DAY 1. Jesus gives us hope. Prophets foretell the light of the world. As You Read, Keep in Mind. Why It Matters

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1 DAY 1 Jesus gives us hope. Prophets foretell the light of the world. (John 1:1-34; Isaiah 9:2) As You Read, Keep in Mind J Throughout the Bible, God sent prophets to foretell future events, especially in proclaiming the coming Messiah. These claims would be nothing unless they had actually come true. Imagine someone today trying to make a prediction that would come true over 700 years from now. How amazing that more than 700 years in advance, prophets like Isaiah foretold about Jesus as the light of the world! Jesus fulfilled all of these prophecies exactly. Only God can fulfill promises like that! J Think of John the Baptist s role like a preview before the movie, announcing that Jesus was coming soon. John the Baptist knew that he himself was not the feature film, but rather he was simply a witness to tell about the light (John 1:8). Jesus is the true light of the world the main event! J Hope is confident patience that God will carry out what he has promised. Although they struggled to have confident patience, God s people definitely hoped that the promise of a Messiah would come true, and it did! We can have hope that God will fulfill his promises made in the Bible to us, just like he fulfilled his promises then. Why It Matters Kids today can feel hopeless in the troubles they face and those they see around them in the news and other social media. They may not understand why a good friend has to move away, why pets get sick, or why loved ones die. Wars, pollution, and even natural disasters can make kids feel hopeless. No matter how dark life seems, Jesus is the source of light and hope for our world today! Jesus gives us hope that God loves us enough to give his greatest gift and is still in control when the world seems to be in chaos. Shine God s light to the kids at your VBS today with a bright smile and encouraging words of hope! Key Verse: O Lord, you alone are my hope. (Psalm 71:5) 5 5

2 Introduce the Bible Point Say: Today we re going to learn that Jesus gives us hope. Jesus is God s special Son, who lived on earth a long, long time ago. Hope means that you excitedly look forward to something. Jesus gives us something exciting and wonderful to look forward to! I love Jesus, and I know Jesus loves me, too! Jesus loves you (point to a child) and you (point to another child), you (point to another child)... and all of you! We want to learn about Jesus, be his friend, and follow him! When you hear someone say Jesus gives us hope, you ll shout follow him! That reminds us to stick close to Jesus and go the way he s going! When you say follow him, hold your pointer finger up in the air, like you re holding up a light. That ll help remind us that Jesus is a light for the whole world. Let s practice: Jesus gives us hope! (Follow him!) Let s hear an awesome story from the Bible about some people who knew how amazing Jesus was even before they met him! Tell About the Sad Israelites Show children your Bible. Tell children that the story they re going to hear is from the Bible, which means that it s true. Say: The Bible tells us about God s special people, called the Israelites. They lived a long, long, looong time ago! The Israelites loved and followed God most of the time. But sometimes they disobeyed. Ask: Follow him! Supplies J Bible J tape J small gift box J black paper to wrap gift box J 2 different colors of shiny wrapping paper J photocopy of picture of Jesus, p. 12 What happens when you disobey your mommy or daddy? Well, the Israelites disobeyed and got into some trouble. Times got very hard and sad for them. Show me your saddest face. Show your sad face, too! Hold up the wrapped black box. A mean king came and made them leave their homes. He didn t let them follow God the way they wanted. Sometimes when times are hard, we say those times are dark even though the sun is shining. It means our hearts feel dark and sad. This box reminds me of the hard, sad, dark time God s people went through. During that time, God sent a good message to a man named Isaiah. God told Isaiah to tell the sad Israelites that it wouldn t be sad and dark forever. God said, A light will shine! 9

3 Tear off a small piece of the black paper, revealing the colorful paper underneath. Pass the box around, and let each child tear off a piece of the black paper. Each time a child tears off some of the black paper, lead kids in saying A light will shine! By the time the box comes back to you, it should be free of black paper. Set the box in front of you. Point out that this box is pretty but it s still wrapped so we still have to wait for the light. Tell About John the Baptist Ask: How do you think the Israelites felt when they heard that a light would shine? Say: I imagine that the Israelites were happy and hopeful. They probably couldn t wait for things to get better! But they didn t know when this good thing would happen. In fact, a long, long, looong time passed and things were still hard. The Israelites wanted a kind and loving king one who followed God. I don t know about you, but I think it s really hard to wait for something good to happen! Let s talk about this with our friends. Have your kids form a tight knee-to-knee circle. When everyone is circled up, ask: When is it hard for you to wait? Allow about a minute or two for kids to talk, then take a few responses. Years and years and years went by. After a long time, God sent a man named John to tell people again that the light was coming! John said, Someone great is coming! He will be the light, and he will help us! Tear off a small piece of the next layer of paper, and pass the box around again, letting preschoolers each tear off a strip. Each time a child tears off a section, lead them in saying The light is coming! When the box comes back to you, set it in front of you. Point out that it looks like we still have to wait! 10

4 Reveal the Surprise Inside Say: People wondered if John was the light the leader and helper God had promised. But John said, Someone is coming after me who is even greater than I am! The people were curious and excited to see who God would send! Well, they didn t have to wait quite as long this time. Let s peel off the last layer of paper. When it s all off, I ll open the box to see what s inside! Pass the box around, and let preschoolers take turns taking off pieces of the paper. When the unwrapped box comes back to you, hold it. I m so excited! Can you imagine how excited the Israelites were? They d lived in sadness for so long. They had waited years and years and years! They were so hopeful and eager to see who God would send! Open the box, and show children the picture of Jesus. Jesus wasn t just a special person Jesus was God s very own Son! Jesus was the best gift of all! Jesus is the light of the world. 11

5 Permission to photocopy this resource from Group s Cave Quest VBS granted for local church use. Copyright 2016 Group Publishing, Inc., Loveland, CO. group.com/vbs]

6 Day 1 Imagination Option Station Supplies J Geode Gems* (1 per child) J hammers (2 per Crew) J men s tube socks or 12-inch squares of heavy plastic (1 per child per rotation) J child-safe magnifying glasses (1 or 2 per Crew) J resealable plastic bags (1 per child) J permanent markers for writing names on bags Option 1: GEODE GEMS Hold up an unbroken geode, and ask children if they think there s anything special about this rock. Say: Today we re learning that Jesus gives us hope. (Follow him!) Hope makes us feel happy or excited inside because we believe something good could happen. Believe it or not, there s something incredible inside this plain, ordinarylooking rock! Let s find out what it is. 1. Hand each child a geode and a sock or a piece of heavyduty plastic material. Have kids put their geode into the sock or wrap it in the plastic. This keeps all the pieces together. 2. Demonstrate how to hit the wrapped geode with the hammer being sure not to swing the hammer overhead until you hear the geode break. 3. Help preschoolers break their geodes and then pour out the pieces of the geode into their resealable bags. 4. Encourage children to use the magnifying glasses to inspect the geodes, paying close attention to the inside of the rocks. Point out that there are sparkly crystals inside the rock! Say: Jesus hope lives inside us sort of like these sparkly crystals are inside the rock. Hope means we trust that good things will happen, even when life is hard. I m glad that Jesus gives us hope! (Follow him!) 6

7 Option 2: Cave Spelunker Helmet We will make cave spelunker helmets with lights out of construction paper! 1. You will need three 2" wide strips and one circle for each child out of yellow. The circles will be the headlamps. 2. Staple or tape two of the long strips together to make a band to fit around the child s head. 3.Then staple a band perpendicular to the other from front to back to go over the child s head. 4. Finally staple the headlamp on the front. Cave Spelunker Helmet 7

8 Day 1 Supplies J parachute* J Sing & Play Rock Music CD* J CD player *available from Group Publishing or your Group VBS supplier Field Test finding As preschoolers arrive, ask them to look at the parachute with your eyes, not your hands while you give the game instructions. At our field test, kids instantly picked up the parachute and started playing, making it hard for everyone to hear the game instructions. Option 3: PARACHUTE PRAISE Lay the parachute flat on the ground. When kids arrive, have everyone gather around the parachute. Say: This parachute is flat and still. Sometimes our hearts feel low, flat, and still if we re sad. We need hope to fill us up! In the Bible, it says, O Lord, you alone are my hope. Hope means that we expect something good or we believe that God s way is best. Hope can fill us up with joy! Let s celebrate how Jesus fills our hearts with hope and joy! 1. Have children pick up the parachute and hold it at waist level. 2. Lead preschoolers in walking in a circle while they hold the edges of the parachute, singing this song to the tune of London Bridge : Only Jesus gives us hope, Gives us hope, gives us hope. Only Jesus gives us hope. Thank you, Jesus! 3. When you sing Thank you, Jesus, lead kids in lifting the parachute high, ducking under it, and quickly sitting on the edges. This creates a bubble with preschoolers inside! Point out that hope lifts our hearts and makes us feel happy. 6