POWER PHRASE I can worship God!

MEMORY VERSE Psalm 63:3, “Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You.”

SUPPORTING DOCTRINES For supporting doctrines, see our Statement of Faith at www.novoministries.org/statement-of-faith.

GOALS The child will...

• Understand what worship is.

• Realize the importance of worshiping God.

• Choose to make worship a regular part of her life.

REMINDERS Worship isn’t just singing a song or going to a big event. It doesn’t have to be scheduled at a certain place

for a certain amount of time. Worship is a way of life. A life of worship results when we decide we will put

God above everything else and include Him in everything we do. When we do this, we realize just how

amazing God is and that He is worthy of all our praise!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We want to express our gratitude to the volunteers who contributed ideas toward the development of this

series. All of our contributors are knowledgeable and have worked extensively with children in need. We

thank them for the time they have invested in these children.

A Special Thanks A special thanks to Candi Carl for her willingness to impact thousands of children with the Gospel by sharing

part of her story of how God has worked in her life.

The stories and photos shared in the Gospel Presentation activities are used by permission of the

individuals.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES All Large Group or Small Group activity visuals or supply items followed by an asterisk ( * ) may be

downloaded for printing at www.novoministries.org/resource.

2 | at a glance

A WOMAN’S ACT OF WORSHIP (BIBLE STORY — Luke 7:36–50) Visuals

• Bible Story Visuals*, Lip Sync Visuals*, Key Word Signs*

Supplies • Bible, Bible Insert for Large Group*

Captivate #1 – Lip Sync! • Print the Lip Sync Visuals and cut out the mouth sections. Choose a boy to be Jesus and a girl to be the

woman. Have them dramatically repeat different parts of the Bible Story as you tell it.

Captivate #2 - Key Word!

• Identify several key words you will use in the Bible Story. Before telling the story, share with the children

an action or sound effect to use for each of the key words. Then as you tell the story, make sure to

repeat these words often. For example, when you say “Jesus,” the children say “Savior,” or when you

say “woman,” the children say, “worshiped.”

Introduction • While Jesus was here on earth, He had a lot of conversations with the Pharisees. The Pharisees thought

that they were better than everyone else because they followed the Old Testament law very closely and

even added extra things so that they wouldn’t sin. They looked down on everyone else, including Jesus.

Story

• Retell the story from Luke 7:36-50.

• See Bible Story Script.

Conclusion • This woman didn’t care what others thought; she wanted to let Jesus know how much she loved Him.

Washing His feet was an act of worship. I can worship God too!

TESTIMONY • Share how you learned that worshiping God was more than just singing.

• Share some ways that you worship God.

large group | 3

CHALLENGE Visuals

• Key Point Visuals*, Power Phrase Visual*, Memory Verse Visual*

Supplies • Bible, Bible Insert for Large Group*

Introduction • In our Bible Story, we learned how a woman came to Jesus and wanted to show Him just how much she

loved Him. She did one of the most humbling things you could do – she washed His feet. She was

serving Him and meeting His need as an act of worship. We can learn from her that worship isn’t just

saying the right words or singing songs. We can show God how much we love and honor Him in many

different ways.

Key Points

What is worship?

• Worship is the act of showing respect and honor to someone or something.

• It isn’t just singing songs. It is a heart attitude and an expression of love, respect, commitment, and

thankfulness. We can worship God by obeying what He tells us, by loving people who are struggling,

and really in everything that we do as long as we are doing it for God!

• Psalm 63:3, “Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You.”

Who do we worship?

• God wants us to worship Him and Him alone. The Bible teaches that we should have no other gods

before the one true God.

• Luke 4:8, “And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only

shall you serve.”’”

• John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

What is a life of worship?

• Worshiping God should be a way of life, a part of everything we do. We can worship God first thing in

the morning, by telling Him how much we love Him while we brush our teeth. We can worship God

when we show kindness to someone who doesn’t deserve it. We can worship God when we talk about

Him to others. We can worship Him when we share what we have with others. We can worship God

when we obey our parents. We can worship God by talking to Him before we fall asleep at night.

• Romans 12:1, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a

living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

4 | large group

CHALLENGE (CONTINUED) Conclusion

When we put God in the center of our lives, we show Him how much we love Him by living a life of worship

through everything we do. If He is at the center of our lives, everything else will have to fit in around Him.

Psalm 63:3, “Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You.”

Invitation For the unsaved child:

• Do you know there is an amazing God who loves you very much and wants to have a relationship with

you? He sent His Son to die on the cross so you could receive forgiveness for your sins and have a

relationship with Him (John 3:16). He wants you to spend every day loving Him and worshiping Him.

• Invite the children to stay behind and talk to a leader if they have any questions or would like to ask

Jesus to forgive their sins and be the Lord of their lives.

For the saved child:

• Are you living a life of worship? Do you try to honor and please God in all that you do, not because you

have to, but because you love Him?

• Encourage children to stay behind and talk to a leader if they have any questions.

large group | 5

Concert (ARRIVING ACTIVITY) Visuals

• Picture of a concert*

Instruction and Application • Ask the children if they have ever been to a concert or watched one on TV. What are the fans like? Have

you ever seen fans that went crazy over the band? They scream, yell, and cry, just hoping to touch the

musicians or get their attention. Their hands are in the air. They are worshiping the musicians. The sad

thing is that any band or singer is just a regular person. They can sing well, but they still have flaws and

problems like anyone else. Some shouldn’t even be considered as role models, let alone be worshiped.

• Today we are going to talk about how God alone deserves our worship and some of the ways we can

worship Him.

• Review the Memory Verse with the children. Psalm 63:3, “Because Your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise You.”

6 | small group

Celebration (MEMORY VERSE)

Visuals • Memory Verse Visual*, Illustrated Memory Verse Visual*, Picture of a celebration*

Supplies • Bible, blindfold, small object

A.G.A.I.N. Acrostic

A — Attention Grabber (Grab their attention with an interesting introduction and don’t let go!)

Show a picture of a celebration. Ask the children what they think the people are celebrating. Maybe it was

someone’s birthday or anniversary. Maybe someone got a promotion at work or graduated from college.

Why do you think we have celebrations like this? We have them so we can let someone know how we feel

about her and how proud we are of her. When we worship God, we are letting Him know how much we love

Him and appreciate all He does for us.

G — God’s Word (Show them that the concept you are teaching them comes from the Bible.)

Psalm 63:3, “Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You.”

A — Awareness (Make them “aware” of the words and concepts.)

Steadfast — strong, unwavering, secure, never-ending

Praise — to express appreciation, gratitude, to show respect, to lift up with honor

I — In Their Lives (Teach them to apply the lesson “in their lives.”)

Unsaved child (questions to ask an unsaved child)

Do you know that God’s love is unconditional and there is nothing you can do that will make Him

stop loving you? If you haven’t believed in Jesus, what is holding you back from making that

decision?

Saved child (questions to ask a saved child)

Do you ever think about all that God has done for you? How does that make you feel? How do you

show your love and appreciation to God?

N — Number of Times (Repeat the content again and again until the children understand it.)

Read from Scripture. Repeat after me. Play the Memory Game three or four times.

Memory Game

Play Hot or Cold. Hide a small object from one child. While that child tries to find it, the rest of the group

quotes the Memory Verse, getting softer when the child gets closer to the object and louder as the child

moves farther away. Repeat the Memory Verse until the object is found. Have the seeking child say the

verse after finding the object.

small group | 7

peace (GOSPEL PRESENTATION) Visuals

• “Who Is God?” and “What to Do Now?” Foundational Gospel Truths Visuals*, Picture of Candi Carl*

Supplies • Bible, paper, writing tools

Instruction and Application • Candi Carl grew up in Duncan, Oklahoma. As a young girl, she asked Jesus to forgive her sins and be

the Lord of her life. She and her husband Tony were high school sweethearts. They got married after

they graduated and had two children, Lauren and Braden. They raised both of their children to know

and love God. Lauren and Braden both asked Jesus to forgive their sins and be the Lord of their lives as

children.

• On October 22, 2018, Tony and Candi were waiting for Braden to come over for dinner, but he never

showed up. He was 23 years old and was living on his own. It was unusual for him to not show up and

not to call. They started calling his friends when he didn’t answer his phone.

• One of his friends decided to go over to his apartment to check. She found Braden unresponsive in his

car. The night before, Braden had decided to sit in his car and listen to music like he often did. Braden

had taken his car a few weeks earlier to repair his muffler, but it had not been fixed correctly. Without

knowing it and within minutes, Braden’s car filled with carbon monoxide, and he was killed.

• At a time when many people would be angry and blame God, Candi and her husband clung to God.

Losing a child is one of the hardest things a parent can go through, and the grief never ends; but Candi

finds comfort and peace from God daily. She is so thankful that she has no doubts that Braden is with

his Heavenly Father in Heaven. This, and knowing she will see him again one day, bring great comfort to

her.

• Candi has great compassion for others who are grieving, and God has given her many opportunities to

pray with and encourage them.

• Just like Candi, we can find comfort from our Heavenly Father when we face difficulties. Use the “Who Is

God?” Visual to review.

• There are no guarantees for tomorrow; we need to take every opportunity we can to tell others about

Jesus. Use the “What to Do Now?” Visual to review.

Discussion

• Older Team: Have the children discuss whether they have ever been angry with God or questioned why

something happened?

• Younger Team: Have the children talk about who God is and how we can spend eternity with Him in

Heaven.

• Quiet Team: Have the children draw a picture of what they think Heaven is like.

• Active Team: Have the children create actions for one of the verses in the Foundational Gospel Truth

Visuals.

8 | small group

FLASHBACK (REVIEW QUESTIONS) Supplies

• Review Questions*

Large Group Story Review Questions • Who invited Jesus to his house for a meal? (Simon)

• Who was Simon? (A Pharisee)

• What was the traditional thing to do for people when they were invited to your home? (Wash their feet,

give them a kiss, and anoint their head with oil)

• Why didn’t Simon do these things for Jesus? (He had very little respect for Jesus and what He taught.)

• What was in the woman’s jar? (Oil)

• Why was it not appropriate for this woman to wash Jesus' feet? (She was a sinful woman.)

• Did Jesus allow her to wash His feet? (Yes)

• Who was not happy that the woman washed Jesus' feet? (Simon, the host)

• What example did Jesus give Simon? (A money lender with two debtors)

• Which did Jesus say loved him more? (The one with the greater debt)

• How did Jesus compare the story to the woman? (Her many sins would be forgiven because she loved

Him.)

• What did Jesus say to the woman when she had finished? (“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”)

Discussion Questions

• What ways can you show your love to God?

• What are things that you sometimes make more important than God?

small group | 9

I Worship You God (CRAFT)

Visuals • Craft sample*

Supplies • I Worship You God Template*, ziplock bags (one per child), large craft sticks (7 per child), glue, scissors,

coloring tools

Instruction and Application

• Give each of the children an I Worship You God Template. Have the children color and cut out each of

the pieces and glue them on a craft stick. Next have them take the largest piece and slide it into their

ziplock bags. Then have the children glue the strips of paper onto the craft sticks. When they are dry,

they can store them in their ziplock bags.

• Remind the children that today we learned that we can and should worship God. Have the children take

turns reading what is written on the craft sticks, or you can read what is written and ask them to

respond. Encourage the children to take out the sticks throughout the week to remind them of ways

they can worship God each and every day.

• Review the Memory Verse. Psalm 63:3, “Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will

praise You.”

10 | small group

WHAT’S THE POINT? (APPLICATION ACTIVITY) Supplies

• “What’s the Point?” card*, paper, writing tools

Activity #1 • Give each child a “What’s the Point?” card. Have the children write what it means to worship God. Have

them write the different ways that they can worship God daily.

Activity #2

• Have the children find a partner and discuss situations they think it would be helpful to talk to God

about. Have the children discuss things they can do this week to improve their relationship with God.

For children who are quieter, you can have them draw a picture of ways that they can worship.

NOW WHAT? (ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY) Supplies

• Additional Activity #1: Coloring Page*

• Additional Activity #2: Hidden Object Activity Page*

• Additional Activity #3: Hidden Phrase Activity Page*

• Additional Activity #4: The Big Take Away Key Chain*

Instruction and Application • These activities are to be used with your team as time allows to reinforce the lesson concepts. The

children may take these home each week or do them while they are listening to you teach during Small

Group. These activities require little to no explanation and can be great for moments when you are

transitioning or don’t have time to start another activity.

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