Worship!!! Tech: After worship, cue title slide

Hello everybody and welcome back to another wonderful week of “Pixel Party!” A pixel is just a little square, but when you put a bunch of them together, they add up to form a picture. During the “Pixel Party,” (hold up a Post-it® Note) these little squares right here are going to give us a picture of the incredible love that Jesus has for us.

Oh yeah—there’s something else these squares can do too Oh yeah—there’s something else these squares can do too! I’ve been looking at my eyes in the mirror lately and I’m wondering what I would look like if I had different eyes. Let me show what I’ve come up with and you tell me if you like them or not.

One at a time, stick a set of Post-it® Note eyes over your real eyes and ask the kids what they think. For the last set, place a pair of blank Post-it® Notes over your eyes.

How about this one—no eyes at all. Kids respond How about this one—no eyes at all! Kids respond. Can you imagine what it would be like if you couldn’t see anything? Extend your hands in front of you and begin stumbling and awkwardly feeling your way around. The man in our story for today knows exactly what that’s like.

Fortunately for him, Jesus was able to open his eyes in more than one way. Let’s jump into the story so you can see what I’m talking about. Tech: Cue Big Bible Story Slide Invite one kid from each group to the stage, with their group’s mask.

Place the masks in this order: Jesus Blind Man Angry Man #1 Angry Man #2 Angry Man #3 At the appropriate time, turn the masks around.

Turn the “Jesus” and “Blind Man” faces toward the audience Turn the “Jesus” and “Blind Man” faces toward the audience. One day, Jesus was walking with His disciples when they saw a man who had been blind since the day he was born. Jesus wanted to show the power that God had to heal, so He stopped and spit on the ground.

To Jesus. Okay Jesus—pretend to spit on the ground To Jesus. Okay Jesus—pretend to spit on the ground. Kid pretends to spit. Look disgusted and wipe off shoe. Ewww, that’s gross. I think you hit my shoe. Haha, just kidding!

Next, Jesus bent down and rubbed the spit into the dirt Next, Jesus bent down and rubbed the spit into the dirt. Prompt “Jesus” to rub the pretend spit into the ground. Then He picked the mud up, walked over to the blind man (turn Jesus toward the blind man) and rubbed the mud into the blind man’s eyes.

Go ahead Jesus, rub the mud in his eyes Go ahead Jesus, rub the mud in his eyes. If the kid struggles to find the eyes because of the bag over his head, have fun with it. “No Jesus, that’s his mouth! That’s his nose! Etc.” If necessary, help Jesus find the eyes.

Oh boy—things don’t seem to be getting any better yet Oh boy—things don’t seem to be getting any better yet! Place Post-it® Notes with mud splotches over the blind man’s eyes. Not only is the man blind, now he has mud in his eyes. Not to worry, though. Jesus told the blind man to go wash his eyes in a nearby pool.

And after he washed his eyes, the man could see again And after he washed his eyes, the man could see again! Place Post-it® Notes with eyes over the Post-it® Notes with mud splotches. Blind man—show me how excited you are. Blind man responds. Now give Jesus a high five! Blind man tries to give Jesus a high five.

Later on, the blind man was brought to some Pharisees Later on, the blind man was brought to some Pharisees. Turn the “Angry Man #1 and #2 faces toward the audience. These guys are the Pharisees. As you can see, they’re angry! Pharisees—use your angry voice to say, “I’m angry!” Pharisees respond. Wow—that’s pretty angry!

The Pharisees were angry at Jesus because He said He was the Son of God. But they didn’t believe Him—they thought Jesus was a sinner because He didn’t follow all of their made-up rules. And if Jesus was a sinner, He couldn’t possibly be the Son of God.

And if he wasn’t the Son of God, He couldn’t have possibly healed a blind man. So they wanted to figure out what really happened to the blind man. When they asked the blind man what happened, he said, “Jesus put mud on my eyes then I washed. And now I can see.”

Now the Pharisees were even angrier Now the Pharisees were even angrier. Pharisees—let me hear you say, “I’m even angrier!” Pharisees respond. They said, “You’re lying to us! That’s not possible! We know that Jesus is a sinner!” The man replied, “I don’t know if he’s a sinner or not. All I know is that I was blind and now I can see…

If Jesus isn’t from God, He couldn’t have healed me If Jesus isn’t from God, He couldn’t have healed me.” Now the Pharisees were super-duper angry. Pharisees—let me hear you say, “I’m super-duper angry!” Pharisees respond. In fact, they were so angry that they grabbed the man and threw him out.

Lead Jesus to the man. After he was thrown out, Jesus found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” The man replied, “Tell me who he is so I can believe in him.” Jesus replied, “You’ve seen Him with your own eyes. It’s me.”

When he heard that, the man fell to his knees (prompt blind man to fall to his knees) and worshiped Jesus. Jesus said, “I have come to this world to open people’s eyes to the truth. Some people will see the truth, but others will stay blind to it.” Thank helpers and dismiss them to the audience.

I have a question for you I have a question for you. In today’s story, how many blind people were there? Take answers. Are you ready for the answer? Kids respond. It was a trick question! There were a bunch of blind people. The blind man was blind in his eyes, but the Pharisees were blind in their hearts.

Even though they followed all of the rules and did all of the right things, they couldn’t see the truth about Jesus. They couldn’t see that Jesus was the Son of God. And when that happens, things don’t turn out so great. Let me show you what I’m talking about during a cooking show called “Blind Man’s Breakfast!”

Tech: Cue Blind Man’s Breakfast Slide Today on “Blind Man’s Breakfast,” we’re going to make Apple Pancakes. I’m going to need some help, though. Invite a kid to the teaching area as you put on an apron. Stand behind the table with your hands clasped behind your back.

Have your helper stand behind you and thread their arms between your arms and body so that they are reaching in front of you. Give the cooking instructions as if you were on a cooking show, your helper will follow the directions (as if they are your hands) without being able to see.

-Put 2 cups of pancake mix into the mixing bowl -Put 2 cups of pancake mix into the mixing bowl. -Crack an egg into the mixing bowl. -Taste a sample spoon of the apple sauce. -Pour the apple sauce into the mixing bowl. -Mix the ingredients with the hand whisk. -Wipe your face with the hand towel.

Thank and dismiss helper. Do you see what happened Thank and dismiss helper. Do you see what happened? Our helper went through all the right motions. They followed the recipe for making Apple Pancakes, but things didn’t turn out so well. Why is that? Take answer. You’re right—it’s because they couldn’t see.

That’s what happens when we follow the recipe for being a Christian without seeing in our heart that Jesus is the Son of God. We might go to church, sing songs, listen to the Bible story, and be nice to people, but if we can’t see in our heart that Jesus is the Son of God, then our life turns out kind of like these pancakes—a big mess.

Being a follower of Jesus isn’t just about following the right recipe or doing the right things. It’s about seeing with your heart that Jesus is who He says He is—the Son of God, the King of Kings, the Savior of the World. And if you have trouble seeing that, maybe you can do what David did in the Book of Psalms.

It’s our Bible verse for today It’s our Bible verse for today. Tech: Cue Verse Slide Read once, then read it together. “Open my eyes so that I can see the wonderful truths in your law.” -Psalm 119:18 Tech: Cue Title Slide

David asked God to open the eyes of his heart so that he could see the wonderful truth of God’s Word. We can do that same thing. We can ask God to open our eyes to see the truth about Jesus. We can ask God to help us see that Jesus is the Son of God who is worthy of our worship. In fact, let’s do that right now.  

Close in prayer. After prayer, invite kids to come take a GO Close in prayer. After prayer, invite kids to come take a GO! Home Guide sheet and head to their small group tables. After a few minutes, dismiss small groups downstairs.