Large Group Instructions
Series Note
Each Summer to the Max lesson incorporates a special venue into the service. Adding a venue allows the summer schedule to change while keeping the focus on Biblical truth. Venues can be done during the first 30 minutes of service or final 30 minutes of service. If you are also utilizing Summer to the Max Junior lessons, consider keeping one venue at the beginning and one at the end. That will keep costs down by allowing both groups to enjoy the same venue. Each lesson offers multiple venue options at different price points to accommodate your budget. Promoting the venues ahead of time will build excitement for Summer to the Max!
Venue Ideas
Choose one of the following venue options or create your own. These venues connect kids to the story of Noah and his obedience by building the Ark.
Petting Zoo
Hire a local petting zoo or utilize members in your church to provide some animals for an outdoor experience.
Face Painting
Paint different animals on the faces of your kids. If your budget allows, consider hiring professional face painters for an extra special day.
Animal Mask Parade
Provide materials for the children to create animal masks. Once they've created their masks, organize a parade around the church or a designated area, with the children wearing their animal masks.
Host and Co-Host enter.
Host
Welcome to Summer To The Max! I hope you are ready to have lots of fun learning more about following God.
Co-Host
God really does want all of us to be His friends. That’s why God made sure He gave us His Word, the Bible, to follow. Let's worship Him now!
This Engage 1 segment uses floor shapes. You can focus the kids’ attention on just the color or just the shape. Before the segment, place a line of shapes/colors for the kids to follow. Depending on the size of your class, consider placing them on the floor and have all kids participate.
Host
We were talking about following.... That’s interesting because that’s part of our Big Point. Each week, we’ll discover a new Big Point that helps us follow God. Let’s listen to today’s Big Point,
Host
I Can Obey God!
Co-Host
Let’s make up some motions to do as we sing the Big Point. When we say, “I,” use your thumb to point to yourself. When we say, “Obey God,” shake your head like you are saying, “Yes.” For fun, shake it lots of times. Let’s sing it a few times so we can practice the motions.
Co-Host
I Can Obey God!
Repeat a few times so the kids can practice the motions.
Host
To obey someone, you have to follow the directions that he or she gives you.
Let’s play a game and practice doing that. We have some shapes/colors on the floor. I’m going to choose two kids to play the game. Your job is to get from the start to the finish as fast as you can, and you can only walk in this order. When you touch the arrow, jump up and down three times, then walk to the circle and spin three times, finally walk to the star and give the (Co-Host) three high-fives to finish.
Have the kids take turns running through the course. As they come to a shape/color, have the audience shout out directions to help them remember what to do. Give them hints as they go. If they forget, have them go back to the shape/color and follow the directions.
Co-Host
You did a great job. It was hard remembering all of the things to do at each shape/color. Thankfully we had lots of friends to help us remember.
Host
When God asks us to do something, He will help us, too. God will help us remember what He said, and He gives us lots of good friends, so we can help each other obey God.
Host and Co-Host enter.
Co-Host
God gives us words to follow because He loves us and He wants to give us good things. God’s Word helps us make wise choices, so it’s always a good idea to do what the Bible says. Let’s practice our Big Point again with our motions,
Co-Host
I Can Obey God!
Host
Let’s see what the Bible says about our Big Point by reading our Big Verse.
Host
John 14:15 (NIrV) says, “If you love Me, obey My commands.”
Co-Host
Obeying God shows how much we honor and love Him. Let’s show you what we mean by practicing not obeying. Yikes! Don’t get scared. We’re just going to pretend for a moment.
Host
Stand up. I’m going to tell you things to do.
Co-Host
But instead of doing them, we’re going to say, “No” and stomp our feet.
Host gives the kids a few commands. The Co-Host leads the kids in disobeying.
Host
You can sit down. Do you think it made me feel loved when you did that? (Pause) No, it felt terrible. Now we’re going to ask one of our friends (Choose an adult volunteer) to tell us something to do. This time let’s practice obeying.
Have an adult volunteer give the Host and Co-Host a few commands. The Host and Co-Host obey.
Co-Host
That felt so much better! If you love God, then you follow what He says. That’s because you trust that God will only tell you right things to do.
Host
You can’t follow Jesus if you don’t obey Him. Doing what Jesus says is good for you. When God asks you to do something, He is always helping you. Let’s stand and praise God.
Host
Noah made a wise choice when he obeyed God. He did everything God asked him to do. Sometimes we have a hard time obeying God, our parents, or our teachers. Let’s bow our heads and close our eyes. Take a moment to pray and ask Jesus to help you make the wise choice to obey. (Pause) Now I’ll pray for all of us. (Pray)
Co-Host
The Bible says in Hebrews 13:16
Co-Host
“Don’t forget to share with others.” Giving is something that God asks us to do.
Host
Jesus asks us, as His followers, to share part of what we have with others. (Remind the kids of the giving project)We have the chance to obey God just like Noah in our Bible story did.
Host and Co-Host enter.
Host
Let’s all practice our Big Point again,
Host
I Can Obey God!
Co-Host
Noah saved his family and lots of animals by obeying God and building the boat. The boat floated because he followed all of God’s directions. Obeying is always a wise choice.
Host
You can tell your family about Noah and his ark when you do the Big Do this week.
Host
Choose a recipe to make as a family and follow all of the directions.
Co-Host
A recipe tells you what kind of ingredients to put together to make delicious food. Let’s follow directions to make a fun experiment with colors. We’re going to mix the colors together to make new colors, but if we don’t follow directions, we won’t make the right colors.
Bring up a kid to help. Explain the color combinations needed to make orange, green, purple, etc. Drop the primary colors each into water as well to make a red, yellow, and blue bottle. Place the six bottles side by side.
Host
Do you know what these colors look like when they sit next to each other? (Pause) A rainbow. God used a rainbow to promise Noah that they wouldn’t have another flood like the one Noah saw. God has kept His promise.
Co-Host
We can obey God because He always does what He promises to do.
Host
We can follow Jesus when do our Big Point. Let’s say our Big Point once more with the motions,
Host
I Can Obey God!
Did our Big Point say I Can Disobey God or I Can Obey God!?
Let’s use our arms to make big waves like you see in the ocean. Make tiny waves with your finger. What was the name of the man in our story who built a boat? Noah
Pretend to saw a board in half. Saw, saw, saw. Pretend to hammer a nail. Knock, knock, knock. Let’s paint the boat with tar. Swipe, swipe, swipe. Did Noah do everything God asked him to do? Yes
Let’s play follow the leader. Stand up and follow everything I ask you to do. (Play the game) John 14:15 (NIrV), “If you _______ me, obey my commands.”
Love
Don’t like
What does a lion sound like? Make the sound of an owl. Howl like a wolf. Can you obey like Noah? Yes God gives us grown-ups in our lives so we can practice obeying. Who are some people you can obey? Parents, teachers, helpers at church
What is our Big Do? Choose a recipe to make as a family. Follow all of the directions.
