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July 24 (Large Group)

In week 4 of Up in the Air, we are continuing to find out some cool things God did through the prophet Elisha. In today’s story, we find out how Elisha and company were able to survive during a famine.
Big Idea: I can ask God for what I need.
Bible Story: II Kings 4:38-44; Luke 11:1-9
Memory Verse: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:2 (NIV)
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DOWNLOAD THE PRINT VERSION
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WATCH THE STORY VIDEO
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Order of Service

Sample Service Time: 9am
8:45 Play & Check-in (Classrooms)
9:05 Icebreaker (Classrooms)
9:10 Transition to Auditorium
9:15 Large Group (Auditorium)
9:40 Transition to Classrooms
9:45 Small Group Time (Classrooms)
10:10 Check-out (Classrooms)

Icebreaker Game

Up, up, and away we go into another week of Up in the Air! Let’s kick things off with a game that will require us to keep balloons – you guessed it – up in the air!
INSTRUCTIONS: Split the kids into two teams. Place three balloons in the middle of the floor. When you say “Go,” kids will stay on their knees and use only their hands to pass the balloons about and try to score. The game doesn’t stop, so have a volunteer at each goal keep track of goals scored. After about five minutes, end the game, and tally points. The team with the most goals wins!

Large Group

Welcome → Worship → Introduce the Story → Story Video → Closing
WELCOME: Hey friends! My name is ________ and I’ll be your host today. We are continuing to find out some cool things God did through the prophet Elisha. In today’s story, we find out how Elisha and company were able to survive during a famine. A famine is an extreme shortage of food which is a huge problem.
ASK : Have you ever faced a huge problem before?
In todays Bible story, we are going to see how God gives us exactly what we need, even when we are in times of trouble.
(Allow responses.)

TRANSITION TO WORSHIP: Let’s bow our heads and close our eyes to pray as we prepare to worship. (Pray over the kids. Then start the worship songs.)
WORSHIP SONGS: For All My Days & With You
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ACCESS THE WORSHIP LIBRARY
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INTRODUCE THE STORY:
I’m so glad you’re here today to hear another story about Elisha. This one is about how a family from Shunem invited Elisha to stay with them, and then all sorts of amazing things started to happen. Let’s take a look, shall we?
Play Story Video
INSTRUCTIONS: Bookmark II Kings 4:38–44 in your Bible and read the passage in small chunks as you tell the Bible story.
For this week’s storytelling setup, consider setting up chairs in a circle and attach a helium-filled balloon to each chair. Stand in the middle as you teach and rotate every so often so that you see every kid.
[Read II Kings 4:38–41.] In this first part of the story, we learned that Elisha and a group of prophets were hungry, but the stew they were eating would have made them sick. Elisha was able to fix it by throwing flour into the pot. This was not a normal fix to the problem they had. God knew what Elisha and his friends needed, so God provided it for them!
[Read II Kings 4:42–44.]
In the second part of the story, a man came to Elisha with twenty loaves of bread, but he was expected to hand out enough to feed a hundred people. That made no sense!
But Elisha reassured everyone that God told him that everyone will be able to eat and, as a matter of fact, there would be leftovers!
If Elisha had to fix either of these problems without God’s help, how might he have tried to solve them? Whatever he would have tried, it would not have been successful. The stew in the pot was inedible and there just wasn’t enough bread to satisfy a hundred hungry people.
But Elisha was no ordinary person. He trusted in God, and he knew that God would help him. Even though the Bible doesn’t tell us what exactly Elisha said to God, we know he asked God for help because Elisha had answers that only God could give!

OBJECT LESSON| Needs vs. Wants
INSTRUCTIONS: Create a column labeled “wants” and another “needs” on a poster board or dry erase board. Have kids call out suggestions for each, write them out and put them in the appropriate columns.
What are some needs we have?
What are some wants we might have?
Is there anything here that might be both?
Today’s Big Idea says I can ask God for what I need. Sometimes we spend a lot of time praying for the things we want, but forget that they are not what we need. When we know the difference, we can learn to be happy with what we already have.








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