1. family and parenting
2. children

Kindergarten
April 12, 2015
The Great Commission
Key Question:
Bottom Line:
Memory Verse:
Bible Story:
Who wants to be your friend forever?
Jesus wants to be my friend forever.
‚Go and make disciples of all nations." Matthew 28:19
Jesus wants to be everyone's friend!
The Great Commission “ (Matthew 28:19-20)
Make It Fun (15-20 mins)
• On the Go
• Got a Job to Do
• Make and Tell
• Coloring Page
• Activity Page
Clean Up (3 mins): Fill out attendance sheets and gather kids for music.
*Start worship @15-20 min. after start of service
Large Group: Make It True (15-20 mins)
• Worship: 1. "Hosanna Rock" (track #2 on Spring Music CD)
2. "One, Two, Three" (track #3 on Spring Music CD)
3. OPT.-‚Go!" (track #4 on Spring Music CD)
• Skit
• Bible Story
• Prayer
Craft: Make It Stick (10 mins)
• Spread the Love
Wrap Up and Snack: Make it Real (5-10 mins)
• Chat and Chew
• Prayer and Memory Verse
Activity: Make it Stick (5-10 mins)
• Pass It On
• Everyone, Everywhere
• April WONDER DVD, week 2
Dismiss: Handout: Crafts & coloring sheets
Make It Fun
Use this center to welcome the children and prepare them for our Bible story and Bottom Line
On the Go
What You Need: Set of 4 tri-folded "buildings", small toy cars and trucks, and masking tape and/or road
rug.
What You Do:
Pick a section of floor in your room to make your city. Use the tape to make roads on
the floor. (Or use a road rug.) Place the 4 "buildings" along your roads to be places in
your city. Encourage the children to play with the cars and trucks and move them along
the roads as they go from place to place. Play alongside the children and point out the
different places they can visit.
What You Say:
During the activity: ‚Come play with me! I have lots of cars and trucks. We can make them go places
together. Look! Is that a hospital? (Pause.) Vroom! Vroom! Off we go to the hospital.‛
(Say things like this as you play with the children. Continue playing as long as the
children are interested.)
At the end of the activity: ‚We went to a lot of different places with our cars today. Today we’re going to
hear about a very special message Jesus wants us to take to places all over the world!‛
Make It Fun
Use this center to welcome the children and prepare them for our Bible story and Bottom Line
Got a Job to Do
What You Need: Several hats and uniforms of different occupations.
What You Do:
Allow the children to play with the uniforms and dress up. Encourage them to act
out the jobs of the people they are dressed up as. Emphasize that each job they
are mimicking is very important.
What You Say:
Before the activity: ‚I have many different uniforms for us to pretend with today. We can pretend
to have very important jobs!‛
During the activity: ‚You may pick a uniform and put it on. I want to see if you can pretend to be at
work. If you wear the chef’s uniform then I want to see you to pretend to cook!
These are all very important jobs!‛
At the end of the activity: ‚That was so much fun! I saw that all of you did a good job pretending
that you had a very important job! Actually we ALL have a VERY important job.
Let’s get ready to hear our Bible story to find out what it is!‛
Make It Fun
Use this center to welcome the children and prepare them for our Bible story and Bottom Line.
APRIL CENTER OF THE MONTH
Make and Tell
This week's focus: Bookmarks
What You Need: Go and Tell bookmarks, scissors, hole punch, yarn, and crayons/markers.
What You Do:
Let kids color a Go and Tell bookmark. Help younger kids with the cutting, or cut
them out for them. Kids can punch a hole and tie a piece of yarn through the top if
they wish.
What You Say: ‚This month we are learning that Jesus wants us to tell others about Him! Today I
thought we could make a bookmark that you can take home. Then, whenever you
pull it out, you can remember that Jesus wants us to GO and TELL others about
Him!"
Make It True (5 minutes)
Use the skit to introduce this week’s Bible story. Use the script below to help guide you.
What You Need:
 Pom poms
 A megaphone
NOTE: Click HERE to watch the "Go and Tell" cheer. (It's really easy!)
(Enter pumped and excited with pompoms and a megaphone in hand. Begin the Go and Tell cheer.)
‚GO and TELL! GO and TELL! Who wants to be your friend, your friend? Who wants to be your friend?
(Pause.) JESUS! Who wants to be your friend, your friend? Who wants to be your friend? (Pause.)
JESUS! "(Repeat the cheer several times so the children can catch on. Encourage them to stand up and
participate. Once you are done, instruct them to sit down.)
‚Yayyyyy Jesus! Way to cheer, my friends! Way to cheer! You can sit down now. (Take a big breath.)
Hello, friends! I am SO happy to see you today in the Tree House. Today is another awesome day as we
continue celebrating that Jesus is alive! And not only is He alive, but He also wants to be our friend
forever! Yayyyyyy Jesus!"
‚Even though Easter is over, I'm not done celebrating. Oh, no! I'm just getting started! That’s why I'm
cheering and waving flags and shaking pompoms. I want everyone everywhere to know that Jesus wants
to be their friend forever. Woo-hoo! Just talking about it makes me wants tooooo ”‛
(Break into the ‚GO and TELL‛ cheer again.)
‚Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! GO and TELL! That’s perfect, because our Bible story is about how we should GO
and TELL everyone everywhere that Jesus wants to be their friend forever! So what are we waiting for?
(Pause.) I say it’s time I GO get my Bible so I can TELL youa true story right from the Bible. If you’re
ready, I want you to clap your hands like this. (Demonstrate.) I think you’re ready! And when the story’s
over, you’ll be ready tooooo ”‛
(Break into the ‚GO and TELL‛ cheer again as you exit.)
Make It True (5 minutes)
Use the words in bold to help you tell the Bible story.
‚The Great Commission‛
What You Need:
 Bible (bookmarked to Matthew 28:19-20 )
 A foam finger
‚Okay friends. It's time for a true story right from the Bible. (Hold up Bible.) We know it’s a true story
because the Bible is always true! When we read the Bible, we learn more about God and what He is like.
And all month long, we are going to hear stories about how Jesus wants to be our friend forever. That's
AWESOME news!"
"Do you remember what we found out last week at Easter? (Pause.) That’s right! Jesus came back. He is
alive! His friends were so excited! That really shook things up, didn’t it? Hey, let’s pretend we’re Jesus’
friends and throw our hands up and all give a big ‘Yahoo!’ on the count of three. Ready? One, two, three!
YAHOO! That was awesome! Jesus’ friends did all kinds of things with Him when He came back. They ate
food together. (Make motions like eating.) They sang songs together. (Dance in a circle and clap.) They even
walked places together. They were such good friends and they loved being with Jesus.‛
‚The time was coming for Jesus to go away again. He wanted to tell His friends (hold up foam finger) one
more thing before He left so He told them to meet Him at a special mountain. Hey, let’s pretend like we are
climbing up the mountain like Jesus’ friends. Can you pat your hands on your legs like this? (Pat legs.)
We’re climbing, we’re climbing, we’re climbing up the mountain. We’re climbing, we’re climbing, we’re
climbing up the mountain! And STOP!‛
‚Now Jesus and His friends were high up on the very top of the mountain. Jesus smiled at His friends as
He began to talk to them. (Hold up foam finger.) Jesus said He had one more thing to tell them before He
went away. (In a soft voice) Are you listening, friends? (Whisper and lean in.) Are you ready to hear it?
(Use a soft voice as you lean toward the children holding up the foam finger.) The one more thing is ”
(loud with an excited voice) ” I want you to GO (point out with foam finger) and TELL everyone,
everywhere about me, and tell them I want to be their friend forever!"
Make It True (continued)
Use the words in bold to help you tell the Bible story.
"Let's read it straight from the Bible. (Open Bible bookmarked to Matthew 28:19-20 ) In the book of
Matthew, this is the very last thing that Jesus says before He leaves his friends. It says:
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with
you always, to the very end of the age.‛
Did you catch that? Jesus told His friends to make disciples of all nations. That means to teach others
aaaaall over the world about Jesus. Jesus’ friends loved being with Him. They knew how great it was to be
Jesus’ friend. Jesus wanted them to GO (point out with foam finger) and TELL everyone about Him. We
can tell everyone too! So let’s tell some people right now."
"I want everyone to look this way (point to your right) and tell your neighbor, ‘Jesus wants to be your
friend forever,’ when I say, ‘GO.’ One, two, three ” GO!‛ (Encourage kids to tell neighbor ‚Jesus wants to
be your friend forever!‛) Now I want everyone to look this way (point to your left) and tell your neighbor,
‘Jesus wants to be your friend forever,’ when I say, ‘GO.’ One, two, three ” GO! (Encourage kids to tell
neighbor ‚Jesus wants to be your friend forever!‛)
‚Yay! You did it! Jesus wants us to GO (point out with foam finger) and TELL everyone we know that He
wants to be their friend forever. That means our friends at school, the people in our neighborhood, the
people at the grocery store, the playground, the doctor’s office, the library ” EVERYONE
EVERYWHERE! And you know what the best part is? Jesus wants to be my friend forever and your
friend forever, too! So when I ask you: ‘Who wants to be your friend forever?’ I want to hear you say,
‘Jesus wants to be my friend forever!’ Here we go!"
"Who wants to be your friend forever? (Encourage kids to respond: "Jesus wants to be my friend forever!")
Again! Who wants to be your friend forever? (Encourage kids to respond: "Jesus wants to be my friend
forever!") That’s right! And our special job is to GO (point out with foam finger) and TELL everyone we
know that Jesus wants to be their friend forever, too. That’s the truth, friends. You better believe it! Let’s
pray.‛
PRAYER
‚Dear God, thank You for loving us like You do. Thank You for giving us Jesus to be our friend forever.
Help us to GO and TELL everyone everywhere, so they will know the good news, too. We love You, God.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.‛
Make It Stick (10 minutes)
Spread the Love
What You Need
 Heart shaped coffee filters
 Sharpie
 Eye droppers
 Cups of liquid watercolor
 Bible point labels
STEP 1: Give each child a coffee filter heart and write their names on it in Sharpie.
STEP 2: Let kids get droppers full of liquid watercolor and squeeze it onto their coffee filter heart
and watch the color spread. Encourage kids to use a variety of colors and continue until
all the white is gone.
STEP 3: Let kids stick a Bible point label onto their heart.
What You Say: ‚Today's craft is really cool! I've called it "Spread the Love" because you are going to get
a heart and make colors spread all over it. (Demonstrate how to use the eye droppers.)
You can hang up your heart as a reminder to GO and TELL others about Jesus! Who
wants to be your friend forever?" (Encourage kids to respond: ‚Jesus wants to be my
friend forever!‛)
Make It Real (5-10 minutes)
Make It Real is designed to help preschoolers understand how the Bottom Line applies to them.
They’ll discuss real-life experiences and share prayer requests.
Divide kids into small groups of about five to eight children with each leader.
Ideally, assign the same small group leader to the same group of preschoolers for the entire year.
Supplies: Give each leader a Wrap-Up page in a plastic sleeve. Make sure there are stickers in each sleeve.
1. CHAT AND CHEW: Pass out snack, then discuss the question as a small group while children are
eating. Give each child the opportunity to share.
2. PRAY
3. MEMORY VERSE: Practice the memory verse with the kids. If time permits, let each child say the
verse individually and give those who try it a sticker.
CHAT AND CHEW
‚Let's make a list of people we can GO and TELL about Jesus!"
PRAYER
‚Dear God, I pray that (name each child) will grow up loving Jesus. I pray that You will help them GO
and TELL others that You want to be their friend forever. Please help them tell (read list of people they
made) that You want to be their friend forever. We want the whole wide world to know Jesus! We love
You, God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.‛
MEMORY VERSE
‚Go (run in place) and make (pound fist into palm) disciples (hold the hand of the friend next to you) of
all nations’ (extend arms over your head in a circle), Matthew 28:19.‛ (Open your hands like a book.)
Make It Stick
Use this activity to wrap up and review the Bible story and Bottom Line
Pass It On
What You Need: Nothing.
What You Do:
Stand in a circle with the children. Whisper an action into the ear of the child to your
right. That child will then whisper to the person to his right and it will continue to
be whispered around the circle until it gets back to you. Once everyone has been told
the action, count to three and do the action together until you say stop. The fun part
is seeing if everyone heard the right action! Choose another child to whisper an action
to and begin the game again. Repeat as many times as desired.
What You Say:
Before the activity: ‚I’m going to whisper an action into (child’s name) ear. He’ll pass it on to his
neighbor and I want everyone to keep passing it on until we all know the action we’re
doing. Then, I’ll count to three, and we can all do the action together. Let’s try it!‛
At the end of the activity: ‚The only way we all knew what to do was if we told our neighbor, right? Our
Bible story today was about something VERY important Jesus wants us to tell
everyone. Do you remember what it was? (Pause) Jesus wants us to GO and TELL
everyone about Him, that’s right!‛
Make It Stick
Use this activity to wrap up and review the Bible story and Bottom Line
MEMORY VERSE REVIEW GAME
Everyone, Everywhere
What You Need: A beach-ball-sized inflatable globe.
What You Do: The children will play a game where, together as a group, they must keep the globe off of
the floor by hitting it up in the air. Periodically, you will shout, "Freeze! Hands on your
knees!" and all kids will stop hitting the globe and say the memory verse together. When
you shout, "Go and tell!", they can resume hitting the ball together.
What You Say:
Before the activity: (Hold up the globe.) ‚I have a really fun game for us to play with this earth ball. It's
called a globe Spread out a little. (Pause.) Super!‛
During the activity: ‚I’m going to hit this globe up into the air and I want you all to try and keep it from
touching the floor. Be careful with your hands and only hit the globe. If you hear me call
out "Freeze! Hands on your knees!", then you need to freeze and put your hands on your
knees. We'll say the Bible verse together. Do you remember it? (Pause.) Let's try it
together: ‚Go (run in place) and make (pound fist into palm) disciples (hold the hand of
the friend next to you) of all nations’ (extend arms over your head in a circle), Matthew
28:19.‛ (Open your hands like a book.) Great job! Are you ready? (Pause.) Let’s play!‛
(Continue as long as there is interest.)
At the end of the activity: ‚You did a great job keeping the globe off of the floor. That was fun! Look at
this globe with me for a moment. There is a lot of water and these green parts are land
where people live. We live right here. (Point to where you live.) In our Bible Story today,
we heard about how we can go and tell other people all over the world about a very
special person. Who is it? (Pause.) Jesus, that's right! We can tell others that Jesus
wants to be your friend forever!"
Make It Stick
Use this activity to wrap up and review the Bible story and Bottom Line
WONDER DVD
What You Need: April WONDER DVD.
What You Do:
Show week 2 of the April WONDER DVD.
 Greet parents at the door and tell them something positive about their child. (Ex: Johnny was really
singing loudly today! Suzie did such a great job listening today!)
 Ask the child, ‚Who wants to be your friend forever?" Encourage the response, ‚Jesus wants to be my
friend forever!‛
 Make sure EACH CHILD takes home a Small Talk (on the back of the coloring sheet) Point out the at
home activity to each parent as you dismiss. This is our chance to help parents extend the learning at
home! This is so important!!! We want to equip parents to be spiritual leaders for their kids.