Group Experiences for K-5Th Grades

252 Groups September 2016, Week 4 Small Group, K-1

Chief Executive Officer 252® Groups Reggie Joiner Group Experiences for K-5th Grades Creative Team Scripture marked “NIrV” is taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL READER'S VERSION®. Kristen Ivy Copyright © 1996, 1998 Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of Biblica. Mike Clear Molly Boylan Scripture marked “NIV” is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, Elloa Davis NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. Elizabeth Hansen All rights reserved worldwide. Jessica McKee Brandon O’Dell Statement of Faith Greg Payne ABOUT GOD Phil Pierce God is the one and only true God, yet He exists in three persons: God the Dan Scott Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is the Creator, so Jon Williams everything belongs to Him and is under His control. God is holy, so He is righteous, majestic, and loving. God is all knowing and purposeful, so He’s Contributing Writers at work to bring about His will. No person, thing, or idea compares to God. Matt Bell Becky Jarrett ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES Cara Martens God reveals Himself to us through the Bible, and it is 100% accurate, reliable, Emily Meredith and authoritative. Adam Walsh Dana Wilkerson ABOUT PEOPLE People are made in God’s image and for His pleasure. But everybody falls Editors short of God’s intention, or ideal, for people. In other words, everyone has Molly Boylan sinned. As a result, we are all separated from Him, even though He wants Elloa Davis an intimate relationship with each of us. Dana Wilkerson

ABOUT SALVATION Illustrations & Graphic Design That’s why Jesus—God’s Son—came and lived on this earth, died, and Brian Bascle rose again. God offers His free gift of salvation to all who believe in Jesus Mike Davis and accept Him as Savior—the only way to be forgiven and reconciled to Joe Goode God. Anyone who accepts this gift is adopted as a son or daughter into God’s family and will live with Him forever in heaven. Technical & Web Support Hadley Brandt

User Agreement Orange Specialists Orange gladly grants permission to churches, schools, and other licensees to Amy Grisham tailor 252 Basics® materials to fit their unique leadership requirements, locale Joy Bowen and format preferences, and physical environment needs. However, if you Abbey Carr wish to edit the content substantively, including Bible stories, learning Amy Fenton activities, scripts, and any other content in which biblical principles and Leslie Galema concepts are presented, you are obligated to do so within the doctrinal Misty Phillips guidelines we’ve expressed in our Statement of Faith. These resources are Stephanie Porter intended to be downloaded and printed for use by the subscribing entity only Courtney Templeton and may not be electronically transferred to or duplicated by other non- subscribing entities. Any unauthorized reproduction of this material or incorporation into a new work is a direct violation of US copyright laws. ©2016 The reThink Group. All rights reserved. 252 Basics® and the 252 Basics® logo are trademarks of Orange and the reThink Group.

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Family Re-Ties

Bible Story: Family Re-Ties (Joseph Forgives His Brothers) • Genesis 42–45 Bottom Line: You can trust God no matter what. Memory Verse: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5, NIrV Life App: Trust—putting your confidence in someone you can depend on. Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.

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

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

Walking Tall  4 empty, clean aluminum cans o Turn the cans upside down (open side on the floor). o Place a nail on one edge of the can’s circle and hammer it in, making a nail-sized hole. o Do the same on the opposite side. o The holes should be as close to the edge of the can as possible, and as much in a straight line across from each other as possible.  4 5-foot lengths of twine or yarn OR  4 thick books (like a dictionary)  1 roll of plastic cling wrap

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. Joseph’s Life Mural: Part Four (application activity / review the Bible story)  Butcher paper from previous weeks  “Story Titles: Week 4” Activity Page  Paper clips  Markers or crayons  1 small handful of rice (you don’t need much!)  A few coins (ask leaders to bring these in)  Glue

2. Name that Emoji (application activity)  Paper plates; 1 for each kid  Markers

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3. Memory Verse Bowling (memory verse activity)  10 plastic cups  Permanent marker  Tennis ball, playground ball, or similar

Prayer  No supplies needed

Additional Resources:  Make copies on cardstock of 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.

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Family Re-Ties

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. Ask God to help you wrap up this month by impressing on kids’ hearts that He is a trustworthy God who will never leave them and always wants and does what’s best for them. Pray for kids who don’t yet have a relationship with God. Pray that today’s story and message would stir some questions in their hearts. Ask God to guide you as you answer those questions.

1. Early Arriver Idea What You Need: Offering container

What You Do:  Encourage the kids to place their offerings in the offering container.  Ask kids: o Have you ever been to a circus? o What was your favorite act? o If you could be in the circus, what act would you want to be a part of and why?

2. Walking Tall What You Need: 4 empty cans and 4 pieces of twine or yarn; OR 4 large books (like dictionaries) and a roll of plastic wrap

What You Do:  You will be creating “stilts” for the kids to walk on (like performers in the circus).  There are two options for creating these (we suggest creating two sets of stilts per group).  Option 1: Stilts made out of cans o Collect four clean cans. Turn each can upside down so that the open side is on the floor. Drill two small holes in the top of the cans on opposite sides. Run the twine or yarn through both of the holes, meet the ends together at the top and tie. The kids will put their feet on the cans and hold the twine/yarn loop taut to walk.  Option 2: Stilts out of books

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o Bring in four large books. Run the plastic wrap around each book several times to hold the pages together. Then have the child stand on the books (one book per foot). Use the plastic wrap to secure kids’ feet to the books.  Once the stilts are on, mark a starting and turn around line on the floor with tape about five feet apart.  Let the kids attempt to “walk” on the stilts from the start to the turn around line and back again.  Continue until everyone has had a turn walking on stilts.  Adaptation: If you have too many groups in one room to provide four stilts per group, provide four per room. Divide the room in half and let a representative from each half represent their side of the room. Have kids cheer on their representative as they “race-walk” on stilts. Continue as time allows, letting other kids compete and represent their side of the room.

What You Say: “Have you ever been to the circus to see performers walk on stilts? Have you ever seen performers on stilts at a parade or festival? It looks easy, but walking on stilts takes some practice! [Transition] I love the circus! Let’s head to Large Group and see what kind of circus craziness awaits!”

Lead your group to the Large Group area.

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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. Joseph’s Life Mural: Part Four (application activity / review the Bible story) What You Need: Butcher paper from previous weeks, “Story Titles: Week 4” Activity Page, paper clips, markers, crayons, rice, a few coins, glue, scissors

What You Do:  Roll out the butcher paper to sections one through three. Briefly review what you talked about this month: Joseph had a special coat, his brothers were jealous, they sold him to traders. Joseph was sent to Egypt, worked for Potiphar, was falsely accused and thrown in jail, was put in charge of all the prisoners, met the baker and cupbearer to the king and with God’s help correctly interpreted their dreams. Two years passed, the cupbearer remembered Joseph, he went before Pharaoh and with God’s help interpreted his dreams, then Pharaoh put him in charge to be second in command.  Roll the mural back up so that only the fourth section is available for the kids to use. Paper clip it in place.  Glue the “Story Titles: Week 4” Activity Page to the top of the fourth section.  Review today’s Bible story using the points below. 1. Joseph faithfully stored up grain. People traveled from everywhere to buy grain from Egypt, including his brothers. 2. Joseph’s 10 brothers bowed before him to ask for grain. Joseph recognized them but the brothers didn’t recognize him. 3. Joseph required one brother (Simeon) to stay behind and sent the rest back home. The other brothers headed for home with the grain they’d purchased. 4. When they stopped, Judah found their money had been returned. 5. When the grain ran out, the brothers headed back to Egypt, this time with Benjamin. 6. Joseph ordered his workers to fill their bags with grain, return the money, AND put his silver cup into their bags. 7. Once they left, Joseph sent the manager to catch up with them and “discover” the cup. 8. Joseph revealed his true identity and forgave his brothers and invited them to come live with him in Egypt.  Ask the kids to gather around the butcher paper. Let them choose a partner or work in groups of three. Assign each pair/ group a part of the story using the suggested supplies below. o Glue rice to the page for sacks of grain (you can use the markers to draw a bag around it). o Show the kids how to place the coins under the paper and rub over them with a crayon to create a coin rubbing (for the money used to buy grain). o Use markers or crayons to draw the other parts of the story.  Wrap up the month by taking a few pictures of the kids with their mural. Send the pictures to parents and/or send to your church staff to post on the church’s social media pages.

What You Say: (Unroll the rest of the mural from previous weeks.) “Wow! Talk about a crazy turn of events! I LOVE this story. Can you believe after all that had happened to Joseph (point to the different parts of the story on

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the mural) that suddenly one day Joseph found himself standing before his brothers as they bowed at his feet? It was just like his dream all those years ago! What a crazy, awesome plan God had for Joseph. God never left Joseph. The story of Joseph proves that [Bottom Line] you can trust God no matter what. All of the events in Joseph’s life led to this one amazing moment where he faced his brothers and FORGAVE them. Joseph trusted God and was able to save his family and see his father again. [Bottom Line] You can trust God no matter what.”

2. Name that Emoji (application activity) What You Need: Paper plates; 1 for each kid, markers

What You Do:  Tell kids that trusting God no matter what means we can trust Him no matter what we’re FEELING!  Ask them to name some feelings. As kids name feelings, guide the group to make the faces that go with those feelings.  Make sure to cover all of these emotions: happy, sad, scared, disappointed, surprised, angry, and excited.  Give each child a paper plate.  Assign a different emotion (emoji) to each kid to illustrate. You can assign one emotion to more than one kid.  Give them a few minutes to illustrate their emoji.  Go around the circle and give each kid the opportunity to hold up his emoji.  Name it for the group (for instance, say, “Sam has the excited emoji!”) and then have the kids say, “I can trust God when I’m excited.”  Go around the circle repeating phrases like the ones below, letting those kids with the corresponding emotion hold up their plates. o Examples: . I can trust God when I’m scared. . I can trust God when I’m sad. . I can trust God when I’m happy. . I can trust God when someone is mean. . I can trust God when I’m disappointed. . I can trust God when I fail or mess up. . I can trust God when I win. . I can trust God when I lose. . I can trust God when things don’t go my way.  After you’ve gone all the way around the circle, have the kids all hold up their emojis at the same time as you say, [Bottom Line] “I can trust God no matter what!”

What You Say: “Awesome! No matter how you’re feeling—whether you’re happy or sad or scared or frustrated or disappointed or angry or just plain fed up—[Bottom Line] you can trust God no matter what. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow or a week from now but God does. And He has a good plan for each of our lives. Our job is to trust that He is with us just like He was with Joseph. We may not understand the things that happen to us until WAY later but we can believe without a doubt that God has a good plan and that He is in control. [Bottom Line] You can trust God no matter what.”

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[Make It Personal] (Choose one of the kids’ emojis and hold it up. Tell the kids about a time when you felt that emotion and chose to trust God no matter how you ‘felt.’ Make sure your example is age-appropriate.)

3. Memory Verse Bowling (memory verse activity) What You Need: 10 Plastic cups, permanent marker, ball

What You Do:  Help the kids look up Proverbs 3:5 and read it together.  Use the permanent marker to write the words of the verse on the cups. (Keep the cups right side up.) o Break the verse down like this, for the NIrV: “Trust in / the Lord / with all / your heart. / Do not / depend / on your / own / understanding. / Proverbs 3:5  Place the cups on the floor in a “V” formation in verse order, like bowling pins: one cup in the first row, two cups in the second row, three cups in the third row and four cups in the fourth row.  Line up kids behind the starting line about three feet from the “bowling pins.”  Let them take turns rolling the ball to knock down the cups.  If a kid doesn’t knock down any cups, say the verse together as a group.  If a kid knocks down some cups, then remove the ones that were knocked over and let the kids say the verse and “fill in the blank” for the missing words. (You can read the words on the cups that are still standing and let kids filling in the missing words.)  If a kid rolls a “strike” and knocks down all the cups, you must say the verse from memory. (If your kids know the verse pretty well, “mess up” a couple words and let them correct you! They’ll love “catching” your mistake!)  Repeat so that every child has a turn.

What You Say: “That was fun! This such an important verse to memorize. If you’re ever in a situation that’s hard or that doesn’t make sense, I want you to remember Proverbs 3:5 and choose to trust in the Lord with all your heart instead of leaning on your own understanding. You don’t have to have everything figured out because your heavenly Father does and He is in control. [Bottom Line] You can trust God no matter what.”

Pray and Dismiss What You Need: No supplies needed

What You Do:  Have the kids hold up their emoji face from earlier and pray that God will help them to trust Him when they feel that emotion.  Pray for the group.

What You Say: “Heavenly Father, thank you for the story of Joseph and the promise that You are always with us. We can trust You when we’re happy or sad or disappointed or excited. We can trust You when we make a mistake or when we ace a test. We can trust You when others let us down or when they surprise us

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with a hug. We can trust You in any situation because You LOVE us. And we love You. Help us to trust you no matter what. In Jesus’ name, amen.

As adults arrive to pick up, pass out Parent Cue cards and encourage the kids to show their parents the “Joseph Mural” from this month. Give each child a GodTime card.