GAME CHANGER Week 4 Elementary Large Group Script Need to Know: On God s Team, Players Don t Quit Bible Story: Nehemiah Rebuilds the Wall Nehemiah 6:1 16 1
Character Charlie: Charlie is the new mascot of Springside School, and Charlie couldn t be more honored to take on the new role. It s been one of his/her lifelong dreams to represent the Springside Chickens so s/he takes the new position very seriously and wants to be the best Chicken Springside has ever had. Charlie is so excited to rally everyone at Springside and help them understand that everyone plays an important role on the Springside Team. S/he knows they can accomplish anything if they work together. No matter what they face, Charlie always tries to stay positive and keep morale up. Weekly Props Tennis shoe with bubblegum Charlie carries on stage Banana Peels (2) Charlie carries on stage Pom Poms (2) Charlie carries back on stage after Life Skills Phone Charlie carries on stage Game Card for game Headbands with Pedometers (3) for game Stopwatch for game Large Candy Prize (1 per service) for game Small Candy Prize (2 per service) for game Script Outline Intro & Counter Song Win Forever Act 1 Track Meet Sabotage Funny Short Trick Shot & Opener Charlie Text Message Bible Story Act 2 Victory Laps Charlie Locker Room Life Skills Charlie & Track Meet Need to Know Game Run in Place Race Song Wise Up Prayer 2
LIGHTS AT 100% Worship Leader enters & keeps kids excited through Intro & Counter. FIRE: GC_ES_INTRO WORSHIP LEADER (During Intro/Counter) Hey everybody! We re going to have lots of fun in Large Group today! Everybody jump up so we can sing, Win Forever (Give kids time to stand, call out the motions you want them to do while you sing the song.) FIRE: GC_ES_COUNTER WORSHIP LEADER (CONTINUED) (At end of counter) Now count it down with me! (Countdown from 10) AUTO ADVANCE: GC_ES_SONG_WIN FOREVER LIGHTS DOWN WORSHIP LEADER (At end of song) Awesome! Take a seat, and let s check out what s going on with Charlie and the team at Springside. Worship leader exits. ACT 1: Track Meet Sabotage AUTO ADVANCE: GC_ES_Wk4_FUNNYSHORT (Trick Shot) AUTO ADVANCE: GC_ES_OPENER 3
AUTO ADVANCE: GC_ES_ACTING_GYM LIGHTS AT 100% Charlie walks on stage carrying tennis shoe with bubblegum and banana peels, clearly distressed/upset. CHARLIE (Upset, dramatic, talking to audience) This is just unbelievable. Why would they do such a thing? I have never, EVER seen such poor sportsmanship! You guys will never guess what happened at the track meet last night. It was terrible! As Springside s school mascot, I was utterly shocked. Shocked, I tell you. (Holding up tennis shoe with bubblegum and banana peels, dramatic, on the verge of tears) It s difficult to even say it. The Springside Track Team was...was...well, they were...sabotaged! That s right the other team put huge wads of sticky, chewed up bubblegum on the bottoms of all the Springside runners shoes. By the time the team walked out of the locker room and realized what was happening, it was too late! The race was about to start. As soon as they started running, Springside looked like a bunch of turtles crawling on the track because their shoes kept getting stuck to the ground. (Pointing to the bubblegum on the bottom of the shoe ) Look at this. (If possible, stepping off stage and putting it close to kids faces) Isn t this so gross?! (Back on stage) As if that wasn t bad enough, the team rounded the corner of the track and there were banana peels (show banana peels ) all over the ground. Everyone started slipping and falling on top of each other. There was a massive pileup of runners, and bubblegum even ended up in some of their hair. Let s just say, there are going to be a few interesting new hairdos for some of our Springside track stars today. 4
The other team was crossing the finish line and celebrating their victory before our runners even stood up again. It was a terrible sight to see! (Putting hand on chest) As the protector of school spirit, I tried to keep everyone s spirits up with my best cheers and (showing over the top dance moves) awesome dancing skills, but everybody seemed pretty frustrated with the whole situation. The fans, everyone on the team, and even Coach Corn seemed upset and sad...especially because last night s track meet was part of the semi finals. Bad timing, I know! There s only one more race left to see if Springside can make it to the finals, and to be honest, it seems like a pretty lost cause. The team would have to beat the state record today if they re going to make it. FIRE: GC_ES_SFX_Text AUTO ADVANCE: GC_ES_ACTING_GYM CHARLIE (Noticing text) Oooh! A text! I get so excited when I hear that sound. (Looking at phone, surprised) Guys! It s from Speedy, the captain of the track team. (Cupping hand over mouth, looks shocked) I can t believe it. He s texting everyone on the track team and asking if they just want to forfeit the race tonight to go bowling instead, and he s invited me to go with them. (Feeling torn, confused) I can t do that. I m the school mascot, and it would be wrong to just let them quit. I know Speedy and the whole team are really frustrated about what happened yesterday, but it s not worth skipping tonight s race, right? 5
(Reading more of the text) Speedy says there s no way they ll make it to the finals because their times last night were so bad, and he thinks that bowling will be a lot more fun than losing. (Still contemplating what to do) Now, that s a good point. I mean, there really is NO WAY they ll make it to the finals. The team is facing an impossible situation. (Starting to change his/her mind) And I do love bowling. (Pretending to do bowling moves) Not to mention, I am pretty good at it. I can get strikes for days. I may be a chicken here at Springside, but at the bowling alley, I m totally a turkey! (Slightly chuckling at his/her joke) (More confident in bowling instead) You know what? I think I m in! Bowling will be way more fun than having to watch the entire track team be so sad at tonight s race. (Texting Speedy) I m going to text Speedy back and tell him to count me in. I ve got to run home and get my special bowling ball that Homer and Hoops got me for my birthday (proud) it even has my name on it! Before I do that, I wanna see what those two are up to today. Let s find out! Charlie sits down on bench. FIRE: GC_ES_WK4_BIBLE STORY Homer That s it! I m done. That was the worst game ever. I couldn t catch, I couldn t throw, I couldn t even hit. I quit. Hoops What?! NO WAY, I mean come on, your parents NAMED YOU HOMER! You were basically BORN to play baseball! Homer Did you hear some of the players on the other team!? They were making up all kinds of junk about me. Like I 6
was only playing so I could be team captain. What a lie! I just love baseball. Hoops I know, I know. Listen Homer, haters gonna hate. Don t pay attention to those guys. And whatever you do, don t quit. Homer You know something Hoops, you re right. I can t quit now, no matter what people are trying to do. It kind of reminds me of the story of Nehemiah. Do you remember what I m talking about? Hoops Oh yeah, with the wall and the people and the things. Here just check this out: There was once a guy named Nehemiah. He lived in Babylon and worked as the King s helper. One day a man from his home town of Jerusalem came to see him. Man Nehemiah, I ve got some terrible news, the wall that surrounds Jerusalem and protects us from enemy attacks is in bad shape. We need YOUR help! Nehemiah knew what he had to do, so he asked permission from the King to travel back to his home and help rebuild the wall. Nehemiah The King says I m good to go! 7
When Nehemiah arrived, he saw that the wall was in crumbles and that the people of Jerusalem were upset and scared. Nehemiah was glad he came to help, but knew he couldn t rebuild the wall alone. Nehemiah Come on guys! Let s team up and rebuild the wall together! Teammates Yeah, okay, we got this, go team. Nehemiah s team helped and worked hard, doing their part. But Jerusalem s enemies were NOT happy about this teamwork. This is NOT good! Bad Guys So they came up with a plan to stop this rebuild from happening and sent Nehemiah a message, asking if they could talk to him. Nehemiah didn t want to quit so he sent them back a message: Nehemiah Sorry guys, I d love to sit and chat, but I m super busy working with my team to rebuild this wall. Maybe next time. Bad Guy 1 Ugh, some people just won t quit, what do we do now? 8
Bad Guy 2 Hey, I got it! How about we send another message? Maybe he ll feel bad and come see us. They sent Nehemiah five more messages and even threatened to spread lies about him. But, each time Nehemiah replied the same way. Nehemiah Listen, you re just making stuff up. And there is no way I m quitting this rebuild to come talk to you. GRRRRRRRR. Bad Guys His enemies realized this back and forth message thing wasn t going to work. Bad Guy 2 Okay, time for a new plan! This time they hired a guy to try to convince Nehemiah to stop rebuilding the wall. Bad Guy 3 You shouldn t keep building the wall. People are trying to kill you. I think the only way you will be safe is if you go to the temple with me. Nehemiah realized that this guy had been sent by his enemies to scare him! Nehemiah Are you saying I should go to the temple and hide, instead of working on the wall? That s crazy. No, 9
way!! Instead of giving up, Nehemiah kept working and praying to God. He also encouraged the rest of his team to do the same! Nehemiah Come on guys! We can do it. Let s finish this wall! Soon enough the wall was finished. And in a record time, only 52 days! Things were tough for Nehemiah and his team, but they never quit. Instead, they worked as a team, and Jerusalem was again safe from their enemies! AUTO ADVANCE: GC_ES_ACTING_GYM Charlie stands and walks over to the middle of the stage. ACT 2: Victory Laps CHARLIE (Talking to audience) My goodness. That s exactly what I needed to hear. In the story, things were getting really tough for Nehemiah and his team. Those two guys were doing anything they could to get Nehemiah to quit. They were spreading terrible lies about him and trying to trick him all the time. It reminds me of what happened to the track team. But they re ready to completely QUIT working towards the finals because their last race was sabotaged with banana peels and bubblegum. Nehemiah and his team 10
didn t quit when the enemies made things hard for them, because they knew God wanted them to build the wall. And the track team shouldn t quit either just because things are hard for them right now. It would be a huge mistake for them to forfeit the meet and go bowling instead! (Standing tall and proud with fists on hips) I ve got to be the leader of team spirit that I ve been chosen to be and go tell Speedy and the whole team that they cannot quit before it s too late! I ll be back soon! Charlie runs off stage. FIRE: GC_ES_WK4_LOCKER ROOM LIFE SKILLS (Homer keeps wanting to quit, but his superfan, Hoops, makes sure that won t happen) AUTO ADVANCE: GC_ES_ACTING_GYM Charlie runs energetically onto the stage carrying pom poms. CHARLIE Great news, Springside fans! Speedy and the entire track team have decided to race today. Once I told them that story about Nehemiah and seeing how his team didn t quit even when things were really hard, the team is more determined than ever to run their best meet today! Since we re all a part of the Springside Team, let s cheer them on! Whether they re winning or losing, we can t quit cheering for our team. Alright, it s about to start! (Waving pom poms, jumping, dance moves, etc.) Go Chickens! Hooray for Springside!! FIRE: GC_ES_WK4_TRACK MEET 11
AUTO ADVANCE: GC_ES_ACTING_GYM Charlie leads kids in cheering throughout video. CHARLIE (Celebrating, running back and forth across stage with arms in air and cheering, jumping up and down, etc.) They did it! They did it! Wowwww!! They won! It was so close, but they edged out the other team and beat the school record. Against unbelievable odds, Springside is headed to the finals! (Calming down a little) I am so glad the team didn t decide to quit and head to the bowling alley instead. They would have missed out on the excitement of winning this race and competing in the finals. And I m super glad that you guys didn t quit cheering them on, even when it looked like the other team was going to win. FIRE: GC_ES_WK4_NEED TO KNOW Charlie reacts to Ref s whistle in a funny way. AUTO ADVANCE: GC_ES_WK4_NEED TO KNOW 2 Pointing to Need to Know on screen & talking toward screen) Thanks Mr. Ref man for reminding us of what we need to know today. (To audience) Just like we re all a part of the Springside Team, we re on God s Team, too and On God s Team, Players Don t Quit! Everybody look at the person beside you and repeat after me: On God s Team (both hands point up) KIDS (Repeating after Charlie) On God s Team (both hands point up) 12
CHARLIE Players Don t Quit! (criss cross arms in front) KIDS (Repeating after Charlie, looking at person beside them) Players Don t Quit! (criss cross arms in front) CHARLIE Now look to the person on your other side and say, Don t Quit! KIDS (Looking at the person on the opposite side) Don t quit! CHARLIE I think you have it! Good job, everyone! You can take a seat. Now, let s play a game so we can always remember that on God s team, players don t quit. FIRE: GC_ES_GAME Worship leader enters. Worship Leader facilitates game and Charlie assists. WORSHIP LEADER I love that idea Charlie. I say in honor of the Springside Track Team winning today s race, we have a Run in Place Race! Worship Leader uses Game Card or instructions below to explain game. Charlie gets audience to cheer for different contestants during game. Name: Run in Place Race Who Will Play: 3 players Goal: Player with the most steps wins Instructions: Select 3 players to come on stage. Introduce players by asking their name and the following question: If you were running in a big race, what would you 13
rather win Tickets to Disney World or a lifetime supply of Chick Fil A? Have all three players put on a headband with pedometer attached to it. On GO players will run in place for 30 seconds. Use stopwatch to time them. Player with the most steps on their pedometer after 30 seconds is the winner. Give the winner a large candy prize. Give the other two players a small candy prize. WORSHIP LEADER You three may be the next Springside Track Stars! Thanks for all your help, Charlie! We ll see you again next week! Charlie says farewells and exits. WORSHIP LEADER That game was really cool! Just like your teammates didn t quit when they were getting tired, we don t have to quit when things get tough. We just have to remember whose team we are always playing on, no matter what sports season it is. When we follow Jesus, we play on God s team. When we choose to listen to Him and do what He says, we can overcome those hard things we face in life! And that s what this next song is all about. Let s stand up and sing, Wise Up together! (Lead motions throughout song) FIRE: GC_ES_SONG_WISE UP AUTO ADVANCE: GC_ES_LOGO WORSHIP LEADER (After the song) I love that song! And I love hanging out with all of you! You know, one reason Nehemiah and his team were able to be strong and not quit is because they prayed and asked God for help. So before you go, let s all bow 14
our heads, close our eyes and pray together as a team (give kids a few seconds to get quiet, bow their heads & close their eyes) : Father God, thank you for loving us and wanting us all to be a part of your team! Help us NOT to quit, even when things are hard. Amen! FIRE: GC_ES_OUTRO 15