Amped

Virtue: Confidence: Living like you believe what God says is true.
Main Point: God can do the impossible. Live like you believe it!
Bible Story: Elijah and the Prophets of Baal
Bible Passage: 1 Kings 18
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

KID CONNECT

AMPED UP TIC-TAC-TOE

WHAT YOU NEED:
Bring It! Challenge Tracking Sheet (1), blank paper (20), pens

WHAT YOU DO:
Start by introducing yourself and welcoming kids to your eGroup. As kids come in, write their names on the Bring It! Challenge tracking sheet.
Ask them about their week and interests. Use the following questions to generate discussion:
What’s something cool that happened this week?
What was the best part of your week?
Have you ________ (seen/eaten/listened to/read) any good _________ (movies/TV shows/food/music/books) lately?
What are you looking forward to next week?
Once you have five to six kids begin playing Amped Up Tic-Tac-Toe!
Give each kid a piece of paper and a pen. Ask kids to draw a Tic-Tac-Toe grid on their pieces of paper.
Note: Their grids should not cover the full page. Grids should be large enough to write a few words in each box, but small enough to fit multiple grids on the paper so more rounds can be played.
Explain that kids will hear a category such as “places to eat.” They will write down one place in each box on the Tic-Tac-Toe grid, without letting others see what they wrote.
The goal of the game is to write down answers they think others will also write down.
Give kids a few minutes to write. When they’re finished, go around the circle and have kids read aloud what they wrote on their grids.
If kids have written the same word someone else calls out in any of the boxes, they can X it out. The words must be the same, but they do not have to be placed in the same box.
The first person to get three X’s in a row on their grid wins!
Play as many rounds as time allows. Use the following categories: sports, snacks, pieces of clothing, pets, and vehicles.
Variations:
“Amped X” – Kids race to X out the five spaces along both diagonals on the grid to create an ‘X’ across it.
“Fully Amped” – Kids race to X out all nine spaces.
For younger groups: Divide kids into two teams. Help each team draw one large grid on their paper, then encourage teams to work together to fill their grid with words relating to the category. Be available to help with writing/spelling words for both teams as needed! (NOTE: Younger kids may need help designating a capable writer for their team.)

BIBLE CONNECT

EXTREME LIVING ART

WHAT YOU NEED: Bibles, Bible story sheet (1)

WHAT YOU SAY:
“Welcome to eGroup! My name is _______ and I’m your eGroup leader! As an eGroup we will hang out together during Motion, hear stories from the Bible, learn what it means to live for Jesus, and play games!
We’re in a series called Amped, where we’re learning about confidence. Let’s dig into God’s Word together now and read about how God did something that seemed impossible!”

WHAT YOU DO:
Have kids sit in a circle with their Bibles and instruct kids to turn to 1 Kings 18. NOTE: This may take time, but it helps kids learn skills for reading the Bible on their own. If needed, encourage kids to use the table of contents in their Bible, and then decide if the book is in the Old or New Testament.
Read the Bible story aloud as directed on the Bible story sheet.
Explain that kids will create extreme living art scenes to represent the Bible passage. Once a team has created their scene, the challenge is to stay completely still, like a statue or a painting, for the remainder of the activity while other teams form their scenes.
Divide kids into five teams and assign each team a scene to create:
Elijah challenges Ahab to call the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to gather for a test to see who is really God.
The prophets of Baal make a sacrifice to Baal; nothing happens.
Elijah mocks the prophets of Baal, who try harder, but still nothing happens.
Elijah makes a sacrifice to God. God sends fire to burn the sacrifice and the entire altar.
The Israelites praise God and God’s promised rain comes.
Encourage kids to work as a team to decide the best way to represent their scene. Give them three or four minutes to plan.
Ask the first team to go to one side of the eGroup space and pose to create their living art scene. Once they’ve formed their scene, remind the team to stay completely still until all teams have completed their living art scenes. Point out the different elements of their scene to the rest of the group.
One at a time, invite other teams to stand in different places around the edge of the eGroup space and create their living art scenes. While they stay still, explain each scene as it’s finished.

WHAT YOU SAY:
“Elijah was willing to do something that seemed crazy because He knew only God could do something that impossible! And because Elijah lived confidently in that belief, other people chose to believe in God, too!”

YOU CONNECT

IMPOSSIBLE?

WHAT YOU NEED: painter’s tape (1 roll)

WHAT YOU DO:
Make a line across the center of the eGroup space with a long strip of painter’s tape.
Tell all children to stand behind the tape line. Explain they should jump across to the other side of the tape line each time they hear a true example of something God did that would seem impossible.
Read the scenarios below and encourage children to jump across the line when applicable.
eTL NOTE: Correct scenarios are in bold.
Cross the line if God caused a flood to cover the entire surface of the Earth. (Genesis 7:17-24)
Cross the line if God turned the water of the Nile River into blood. (Exodus 7:19-21)
Cross the line if God parted the Red Sea so His people could walk across it on dry ground. (Exodus 14:21-22)
Cross the line if God gave a sheep the ability to talk. (Numbers 22:28-30 — He actually made a donkey talk.)
Cross the line if God caused the sun and Earth to stop moving for a full day so His people could have more time to fight their enemies. (Joshua 10:12-13)
Cross the line if God helped a young boy kill a giant to save his people. (1 Samuel 17:45-50)
Cross the line if God saved three men who were being thrown into a fire for worshiping Him by giving them the ability to fly. (Daniel 3:19-26 — God actually let them be thrown in the fire but sent an angel into the fire with them, and they were all completely unharmed.)
Cross the line if God kept a man who was thrown in a den full of hungry lions completely safe. (Daniel 6:16-23)

WHAT YOU SAY:
“Over and over in the Bible, we see examples of God doing things so crazy, they would seem impossible! God never stopped doing impossible things, though. He can still do them today, so we can live with confidence when we believe He can do impossible things through us!
It might seem impossible that one church can feed 400,000 people, or that one church can build homes for hundreds of families. But it’s happened before, and it’s about it happen again! Our church is coming together to serve our cities and our world this week through Love Week. When you join in, you can be part of God doing something that seems impossible!”

Discussion Questions:
“Have you ever served during Love Week before? What did you do?”
“How can you live differently knowing God can do the impossible?”

JOURNAL AND PRAYER

WHAT YOU NEED: eKidz Prayer Journal (or eKidz Prayer Journal page), pen

WHAT YOU SAY:
“Today we learned God can do the impossible, and we should live like we believe it! When you let that truth fill you with confidence, you can see God do great things through you!
During Love Week, our church offers hundreds of opportunities for your family to serve in our community and show God’s love to others. You could help assemble meals for families who don’t have food, create beautiful cards and pictures for kids who are sick, prepare hygiene kits for homeless families, help with carnivals and fun events for kids whose families are in hard times, read and play games with an elderly person, plant flowers at a school — the list goes on and on! There are so many ways for you to show God’s love this week. What is one way you would like to serve during Love Week?”

WHAT YOU DO:
Write down what kids share in your eKidz Prayer Journal. Take your eKidz Prayer Journal home with you and pray for your kids throughout the week.

SUGGESTED PRAYER:
“Dear God, thank You for loving us so much that You would do crazy and impossible things for us. We’re also thankful You give us the opportunity to be a part of what You want to do for others. Help us seek out ways to serve You and serve others as You do impossible things in our community during Love Week. We love You, Lord. You are SO good. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.”

BIBLE CONNECT

WHAT YOU NEED: Bibles, Bible tool kits, craft sticks (1 per kid), dice (8)

WHAT YOU SAY:
“Our Bible verse, Psalm 27:13, tells us we can always be confident that God is good. We can believe and be sure that we will see His goodness in every situation.”

WHAT YOU DO:
Read the verse out loud: “I will remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13
Help kids look up the memory verse in their Bibles. Encourage them to use tools from the Bible tool kit to mark the verse in their Bible. Tell kids who didn’t bring a Bible they will receive a memory verse card during the Bring It! Challenge so they can practice it at home.
Ask kids if there are any words or phrases they don’t understand and explain them as needed.
Choose an activity: “Dice Challenge” or “Verse Practice.”

DICE CHALLENGE
Give each kid a craft stick.
Divide kids into two teams and have each team line up, shoulder-to-shoulder.
The first kid in each line will be the “Balancer” and the second kid in each line will be the “Caller.”
Hand a Bible to each Caller and four dice to each Balancer.
When you say, “Go,” the Balancers will place their craft sticks in their mouths and carefully balance four dice — one on top of the other — on the end of their craft sticks.
Once their dice are stacked, the Caller must read or recite the memory verse. If the dice fall before the Caller has completed the verse, the Caller must begin the verse again.
When finished, the Balancer will pass the dice to the Caller, who will then become the new Balancer.
The Caller will pass the Bible to the next person in line, who will become the new Caller and will hold the Bible and say the verse.
Continue repeating these steps down the line of kids.
Once the dice reach the end of the line, the first Balancer 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!

VERSE PRACTICE
Use the following methods to help kids practice the memory verse:
REPEAT AFTER ME: Have kids repeat phrases of the verse after you.
PAIR UP: Have kids pair up to practice the verse together.
MOTIONS: Come up with motions to represent phrases in the verse. Practice it together.