2.11 date: Bible Passage: Esther 1—10 (Esther) God Is in Control REMEMBER VERSE Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21 © 2015 David C Cook. TruResources are developed in partnership with ROCKHARBOR Church and a national network of family and children’s ministry leaders. All rights reserved. ANTICIPATE | CELEBRATE | RESPOND | BLESS 2.11 Tru Mission Statement Tru helps kids and their families connect to God, find their place in His big story, and respond to Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. Lesson Path: Seeing the Mission Statement in a Tru Lesson Connecting leaders to God ... Inspire, Equip, and Support Connects kids and their families to God … HomeFront Weekly Anticipate … His big story … Celebrate … And invites them to respond to Him … Respond … Through the power of the Holy Spirit. Bless Navigating Lesson 2.11 Below you will find additional information to enhance lesson sections as needed. Anticipate Noisemakers (for Younger Kids) If dry beans aren’t available, use rice, feed corn, or tiny pebbles for your noisemakers. You could also use toy Easter eggs as an alternative to small disposable cups. Celebrate Storytelling Video A storytelling video is available for this lesson. Premium, Unlimited, and Combo users will find this video in the Resource Files. Respond Small Group Enhancement “Would You Rather?” activities are available for this lesson. Premium, Unlimited, and Combo users may find them in the Resource Files. Bless HomeFront Magazine: A Spiritual Parenting Resource This magazine gives families ideas for creating fun, spiritually forming times in their homes—setting aside a sacred space for family in the midst of their active, everyday lives! As the new issue becomes available each month, you may choose to print it for families or encourage them to visit www.HomeFrontMag.com to subscribe to have the magazine sent directly to their inboxes. HomeFront is also available as an app for iPhone, iPad, or Android devices. © 2015 David C Cook 2 ANTICIPATE | CELEBRATE | RESPOND | BLESS 2.11 SMALL GROUP SECTION Anticipate// 5–10 min. Option 1: Noisemakers Option 2: Masks (for Younger Kids) (for Older Kids) Every year, the Israelites celebrated the Feast of Purim to Every year, Jewish people celebrate the Feast of Purim to remember how God used Esther to save their people. To remember how God used Esther to save their people. One way celebrate, they went to the synagogue and heard the book of they celebrate is by dressing up in costumes of the people in the Esther read out loud. The children brought a special noisemaker Esther narrative and then reenacting the events of the narrative. called a gragger, kind of like a modern-day ratchet, and used it to make noise during certain parts of the story. During this ANTICIPATE, children will make their own masks to represent the various people in this part of The Big God Story. During this ANTICIPATE, help the kids make their own simple noisemakers to use as the hear The Big God Story today. SUPPLIES • paper plates (1 per child, 9”, white) SUPPLIES • markers or crayons • disposable cups (2 per child, small) • scissors (3–5 pairs) • duct tape • tape • dry beans (1 bag) • misc. craft supplies (examples: ribbon, jewels, sequins) • optional: upbeat worship music (suggestion: “Jump Up,” • optional: craft sticks (1 per child, jumbo size) TruWorship You Are), toy ratchets (www.amazon.com) or other misc. items that can be used to make noise ENGAGE In The Big God Story, God used a woman named Esther ENGAGE to protect His people from death. Ever since that time, Today in The Big God Story we’ll hear about a young God’s people, the Jews, celebrate a festival called Purim. woman whom God used to save His people from being They dress up like the people in the book of Esther and killed. Even today, the Jews celebrate a festival called remember what God did to save them. Let’s make masks to Purim to remember how God protected His people. represent the people involved in this part of God’s story. They celebrate with noisemakers. Let’s make our own noisemakers and use them to celebrate! Invite kids to create masks that depict people from the Esther narrative. Each child can choose one of the following. Make sure Give each child two cups and help her to fill one of the cups you have at least one of each person and two officers. about halfway full with beans. Then help her to put the mouth of the other cup on top of the first cup. Finally, tape the two cups • “The King”—a powerful, rich guy securely together. Encourage the children to shake their cups to • “The Officer”—someone who enforces laws make noise! • “The Villain”—a bad guy • “The Queen”—a beautiful young woman Optional: Play an upbeat worship song and invite the kids to • “The Cousin”—the woman’s relative shake their noisemakers to the music. Invite kids to use markers or crayons to draw the faces of their chosen people on the bottom of the paper plates. Then have them cut out holes for eyes and mouths. They can also use various craft supplies to add other elements—for example, a jeweled crown for “The Queen.” Optional: Have each child tape a jumbo craft stick to his mask so he can hold it up. Once the kids finish their creations, invite them to share what people they chose and how their masks represent those individuals. Encourage the kids to hold on to their masks for large group. © 2015 David C Cook 3 ANTICIPATE | CELEBRATE | RESPOND | BLESS 2.11 LARGE GROUP SECTION Celebrate//35–55 min. Ponder Point: God Is in Control Welcome & • Take five minutes to open your CELEBRATE time by engaging in Welcome and Traditions. Traditions// • Quarterly Tradition (optional): Secret Handshake: Invite kids to form a circle around the room. Have one leader and one child stand in the middle of the circle and make up a secret handshake. Once they’ve decided on a handshake, invite each child to try it with the person next to him. Then invite the kids to mill around the room and try to shake as many hands as possible before storytelling begins. Remember • This week’s Remember Verse focuses on a character trait of God that’s highlighted in today’s portion of The Verse// Big God Story. Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’S purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21 Connect// Invite the children to ask one another the following question or one of your own. Encourage them to ask someone they may not know. After a minute or two, ask several children to tell the group their friends’ answers. (For Connect Question and Connect Activity slides, see Resource Files.) Question If you could ask the leader of your country one question, what would it be? Activity: Leader Greeting Encourage each child to move around the room and find someone she hasn’t met or doesn’t know very well. As they greet each other, they must pretend that they’re meeting the leader of their country. They can shake hands, salute, kneel on one knee, etc. After the greeting, the kids can discuss their responses to the Connect Question. Have kids repeat the activity as time permits. The Big God SUPPLIES Story// • Bibles (1 per leader and 1 per child) • noisemakers (from ANticipate Option 1) • Timeline slide and animation (see Resource Files) • masks (from ANticipate Option 2) • Esther Script (see Resource Files) PREPARE AHEAD From the older kids who participated in ANTICIPATE Option 2, ask for six volunteers to help act out today’s narrative using the masks they made. You’ll need one King, one Cousin, two Officers, one Villain, and one Queen. Print a copy of the Esther Script for each actor. SET UP Hand out the scripts to the actors and have them stand offstage. Let them know you’ll be introducing each one of them to the audience. As each one is announced, she should put her mask in front of her face, come to the front of the stage, and strike a pose. Worship SUPPLIES Response// • Bibles (1 per leader and 1 per child) • soft worship music (“Come Unto • butcher paper (5’) or whiteboard Me,” TruWorship You Are) • regular markers or dry erase markers • optional: tape SET UP If using butcher paper, tape it to the wall in a location easily accessible to the kids. Put the markers (or dry erase markers, if using a whiteboard) nearby. Find more details for each section in the How It Works document in the Supporting Lesson Resources section of the My Lessons page at tru.davidccook.com. © 2015 David C Cook 4 ANTICIPATE | CELEBRATE | RESPOND | BLESS 2.11 The Big God Story Bible Passage: Esther 1— 10 Storytelling Technique: Acting Out the Narrative ENGAGE Today we’re going to discover an exciting part of The Big God Story. We’ll hear that God is always in control. When you hear the phrase “God is in control,” I’d like you to clap and cheer! If you have a noisemaker, shake it! Also, for those of you who made masks earlier, hold those in front of your faces when your person speaks. Sound good? Before we get started, let’s ask God to show us more about how He is in control. Lead kids in Prayer of Release. There once was a beautiful woman named Esther. Esther was a Jew, one of God’s people.