(5 MINUTES) - Awana – GOD IS LOVE: LESSON OPENER (5 MINUTES) OPTION 1: WHO DO YOU LOVE? HEARTS ... Share these key concepts: ... • Hold up the picture of the military personnel

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T&T MISSION: GRACE IN ACTION

RESOURCE BUNDLE ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

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1.4 – GOD IS LOVE: LESSON OPENER (5 MINUTES)

OPTION 1: WHO DO YOU LOVE? HEARTS

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: Colored construction paper heart for each kid, colored markers

STEP 1: Give each kid a paper heart and let him or her choose a few colored markers to write with. Tell each kid to write on the heart the names (or just initials) of people they love.

STEP 2: After a few minutes, ask kids to share some of the names they wrote on their hearts. Ask them to name various reasons why they love the people on their hearts.

STEP 3: Ask kids these questions:

• What does it mean to love another person?

• How is loving a person different from loving chocolate or loving your favorite video game, movie, or toy?

• What do you do for people you love? How do you treat them?

STEP 4: Ask the kids if any of them wrote the name of a bully at school on their heart. What about the name of a criminal from the news? What about the name of a kid who annoys them or is mean to them? What about the name of a person they don’t even know?

Most kids will probably answer no to these questions.

Share these key concepts:

A. Loving another person means doing what’s best for them, even if it sometimes means that we don’t get the best for ourselves.

B. It is much easier to love the people we know and like and who love us too. It is much harder to love people we don’t know or people who are bad or mean.

C. God’s love is much stronger and better than ours! He loves us and always does what’s best for us. And He loves people even though they are bad and mean and don’t know Him or deserve His love at all.

STEP 5: Tell kids that today they’re going to learn more about God’s amazing love. Open in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to guide you and the kids into God’s truth through the lesson activities.

Notes:

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1.4 – GOD IS LOVE: MAIN LESSON (10 MINUTES)

Holy –

• What does it mean when we say God is holy?

• Are we holy like God? Why not?

• What is sin?

Explain that God is holy, which means He is perfect, without sin, and always right. We are not holy like God, because we are sinful and born in sin. Sin is anything we think, say, or do that disobeys God. Sin can also be those good things God wants us to do that we don’t do.

Just –

• What does it mean that God is just?

• Have you ever seen someone get what they deserved? What happened?

Explain that God’s justice means He always gives people what they deserve. Let kids share a few personal stories of someone receiving justice.

• What do we deserve for our sin?

Explain that a punishment is what we get for doing something wrong. The punishment for sin is death. Because God is just, He must give us what we deserve for our sin.

Love –

• We deserve death because of our sin, but what did God do for us instead?

• Why did God do this for us?

Explain that even though we sin and deserve death, God still wants a relationship with us, because He created us for Himself and He loves us. But because God is holy and just, a sinless person had to die to take the punishment we deserved. God sent His sinless Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us so that we can have what’s best for us. There is no greater way that God could have shown His love than to die for us.

STEP 4: Read Ephesians 2:4-5 from your Bible. Let the kids join you as you repeat the verses a few times together. Ask if there are any words in the verses that they don’t understand. Explain that mercy is kindness to someone who deserves punishment. Trespasses is another word for

OPTION 1: WORD UNSCRAMBLE

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: Bible; a pen and a word unscramble worksheet (Resource Bundle) for each kid OR a set of word letter squares (Resource Bundle) in an envelope for each kid; whiteboard and dry erase markers; pictures of a family, military personnel, police officer, and fire fighter, people who look mean and angry (Resource Bundle); colored markers for kids

LESSON PREP: Print and copy a Word Unscramble worksheet for each child or print and cut out the word letter squares. Place a set of word letter squares (which spell one word) into an envelope for each kid. Each set spells a different word. Copy and cut out extra sets as needed.

STEP 1: Worksheet option: Give a pen and worksheet to each kid. Tell them that the scrambled words on the sheet are words from past lessons. Give them about a minute to unscramble the first word and raise their hand when they think they have figured it out. Give them clues as needed, such as the starting letter. Let the first kid to raise his or her hand shout out the word Creator for the group. Write the word on the board.

Letter squares option: Give an envelope of letter squares to each kid. Tell them that the letters in each envelope spell a word from a past lesson. Let them work individually for about a minute to arrange their squares in order on a table or on the floor to spell a word. Give them clues as needed. If kids struggle, write all five words on the board. When you see that one or more kids have spelled the word Creator, let one of them stand, say, and spell the word for the group.

STEP 2: Ask the kids these two questions:

• Why God is called the Creator?

• Why did God create us?

Remind kids that in the “God Is Creator” lesson, they learned that God created everything, and He created us to have a relationship with Him. He created us so He could love us and we could love Him!

STEP 3: Continue in the pattern established in Step 1 for each of the four remaining words. Here are questions to ask and points to emphasize:

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sins. Grace is God giving us something good that we don’t deserve.

STEP 5: Tell the kids to look back at the hearts they created in the lesson opener and circle the names of any people they listed whom they would be willing to die for. Then hold up each picture with a brief explanation:

• Hold up the picture of the family. Explain that most parents would die to save their child’s life.

• Hold up the picture of the military personnel. Explain that these people are willing to die to keep all of us in our country free and safe, even though they don’t know us.

• Hold up the picture of the officers and the firefighters. Explain that these people are willing to die to keep those in their city safe.

• Hold up the picture of the mean and angry people. Explain that this picture reminds us of all the bullies, criminals, and mean people in our town. Ask: Do you think anyone would choose to die just for them? Why or why not?

STEP 6: End by saying this in your own words: “That’s very much like what Jesus did for us! We might die for someone who loves us or someone we think is good, but God sent Jesus to die for sinners, the people who are His enemies. When Jesus was preparing to die, the people He was dying for spit on Him, whipped Him, and made fun of Him. They were His enemies. The Bible says that we, too, are sinners and enemies of God until we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior (Romans 5:10, Colossians 1:21). Still, God loves us anyway and did what was best for us, even though it hurt His Son so much. His love is so amazing!”

Notes:

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© 2016 Awana® Clubs International This page may be reproduced only by churches registered with Awana. NAME:

NAME:© 2016 Awana® Clubs International This page may be reproduced only by churches registered with Awana.

WORD UNSCRAMBLE WORKSHEETT&T MISSION: GRACE IN ACTION • 1.4 – GOD IS LOVE

T&T MISSION: GRACE IN ACTION • 1.4 – GOD IS LOVE

WORD UNSCRAMBLE WORKSHEETUnscramble the words on the left to discover the character traits of God that we have studied in previous lessons.

1. ARTCORE

2. OYHL

3. TUJS

4. VOLE

1.

2.

3.

4.

Unscramble the words on the left to discover the character traits of God that we have studied in previous lessons.

1. ARTCORE

2. OYHL

3. TUJS

4. VOLE

1.

2.

3.

4.

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© 2016 Awana® Clubs International This page may be reproduced only by churches registered with Awana. NAME:

NAME:© 2016 Awana® Clubs International This page may be reproduced only by churches registered with Awana.

WORD UNSCRAMBLE WORKSHEETT&T MISSION: GRACE IN ACTION • 1.4 – GOD IS LOVE

T&T MISSION: GRACE IN ACTION • 1.4 – GOD IS LOVE

WORD UNSCRAMBLE WORKSHEETUnscramble the words on the left to discover the character traits of God that we have studied in previous lessons.

Unscramble the words on the left to discover the character traits of God that we have studied in previous lessons.

1. ARTCORE

2. OYHL

3. TUJS

4. VOLE

1.

2.

3.

4.

1. ARTCORE

2. OYHL

3. TUJS

4. VOLE

1.

2.

3.

4.

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WORD LETTER SQUAREST&T MISSION: GRACE IN ACTION • 1.4 – GOD IS LOVE

SET

1

C R E AT O R

SET

2 H O L Y

SET

3 J U S T

SET

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© 2016 Awana® Clubs International • This page may be reproduced only by churches registered with Awana.

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1.4 – GOD IS LOVE: LESSON OPENER (5 MINUTES)

OPTION 2: VOTE FOR WHO IS THE MOST LOVING

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: Whiteboard and dry erase markers

STEP 1: Read these three scenarios to the kids and tell them to listen carefully because they will be asked to vote on which person they think is acting in the most loving way:

Scenario 1: Tamika spent several weeks planning a special surprise birthday party for her best friend. She made the invitations herself and sent them out to the party guests. She bought balloons and streamers and a special gift for her friend. On the day of the party, her friend was surprised and felt very happy.

Scenario 2: Marcus is the meanest bully at school. He makes fun of everyone. He sometimes steals snacks or toys from kids’ backpacks, but kids are too afraid to tell on him. One day, he tripped Caleb when Caleb was walking to the classroom. Caleb was upset, but later in gym class that same day, he saw that Marcus was sitting on a bench, sweating and breathing heavily. Caleb brought Marcus a cup of cold water because he thought Marcus needed a drink.

Scenario 3: Emma was swinging on her favorite swing in the playground, and a friend asked her if she could have a turn on the swing. Emma said, “Sure, let me swing for just a few more minutes and then you can have a turn.” After a few minutes, Emma got off the swing and let her friend have a turn.

STEP 2: Write the names Tamika, Caleb, and Emma on the board. Ask the kids to vote (with a show of hands) on whether they think Tamika, Caleb, or Emma was acting the most loving. Place hash marks under each name to record the kids’ votes. Tell them there is no right or wrong answer. They just need to think about why they are picking the person they are picking.

STEP 3: Stand back and look at the results of the vote. Ask the kids who picked each name to share why they voted for that name.

Share these key concepts:

A. Loving another person means doing what’s best for them,

even if it means that we don’t get the best for ourselves. We may have to give up something, like Tamika gave her time and money to make a nice party for her friend. Emma gave up more time on her favorite swing.

B. It is much easier to love the people whom we know and like and who love us too. It is much harder to show love to people we don’t know or people who are bad or mean, like Caleb did.

C. God’s love is much stronger and better than ours! He loves us and always does what’s best for us. And He loves people even when they are bad and mean and don’t know Him or deserve His love at all. Today we’re going to learn more about God’s amazing love.

STEP 4: Open in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to guide you and the kids into God’s truth through the lesson. Transition to main lesson.

Notes:

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OPTION 2: WORD POSTERS

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: Whiteboard and dry erase markers, poster for each group of three kids, colored markers, glitter glue and paint or other materials to decorate the poster

LEADER PREP: Beforehand, write these five words on the board: 1. Creator, 2. Holy, 3. Just, 4. Punishment, 5. Love.

STEP 1: Divide the kids into groups of three and give each group a poster and materials. Assign one of the words to each group. Tell them to write the word in a creative and artistic way on their poster. For example, they can write the word in swirly letters or in large bubble letters to fill the poster or write the word several times to create a picture or a pattern with the words.

STEP 2: Tell them also to write one sentence that describes what the word means to them on the front or back of the poster. Encourage them to remember past lessons when they think of what the word means.

STEP 3: Let each group share about their poster, and then lead a discussion about each word.

STEP 4: Ask the kids these two questions:

• Why God is called the Creator?

• Why did God create us?

Remind kids that in the God Is Creator lesson, they learned that God created everything, and He created us to have a relationship with Him. He created us so He could love us and we could love Him!

STEP 5: Continue in the pattern established in Step 1 for each of the four remaining words. Here are questions to ask and points to emphasize:

Holy –

• What does it mean when we say God is holy?

• Are we holy like God? Why not?

• What is sin?

Explain that God is holy, which means He is perfect, without sin, and always right. We are not holy like God, because we are sinful and born in sin. Sin is anything we think, say, or do that disobeys God. Sin can also be those good things God wants us to do that we don’t do.

Just –

• What does it mean that God is just?

• Have you ever seen someone get what they deserved? What happened?

Explain that God’s justice means He always gives people what they deserve. Let kids share a few personal stories of someone receiving justice.

Punishment –

• What does the word punishment mean?

• What punishment do we deserve for our sin?

Explain that a punishment is what we get for doing something wrong. The punishment for sin is death. Because God is just, He must give us what we deserve for our sin.

Love –

• We deserve death because of our sin, but what did God do for us instead?

• Why did God do this for us?

Explain that even though we sin and deserve death, God still wants a relationship with us, because He created us for Himself and He loves us. But because God is holy and just, a sinless person had to die to take the punishment we deserved. God sent His sinless Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us so that we can have what’s best for us. There is no greater way that God could have shown His love than to die for us.

STEP 6: Read Ephesians 2:4-5 from your Bible. Let the kids join you as you repeat the verses a few times together. Ask if there are any words in the verses that they don’t understand. Explain that mercy is kindness to someone who deserves punishment. Trespasses is another word for sins. Grace is God giving us something good that we don’t deserve.

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© 2016 Awana® Clubs International This page may be reproduced only by churches registered with Awana. PAGE 2 OF 2


STEP 7: Tell the kids to look back at the hearts they created in the lesson opener and circle the names of any people they listed whom they would be willing to die for. Then hold up each picture with a brief explanation:

• Hold up the picture of the family. Explain that most parents would die to save their child’s life.

• Hold up the picture of the military personnel. Explain that these people are willing to die to keep all of us in our country free and safe, even though they don’t know us.

• Hold up the picture of the officers and the firefighters. Explain that these people are willing to die to keep those in their city safe.

• Hold up the picture of the mean and angry people. Explain that this picture reminds us of all the bullies, criminals, and mean people in our town. Ask: Do you think anyone would choose to die just for them? Why or why not?

STEP 8: End by saying this in your own words: “That’s very much like what Jesus did for us! We might die for someone who loves us or someone we think is good, but God sent Jesus to die for sinners, the people who are His enemies. When Jesus was preparing to die, the people He was dying for spit on Him, whipped Him, and made fun of Him. They were His enemies. The Bible says that we, too, are sinners and enemies of God until we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior (Romans 5:10, Colossians 1:21). Still, God loves us anyway and did what was best for us, even though it hurt His Son so much. His love is so amazing!”

Notes:

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(5 MINUTES) - Awana – GOD IS LOVE: LESSON OPENER (5 MINUTES) OPTION 1: WHO DO YOU LOVE? HEARTS ... Share these key concepts: ... • Hold up the picture of the military personnel