Bible Story: Relocated (Abraham) Genesis 12

252 Groups July 2017, Week 2 Small Group, K-1

Relocated

Bible Story: Relocated (Abraham) • Genesis 12 Bottom Line: God made you for an adventure. Memory Verse: “We are God’s creation. He created us to belong to Christ Jesus. Now we can do good works. Long ago God prepared these works for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10, NIrV Life App: Uniqueness—discovering who God made you to be so you can make a difference. Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.

GET READY Prepare ahead of time for K–1st grade Small Groups this week:

Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction (Choose one or both of these activities.) Early Arriver  An offering container

Beach Bound  2 long jump ropes  Print the “Beach Bound?” Activity Pages and cut apart; 1 set for each small group

Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect (Choose as many of these activities as you like.)

* If you don’t have time to do all these activities, be sure to do activity #1.

* 1. Where You Lead Me (application activity / review the Bible story)  Print the “Where You Lead Me” Activity Page and cut apart; 1 for each kid; make 4 stacks of cards, keeping the alike cards together in a stack  Small prizes

2. Look Outs (application activity)  Toilet paper rolls or construction paper  Masking tape  Yarn  Hole punch  Scissors  Markers  Adventure-themed stickers (optional)

3. Postcards from the Word (memory verse activity)  Print the “Postcards from the Word” Activity Page and cut apart; 1 postcard for each kid  Markers  Summer-themed stickers  Paper or white board

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 Markers or dry-erase markers  A couple of real postcards to show kids what they look like

Prayer  Binoculars from the “Look Outs” activity

Additional Resources:  Make copies on cardstock or email this week’s GodTime and Parent Cue cards.  Tell parents about our additional family resources: Studio252.tv, CUE Box, and the Parent Cue app. To find out more about these great resources, go to http://www.Studio252.tv/leaders. Relocated

Bible Story: Relocated (Abraham) • Genesis 12 Bottom Line: God made you for an adventure. Memory Verse: “We are God’s creation. He created us to belong to Christ Jesus. Now we can do good works. Long ago God prepared these works for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10, NIrV Life App: Uniqueness—discovering who God made you to be so you can make a difference. 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 story.

Before kids arrive, pray for each regular attendee by name. Pray for those who might visit your group for the first time. Pray for the kids who may feel like they’re too young to experience an adventure or do anything that would be considered “big.” Ask God to help kids understand that the adventure begins now and it starts with embracing who God made them to be.

1. Early Arriver Idea What You Need: Offering container

What You Do:  Invite kids to place their offerings in the container.  Talk to kids about how much fun it is to take a trip. Tell them about the last trip you took or a trip you are going on soon or would like to go on someday.  Ask kids about the last trip they took: o Where did you go? o Who went with you? o What did you see?

2. Beach Bound What You Need: 2 long jump ropes, “Beach Bound?” cards Activity Page

What You Do:  Using the jump ropes, make a giant life-size Venn diagram (two big circles that overlap slightly).  Show kids the stack of cards. Let each kid choose a card, show it to the group, and tell the group what the item is. (For some of the items, you may need to help kids identify them.)  Then explain the Venn diagram. Tell kids that they’re going to sort the items into things you would take to the beach or things you would take on a winter trip. For things that would go on either trip, they should put those cards in the middle, overlapping section.  Let kids put the cards they’re holding in the category they think the item should go in.  After all the cards have been sorted, look to see if they’re sorted correctly. If not, point out the incorrect cards (one at a time) and ask if anyone knows where they should go. As much as you can, let the kids do the heavy lifting to get the cards sorted.

What You Say: “You guys are really making me want to go on a big trip! [Transition] Today in Large Group, we are going to hear about someone who was going on a big adventure! The only problem was, he didn’t know where he was going.”

Lead your group to the Large Group area.

Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect (Small Groups, 25 minutes) Create a safe place to connect and learn how the Bible story applies to real life experiences, through interactive activities and discussion questions.

* 1. Where You Lead Me (application activity / review the Bible story) What You Need: “Where You Lead Me” cards Activity Page, small prizes

What You Do:  Place the cards from the Activity Pages in the locations indicated—door, table, chair, and corner.  Talk to kids about how in the story today, Abraham didn’t know where God was going to lead him.  Tell them that they are going to find four clues around the room, and they’re not going to know exactly where they’re going either!  Tell kids they’re going to collect a card at each clue location, for a total of four cards. They’ll read the clue on the card, do the action, and then head to the next place.  Start kids at different places, sending a few to each of the card locations (corner, table, chair, or door) around the room.  You may need to help kids read the clues and/or encourage those who can read to help those who can’t.  When kids have completed each clue and done the action on the card, they can bring them to you and win a small prize.  Note: If you have multiple groups in the same room, do this activity with all groups at the same time. Put SGLs at each station to help kids read their cards.

What You Say: “When God told Abraham to leave his land and go to a new place, Abraham obeyed even though he didn’t know where he was going next. He trusted God that He knew what was best. When you guys

were looking for the clues, you had to do some silly actions and you didn’t know why. You also didn’t know where you were going next. That must have been how Abraham felt when he was moving his family and didn’t know why or where he was going. Abraham knew that [Bottom Line] God made you for an adventure, which is why he trusted God and did as He asked. God has a plan for each one of us and He wants us to fully experience the plan He has mapped out for us. [Make It Personal] (Tell kids about an adventure you have had in your life.) Every adventure is an opportunity to trust God and find out what he has in store for us.”

2. Look Outs (application activity) What You Need: Toilet paper rolls or construction paper, masking tape, hole punch, yarn, scissors, markers

What You Do:  Talk to kids about how something people often take on an adventure is a pair of binoculars because binoculars help us see things that are far away. When we’re on an adventure, we often want to see new things.  Hand out toilet paper rolls or construction paper and decorating supplies.  Allow kids to decorate the rolls however they want to.  When kids are finished decorating, help them cut the paper in half (if using construction paper), roll each half up, and tape the ends to hold the roll together. Attach the rolls to one another with the tape.  Then cut off strands of yarn for each kid that are long enough to use as a neck holder for the binoculars.  Punch a hole on opposite sides of the newly created binoculars and attach the yarn to the rolls so the binoculars can hang around kids’ necks.  Once everyone’s binoculars are finished, lead kids on an adventure around your small group space. Pretend to go to two or three different places, such as a boat in the middle of the ocean or the top of a really tall mountain. Encourage kids to look through their binoculars and pretend to see dolphins in the ocean or a tiny city at the bottom of the mountain.

What You Say: “These binoculars look like something worthy of a grand adventure! When you see these binoculars this week, remember that [Bottom Line] God made you for an adventure. Our adventures aren’t always something huge like going to another country or a big move; they can be the adventures we have every day. For example, maybe you have an opportunity to meet a new friend at school or maybe you get a new pet or you join a new soccer team. Let’s hold these binoculars up to our eyes and pretend we can see an adventure ahead! (Hold up the binoculars.) Hang these up in your room this week to remind you that every day is an adventure.”

3. Postcards from the Word (memory verse activity) What You Need: “Postcards from the Word” Activity Pages, markers, summer-themed stickers, paper or white board, markers, real postcards

What You Do:

 Hold up the “real” postcards and ask if anyone knows what they are. Explain that people who are on adventures often write notes on these and send them to the people they love. The postcards usually have a picture on them of the place where the adventure is.  Read Ephesians 2:10 together and write it out on a piece of paper or on the white board.  Give each kid an Activity Page postcard.  Ask kids to fill in the missing words from the memory verse on the left-hand side of the postcard. You may need to help kids who aren’t great at writing yet.  On the right-hand side of the postcard, ask kids to write the name of someone they would send a postcard to if they were on an adventure trip.  Then let kids draw a picture on the front of the card of a place they would like to visit.  Let each kid choose a sticker to use as a stamp on the postcard.

What You Say: “This is an important verse to remember because it is God’s promise to us that He created each of us for a purpose. No one is here by mistake, but each of us is here to do good works that He planned for us before we were even born. He knew the adventure He was sending us on long before we did because [Bottom Line] God made you for an adventure. Everyone’s adventure is different, but each is just as important as every other.”

Pray and Dismiss What You Need: Binoculars from “Look Outs” activity

What You Do:  Ask kids to put their binoculars around their necks.  Encourage them to find an adventure this week at home or at school. Then close group time in prayer.

What You Say: “This week we learned that God has made each of us for something special. He wants us to follow Him and do what He tells us in His Word so that we can make the most of what He has in store for us. When you see these binoculars this week, I hope you will remember that [Bottom Line] God made you for an adventure. Let’s pray together that God will help us each to see that adventure.

“Dear God, thank You that You know the adventure You were sending us on before we were even born. Thank You that You created us each to do Your good works and gave us each the skills and abilities to do what You have asked us to. Thank You for the adventures You have already taken us on and thank You for the adventures ahead. Show us this week how to make the most of each day’s adventure for Your glory. Amen.”

As adults arrive to pick up, tell them to ask kids what they can see with their binoculars.