3RD-5TH GRADE

November 17/18, 2012

Isaiah 65:17, Romans 8:18-25, 1Corinthians 15:24-28, 42-58, Revelation 1, 5, and 21-22

A Journey Home Week 7—A New Home

God is going to make the world new again someday.

Hang out with kids (10 minutes) Large Group (30 minutes) Small Group (20 minutes) Video/Song Review (10 minutes)

Pray with your team. Being with a gaggle of energetic kids can be challenging. Invite God to be with you or your team as you tell a very exciting part of God’s story today.

During check-in, ask the kids if they can remember any ways that God was good to them this week. If they have trouble remembering, walk them through the details of a typical day (getting up, getting dressed, etc.) and point out ways that God was good to them.

Today in large group, kids will hear the vision that God gave to John about a new home that will replace our broken world one day.

                                                                                                               

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Start with the CONNECT questions. Many times, these simple questions will give you insight into a kid’s world and help you care for them. REVIEW the lesson and listen to kids. Did they understand that we were talking about God giving all of us a new home?

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CONNECT • What was the best part of your week? • What was the worst part of your week? • What are you worried about? REVIEW • What do you remember from the story today? (God is going to make a new home for his family one day.) • Has this part of God’s story already happened? (No, we are looking forward to it.) • What do you know about the new home that God will create for us some day? (There will be no more pain, or death or sadness.) RELATE • What are you most excited about when God makes a new home for our family? • What is the best thing you could imagine that God might give you? • What do you think it will be like to be that close to God?

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• Each kid will get one city on card stock to color. • Say: Remember that today’s video showed a new city that God is making for his family to live in? Today we are going to try to imagine that city. • Give each kid a city, and ask them to color it and use jewel stickers to decorate it. • Then, help kids fold their paper at the dotted lines (- - - - - -). They can fold the paper either way. • Next, have kids cut along the solid line at the top and the bottom of their city. • Stand the cities up:

• Ask kids the related questions from the left side of this page. • Have all the kids add their cities together to see what it looks like as one giant creation.

QUESTIONS A NEW HOME ACTIVITY

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Move on to the ACTIVITY. Help kids dream big dreams of what our home will be like when God recreates it someday.

                                                                                                               

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BLANK BLANK

This  page  left  blank  intentionally    

                                                                                                               

This lesson should build anticipation for a day when God’s family gets a new home.

The key phrase in today’s lesson is: God takes things that aren’t so good and makes them bright and shiny again. You may want to reinforce this point by whispering each time it comes up in the lesson, or you could shout it, or you could jump up in down when you say it. Just make it memorable.

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WELCOME Hi everyone, it’s great to see all of you. Lately, we’ve been watching videos of a kid discovering things about our family, God’s family. Have you ever opened a box to find old keepsakes from when you were little? Or, maybe you have discovered old pictures and found out more about your family? Let’s take a look and see what is happening with the kid in this video as they discover more about God’s family (that’s me and you). VIDEO Play Attic Video: Week 7 (about 30 sec.—in the suitcase/box are some jewels) Wow, what a find! Let’s try to figure out what those jewels have to do with God’s family. I like all of those super shiny things. It’s like we found treasure! REVIEW GOD’S STORY All through God’s story, he takes things that aren’t so good and makes them great. For example, in the beginning there was nothing. And out of nothing God made the whole earth, including shining oceans and the bright sun (show picture of the sun on screen). I wonder if those jewels are supposed to remind us of all the shiny things that he made. Then, out of the dirt, God made people. The people made God’s heart shine with happiness (show shining heart on screen). I wonder if those jewels are supposed to remind us of the joy that people brought to God. After all of that, people stopped trusting God. When they did that, something changed. People were separated from God, but even though things were sad, God had a plan to rescue his people (show picture of helicopter rescue). Maybe those jewels are supposed to remind us of the rescue plan that God had for his family. But, this rescue plan was not by helicopter like this picture.

                                                                                                               

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God’s Rescue Plan is amazing. He sent his son, Jesus, to come into the world and love people by taking the punishment for all the wrong things that we do. It was an incredible plan. Jesus died so that we can be free from the punishment we should get. But, guess what? (Show picture of shiny empty tomb.) He didn’t stay dead! Three days after Jesus died, some of his friends went to visit the tomb (that’s like a cave) where he was buried, and it was empty. Maybe those jewels are supposed to make us think of a shiny celebration because Jesus is alive. GOD’S STORY VIDEO All through God’s story he takes things that are not so good like nothingness, or dirt, or a bad decision, or death, and makes them bright and shiny again. Let’s see more about this in today’s video. Play video: God’s Story, Re-creation (about 4 minutes) Oh my goodness! I can’t wait. You know that feeling you get before something great happens, and you can’t sleep because you are so excited? That’s how I feel. CHANGE OLD THINGS TO NEW For this next part of the lesson, I’ll need some help. I choose kids who are sitting quietly, and looking this way. For today, I need 3 kids who don’t mind pretending in front of everyone. (Choose 3 volunteers from the audience. Line them up on stage, all facing the audience. Give one prop to each of the kids: a box of tissues, a fake tombstone, and a bandage. Give these directions—and tell them to play it up BIG: to the tissue kid: act like you are crying. To the tombstone kid: act like you are dead. To the bandage kid: wrap it around your arm or leg and act like you are hurt.) Here we have three examples of things that happen to all of us in this world. First, we see our friend here, (use the kid’s name), crying. There are things in this world that make all of us sad. It happens every day. Someday, remember, God is going to take all of our sadness and give us bright and shiny happiness instead. We won’t even need tissues! (Tell the kid they can throw the box of tissues to the back of the presentation area, stop crying, and be happy.) Next, we have our friend, (use the kid’s name). Oh no! It looks like (kid’s name) is dead! This is another really, really hard part about this world not being the way God originally made it. Things die, and it’s really sad when they do. But guess what? It will not stay that way forever. Someday God will take all of the death away, and make us shiny and new and we will live forever. (Tell the kid they can get up, jump around, and show everyone they are alive!) Finally, we have (use the kid’s name) who is really hurt. Wow, how did you hurt yourself so bad? (Let the kid make up an answer.) That’s terrible. This is another way that our world is not right. We all get hurt, and when we do it is very painful. One day God will make sure that all of that pain goes away for good. He’ll make sure that we never feel that pain again. God will take things like this really hurt arm, and make them bright and shiny new again! (Tell the kid they can act healed, like there isn’t pain now.)

                                                                                                               

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I can’t wait for the day that God takes this broken world and makes it new again. We don’t know all of the details of what that will be like, but the Bible tells us this (show verse on screen):

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him. 1Corinthians 2:9

Wow, we can’t even imagine how wonderful things are going to be for God’s family. We have some hints, like there will be a shiny new city involved. But, we can’t be sure of all the details. WORSHIP Let’s sing a few songs to tell God how thankful we are that he gives each of us a place in the family, and how we can be brave because we know that God is making things new all the time. Song: Because You Love Me Song: The Earth is Yours (Pieces) PRAY Invite a kid to come up front and pray for the group today. CLOSING SONG This song should be used at the end of Large Group. Song: Home                                        

                                                                                                               

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This  page  left  blank  intentionally  

                                                                                                               

                                               

   

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• One city print out per kid (http://madebyjoel.com/paper-­‐city) on white cardstock • Jewel Stickers (Oriental Trading IN-9/1205) • Kid scissors to share

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• Plenty of markers

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1. NIV Adventure Bible 2. One old suitcase/trunk on stage with

the following items: a. a box of tissues b. a fake tombstone c. an “ace” bandage (the kind you

can wrap around an arm or leg)

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d. jewels

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1. Attic video week 7 2. Photo: Sun 3. Photo: Shining Heart 4. Photo: Helicopter rescue 5. Photo: Empty Tomb 6. Video: God’s Story: Re-Creation 7. However, as it is written: “What no eye

has seen, what no ear has heard, and

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what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him. 1Corinthians 2:9

8. Song: Because You Love Me 9. Song: The Earth is Yours 10. Song: Home

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• What will our home be like one day? • Kids are on ‘A Journey Home’, too. Pick up a parent page to find out more.

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Through God’s whole story, he takes old and broken things and makes them shiny and new. God promised his family that he would recreate this old, broken world with a bright and shiny new one. Today kids tried to imagine what that new world would be like. They made a picture of a shiny new home that God will give his family one-day. Read more about it in Revelation 21 and 22.