He'll Be There for You

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SUNDAY MORNINGS

June 10, 2018, Week 2 Grade: 3-4

He’ll Be There for You Bible: He’ll Be There for You (Gideon) • Judges 6–8 Bottom Line: God can use you no matter what. Memory Verse: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13, NIV Life App: Confidence—Living like you believe what God says is true 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 How Confident Are You? • One beanbag or other small item • One piece of paper • Pencil 10:15 Get Your Head in the Game • One white kitchen towel • One blue kitchen towel 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 No Dice • Large craft sticks (the size of tongue depressors); one for each child • Dice; four for each small group • Bibles 10:15 Take a Snapshot • Three sticky notes for each student • Pens Prayer (9:50, 11:05, 12:20) • No supplies needed Dismiss (10:00, 11:15, 12:30)

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SUNDAY MORNINGS

June 10, 2018, Week 2 Grade: 3-4

He’ll Be There for You Bible: He’ll Be There for You (Gideon) • Judges 6–8 Bottom Line: God can use you no matter what. Memory Verse: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13, NIV Life App: Confidence—Living like you believe what God says is true Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.

Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction (Small Groups, 15 minutes) 9:00 & 11:30 How Confident Are You? What You Need: Beanbag or other small item, paper, pencil What You Do: • Gather the group to sit in a circle. • Select a kid to be the scorekeeper. o Instruct the scorekeeper to write down the name of every child in the group on paper provided. o Pull the scorekeeper aside (so the rest of the group can’t hear) and inform her of the points system (see below). The point system should be kept secret so it doesn’t affect how the rest of the group answers. • Select a kid to be “It,” turn his back away from the group, and cover his ears. • Silently give the beanbag or other small item to a kid inside the circle and instruct him to hide it behind his back. • Instruct the rest of the kids in the circle to place their hands behind their backs as well. • Tell It to return and stand in the center of the circle. • Explain that someone has the beanbag hidden in his hand. • Give It about 15 seconds to look around at the rest of the group and try to determine who might have the beanbag. • When the 15 seconds are up, ask It to name who she believes is hiding the beanbag. • Then ask, “How confident are you?” The possible answers are: very confident, confident, or not confident. • If a kid answers correctly, let the scorekeeper award the following points: o 3 points if their answer was “Very Confident” o 2 point if their answer was “Confident” o 1 point if their answer was “Not confident” • Continue to play, allowing different kids to be It and tally points as time and interest allow. • When time is up, total points and declare the winner by saying, “[Kid’s name] is the MOST confident player!” What You Say: “That was fun! Sometimes you were confident and gave the WRONG answer. Sometimes you weren’t so confident and gave the right one! [Transition] Today we’ll hear about someone who was chosen for a VERY big job and he wasn’t confident at all. Let’s go find out what happened.” Lead your group to the Large Group area.

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SUNDAY MORNINGS

June 10, 2018, Week 2 Grade: 3-4

10:15 Get Your Head in the Game What You Need: White and Blue kitchen towels What You Do: • Divide kids into two teams. • Ask both teams to stand side-by-side in a line and hold hands with the people next to them. • Direct teams to face opposite directions so that the teams can’t see each other. • Place the towels on the floor near the players at one end of the line. (Try to put the towels an equal distance away from both team’s players to make it fair.) • Stand at the opposite end of the line from where the towels were placed. • Explain that you will silently signal the two students nearest you by squeezing their forearms one or two times. o They will then squeeze the hand of the person next to them the same number of times, and that person will do the same, and so on down the line. • Let the people at the end of the line know that one hand-squeeze means they should pick up the WHITE towel and two squeezes mean they should pick up the BLUE towel. o As soon as the person at the end of the line feels the squeeze(s), he should quickly grab the correct towel. • Award points to the team whose final person is first to grab the correct towel. • Rotate players from the end of the line to the beginning and play again until everyone has had a chance to grab a towel. Wrap Up and Say: “I bet you’re wondering how picking up towels has anything to do with today’s Bible Truth. It just so happens that God made use of something similar to a towel in a very unique way. Let’s go find out.” Lead your group to the Large Group area.

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SUNDAY MORNINGS

June 10, 2018, Week 2 Grade: 3-4

He’ll Be There for You Bible: He’ll Be There for You (Gideon) • Judges 6–8 Bottom Line: God can use you no matter what. Memory Verse: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13, NIV Life App: Confidence—Living like you believe what God says is true Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.

Bible: Communicating God’s Truth in Engaging Ways (Large Group, 25 minutes) GETTING READY 1. Opener/Closer What You Need: • •

Host Prop box containing a bowling set

2. Bible Truth What You Need: • • • • •

Historyteller Three kid volunteers Bible Small step stool Toy sword

3. Worship What You Need: •

Power Praise Team

Music and Sound Effects (SFX): • “Happy and You Know It” • “My Strength” • “Rescue Me”

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SUNDAY MORNINGS

June 10, 2018, Week 2 Grade: 3-4

He’ll Be There for You Bible: He’ll Be There for You (Gideon) • Judges 6–8 Bottom Line: God can use you no matter what. Memory Verse: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13, NIV Life App: Confidence—Living like you believe what God says is true Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.

Bible: Communicating God’s Truth in Engaging Ways (Large Group, 25 minutes) Engage kids’ hearts through a dynamic and interactive Bible Truth, worship, and prayer experience in a Large Group setting. CG: 10 Second count down CG: AMPED Theme Slide Host enters. Opener HOST: “Hey, everybody! Welcome to our new third graders! I’m AMPED to see you here today. Don’t I sound like an extreme sports athlete when I say ‘amped’? Well, maybe not, but we’re playing our own version of extreme sports this summer, because we’re living FULLY ALIVE! We’re all in with everything we do, because we have confidence! CG: Confidence Slide “Confidence is living like you believe what God says is true. I love having confidence, because it means I can live life to the fullest—never giving up or backing down. No matter what obstacles I face, I can take them down because God is with me. Our game today is all about taking down obstacles. It’s called ‘Extreme Bowling’! Move over to the prop box and begin removing the bowling pins from the box and setting them up on the stage. “I am bringing up two girls and two boys for a friendly competition. I want the teams to be made up of one girl and one boy, each. The team who knocks down the most is the winner. But what makes it extreme? Well, I want to see how good you are at bowling when you’re dizzy! (Turn around in a circle.) Everyone, line up and let’s bowl! Before the kids bowl, turn them around in a circle a few times so they’re just a little bit dizzy. Optional SFX: “Eye on It” by TobyMac

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SUNDAY MORNINGS

June 10, 2018, Week 2 Grade: 3-4

Declare a winner and send kids back to their seats. While you’re talking below, throw the pins into the prop box and set it aside. “That was awesome, everyone! No gutter balls here! Mainly because we didn’t actually HAVE a gutter, but that’s beside the point.” Host exits as Historyteller enters. SETTING UP THE BIBLE TRUTH HISTORYTELLER: “Hey everyone! Are you ready for a super-AMPED Bible Truth today from the Bible? (Hold up Bible.) Awesome! Let’s get right into it! On the count of three we will say ‘Roll that film please.’ Ready? One. Two. Three.” HISTORYTELLER AND CHILDREN: “Roll that film please.” CG: 252 Movie

WRAPPING UP THE BIBLE TRUTH HISTORYTELLER: “When the Midianites heard the Israelites and saw all the flames, they were terrified! They started to panic and fight against themselves. They ran away from the battle. “Without lifting a weapon, the Israelite army had won against their enemy! God had come through, just like He said He would! The Israelites knew God had given them victory, and they gave God the credit. With Gideon as their leader, Israel finally had peace for the next 40 years. “Gideon’s life shows us something really important. CG: Bottom Line Slide [Bottom Line] “God can use you no matter what. God used Gideon even though he felt like the least important person in all of Israel. No one would have picked Gideon to do anything special—especially rescue God’s people. But God picked Gideon to do something amazing! “What was true for Gideon is also true for you: [Bottom Line] God can use you no matter what. “Let’s pray.” Pray HISTORYTELLER: “God, thank You for Gideon’s life. Thank You for choosing him to save Your people. He didn’t feel like he was important enough to do it, but You did! Help us to remember that You can use each one of us, too, no matter what. Help us to trust You and to know that You can use us to do anything You’ve called us to do. We love You, and we ask these things in Jesus’ name, amen.” “If you have an offering with you today, raise your hand and we will bring the bucket over to you.”

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SUNDAY MORNINGS

June 10, 2018, Week 2 Grade: 3-4

“Now, up on your feet and please welcome our Power Praise team!” Power Praise team enters as Historyteller exits. Worship SFX: “Happy Day” SFX: “My Strength” SFX: “Rescue Me” Host enters as Power Praise Team exits. Closer HOST: “Have you ever felt like Gideon—like you weren’t good enough to do something? Maybe you didn’t have enough confidence to try out for a sport or a play. Or maybe you were afraid to stand up for a friend who was being picked on. Or maybe you were scared to pray in front of people. “Whenever you feel that way, think about Gideon’s. His life story can give you confidence. It can remind you of what God can do through you. God can use you because HE thinks you’re important. He can use you to make a difference. “He can use you to make a difference for Him at your school. He can use you to make a difference in your family and with your friends. He can use you to tell others about Jesus and how He died to save us. You can be confident of that. Do you remember our memory verse?” CG: Memory Verse Slide “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13, NIV.” “When you choose to let God use you to make a difference, you are showing the goodness of the Lord to the world, today.” “Here’s one thing we need to remember today. CG: Bottom Line Slide [Bottom Line] “God can use you no matter what. Be confident and remember that God is with you just like He was with Gideon. [Basic Truth] You can trust Him no matter what. Let’s head to Small Group and talk some more about different ways God that could use you!” Dismiss children to their Small Groups. CG: Small Group Slide

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SUNDAY MORNINGS

June 10, 2018, Week 2 Grade: 3-4

He’ll Be There for You Bible: He’ll Be There for You (Gideon) • Judges 6–8 Bottom Line: God can use you no matter what. Memory Verse: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13, NIV Life App: Confidence—Living like you believe what God says is true 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 No Dice What You Need: Large craft sticks, four dice, Bibles What You Do: • Select a volunteer to read Psalm 27:13 to review this month’s memory verse. • Give each kid a craft stick. • Divide the group into two teams and have them line up, shoulder to shoulder. • Each team will need four dice and a Bible. • The first kid in each line will be the “Balancer” and the second kid in each line will be the “Caller.” • Hand the Bible to the Caller and the dice to the Balancer. • When you say, “Go,” the Balancer will place his craft stick in his mouth and carefully balance four dice—one on top of the other—on the end of his craft stick. • Once the dice are stacked, the Caller must recite the memory verse. • When finished, pass the dice to the Caller, who will then become the Balancer. • The next person in line becomes the new Caller and will hold the Bible and say the verse. • Continue down the line of kids. • Once the dice reach the end of the line, the original first kid becomes the Caller. • As soon as that kid finishes reciting the verse (while the last kid in line balances the dice), the entire team should sit down. • The first team to sit down is the winning team! What You Say: • “That was fun! Were you more confident about calling out the verse or balancing the dice? (Pause for responses.) I love this verse because it reminds me that God IS good and that we can have confidence in Him. We can know for sure that what God says is true. Even if we don’t feel confident, we can ask God to help us and remind us that He is with us. Because [Bottom Line] God can use you no matter what.”

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SUNDAY MORNINGS

June 10, 2018, Week 2 Grade: 3-4

10:15 Take a Snapshot What You Need: Sticky notes, pens What You Do: • Start by asking students for examples (real or hypothetical) of things God might ask kids their age to do. They might say: o Invite a friend to church o Raise money for or give time to a cause that they care about o Take on more responsibility when a parent is stressed out o Be the only one doing the right thing in a certain situation • Give students a pen and three sticky notes. • Ask them to write an example of the following situations on their sticky notes (one response per note): o God may ask me to do this, and it will be easy. o God may ask me to do this, but it will a bit of a stretch. o God may ask me to do this, but it will be a huge challenge. • Create a “climbing wall” by letting students place their sticky notes on the wall – easy situations near the floor and the most difficult as high on the wall as they can reach. (NOTE: If a wall is not an option, use a designated area on the floor and tell students which area represents the lower part of the wall.) • Invite everyone to share what they wrote and prompt students to chime in when they resonate with one another’s challenges. • Leave the sticky notes in place for use later in “Make it Personal with Prayer.” Pro Tip: Steer this activity away from a comparison or competition. Reinforce the fact that each person is different. What is easy for some may be hard for others, but God can use us no matter what our strengths and weaknesses are.

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SUNDAY MORNINGS

June 10, 2018, Week 2 Grade: 3-4

All Service Times

Pray and Dismiss (10 minutes) What You Need: No supplies needed What You Do: • Encourage the kids to gather up in a tight huddle, shoulder to shoulder. • ASK: o Is there something that you need God to help you with? o Do you ever feel like Gideon and wonder how God could use you? • Explain that you will give them a few moments to pray silently about that on their own, and then close the group in prayer. What You Say: “Heavenly Father, sometimes it is hard to do the right thing or the hard thing when we aren’t confident. But we trust You. Help us to remember that just like You were with Gideon, You are with us too. Help us to have confidence and remember that You can use us no matter what. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.” As adults arrive to pick up, encourage the kids to retell the events of Gideon to their parents.

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