Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

WELCOME (1 min)

Hello, everyone! We're glad you came back to see us today. Speaking of coming back to see us, today we’re going to learn a little about what happened after Easter—when Jesus came back to life. But first, did you know that everything in the Bible is really about one thing? Can anyone guess what that one thing is? Children respond.

Jesus! He is what the whole Bible is about. And when Jesus died on the cross, it wasn’t the end of the story . . . it was the beginning of a whole new story. Take a look at this video and see if you agree.

PLAY VIDEO: Ascension: Bible Background(5 mins)

Ascension: Bible Background

Discussion and Bible Study

Discussion and Bible Study (20 mins)

That sounds great, doesn’t it—that God will rule over all the nations and everyone on earth?

Have you ever thought that life didn't seem fair or a situation didn't make sense?

Maybe it was because you got punished when you didn’t even do anything wrong . . . and for real this time. Perhaps it was because something bad happened to someone you know—someone who didn’t deserve for that to happen.

That’s probably how Jesus’ closest followers, his disciples, felt when He died on the cross. I bet they said things like, “How could this happen?” and, “This makes no sense!” Do you know what else they felt? They felt scared. Why do you think they were scared? Children respond.

They were scared because Jesus, their leader, had been beaten and hung on a cross . . . and it made sense that they might be next. Scary, right? Let’s take a look at what happened right after Jesus was crucified. I promise this won’t be scary.

PLAY VIDEO: Ascension: Bible Story Part One(7:02)

Ascension: Bible Story

Did you see how the disciples on the shore had lost hope after Jesus died? They were moping around and finally decided to go fishing. Then they didn’t catch anything and started moping again. They were hopeless. But suddenly, Jesus came along and filled their nets with fish and filled their hearts with hope!

See, Jesus keeps His promises. Suddenly, they remembered that He had told them He would die and come back to life—and they knew they could trust Him!

But Jesus didn’t just appear to a few people. A bunch of people saw Him during the forty days or so after Easter. The Apostle Paul even says that He appeared to over 500 people at one time! All those people learned that they could trust Jesus to keep His promises.

You can trust Him, too. When you truly trust Jesus, you will see even greater things than what you can imagine. Watch what Jesus’ disciples saw when His time on earth was finished.

PLAY VIDEO: Ascension: Bible Story Part Two (2:52)

Ascension: Bible Story Part Two

Wasn’t that amazing, seeing Jesus rise up into the clouds like that? And did you hear what He told them before He left? He told His disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”

Even after seeing Jesus come back to life, the disciples were still not sure how they could tell everybody about what they saw. Maybe they thought it would sound too crazy to believe. But Jesus promised they would not be alone. They would have the Holy Spirit to guide them and teach them.

Superverse

Let’s read our SuperVerse together.

Ascension: SuperVerse

The graphic loops 2.5 minutes without audio; turn off or freeze video after children repeat the verse.

Wrap Up & Prayer

Wrap Up & Prayer (3 mins)

Did you know that we can have the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us, too? We can! Jesus kept His promise to give His followers the Holy Spirit way back then—we’ll see how that happened in another lesson—and He still gives His followers the gift of the Holy Spirit. Wow! I can hardly wait for you guys to learn more about that!

For now, though, pray with me, please. Heavenly Father, You are so good to us. You give us everything, and You don’t keep anything from us. You gave us Your own Son and your Holy Spirit. Open our hearts to receive Your amazing love, and let us be sent to share it, too. In Jesus’ name, amen.

WORSHIP MUSIC

Let’s get on our feet and praise God with some music!

PLAY VIDEO: Follow Jesus(3 mins)

Follow Jesus

DISMISSAL (1 min)

I have really enjoyed our time together this morning, and I hope to see you here again soon. Until then, I want you to think about something: God doesn’t want people to be alone. That’s why He came down here as Jesus to patch things up, and why He sent His Holy Spirit to be with us all the time. So if you’re feeling alone, why don’t you try praying to God? He always hears you. Hopefully, you see that He loves you. Don’t forget about your parents, either—I know they love you, too. Until next time!

Group Activity

Gameplay:

• Players move around the room, including the Loner.
• The Loner says, “Am I alone?”
• The other players respond heartily, “You’re not alone!” and immediately FREEZE.
• The Loner then takes up to three steps—of any size, and changing direction if desired—trying to touch someone.
• If a person gets touched, he becomes the new Loner, the blindfold gets passed to him, and the game starts over.
• If the Loner does not touch anyone he says, “Hello?” and all players are again free to move around the room until the Loner asks, “Am I alone?” again.

Wrap-Up:

That was fun, wasn’t it! How did it feel to be the Loner? Children respond. When you weren’t the Loner, was it hard to be silent?

Sometimes, it feels like we are alone in our lives, doesn’t it? But just like in this game, there are people all around you, even though it may feel like they are trying to stay away from you!

God wants us to take off our blindfold and see what He has done for us. King David called God’s Word a lamp to guide his feet and a light for his path (Psalm 119:105).

So, if you’re feeling like you’re walking around in the dark all the time, what can you do? Study God’s Word—the Bible. You’ll see that you are far from alone. He loves you, and He will lead you to people who can help you.