New Season Kids

Suit Up – Week 4

Need to know: Go (punch up with one hand) With the good news boots (pretend to put on boots) Bible story: The Great Commission Matthew 28:16-20 Praise and worship: Let’s celebrate being superheroes who are SUITED UP with some praise and worship. Instruction: We’re going to put on our Good News Boots and practice sharing the good news of God’s love with everyone in the world. When we SUIT UP with our Good News Boots, we can Go (punch up with one hand) and share the good news of God’s love with everyone we see! Prayer Father God, we come to you in the precious name of Jesus Christ. We thank you God for the day you have made, thank you God that we can celebrate in the day and be glad in it. God where you are there is JOY, there is PEACE and there is LOVE. Father, we thank you that we can come together in your presence and be in unity with you. Thank you, God, for loving us so much that you’ve sent your only son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Thank you, God, that your perfect love on the cross has cleansed us, and thank you that it took away our fear. Father, we thank you that we can rejoice with you knowing that we are in right standing with you and that all our sins are forgiven because of your precious LOVE towards us. God may our lesson today sink into our hearts today so that we can take it with us wherever we go and that we can share your GOOD NEWS with your people. Father God may we be reminded of your LOVE, the LOVE that will never LIE, the LOVE that is always there when we feel weak, the LOVE that always comforts, the LOVE that forgives us when we make mistakes, the LOVE that will never leave us nor forsake us, the LOVE that showers us with JOY and PEACE and LAUGHTER and the LOVE that we can never be separated from. God thank you for your unfailing LOVE towards us, for the excitement attitude towards sharing you GOOD NEWS with your people. Thank you that our hearts are filled and that you’ve poured into us your LOVE, your JOY and, your PEACE to share. God, we thank you for all that you are and forever will be, in the mighty name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Ice breaker: Share any of your GOOD NEWS that you have received for the past week. Then ask your kid/s to share their GOOD NEWS for the past week as well. Take notice of how exciting the kids get when they share the GOOD NEWS with you. Introduction: Sharing your good news with someone else makes us very excited, and it makes us want to share it with everyone we encounter. Today we are going to SUIT UP with our GOOD NEWS boots and tell everyone about God’s Love. God’s Love towards us is so great that we can share it with everyone around us, not only is God’s love great, but it makes us excited and creates a great amount of happiness and joy within our hearts that we cannot help but share His love for us! EVERYBODY NEEDS TO EXPERIENCE GOD’S GREAT LOVE FOR US! Lesson: God wanted to show us how much he loves us. This is good news! Knowing that we are loved by God and nothing can ever separate us from His great love is the BEST NEWS! God sent His one and only son Jesus Christ to take up our sins on the cross. He forgave our sins and He washes us clean from all our sins when we go to Him and ask for forgiveness. Now that is GOOD NEWS. Why is God’s love so great? Jesus Christ has dies on the cross for our sins. We are able to have a relationship with God and speak to Him daily because of Jesus dying on the cross. God’s love is so great that nothing can ever separate us from His love. His love will never ever ever ever fail us. God’s love is always with us, it protects us, listens to us, and answers our prayers (Psalm 91:14-16) Why should we tell everyone about God’s love? Well, we can’t keep the good news from anybody, so we have to tell others about God’s love for us so that they can experience it for themselves! When we share the good news about God’s love with someone, they will experience it and be able to tell someone else. That way many people will know about God’s love and will want to live with his love in their hearts. Repeat memory verse: Put on (Pretend to put on helmet) All of God’s Armor (Reach from head to toes) Then you (Point to others) Can remain strong (Show muscles) Ephesians 6:11 (Show six fingers. Then show both index fingers) Activity (Snowball fight): Bible content: Isaiah 1:18 You will need: Newspaper Masking tape A timer Play: Form two groups. Divide the area (living room/room) into two equal-sized areas with a masking tape line. Give each group an equal size amount of newspaper. On your signal, let kids make “snowballs” and quickly throw them back and forth at the opposing team for two minutes. The object is to get more snow on the opponent’s side when the time’s up. ENJOY! Insert Colouring in paper. Closing Prayer: Thank you, Father God, for your GOOD NEWS. It’s an honour to be in your presence Lord. Your presence is an open door God, please come fill us. Thank you that the seed of your LOVE that has been sowed in our hearts will grow and we can share it with everyone around us. In Jesus Mighty Name we pray. Amen.

Suit Up – Week 3

Need to know: Suit up with Godliness With the sword of the Spirit Bible story: Gideon (Judges 6:1-32) Praise and worship: Let’s celebrate being superheroes who are SUITED UP with some praise and worship. Prayer Open with prayer. Focus on entering into God’s presence. This frame work for effective prayer will help you with that. Ice breaker: Choose your weapon! Choose your weapons…what are some weapons that we might see or hear about? Display several pictures of modern or ancient weapons, like swords, guns, tanks, or bows and arrows. Do these seem like big and powerful weapons? Next, hold up for students a water pitcher, a flashlight, and a party horn or instrument. Do these seem like good weapons? Maybe not so much…but with God, anything is possible! Introduction: Start out by discussing things that might be scary. What are students afraid of? Why are these things nerve-wracking? Describe how the story they will hear today has to do with some scary-sounding elements. The Bible story covers a bit of length, so it might be best to paraphrase parts of it, or for younger students most of it. At this time of the Bible, the people of Israel were ruled by judges. Explain that a judge was sort of like a governor or special leader that could help people. Set the stage by explaining that the people of God often made mistakes and did not obey Him. When this happened, sometimes enemies came and took over their land. Lesson: Wow, did you catch that? God does not point out that Gideon is scared and without courage. God encourages him and speaks life into his situation. The Sword of the Spirit works the same way in our lives. Holy Spirit does not humiliate us. He corrects us by speaking life into our situation. With the Sword of the Spirit we can fight off the accusations of the enemy that tries to frighten us into hiding. The sword of the spirit gives us the courage to come out of hiding and to do what God has called us to do. And we fight off the lies that make usfeel too small, too ashamed to do what God wants us to do. Repeat memory verse: Put on (Pretend to put on helmet) All of God’s Armor (Reach from head to toes) Then you (Point to others) Can remain strong (Show muscles) Ephesians 6:11 (Show six fingers. Then show both index fingers) Activity (spending time): Reflect again on how God fulfills His promises and does amazing things through His people. Gideon might have been afraid and doubtful, but he knew He could trust God. And so can we! We might not think we are special or strong, but we don’t have to be. We just need to be willing to let God work through us. And we know He will give us what He promises, because He sent the savior Jesus, just like He said He would! Name one time when God came through for you when you had no hope. Identify an area of your life where you need to use the Sword of The Spirit Prayer: Close with prayer and thank God for His power in our lives. Ask for help in trusting Him to do great things and for help not to fear. .

Suit Up – Week 2

Need to know: Go (punch up with one hand) With the belt of truth (pretend to put on a belt) Bible story: The Fall(Genesis3) Praise and worship: Let’s celebrate being superheroes who are SUITED UP with some praise and worship. Prayer Father God, we come to you in the precious name of Jesus Christ. We thank you God for the day you have made, thank you God that we can celebrate in the day and be glad in it. God where you are there is JOY, there is PEACE and there is LOVE. Father, we thank you that we can come together in your presence and be in unity with you. Thank you, God, for loving us so much that you’ve sent your only son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Thank you, God, that your perfect love on the cross has cleansed us, and thank you that it took away our fear. Father, we thank you that we can rejoice with you knowing that we are in right standing with you and that all our sins are forgiven because of your precious LOVE towards us. Thank you, God, that as we seek you more and more you reveal yourself to us, God you show us the truth where we forget your TRUTH. You remind us of your True words because God you are not a man that you should LIE. Thank you, God, for keeping your promises. God, as we learn about your TRUTH today, may we be reminded of your LOVE, the LOVE that will never LIE, the LOVE that is always there when we feel weak, the LOVE that always comforts, the LOVE that forgives us when we make mistakes, the LOVE that will never leave us nor forsake us, the LOVE that showers us with JOY and PEACE and LAUGHTER and the LOVE that we can never be separated from. God, we thank you for all that you are and forever will be, in the mighty name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Ice breaker: God’s truth Read/Share your favourite story from the Bible. Tell us why it is your favourite story. Then share God’s TRUTH/TRUE WORDS in that story. E.g. Story When God created the earth He spoke everything into existence. Genesis 1:3 Then God said “Let there be light” TRUTH and there was light. Introduction: Today we are going to learn how to be Heroes and save the day by wearing a special piece of God’s Armor! It’s called the belt of TRUTH. In your favourite Bible story, God spoke His TRUE words and you remembered the TRUE things God said in the story! Lesson: In the Garden of Eden there were many trees bearing yummy fruit, but there was one tree God had told Adam and Eve not to eat from. The snake had tricked Eve and told her a lie so that she would forget what God had told her and do the wrong thing. Eve forgot that what God says is always TRUE, she decided to believe the LIE of the sneaky snake so she ate the fruit. Because they did not remember and obey the TRUE words of God, Adam and Eve had to leave God’s special garden. Adam and Eve did not have on their BELT OF TRUTH, if they would have been wearing this piece of God’s Armor, they would’ve known that the sneaky snake was not telling the TRUTH! Why should we wear the belt of Truth? The BELT OF TRUTH helps us remember the TRUE things God says in the Bible. When you suit up with the BELT OF TRUTH you have the power (show your muscles) to defeat any lies the enemy tries to tell you! Repeat memory verse: Put on (Pretend to put on helmet) All of God’s Armor (Reach from head to toes) Then you (Point to others) Can remain strong (Show muscles) Ephesians 6:11 (Show six fingers. Then show both index fingers) Activity (spending time): Ask the following questions and engage in a fun discussion (You can add questions) Do you think that it will be more fun to be able to fly high or run super-fast? If you had a superpower (relive a moment superpower) which day would you relive? Colour in Prayer: Thank you, God, that we could learn that whatever you speak is TRUE, thank you, Father God, that we have the belt of TRUTH to defeat any lie. Thank you, God, for giving us the Armor of God so that we can remain strong and suited up in our daily lives. In Jesus’ name we pray.

Suit Up – Week 1

Need to KnowSuit Up with God’s Armor Bible Story David and Goliath: 1 Samuel 17 Praise & Worship PrayerFather, we come to you in the name of Jesus. We thank you for your Grace and mercy in our lives.We thank you for the price that Jesus paid for us on the cross. We thank you that at the cross our fear was swapped for Your peace, our sickness for healing, our weakness for Your strength. We thank you that we are forgiven by You. We thank you that we can come to you and say that we are sorry for all the times that we forget about You and that we don’t listen to what you are telling us to do. We thank you that we can know that our sins have been thrown into the sea of forgetfulness. We thank you that as we will now explore your Word, that it will wash us clean and help us to understand where we need You to help us to submit to You and Your Word. We thank you that we are not just hearers of the Word but also doers of the Word. We praise you! Your lovingkindness is better than life. You are the author and finisher of our faith. You are our shield and our strength and we can hide in the secret place of the most high during our time of need. Lord open our ears and soften our hearts while today’s lesson is sown into our hearts. Transform us and change us. Let the fruit of Your Spirit be seen in us, as we are transformed by Your Word. In Jesus mighty name Amen. Ice BreakerWhen the do does not fitPUsing oversizes shoes give the kids one oversized shoe Per child. Let them have a race, If the shoe falls off you need to start over. See who gets to the other side the quickest. IntroductionWhy was it hard to run in those shoes? (Wait for kids to answer) Yes, because they did not fit. Did you know that David also had a problem with shoes that did not fit him? Let’s watch the story. LessonDavid could fight Goliath because he wore the full armour of God. But what should we do when sometimes it feels like armour does not fit As well? What can we learn from David about those times when we feel like we have Nothing to protect us from the things that can make us scared. Learn Humility: David’s victory is really God’s victory! Goliath fought with strength and dominated his enemies with his enormous size. David relied on what he had learned while he was a shepherd. He learned total dependence on God! David was alone out on the hillside. He learned humility. Shepherds were not respected! His brother’s mocked him. He learned to be skillful with his slingshot! Sheep are dumb animals and they needed protection. He learned to have a relationship with God! He played his harp and wrote songs (Psalms) David tried on Saul’s armor and it did not fit. Armor back in Bible times was made to fit the warrior exactly. Saul was a tall adult man while David was a young boy who hadn’t grown to full stature. Even though David’s older brothers mocked him and were too fearful to fight Goliath themselves, he was willing. I can see a funny picture of David with a huge helmet, heavy mail armor, and an oversized sword. David couldn’t even walk in the armor! The first thing when the armor doesn’t fit, is to be insignificant. To be humble. David had learned these lessons from God when he was alone and totally relying on God’s protection on the hills as a shepherd. He didn’t need the armor to provide him with protection when God had protected him without heavy armor! Your Own Strength Is TOO Heavy- Take it Off! Saul’s armor was extremely heavy and made it impossible for David to walk. Too often we try to walk in our own strength instead of walking with Jesus in faith. Our own strength is too heavy just like Saul’s armor. David tried to walk but couldn’t. He told Saul that he couldn’t wear it because he had not tried or ‘proved’ it. Saul had been living in his own strength and that was what made his reign as king so disastrous. David had tried walking by faith in the wilderness and it had proved to work. He wasn’t going to put on something that wasn’t going to work! Get Comfortable In Your Own SkinSaul’s armor was made to fit him not David. You must wear your own armor and not armor made for someone else! You have your own personality and God has created you to serve Him in a unique way. You weren’t designed by God to be me or another sister in Christ. You are you and God created you for a special purpose that only you can carry out. David did put on armor but it wasn’t physical armor like Saul’s cumbersome armor. He wore the invisible armor that God prepared just for him like in Ephesians 6:1-20 Activity – Colour In

Mystery Manor – Week 8

Mystery question: Is Heaven Real? Need to Know: Heaven is a real place for people who believe in Jesus! Bible Story: Heaven; Revelation 21-22 Memory verse: But without faith (cover eyes) no one (shake head) can please God. (Point up) We must believe (hand over heart) that God is real (nod head) and that He rewards everyone (hands out in front) who searches for Him. (Point up) Hebrews 11:6 Preparation: (Pictionary) Please have the following ready for after the lesson: Paper or Board Pencil or Marker Bowl Lesson: Welcome back to our MYSTERY MANNER series everybody, I hope you are having fun in our series… YAY! Get ready for the exciting Mystery today. I know this is sad, but today is our last day at Mystery Manor. So get set! Ready? Let’s catch up with Stevie and Parker. HERE WE GO! Story time: Stevie entered the study followed by Parker. He looked around confused “wait a second! What are we doing back in the study? Isn’t this where we started this whole search for clues in the first place?” Parker was very paranoid and started looking behind him as if something was there. “Stevie, I still don’t trust that hidden staircase. Someone could have followed us in here! I felt like the eyes of the people on the paintings were watching me! Plus I KEPT HEARING FOOTSTEPS!” “Don’t be ridiculous Parker, those are your own footsteps! Remember? You wanted to walk as loudly as you could so you could scare away rats?” The staircase led the cousins up to the study where they has started their whole search for clues. Stevie was kind of upset because he couldn’t understand why the last clue that they’ve found led them back to the study, he says that they’ve found all the clues the in the study. Could it be that they were out of clues? “Well Stevie, we’re not out of clues yet, okay, so here’s the whole clue- you will see after looking among the rocks not all the rooms have doorknobs and locks. What once you could not see, now look again. To find the reward most sought after by all men- Then it has a list of numbers. I’m not sure what those are about”. Both Stevie and Parker looked around the room to see what they could’ve possibly missed. “Stevie that’s it! The telescope. At first we couldn’t see what it was pointing to, but now we can! We should look through it again!” Parker rushed over to the telescope to look through it that made Stevie who was standing on the other side of the study, very excited to have his turn to look through the telescope. Uninterested, Parker moved away from the telescope. “Just some stars, it’s not a clue or anything”. The telescope was pointed toward the Orion Hemisphere of the sky, which meant that starts 40 through 200 are over in that direction. Parker looked through the journal which he had underneath his cap and paged to page number 2. The numbers on that clue were all between 40 and 200. “Parker that’s amazing! The next clue IS in the stars! Great Grandpa Pis-Paf left us a clue using those numbers. I bet if we can chart those stars, they will lead us to the next clue”. Parker was very confused and wondered how they were going to chart starts. Stevie then took out his star chart and pen and suggested that they use that to chart the starts. “Here’s what we’ll do. You see how the numbers are in little groups? You can read each group, and then I’ll tell you what to record on the star chart, by using this star projector, it will help us project the star numbers so that I can see them better. Now are you ready Parker? Read me the first set of the numbers please”. The first set of numbers Parker read was 41, 47, 62, 44, 58 and that back to 41. “If we connect all those numbers on the star chart it gives us the letter B, the next set of numbers 81, 57, 60,76,60,63 and 87 gives us the letter E”. The next set of numbers Parker had read were pretty short, 81, 87, 111 which had led them to the letter L.  After getting the letters B, E and L, they only had four more sets of numbers to go. “The next one is another short one Stevie. It’s 105 and 111”. Those two short numbers gave them the letter I. Excitingly Parker read the nest set of numbers, “137,113,116, 132, 116, 119 and 143, that’s the letter E again”. Parker had to read the last set of numbers before putting the letters together. So far they have the following letters B, E, L, I, E. “Let’s find out! We’re on the next to last set of numbers which is 137, 159, 169”. That set of numbers gave the letter V. “We’re very close Stevie, let’s do the last one! 193, 169, 172, 188, 172, 175 AND 199” “ALLLLL riiiiighhhhhtttt Parker… we just gotta get all of those connected!” Very excited about seeing the clue Parker reads “the next letter is an E, the word Stevie!” “That’s an interesting clue for Great Grandpa Pif-Paf to leave us. If he left us a clue that spelled out BELIEVE in the sky, I wonder what he believed” Stevie “Woooaah. You know Parker, I think there was more to that clue than we first thought. It said something about looking at what we cannot see and that’s where we’ll find reward” Parker “Right. So we looked through the telescope” Stevie “Yeah, but I think that Great Grandpa Pif-Paf was wanting us to see that when we believe that Jesus paid the price for our sins and that God raised Jesus back to life, then we get the reward of Heaven, which is greater than any other reward on earth!” Parker “Oh yeah! I get

Mystery Manor – Week 7

Mystery question: Where is Jesus Now? Need to Know: Jesus is Alive Right Now! Bible Story: The Resurrection John 20; Luke 24:13-35; Matthew 28:20 Memory verse: But without faith (cover eyes) no one (shake head) can please God. (Point up) We must believe (hand over heart) that God is real (nod head) and that He rewards everyone (hands out in front) who searches for Him. (Point up) Hebrews 11:6 Preparation: (Shadow Games) Choose some of these awesome Shadow games to play with the kids: Fun Shadow Activities Lesson: Oh my hat. We only have two more Sundays with Stevie and Parker. And this mystery is really getting very exciting. As we catch up with Stevie and Parker today, they have a few money notes and it seems like something has been written on the notes. They are both very sure that these notes are their next clue. Something else also happening on the inside of both Stevie and Parker. Paret is growing in his trust in God and in his faith. Stevie, who has been very skeptical has warmed up to the idea of God speaking to them with every clue that they solve. Let’s hear what they are chatting about: Parker: So you’re saying that you’re TOTALLY on board with this now? You aren’t going to give me a hard time about following these clues or tease me about believing that there were monsters in the basement when I was little? Stevie: Yes, no, and yes. Yes I’m on board. No I won’t give you a hard time about believing what Great Grandpa Pif-Paf taught you. And yes –I will probably still tease you about believing there were monsters in the basement, but that’s just because that’s what older cousins do. The mushy moment got bit much for Parker and he directed Stevie’s attention back to the clue. He asked Stevie what was written on the notes: Stevie: See? There are letters and numbers written on the back of these! There’s “WS,” “HE,” “11:6” and “BRE.” If I’m correct, and I always am, then we need to arrange these so they give us the next clue. Parker started jumping up and down.. he knew what the clue meant. ” HEWSBRE 11:6! ” he shouted. But Stevie was less convinced. Parker was not letting Stevie convince him otherwise. He took the Bible laying nearby and looked up Hebrews 11:6. And here is what it says: “But without faith, no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that He rewards everyone who searches for Him.” Stevie could not believe his ears. ” Wait a second! No one mentioned that there was a REWARD!!! If I had known that, I would’ve been solving this mystery a LOT faster!” Parker could not stop laughing. ” Welllll…I don’t know if that means like a money reward. It mightbe a different kind of reward.” Stevie was confused. He did not know there was any other kind of reward. Parker tried to explain: “Well, it talks about having faith to please God. And faith is when we are confident in things we can’t see. So it might be a reward that we can’t see yet.” Stevie: “An invisible reward? Really, Parker? That is NOT the case. Now, let’s finish solving this mystery and find that reward! What’s our next clue?” But that was just the thing. They had not found another clue that Parker could see. Stevie looked at the Bible again. The page where Hebrews 11:6 was written, was marked by a folded piece of paper. Stevie was delighted to find that this piece of paper contained yet another Bible story. Stevie could not believe his ears. “So wait, not only did Jesus pay the price for all the wrong things I’ve done, but He’s actually alive right now?” Parker could answer this with all his confidence: ” Yep! God brought Jesus back to life after He had only been dead for three days.” Stevie was amazed: “Wow! No one in all of history has ever died and come back to life like that! That’s so cool that Jesus is alive right now!” Parker also started getting excited. “Yeah! And you know what else is cool? I think our next clue is right here on this page from Great Grandpa Pif-Paf’s journal!” “You will see after looking among the rocks. Not all doors have doorknobs and locks…” Stevie got super excited. “That must mean that there is a secret door somewhere here in the basement.” “Who would have thought that this old house was this cool?” Stevie and Parker searched high and low until they were just about to give up. Stevie decided to take one last look at the stones by the fireplace. And then he found it. A ke hole! Parker took the same key they used to open Grand Pa’s safe and placed in the keyhole… and what do you know. when they turned the key, a secret door opened. On the other side of the door was the longest, darkest, creepiest staircase they had ever seen. We leave Stevie and Parker as they stand at the top of the staircase, working on their courage to go down into the darkness… Prayer: Father God, thank you that Jesus paid the full price for me. And thank you that You are the rewarder of those who diligently seek You. In Jesus name. Amen Have some fun with your shadow

Mystery Manor – Week 6

Mystery question: Can God forgive All My Sins? Need to Know: Jesus Paid the Price for All My Sin! Bible Story: God’s Plan for Jesus- Genesis 3; Romans 5:18; John 3:16; 1 Peter 1:19,20; 1 John 1:9; John 14:6m Memory verse: But without faith (cover eyes) no one (shake head) can please God. (Point up) We must believe (hand over heart) that God is real (nod head) and that He rewards everyone (hands out in front) who searches for Him. (Point up) Hebrews 11:6 Preparation: (Ball/Chin Game) Please have the following ready for after the lesson: Balls (small plastic balls) Lesson: Welcome back to our MYSTERY MANNER series everybody, I hope you are having fun in our series… YAY! Oh my word (ecstatic) I’m sure you are as excited as I am for this week’s MYSTERY with cousins Stevie and Parker! Before we get into our great mystery today, let’s get up! Shake up! And get ready for praise and worship. Ask your kid/s the following question: Which wrong thing would you be the most tempted to do; bounce a ball in the house when you were told not to OR not eat your vegetables and say you did. It’s really hard to do the right thing all the time. What’s it called when we do the wrong things like lie, disobey or steal? It’s called ‘sin’. Today we are finding the answer to this mystery question: Can God Forgive All of My Sin? If we are to discover the answer to this question, we’ve got to work like detectives and join cousin Stevie and Parker on solving todays MYSTERY! Their notes will lead us to the Bible, the best book for finding the truth. I bet they are going to find more clues today! So get set! Ready? Let’s catch up with Stevie and Parker. HERE WE GO! Story time: Stevie pointed to the fire place, telling Parker that that was the place where coal is burned “Remember that clue said, when things are looking bad and there is no one in control, find the answer to what you seek near the place where one burns coal”. Parker looked at Stevie all confused “So you’re telling me that there’s an answer in fireplace?” “Well, I’m not actually sure about that”. Parker slowly walked away from the fireplace and told Stevie that he should have a look at the creepy fireplace to see what was up there, since he was the one with all the science gadgets in his detective bag. “Oh no Parker, remember you’re the one who is all into this mystery. I’m not even sure this thing is real!” Stevie pushed Parker with his finger and said that he is the one who had to go and check out the fireplace. Parker pushed Stevie, he tripped over the stone in front of the fireplace and fell down. “HEY! What was that for? And look- you messed up the fireplace! Everything in this old place is falling apart!” Parker looked down and noticed a secret rock. Stevie was frustrated with Parker for pushing him, he got u from the ground and dusted himself off. His cousin Parker ignored him and picked up the secret rock he saw laying on the floor “look at this rock, it’s different from all the others”. Angrily and not interested Stevie said “So? It looks like most of these stones are sedimentary (chalk like rock). All of these probably came in a bulk package or something”. As Parker was inspecting the rock he noticed that the rock has a secret compartment, Stevie all interested in the rock walked towards Parker to check out the secret compartment. With the rock in Parkers hand, he tried several times to open the secret compartment and ended up accidently dropping the rock on Stevie’s toe. “OOOOOOWWWWW! I think you broke ALL of my toes! “Yeah, but I think your toe jarred the compartment open! Let’s see what’s inside. Oh my word there’s a clue in here” “That’s a rabus clue, it’s a type of code where pictures can stand for words. Then, when you put them all together, it reveals a secret message”. “Well then Stevie, let’s solve it!” The cousins then read the first clue, the clue is a picture of a can of soda- the word would be CAN- the next one has a ‘G’ plus ‘1,3,5,7,9,11’…and minus D. “The numbers that are listed are all ODD numbers. So if we add a ‘G’ to ‘ODD’, and take away the ‘D’, then that leaves us with ‘GOD”. “Okay Stevie, that’s good, so far we have “CAN GOD…” “Yes Parker, the next one has the number four, then a bee hive. And the ‘H’ in ‘HIVE’ should be a ‘G” When the ‘G’ and the ‘H’ are switched around the word the cousins got to was ‘GIVE’. This was a rather confusing puzzle for Parker, he was overwhelmed by it actually. However, with Stevie being there to help him, he got very excited because he knew that they would solve the clue Grand-Pa Pif-Paf had left for them. “Okay Parker, here comes the next one. So ‘FOUR’ plus ‘GIVE’ gives us the word ‘FORGIVE’! That means that we only have three more. The next one has a picture of a ball minus the ‘B’. So that gives us the word ‘ALL’, and a total sentence we have now is ‘CAN GOD FORGIVE ALL’. Now the next one is a picture of a key, minus the ‘K’ and the ‘E’ in ‘KEY’ is actually an ‘M’. Parker was super excited that they finally got so far, and he couldn’t wait for them to solve the next clue. “Ok, so when we take away the ‘K’ in the ‘KEY’, that leaves ‘EY’ .But if we change the ‘E’ to ‘M’ that give us the word ‘MY’ Stevie! “YES Parker! We are getting there, the last one is a picture of someone singing, but it says to replace

Mystery Manor – Week 5

Mystery question: Is God Really in Control When Bad Things Happen? Need to Know: No Matter What Happens, God is in Control! Bible Story: Jonah & the Huge FishJonah 1-3 Memory verse: But without faith (cover eyes) no one (shake head) can please God. (Point up) We must believe (hand over heart) that God is real (nod head) and that He rewards everyone (hands out in front) who searches for Him. (Point up) Hebrews 11:6 Preparation: (Johna and The Fish Craft) Praise and Worship Time Lesson: Welcome back to our MYSTERY MANNER series. Am I the only one who is getting really excited for Stevie and Parker to solve this Mystery? Story time: We catch up with Stevie and Parker in the creepy and dark basement. The basement is really dark, the two cousins keep bumping into each other. They are both feeling a little creeped out, but they cannot help but remember all the good times they spent in the basement with their great-grandpa. The basement was one of the places where their great-grandpa spent time telling them stories about God. He sure loved spending time down there with God. Parker decides that they should investigate the rocking chair that Pif_Paf used to sit in. Sevie was less convinced. He was weary of rats or other creatures having nested in the chair. After much convincing Parker got Stevie to help him check under the chair. They found what Stevie thought was a false clue. It was a really, really, really smelly old box. Inside there was an old sock…. and a funny tube. Parker wanted to break the tube, to search for a clue on the inside…. JUST THEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT…. and they could not see a thing. Parker started to panic. The dark can play tricks on one’s mind and eyes. He was convinced that there was someone outside the Mystery Mannor and they had switched off the power. Stevie was more level headed. He was convinced it was merely a fuse that had blown. Parker even started trying to convince Stevie that there were aliens out to get them… imagine that. ALIENS. Stevie was getting a little irritated with Parker. SO he decided to put him out of his missery. He finally revealed what the tube was. It was a mini black light. ” Black lights emit a type of UV light that shows you things you can’t see with your naked eye.” Stevie explained. This confused Parker even more: “My eyes are naked?!?!” he asked. Stevie did not know whether he should laugh or cry: ” Oh, brother. No your eyes aren’t NAKED! It’s just another way of saying that this light shows us things we can’t normally see.” It was at this point that Stevie found a piece of paper with the following Bible story on it: “Look! There’s more! I love reading the stories Great Grandpa Pif-Paftalks about in his journal. But I wonder why he wanted us to hear THIS story?”Parker asked. Stevie grabs note from Parker: “I don’t know but let’s keep reading!” Stevie was so excited that he could not contain himself: “Of course! Great Grandpa Pif-Paf wanted us to hear the story of Jonah so that we can know that all of this crazy bad stuff that is happening, doesn’t need to scare us.” While Parker and Stevie were discussing how God is always in control, Parker noticed something glowing in the lid of the box. It was their next clue: “When things are looking badAnd there is no one in control, Find the answer to what you see Near the place where one burns coal.” While the cousins were discussing the meaning of the clue the lights came on… and was when it suddenly hit them: if the lights hadn’t gone out, then they wouldn’t have found the clue with that black light! But they still had no idea what the rest of the clue meant.. did they have to coal and look for their next clue where people burned coal? To be continued… Wow! What an adventure and what an awesome reminder that bad things can help us to find the good things in life. Let’s see if we can remember what we learned. 1. What did God tell Jonah to do? (Go to Nineveh &preach to the bad people there) 2. God let something bad happen to Jonah while he was out at sea. What happened? (God sent a huge storm which almost made the ship break into pieces; the sailors threw him overboard& a fish swallowed him) 3. Was God in control of sending the storm and the fish that swallowed Jonah?(Yes) 4. What good came out of the bad things that happened to Jonah? (Jonah realized he needed to obey God & do what he promised he would do) 5. Has something bad ever happened to you? (Allow responses) Who is in control, even when bad things happen? (God) So when we’re wondering “Is God really in control when bad things happen?” we can have faith and believe what we need to know today: No Matter What Happens, God is in Control! CRAFT TIME: MAKE YOUR JONAH AND THE FISH CRAFT

Mystery Manor – Week 4

Mystery question: How can I hear from God? Need to Know: I hear from God when I spend time with Him! Bible Story: Cornelius & Peter, Act 10 Memory verse: But without faith (cover eyes) no one (shake head) can please God. (Point up) We must believe (hand over heart) that God is real (nod head) and that He rewards everyone (hands out in front) who searches for Him. (Point up) Hebrews 11:6 Preparation: (Hanger Tennis game) Please have the following ready for after the lesson: Wire hanger Knee high stocking Tape Paper to roll in the shape of a ball Lesson: Welcome back to our MYSTERY MANNER series everybody, I hope you are having fun in our series… YAY! Oh, my word (ecstatic) I’m sure you are as excited as I am for this week’s MYSTERY with cousins Stevie and Parker! Before we get into our great mystery today, let’s get up! Shakeup! And get ready for praise and worship. Story time: Did you realize that when we spend time listening, we hear things we may have never heard before? Have you ever wondered if you could hear from God if you listened? Today we are going to find out our answer to this mystery question.                                    How can I hear from God? So get set! Ready? Let’s catch up with Stevie and Parker. HERE WE GO! Parker walked into one of the rooms in the mansion and looked around. “This is the last room in the house, it’s GOT to be in here”. Stevie ran into the room after Parker, completely out of breath, gasping for air “Why…are…we…RUNNING…around…an…old…abandoned…mansion?” Parker continued to look around the room, ignoring the fact that Stevie was out of breath. “Well Stevie, we are here to look for a feather pen, DUH! That smudge in Great Grandpa Pif-Paf’s Bible came from the ink of a feather pen. So we need to find one somewhere in the house. I just wished we had checked the bedroom BEFORE going up into that creepy attic”. After a while Stevie finally had his breath back, still in great disbelief about this whole mystery. He claims that the mystery is a complete waste of their time. “Every so-called a clue, we find just takes us further down a trail to nowhere”. Parker, however, still refused to give up on solving the mystery. It was fun (well for Parker at least) and he found it very interesting and exciting to find the questions he had about God. “You can believe that all you want, Stevie, but I KNOW this mystery is real. Great Grandpa Pif-Paf wouldn’t have left that smudge in THE Bible if it wasn’t real”. Stevie rolled his eyes at Parker still not believing that the mystery could be real. “I’ll play along with this little mystery game, but when this so-called clue turns out to be nothing, don’t be upset because I, your OLDER and WISER cousin, tried to warn you”. Parker finally got the feather pen, he held it up and showed Stevie, “would you believe that the clue is real if I found the feather pen?” Stevie still did not believe that the mystery could be true. “Psshh…what? NO, because I don’t believe that this mystery is real, remember? However, as someone who does science experiments in my spare time, I would like to investigate the chemical properties of the ink”. Parker did not understand what Stevie had just said, he gave the feather pen to Stevie to perform his investigation. Stevie sets his detective bag on the ground and starts taking things out of it to investigate the feather pen- magnifying glass, bottle, and a scanner. Meanwhile, Parker notices the journal on the bookshelf, he picks it up, sits on the floor, and starts reading it. Looking at the feather pen, “man this is a remarkable scientific advancement. To go from this feather pen to the pens we have today is quite amazing, Buuuut I have to say that there aren’t any clues on this, Parker. Looks like YOU were WRONG”. Parker continued reading from the journal feeling sure that he will find the next clue in the journal. “Where did you get that Parker?” Parker stood up and tells Stevie that it was on the shelf beside the feather pen. “I just thought it might be interesting, so I started reading it. Turns out, its Great Grandpa Pif-Paf’s journal. He has all kinds of notes in here about what he’s learned from God and what God has told him. Stevie grabs the journal from Parker, most of the loose papers fell from the journal. Parker was upset at the fact that Stevie had grabbed the journal from him. “Oh great! Now look what you did! We’ll never find where all those papers go!” “Not that it even matters! When were you planning on telling me that you found this? Were you just going to hide it from me forever?” Parker tried to get Stevie to simmer down. He was also shocked at Stevie’s anger, because he doesn’t believe that the mystery could be true. “Woah now, Stevie! I was just looking at it while you investigating the feather pen! I wasn’t keeping a secret from you! Stevie didn’t’ calm down at all, he still believes that Parker was trying to keep it a secret. “ I bet you found something in this journal that says that this mystery is totally made up! And you don’t want to tell me because then you would have to admit that you were wrong to believe all of these clues really meant something!” Parker in a very calmed state, picks up the loose papers, confused about Stevie’s sudden outburst. “What’s wrong with you today Stevie. “I’m sorry, I was under the impression that we were working as a TEAM. The fact that you found something and didn’t tell me just makes me think that you don’t want me around at all”. Parker was shocked and couldn’t

Mystery Manor – Week 3

Mystery question: What’s the Big Deal About the Bible? Need to Know: What the Bible Says, God Says! Bible Story: The Bible is God’s Word 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Memory verse: But without faith (cover eyes) no one (shake head) can please God. (Point up) We must believe (hand over heart) that God is real (nod head) and that He rewards everyone (hands out in front) who searches for Him. (Point up) Hebrews 11:6 Preparation: Making finger paint! Please have the following items ready for after the lesson: 1/2 cup flour 1 cup water pinch of salt (optional) extra water Food coloring or liquid watercolors Directions: Pour flour and water into a pot. Stir the ingredients over medium heat until it comes together like smooth, thick paste. The mixture will be lumpy along the way, but it all comes together. When it starts to pull away from the pot, remove from the heat. Add a pinch of salt. This helps keep the paint from spoiling if you don’t use it right away. To reach the desired consistency, slowly add cold water to the mixture. I added about 1/4 cup water to our paint.  Divide the paint into bowls. Squeeze food coloring or liquid watercolors into the flour mixture until you reach the desired color. Store in a covered container in the fridge if you’re not planning to use this right away. It will keep indefinitely. Worship Time Lesson: I don’t know about you guys, but I have been wondering about what Stevie and Parker will out today, this WHOLE week. Are you ready to investigate the mystery with them some more? Story time: The last time we saw Stevie and Parker they had dipped a clue in lemon juice and it made some words appear on a piece of paper. Let’s catch up with them. I think they are about to have a very interesting conversation: Parker is a little concerned. “I still don’t understand how that could’ve happened, Stevie. And you’re SURE that the writing didn’t suddenly appear…like a mysterious hand wrote it while we weren’t looking?” Stevie wants to giggle at Parker, but instead, he kindly reassures him. ” No, it’s simple. The acidity of the juice caused a chemical reaction with a previously existing substance that was on the paper, most likely a kind of hidden ink.” Parker was amazed. ” Wooooaaaah…secret ink?!?! That’s so cool!” Parker then breathes into his hands. “Hey, I think eating those Lemonheads made my breath smell better. What do you think?” He then breathes right into Stevie’s face. Stevie was less convinced about Parker’s breath. ” What do I think? I think you would need to eat a LOT of Lemonheads to cover up that smell.” Stevie is ready to move on.” Now, please tell me you wrote down the clue on this piece of paper before the ink disappeared.” Parker appears to be a little annoyed at Stevie. He rolls his eyes as he says:” Yes, after you told me 67 times to write it down, I got it!” And with that Parker waves his notebook in Stevie’s face. Stevie is getting a little tired of this mystery. ” Ok good, because up to this point, I am NOT convinced that this mystery is actually real, andI’m feeling pretty good that this so-called “clue” is going to prove my theory that the whole mystery is not real. PLUS to show that I was right and you were wrong.” Parker got a little defensive. ” Well I’m gonna use this clue to prove that this mystery IS real and that all these clues really DO mean something.” He reads from his notebook. “The greatest book in all the land, Divinely written by human hands Look in the middle and you will see How God speaks to you and me.” This got Stevie thinking. “Hmmm…the greatest book in all the land?” And he walks over to the bookshelf looking through books. Parker pretends that the answer is obvious. “We all know what the greatest book in all the land isParker and Stevie shout out their answer at the same time. Only it is not the same answer. Stevie says the greatest book of all time is the dictionary and Parker says it is the Bible. Naturally, an argument ensues over which book is the greatest. Stevie even gets a little mean. Parker’s argument was that the Bible was his great grandpa’s favourite book, which is why he clue points to the Bible. Stevie answers him, by taking a jab at Parker. ” Yeah, but choosing something that is Great Grandpa Pif-Paf’sfavorite hasn’t always worked out for you, has it? Like remember when he told you that his favorite dessert was dirt cake? He was talking about that pudding with Oreos and gummy worms in it. But you…you went outside, gathered some dirt, put a candle in it, and ATE. IT. ALL. Man, you puked for DAYS after eating all that dirt.” Parker was a little hurt. He was not that same little boy anymore, and he just knows that this clue is speaking about the Bible. Stevie gives in and they start looking for a Bible. The two boys find their great grandfather’s Bible. It has his name on it, and it is missing the page that they found on the Telescope. Stevie was still very skeptical, but Parker knew that their next clue would come from the Bible. Parker starts flipping through the Bible. ” Well, the clue said to look in the middle and we will see how God speaks to you and me. So I feel like we should turn to the middle of the Bible and see what it says there!I’m sure Great Grandpa Pif-Paf had a good reason for always reading the Bible. “ Parker is so excited. “The Bible isn’t just any book. It’s the most amazing book ever written! Every word is true and it helps us in our lives. What the