writer: matt morgan artwork: kindred creative project...

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Made to Worship – Lesson 1

Writer: Matt Morgan Artwork: Kindred Creative

Project Supervisor: Nick Diliberto Editor: Jennifer Hooks

Created by PreteenMinistry.net


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MADE TO WORSHIP Week 1: What Is Worship? Bible Passages: Psalm 19:1-4; Romans 1:25; Romans 5:8; Romans 1:20 Bottom Line: Worship is our response to God’s awesomeness. What’s That to Me? God created our world and everything beyond our world, and He even sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins. God is worthy of our worship and praise. SUPPLIES Opening Activity: Name That Tune

• CD of 8 to 10 worship songs familiar to your church • CD player • Prizes for winners

Teach: God Is Awesome

• Prepared fish bowl with live fish or image of a fish in fish bowl Small-Group Time #1: Take a Hike

• Pens • Index cards or paper

Small-Group Time #2: Take A Look

• For each small group, an assortment of remarkable items from nature, such as mineral rocks like geodes, pinecones, preserved insects like butterflies, intricate leaves, images of exotic animals and plants, images of space, and so on. For incredible images, go to http://www.boredpanda.com/amazing-places/.



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LESSON OVERVIEW Ask a student or adult to define worship and most of them will mention singing at church. We’re all guilty of thinking about worship this way. But the truth is, worship is so much more than just singing. Worship is a lifestyle of thankfulness and praise. We can understand worship as our human response to God’s awesomeness.


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OPENING ACTIVITY: NAME THAT TUNE Supplies:

• CD of 8 to 10 worship songs familiar to your church • CD player • Prizes for winners

Prep: Place the CD in the CD player. Say: Today we’re going to start with a game called Name That Tune—but with a twist. I’ll play a short piece of a song that you may or may not know from church. If you think you know the song, jump up and stay standing. We’ll stop the music and let you guess the song. If you name the song correctly, you get a prize. If you name it incorrectly, don’t worry—you’ll get a second chance. If you can name one way other than singing or music that we can worship God, you can still earn a prize. Are you ready? Let’s go! What to Do: Ensure you have someone ready to start and stop the music as needed. If a preteen guesses the song correctly, reward him or her with a prize. If the preteen guesses incorrectly, give him or her a chance to name a different idea for worship. Award the preteen’s guess, and then move to the next song. Play through 8 to 10 songs so kids have plenty of chances to make a guess. Say: Wow—you all are good at this game! We often think of worship as music or singing, but we’re about to find out that there’s more to worship than just standing up and raising our voices to God. Most importantly, we’re going to learn what worship is and why we do it.


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TEACH: GOD IS AWESOME Supplies:

• Prepared fish bowl with live fish or image of a fish in fish bowl Prep: Ensure that the fish bowl has decorative items such as rocks and real or faux plants. [Slide 1 – Made To Worship Cover] Say: I’m really excited about the things we’ll be learning this month. The new series will be all about how we are Made to Worship. We’re going to tackle some tough questions such as:

• “What is worship?” • “How can I worship?” and • “When and where can I worship?”

As we go through the month, we’ll practice worshipping in different ways and in different places. But today is all about defining what worship actually is. Ask:

• Explain how you define worship. • Describe what you think worship isn’t—and why. • What do you think is most important about worship?

Say: Great answers! We’re about to learn a new definition for worship. But first let me introduce you to someone. What to Do: Bring a fish bowl with a live fish on stage. (You may choose to use another pet, but a fish works great for this illustration. If a live fish or pet isn’t possible, show an image of a fish in its bowl on your screen.) Say: This is [name of fish or pet]. He’s my new friend and a part of my family. I went to the pet store and chose him. Then, I searched and searched for the perfect bowl, the right types of rocks, and the best plants for him. After I found all the stuff to go in his bowl, I had to get food. I found fish food that was specifically made for this type of fish. Then, I discovered these special fish treats called bloodworms. I give him one every now and then if he’s good. The most interesting thing about [name of fish] is how he reacts to me whenever I walk into the room. He starts swimming faster. He comes to the top of the bowl, almost as if he’s saying, “Hi!” to me. It’s like he knows that I made this awesome world for him, and he wants me to know how much he enjoys it!


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When he swims in his little world and sees the one who made it for him, [name of fish] changes his behavior to show his joy and praise. I’m not sure a fish can worship, but if it could—I think this behavior would be like worship! It’s a great example for us to think about as we start talking about worship. As we begin this lesson series, “Made to Worship,” we need to start with one definition of worship we can all understand. Here’s a simple definition we can all remember: [Slide 2 – Worship Definition] Say: Worship is our response to God’s awesomeness! Worship is anything we say or do in response to God’s love, grace, power, creativity, and his incredible awesomeness. Just as this fish responds to me, God created us to respond to him and everything that he created around us. That’s worship: our response to God’s awesomeness. One place we can see God’s awesomeness is in the universe he created. If we begin reading the Bible in Genesis, we see that God created everything out of nothing. Think of the sun, moon, stars, planets, and everything we can see on Earth…God created it all. And God created it so we could see his awesomeness and worship him. Open your Bibles to Psalm 19:1-4 and listen as I read these verses. [Slide 3 – Psalm 19:1-4]

“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.”

Say: These verses remind us that the heavens and skies show us the glory of God. They’re shouting a message to the entire world that there is a God and He is awesome! Here are fun facts that may surprise you about the universe God created. [Slide 4 – Facts About Planet Earth] Say: We live on planet Earth; hopefully you knew that! Earth is amazing because it was designed with exact details and precision. Did you know Earth is 93 million miles away from the sun? If we were just slightly closer, we’d literally burn up from the heat. If we were just slightly farther away, we’d all be popsicles! Rather than standing straight upright, Earth is actually tilted. It’s tilted at about 23 degrees. This is the perfect angle for the sun’s powerful rays to reach Earth and


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give us seasons during the year, which in turn keeps our food chain working properly. Scientists study and monitor what’s known as the Atomic Clock. This is a clock based on the rotation of the stars as we see them from Earth. The clock is so accurate that it has an error factor of less than three seconds per 1,000 years! Bet you can’t buy a watch like that at Wal-Mart! [Slide 5 – Facts About the Milky Way Galaxy] Say: If you zoom out from Earth, you’ll see the Milky Way Galaxy, that’s the galaxy that we live in. The Milky Way Galaxy is 588,000,000,000,000 miles wide (588 quadrillion), and it’s filled with billions of stars. So many stars that if you counted one star per second, it would take you 2,500 years to finish counting them all! God put every star in its place and he knows them all by name. Think about this: The fish responded with all that delight just for a simple fish bowl. When we think of the awesome God who created our awesome world and universe, isn’t it important that we respond with even more excitement and praise? And that’s what worship is. It’s our response to God’s awesomeness. God’s awesomeness is on display all around us through the world He created. But there’s another important way we experience God’s awesomeness, and I believe it’s an even bigger reason to worship Him. In the beginning, God’s creation was perfect. But then Adam and Eve welcomed sin into the Garden. They let their pride tell them that they could be equal to the awesome God who created this indescribable universe! And the sad part is that people continue to think the same things today. We do what we want to do and ignore the God whose glory is all around us! Romans 1:25 says: “They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.” But in the middle of this big mess is where we see God’s awesomeness at its best. [Slide 6 – Romans 5:8] Say: Romans 5:8 says:


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“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” The awesome God who created this huge universe loves you. He loves us enough that he sent Jesus to die for us. I can sometimes ignore the beauty that I see in God’s creation, and I can forget to worship Him for it. But when I think about the awesomeness of God’s grace that would send Jesus to the cross for me, the only thing I can do is worship Him. [Slide 7 – Bottom Line: Worship is our response to God’s awesomeness.] Say: Worship is our response to God’s awesomeness. We can see God’s awesomeness all around us through His creation. Just like Psalm 19 says: “The heavens proclaim the glory of God.” We can also see God’s awesomeness when we see His grace, given to us through Jesus. When we see God’s goodness, power, grace, and all that God is, the only response that seems appropriate is worship. Let’s worship God through prayer and thank Him for His awesomeness. [Slide 8 – Made to Worship Cover) (Pray and dismiss preteens to small groups.)


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Note: If going outside isn’t an option for you as suggested in Small Group #1, use the indoor alternative in Small Group #2. SMALL GROUP #1: TAKE A HIKE Supplies:


What to Do: Break into small groups. Give each preteen a sheet of paper or index card and a pen and take the group outside, weather permitting. As you walk outside, remind preteens that all of creation shows us God’s glory. We can see God’s awesomeness all around us through everything He made, from the tiniest creation to the largest. Read Romans 1:20 for the preteens in your group. “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

Encourage preteens to take a few minutes to observe God’s creation. Challenge them to think of some ways in which creation reveals the awesomeness of God and write it down on their paper. Some examples might be flowers that show God’s care and provision or the open sky that shows how big God really is. Allow several minutes for preteens to consider God’s creation. Then have kids gather around you. Ask:

• Describe what you noticed that you think is a great example of God’s awesomeness.

• Considering God’s creation, please complete this sentence, “God, I worship You because ______________.”

• What’s one way you can worship God in everyday life—not necessarily at church?


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SMALL GROUP #2: TAKE A LOOK Supplies:

• For each small group, an assortment of remarkable items from nature, such as mineral rocks like geodes, pinecones, preserved insects like butterflies, intricate leaves, images of exotic animals and plants, images of space, and so on. For incredible natural images, go to http://www.boredpanda.com/amazing-places/.


What to Do: Break into small groups. Give each preteen a sheet of paper or index card and a pen and have kids form a circle on the floor. Show preteens the assortment of items from nature. Remind them that all of creation shows us God’s glory. We can see God’s awesomeness all around us through everything He made, from the tiniest creation to the largest. Read Romans 1:20 for the preteens in your group. “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

Encourage preteens to take a few minutes to examine the items from God’s creation. Challenge them to think of some ways in which creation reveals the awesomeness of God and write it on their paper. Some examples might be a butterfly’s wings that show God’s creativity and intricacy or our galaxy that shows how big God really is. Allow several minutes for preteens to consider God’s creation. Ask:

• Describe what you noticed that you think is a great example of God’s awesomeness.

• Considering God’s creation, please complete this thought, “God, I worship You because ______________.”

• What’s one way you can worship God in everyday life—not necessarily at church?


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SMALL-GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• What questions or comments came to your mind during Large Group?

• How would you define worship?

• How does your definition or worship compare to the one we discussed in Large Group?

• Which fact about creation was most amazing to you and why?

• What do you think that fact teaches us about God?

• Explain why you think God is worthy of our praise.

• How does God’s creation lead us to worship God?

• What are ways you see God’s awesomeness in creation? When you see

those things, how do you respond?

• How is God’s awesomeness revealed through Jesus?

• If worship is a response to God’s awesomeness, explain whether you think worship can be different than singing songs.

• Describe other ways we can worship God.


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WHAT’S THAT TO ME? Say: Worship is an important part of our relationship with God—and it’s a lot more than just singing. Worship is a way of life, too. Any time we’re tempted to ignore the incredible reality of the world and universe around us, we can look within ourselves and remember that God cares about the tiniest detail—including each of us. He created us and then he sent Jesus to pay for our sins. God is awesome, and he deserves our praise. We learned that worship is our response to God’s awesomeness. Psalm 19 tells us, “The heavens proclaim the glory of God.” We can see God’s awesomeness in all of the things He’s created. The sun, moon, and stars are all shouting that there is a God and He is worthy of our praise! Whether we experience God’s awesomeness through creation or in some other way, our response can always be to praise God for who He is and what He’s done. This is worship. (Close in prayer.)

writer: matt morgan artwork: kindred creative project...

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