people! He created us too!

6 252 Groups November 2017, Week 1 Let s look back at the first thing Psalm 100 says: Shout for joy to the Lord, everyone on earth (Psalm 100:1 NIrV). You re on earth, right?! Of course you are. That means the writer of this psalm wants YOU to shout with joy! On the count of three everyone shout, Joy to the Lord. One, two, three! KIDS and STORYTELLER: Joy to the Lord! STORYTELLER: That s right! But why should we shout and sing joyful things to God? Because we need to Celebrate what God has done (MOTIONS) So let s look at more things He has done. GOD TAKES CARE OF US Move to the second board and begin drawing a house. STORYTELLER: Well, check out what s written in the psalm: Know that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him. We are his people. We are the sheep belonging to his flock (Psalm 100:3 NIrV). And here s the thing: God didn t just create this big, beautiful world and then disappear. God keeps taking care of us like a shepherd takes care of his sheep. God does this every single moment of every single day in ways we probably don t even realize. He gives us... Point to the house and hold hand to ear, as if listening. Yes! God allows us to have a place to live! That s right. Whether it s an apartment or a house, whether it s big or it s small, God gives us a place where we can stay and be protected from the rain and the snow and the weather and the other things that could harm us. Draw a stick figure family. God also gives us a special group of people to help care for us. This is usually who we live with, who we spend a bunch of time with, and sometimes we fight with them. This is our... Point to the family and hold hand to ear, as if listening. Our family. That s right! Now, every family looks different, but families and friends and teachers and Small Group Leaders are gifts God has given us. Start drawing fruits and veggies like apples, bananas, snow peas, carrots, etc. We have place to stay, people to care for us, and we have something else that God gives us to take care of us. Maybe you have some of this in the morning before you get to school or throughout the day for snack or lunch. God gives us... Point to the fruit and hold hand to ear, as if listening.... food! Yeah, we have fruits and veggies and breads and meats all sorts of delicious food that gives us nourishment so we can do our best in school.

7 252 Groups November 2017, Week 1 Those are just a few of the ways God continues to take care of us. But you know what s awesome? God doesn t just take care of us; God LOVES us. GOD LOVES US STORYTELLER: The last bit in Psalm 100 says this: Give thanks as you enter the gates of his temple. Give praise as you enter its courtyards. Give thanks to him and praise his name. The Lord is good. His faithful love continues forever. It will last for all time to come (Psalm 100:4-5 NIrV). This is where things get really cool. God is good and maybe you ve heard people respond to that with all the time. It s totally true. There s never a time when God ISN T good. When the psalm talks about His faithful love lasting forever, it s not just a saying. It s forever. God s love never ends. Move to the third board and begin drawing a huge cross and empty tomb. One huge reason for that love continuing forever is Jesus not just Him as a man, but what He did for us on the cross when He died. There is no greater love than to give up your life for your friend, and Jesus did it for everyone. Jesus took it one step beyond what a normal shepherd could do, and He saved His sheep all of US who believe in Him from ever being without Him again. And some of you already know this, but Jesus didn t stay dead. Jesus rose again! This is definitely something that deserves our gratitude so that is what we are going to do we are going to Celebrate what God has done (MOTIONS)! WRAPPING UP THE STORY Go to the fourth board and begin drawing a simple megaphone. STORYTELELR: If we were to stop and think about it, we could think of TONS of things that God has done for us. We could think of all the ways He takes care of us and shows His love for us, like a full tummy, a warm bed, a toy to play with, and a hand to hold. God does all of that for us. And we should celebrate it. CG: Bottom Line Slide God loves us, He gives to us, and He takes care of us. We have so much to celebrate! Once again, let s shout for joy to celebrate what God has done! (MOTIONS) On the count of three everyone shout, Joy to the Lord. One, two, three! KIDS and STORYTELLER: Joy to the Lord! STORYTELELR: Here is our new memory verse for the month. CG: Memory Verse Slide Give thanks no matter what happens. God wants you to thank him because you believe in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIrV We can celebrate all that God has done in more ways than one. We can pray and thank God for the things we have. We can tell others about all the things God has done for us. We can celebrate all God

8 252 Groups November 2017, Week 1 has done when we sing songs about Him. We can also celebrate what God has done by doing things for other people. There are MANY ways to celebrate the MANY things God has done for us. STORYTELLER: Awesome! Let s pray and thank God right now for all He has done! Pray STORYTELLER: God, we celebrate YOU! You gave us the earth and everything in it. You give us families, and homes, and friends, and food. You even sent us Your only Son to so we could be in Your family forever. Thank You, God. We love You! We pray this in Jesus name, amen! CG: Outro Slide and Music Dismiss kids Timing - Goal is to end by 5:35, 9:35, or 11:35

9 252 Groups November 2017, Week 2 Large Group Script Bible Story: Parable of the vineyard workers Matthew 20:1-15 Bottom Line: Adjust your attitude. Memory Verse: Give thanks no matter what happens. God wants you to thank him because you believe in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIrV Life App: Gratitude letting others know you see how they ve helped you. Hosting Props: CG Storyteller Props: Table Prop box containing the following: o 5 bunches of grapes on the vine o Large clear bowl o 5 boxes of raisins Teaching Tips: Elbows Use this term to get the kids to quiet down. Say it loud and make it fun at the beginning of the day. When you say, elbows the kids must grab both elbows with their hands and focus on you. Loud and Quiet Use the art of being loud when you want their attention back or quiet when you want to really bring them into a pivotal moment in the lesson. Remember that your version of loud and quiet is different for each storyteller. Check for understanding You can periodically check to see if the kids are following by having them do one of the following things: o Pause without completing a sentence and see if the kids will say it for you. o Ask questions to have them engage. o Have the kids do motions to the bottom line with you each time you say it. INTRO AND WELCOME Intro Slide w/ Music [As the kids are entering the room, walk around and ask a series of questions to have them discuss with one another. Have some kids share their answer with you to share with everyone with a raised hand.] ASK: What is your favorite movie of all time? ASK: Would you rather eat a giant bug or be stung by a bee? GAMETIME (8 MINUTES) CG: Zoom in Challenge [keep music low volume]

10 252 Groups November 2017, Week 2 Ohhhh, and THAT is our game music! You know what time it is! It s time for a game called 'Zoom in Challenge'! And today, we re all getting a chance to play! PREP AND RULES: This game is done completely by tech and you, the host leading the kids. There is a series of 5 zoomed in pictures that will pop up on the T.V.s. For each zoomed in picture you will accept answers from the kids on what they think the picture is of, if they get it right, they are the winner of that round and tech will display a normal picture of that item. After each correct answer, move on to the next item until you have gone through all five items. The items will be in this order: Shoelace, football, puppy, sunflower, grapes. We have 5 zoomed in challenges to figure out. For each challenge, there will be a zoomed in picture on the screen. If you think you know what the zoomed in picture is of, raise your hand to tell me what it is, and you ll be one of today s winner of the Zoomed in Challenge! And our fifth picture is a special bonus challenge because it has to do with our bible story for the day. Everyone understand? Are you ready? On your marks, get set, go! SFX: Upbeat game music [PLAY THE GAME] CG: 1 st Zoomed in Challenge Slide CG: 1 st Puzzle Reveal Slide of a shoelace CG: 2 nd Zoomed in Challenge Slide CG: 2 nd Puzzle Reveal Slide of a football CG: 3 rd Zoomed in Challenge Slide CG: 3 rd Puzzle Reveal Slide of puppy CG:4 th Zoomed in Challenge Slide CG: 4 h Puzzle Reveal Slide of a sunflower CG: 5 th Zoomed in Challenge Slide CG: 5 th Puzzle Reveal Slide of grapes... bunch of grapes! Huh! I wonder what that must do with today s Bible story. Well, I guess we ll just have to wait and find out. Congrats, [grapes round winner's name]! Everyone give them a hand. THEME OF THE MONTH

11 252 Groups November 2017, Week 2 HOST: My name is [Host s name] and I want to say welcome to [your environment s name]! We re so excited that you re here. If YOU RE excited to be here, give me two thumbs up! (Give two thumbs up.) And if you re not excited to be here, well, you should be! Because you guys are the coolest. And we have some cool stuff planned today, so let s get started by reminding ourselves what we re talking about this month. It s gratitude. Who remembers what that big word means? (Pause for response.) Yeah, it means being thankful! And this month, this is how we re talking about gratitude. Take a look. CG: Gratitude Slide Gratitude is letting others know you see how they ve helped you. What is gratitude? HOST and KIDS: Gratitude is letting others know you see how they ve helped you! HOST: That s right! Gratitude is simple. It s simply saying or showing thanks for all the things that people do, like baking cookies to take to the fire station to show gratitude to all the firefighters who help others. Or maybe it s writing your teacher a thank you note to show gratitude for all the things he or she has taught you. CG: Blank Slide WORSHIP (7 MINUTES) Let s bring up our worship team to the stage and let s worship together. [Teach the song since it s the first week of the month. Afterwards jump into the worship song.] CG: Worship: At the Top of my Lungs Amber Sky STORY (15 MINUTES) STORYTELLER: Hey, everybody! My name is [Storyteller s name]. On three, I want you to yell out YOUR name to me. Ready? One, two, three! (Hold hand to ear while kids yell names.) Uh-huh. Yup. Now we re all friends! I m so glad you re here! This month we ve been talking about gratitude. Most of the time, we can find all sorts of ways to put gratitude into practice. It can be as simple as a high-five or as NOT simple as big huge party with balloons and a rocking playlist. Take the bowl and the grapes out of the prop box. Put the grapes on the table next to the bowl. But what happens during those times when it s not so easy to be grateful? Maybe you didn t get the toy you wanted for your birthday, your mom cooked your least favorite meal, or something happened that

12 252 Groups November 2017, Week 2 feels totally unfair. What then? How can we find a way to have gratitude? That s a tough question, huh? But it s also a good question! And when you have questions like this, the first place we should look is the Bible. The Bible is full of wisdom that God wanted us to know in order to make wise choices about how we should follow Him. And when we dig into what the Bible says about gratitude, we come across a story that Jesus told that s recorded for us in the book of Matthew, chapter 20. And this story Jesus told has to do with grapes! In this story we are going to learn our new bottom line and here it is. Adjust your attitude. CG: Bottom Line Slide Well that is an interesting lesson to learn and I am sure it is going to make sense as we continue the story but let s make it fun. [Bottom Line] Adjust (put your hand up like you're measuring height and scale it down a few inches) your attitude (put your hands on your hips). Say it with me and do the motions. Great job! Pluck a grape from the vine and eat it. Mmm mmm mmm! Delicious! The stories that Jesus told are called parables. Jesus told parables to help people learn something super important about God. FIRST WORKERS ARE HIRED STORYTELLER: Speaking of super important, can I get a super important volunteer to help me with a super important job? I ll pay yooooouuu! Choose a volunteer and bring them on stage. (To volunteer) I need your help getting all these grapes into this bowl. Would you mind picking all of these grapes and putting them into the bowl? Thanks! Turn back to the audience. Now, while [volunteer s name] is working, let s find out what Jesus told the group of people He was teaching. Here s what He said.

13 252 Groups November 2017, Week 2 (Open Bible and read Matthew 20:1-2.) The kingdom of heaven is like a man who owned land. He went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to give them the usual pay for a day s work. Then he sent them into his vineyard (NIrV). So first of all, who knows what a vineyard is? (Take responses from kids or Small Group Leader) That s exactly right! A vineyard is like a huge garden where grapes grow on a vine. Pick up a bunch of grapes. One day, very early in the morning, the owner of the vineyard hired some workers to help. Sort of like [volunteer s name]. So the workers started working early in the morning. MORE WORKERS ARE HIRED STORYTELLER: [Volunteer s name], how s it going? You know what? We may need to get another worker on stage to help pick these grapes. Would anyone else be willing to come work? Choose another helper to come pick the grapes and put them in the bowl. And wouldn t you know, that s exactly what happened in Jesus story. At nine in the morning, the vineyard owner went out to find even more workers to hire. And each one of them agreed to work for the same day s pay the owner would pay the first workers. So now he had a second group of workers working for him in his vineyard. So this SECOND group of people joined the first group of people, who had already been working for a while. Inspect the volunteers work. Hey, workers. Just checking in. Looks like we need more workers to help get the grapes off these vines and into the bowl. EVEN MORE WORKERS ARE HIRED STORYTELLER: (To audience) I know we re almost done here, but can I get three more workers who are willing to come work on the grapes? Choose three more helpers to come pick the grapes and put them in the bowl. Great! Let s finish up Jesus story about the vineyard. So the owner had gone early in the morning to hire a few workers. Then, at 9:00, he went back out to hire even more workers. Can you guess what happened next? If you guessed that the owner hired even more workers, you re right!

14 252 Groups November 2017, Week 2 (Open Bible and read from Matthew 20:5b-7.) He went out again about noon and at three o clock and did the same thing. About five o clock he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing? Because no one has hired us, they answered. He said to them, You also go and work in my vineyard (NIrV). Altogether, the owner of the vineyard went out five times throughout the day from early in the morning to one hour left in the working day. And every time he came back with more workers who agreed to work for a fair day s pay. When the end of the day came, he brought all of the workers together to give them the payment. Walk over to the volunteers. Okay, guys! You can stop picking grapes now. Now, I DID promise I would pay you. For our last volunteers: one box of raisins. For our second volunteer: one box of raisins. For our first volunteer: one box of raisins. Hold up five boxes of raisins. Give each of the last three volunteers a box of raisins. Give the second volunteer a box of raisins. Give the first volunteer a box of raisins. One box of raisins for each. This is basically what happened in the story Jesus told. The owner brought the people who had worked the shortest amount of time and gave them a fair day s pay. And listen to what those first workers said when they noticed what was happening. (Open the Bible to Matthew 20:10-11.) So when those who were hired first came, they expected to receive more. But each of them also received the usual day s pay. When they received it, they began to complain about the owner (NIrV). That s right, they got upset and started complaining! Instead of having gratitude for having work and getting paid, they thought they should receive more than the workers who started at the end of the day. But the owner had something to say about that.

15 252 Groups November 2017, Week 2 (Open the Bible to Matthew 20:13-14 and read.) The owner answered one of them. Friend, he said, I m being fair to you. Didn t you agree to work for the usual day s pay? Take your money and go. I want to give the one I hired last the same pay I gave you (NIrV). The workers thought it was unfair, but the owner made an agreement and he made good on that agreement. Thanks, kids, for helping out today! You can head back to your seats. Dismiss kids to their seats. WRAPPING UP THE STORY STORYTELLER: Let s be honest for a second. If you think that doesn t sound fair, you re right. It s not fair. But that s what the vineyard owner chose to do. He paid the people who only worked one hour the same amount as he paid the people who worked all day long. What the workers could have done instead is adjust their attitude. They could have been thankful they were chosen first, had a job, and got paid for their work. They could have been thankful that the owner of the vineyard kept his promise and paid them. They could have refocused their attention on what they thought wasn t fair to what was good about the situation. And sometimes all of us need to do just that adjust our attitudes. Let s do the motions together one more time. CG: Bottom Line Slide [Bottom Line] Adjust (put your hand up like you're measuring height and scale it down a few inches) your attitude (put your hands on your hips). Say it with me and do the motions. KIDS and STORYTELLER: [Bottom Line] Adjust your attitude. MOTIONS STORYTELLER: Instead of worrying about what other people have, Jesus wants us to show gratitude for what we ve been given. But that isn t easy is it? I think we need God s help. How about we pray right now and talk to Him about it? Let s pray. Pray STORYTELLER: God, help us to adjust our attitudes. When things don t feel fair, when someone gets something that we don t, when we don t get what we think we deserve, help us remember all the things You ve already given us and done for us. Help us to show gratitude even when it s super hard. We love You. We pray this in Jesus name, amen. " Have a great time together, and we ll see you next time! CG: Outro Slide and Music Dismiss kids Timing - Goal is to end by 5:35, 9:35, or 11:35

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17 252 Groups November 2017, Week 3 Large Group Script Bible Story: Jesus heals 10 men Luke 17:11-19 Bottom Line: Say thank you. Memory Verse: Give thanks no matter what happens. God wants you to thank him because you believe in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIrV Life App: Gratitude letting others know you see how they ve helped you. Hosting Props: None Storyteller Props: 3 strips of butcher paper Black permanent marker Tape Teaching Tips: Elbows Use this term to get the kids to quiet down. Say it loud and make it fun at the beginning of the day. When you say, elbows the kids must grab both elbows with their hands and focus on you. Loud and Quiet Use the art of being loud when you want their attention back or quiet when you want to really bring them into a pivotal moment in the lesson. Remember that your version of loud and quiet is different for each storyteller. Check for understanding You can periodically check to see if the kids are following by having them do one of the following things: o Pause without completing a sentence and see if the kids will say it for you. o Ask questions to have them engage. o Have the kids do motions to the bottom line with you each time you say it. INTRO AND WELCOME Intro Slide w/ Music [As the kids are entering the room, walk around and ask a series of questions to have them discuss with one another. Have some kids share their answer with you to share with everyone with a raised hand.] ASK: Would you rather have a squirrel or a racoon for a pet? ASK: If you could have any superpower, what would it be? GAMETIME (8 MINUTES) CG: Thank Who Slide and Upbeat Music [keep music low volume] HOST: Heeeeyy! It s one of our favorite sounds: the game time music! And we have a super fun game planned for you today. It s one everyone gets to play. This game is called 'Thank Who?'

18 252 Groups November 2017, Week 3 [PREP and RULES: This game is ran by the TECH team with CG and the host leading. There are several series of pictures that will go on the screen. Each picture is a clue for the answer. There are three clues in each series. The goal is to get the students to guess the names of people who help us. There are 3 series total. When kids think they know the answer they will raise their hand and you will call on them to see if they have the correct answer. The game ends after you have gone through all three series.] HOST: I am going to show you groups of three photos. Each picture is a clue to help you guess the names of people who help us. When you think you know the answer, raise your hand. After the last clue, we ll all yell out our answer together. Are you ready to play (snap) OH, SNAP? Let s do it! [PLAY THE GAME] CG: Photo of an apple What does an apple have to do with someone who helps us? It might be too soon to guess! Let s see clues two and three! CG: Photo of an eraser Hmmm. And now the final clue. CG: Photo of a textbook Who is someone that helps us who might use or have all those items? On three, yell it out. One, two, three! (Hold hand to ear.) HOST: Yes! A teacher was the right answer. Teachers help us. We should definitely tell ALL our teachers thank you. Continue the game with the following sets of images: Awesome job Guys! You have a lot of people who help you everyday!" CG: Blank Slide ladder, fire, fire hydrant: firefighter thermometer, medicine, hospital: doctor

19 252 Groups November 2017, Week 3 THEME OF THE MONTH HOST: Hey, everybody! How we doing? My name is [Host s name], and I want to give all of you a HUGE shout out for showing up today to [your environment s name]! We ve got some super amazing stuff planned for YOU! But it wouldn t be nearly as amazing if YOU weren t here! In fact, it d be weird if I were standing up here talking to an empty room. Why don t you give yourself a pat on the back and say, Good job for showing up, self! HOST and KIDS: (Pat yourself on the back.) Good job for showing up, self! HOST: Yes, yes! You re here, I m here, so thank you! Today we're talking about something super important and that is to [Bottom Line] Say (cup both hands around mouth as if shouting) thank you (give two thumbs up). Say it with me and do the motions. STORYTELLER and KIDS: [Bottom Line] Say thank you. MOTIONS We ve got a super fun Life App to talk about! It s gonna be a blast! Speaking of Life Apps, who remembers ours for this month? Raise your hand! Let s see if you re right! Say it with me. CG: Gratitude Slide HOST and KIDS: Gratitude is letting others know you see how they ve helped you. HOST: You got it! Gratitude is simple. It s letting others know that you see how they ve helped you. And you can show gratitude all sorts of ways. When your teacher takes you on a field trip, you behave respectfully. When your parents take you out to dinner, you have good manners and say please. When your friend helps you with your math homework, maybe you share your snack with them. All these reactions let others know you see how they ve helped you. That s gratitude! Do you know the easiest way to show gratitude? It s two simple words. They re super easy but super powerful. The first one starts with a T. Any guesses? (Pause.) You ve got it: thank you! One of the simplest, easiest ways to show gratitude is to just say thank you, and It s more important than you think! CG: Blank Slide WORSHIP (7 MINUTES) Let s bring up our worship team to the stage and let s worship together.

20 252 Groups November 2017, Week 3 [Teach the song since it s the first week of the month. Afterwards jump into the worship song.] CG: Worship: At the Top of my Lungs Amber Sky STORY (15 MINUTES) STORYTELLER: Hey there, friends! I have a question for you! Think hard about this. When was the last time you told someone thank you? Does anyone want to share? As time allows, take two or three quick responses from the kids. Yeah! Those are great! Most people [Bottom Line] say thank you. MOTIONS all the time. They [Bottom Line] say thank you. MOTIONS when someone holds the door for them, gives them something, or helps them in some way. Saying thank you is a great, easy way to show gratitude! But sometimes we don t [Bottom Line] say thank you. MOTIONS, do we? Sometimes someone will do something for us, and for whatever reason we don't thank them for how they ve helped us. I wonder why that is. Maybe we re too busy, or maybe we re just so focused on ourselves that we miss what s happening around us. But saying thank you and showing gratitude is pretty important, isn t it? So let s try to figure this out together. Thankfully, we have God s Word to help us figure out questions like this. And it just so happens that Jesus experienced a moment in His life that can help us answer it. This moment is recorded in a book called Luke, one of the four gospels that tell us all about some of the things that happened while Jesus was here on earth. Let s get started! 10 LEPERS Walk to the first photo strip and open the Bible to Luke 17. Reference the Stick Figure Examples if necessary. STORYTELLER: This true story starts with 10 men. All 10 men lived in the same city. Draw 10 stick figures in strip 1, box 1.

21 252 Groups November 2017, Week 3 But these weren t 10 ordinary men. No, there was something different about these men. They were sick like, really sick. Draw a face with red spots on it in strip 1, box 2. All 10 of these men had a pretty bad disease called leprosy. Leprosy is no fun at ALL. It makes your skin all bumpy and itchy. It s miserable, and all 10 men were miserable. And if the pain of the disease wasn t bad enough, people with leprosy weren t allowed to go near anyone healthy not even their own families. So people with leprosy were often sent away to live outside the village or city walls and gates. This made the men feel very lonely. Draw a gate in strip 1, box 3. But then something happened. Or someone happened. Check out what it says in Luke 17:11: Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. He traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee (NIrV). At some point these men spotted Jesus and must have thought to themselves that Jesus could help them! JESUS SENDS THE LEPERS TO THE PRIESTS Draw a set of simple hands in strip 2, box 1. STORYTELLER: Luke tells us they began to cry out to Him and said: Jesus! Master! Have pity on us! (Luke 17:13 NIrV). They must have heard stories of the power Jesus had to heal people. Draw a road in strip 2, box 2. Jesus saw the men, and He heard their cries. So, Jesus said: Go. Show yourself to the priests (Luke 17:14 NIrV). And the 10 men obeyed. Draw a stick figure walking to a building in strip 2, box 3. The 10 men, with their itchy and burning skin, set out on their way. And can you guess what happened next? Well, the Bible tells us that even before the men reached the priests, they were healed! ONE GRATEFUL LEPER

22 252 Groups November 2017, Week 3 Draw 10 smiling stick figures in strip 3, box 1. STORYTELLER: All 10 lepers were completely healed. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. It was a miracle! These men who had lived in pain and agony, who had been kicked out of their own hometown were now whole. Draw one stick figure separated from the other nine in strip 3, box 2. I mean, this was a HUGE deal! It was life changing! Imagine how it would feel to live part of your life lonely, ashamed, and hurting, only to be completely healed. It d be pretty amazing, right?! So amazing that you d want to jump for joy and shout, Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! right? But I want you to guess. How many of these men do you think came back to [Bottom Line] say thank you. MOTIONS to Jesus? Any guesses? Pause for responses. Draw one smiling stick figure in strip 3, box 3. One. That s it. Can you believe that? Listen to what Luke tells us happened. (Open the Bible and read Luke 17:15-16.) When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back. He praised God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus feet and thanked him (NIrV). WRAPPING UP THE STORY STORYTELLER: You might think that Jesus didn t care. You might think that Jesus didn t even notice. I mean, He s Jesus, right? He s got people thanking Him all the time. But guess what: Jesus DID care. He looked at the one man who returned and said: Weren t all ten healed? Where are the other nine? (Luke 17:17 NIrV). Then Jesus said: Get up and go. Your faith has healed you (Luke 17:19 NIrV). There s a lot happening in that story, but one of the things we can learn today is that it s important to show our gratitude and say thank you. In fact, that s our Bottom Line today. CG: Bottom Line Slide [Bottom Line] Say (cup both hands around mouth as if shouting) thank you (give two thumbs up). Say it with me and do the motions.

23 252 Groups November 2017, Week 3 STORYTELLER and KIDS: [Bottom Line] Say thank you. MOTIONS Bottom Line] Say thank you. MOTIONS Thank you. Those are two fairly small words with the power to totally make someone s day. Think about it for a moment. When your mom washes and folds your clothes and puts them on your bed so you have them in the morning, or when your friend saves you a seat in small group, or when your brother comes over and helps you understand a difficult math problem, or maybe even when friends come and sit by you when you re feeling lonely on the playground, you can [Bottom Line] say thank you. MOTIONS You can thank others in all sorts of situations not just when they get you gifts, prizes, cards, and things. People help us out all the time! We can see other people s actions what they do, how they help and say two small words: thank you. STORYTELLER: That s true for the men in our story, and it s true for us, too. We can show our gratitude and say thank you. We can say thank you not only when God does something amazing in our lives, but also when the people we see every day help us out too! How about we pray and ask God to help us remember to show our gratitude to others and say thank you? Let s pray. Pray STORYTELLER: God, THANK YOU! Thank You for all You ve done for us. Thank You for sending Your Son Jesus for us. Thank You for loving us, and thank You for forgiving us even when we forget to say thank You! Help us this week to show gratitude by saying thank you to anyone who helps us. We love You. We pray this in Jesus name, amen. CG: Outro Slide and Music Dismiss kids Timing - Goal is to end by 5:35, 9:35, or 11:35

24 252 Groups November 2017, Week 4 Large Group Script Bible Story: Give thanks no matter what 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Bottom Line: Always be grateful. Memory Verse: Give thanks no matter what happens. God wants you to thank him because you believe in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIrV Life App: Gratitude letting others know you see how they ve helped you. Hosting Props: Whack-A-Mole holes Blow-up hammer Storyteller Props: 2 volunteers to hold the frames 1 extra Large sheet of cardboard 3 sheets to cover piles of props Paper and plastic shopping bags filled with lightweight items (could be rolled up paper/trash) Chair Plate Can of peas Small boxes wrapped in paper Toy box filled with stuffed animals Teaching Tips: Elbows Use this term to get the kids to quiet down. Say it loud and make it fun at the beginning of the day. When you say, elbows the kids must grab both elbows with their hands and focus on you. Loud and Quiet Use the art of being loud when you want their attention back or quiet when you want to really bring them into a pivotal moment in the lesson. Remember that your version of loud and quiet is different for each storyteller. Check for understanding You can periodically check to see if the kids are following by having them do one of the following things: o Pause without completing a sentence and see if the kids will say it for you. o Ask questions to have them engage. o Have the kids do motions to the bottom line with you each time you say it. INTRO AND WELCOME Intro Slide w/ Music [As the kids are entering the room, walk around and ask a series of questions to have them discuss with one another. Have some kids share their answer with you to share with everyone with a raised hand.] ASK: If you could be any animal, what animal would you want to be?

25 252 Groups November 2017, Week 4 ASK: What's the hardest thing you've ever had to do? GAMETIME (8 MINUTES) CG: Human Whack-A-Mole [keep music low volume] HOST: WELCOME TO STUDIO 252! We are going to start the day with a little game I like to call, Human Whack-A-Mole. Okay, First I need 4 volunteers. [PREP and RULES: This game needs 4 volunteers from the audience, 3 to be "moles" and one to whack the moles with a blow-up hammer. The 3 volunteers will go in the "mole holes" and pop out of the holes and get whacked in the head. The moles need to keep a smile on their face the whole time. The whacker's goal is to whack as many moles in one minute. After one minute is up, pick 4 new volunteers. Repeat the game for 3 rounds as time permits.] HOST: "In Human Whack-A-Mole we will have 3 of our volunteers get in our "mole holes" Instruct 3 volunteers to get inside their own "mole hole" HOST: "Now my fourth volunteer is going to have the challenge of whacking these moles every time they pop out of their "mole holes". Hand the fourth volunteer a blow-up hammer HOST: "Perfect! So, the object of the game for our "moles" is to pop out as many times as possible while smiling the whole time. The object of the game for our "mole whacker" is to whack as many "moles" as possible. Here's where I need everyone's help. Every time our "mole whacker" successfully whacks a mole you count it out loud and keep track of how many whacks they get in one minute. We will play three rounds and I will get 4 new volunteers each round. Alright, moles, are you ready? Mole whacker, are you ready? Audience are you ready? Have the audience countdown like this: Go! CG: One minute timer and "hit me with your best shot" music [PLAY THE GAME] THEME OF THE MONTH HOST: Hey, heeeeyyyy, party people! Welcome to the biggest party of the week, [your environment s name]! My name is [Host s name], and today is a special day. Why? First, because you re here and you re pretty cool. Give your neighbor a fist bump and say, Takes cool to know cool!

26 252 Groups November 2017, Week 4 HOST and KIDS: (Air fist bump) Takes cool to know cool. HOST: And the other reason today is special is because we re finishing up our month talking about gratitude! Who can tell me what gratitude is? Let s look at it and say it together! CG: Gratitude Slide HOST and KIDS: Gratitude is letting others know you see how they ve helped you. HOST: That s right! And this time of year is the perfect time to not only let people know how much you appreciate the way they ve helped you, but also to let God know how thankful we are for all He s done for us! CG: Blank Slide WORSHIP (7 MINUTES) Let s bring up our worship team to the stage and let s worship together. [Teach the song since it s the first week of the month. Afterwards jump into the worship song.] CG: Worship: At the Top of my Lungs Amber Sky STORY (15 MINUTES) STORYTELLER: You guys sounded amazing! Thanks for singing with us. I want to share with you what we are going to learn today. It is this: CG: Bottom Line Slide [Bottom Line] Always (Make rainbow motion with hand) be grateful (point to smile). Can you do those motions with me? [Do the motions as a group] Great job. It s so easy to show gratitude when you guys are so awesome! Which gets me thinking... I have a question for you. You don t need to answer out loud; just think about it. Should we show gratitude even when it s hard? Even when we don t want to? That s a big question. And big questions deserve some big answers, and the best place to find big answers is where? (Pause for response.) Yes! The Bible God s Word. God s Word is filled with answers for all sorts of big questions about life. And today s answer comes from a letter that one of Jesus first followers, a man by the name of Paul, wrote to a church he started in a town called Thessaloniki. Can you imagine having to write down that city when you wrote your address? Thessaloniki. Anyway, this letter became known as the Book of First Thessalonians. Before we get to our passage for the day, though, I need some help from two volunteers.

27 252 Groups November 2017, Week 4 Bring two older kid volunteers to the stage. While they re coming up, let me explain what s happing today. I have three snapshots of situations you might face at some point during your life maybe in the next few weeks. And together we re going to decide if we should be grateful or ungrateful. Let s go! FRAME 1: THE MALL Two volunteers hold either side of the frame and stand in front of the first pile. Storyteller stands behind the frame like a person in a photo. STORYTELLER: Picture this: You re at the mall with your mom or dad, and ALL the holiday shoppers are there. Your parents say they just need to go inside really quickly to return something, but you know better. By the third store, you re getting a little antsy. Maybe you re starting to look like this. Tap your foot, put your hands on your hips, and grumble. But no matter how you feel right now and how you re expressing how you feel, your mom or dad wants to keep shopping. And soon enough, store four comes and goes. Then you re at store number five, and your patience is GONE. But your mom or dad keeps shopping. I could imagine that it would be hard to Always be grateful (MOTIONS) Pick up bag after bag, stringing them on your arms. Waiting in line isn t very fun, is it? Neither is being in a crowded store a store where you can t get anything, because it s almost Christmas. Your favorite show is about to come on and you re going to miss it. You re hungry. You want your tablet. And then your mom or dad looks at you and says, One more store. What do you do? Take ideas from the kids if you have time. Well, those are definitely things you could do. Let see if Paul s letter has anything to say about this. (Open the Bible to 1 Thessalonians 5:14b.) Paul told them: Help those who are weak. Be patient with everyone (NIrV). Did you catch that? Help and be patient. Well, this sure sounds like a situation where both of those words could come in handy. Tap your foot, put your hands on your hips, and grumble.

28 252 Groups November 2017, Week 4 At the mall with your mom or dad, you might be tempted to be grumpy and complain and throw a temper tantrum. You might be tempted to whine and ask, When are we leaving over and over and over again. OR you can think about what Paul says and do something different. You could stop tapping your foot. (Stop tapping foot.) You can take your hands off your hips. (Let your hands drop.) You could take the grumpy look off your face. (Smile.) And you could use kind words like, Can I help you carry that? SFX: Picture snap Walk out from behind the frame. Chances are, your mom or dad or whoever you re shopping with at Christmas time is probably losing their own patience having to shop with all those crowds, and I m sure they could use your help to Always be grateful (MOTIONS). Instead of complaining, show gratitude and be thankful you can spend time with your family. Show them you re thankful by helping them out! FRAME 2: MEAL TIME The volunteers move down to the next pile of items and hold the frame in front of it. Storyteller walks behind the frame and sits in the chair. STORYTELLER: Here s another situation that can be tricky. Over the next few weeks, you ll probably have a meal or two at someone else s house. It could be an aunt s house, your grandparents house, a neighbor s house, or even a meal at your house that s different than most meals you re used to eating because of the holidays. Pick up the plate and place the can of peas in the center. Out of nowhere, you re asked to eat some unusual foods maybe even foods you ve never tried before. Your parents may want you to eat wait for it (dramatic whisper) PEAS! The last time you can remember having peas was years ago, and all you remember is feeling sick to your stomach, which is making your stomach now start to feel a bit queasy and jumbled and nervous you might not keep those peas down. I could not Always be grateful (MOTIONS) eating peas. Place the plate on the floor and slide it under the chair. You have a choice, don t you? I wonder if Paul s letter might have something that can help us with this decision. Let s take a look!