Hands On Activity
Supplies Needed: 1 (12 ounce) bottle of Coke®, 1-2 bags of large balloons, 1-2 boxes of Rainbow Nerds®, plastic cover to protect table
Today we are going to see if we can fill up a balloon using Coke and Nerds. You might think this is impossible but get ready to be amazed. Let’s take the balloon and fill it up with the Nerds Candies. Get a volunteer to help you with this part. Now that our balloon is full, let’s carefully put the mouth of the balloon over the mouth of the Coke bottle. Once it is securely on, we need to dump the contents of the balloon into the Coke bottle and stand back and watch what happens. Wow! The balloon filled up with air and was totally full with all it needed.
Devotional: Abundant Grace
Our theme verse for this year is “Ready for Anything,” which is based on 2 Corinthians 9:8. Let’s read 2 Corinthians 9:8. Read to the group or have an older child read it.
• What does it mean to have something be abundant? (It means you have lots of it; more than you need.)
• What does it mean to have something abound towards you? (It means you have more than you need; It overflows.)
• What does God able to give us? (All the grace we need.)
• How much does He give us? (He makes it able to abound so that it gives us everything we need.)
• Why does He give it to us? (So that you have everything you need for every good work.)
God wants us to be ready for anything that comes our way. But the truth is that some of us are like a flat balloon (hold up flat balloon) and kind of empty. We are not ready for anything at all. We feel overwhelmed by some of the things happening in our lives and feel like a squashed balloon gasping for air. This is not what God wants for our lives. He wants us to live in a place of fullness, loving others, sharing the good news of Jesus, and full of joy. Only God is able to supply us with the grace we need to be full of all those good things and able to share with others. All we need to do is ask Him to fill us with His grace. When we have Jesus in our life, the Holy Spirit wants to fill us up with God’s grace and make us ready for anything, just like when the Coke and Nerds combined to fill the balloon up. So this year when you feel like you are struggling or flat, stop and ask God to fill you with His grace and make you able to do every good work that He calls you to. Make a commitment to ask for God’s grace to overflow in your life every day, filling you with joy and love.
Snack: Root Beer Floats
Supplies Needed: Root Beer Soda and one other alternative soda (for kids who don’t like root beer), Vanilla Ice Cream, Clear Plastic Glasses, Napkins
Have adult helpers scoop vanilla ice cream into plastic glasses. Pass out glasses to each kid. Then have adult helpers go around and fill the glasses with root beer. Talk about how the root beer mixes with the ice cream and causes it to almost overflow just like God’s grace to us.
Games:
Find Your Match
Give each player a copy of the list below. Have players fill in their own answers on the left. Then give them a few minutes to find people with matching answers. The people who match sign their first name on the right.
Flying Balloon Relay
Divide players into equal teams. Give each team member a deflated balloon. Designate a start and finish line. At the signal, the first play blows up his/her balloon, but does not tie it. The player then aims the balloon at the finish line and lets it go. The player continues to blow up the balloon and let it go until the balloon crosses the finish line. Each consecutive player follows the same rules until all of a team’s balloons have crossed the line.
Running Balloon Relay
Divide players into two more equal teams. A balloon is given to each team. Players kick the balloon to the finish line then run the balloon back the next person in line. Each player repeats the action. Variation: players must keep the balloon in the air by tapping it to the finish line. Players can also repeat the action back the next person in line instead of running the balloon back.
Printer friendly 2017 Theme Verse Lesson
Printer friendly extra game pages
