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Storytellers  Lesson 4  March 10/11  1 



Large Group Storytellers Series at a Glance for Elevate About this Series:

Have you ever wondered what all the stories in the Bible have to do with you? After all, they happened thousands of years ago. In this series, we’ll be exploring God’s huge story, starting with the beginning of time and still going on today. Through this history, we’ll hear tales of kings, prophets, and discover our own place in the greatest story of all.

Memory Verse: Hebrews 1:1‐2 “In the past, God spoke to our people through the prophets. He spoke at many times. He spoke in different ways. But in these last days, he has spoken to us through his Son.”

Weekly Overview: Lesson: Lesson 1: February 17/18 Lesson 2: February 24/25 Lesson 3: March 3/4 Lesson 4: March 10/11 Lesson 5: March 17/18 Lesson 6: March 24/25 *Lesson 7: March 31/April 1

Topic: The Beginning Genesis 1‐3 The Nation Exodus 13:21‐22; 40:34‐38 The Kings 2 Samuel 7; 2 Chronicles 36 The Prophets Isaiah 11, 61 The Son John 14:6‐7; Matthew 14:22‐33 The Savior Luke 19:28‐42; Hebrews 4:14‐16 The Lord John 18‐19; John 21

Big Idea: God created me to be part of his story. God can guide me through my life. When life is hard, God is my defender. In every part of life, God is my hope. Jesus shows us what God is really like. Jesus gave his life to be my Savior. I can make Jesus the leader of my life.

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Storytellers

Series at a Glance for Elevate (continued) Lesson 1: The Beginning You may have heard of Genesis 1:1, the first verse of the Bible: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” It’s amazing to picture our world being crafted and designed by God himself, but God’s creativity doesn’t end in Genesis. God is still our creator today, and he has known our stories from the moment time began. Lesson 2: The Nation The nation of Israel had one of the strangest road trips in history. Their path went out of Egypt, through a sea, and into the desert. No matter where they went, God’s people knew that they were on the right track, because God led them in an incredible way. God still leads us today! Lesson 3: The Kings Under the rule of the kings, God’s people in the land of Israel had some of their best moments, and some of their worst. God’s wonderful promises to king David were almost forgotten as the kings after him disobeyed God, and did what was wrong. Through their stories, we see the power of God as our great defender. Lesson 4: The Prophets Few people knew God better than the prophets. Their job was to tell people what God wanted them to know whether or not they wanted to hear it. There were many different prophets, with many messages from God, but one was always the same. If you need hope, you just have to turn to God. Lesson 5: The Son At every point in God’s story, there are hints pointing forward to the greatest story of all. From the beginning, God said sin would be defeated. When Jesus came to earth, that promise became true. He is God’s Son, the one everything in God’s story points to. Jesus shows us what God is really like. Lesson 6: The Savior Jesus’ story showed us clearly who God is. He is our rescuer, our defender, and our hope but the greatest act of Jesus’ life showed us that he is even more than that. Jesus stepped into our world and took the punishment we deserve, and gave his life, all to become our Savior. Lesson 7: The Lord Jesus’ life was extraordinary. Everywhere He went, people noticed something unique about Him. He had authority, knowledge, and power that no one else ever could. Also, he did something no one else ever will. Jesus took our punishment, and defeated death. Still today, Jesus is more than a king, more than a great person. He is the Lord; the one God’s story is all about. He is the one we can trust to lead every part of our lives. Storytellers  Lesson 4  March 10/11  3 

Storytellers Lesson Outline for Elevate Lesson 4: The Prophets

Total Running Time

Lesson Segment Engage Opening Song (2:00) Welcome (1:00) Question of the Day (2:00) Group Activity (10:00) Worship: Jump (5:00) Involve Media: Part 1 (4:00) Lesson Intro (1:00) Group Time (15:00)















0:00 ‐ 20:00













20:00‐40:00











40:00 ‐ 60:00

Challenge Memory Verse Challenge (3:00) Media: Part 2 (7:00) Application (5:00) Worship: God Made A Way (4:00) Wrap Up (1:00)

Video Cue

Slide Cue

Audio Cue

Tech Notes Storytellers  Lesson 4  March 10/11  4 



Opening Song 2:00 (Roll when directed) Elevate Opener It’s time to start! Show me your dance moves, toss any popcorn you have into a trash can, and find a place to sit! (Auto advance) Elevate Slide and Underscore

Welcome 1:00 Welcome to Elevate, everyone! My name is __________. We’ve been hearing incredible stories for the past few weeks, and this week we’ll hear even more. Coming up are some great activities, an awesome group time, a story from the heroes in the Light Force, and an incredible story straight from the Bible.

Question of the Day 2:00 Let’s get started by getting to know each other with a question of the day! Question of the Day Video (Auto Advance) QOTD Slide: What would be a fun homework assignment?

What would be a fun homework assignment? Turn to someone in your squad, and talk about your answers. 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 have them share with the whole group. Storytellers  Lesson 4  March 10/11  5 

Can you really make homework fun? One of the stories we get to hear today is about a group of people that God gave an important job to. Sometimes it was really hard, but sometimes it was awesome. Before we get to their story, though, it’s time for a group activity! Group Activity

10:00

Game Title Slide: “Ninja Tag”

This group activity is called “Ninja Tag.” Each of your squad leaders will choose someone to be the “Ninja.” They will put a band in your squad’s color around the ninja’s arm. The ninja’s job is to tag everyone that isn’t on your team. If you are tagged by another team’s ninja, you must sit down, right where you are. Then, if your team’s ninja tags you, you can stand up again. Try to stay in as long as you can! Also, if you are a ninja, you can’t be tagged. Know This: Change the number of “ninjas” per team depending on your group size. You can go up to three ninjas per group. If necessary, set up an area with cones that the kids must stay within. Feel free to end this game before ten minutes have gone by, if kids seem tired.

Go and find your squad leaders by your flag! Once they’ve chosen the ninjas, we’ll start the music, and you can go! Ninjas, are you ready? Go! Fun Game Music! Worship Slide and clear audio

Wow, you can all move quickly. Make sure to give the bandanas back to your group leaders, and then come up here. You can keep standing, though. We’re going to worship! Storytellers  Lesson 4  March 10/11  6 

Worship











5:00

Worship is a word for showing God that we love him. Some ways that we worship God are by singing, spending time with him, or sharing his love with others by serving. We can worship through the things we say, and the things we do. This song is about both! Let’s sing “Jump” together! Song 1: Jump





(Auto advance) Worship Slide



God’s love gives us so much joy. The more we worship Him, the better we can get to know him. Let’s spend a moment talking to God right now. Here at church we usually close our eyes and bow our heads, to help us keep on thinking about God as we talk to him. God, you are wonderful. Thank you for loving us and giving us hope. Help us to get to know you better today. In Jesus’ name, amen. Media: Part 1 4:00 Let’s see what’s happening at the Light Force base this week. Light Force: Part 1 (4:00)

(Auto advance) Series Title Slide: Storytellers



I wonder what the solution is? That’s a really tricky problem. Lesson Intro 1:00 Have you ever been a storyteller? I bet you have. We tell all kinds of stories every day. When we tell our friends the super exciting thing that happened last week, when we Storytellers  Lesson 4  March 10/11  7 

talk to our parents about what our brother or sister did, and even when we tell someone about what we did here in Elevate, we are sharing stories. People everywhere tell stories of all kinds, but this series is about the one story that is greater than all the others. It’s God’s huge story, the story that this whole world is a part of. In group time, you’ll get to learn about some people who were part of God’s story before us, a long time ago. While you investigate their story, be thinking about this question: Why does God let bad things happen? The past few weeks, we’ve heard that God is our creator, guide, and defender, but even when we follow him, bad things still happen. Does God have a reason for that? You’ll get to talk about that with your squad, so find your leader near your team’s flag, and I’ll see you again after group time!

Group Time 15:00 (Optional) 15:00 Group Time Countdown Do This: Make sure each kid finds their group. Help group leaders if there is a need. Encourage kids as they work to answer the question. Know This: This is a time for kids to search for answers in the Bible, and 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. When this time ends, transition into the memory verse challenge. Bumper Video (1:00)

Memory Verse Challenge 3:00 (Auto‐Advance) Memory Verse Slide: Hebrews 1:1‐2 “In the past, God spoke to our people through the prophets. He spoke at many times. He spoke in different ways.”





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We have an interesting memory verse this series. This is part of it, but as we go through this series and discover more about God’s story, it will get longer. This week, the verse just got longer! Let’s read it all together. Do This: Read the verse from the screen. God used to speak through people called “prophets.” Those are the people whose stories we are hearing this week. They told people what God wanted them to know, and even wrote down some of the things they did and saw. We have the books that several of these prophets wrote in the Bible. The line of the verse that we are learning this week says: “He spoke in different ways.” God speaks to us in a lot of ways. We can find out what God wants us to know at church, through our parents, and especially through the Bible. That’s why we memorize verses from the Bible, they tell us what God wants us to know. Let’s try saying the verse again, but this time we’ll start super quiet, and get louder and louder until the end. Don’t get loud too quickly, we have to save it for the last couple words. Ready? Do This: Repeat the verse 2‐3 times with the kids. You can change this around so that they start loud and get quiet toward the end, or so that they get loud in the middle and then quiet back down.



Media: Part 2















7:00

Nice job! You can sit down. Speaking of stories, I’m ready to find out what happens in the Light Force’s story! Let’s find out. Light Force: Part 2 (7:00)



(Auto advance) Series Title Slide: Storytellers

The prophets always had hope, because they knew God was there for them. What a great story. Storytellers  Lesson 4  March 10/11  9 

Application 5:00 I asked an important question earlier. Why does God let bad things happen? Even people in the Bible asked that question. Check out this verse written by one of the prophets, a guy named Habakkuk (Hab‐uh‐cook). Habakkuk 1:2 “Lord, how long do I have to call out for help? Why don’t you listen to me? How long must I keep telling you that things are terrible? Why don’t you save us?

Do This: Read the verse from the screen. Habakkuk lived in a difficult time. God’s people were being taken out of their land, and being forced to serve the king of Babylon. What Habakkuk learned is that God’s plan doesn’t always look like our plan. Even when things seem like they are taking a long time to us, God knows exactly what he’s doing. Do This: Show kids the bamboo shoot. Take a look at this plant. This is a bamboo shoot. It’s an unusual plant for a few reasons, but one of the most interesting things about bamboo is how it grows. After you plant bamboo, you need to water it and care for it, but it won’t grow right away. If you watch it for one year, nothing happens. Two, three, and even four years, this plant doesn’t look like it grows at all. In the fifth year, though, the bamboo shoot can grow up to ninety feet in six weeks! Full‐grown bamboo Picture

I’ll tell you the secret. For four years, this bamboo plant is putting down roots. It’s getting ready to grow, and when it’s ready, it just goes. It’s a long time to wait, but it’s a super important part of the process. Sometimes, that’s what God’s plans for our lives feel like. We wait and wait, and still it doesn’t seem like anything is happening, but all the time, God is getting us ready for something amazing. The prophets never got to see all of God’s plans come true, but they knew they could always trust him, no matter how long they had to wait. So, when things don’t go the way we planned, when tough stuff happens, the best thing we can do is trust God to give us hope. Check out how the prophet Habakkuk ends his book. Habakkuk 3:18‐ “I will still be glad because of what the Lord has done. God my Savior fills me with joy.”



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Do This: Read the verse from the screen.

Even in the hardest times, God can fill us with joy and hope, because his plans will always work out for good. If you feel like you need that this week, talk to God about what’s going wrong. Tell him how you are feeling. He might help you and change what’s happening, but he might also just ask you to wait and trust that he’ll work things out. God might even give you someone who can help, like one of the adults here. We would love to listen to you and help you however we can, with whatever you are going through.



Worship



4:00

It’s amazing how much God does for us. The greatest thing, though, is just that He wants to be our leader and friend. He wants us to know more about him. This song says that God made a way for us to be his friend. That’s something to celebrate! Let’s sing “God Made a Way” together. Song 2: God Made a Way

(Auto advance) Series Title Slide: Storytellers

Wrap‐Up 1:00 I hope you still have your Family Connection Cards at home, because we’ve got another sticker for you to put on them! If you lost your card, or don’t have one yet, pick that up with your sticker when your parents check you out. Let’s finish up this time by talking to God. To help us stay focused on Him, let’s close our eyes and bow our heads while we pray. God, thank you for making a way for us to have a relationship with you. Show everyone here how much you love us, and help us to trust you this week. In Jesus’ name, amen. I’ve had so much fun hanging out with you all today, I hope to see you again next week!

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Elevate Slide



Start hangtime music videos

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