Session 7:

Nothing is impossible for God Aims for this session For the children to believe that anything is possible with God. To encourage the children to dream with God.

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Nothing is impossible for God

Memory verse ‘With God all things are possible.’ Matthew 19:26

Catch up (10 mins)

Refer to the teaching notes for guidance on how to run this time.

God spot (5 mins) Resources: • Yellow mat Use your yellow mat. Ask the children what good things God has been doing in their life this week and ask them to come and share on the God spot while everyone else listens. (This is based on teaching from Session 6 of the curriculum. If you haven’t done this session then I recommend you don’t include this.)

TERM 1: Session 7 - Nothing is impossible for God

Game 1: Lunch box challenge (5 mins)

All ages Resources: • Appendix 1 - 2 copies per team • A lunchbox for each team Before the children arrive, hide the pictures you have printed off and cut out around the room. Give each team a lunch box with x1 copy of Appendix 1 printed off inside the lunch box. The aim of the game is for the team to fill their lunch box with the items on their sheet by finding them in the room. If they search, and already have that item, (multiple copies of the same picture will be hidden in the room based on the number of teams you have) they must return it to where they found the picture. The winning team is the one that finds all the pictures to match the table in their lunch box, with the lid closed, first.

Bible story (5 mins)

Use Matthew 14:13-21 in an age-appropriate Bible or we would suggest ‘The Jesus Story Book Bible’ p244-249 or the DVD. Introduce this as ‘The Story of the Packed Lunch.’ (You may have guessed, this is the Feeding of the 5,000.)

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Nothing is impossible for God

Talk (10 mins)

Video clip (5 mins)

5-7 years

5-7 years

In the Bible today, we heard about a little boy who did something amazing with God. He gave Jesus his packed lunch and, because of that, Jesus was able to feed 5,000 people. On that day, God did something impossible. The Bible says, nothing is impossible with God.1 There are many stories of God doing the impossible in the Bible. The one we have just acted out/read/watched is just one story. Can you think of any other stories where God or Jesus do impossible things?

Video clip of LIV village http://www.liv-village.com/

(Moses holding back the water, Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, the disabled getting up and walking, the blind seeing, Paul’s chains falling off and him walking free from prison, Jesus being raised from the dead on Easter Sunday.)

God doesn’t need us to change a situation, He can do it on His own, but He loves to work with us to make a difference in the world. The boy in our story today worked with God by giving his packed lunch. Because he did that, 5,000 people were fed. The people in this video worked with God to make a difference. We can do this too; we can dream with God and then work with Him to make a difference. We can ask Him to show us where He wants us to help and what He wants us to do to make a difference. We are going to spend some time doing that now.

Right now in the news some horrible things are happening in the world. (Use current examples such as children being pushed out of their homes in Iraq.) When we hear about those things, it can seem like the problem is too big for us to make a difference or we can get scared or worried about it. But God is bigger than any problem we hear about; any big problem is a small thing for God to solve. The people in this video dreamed with God about a problem in their country. There were lots and lots of children with nowhere to live and no mums and dads. So they decided to make a difference, and this is their story.

1

Luke 1:37

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Nothing is impossible for God

Discuss

Talk

(10 mins)

(5-10 mins)

8-10 years

8-10 years

The Bible says, ‘Nothing is impossible with God’.2 There are many stories of God doing the impossible in the Bible. The one we have just acted out/read/watched is just one story. Can you think of any other stories where God or Jesus do impossible things?



Are there problems in your school that seem impossible to solve?



Are there problems in (name of your town) that seem impossible to solve?

(Moses holding back the water, Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, the disabled getting up and walking, the blind seeing, Paul’s chains falling off and him walking free from prison, Jesus being raised from the dead on Easter Sunday.)



Are there problems in this country or in the world that you see on the news that seem impossible to solve?

It’s easy to forget that God can do the impossible because problems in the world can seem so big that we think one person can’t make a difference.

Video clip (5 mins)

8-10 years Video clip of LIV village http://www.liv-village.com/

Sometimes we forget God is huge, that He is everywhere and that He can do anything. No problem is ever bigger than God. In Matthew 19 verse 26 – Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”. So, with God, all things are possible. He can change any situation. God doesn’t need us to change a situation, but He loves to partner with us to make a difference in the world. The boy in our story today partnered with God by giving his packed lunch. Because He did that, 5,000 people were fed.

What things do you think God would like to see change in the world?



If you could be a partner in a change in the world, in this town or in your school, what would you like to help God with?

The people who started this village in South Africa could have thought it was impossible and not tried to start it, but look what’s happened as a result of them believing that with God, anything was possible.

2

Luke 1:37

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Nothing is impossible for God

Response (5-10 mins) Resources: • Paper • Colouring pens We are going to take some time now dreaming with God for the world. I’m going to ask Holy Spirit to come and help us have some great ideas. ‘Holy Spirit, thank you that You are here already. Come and fill up our minds and give us ideas of the things we can do with you.’ Then ask the following questions. Give the children time to respond after each question and repeat the prayer between the questions:

God, what do You want to do for the world?



God, is there anything You want me to do for my school?

God, what do You want me to do for someone else? Ask the children to draw or write down the ideas God gave them for themselves and for others in their journals. Close with: Take hold of your pictures and hold them high above your head. Then everyone say together, ‘God I think you placed this desire in my heart and I am so excited about it. I trust that You will make it all happen, no matter how impossible I think it may be. God, I’m ready!’

Game 2 (5-10 mins)

All ages Resources: • Hopscotch board • Appendix 2 • Double sided tape Print off Appendix 2 and cut up the words. Put together the hopscotch board, then stick one word to each number on the board. Pull the board apart and stack the tiles randomly. Give a tile to each child in your group. (This will work with up to 10 children; if you have more I would recommend a second hopscotch board and split them into two teams.) If you have lots of children, pick children from 1 or 2 teams to represent the others for the game. The aim of the game is for the children to reconstruct the board and then hopscotch from the bottom to the top saying each word of the verse as their feet land on the word. They then sit at the top and the next person goes till everyone in the team has hopscotched the board and said the verse.

Craft (10 mins)

Resources: • A5 journal • Stickers • Funky foam and funky foam letters Have each child decorate a journal that you gave them to record their dreams in. These can be very cheap children’s school notebooks or A4 paper that has been folded to A5 and stapled. If you use funky foam, bright card and funky foam sticky letters (for their names) their journals can look great.

TERM 1: Session 7 - Nothing is impossible for God

Don’t let them take their journals home. Explain that they will use them often at church to keep a record of what God does, what they think about things and for their drawings. When they finish their journal (i.e. they write or draw all the way through it) they can take it home and start a new one. If you let them take them home you’ll find none of them come back and the journaling habit won’t get practiced and adopted. 5/7

Nothing is impossible for God

Action

Game 1: Print off Appendix 1 – you will need to print it off twice for each team. Then take x1 sheet per team and cut it up into single pictures.

(10 mins)

Resources: • Blank cards and envelopes • Colouring pens Make contact in advance with a local organisation like a children’s home, battered wives shelter or a charity your church has connection with locally or overseas. Agree with them for your children to send cards with messages and pictures on to the residents or recipients of the charity. Explain to your children what the charity does and where it is based and the big problem it addresses. We can partner with God to make a difference to the people in (name the project) by sending them a message and a drawing from us and from God. Stop for a moment and ask God to show you a picture or tell you a message to draw on your card; when you have a picture nod your head at me. (This way you’ll know how many children have engaged.) If you didn’t get a picture or a message - don’t worry, just think in your head what you would like to draw and then draw that picture and write the message you think of. (On many occasions, I’ve found these are actually ideas from God and impact people powerfully; the children just don’t realise.) Go round as they draw and ask questions like, ‘Do you think that could be from God?’ If they say, ‘No’, ask why, and explain that ideas from God can feel like our own ideas too.

Resources for this session God spot: Yellow mat

TERM 1: Session 7 - Nothing is impossible for God

A lunch box for each team Bible story: The Jesus Storybook Bible, or DVD Talk: Video from home page of: http://www.liv-village.com/ Response: Paper and colouring pens Game 2: A puzzle hopscotch board – http://www.mothercare. com/ELC-Hopscotch/122881,default,pd.html If you have the budget, purchase x2 so you can create two teams. If not one will be fine for up to 10 children. Print off Appendix 2 and cut up the sheet into single words Double sided tape Craft: A5 journal for each child – pick cheap school notebooks without lines Funky foam enough to cover each side or at least the cover of an A5 journal Stickers and anything else you have they may want to use for decoration Funky foam letters to add their names to the journals Action: Blank cards and envelopes, enough for one per child (allow for them wanting replacements if they make a mistake) and colouring pens 6/7

Nothing is impossible for God

Parental communication

Dear Parent/Guardian, Our theme this week was: ‘God can do the impossible.’ Through the ‘Story of the Packed Lunch’ (Matthew 14:13-21) otherwise known as the ‘Feeding of the 5,000!’ we explored the idea that God can do impossible things. We wrote or drew ideas that God gave us for others, and for ourselves, in our journals. If you have time, we would encourage you to spend some time drawing with your child this week. Draw some of your dreams, share them with your child and ask them about their dreams. Or draw pictures of impossible things you have seen God do and share stories of them with your child. Ask what impossible things they would like to see God do. Next week, we will be exploring Suffering and how the world got broken. We will be using Genesis 3 and thinking about how our choices affect others. Love

Copyright © August 2014 Harrogate New Life Church. All rights reserved. Written by Elaine Webster. Edited by Rachel Turner. Designed by Hannah Kunar. This material may not be reproduced for any purpose without first obtaining written permission from Harrogate New Life Church. connectedhearts.co.uk [email protected]

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