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Large Group Series at a Glance for Elevate About this Series: This series is all about re-thinking the way we feel. From shame to sadness, and from joy to peace, our emotions are an important part of who we are. Over and over in the Bible, people who are hurt, angry, and afraid discover that with God s help, they don t have to stay that way. Explore how God can help us turn sadness to joy, anger to peace, bitterness to forgiveness, and so much more, in this series:! Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 3:4 - There is a time to weep. And there s a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad. And there s a time to dance. Weekly Overview: Lesson: Topic: Big Idea: Lesson 1: September 8/9 Lesson 2: September 15/16 Re-Start Jesus understands- Hebrews 4:15; Luke 19:41; Matthew 21:12-17; Matthew 26:30; Re-Think (Shame to Belonging) Jesus heals a blind man- John 9 I can live like Jesus did. God accepts me for who I am. : Re-Do (Sadness to Joy) David at Ziklag- 1 Samuel 29-30; Psalm 56 I can follow God, even when things go wrong. Lesson 4: September 29/30 Re-Act (Anger to Peace) Isaac s wells- Genesis 26:12-33 I can choose how I respond to what happens. Lesson 5: October 6/7 Re-Make (Bitterness to Forgiveness) Joseph forgives- Genesis 45 I can choose to forgive. Lesson 6: October 13/14 Re-New (Hurt to Loved) Mary Magdalene- Luke 8:1-3; John 19:25; 20:1-18 (Decision) I can follow the God who loves me. 2
Series at a Glance for Elevate (continued) Lesson 1: Re-Start Does it ever seem like other people just don t understand how you re feeling? They don t know how sad or angry you are, or don t get why you re so excited. This week, we ll find out why Jesus understands what we re going through, no matter how we feel. Find out as we kick off a new year in Elevate! Lesson 2: Re-Think (Shame to Belonging) Is there a place where you just feel great? It could be when you re tucked into your warm bed, in your own secret place, or hanging out with your best friends. Feeling like you belong is awesome, but feeling left out can be awful. Fortunately, there is never a moment where God leaves you out of his plan. With Him, you will always belong. : Re-Do (Sadness to Joy) When we feel sad, it s easy to wonder Why did this happen to me? Why would God do this? A person we read about in the Bible named David asked those same questions. He is known for writing music about how wonderful God is, but also wrote about times when he felt incredibly sad. With God s help, David kept going, even when it seemed like everything was going wrong. Lesson 4: Re-Act (Anger to Peace) Every day, things happen to us that we can t control, but there is one thing you can always control: yourself. This week, we ll see the power of choosing peace over anger, and see how Isaac made wise choices, even when bad things happened to him. Lesson 5: Re-Make (Bitterness to Forgiveness) Is there something that happened a long time ago that you re still mad about? Other people hurt us sometimes, but staying mad about something for a long time can hurt us, our friendships, families, and every part of our lives. How can we choose to forgive instead of holding a grudge? Lesson 6: Re-New (Hurt to Loved) When Jesus met a woman named Mary, she wasn t doing well. She was sick, and couldn t even think straight. Jesus healed her and changed her life, but her story doesn t end there. Mary was always there for Jesus and his followers. When all of the disciples ran away, Mary was still there for Jesus. She followed Jesus with her whole life, because he had shown her God s love. 3
Lesson Outline for Elevate Lesson Segment : Re-Do Total Running Time Opening Song and Welcome (1:00) Team Time (14:00) 0:00 15:00 Media Part 1 (Video) (6:00) Group Time (15:00) Media Part 2 (Video) (9:00) 15:00 45:00 Application (6:00) Worship (8:00) Wrap Up (1:00) 45:00-60:00 Slide Cue Audio Cue Video Cue T Opening Song and Welcome 1:00 4
(Roll when directe Welcome everybody! It s time to get started, so come on up, throw away your popcorn on the way, and find a place to sit down. (Auto advance) Elevate Slide and Underscore We have a ton of fun stuff to do today, like a black light game, hearing a story, and some great music, too. Make sure you re sitting by your team, because the first thing we get to do is team time! Team Time 14:00 Series Title Slide: Your group leader is hanging out by your team s flag. Just look for the flag with your grade on it, and that s where to go! This series we re in is called (Ree-mow-gee) and it s all about our emotions, the way we feel. Today, we get to talk about what to do when something goes wrong, and we just want a re-do. We re going to be hearing stories, talking about big questions, singing, and playing games over the next hour, and I want to start with an exciting game! Every week this series, we re going to be using some awesome things called black lights. In three weeks, we re going to have a glowlympics, with a ton of black light games before and after the hour. Today, we ve got a challenge for one person from every grade. You can find your group flags, and then I ll tell you what s happening. Know This: Help kids find their groups, especially first graders. Point out the flags if necessary. Make sure the flags are set up in locations that kids can still see the stage from. Do This: Bring out a kiddie pool filled with water beads and glow sticks and put it in the middle of the stage. Select one kid from every grade to participate, and bring them up on stage. 5
Make sure black lig Your challenge is to find as many glow sticks as you can inside this pool full of water beads! The catch is, you have to take off your shoes and socks, and only use your feet! Whoever finds the most glow sticks is the winner! One more thing, you have to pick up the glow sticks and get them out of the pool without spilling the water beads. Ready? Everyone in the audience, cheer for the one from your grade! Do This: Once all the kids are in the pool, give them a countdown, and begin the music! 1:00 Coun (Auto advance) Se Great job everyone! That was fun to watch! The winner is, with glow sticks! You can sit back down, and answer this question with your groups! Question of the Da (Auto Advance) QO What s the grossest candy bar? That could be a tough question. Is there gross candy? Turn to the person next to you, and find out their answer! Do This: Emcee as the kids are sharing their answers. Encourage them to share with the people around them, and encourage any kid whose story you hear. Know This: Allow kids time to interact with one another. Feel free to ask a few of them what their answer is, but you don t have to make them share with the whole group. Make sure this time only takes a minute or two. Even candy can go wrong sometimes. I hope I don t have to eat any of those gross candy bars. Media: Part 1 6:00 Next up, we ll hear from Rue, our host! She ll tell us about the challenge the Source team will be facing today. 6
The Source: Part 1 (Auto advance) Se Wow, that s tough for Gabby and the others. They worked hard at writing, and now it could just get cut. What can we do when we feel that sad? Is it just time to quit, or is there something they can do? You re going to talk about it in group time! Find your group leaders, and be thinking about what might help someone who is feeling sad. Group Time 15:00 15:00 Group Time Do This: Make sure each kid (Auto finds their group. Help group advance) leaders if there is a need. Se Encourage kids as they work answer the question. Know This: This is a time for kids to see how they can use the Bible to investigate and better understand life. This time is designed for kids to interact and deepen their understanding. They won t get all the answers, but allow them to question and discover as much as possible. Be ready to support group leaders in any way needed. Do This: Give the groups a warning about one minute before this time is up. Media: Part 2 9:00 Hey everyone! You can come back to the front. While you re coming up here, what answers did you come up with? What do you think The Source team should do? Do This: Allow one or two kids to answer. Great ideas, I think we should find out what happens to The Source. 7
The Source: Part 2 (Auto advance) Se It s amazing to think that God understands, even when we feel sad. When David felt sad, he knew that only God could help. It s really interesting how different people reacted in that story. Application 6:00 What happened in that story wasn t really anyone s fault, but David s soldiers chose to be angry at him anyway. David could have gotten angry too, or blamed others, but instead, he made an important choice. It s a choice all of us can make, whatever is going on around us. Big Idea Slide: I ca This is a great point, and really important to remember. Even when things go wrong, we can choose to follow God, and make the choices he wants us to. Talking to him, reading the Bible, and coming to church can help us know what those choices are. Here s a great way to remember this. Everyone stand up, and find one partner in the next thirty seconds. It can be anyone, just pick someone near you. Go! Do This: Make sure group leaders are ready to help kids find partners. Alright, ready? One of you is going to close your eyes. The other one must lead them to a place that I ll tell you about, only using their voice. You can t touch the person or move them, you can only give them directions. Now, choose who is going to close their eyes, and get them closed. Ok, now, people with your eyes still open, help your partners find something orange. Remember, only use your voices. You have thirty seconds. Go! 30 second countd 8
Ok, wherever you are, you can sit down. When there are a lot of voices talking, music playing, it s hard to hear what you re supposed to do, isn t it? That s why the time we spend with God is so important, because he is the one voice we should always be listening to. I have one more question for you. What are some wa What are some ways you could spend time with God? How could you get to know him? Do This: Allow two or three kids to answer. Spending time with God is one of the most important things we can do each day. When we pray, read our Bibles, and spend time at church, it makes it easier for us to listen to God and know what he wants us to do. Worship Slide Worship 8:00 Let s stand and sing about how amazing God is! We can have so much joy because he leads us and loves us every day. I m feeling ready to jump! Song #1: Jump (Auto-Advance) W God is amazing. Let s keep on worshipping him with another song! Song #2: Higher t (Auto advance) Se Wrap-Up 1:00 9
Start hangtime m We re almost done, but there s one thing to make sure you get on your way out. Do This: Show kids the Family Connection Card This Family Connection Card are a great way to bring home the things you learned today. You can use it to look up the stories we re learning about in this series, and read what happened for yourself! It also has great questions to ask your family, and find out what they think about our emotions. There s one more thing you should know about. On the last week of this series, three weeks from today, we ll be giving away some awesome prizes during our glowlympics event! Everyone will get some great gear, but if you bring a friend who hasn t been to Elevate before, you and your friend will be entered in a drawing, and you could win ride wristbands for Nickelodeon Universe! So, use the invitation on the bottom of this Family Connection Card, and bring a friend to the last week of this series! Let s finish up today by praying. To help us stay focused on God, let s close our eyes and bow our heads while we talk to him. God, we love you. Help us to choose to follow you every day. In Jesus name, amen. I ve had a lot of fun hanging out with you all today, I hope to see you next week! Elevate Slide 10