Family Service
Families, Gather Around to Continue the Learning
CURRENT SERIES!
Families, gather around and enjoy this service together. Watch the video and then use the discussion questions below to have a conversation about the lesson.
Week 7 of
POWER UP!
Parents, whether your kids are attending church, or worshiping at home online - this page is FOR YOU as well as for them! Watch with your kids and then use the discussion questions below to have an intention conversation on the week's lesson. If your kids attend Highpoint Church with Pastor Karl, it's a great review! If not, welcome! And we hope you'll have a great time learning about Jesus!
If you enjoy these services, let Pastor Karl know. Your feedback is always encouraging!
THIS SERIES EXPLORES THE GREATEST STORIES OF THE BIBLE AND THE "POWER UPS" GOD'S PEOPLE USED TO BE VICTORIOUS IN THE CHALLENGES THEY FACED!
Sunday's Video:
HEAR PASTOR KARL TELL THE STORY OF ESTHER on his kids podcast!
Queen Esther was right where God needed her! She chose to be bold and risk her own safety to save others. God rewarded her bravery and she saved countless lives. Someday, you'll be right where God needs you to be bold and brave and do the right thing. Will you make the right choice too?
ENJOY this OLD VIDEO of Gus playing King Xerxes in a Puppet Show of the entire story of Queen Esther. (NOTE: This is Pastor Karl's original Gus puppet from over twenty years ago, video and audio restored from an old VHS tape!)
Queen Esther was right where God needed her! She chose to be bold and risk her own safety to save others. God rewarded her bravery and she saved countless lives. Someday, you'll be right where God needs you to be bold and brave and do the right thing. Will you make the right choice too?
ENJOY this OLD VIDEO of Gus playing King Xerxes in a Puppet Show of the entire story of Queen Esther. (NOTE: This is Pastor Karl's original Gus puppet from over twenty years ago, video and audio restored from an old VHS tape!)
Learn it - Live it!
This weeks Power Up: COURAGE!
Today we learned about the Story of Esther.
Here is a quick overview to help you find the passages you may want to read:
HEAR PASTOR KARL TELL THE STORY OF ESTHER on his kids podcast AT THIS LINK! Or read it here:
Esther must have been pretty relieved when the king extended his scepter and invited her to come in and ask for whatever was on her mind. He even said, “Ask for whatever you want, and it’s yours! Up to half my kingdom!” Perhaps he was just being nice, but Esther wasn’t sure this was the ideal time and place to say, “Well, I’m a Jew, so please don’t kill all the Jews or you’ll have to kill me, too.” So, instead, she said, “I just want to invite you and Haman (the man who made the mean law) to a banquet I’m going to throw in your honor.” Food? Seems Esther knew her husband well. He, of course, agreed to a banquet in his honor! The next day he and Haman came to the banquet, ate lots of food, and the king asked Esther again, “What do you really want? Anything! I’ll give it to you!” Still unsure, she said, “Come to another feast, tomorrow, and I’ll tell you what I want.” The king couldn’t refuse more yummy food, so he agreed. The next day, belly full, and really liking this new queen who treated him so well, he asked again, “What do you really want?” Esther knew the moment had arrived, she mustered up the courage to say, “I don’t want to be killed, oh king!”
The king was shocked, and said, “Who wants to kill my lovely queen?!” And with that question, Esther pointed at Haman and said, “Him! He wants to kill me and all my Jewish people?” Talk about an awkward moment. Well, since this is kids church, we won’t get too detailed, but let’s just say, things didn’t end up too good for Haman, the Jews were not killed, and Esther became known forever as the Brave Queen who saved her people.
This started out sounding like a fairy tale – even though it is a very true story – let’s end it by saying King Xerxes and Queen Esther lived happily ever after. Well, as far as we know.
Kids, probably the most important part of this story is when Mordecai said to Esther, “God will save his people. The question is just whether it will be through you or someone else. Perhaps God put you here for such a time as this.”
God wants to use YOU to so amazing things. But sometimes it will require us to Power Up with courage. If we don’t, God will use someone else. God always wins, but He wants you to win with Him!
Here is a quick overview to help you find the passages you may want to read:
- Chapters 1-2 The King’s Banquet honoring the queen
- Chapter 3 Haman’s Edict
- Chapters 4-5 The Queen’s Courage, Mordecai's challenge, approaching the king
- Chapters 6-7 God’s Deliverance, Mordecai honored, Haman dies
- Chapters 8-10 The rest of the book, not needed for the lesson.
HEAR PASTOR KARL TELL THE STORY OF ESTHER on his kids podcast AT THIS LINK! Or read it here:
Esther must have been pretty relieved when the king extended his scepter and invited her to come in and ask for whatever was on her mind. He even said, “Ask for whatever you want, and it’s yours! Up to half my kingdom!” Perhaps he was just being nice, but Esther wasn’t sure this was the ideal time and place to say, “Well, I’m a Jew, so please don’t kill all the Jews or you’ll have to kill me, too.” So, instead, she said, “I just want to invite you and Haman (the man who made the mean law) to a banquet I’m going to throw in your honor.” Food? Seems Esther knew her husband well. He, of course, agreed to a banquet in his honor! The next day he and Haman came to the banquet, ate lots of food, and the king asked Esther again, “What do you really want? Anything! I’ll give it to you!” Still unsure, she said, “Come to another feast, tomorrow, and I’ll tell you what I want.” The king couldn’t refuse more yummy food, so he agreed. The next day, belly full, and really liking this new queen who treated him so well, he asked again, “What do you really want?” Esther knew the moment had arrived, she mustered up the courage to say, “I don’t want to be killed, oh king!”
The king was shocked, and said, “Who wants to kill my lovely queen?!” And with that question, Esther pointed at Haman and said, “Him! He wants to kill me and all my Jewish people?” Talk about an awkward moment. Well, since this is kids church, we won’t get too detailed, but let’s just say, things didn’t end up too good for Haman, the Jews were not killed, and Esther became known forever as the Brave Queen who saved her people.
This started out sounding like a fairy tale – even though it is a very true story – let’s end it by saying King Xerxes and Queen Esther lived happily ever after. Well, as far as we know.
Kids, probably the most important part of this story is when Mordecai said to Esther, “God will save his people. The question is just whether it will be through you or someone else. Perhaps God put you here for such a time as this.”
God wants to use YOU to so amazing things. But sometimes it will require us to Power Up with courage. If we don’t, God will use someone else. God always wins, but He wants you to win with Him!
GOD CONTROLLER:
REMOTE CONTROLLED BY GOD!
Another important button on your controller is the PAUSE button. Sometimes you are in the middle of a game, and there is a distraction outside the game, and you need to PAUSE because you don’t want to lose your spot. Maybe it is dinnertime, or bedtime, or maybe your mom says to pause the game and clean your messy room! But it’s not always stuff in your real world life that makes you hit PAUSE. Sometimes right in the middle of the game, there is something about to happen and you just need to PAUSE to think, to collect your wits, to calm down if you are getting upset, to look up a strategy or watch a video about how to get out of a situation, to call a friend, or even to hit record because you know it’s about to get epic! There are times when you aren’t sure what to do, but pausing the game gives you a chance to think while all the action stops. It’s funny sometimes to see a car floating in mid-air while a game is paused. It’s still going to come down, but at least for a moment, all time and motion freezes so you can think about what you are going to do next.
In our story today, did you notice when Queen Esther hit pause? There was a very scary law passed, one that meant many people were going to die, and perhaps even her. She could have run away, gone yelling at the king, attacked the evil Haman and tried to kill him first, but instead she chose to hit PAUSE. How did she pause the story? She told her family and friends to fast and pray for three days and said she would do the same things. As she prayed, God probably gave her the idea to not rush to the king, but to butter him up with not one, but two banquets. In fact, God probably gave her the idea to include Haman in the banquets as much as she probably didn’t even want to look at him. Esther’s pause gave her time to pray, to listen, to think, and to plan how she was going to respond to what was happening around her. The next time you find yourself in a tough situation, don’t forget that it’s OK to hit PAUSE. Before you go forward, or backwards, or give up and reset, or even attack – sometimes you just need to PAUSE and let yourself calm down, give yourself time to pray and listen to God, and think and plan. Then, when you un-pause, you’ll know better what to do to win!
Another important button on your controller is the PAUSE button. Sometimes you are in the middle of a game, and there is a distraction outside the game, and you need to PAUSE because you don’t want to lose your spot. Maybe it is dinnertime, or bedtime, or maybe your mom says to pause the game and clean your messy room! But it’s not always stuff in your real world life that makes you hit PAUSE. Sometimes right in the middle of the game, there is something about to happen and you just need to PAUSE to think, to collect your wits, to calm down if you are getting upset, to look up a strategy or watch a video about how to get out of a situation, to call a friend, or even to hit record because you know it’s about to get epic! There are times when you aren’t sure what to do, but pausing the game gives you a chance to think while all the action stops. It’s funny sometimes to see a car floating in mid-air while a game is paused. It’s still going to come down, but at least for a moment, all time and motion freezes so you can think about what you are going to do next.
In our story today, did you notice when Queen Esther hit pause? There was a very scary law passed, one that meant many people were going to die, and perhaps even her. She could have run away, gone yelling at the king, attacked the evil Haman and tried to kill him first, but instead she chose to hit PAUSE. How did she pause the story? She told her family and friends to fast and pray for three days and said she would do the same things. As she prayed, God probably gave her the idea to not rush to the king, but to butter him up with not one, but two banquets. In fact, God probably gave her the idea to include Haman in the banquets as much as she probably didn’t even want to look at him. Esther’s pause gave her time to pray, to listen, to think, and to plan how she was going to respond to what was happening around her. The next time you find yourself in a tough situation, don’t forget that it’s OK to hit PAUSE. Before you go forward, or backwards, or give up and reset, or even attack – sometimes you just need to PAUSE and let yourself calm down, give yourself time to pray and listen to God, and think and plan. Then, when you un-pause, you’ll know better what to do to win!
