Bible Story: Keep Psalm and Be Thankful (A Psalm of Thanksgiving) Psalm 100:1-5

Small Group Leader Curriculum K-5th

November 4th/5th

Bible Story: Keep Psalm and Be Thankful (A psalm of thanksgiving)•Psalm 100:1-5

Bottom Line: Celebrate what God has done.

Memory Verse: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV

Life App: Gratitude—letting others know you see how they’ve helped you.

Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.

Social: Small Groups (5:30, 8:45)

Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up.

Get ready to experience today’s story.

Early Arriver Idea

Made to Connect: an activity that invites kids to share with others and build on their understanding

What You Need: Offering container

What You Do:

• Greet kids as they arrive and encourage them to place their offerings in the container.

• Ask kids: If you had a special camera that could only take five pictures, what or who would those pictures feature? What would your pictures be of?

• Talk a bit about how and why we take pictures; we want to capture a moment and focus on something really important.

Intro Activity

Celebration Scramble

Made to Play: an activity that encourages learning through following guidelines and working as a group

What You Need: “Celebration Scramble Cards,” “Celebration Calendar Cards” Activity Pages, smartphone (optional)

What You Do:

• Set out the Calendar Cards, starting in January, and then pass out the Scramble Cards. Each kid should have a few cards.

• On your “Go,” kids race to place their Scramble Cards under the appropriate month. They can play again to beat their previous time.

• For younger kids, play as a group. Pick a few cards that show well-known holidays in your community and help the group decide where to place them on the calendar cards.

• For older kids, you can play in this manner:

o Divide kids into teams and give one team the Scramble Cards and the other the Calendar Cards.

o Kids with the Calendar Cards have to link arms with kids with the appropriate Celebration Scramble Cards.

o This may result in long strands or bunches of kids since many on the scramble team will have celebrations in different months, and a few Calendar kids may have more than one month. But the chaos and challenge of figuring it out will be fun for older kids!

· Answer Key: (Note: Birthday can be any of these months according to whoever ends up with that card.)

o January-New Years Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day

o February-President’s Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day

o March-International Women’s Day, Pancake Day

o April-Easter Day, Anzac Day

o May-May Day, Mother’s Day

o June-Father’s Day

o July-Canada Day, American Independence Day

o August-

o September-Labor Day, Mexican Independence Day, Grandparent’s Day

o October-Canadian Thanksgiving

o November-American Thanksgiving

o December-St. Nicholas Day, Las Posadas, Christmas Day, Boxing Day

What You Say:

“That was a lot of celebrations! [Transition] Let’s go hear about the best thing to celebrate all year long.”

Lead your group to the Large Group area.

Large Group (5:42, 8:57)

Line your kids up at the door and quietly head to the Large Group room. You’ll sit with your small group near the front of the stage. Stay with your kids the entire time you’re in large group. Engage kids’ hearts through a dynamic and interactive Bible story, worship, and prayer experience in a Large Group setting.

LARGE GROUP TIMES:

Saturday:

5:42-6:10

Sunday:

8:57-9:20

Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect

(6:10, 9:20)

Create a safe place to connect and learn how the Bible story applies to real life experiences through interactive activities and discussion questions.

· Welcome visitors

· Go over memory verse—give candy to kids who can say it

· Offer snacks 5:30pm service only

Activity #1

Freeze Frame

[Live for God | Application Activity]

Made to Imagine: an activity that promotes empathy and facilitates biblical application through role-play and reenactment

What You Need: “Freeze Frame Scenario Cards” Activity Pages

What You Do:

• Read a scenario.

• Encourage either a few selected kids or the whole group to act out the scenario.

o At the end of the kids acting it out yell “Freeze Frame.”

o Everyone must freeze.

o Hold your fingers in a frame shape and pretend to take a picture of the gratitude action.

• The kid who you “caught” showing gratitude gets to be the director of the next scenario.

• Play until everyone has had a chance to direct the group, or as long as time allows.

What You Say:

“It can be easy for us to miss how others have helped us; maybe because we think it’s just their job to help, or because they’ve always helped before, or because it seems like such a little action that you don’t really notice it. That’s one of the reasons we’re working on refocusing here at [your environment’s name]—so that we can show gratitude to other people. The One we need to be grateful to the most is God. Have you ever noticed that you don’t have to tell your heart to beat; it just does it all by itself? Or that gravity works every single time you go to sit in a chair? How about the way that God encourages other people to love you, like your family, friends, and even Small Group Leaders? God made your body to work just the way it does, and He made the earth to work just the way it does, and He made families to work just the way they do. And that’s just the beginning! (Be sensitive here to kids who may have various physical ailments, broken families, or natural disasters in their history. If that is the case with your small group, emphasize God’s presence in the midst of things not going right.) Every single day, there’s a reason to [Bottom Line] celebrate what God has done.”

Optional Additional Discussion Questions for Older Kids

• What’s the biggest celebration you’ve ever been a part of? Who did it celebrate and why?

• How is it different to celebrate what God has done than what people have done? Is it more fun to go to a birthday party than to church? Why?

• Do you think we ever take God’s gifts and His grace for granted? Are we ever just “meh” about celebrating what God has done? Read Romans 5:6-8. What do you think that means about how we should celebrate what God did through Jesus?

• If you were in charge of leading a weekly celebration of gratitude for what God has done, what would you include? What kind of music would there be? Would there be cake? Who would get or give gifts?

Prayer—All Services

[Pray to God | Prayer Activity]

Made to Connect: an activity that invites kids to share with others and build on their understanding

What You Need: Banner or poster paper; colored pencils or markers

What You Do:

• Spread out the poster or banner paper and set out the colored pencils/markers

• Encourage kids to write or draw one thing that God has done that they want to celebrate.

• After they’re finished, say the items out loud, making sure to include things that are drawn.

• Use the banner to close in prayer by thanking God for each thing written or drawn.

What You Say:

“Dear God, we thank You because You are awesome and have done great things. You made us, care for us, and save us. We are so grateful for who You are. You are kind and loving, patient and strong. Help us to celebrate what You have done in special ways all week long. Amen.”

If you have extra time you may…

-ask kids questions to get to know them better

-practice the memory verse

-allow them to play any games available in your classrooms

Dismiss at the door

Pass out any fliers that are on your table by the door.

Please take all parent tags as parents enter for pick-up. If a tag is not available, do not release their kid to them and please send them to the lobby to fill out a Parent Release Form or to have their parent tag reprinted.

Return your name tag to the check-in counter when you’re finished for the day.

Thank you for serving today!