Day: March 21, 2021

Hi GrowKids! As we learn more about Jesus and how incredible He is, we want to be more like Him. Our mission as Jesus followers is to study God’s Word and learn more about Him and become more like Him. Jesus followed God’s plans, even when He knew it was going to be difficult, He followed God’s plan’ and that’s what we want to do: Follow God’s Plan.

Bible Story

INSTRUCTIONS: Open a Bible in front of you to John 12:20-33.
In our story today, we find that people from all over the world had heard about Jesus and wanted to talk to Jesus.
How would you feel if people from different countries knew your name?
These people probably traveled from far away places to meet Jesus. But when Jesus talked, he didn’t really talk about himself. Jesus talked all about God’s plan to save people, and how Jesus was simply following the plan.

Jesus used the example of a seed: When a seed doesn’t have soil, water, or sunlight, the seed would just stay a seed and not become anything more. But, if a seed follows the right plan, it can grow to become a tree full of fruit!

Just like the seed follows the right plan, Jesus told everyone that God’s plan for him was the right one. Jesus said that he would die but when he did, it would be to save everybody.
Jesus knew that the road ahead might be full of sadness and hurting. But Jesus trusted that love was the reason for God’s plan and trusted that God would bring him back to life.

God loved us so much that Jesus had to die for our sins. Jesus loved us so much that he followed God’s plan to save us!

Prayer

Dear God, thank you for sending Jesus to save us. We are so thankful Jesus said yes to your plan. Help us be like Jesus and be willing to say yes, too. We know you only have the best plans in store for us. Amen.

Memory Verse

MEMORY VERSE | Jeremiah 29:11

INSTRUCTIONS: Follow along in the video below.

Big Idea

THE BIG IDEA | Jesus said yes to God’s plans.

INSTRUCTIONS: Print or write the Big Idea on a piece of blueprint paper, roll it up and put it in the blueprint tube from last week. Ask the same or a different volunteer to dress up as a construction worker to reveal today’s Big Idea.Ask one of the kids to come up to the front to open the tube and take the paper out to reveal the Big Idea.

This week’s Big Idea is: Jesus said yes to God’s plans. Let’s try it together!

Jesus (Hold both arms straight out to each side to make a cross.)
said yes (Nod your head.)
to God’s (Point up to the sky.)
plans (Hold your hands out together in front of you with your palms up so your hands look

like an open book.)

Activities

Activity: WHICH PLANS?

INSTRUCTIONS: Ask kids which of the following “plans” they would choose if they absolutely had to. Feel free to add your own to the list.
If you had to choose one of these plans, would you choose plan 1 or plan 2?

1) Brush your teeth with soap; 2) Drink sour milk.
1) Eat an onion; 2) Eat a lemon.
1) Have a cat as big as an elephant; 2) Have an elephant the size of a cat.
1) Eat ice cream that tastes like broccoli; 2) Eat cookies that taste like hamburger.

# TODDLER HACK: Simplify the choice of plans for the toddlers to things they more ordinarily have to decide. For example, “Would you rather make plans to go to the park or plans to watch a movie?” or “Would you rather plan to eat waffles or pancakes for breakfast?”

There are times when we have to choose from not-so-great plans. Sometimes, we don’t even know what are the right plans to make. But God knows! We just need to learn to say “yes” to God!

Activity: YES OR NO

INSTRUCTIONS: Ahead of time, place in a box an item from the room where you are gathering, preferably items the kids are used to seeing in your space (e.g. a storybook, a puzzle, or a toy car). Ask one kid to look in the box and see the item you’ve chosen. The rest of the kids can then ask yes or no questions to guess what is in the box. If you like, you can repeat this with several different items.

# TODDLER HACK: Place a large box on your lap such that the opening faces the kids. Have a kid put an item in your box while you close your eyes. Then without looking in the box, ask the group yes or no questions and have everyone answer it together. Keep asking questions until you can guess what’s inside the box.

Sometimes, you can’t see God’s plans. You have to trust that God sees the big picture and will carry out the perfect plans for you.
Jesus said yes to God’s plans and we can, too.

Activity: SIMON SAYS, JESUS SAYS

INSTRUCTIONS: Call out actions for the kids to do (e.g., pat their heads, turn around in circles). If the leader says, “Simon says. . .” before the action, then the kids should do that action. If the leader does not say, “Simon says. . .” before the action instruction, the kids should not do the action. You do not need to have anyone go “out” if they accidentally do an action that wasn’t preceded by “Simon says. . .” You can just enjoy the giggles of kids realizing they’ve been tricked! After every four to five actions, call out, “Jesus said. . .” to which the kids should respond, “. . . yes to God’s plans!”

Jesus knew that a part of God’s plan was for him to die. Do you think it was easy or hard for Jesus to say yes to God’s plan?
Because Jesus said yes to God’s plans, we can be forgiven and be part of God’s family!

SNACK-tivity

Snack Time: CONSTRUCTION CONE

INSTRUCTIONS: Serve kids a handful of snack mix inside a sugar cone.
What kinds of things do you like to say “yes” to?
We like to say yes to fun things like playing games or movie nights, but sometimes, God asks us to say yes to things that don’t seem fun or don’t make sense to us.
Because Jesus said yes to God’s plans, our sins are forgiven. When you say yes to God’s plans, you can be sure that it’s the best choice! God will do something amazing with your yes!