I Was Made To Never Give Up

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On your mark, get set, go!

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These contestants are attempting to eat an entire donut without using their hands. They have 60 seconds to see who can eat the most.

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Congratulations to our winner! That seemed like an easy task, but it wasn’t.

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Nope, it required effort to keep chomping. It would have been way easier to stop.

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That’s true with lots of things, especially really important but challenging tasks. It seems so much easier just to quit.

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Is that really the best choice? If you quit, how does that affect your ability to be part of God’s big plan?

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Those are big questions that we plan to answer today.

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Before we check in at the lab, tell someone nearby your favorite flavor of donut.

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Rusty’s dancing was not very good.

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It wasn’t, but did you see how he responded when his friends told him that? Now, he wants to quit.

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That might be a bit of an overreaction. Maybe instead of quitting, he could work a little harder to make some improvements.

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Quitting is such a strong temptation when you face obstacles.

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Let’s see what our Big Point says to do when we have the choice to quit following God’s plan.

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Lead us as we count down from three and then read the Big Point.

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Let’s all say it together, I Was Made To Never Give Up! That seems like the opposite of what many people choose to do. Some may even encourage you to give up when life feels difficult.

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But giving up robs you of many wonderful blessings. We may face some big challenges while serving God in His big plan. Those challenges are like temptations just begging you to quit.

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Sticking with God when it’s easy or when it’s hard allows you to reach the goal that God has set for you. That goal may look different for everyone, but we know God is leading us to the right place.

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Thankfully, we have God’s help. Let’s show you what we mean. We have chosen a kid to pull this raft/sled, carrying a friend across the stage. However, at each cone, another kid will jump on. Let’s see if he/she can pull them all the way across.

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Each kid that jumped on the raft/sled was like a challenge that piles on when we try to do good things. Thankfully, we weren’t made to give up. And we have God’s help to keep going and finish the job. Let’s see what Rusty chooses to do.

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Rusty seems serious about never dancing again.

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Quitting isn’t always the right choice. If we are doing something that is opposite of what God wants us to do, then we should definitely quit doing that. But quitting is not the right option if we're following God.

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Let’s say our Big Point again

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I Was Made To Never Give Up! We need an assistant to help us reveal the Big Verse.

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Shout it out as we count down from three, and then you can read the verse.

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The Big Verse comes from Hebrews 12:1 (NIrV), “Let us keep on running the race marked out for us.”

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God has a plan for us. It’s something He created and designed, which means we know it’s the right plan to help us and others.

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This verse reminds us our job is to keep running no matter what, trusting God’s good plan.

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But sometimes, we won’t know the entire plan from the beginning. Following God takes faith. Faith is trusting God to lead us even when we can’t see the entire path.

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Let’s show you what we mean. We’ve chosen two kids to be our racers. You’re going to race from cone to cone. The first one to run and touch all the cones wins.

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But there is a catch. You can’t race to a cone until the volunteer standing by the cone holds up a flag. So, you may be running out of order. If you race to a cone too early, you’ll suffer a penalty.

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It’s best to obey God and follow His plan completely. You may not understand it all, but trust Him to lead. No matter what, don’t give up. That’s what we’ll learn in our Big Story. For now, let’s stand and worship God.

Let’s bow our heads and close our eyes. Life is not always going to be easy. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for Joseph, but he kept going. He trusted God and believed God’s plan would come true, and it did! Can you do the same? I believe you can, but you need help. We all do. Jesus is here to help us through happy times and hard times. Let’s take a moment and talk to Jesus. Let’s tell Him we love and trust Him and ask Him to help us keep going. Ask Him to help you let go of feelings that drag you down or bad choices you keep making. Ask Jesus to help you trust Him and follow His plan for your life. Jesus is 100% trustworthy and will help you not give up. Take a moment now to talk to God right where you are. (Pause) Now, I want to pray for all of you as well. (Pray)

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Let’s say the Big Point again,

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I Was Made To Never Give Up!

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If we faced the same challenges Joseph had faced, I’m sure we would have been tempted to quit and give up. But Joseph never quit on God, and God never forgot about Joseph. His life was a great example of not giving up.

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You can tell your family all about Joseph when you do this week’s Big Do.

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Have a race as a family; it doesn’t have to be running. Be creative!

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Let’s have a fun race right now. Instead of running, we’ll crabwalk backward from the start line to the finish. Let’s see who can make it to the finish the fastest.

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Great job! Let’s gather with our Small Groups and discuss what we’ve learned today.

• Share a time when you kept going even when what you were doing was difficult.

• What were some of the negative things that happened to Joseph? Sold by his family, lied about, forgotten in jail How did not quitting help Joseph? He was part of God’s big plan to save his family by becoming a leader in Egypt

• What are some choices you could make the next time you feel like quitting? Read the Bible, Pray, Talk to parents, Focus on thankfulness, Think about how you are helping others

• What is the Big Do? Have a race as a family; it doesn’t have to be running. Be creative!