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Jan. 13, 2019 Yahweh: The Most High God

1 Kings 18—19 Elijah on Mt. Carmel

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord

establishes their steps.

Proverbs 16:9

DATE PONDER POINT

THE BIG GOD STORY REMEMBER VERSE

Welcome and Worship (15 minutes)

Begins class creating an inviting atmosphere for kids to feel welcome and engage kids in worship through singing and communion.

The Big God Story (18 minutes)

Creates space for children to hear God’s word and prepare respond to the Holy Spirit in small groups

Small Groups (20 minutes)

Kids will build relationships with each other and their leaders, and respond to what they learned in the Big God Story as well as how to apply it to their lives

Bless & Dismiss (4 minutes)

Bless kids to send them out with a sense of peace so they can be a blessing to others.

• The large group room will be divided into three sections. Please help kids find which section they should sit in according to their grade: 1st-2nd, 3rd-4th & 5th-6th.

• Toward the end of small group time, A/V Tech will play the 2 minute warning sound followed by a song. During or immediately following the song please regroup in the large group meeting space (not before).

• 5th & 6th graders can go directly to Snack Shack after small group time, rather than regrouping in the large group space.

Host Administrative To Do’s: • Make sure no group is too large • Make sure each group has enough supplies • Close curtains and divider wall for small groups

at 9:00 and 10:15 (and re-open after 9:00) • Cue the tech when to play the 2 minute warning

with song. • Call names for dismissal after blessing

SCHEDULE Large Group

Small Group

2 Min Warn.

Regroup/Dismiss 5th-6th

1st Service (9:00) 9:00 9:33 9:53 10:00

2nd Service (10:15) 10:15 10:48 11:08 11:15

3rd Service (11:30) 11:30 12:03 12:23 12:30

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GOAL: Worship & welcome is all about engaging kids and helping them enter into worship, letting

them know that class has begun preparing their minds for what they are going to hear.

WELCOME (Host):

Stage Lights On VIDEO LOOPS: Welcome Loop, 5 Min Countdown, Welcome Image

We are so glad you are here today. Welcome the kids in your own words then say the following

to the kids: Let’s all stand and hear God’s word and sing our praise to Him…

OPENING WORSHIP SONG (Worship Leader):

Turn out main overhead lights REMEMBER VERSE VIDEO

WORSHIP VIDEO 1: Undefeated

WORSHIP VIDEO 2: Our God

(Direct kids to get with their groups and circle up with their small group leader before sitting down)

SMALL GROUP CONNECT IMAGE

CONNECT QUESTIONS (Host): 4 MINUTE COUNTDOWN VIDEO

• Would you rather eat cake or ice cream?

• If you could build anything in your back yard what would you build?

• Would you rather have the power to control fire, wind, earth, or water ?

TIMELINE VIDEO

(Storyteller)

The Big God Story: Point out that what kids are about to hear is true and is recorded in the

Bible. Open your Bible to the passage and leave it open and visible throughout The Big God

Story. Invite kids to open their Bibles and follow along as you storytell. Children respond to what

the Holy Spirit is teaching them as they reflect on the day’s portion of The Big God Story.

The Prayer of Release: This allows children and leaders to pause, be still, and ask God to quiet

their hearts and minds. Before you pray, you might ask the kids to hold out their hands, palms

up, in a spirit of releasing their worries and distractions in order to better receive what the Holy

Spirit might have for them today. Then encourage the kids to quiet their voices, take a seat, and

pray with you.

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The Big God Story:

Big God Story Images

Storyteller Script

Throughout The Big God Story, the Israelites experienced God as Yahweh—the Lord, the Most High God. Yahweh means I AM. God has no beginning or end. He is infinite. His character never changes because He never changes. Let’s ask God to show us that He is the Most High God today as we open His Word. Lead children in a Prayer of Release to pause, be still, and ask the Holy Spirit to quiet their hearts and minds.

Today we’re going to see that Yahweh is the Most High God through the life of a man named Elijah. Elijah was a prophet who lived during a time when Israel was no longer united. It had split into two countries: Israel and Judah. Tech: Cue Map of Israel and Judah images. The northern kingdom of Israel and their kings had continually disobeyed what God had told them to do, which was to worship Him only. In fact, Ahab, the king of Israel during Elijah’s day, made everyone worship the false god Baal instead of the real God, Yahweh.

Because Yahweh, the Lord, required His people to know that He was the Most High God, He used His prophet Elijah to set up a contest to show everyone that Yahweh alone is the Most High God. Invite children to open their Bibles to 1 Kings 18:19–20 and follow along as you read.

19 Now send for people from all over Israel. Tell them to meet me on Mount Carmel. And

bring the 450 prophets of the god Baal. Also bring the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah. All of them eat at Jezebel’s table. So Ahab sent that message all through Israel. He gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel.

Elijah, the Israelites, and the 850 false prophets came together on Mt. Carmel (Tech: Cue Elijah on Mt. Carmel image). There, each side would choose an offering, make an altar with stones, and pray that fire would come down and burn up the sacrifice. Only the Most High God would be powerful enough to do that!

The prophets of Baal went first. Act out each of the following actions in an exaggerated way. They prayed for hours, chanted, begged, and cried out to their false god. They ripped their clothes and hurt themselves, all in an effort to get their false god’s attention. Elijah teased them. Invite children to follow along in 1 Kings 18:27 as you read aloud.

27 At noon Elijah began to tease them. “Shout louder!” he said. “I’m sure Ball is a god!

Perhaps he has too much to think about. Or maybe he has gone to the toilet. Or perhaps he’s away on a trip. Maybe’s he’s sleeping. You might have to wake him up.”

But, verse 29 says that “…there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention” (v. 29). The prophets of Baal were exhausted and gave up. Dramatically fall to the floor.

Then Elijah built an altar with 12 stones. He placed the sacrifice on the altar and poured water on it filling a trench around the altar.

Then Elijah prayed; (Tech: dim the lights, and play 1 Kings 18:36–37 audio): “Lord … let it be

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known today that you are God in Israel … Answer me … so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Pause. Tech: Turn the lights back up. Stand up. Immediately God answered. Invite children to follow along as you read 1 Kings 18:38 aloud.

38 The fire of the Lord came down. It burned up the sacrifice. It burned up the wood and

the stones and the soil. It even licked up the water in the ditch.

Tech: Cue Fire image. Wow! How would you feel if you saw that happen? Encourage the kids to answer. You would probably fall on your knees! Well, that’s exactly what happened. Everyone there fell on his knees and said, (have the kids kneel and make their best shock and awe face) “The Lord—he is God!” (1 Kings 18:39). Have kids cheer for God’s display of power!

You’d think that afterward everyone would have wanted to worship Yahweh—the Most High God. But it wasn’t that way for everyone. So, to completely destroy the worship of false gods, Elijah killed all 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah. King Ahab didn’t like that at all! The king now wanted Elijah dead! So Elijah ran for his life. After 40 days without food and many days of travel, he came to a cave in a mountain named Horeb. Elijah was hungry, exhausted and lonely, and he complained to God. Encourage children to open their Bibles to 1 Kings 19:10 and follow along as you read aloud.

10 He replied, “Lord God who rules over all, I’ve been very committed to you. The people

of Israel have turned their backs on your covenant. They have torn down your altars. They’ve put your prophets to death with their swords. I’m the only one left. And they are trying to kill me.”

Elijah had seen God’s fierce display of power at Mt. Carmel, but, in this moment, Elijah needed comfort. Because God is a loving God, He answered Elijah’s prayer—but this time in a very dif-ferent way.

God told Elijah (encourage children to read 1 Kings 19:11): “Go out and stand on the mountain … for the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks … (Tech: Cue Wind sound effect and show Rocks image) but the Lord was not in the wind” (1 Kings 19:11a). Pause. Then, a great earthquake shook everything! Pause. Tech: Cue Earthquake audio. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. Next, a fire burned around Elijah! Tech: Cue Fire audio and show Fire image. Pause. But the Lord was not in the fire.

After the fire came … shhh. Pause, and encourage the kids to listen. Did you hear that? Pause, and speak softly. It was a gentle whisper. So Elijah went out on the mountain to speak with Yahweh, the Lord. Then the Lord comforted Elijah and told him what to do next: to anoint future kings and train the next prophet, Elisha, whom we’ll talk about next week. Through the whisper, God showed Himself as Yahweh, the Most High God, who is also a gentle and loving God.

Throughout this part of The Big God Story, we saw the Lord God in some very different ways. We saw Him as an all-consuming fire bringing glory to Himself and calling His people back to Him. We also saw Him speak softly to His servant, Elijah.

Like He was in the time of Elijah, Yahweh is the Most High God in our world and our lives today. He is the One who is powerful, loves us, protects us, demands our worship, and comforts us. In everything we need, in every part of our life, Yahweh is the Most High God—He will give Himself the glory, and He always has our best interests at heart. Give a child-friendly example of how God has revealed Himself to be the Most High God in your life.

Tell the kids we are going to close the Big God Story by worshipping him. Ask the kids to wait until they

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are asked to come forward to take communion.

WORSHIP VIDEO 3: Reckless Love

After a time of worshipping have kids come and take communion if they have been baptized, and bring their offering.

Fade out song slowly at Worship Leader’s prompting.

(As the song comes to a close Worship Leader tells groups to head to their small group space. Say something like, “Let’s continue responding to what God is teaching us as we dismiss to our small groups. Please follow your small group leader at this time.”)

IMAGE: It’s time for small groups

Turn main overhead lights on

Dismiss for small groups—refer to map for small group locations

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the end of small groups...

Tech cue: 2 minute warning with exit song, using ceiling speakers, at the host’s prompting

Turn speakers back to wall speakers for blessing, closing song and dismissal.

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GOAL: Kids build relationships with each other and their leader as they respond to what they heard

in the Big God Story.

** Small group activity based on grade today. Please use the activity below

and supplies provided that match the grade(s) for your small group.

GOD VS. BAAL (1 & 2 GRADE) SUPPLIES • “God vs. Baal” work sheet, (one per child) • “Am I doing what God wants me to do ?” work sheet. (one per child) • Pencils ENGAGE In today’s part of The Big God Story, Yahweh spoke to His people in two very different ways: first in an amazing display of His power by sending fire, then as a gentle whisper spo-ken to His prophet Elijah. In both of these ways, God revealed something important and unique about Himself: He is the Most High God. He has all the power, yet He is personal and relates to His people in love. We are going to look at a couple of work sheets and work through these together. Let’s talk about how God wants us to live and think of ways we can show God He is the most high. After kids have finished their worksheets if time allows have them color a picture to God. May-be they want to draw fire, to remember how powerful He is, or maybe they want to draw a heart, to show how much they love Him. Be sure to close the class with the blessing.

GOD IS GOD! (3-6 GRADE) SUPPLIES • Images: Ocean, Mountains, People laughing, Person Serving at Church, Person Serving on a • Missions Trip, Bible, • Outer Space, Crowd of People (see Resources) • Paper • Pens or markers

ENGAGE

What do you know about God? What are some words that describe Him? Encourage the kids to answer. Write their answers on the board. Some examples: “Loving,” “Good,” “Powerful,” “Father,” “Awesome.” Do any of you have stories to share about how God is working in your life (choose one of the words from the board)? For instance, maybe God showed Himself to be the Most High when you saw waves pounding on the beach or saw lightning strike. Maybe He showed Himself to be faithful when He answered one of your prayers. Encourage kids to share stories, and share some of your own. Point out the images and ask older kids to write on each image the ways they see God in them. If it’s an image of nature, they might write “God is Creator.” If it’s a picture of people laughing together, they might write “God is good to us.” For younger kids, talk together about the images and how God is revealed in them.

Then ask the kids to tell a story about a time in their lives when they saw God as the one true, existing God. Encourage kids to choose different ways to tell their stories (draw a picture, act out a scene with friends or by themselves, etc.). Give them a few minutes to think about a time when God was God in their lives—as well as a way to tell their stories to the group. Then gather in a circle and share.

BLESSING Close your small group time reading a final scripture and blessing your kids using the Blessing Card from your supply bin in your cart.

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GOAL: Bless kids to send them out with a sense of peace so they can be a blessing to others.

CLOSING REMARKS/ANNOUNCEMENTS (Host):

Wall Speakers On

TRANSITION ACTIVITIES (HOST):

The videos listed below are 12-13 minutes long. Please play as listed below and feel free to stop the video whenever it’s time to start the next service.

After 9:00 service play - Transition Compilation 2

After 10:15 service play - Transition Compilation 1

DISMISSAL (STORYTELLER):

Call names of kids as parent come to pick up and welcome kids who are being dropped off.

Encourage parents to enter the room and encourage kids and parents to exit out the middle door

(103)

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Tiny hands stretched up toward my face. Soft little fingers landed on a raised freckle on my right cheek. From as early as six months old, my youngest child rubbed his fingers across this freckle when I kissed him goodnight—as if this identifying mark assured him I truly was the mama who al-ways brought comfort, rest, and security. For years my son wouldn’t go to sleep until he put his little hand on my face to experience the comforting consistency of that little freckle. When he was very young, there was no other person who had the same ability to comfort and calm him.

When I read Scripture and see the names of God, especially Yahweh I see the identifying marks of God. His names tell me that only Yahweh is God. No other being has been or will ever be as worthy as He is. Thinking back on the days when my son was an infant, I see a picture of utter dependence. I desire that this be the essence of my devotion to Yahweh. I want my most devout worship to put God above every other relationship. I long for Yahweh alone as the ultimate power and authority in my life. I pray for an infant-like dependency on God as the Most High God—the only One worthy of my full trust and devotion.

Amy Palmerton ROCKHARBOR Church

Yahweh means “the one true and existing God.” The Hebrew people used this name to distinguish God from the temporal gods devised by the pagan people living all around them. Whenever we see the word "Lord" in Scripture, it signifies this name for God: Yahweh.

Throughout the Bible we often see how peoples’ names display truth about them. For example, Elijah’s name means “the Lord Jehovah is my God.” This name indicates that Elijah could be t rusted to defend God’s truth and principles, even in the face of opposition. And he did!

Elijah, a miracle-working Israelite prophet who opposed the worship of Baal, lived in the northern kingdom, under the rule of a king named Ahab—who endorsed the worship of the false god Baal and made it the official religion in Israel. Though Elijah knew the danger of standing against Ahab (punishment and ultimately death), he remained committed to dismantling the worship of false idols. As a result, Elijah invited the prophets of Baal to a contest.

When Baal failed to answer the frenzied cries of his prophets, Elijah put his offering on the fire and then soaked it with water. “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God,” he cried (1 Kings 18:37). In answer, fire from God licked up the sacrifice and everything around it. In response the people fell on their faces and declared, “The Lord—he is God!” (v. 39).

Although Elijah witnessed this amazing display of God’s power, God wasn’t done revealing Himself. When Elijah hid in a cave after the contest, terrified of Ahab and Jezebel (who wanted to kill him), God spoke to him in a gentle whisper. In this part of The Big God Story, we see that sometimes God reveals Himself in dramatic ways, but other times He speaks quietly. No matter how God speaks to us, we can be confident that He alone is God.

Yahweh is “the one true and existing God.” This statement reveals the reality of our own personal

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knowledge of God. How do we come to a place where our “head knowledge” of God becomes part of us and, as a result, is shown by our actions? It begins by trusting that God is who He says

He is: “I am who I am.” God is perfect, just, kind, and faithful. God is powerful and eternal. He operates outside of time and yet stays completely aware of each hair on our heads. God is love, and God is comfort. God is infinitely wise. These descriptions of God are only inspiring words unless we make them part of our experience with Him. If you find yourself more devoted to the advice of friends than the Word of God, then perhaps this week would be a good time to seek out the wisdom of God.

If you find it hard to read through Scripture, invite someone in your faith community to study it with you, or join a local Bible study. Consider starting with the verses from Psalm 48:9–10, 14. Ask God to speak to you about Himself through His Word. Seek Him and wait on Him.