BIG MESSAGE ‘LIVE’ OUTLINE

DS1.1 © 2012 Hillsong Church

DS1.1 BIG PICTURE: DISCOVERY BIG IDEA: PARADISE LOST BIG POINT: SIN SEPARATES US FROM GOD, BUT JESUS IS THE ANSWER BIG WORD: “THIS IS HOW WE KNOW WHAT REAL LOVE IS: JESUS GAVE HIS LIFE FOR US. SO WE SHOULD GIVE OUR LIVES FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS.” 1 JOHN 3:16 (NCV) LEARNING OUTCOMES At the conclusion of this lesson children will:

• Begin to understand the nature of God and His purpose for us. • Learn about the nature of man and the problem of sin. • Lay a foundation for God’s provision of salvation.

Scripture References: Gen 2:17 Ezekiel 18:4 Matthew 25:46 John 3:16

Romans 3:23-25 Romans 5 Romans 6:23 Romans 8:6

Romans 8:13 James 1:15

BIG MESSAGE ‘LIVE’ OUTLINE DOCUMENT PURPOSE Use this outline to construct a message that works for you and your children’s ministry. INTRO Our Big Idea today is Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost is the title of a poem by a famous author named John Milton. It’s not just a short “Roses are red, violets are blue” poem. It’s an epic poem that spans ten whole books and it doesn’t rhyme! It was published in 1667 and is generally considered to be one of the greatest works in the English language. The entire poem is built around the beginning of the book of Genesis, the story of Adam and Eve. It is in Genesis and the account of Adam and Eve that we see all of humanity’s need for a saviour, that God created us to be in relationship with Him, just like Adam and Eve walking in the Garden of Eden with God. Imagine what sort of paradise the Garden of Eden would have been like: beautiful plants, majestic animals, rolling waves, green grass and most importantly - a close relationship with God himself. Humanity has been given what we call “free will”, a gift of choice. We can choose what we do, what we become and who we obey or disobey. When faced with temptation Adam and Eve disobeyed God. The paradise they knew in the Garden of Eden was lost. This is the problem, but JESUS was and IS the answer for every person.

BIG MESSAGE ‘LIVE’ OUTLINE

DS1.1 © 2012 Hillsong Church

STORYTELLING Supplies Needed: Play dough or modelling clay, Cards with the following objects written on them 1. Tree, 2. Stars, 3. Fish, 4. Cow, 5. Person, 6. Apple, blindfolds. Adam and Eve, Genesis 1-3 Invite six children to help you tell today’s story, giving each of them a lump of play dough or modelling clay and a card with the object they will be making written on it. Instruct them not to show their card to anyone else and to begin moulding their object as quickly as they can. To make it more challenging, helpers can be blindfolded while they attempt to create their object. In the beginning there was nothing, nothing at all except God. God has always been and will always be. God created the heavens and the earth. When God created the universe he did it with the power of His words. He spoke “Let there be light” and there it was, Light! He separated the darkness and the light, naming the light day and the darkness night. God separated the water and and the blue sky above, then gathered the water to one place and let dry ground appear calling the dry ground “Land” and naming the water “Seas. God had created with the power of His words and He saw that it was good. Let’s see what our helpers have been creating. Helper number 1, what have you made? Hold up the first object and ask the children to guess what object has been created. Yes, a tree. God spoke and created all different kinds of trees and plants and beautiful flowers. God looked at creation and saw that it was good. Helper number 2, what have you made? Hold up the second object and ask the children to guess what object has been created. Yes, stars! God said “Let there be lights in the sky” and then there were stars, sun and moon to give light to the earth and govern day and night. God saw that it was good. Helper number 3, what have you been making? Hold up the third object and ask the children to guess what object has been created. Yes, a fish. God spoke “Let the water teem with living things and let the birds fly above in the sky”. God saw that it was good, He blessed them and said “be fruitful and multiply, filling the seas and the skies”. Helper number 4, what have you been making? Hold up the fourth object and ask the children to guess what object has been created. A cow! God said “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds.” And at His words it was done, He saw that it was good. Now, helper number 5, what have you been creating? Hold up the fifth object and ask the children to guess what object has been created. A person. And that’s just what God did next, He formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him

BIG MESSAGE ‘LIVE’ OUTLINE

DS1.1 © 2012 Hillsong Church

naming him Adam. Then God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and took one of his ribs, using it to create a woman, Eve. God saw all that he had made and it was very good. God had planted a special garden where he placed Adam and Eve, in that garden were all kinds of beautiful trees, fruits, animals and rivers. There was one tree in particular, called the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God instructed them “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Helper number 6, let’s see what you have made. Hold up the last object for the children to guess what it is. An apple, God had given Adam and Eve one rule. There was a serpent in the garden who said to Eve “Did God really say you couldn’t eat from that tree?, You won’t die if you do, If you eat from it you will be like God, you will know good and evil”. Eve thought that the fruit looked good and that she might get wisdom by eating it, she took the fruit and ate it. Eve gave some to Adam and he ate it. They made a choice to disobey God. There was one rule and they broke it. Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden and were separated from God’s presence. God loves His people too much for that to be the end of the story, sin separates people from God, but Jesus is the answer. OBJECT LESSON Supplies Needed: Clear plastic bottle, Water, food colouring, cooking oil (vegetable oil/canola oil), detergent. Pour some water into in clear plastic bottle, add some food colouring to make the water more visible. Pour some cooking oil into the bottle and note that it doesn’t mix with the water, it will sit on top of the water. The water and the oil stay separate. Sin separates us from God, we can shake it up, tip it upside down or spin it around and the two won’t come together. Adam and Eve, the very first two people God created were together with Him in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were given the freedom to make their own choices. God gave them one rule. It was not to eat from a certain tree in the garden. They disobeyed God and made a choice to do the wrong thing. Adam and Eve were then separated from God. They had to face the consequences of a life without a relationship with God. Sin separates us from God but Jesus is the answer. I can’t join this oil and water on my own, let’s add the one thing that can bring them together. (Take some detergent and add it to the bottle, shake as the detergent causes the oil and water to combine). There is only one thing

BIG MESSAGE ‘LIVE’ OUTLINE

DS1.1 © 2012 Hillsong Church

that can bring the oil and water together, and there is only one person who can bring us together with God - Jesus! POINTS 1. God loves me and has a plan for me God created you for a purpose, He loves you and has a great plan for your life. We might start off separated from God by sin however He has made a way. When we surrender to Him and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and saviour we can have a close relationship with God. No matter what you’ve done God loves you. Here’s how much He loves you John 3:16 (NIrV) “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.” We don’t have to live a life separated from God. Psalm 103:11-12 (NIV) “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” 2. I need God No one is perfect, there is only one person who lived a perfect life and that person is Jesus. We need God, we can’t save ourselves. There is nothing that we can do. We can’t work harder, be better, do good works or buy our way into heaven. The price has been paid by Jesus, he died on the cross for us to take the punishment for sin. Romans 3: 23-25 “Everyone has sinned. No one measures up to God’s glory. The free gift of God’s grace makes all of us right with him. Christ Jesus paid the price to set us free. God gave him as a sacrifice to pay for sins. So he forgives the sins of those who have faith in his blood.” Jesus died and three days later rose again, we can live a new life with God. When we have faith and believe in our hearts that Jesus died and rose again we are forgiven. 3. Author of Salvation God didn’t leave us in sin, He had the most wonderful rescue plan. A rescue that saves every person from living a life without God. Jesus came that we might have life. Through Jesus we have salvation and life. There is nothing we can do to be “good enough” and there is nothing we can do to earn salvation. Salvation is a gift, God’s grace to us, His unending love is available to anyone who chooses to accept it. Romans 6:23 (NIRV) “When you sin, the pay you get is death. But God gives you the gift of eternal life because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done.”