Gratitude Is with You... Always

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Gratitude Is with You... Always"

Richard Webb
5 years ago
Views:

1 Gratitude Is with You... Always Bible: Gratitude Is with You... Always (Give thanks no matter what) 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Bottom Line: Always be grateful. Memory Verse: Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV Life App: Gratitude letting others know you see how they ve helped you. Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what. Social: Setting the Tone for the Experience (9:00, 10:15, 11:30) 9:00 & 11:30 Early Arriver No supplies needed 10:15 Always, Sometimes, Never No supplies needed Bible: Communicating God s Truth in Engaging Ways (9:15, 10:30, 11:45) Bible Presentation in Large Group Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect (9:40, 10:55, 12:10) 9:00 & 11:30 Thankful Always Thankful Verse Cards ; 3 sets for each small group Three sets of 6 beanbags per SG Timing device Masking tape 10:15 Thankfulness Tower Disposable cups; 4 for each kid Markers that will write on the cups Prayer (9:50, 11:05, 12:20) No supplies needed Dismiss (10:00, 11:15, 12:30) 1

2 Gratitude Is with You... Always Bible: Gratitude Is with You... Always (Give thanks no matter what) 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Bottom Line: Always be grateful. Memory Verse: Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV Life App: Gratitude letting others know you see how they ve helped you. Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what. Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction (Small Groups, 15 minutes) Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up. Get ready to experience today s Bible Truth. Before kids arrive, take a few moments to pray for them. Ask God to make His presence felt in the lives of the kids who are going through tough times. Ask Him to help them know that even in their struggles, there s always something to be grateful for. 9:00 & 11:30 Early Arriver Idea Made to Connect: an activity that invites kids to share with others and build on their understanding What You Need: No supplied needed What You Do: Ask your few if they have ever seen a movie or read a book that they thought was going to have a sad ending. Did the story stay sad or did things turn around and create a happy ending? What You Say: We can all think of some things in our lives that are kind of tough, right? [Transition] Today in Large Group, we re going to learn what we can do even when things aren t looking too good for us! 2

3 10:15 Always, Sometimes, Never Made to Move: an activity that increases the oxygen in the brain and taps into the energy in the body What You Need: No supplies needed What You Do: Gather the group and tell them the rules to the game: o If they hear something they never do, they should sit down. o If it s something they always do, they should stand up. o If it s something they sometimes do, they should hop on one foot. Call out different activities: o brushing your teeth before bed o eating breakfast in your pajamas o going to school o feeding an iguana o driving a go-kart o drinking hot chocolate in the morning o eating lunch in the school cafeteria o lying down to go to sleep o playing video games in the afternoon o helping family around the house o other activities you can think of Then call an end to the game and get ready to go to Large Group. What You Say: Some of those things were kind of surprising! [Transition] Let s go hear about something we should always, always, always do. Lead your group to the Large Group area. 3

4 Gratitude Is with You... Always Bible: Gratitude Is with You... Always (Give thanks no matter what) 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Bottom Line: Always be grateful. Memory Verse: Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV Life App: Gratitude letting others know you see how they ve helped you. Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what. Bible: Communicating God s Truth in Engaging Ways (Large Group, 35 minutes) 1. Opener/Closer What You Need: Host GETTING READY 2. Bible Truth What You Need: Historyteller 252 Story 3. Worship What You Need: Power Praise Team Music and Sound Effects (SFX): At the Top of My Lungs Walk by Faith Good, Good Father 4

5 Gratitude Is with You... Always Bible: Gratitude Is with You... Always (Give thanks no matter what) 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Bottom Line: Always be grateful. Memory Verse: Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV Life App: Gratitude letting others know you see how they ve helped you. Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what. Bible: Communicating God s Truth in Engaging Ways (Large Group, 35 minutes) Engage kids hearts through a dynamic and interactive Bible Truth, worship, and prayer experience in a Large Group setting. CG: Theme Slide Host enters. Opener HOST: Hey, everyone! All month long we ve been talking about how much better life can be when we take the focus off of ourselves and refocus on all that we have to be thankful for. Who knows what I m talking about? CG: Gratitude Slide That s right: gratitude! Gratitude is letting others know you see how they've helped you. Sometimes we spend so much time thinking about what we don t have or what others have that we miss the things that are right in front of our face! We can also miss the things that others have done for us. Whether it s a beautiful sunrise that God painted for us or the lunch that your big brother packed for you; it s important to pay attention to what others have done for us. Sometimes it just takes a little practice to spot those things when they happen. How about we do that right now? Let s practice our spotting skills. After all, before we can let others know we see how they ve helped us, we have to SEE how they ve helped us. CG: I Spy Image See this image? There are all sorts of scenes in here. I m going to call out the names of people who often help us, and you guys will look for an object in the picture that they might use. When you find it, jump up and shout, Click! like you re taking a picture. Then I ll call on you and you can tell us what you ve found and where it is. Don t jump up before you ve found it, though, or you won t be allowed to answer! Call out each of these helpers and give the kids a chance to find the related object in the image: 5

6 Teacher: apple Construction worker: hammer Doctor: stethoscope Car mechanic: tire Police officer: badge Dentist: toothpaste Firefighter: fire hose Farmer: rake Garbage collector: trashcan Awesome! You guys really know where to look when it comes to seeing how others have helped you. Now, please give a warm, and gracious welcome to our Historyteller [Historyteller s Name]. Host exits as Historyteller enters. SETTING UP THE BIBLE TRUTH HISTORYTELLER: By now you guys know we should be grateful. Hopefully you even have this verse memorized by now. Let s say it together! CG: Memory Verse Slide HISTORYTELLER and KIDS: Give thanks no matter what happens. God wants you to thank him because you believe in Christ Jesus, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIrV). HISTORYTELLER: We all know we SHOULD be grateful and show some gratitude, but sometimes it takes a little practice to know just HOW to do that. I think today s lesson on video is going to help us out in that area. Please roll that film [Tech Volunteer s Name]! CG: 252 Story WRAPPING UP THE BIBLE TRUTH Let s take another look at our memory verse for this 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). This verse can be summed up like this: [Bottom Line] Always be grateful. In fact, that s our Bottom line for today. CG: Bottom Line Slide [Bottom Line] Always be grateful. It is really easy to focus on the disappointing things in life, but when we LOOK for ways to be grateful, we will almost always FIND things to be grateful for. When we have gratitude no matter what is happening in our lives, not only are we showing that we trust God no matter what and know that He ll 6

7 work out all the things we think are wrong with our situation, but having gratitude also will make us feel better about our situation. God s cool like that! This can be difficult sometimes, so let s ask God to help us [Bottom Line] always be grateful. Pray HISTORYTELLER: Dear God, as we just wrote in our thank-you note, we are thankful to You for so many things. This didn t actually happen to [kid s name], but I m sure that she and all of us in here have had similar days where we felt like we had nothing to be thankful for. But we know that s not true. Even if we had nothing else to be thankful for, having Your love and Your Son Jesus as our Savior is enough. Thank You for making us, loving us, and sending us Jesus. In His name we pray, amen. If you have an offering with you today, raise your hand and we will bring the bucket over to you. Now, up on your feet and give some mad respect and grattitude to our Power Praise team! Worship SFX: At the Top of My Lungs SFX: Walk By Faith SFX: Good, Good Father Power Praise team enters as Historyteller exits. Power Praise team exits as Host enters. Closer HOST: Our memory verse says: Give thanks in all circumstances. All Circumstances. That means you should find something to be grateful for when everything is going perfectly, when you win the football game, when the audience cheers for your solo, and when you get that A on your science test. It also means you should find something to be grateful for when things aren t going your way, when your team loses, when your voice cracks on your solo, or when you forget everything you know about science right in the middle of a test. When things are going good, it s pretty easy to be grateful. When they re not, you have to try a little harder. You have to refocus. Think about all the things God has done for you and all the things He s still doing, and thank Him. That means whether you win or lose the game, thank God that you got to play. When you get an Aplus or a C-minus on a test, thank God that you had an opportunity to learn something new. No matter what happens, find some way to be grateful to God. He deserves your gratitude for more reasons than we can possibly count! CG: Bottom Line Slide Let s look at that Bottom Line one more time: [Bottom Line] Always be grateful. Say that with me! 7

8 HOST and KIDS: [Bottom Line] Always be grateful. HOST: I personally spy a room full of kids that I m grateful for! It s true! Let s head to Small Group now and uncover some more things we can be grateful for! Have fun, and we ll see you next week! CG: Small Group Slide Dismiss children to their Small Groups. 8

9 Gratitude Is with You... Always Bible: Gratitude Is with You... Always (Give thanks no matter what) 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Bottom Line: Always be grateful. Memory Verse: Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV Life App: Gratitude letting others know you see how they ve helped you. Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what. Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect (10 minutes) Create a safe place to connect and learn how the Bible Truth applies to real life experiences, through interactive activities and discussion questions. 9:00 & 11:30 Thankful Always [Hear from God Memory Verse Activity] Made to Play: an activity that encourages learning through following guidelines and working as a group What You Need: Thankful Verse Cards, beanbags, masking tape, timer or stopwatch What You Do: Before setting out the verse cards, ask kids if anyone can say the verse completely from memory. Take two or three volunteers and let them say the verse. Tape the verse cards to the floor in random order, spaced about a foot apart. Divide kids into pairs or let them pick partners. Place a piece of tape about five feet away from the verse cards and instruct kids to stand behind it. Let one pair at a time take turns throwing beanbags at the cards and attempting to land a beanbag on each card in verse order. Time each pair as they take their turn. The pair with the lowest time wins! What You Say: We all have things going on in our lives right now that are hard to handle! It s easy to want a way out or just complain about them. But our verse tells us that no matter what we are facing, we can [Bottom Line] always be grateful! 9

10 10:15 Thankfulness Tower [Talk about God Bible Review Application Activity] Made to Move: an activity that increases the oxygen in the brain and taps into the energy in the body What You Need: Disposable cups, markers What You Do: Hand out the markers and several cups per kid. Direct kids to write (or draw for younger kids) something they are thankful for on the cups. Once all the cups are labeled, instruct kids to work together to build them into a tall tower. They can create a pyramid or a stack. For older kids, challenge them to build the tower in order of importance, with the thing they are absolutely most grateful for on the top, supported by other things on the bottom. If you have mostly older kids, consider dividing them into pairs and giving them a category: summer, sports, nature, food, etc. If you have mostly younger kids, let them dictate what they are thankful for while you write. Let them experiment with different ways of stacking and gathering the cups. Circle up around the tower/pyramid. What You Say: This is a giant tower of thankfulness! There are so many things we have to be thankful for; it should be easy to [Bottom Line] always be grateful. God has given us so many great things. But there are times when we don't feel so grateful. Disappointments happen, and they will always happen. No one goes through life getting exactly what they want exactly when they want it and exactly the way they want it. But some people are grateful and some people are not. What do you think the difference is between those who show gratitude and those who complain? (Pause for answers.) That's right! It all depends on your focus and what you concentrate on the most. [Make It Personal] (Share an age-appropriate time in your life when you either chose to be grateful about a situation, or you met a person who was unexpectedly grateful in difficult circumstances.) That s a time when I realized that we can [Bottom Line] always be grateful. Have you gone through something like that where you chose to be grateful? (Pause for answers.) You guys are off to an awesome start of choosing to [Bottom Line] always be grateful. 10

11 All Service Times Pray and Dismiss (10 minutes) [Pray to God Prayer Activity] Made to Reflect: an activity that creates space for personal understanding and application What You Need: No supplies needed What You Do: Gather the group together for prayer. Prompt the child on your right to pray and thank God for the child on her right, saying something specific about that person. Continue this around the circle. If a kid doesn t want to participate, step in and thank God for the person on that child s right. Close in prayer. What You Say: God, I pray that this week You will help us all have a heart of gratitude! I don t just ask this so that we would be happy, but I m asking for Your glory to be shown to all we see. What a great testimony it is to people that even when we are going through something tough we can [Bottom Line] always be grateful! I pray that we honor You and love You by making this happen! In Jesus name, amen! As adults arrive to pick up, pass out Parent Cues and God Time Cards. 11

SUNDAY MORNINGS April 8, 2018, Week 2 Grade: Kinder

SUNDAY MORNINGS April 8, 2018, Week 2 Grade: Kinder Baby on Board Bible: Baby on Board (Hannah Prays for a Baby) 1 Samuel 1:6 2:1 Bottom Line: When you think you can t wait, talk to God about it. Memory Verse: Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart