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Welcome to StrongPoint Kids! We have classes available for infants through preschool and Kindergarten/first grade. It's a place where faith and fun come together, sparking an enriching journey for your child. Join a world of wonder and watch your child's faith blossom. See you at StrongPoint Kids!
Please stop by the Welcome Center to learn more!
Infants
Building a kid’s life starts at a very early age. The beginning stages of spiritual development are learning blocks that can help your child discover early on how much God loves them. Our nursery (newborn weeks to 2 years) gives children the opportunity to grow in a loving, caring environment.
Additional Ages We Serve
In addition to newborns & toddlers, we welcome children from four to twelve years of age. Your child will grow in their relationship with God and others.
Our Rooms
Our classrooms are clean, safe and provide an excellent environment for your child to build strong friendships with other students. Every week will be a new, fun and creative experience designed for your child as they grow in their walk with God.
Our Volunteers
All of our volunteers are background checked and are trained to work with your children.
Check In
A volunteer will assist you with using our electronic check-in system. We will ask basic information to better serve your child. Check-in starts 30 minutes prior to our first service & 20 minutes prior to the second one.
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS WORTHY written on it, key verse (1 Chronicles 16:25) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Since this is the last lesson in the series, quickly read through all of the attributes covered this year and have kids call out the definition and do the motions. Take a few minutes to work through this activity.
TEACH – WORTHY:
Introduce the truth that God is worthy by showing the word worthy and asking someone to define it for you. Ask if they see another word hidden in the word worthy (worth)….and ask what the word worth means. Think through a shopping scenario where you have to ask someone the price of an item. Basically when you ask for a price you are asking the salesperson what the item is worth to them or what would it take for them to give the item to you. An item’s worth is it’s value.
The word worthy tells us that something has worth or value. So, when we say that God is worthy we are saying that He has great value and He alone deserves to be called the worthy one. Most of the time when we say God is worthy, we are saying that He alone deserves all of our worship and praise.
Introduce the story for the morning by asking the kids to suggest stories that speak of God’s worthiness – help them to see that the whole Bible points to the truth that God is worthy, but this morning we’re going to look at a story that shows His worthiness over false gods.
Give the following points by way of background.
Have a couple of kids come up and act out the story of 1 Samuel 5 while you tell it in your own words. You need 2 kids to represent the ark of the covenant, 1 person to be the statue of Dagon and a few to be Philistines. Make sure you hit the following points while you tell the story.
(1) The Philistines put the ark in the temple of their god Dagon and the statue of Dagon kept falling on the ground
(2) Everywhere the Philistines put the ark, people got sick
(3) They knew they had to return the ark to Israel
Then continue the story:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
WORTHY = DESERVING, HAVING MERIT OR VALUE
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for WORTHY. A good motion might be to point one them to yourself and hold up one thumb.
SAY: “Today we’re talking about the truth that God is Worthy. When we say that God is worthy, we’re saying that He deserves all of our worship…He has great value.:
Read the memory verse (1 Chronicles 16:25) a few times together and do the motion for worthy.
In the story of the ark of God being taken into the temple of Dagon we see the worthiness of God and the holiness of God in the fact that God doesn’t allow anything false in His presence. The ark of the covenant was to remind the people of the true God and was a physical representation of the presence of God. The temple and statue of Dagon were physical representations of false gods and the sin of idolatry. God cannot be in the presence of sin. That’s why in the tabernacle (and later in the temple) the ark of God was separated from the people by a curtain and God’s presence could only be entered once a year by the High priest and only after a sacrifice had been made for the sins of God’s people. Sin cannot stand or be in God’s presence, so God defended His honor and His holiness by knocking the statue down. The truth that God cannot be in the presence of sin if the whole reason why Jesus came to earth. The Bible tells us that we are all sinners and there is nothing we can do to make ourselves good enough for God. We are separated from God because of sin. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the price for our sin so that we can enter God’s presence without fear.
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word WORTHY somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for WORTHY or the memory verse or they could illustrate the the story. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that children would see the worthiness of God and worship Him alone.
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS WITH US written on it, a picture of the tabernacle. key verse (Psalm 46:7) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Have kids take turns telling you their favorite attribute bout God that they have learned this year. Give time for several of them to share before moving on to this week’s attribute.
TEACH – WITH US:
Introduce the truth that God is with us, by asking the kids who is with them right now. They should name some of the people in the room. It’s a simple concept and they’ll probably laugh at you, but ask them if they can be with someone who is in a different room, or in a different country or who lived in a different time. Obviously we can only be with the people who are physically present with us. There is a wall separating us from the people in the next room, there is distance separating us from people in other countries and there is time separating us from people who lived in history.
Then, ask who God is with, or if He is with us. Introduce this concept by talking about several of the places in the Bible where we see God with His people. Explain that from the very beginning that God has been with His people, but in different ways. Ask someone to remind you how God was with His people in the garden (He walked in the garden with them). Then, ask what changed the relationship between God and His people. Explain that because of sin God had to separate His people from Himself because He is holy. Explain that in our story we’re going to see how God was able to be with His people but still be separated from Him because of sin and that later we’ll see how the separation between God and His people ended through Jesus.
Today we’re talking about the truth that God is With Us. The main way we’ll be talking about this truth is through a story in the Old Testament that shows how God was both with His people and separate from His people at the same time – in the tabernacle.
We can read about the tabernacle in Exodus 25-40 and can see that God gave all of the details for how they should build his “tent” so that He could live among them.
Introduce the story for the morning by giving the quick Bible timeline review…. God made the world, people sinned, God kicked them out of the garden, people sinned, Noah, people sinned, God chose Abraham, Isaac was born, then Jacob & Esau, then Jacob had 12 sons, Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers, 400 years passed, God’s people were slaves in Egypt, God chose Moses and sent him to rescue His people, plagues, passover, God opened the sea, now people are in the desert on the way to the promised land being led by Moses…. Moses goes up on the mountain and meets with God, God gives him the 10 commandments and gives him instructions for building a special tent called the tabernacle.
The tell story of the tabernacle from Exodus 25-40 in your own words highlighting the following points:
To illustrate the idea of being in the midst or with people, but still separated, put a small tent in the middle of the room. Have someone go inside the tent and the rest of the people stay outside. Point out that they can still talk to each other and are still together, but that the people on the outside can’t see or touch the person on the inside.
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
WITH US = HERE, PRESENT, INVOLVED IN OUR LIVES
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for WITH US. A good motion might be to put your arm around the person next to you.
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is With Us. Throughout the Bible we see God with His people in different ways at different times. Sometimes He was right with His people and sometimes He was separated from His people because of sin.”
Read the memory verse (Psalm 46:7) a few times together and do the motion for with us.
Remind the kids of how you started the lesson by thinking about how God lived with His people at different times in history. Remind them that after the first sin, God separated His people from Himself because of sin and remind them how you see that separation in the tabernacle. Talk about how this separation continued through the rest of the Old Testament- in the tabernacle and in the temple in Jerusalem, God was with His people, but there was always a curtain separating God from His people. Then, in John1:14 we read, “The Word (Jesus) became flesh and made Hs dwelling (tabernacled) among us.” Something was changing, God had come to tabernacle with His people in the flesh. But, even though Jesus was physically there with His people, there was still some separation. Something still had to be done to remove the separation between God and man. God was still holy and man was still separated so they couldn’t be together. When Jesus was on the cross (Matthew 27:50-51) and died for for the sin of His people the separation ended. In that moment, when Jesus died and sin was paid for, the curtain in the temple was torn from the top to the bottom. Jesus opened the way for sinful man to be in the presence of Holy God. Now, by believing in Jesus we can live with God and know that God is with us.
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word WITH US somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for WITH US or the memory verse or they could illustrate the the story. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Thank God for sending Jesus to earth to be with His people.
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS WISE written on it, key verse (Job 12:13) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Have kids stand in a line. Whisper an attribute of God in the first person’s ear. They should say the attribute outloud. The next person should do the motion and the 3rd person should define or explain the attribute. Those 3 people should then move to the back of the line so you can start all over again. If someone doesn’t know the motion or definition, they can pass or someone can give them a clue. Play for 5 minutes or so.
TEACH – WISE:
Introduces the truth that God is wise, by asking one of the kids to tell you what they think of when they hear the word wise or wisdom. Explain that often when we hear someone talking about wisdom we think of a really old man (Job 12:12 asks, ‘isn’t wisdom found among the aged?’) or a smart professor. In our minds, wisdom and knowledge are joined together.
One common saying about wisdom is that wisdom is KNOWLEDGE APPLIED. That means that you can be smart without being wise, but you can’t be wise without being smart. Wisdom is making the right decisions and knowing what to do with the things that you know.
The Bible often compares wisdom and foolishness. Proverbs is full of verses that compare the two. The point they’re trying to make is that you are either wise or foolish, you can’t be neutral. One of these verses about wisdom and foolishness is Proverbs 10:8, “The wise in heart accepts commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.”
Let’s take a little quiz to see how wise you are. If the statement is wise I want you to hold open a pretend book. If the statement is foolish I want you to make the letter “c” with your hand as if to say “crazy.”
~ Spending time reading God’s Word.
~ Obeying your parents
~ Crossing a busy street without checking for cars
~ Sticking something other than a plug into an electrical outlet
~ Eating all of your vegetables.
~ Feeding your vegetables to the dog and lying to your mom about it.
You guys are all really wise. It seems that you know the right thing to do in all situations. But, do you always do the right thing? The Bible tells us that God alone is always wise. He is the only one who always does the right thing at the right time. Nothing only does God always do what is wise, everything God does is wise, including the things that sometimes don’t make sense to us. We can’t question why God does certain things (like people dying in an earthquake), but we can know that everything that happens is wise and right.
We don’t have the same wisdom that God has. But, as we’ll see in our story this morning and in some of the verses we’ll read, we can ask for wisdom and He’ll give it to us and we can know that following God is always the wise thing for us to do.
Introduce the story by introducing the kids to Solomon. Ask the kids to tell you what they know about Solomon…. (he was the 3rd king of Israel, he was David’s son, he wrote most of the book of Proverbs and Song of Solomon and probably Ecclesiastes, he built the temple in Jerusalem.
Tell the story of 1 Kings 3:1-15 in your own words. Focus on verse 5-15. Explain that God offered to give Solomon anything he wanted. Read Solomon’s response in verses 6-9. Explain that Solomon could have asked for power or wealth or anything else, but he asked for wisdom to rule God’s people well. Tell the kids that God granted Solomon’s request and made him the wisest person anyone had ever known and the wisest person who has ever lived. And, because Solomon made such a wise request of God, God also gave him wealth and power and all of the other things he didn’t ask for, and God promised Solomon that if he obeyed God that he would also give him long life.
Introduce the skit by saying that this skit represents one of Solomon’s wise rulings and shows how he used the wisdom that God gave him.
Read 1 Kings 3:16-28 and/ or tell the story in your own words highlighting the following points:
After the story remind the kids that even though Solomon’s wisdom was from God, it was still nothing compared to the wisdom of God. And, just like the rest of us, Solomon eventually chose to worship himself instead of God, and sinned and turned away from God. BUT, seeing the failings of Solomon reminds us that God never fails and His wisdom is always perfect.
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is Wise. The point that we’ll make is that everything God does is right and His understanding is greater than our understanding.
WISE = ABLE TO DISCERN WHAT IS RIGHT OR TRUE
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for WISE. A good motion might be to tap the sides of your head (point to your brain).
Read Job 12:13. Talk briefly about the truth that you see in this verse. Talk about how the words counsel and understanding help to support the word wise. It shows that it has been thought out and decided, not just done on a whim.
Take a minute to read some of the other supporting verses:
~ Job 28:28 – wisdom is found in obeying God
~ Job 39:26 – it’s in God’s wisdom that all things on earth happen
~ Psalm 111:10 – fearing/ following God is where wisdom begins
~ Proverbs 2:6 – wisdom comes from God
Read the memory verse (Job 12:13) a few times together and do the motion for wise.
This morning we talked about how God shared His wisdom with Solomon, but we were also reminded that as a man Solomon still failed. The greatest example of God’s wisdom comes in a package that doesn’t really make sense to people. Can anyone think of what I’m talking about? (Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-25) Think about the truth of Jesus coming to earth and dying on the cross for His people. Humanly speaking, does it make sense that Jesus would die to pay for the sins of His people? In our minds, this doesn’t make sense at all, but it’s the greatest example of God’s wisdom ever. In His wisdom, God knew that the only way the price for sin could be paid was through the death of a perfect, spotless sacrifice and that had to be Jesus. When we think about Jesus on the cross we have an amazing picture of God’s wisdom and we see that His wisdom and His power and His love and His goodness are far greater than anything we could ever think or do or even imagine.
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word WISE somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for WISE or the memory verse or they could illustrate the the story. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Thank God for the way He showed His wisdom by Jesus dying on the cross in our place.
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS UNCHANGEABLE written on it, key verse (James 1:17) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Call out a letter of the alphabet and have kids call out an attribute of God that starts with that letter.
TEACH – UNCHANGEABLE:
Introduces the truth that God does not change by thinking about how much everything else changes. Ask kids to name ways that they have changed this year (gotten taller, different hair, learn more about God, learned to tie their shoes, etc.). Then, name various things and ask kids to tell you how those things change…. trees, sand dunes, caterpillars, etc.
Play a quick game to help kids recognize change and how easy it is for people to change. Have all the kids sit in a circle (or one circle per leader in the room). Choose one person to leave the room, or stand in the corner facing the wall. While the one player is away, the group should change as many things as they can- people swap seats, take off nametags, untie shoes, etc. Then, call the player back and ask them to point out the changes in the group. Explain that we can change very easily and in fact people and all other parts of creation are always changing, but that God never changes.
Go through a list of truths about God that we’ve learned so far this year and ask the following questions…
* Is there ever a time that God was not almighty?
* Is there ever a time that God was not good?
* Is there ever a time that God was not righteous?
* Is there ever a time that God was not truth?
* Is there ever a time that God was not love?
* Is there ever a time that God was not just?
Help kids to see that everything we’ve learned this year about God is ALWAYS true about God.
Introduce the story by saying that this is a familiar story that reminds us of 2 things about our truth for the week….
(1) people change, not God and (2) the gospel never changes.
Read Luke 19:1-10 and/ or tell the story in your own words highlighting the following points:
Ask the following questions:
(1) Who changed in this story- Jesus or Zacchaeus?
(2) How was Zacchaeus able to change? Did he change on his own, or did Jesus change him?
Explain that the change we see in Zacchaeus’ life is change that’s only possible when God works in our hearts. Zacchaeus went from a man who loved money more than anything to a man who loved God more than anything when he met Jesus.
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
UNCHANGEABLE = CANNOT BE MOVED, DOES NOT CHANGE
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for UNCHANGEABLE. A good motion might be to shake your finger like saying NO.
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is Unchangeable. A great way to think about the fact that God never changes is to look at the ways that we have changed.”
Give each child a piece of paper and something to draw with. Encourage kids to quickly draw 3 pictures of themselves.
(1) what you were like as a baby, (2) what you are like now and (3) what you think you’ll be like when you are a grown up.
As they work on their pictures, remind them that people change but God never changes.
Read the memory verse (James 1:17) a few times together and do the motion for saves.
Think back to what Zacchaeus was like at the beginning of the story. Remind the kids that everyone in town knew that Zacchaeus was a “sinner.” Then, remind them that the same is true of us. The Bible tells us (Romans 3:10-12 & 23) that just like Zacchaeus we are all sinners and we all love ourselves and our own ways more than we love God. The Bible also tells us (Ephesians 2:8-9) that we can’t change that truth about ourselves on our own….we can’t make ourselves into something that is not a sinner. BUT, the Bible also tells us (Romans 5:8 & 6:23) that we haven’t been left to change ourselves, but that just like Jesus came and met Zacchaeus where he was… a lost sinner… that Jesus comes and meets us right where we are and changes us to be like Him. We can change a lot of things about ourselves, but this is one thing we can’t change. From the very beginning of time, people have needed God to come and rescue them from their sin and bring them back into relationship Him.
The fact that we can’t change our sinful hearts on our own reminds us of the unchanging nature of God. The whole Bible is the story of God coming into His creation and changing people’s hearts (Ezekiel 36:26). Just like God is always holy and always good and always just and always loving and always righteous…. God is always in the business of rescuing His people.
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word UNCHANGEABLE somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for UNCHANGEABLE or the memory verse or they could illustrate the the story. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that children in the group would think about the ways that they have changed and rejoice in the fact that we have a God that never changes.
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS TRUTH written on it, key verse (John 14:6) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Play a game of Attribute Charades. Have kids come up one at a time. Whisper one of the attributes of God in their ear. They should act out or explain the attribute for the rest of the kids to guess.
TEACH – TRUTH:
This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is Truth. Believe it or not, within the first few pages of the Bible, God’s character is called into question as the serpent asks Eve, “Did God really say….” The serpent accuses God (& Eve) of lying. We know that God never lies, in fact He is TRUTH…there is nothing false in Him.
Introduce the story by reminding the kids what happened in Genesis 1 & 2. Remind them that God created everything. God wasn’t created, but has always been and He made everything simply by speaking it into being.
Read Genesis 1:26-30 & Genesis 2:7-17. Talk briefly about how God made Adam & Eve, what made Adam & Eve different from the rest of creation, what commands God gave to Adam & Eve, what they were made to do, what they were told not to do, etc.
Read Genesis 3:1-13 and/ or tell the story in your own words highlighting the following points:
Introduce the concept of God being truth by asking the kids to tell you how they know if something is true or false. Have one of the kids define the word true and the word false.
Then, briefly talk through the punishments given to Adam, to Eve and to the serpent. Look back at Genesis 2:17 and ask, ‘God said they would die if they ate from the tree. Was death part of their punishment?’ Explain that their punishment wasn’t immediate death, but that when they broke God’s law and sinned that death came into the world. Read Genesis 3:19 as a reminder that they would die. They were made to live forever with God, but now they would work hard, they would have pain and then they would die separated from God.
Explain that the truth of the matter is that because of sin we all have the same punishment. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death….or, the consequence that we all deserve because of sin is death.
TRUTH = FACT, RELIABLE, NOT FALSE IN ANY WAY
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for TRUTH. A good motion might be to make a capital T with your hands.
SAY: “Our memory verse for the week is John 14:6. This verse helps us to see that God is truth.”
Talk briefly about the truth that you see in this verse. Ask, how does Jesus define Himself in this verse? He is the way, He is the Truth and He is the Life. He is the only way to the Father. Not only is God the Father Truth, but Jesus is Truth and He provides the only way for us to be forgiven of our sin.
Read the memory verse (John 14:6) a few times together and do the motion for truth.
Think back to the story and punishment for that very first sin in the garden. God told them they would work hard, they would have pain and then they would die. But, the worst part of the consequence was that all of that would happen in separation from God. What we need to remember is that this is still the consequence for all of us. We will work hard, we will have pain and we will die, separated from God. When sin came into the world with Adam & Eve, sin came into each of our hearts and as sinners we will die. BUT, even in the punishment given to Adam & Eve and the serpent they was some hope of what was to come. In Genesis 3:15, God told Satan that one day the offspring of a woman would crush him. That offspring (that child) is Jesus. One day, God would send His own Son into the world to pay the price (die) for our sin and in that sacrifice, Jesus would crush Satan. That’s not the only clue we see about Jesus in this passage either. Before kicking them out of the garden, God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam & Eve (Genesis 3:21). To make these clothes that would protect and cover His people, God had to kill an animal. He had to sacrifice part of His good creation. That first sacrifice pointed to the day when God would send His Only Son into the world to be the perfect sacrifice for our sin- not just to cover up our sin, but to get rid of it forever. So you see, way back in Genesis 2:17 when God told Adam & Eve that if they ate from the tree they would die, God was being truthful. When they broke His law, death came into the world and the only way to reverse it was for Jesus to die in our place.
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word TRUTH somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for TRUTH or the memory verse or they could illustrate the the story. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that children in the class would trust Jesus as the only way to be saved and find truth in Christ alone.
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY written on it, key verse (Psalm 19:7) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Have kids stand in a line. Whisper an attribute of God in the first person’s ear. They should say the attribute outloud. The next person should do the motion and the 3rd person should define or explain the attribute. Those 3 people should then move to the back of the line so you can start all over again. If someone doesn’t know the motion or definition, they can pass or someone can give them a clue. Play for 5 minutes or so.
TEACH – GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY:
Introduce the story by putting the book of Daniel into context. Go through a VERY brief history of God’s people to help them see where Daniel fits into the story:
– God created the world, man sinned, kicked out of the garden
– Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph- sent to Egypt
– Slaves in Egypt, exodus, 40 years, promised land
– promise to obey in promised land, don’t, cycle of judges, ask for king…. Saul, David, Solomon
– Kingdom split, some good kings, some bad…. people keep sinning…. God warns…. people sin
– God’s people are taken into captivity in Babylon. The first part if the captivity were the royal family, nobles and young men who were strong & healthy…..Daniel was among this group.
Read Daniel 6 and/ or tell the story in your own words highlighting the following points:
Introduce attribute for the week by asking the kids if they think Daniel ever thought about obeying the ruling to not pray/ bow down to anyone but the king. Why not? Why did Daniel know that God could be trusted no matter what?
Ask if they think Daniel was nervous when he was thrown in the lion’s den. Why or why not? Help kids to see that Daniel trusted God. Daniel knew that God was dependable and faithful and that doing what God said was more important than doing what the king said.
Help kids to see that Daniel knew that he could trust God because God had been trustworthy/ faithful in the past. Have kids give you some examples of times in the Bible where God did what He said He would do. (Adam & Eve, Abraham, Exodus, etc.)
TRUSTWORTHY = DEPENDABLE, RELIABLE, HONEST AND FAITHFUL
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for TRUSTWORTHY. A good motion might be to cross your fingers and say “I promise.”
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is trustworthy. He can be trusted. We can count on Him to do what He says He will do. We can know that He is dependable, reliable, honest & faithful. Our key verse for the week is Psalm 19:7. Let’s say the verse together a couple of times.”
Read the memory verse (Psalm 19:7) a few times together and do the motion for trustworthy.
Trusting God to save us isn’t something that was only true for Daniel. God saved Daniel from physical harm and death, but He has also shown His trustworthiness and kept His promise to save us from something greater that death. Way back at the beginning of the Bible when Adam & Eve sinned for the first time, that sin came with a consequence and that consequence is death….not just physical death, but eternal death and separation from God. But, from Genesis 3, right after that first sin, God began to tell His people about His rescue plan. Genesis 3:15 tells us that an offspring of a woman will crush Satan. Genesis 12:3 God tells Abraham that all peoples of the earth will be blessed through his offspring. Both of these promises and so many more, point to a the promise of a someone who would come to rescue God’s people from sin and death. God kept His promise and Jesus came to save us from sin and death by dying on the cross in our place. This reminds us that we all need to be saved, but more than needing to be saved from lions like Daniel, we all need to be saved from our sin.
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word TRUSTWORTHY somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for TRUSTWORTHY or the memory verse or they could illustrate the the story. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written. Have kids share with you examples from the Bible where we can clearly see that God can be trusted.
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that children in the class would trust God for their salvation and know that God can always be trusted.
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words Jesus is the One Mediator written on it, key verse (1 Timothy 2:5) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Do a couple of the motions and have the kids tell you what motion you are acting out and what it means.
TEACH- MEDIATOR:
Introduce attribute for the week by saying that because of our sin we need a mediator to stand between us and God, but we need a mediator who doesn’t fail and sin Himself. So, Jesus came to earth and lived the perfect life that we could not live and died the death that we deserve for our sin. He took His place between us and God. He paid the price for our sin and serves as the perfect mediator who enables us to stand in God’s presence.
Tell taken from Exodus 32:1-21 and Numbers 20 in your own words stopping to read straight from the text when indicated.
Introduce the story by going through a quick Bible timeline to show the kids where we are in the story. Remind them that God created a perfect world and created people to be in perfect relationship with Him, but that these first people (Adam & Eve) broke God’s law and disobeyed Him and sin came into the world. Because they had sinned, God had to punish His people and the punishment was sending them out of His presence.Ever since then, all people have continued just like Adam & Eve and have disobeyed God and sinned. Time went by and God chose Abraham to be the beginning of His family. Abraham had a son named Isaac. Isaac had two sons, Jacob & Esau. Jacob had 12 sons, one of them was Joseph who was sold as a slave to Egypt, then was able to protect his family and bring them to Egypt. God’s people grew in Egypt and became slaves and then about God raised up Moses to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt and into the promised land. Today’s story takes place while God’s people are on their way to the promised land.
Explain that God gave Moses a special job when it came to leading the people. Moses was the one person who would talk to God on behalf of the people. God would tell Moses what He wanted the people to do and Moses would tell the people. God had called Moses up onto the mountain to meet with Him. While on the mountain, God gave Moses the law for the people, He told Moses how to build the tabernacle and explained how His people were to be holy and set apart from the people in the lands around them. Moses was up on the mountain for a long time and God’s people got restless.
READ Exodus 32:1-6
God told Moses to go down the mountain and see what His people were doing. He told Moses that the people had made an idol and were worshipping it. God told Moses that He was going to destroy the people because of their sinfulness and that He would start over with Moses. BUT, Moses remembered that His job was to speak for the people when they were in trouble, so he spoke to God and asked Him not to destroy the people. Moses reminded God how He had rescued the people from Egypt and the promises He had made to them. He told God that if He destroyed the people that the Egyptians would say that the only reason He rescued them was to kill them. Moses pleaded with God not to destroy the people and God heard his cry and did not destroy them.
Moses came down the mountain, destroyed their idol and made the people drink water with the ashes of the golden calf in it for their punishment.
Some time went by and Moses continued to lead the people and speak to God on their behalf.
READ Numbers 20:1-11
What we see in these two stories in that in both story, Moses serves as a mediator between God and His people. Moses speaks to God on behalf of the people and God speaks to Moses on behalf of the people. Moses represents the people in God’s presence. In the first story, when Moses asked God to forgive the people, God did. But, as we saw in the second story, because Moses was a man just like the rest of the people he was also a sinner and therefore wasn’t the perfect mediator between God and His people and had to be punishment for his sin by not entering the promised land. Another mediator was necessary to stand between Holy God and sinful man.
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
MEDIATOR = ONE WHO STANDS BETWEEN AND BRINGS AGREEMENT
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for MEDIATOR. A good motion might be to put your arms straight up on either side of your head and move your hand in between your arms (standing between).
Play a game to help make sense of the attribute. Have kids divide into groups of 3 and stand with 2 facing each other and the 3rd in between the 2. One of the kids on one of the ends will tell the kid on the other end to do something, but they’ll have to speak through the one in the middle (the mediator). The one giving the instructions will whisper in the ear of the mediator who will say “_______ says to ________.” Let kids have a turn being on the end and being the mediator.
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that Jesus is the One Mediator between God and man. A ‘mediator’ is someone who stands between two people or groups of people who are in disagreement and helps them to come to an agreement that they can both live with.
In the case of Jesus, the Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 2:5, which is our key verse for the week that Jesus is the mediator between God and man. Why did we need a mediator? What was the disagreement between God and man that we could never work out on our own?
The reason we need a mediator is because we are sinful and God is holy. A Holy God cannot be in the presence of sinful people and there is nothing we, as sinful people, can do on our own to get rid of our sin. So, Jesus came as the mediator- the One who would stand between us and God and take the punishment that we deserve.”
Ask kids to explain what separates us from God and what Jesus did as the mediator.
Read the memory verse (1 Timothy 2:5) a few times together and do the motion for saves.
As we saw in the stories we looked at today, we all need a mediator to stand between us and God. Because of our sin, none of us can stand in front of a Holy God without being destroyed the way that God told Moses He would destroy the people in Exodus 32. And, because of our sin, we deserve to be destroyed. We need someone to mediate between us and God and to remove the wrath of God from us (Job 9:33-34). The amazing news of the Bible is that Jesus is that true mediator. He is the only one who could every stand between us and God because He is the only one who was able to take the punishment we deserve and died in our place as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. On the left side of a piece of paper write sin and have kid name sins that are common to them. On the right side of the page write God. In the middle, draw a large cross. Talk through the drawing showing the kids how sinful man and holy God are completely separated and how there is nothing we can do on our own to bridge the gap, but that Jesus- God’s Only Son- came to earth and took our place and died the death that we deserve.
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word mediator somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for mediator or the memory verse or they could illustrate the the story. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Thank God for sending Jesus to stand in our place and die our death on the cross.
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS SOVEREIGN written on it, key verse (Job 42:2) printed on a piece of paper, pictures of (1) the world, (2) rain, (3) a throne & (4) a crown, drawn or printed on paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Have kids stand in a line. Whisper an attribute of God in the first person’s ear. They should say the attribute outloud. The next person should do the motion and the 3rd person should define or explain the attribute. Those 3 people should then move to the back of the line so you can start all over again. If someone doesn’t know the motion or definition, they can pass or someone can give them a clue. Play for 5 minutes or so.
TEACH- SOVEREIGN:
Introduce this week’s attribute by showing the 4 pictures. (The four pictures are (1) the world, (2) rain, (3) a throne & (4) a crown). Ask kids to guess what those 4 pictures have in common or what truth about God they could be pointing to. Hopefully with a little coaching (a king sits on a throne and wears crown when he rules, etc.) someone will come up with the word reign orsovereign. Explain that our truth for the morning is SOVEREIGN which means that God rules or is control or in charge of everything.
Read the following verses: Exodus 15:18, Psalm 47:8, Job 42:2, Job 38:12, Job 38:35, Job 38:39. Then ask, “based on these verses is there anything that God does not rule over?”
Remind the group that God rules over everything from the smallest ant getting its food to tsunamis and thunderstorms to when and where babies will be born. God is in control of everything.
Introduce the story by asking someone to tell you a little bit about Abraham – who he is, what he’s known for in the Bible, etc. Talk briefly about how in Genesis 12 God chose a man named Abram and told him to leave his home and follow Him and Abram did. God promised to make him into a great nation and to give him land and to bless the world through him. God changed his name to Abraham and his wife’s name to Sarah and even though they were old and didn’t have any children God promised to make their descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky or the sand on the beach and they believed God by faith (belief in something they couldn’t see).
But, time passed, they were getting older and they still didn’t even have one child, let alone numerous descendants, so they decided to take the control away from God and come up with their own plan. Abraham took a second wife. Her name was Hagar. Hagar had a son and they named him Ishmael and Abraham thought that he could be the start of God’s plan. About 13 years later, some angels came to visit Abraham and told him that Ishmael was not the son that God had promised him, but that in one year they would come back and Sarah would have a baby. When Sarah heard this she laughed because they didn’t think this could be possible, but they told her that nothing is to hard for God. The next year, Sarah had a baby and they named him Isaac and that’s where today’s story starts.
Read Genesis 21:1-21 and/ or tell the story in your own words highlighting the following points:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
SOVEREIGN = RULES OVER ALL
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for SOVEREIGN. A good motion might be to pretend that you’re holding the reigns of a horse and pull gently on them.
SAY: “Today we’re talking about the truth that God is sovereign…which means that He rules over All.”
Read the memory verse (Job 42:2} a few times together and do the motion for sovereign.
In the story today we were reminded of a promise that God made to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3 & 15:5-6 (read those verses). God promised an old man that he would be the father of a great nation. This seemed impossible to Abraham, but nothing is impossible for God. In this one promise, God was showing that He is the One who gives life, He is the One who controls where and when and to whom babies are born, He is the One who is SOVEREIGN over everything in all of creation. By giving Abraham & Sarah a baby in God’s timing, God was able to show that Isaac was born because he was God’s plan, not because of anything that people could plan. It was a miracle that an old lady like Sarah was able to have a baby. But, hidden in the promise to make Abraham into a great nation was an even bigger promise and an even bigger miracle. In Genesis 12:3, when God told Abram that all people on earth would be blessed through him, God was hinting to a child that would be born into Abraham’s family hundreds of years later. Another baby who’s birth would be a miracle. He wouldn’t be born to an old woman, but instead He would be born to a young woman who had yet to be married. He was the true promised Son. His name was Jesus and He was born as a blessing to all people. He was born to die on the cross and pay the price for our sin, so that everyone who believes in Him would be blessed by being brought into God’s family and made a child of God.
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word SOVEREIGN somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for sovereign or the memory verse or they could illustrate the the story. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that the children in the class would come to understand God’s sovereign rule and trust His perfect plan in all things.
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS OUR SHIELD written on it, key verse (Psalm 7:10) printed on a piece of paper, paper plates, foil, paper & glue, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Call out one of the attributes and have kids respond with either the motion or the definition.
TEACH- SHIELD:
Introduce this week’s attribute by asking the kids what they think of when they hear the word shield. The boys in the group should really enjoy talking about their favorite war movie and the various shields involved. Ask what the shield does for the person fighting. Focus in on the truth that the shield is a piece of armor that protects the soldier from attack. Ask kids to help you think of times in the Bible where God shielded His people, or protected them from outside harm. If no one is coming up with anything, some of the examples you might want to point them to are- Noah & the ark, crossing the Red Sea, the Passover Lamb, any of the battles where God fought for His people, etc.
Using whatever examples they come up with, talk briefly about how God shielded His people in that situation.
Then, ask the kids what the greatest danger we all face is. They’ll probably come up with lots of things, but point them to fact that the greatest danger we all face is the wrath of God. Read Romans 6:23 and talk about how because of sin we all deserve eternal death and punishment- we all deserve the wrath of God. Tell the kids that you’re going to see how God has shielded His people from His own wrath.
Introduce the text for the morning saying that this passage is in the book of Ephesians which is a letter that Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus and that in this letter Paul reminded them what it means to be a Christian, he talks about relationships within the church and he tells them about how as Christians they can stand up against attacks.
Explain that your going to read Ephesians 6:10-20. After you read the verses, they should use the provided aluminum foil & paper to make a suit of armor for one of the kids in the group.
Then, talk through the passage highlighting the following points:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
Today we’re talking about the truth that God is a shield for His people. Throughout the Old Testament we see examples of God physically shielding His people and protecting them from their enemies.
The most amazing way that God has shielded His people is by sending Jesus to die in our place so that everyone who repents and believes in Him by faith will be shielded from from the wrath of God.
SHIELD = HIDES, CONCELS, PROTECTS
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for shield. A good motion might be to hold both arms in front of your face to hide.
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God shields His people. Our key verse for the week is …
“My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.” Psalm 7:10
What we saw during the teaching time is that God shields His people by protecting them, and the best way He has shielded His people was by sending Jesus to die in our place so that everyone who repents and believes in Him by faith will be shielded from from the wrath of God.
Using the provided supplies (paper plates, foil, paper & glue), design a shield that shows the ultimate way that God has shielded His people. Be sure to write the verse on your shield.
Read the memory verse (Psalm 7:10) a few times together and do the motion for shield.
Remind the kids of the skit about the armor of God and ask if anyone remembers what the shield was called. Reread Ephesians 6:16 and talk about how the shield was called the shield of faith and that the verse says that it extinguishes the ‘flaming arrows of the evil one.‘ Ask someone to define the word faith. Talk about how we are called to believe by faith (without seeing proof) that Jesus died to pay the price for our sin and that Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that salvation is by faith alone, not by anything that we can do. Then, ask someone to remind you what you said earlier about the greatest danger we all face. Remind the kids that because we are all sinners that we all deserve the wrath (punishment) of God, but (Romans 5:8), because of His great love for His people, Jesus came to earth and took that wrath for us – He died in our place. Because of this, anyone who believes by faith that Jesus paid this price for them and repents of their sin will be shielded from the wrath of God. Jesus stands as their shield, so that on the day of judgement when sin is being punished, God the Father will look at the righteousness of Jesus instead of the sin of His people and they will be saved.
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word shield somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for shield or the memory verse or they could draw and label the armor of God. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that children in the class would trust God as their shield and hide in Him alone.
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD SHEPHERDS HIS PEOPLE written on it, key verse (John 10:11) printed on a piece of paper, pictures of a sheep, a dog, a shepherd’s staff and a cross, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Have kids each name one of the previous attributes and have the next child either tell the definition or do the motion before naming the next attribute.
TEACH- SHEPHERDS HIS PEOPLE:
To introduce the attribute for the day, show kids pictures of a sheep, a dog, a shepherd’s staff and a cross, and ask them to try and guess what attribute of God these pictures could be telling us about. Hopefully someone will think of shepherd. Take a moment to explain that a shepherd is very important for sheep because sheep aren’t very smart and that without a shepherd they would all wander off in all different directions and end up hurting themselves or being attacked by wild animals. That’s where shepherds come in. Shepherds take care of sheep, shepherds guard sheep and shepherds watch over sheep. Explain that in our story this morning they’ll hear about another task of a shepherd and they should listen carefully to hear what it is.
Introduce the story from John 10 and explain that today’s attribute of God is one that Jesus Himself announced to the people as a way to explain who He is and what He came to earth to do. Explain that the idea of God being a shepherd to His people wasn’t anything new, in fact in Psalm 23 (read to the group) David said that the Lord is His Shepherd. And, in Ezekiel 34:23 God said that He would give His people a shepherd to guide them. The people were waiting for this shepherd to come.
Then, one day while Jesus was teaching the people He started out by saying that He was the gate for the sheep and that only those who enter through Him would be saved and that He is the Good shepherd who knows His sheep by name and who will lay down His life for His sheep.
Read John 10:1-18 and/ or tell the story in your own words highlighting the following points:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
SHEPHERD = TENDS, GUARDS AND WATCHED OVER
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for SHEPHERD. A good motion might be to pretend to hold and pet a sheep.
SAY:” Today we’re talking about the truth that God shepherds His people. Our key verse for the week is …
“I am the Good shepherd. The Good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” John 10:11
Have kids work in groups (or pairs) to illustrate the way that the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. The trick is that they need to include both a shepherd’s staff and a cross in their pictures. Give kids a few minutes to work and then have them show their pictures to the rest of the class.
Read the memory verse (John 10:11) a few times together and do the motion for shepherd.
Reread John 10:11, 17-18. Ask the kids what Jesus meant when He said that He lays down His life. Ask them when and how Jesus laid down His life. Remind the kids that the whole reason Jesus came to earth was to die on the cross for His sheep (His people). Ask one of the kids to remind you why this was necessary and talk briefly about how the Bible tells us that we are all sinners (Romans 5:12) and that the punishment for sin is death (Romans 6:23). Talk about how without Jesus we are all like a sheep without a shepherd- we’re all going our own way, but that Jesus came to pay the price for our sin and to shepherd His sheep and die in our place.
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word shepherd somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition or the memory verse or they could illustrate the the story. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would thank God for the gift of Jesus and the gift of salvation for all who believe in Jesus. Thank God for sending Jesus as the Good Shepherd to lay down His life for His people.
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD SAVES written on it, key verse (Psalm 68:20) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Have kids stand in a line. Whisper an attribute of God in the first person’s ear. They should say the attribute outloud. The next person should do the motion and the 3rd person should define or explain the attribute. Those 3 people should then move to the back of the line so you can start all over again. If someone doesn’t know the motion or definition, they can pass or someone can give them a clue. Play for 5 minutes or so.
TEACH- SAVES:
Ask kids to share stories of times that they have needed to be saved or rescued. Let a couple of kids share their stories, then tell them that the Bible is very clear that we all need to be rescued or saved and we all need to be saved from the same thing and there is only one person who can save us. Tell them that you know that they know who you’re talking about, but to please put that truth in the back of their minds for a few minutes and hear the background of the story first.
Introduce the story from Genesis 18 & 19 (There are some sensitive details in this story. Please skip over them for the sake of this lesson).
Ask someone to tell you who Lot is. (He is Abraham’s nephew). Remind them that back in Genesis 12, when God called Abraham to leave his land and go to the land that God would show him, that Lot went with Abraham. Then, in chapter 13, they realize that they had too many animals to stay together so they separated and each went their separate ways.
When we get to Genesis 18, the Lord (& 2 angels) appears to Abraham to tell him that God’s promise to make him into a great nation and to bless the world through Him would still happen~ in fact, they tell Abraham that they would return in a year and Sarah would have had a son. At the end of this conversation, when they get up to leave Abraham they looked down toward the cities of Sodom & Gomorrah. Lot and his family lived in Sodom. The Lord told Abraham that because these two cities were full of wickedness, He would destroy them.
Abraham was concerned about Lot and his family and began to plead to the Lord to save them. Abraham asked if He would save the city if there were 50 righteous people in it. Then he asked what if there are only 45 righteous people, or 40 righteous people, or 30 righteous people, or 20 righteous people…and each time the Lord said that if he found that many righteous people in the town it would be spared. Then Abraham asked, what if there were only 10 righteous people in the city and the Lord said that He would spare the city for only 10.
So, the two angels who had visited Abraham with the Lord made their way down to Sodom and Gomorrah. They met Lot just outside the city and stayed with him. From Lot’s home, they could see that the town was as wicked as they believed it to be and there were not even 10 righteous people in the city. The angels warned Lot and his family of the coming destruction and told them to get out of town.
Read Genesis 19:12-29 and/ or tell the story in your own words highlighting the following points:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
This week we’re talking about the truth that God saves. We’ve all needed to be saved at some point in our lives. Maybe we climbed too high in a tree or maybe we went too deep in the pool. Someone was there to save us and bring us to safety. The Bible tells us that we’re all in greater danger than deep water or a tall tree and we all need to be saved.
SAVE = RESCUE FROM DANGER
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for SAVE. A good motion might be to reach out and down with 1 hand like you’re grabbing the hand of someone who is falling or someone in water.
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is the rock. Our key verse for the week is Psalm 68:20. This verse reminds us that God saves. Let’s say the verse together a couple of times and then we’ll talk about what God saves His people from and how God saves His people.”
Read the memory verse (Psalm 68:20) a few times together and do the motion for saves.
Tell the kids that although they’ve heard the words “God saves” thousands of times that you want them to really think about what it means that God saves, how he saves and what he saves his people from. Think back to the story and how Abraham asked the Lord to save the city if there were 10 righteous people in it and God agreed. Ask what it means to be righteous (to be in right standing before God- sinless- perfect- holy). Then ask, can anyone be righteous on their own? Remind the kids that the Bible is really clear on this truth that all of us are sinners and no one is righteous (Romans 3:10-12 & 23). In the story, Lot was a good man, but on His own (apart from God) he wasn’t righteous. He wasn’t saved because he is good, he was saved because he trusted God and obeyed Him. Help the kids to see that the same is true for each and every one of us. All of us are like Lot. We’re living ok lives and we’re completely unaware that we’re about to be destroyed. The Bible tells us that because of our sin we deserve to be completely destroyed forever and nothing we can do will take away the destruction that we deserve. But, Romans 5:8 tells us that ‘while we were still sinners, Christ died.‘ The angels came and warned Lot of the coming judgement and told him to follow God and they would be saved. We all need to listen to the warning that Lot heard and do what Lot did….turn our backs on sin and turn toward God. The only way we can be saved is to look to Jesus (John 3:14-15) and not look back.
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word saves somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for saves or the memory verse or they could illustrate the the story. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that children in the class would run to God as the rock of their salvation and find their refuge in Him alone instead of the things of the world.
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD PROVIDED THE PERFECT SACRIFICE written on it, key verse (Romans 3:25) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group, a large piece of art paper or poster board.
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Call out an attribute of God and have someone tell you what it means and/ or do the motion for that attribute.
TEACH- GOD PROVIDED THE PERFECT SACRIFICE FOR HIS PEOPLE:
Introduce the attribute for the morning by asking the kids what the word sacrifice means or what they think of when they hear the word. Some kids will probably say something about the Old Testament sacrificial system.Tell them that we’ll get to that in a minute, but first to imagine that they didn’t know anything about the Bible and then define the word. Talk about how in it’s own sacrifice means to give something that’s hard to give. Give a personal example such as- it would be a sacrifice for me to stop eating chocolate because I love chocolate so much. Explain that the word sacrifice has an element of giving something that’s important to you.
Then, BRIEFLY, talk about the Old Testament sacrificial system. Say something like,
“Ever since the first sin in the garden of Eden, sin had to be paid for. When Adam and Eve first sinned, God killed animals to make clothes for them and then punished them by sending them out of the garden. For a while in the Bible, we hear of sacrifices to God randomly as someone like Noah builds and altar and offers a sacrifice to God. But, once God established His people in Abraham and began the process of redeeming and rescuing His people in the time of the Exodus, suddenly we see God requiring sacrifices to pay for (cover up) sin. While the people were in the desert, God gave them laws that included lots of sacrifices. Every day, animals would be killed and burned as a sacrifice. None of these sacrifices got rid of sin. All they did was cover up sin so that God could dwell among His sinful people.
For God’s people to truly live in God’s presence a final sacrifice had to be made. But this time instead of people giving up their best sheep, God would be the one to make the sacrifice….”
Introduce the story from Mark 15:21-40. Tell the kids that you know this is a familiar story, but that you want them to listen as if they are hearing the story for the first time.
Use the following points to tell the story in your own words. Or, read directly from the Bible and them discuss these points.
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
Talk about how God was the One who offered this final sacrifice and how because Jesus was the perfect sacrifice that His death was the last sacrifice needed for sin to be paid for.
PERFECT SACRIFICE = THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE PAYMENT FOR SIN
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for SACRIFICE. A good motion might be to put your arms out to your sides like Jesus on the cross.
SAY: “Today we’re talking about the truth that God provided the perfect sacrifice for our sin. The Bible tells us that there is nothing we can on our own to pay for our sin. Jesus paid the price for our sin on the cross. To help you remember the verse, we’re going to make a poster.”
Pull out the poster board or large piece of art paper and markers. Draw a large cross in the middle of the paper. Either you or one of the kids should write the verse inside the cross. Then, have the kids work together to draw the story around the cross. They can each draw what they remember, or you can assign different kids to draw different parts of the story – the soldiers walking with Jesus, Simon carrying the cross, Jesus on the cross, the sky becoming dark, the temple curtain tearing, the sign above Jesus’ head, etc.
Read the memory verse (Romans 3:25) a few times together while drawing.
The connection has really been made throughout the lesson, but by way of review, talk kids through the gospel reminding them of the following points that show the necessity of this one final sacrifice.
(1) God made people to be in perfect relationship with Him
(2) Sin came into the world through Adam and Eve and destroyed the relationship between God and man. Sinful man could not be in the presence of a Holy and Perfect God. And, not only did Adam & Eve sin, but the Bible tells us that every person since them have sinned and are born as sinners.
(3) The sacrifices in the Old Testament only covered up sin, they never got rid of sin or paid the price for sin.
(4) The price that had to be paid for sin was death….but if you or I paid that price we would die and not be united with God.
(5) Jesus came to earth as the perfect sacrifice. He did what none of us would ever be capable of doing and He lived a holy and sinless life. Then, as the perfect sacrifice He died to pay the price for sin and rose again so that we could be united with God in life.
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word perfect sacrifice somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for perfect sacrifice or the memory verse or they could illustrate the story. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would thank God for the gift of Jesus and the gift of salvation for all who believe in Jesus.
LESSON 30: GOD IS THE ROCK
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS THE ROCK written on it, key verse (2 Samuel 22:32) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Have kids stand in a line. Whisper an attribute of God in the first person’s ear. They should say the attribute outloud. The next person should do the motion and the 3rd person should define or explain the attribute. Those 3 people should then move to the back of the line so you can start all over again. If someone doesn’t know the motion or definition, they can pass or someone can give them a clue. Play for 5 minutes or so.
TEACH- GOD IS THE ROCK:
Ask the kids to tell you what they think of when they hear the word ROCK. Have them name other words that come to mind when they think of a rock. Talk about how a rock is hard and strong and unchanging and if it’s big enough it can become a shelter, etc.
Then, explain that this morning we’re talking about the truth that God is our rock. Ask if anyone can think of any stories from the Bible that might illustrate our God is our Rock – try to help them think of times when God showed that He is strong, or when God was a refuge for His people to hide in, etc.
Introduce the story from Matthew 7:24-27 and tell it in your own words. Some of the truths to discuss are:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
This week we’re talking about the truth that God is the Rock. When we think of a rock we think of something that is strong and unchanging and if it’s a big enough rock something that we can hide behind for protection. Ask kids to tell you what they think it would be like to hide behind a big, strong rock and what they think the rock could protect them from.
THE ROCK = THE FIRM FOUNDATION, FIRM, NEVER SHAKING
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for ROCK. A good motion might be to squat down to form a rock with your body.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is the rock. Our key verse for the week is 2 Samuel 22:32. This verse reminds us that not only is God a strong refuge for His people, but that He is THE strong refuge for His people. There is no one else we can run to in times of trouble. Only God can give us the protection we truly need.”
Read the memory verse (2 Samuel 22:32) a few times together and do the motion for rock.
CROSS CONNECTION:
In the story that Jesus told about the wise and foolish builders, he was teaching us something very important about salvation. Probably, when these two houses were built and before the storms came, they both looked good on the outside and no one would know that one of them had a good foundation and one didn’t. If we take this comparison to people we could say that there were 2 people who both went to church and both of them tried to do good things and both of them tried not to sin too much, but one of them was just doing these things trying to look good and trying to be strong on their own. Through this story, Jesus was reminding us that we can’t do it on our own (Ephesians 2:8-9), we can’t be good enough (Romans 3:23) and that we need to build our lives on Jesus. Jesus needs to be the foundation of our lives. We need to trust and believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. We need to turn away (repent) from our sin and turn to Jesus as our salvation That’s what it means to build your life on the rock!
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word the rock somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for the rock or the memory verse or they could illustrate the parable that Jesus told about the wise and foolish builders. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that children in the class would run to God as the rock of their salvation and find their refuge in Him alone instead of the things of the world.
LESSON 29: GOD IS RIGHTEOUS
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS RIGHTEOUS written on it, key verse (Psalm 71:19a) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group, 12 small pieces of paper to review the attributes
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. As a quick review, choose 6 of the attributes and write them on a small piece of paper each and write those 6 definitions on small pieces of paper. Place them all face down and take turns turning over 2 at a time looking for a match. if they’re not a match, for each attribute turned up, say the definition and for each definition say the attribute. Choose a few attributes from the beginning of the series and a few more recent ones to help kids review all that they’ve learned.
TEACH- GOD IS RIGHTEOUS:
Ask the kids if they’ve ever known anyone who is always right. Joke about how there are some people who think they’re right all the time, but because we’re all sinners we can be sure that no one is right all the time. We all are wrong in the things we think or say or do.
But, the Bible tells us that God is always right. Explain that the word we can use to describe the rightness of God is RIGHTEOUS.
Introduce the story from Matthew 4:1-11 and tell it in your own words. Some of the truths to discuss are:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
RIGHTEOUS = ALWAYS RIGHT, ALWAYS DOES WHAT IS RIGHT
EXPLAIN: In this lesson, we’re talking about the truth that God is Righteous. The word righteous has a clue to it’s definition right in the word. When we say that God is righteous we are saying that He is always and only right. He cannot be or do wrong and there is nothing that is right apart from Him. Ask the class how they saw God’s righteousness displayed in the story they just heard. Explain that righteousness is one of those attributes of God that we can never attain on our own, because we are sinful and can only be made righteous through Jesus.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for RIGHTEOUS. A good motion might be to do 2 thumbs up and then move your hand with thumbs up in a big circle, like you’re saying right/ good always
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “Our key verse for the week is Psalm 71:19 which speaks of God’s righteousness.” Then, work together as a group to make up motions for the verse and use the motions to remember the verse. Say the verse together with the motions several times.
CROSS CONNECTION:
In our story today, we saw righteousness in action. We were reminded that Jesus came to earth as a man and that He was tempted to sin and yet He never did. We were also reminded that we are just the opposite. We are unrighteous. Everything we do apart from Jesus is sinful and there is nothing right about it. The Bible is really clear in telling us that we are all sinners and that there is nothing we can do on our own to rescue ourselves from this life (Romans 3:10-12 & 23, 6:23, 5:8, Ephesians 2:8-9, etc.). Thankfully, the story does end there and we’re also told how we can escape from our unrighteousness and Jesus is the only way (John 14:6). The truth we need to remember is this – Jesus came to earth, He lived a perfect and sinless life, He died on the cross to pay for our sin (not His), He rose again and now we can live with Him if we believe that He paid the price for our sin. And, all people who believe in Jesus will be clothed with His righteousness so that we can stand before the Holy God. It’s the great exchange. On the cross, Jesus took on our unrighteousness and God’s righteous punishment for our sin and then gives us His righteousness. Now that’s worth celebrating!
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word righteous somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for righteous or the memory verse or they could illustrate the story of Jesus’ temptation. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that the lesson the class just heard on the righteousness of God would help to convict them of their sin and see their need for salvation.
LESSON 28: GOD PROTECTS HIS PEOPLE
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD PROTECTS HIS PEOPLE written on it, key verse (Psalm 40:11) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Play a quick game of ‘charades’ to review the attributes of God. Call kids up one at a time and whisper one of the attributes in their ear. have them act it out (do the motion or act it out in some other way) or give clues for the rest of the class to guess which attribute they’re thinking of. Be prepared to give suggestions of how they might act out each of the attributes. Play for 4-5 minutes.
TEACH- GOD PROTECTS HIS PEOPLE:
Ask kids to name things that protect us. Have them think through what protects us in the car (seat belts, baby car seats, brakes, etc.), what protects our feet when we walk (shoes), what protects us at home (smoke detectors, locks on our doors, etc.) and people who protect us (parents, teachers, police men, etc.).
Then, ask a couple of kids to share stories about a time when they needed to be protected. Talk about what they needed protection from, who protected them and what form the protection came in. After the stories, remind them that we need protection when we’re in danger.
Introduce the idea that God protects His people. Explain that throughout the Bible we see examples of how God has protected His people from lots of things. Ask kids to tell you stories they can think of where God protected His people (EX: Daniel in the lion’s den, Noah’s family in the ark, Rahab when the people entered Jericho, Jesus’ disciples in the boat in the storm).
Then say, “we’ve seen God protect His people in lots of ways in the Bible, but the fact that we still say that God protects His people must mean that we’re in danger and that as we go through the lesson we’ll talk about the danger that we all find ourselves in.”
Introduce the story from Exodus 1-2 and tell it in your own words. Some of the truths to discuss are:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
PROTECTS = DEFENDS, GUARDS, COVERS AND SHEILDS
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for PROTECTS. A good motion might be to use one hand to cover or shield the fingers of your other hand – protect them.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week’s memory verse is Psalm 40:11. In this verse we are reminded that God protects His people – specifically that God’s love and truth protect His people.” Talk about how love and truth can protect us. Explain that in a simple sense, the truth that the stove is hot protects us from having our fingers burned and our mom’s love in warning us about the hot stove also protects us. Help the kids to see that in a similar way, the truth of God’s Word (the Bible) is a tool that God uses to protect us. When we read that Jesus is the only way to be saved, that truth protects us from the trap of following false gods.
Read the memory verse (Psalm 40:11) a few times together and do the motion for protect while saying the verse.
CROSS CONNECTION:
In our story today, we saw God protect Moses using a little basket and the daughter of the Pharaoh. God’s reason for protecting Moses was that God had a great plan for Moses’ life. God planned to use Moses to rescue His people from slavery in Egypt. This story points us to another time when God protected another baby for a similar reason. When Jesus was a baby, another ruler (King Herod) would be afraid of loosing his power when he heard of the birth of a king, so he ordered that all of the baby boys less than 2 years old be killed. God warned Joseph through a dream to take Mary and Jesus and go to Egypt to be safe. God protected His Son, because the time wasn’t right for Him to die. Jesus had come to earth to die, but first He would have to be tempted and yet remain sinless, He would have to call the people to repent and return to God and then He would willingly give up His life to pay the price for the sins of all of God’s people.
The ultimate way that God has protects His people is through Jesus dying on the cross in our place. Jesus protected us from death and eternal separation from God by paying the price for our sin. Now that’s amazing protection!
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word protects somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for protects or the memory verse or they could illustrate either the story of Moses, or any other Bible story they can think of where God acted to protect His people. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Thank God for His hand of protection on His people throughout the Bible and ultimately protecting His people from sin and death through Jesus’ death in our place.
LESSON 27: GOD IS ONE
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS ONE written on it, key verse (Dueteronomy 6:4) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group, and 1 extra large piece of paper or cardstock (poster board)
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take the time to go through all 26 of the attributes we’ve already learned in this study. Either read the attribute and have the kids do the motion, or read the definition and have the kids tell you the definition.
TEACH- GOD IS JUDGE:
Say: “I just read a list of 26 truths about God. Does that mean there are 26 gods??? One who is Omnipotent and One who is love and One who is Holy? No, obviously not and I know that none of you thought that. Sometimes people like to say things like ‘my God is loving, but He’s not a judge,’ but when people are saying things like that they are forgetting our truth for today. They are forgetting that God is ONE. God is all of the attributes that we’ve talked about so far this year and all the truths we’ll talk about the rest of the year and so much more. In order to understand who God is, we need to have a big picture of God. Forgetting one or two of the truths of God would be like putting together a puzzle and leaving out a couple of the pieces, we wouldn’t have a complete picture of God and we wouldn’t be worshipping the true God.
Tell the kids that you want to walk them through a story that should help them understand more about the truth that God is One.
Introduce the story from Acts 17:16-34 and tell it in your own words. Some of the points to include are:
After going through the passage, have the kids help you make a list of the truths about the One true God that Paul taught the people. Some of the things they should notice are: He wasn’t made by people, God made all people, God will judge the world, God raised Jesus from the dead, God makes us live everyday.
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
Briefly explain that when we say God is One, we are saying two things: (1) there is only One God and (2) there is unity in the trinity. God the Father, Jesus and the Spirit are One God, they are 3 in one.
ONE = THE ONLY
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for ONE. A good motion might be to hold up 1 finger.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week’s memory verse is Deuteronomy 6:4. This verse is one of the first things that Jewish children are taught about God and Jewish families recite this verse all the time. This verse reminds us of the basic truth about God, that He is ONE. There is no other god. He alone is the only true God. And, He is all of the truths we’ve been learning about God this year. You cannot leave any of them out.”
Explain that to help us remember this truth that we’re going to make something to illustrate the truth. In the middle of a large piece of cardstock or poster board, write the word God. There should be at least as much space as the word God on all 4 sides of the word. Draw a circle around the word God. Then draw 6 or 7 lines from the edge of the paper to the circle like rays coming out of the circle. This should divide the blank areas of the paper into 7 or 8 spaces. Have kids tell you one truth about God to write in each space. Carefully cut down the lines to the edge of the circle.
Take turns folding down one of the pieces of your page and asking, “Can God be _____, and______, and ______ and ______ without being _______.?” (fill in the first blanks with truths that are visible on your page and the last one with the truth you folded down.
The point is that God is One and He is all of these truths….He is Almighty and Omniscient. He is compassionate and the judge, etc.
Read the memory verse (Deuteronomy 6:4) a few times together.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Talk through John 14:6 and how just as there is One God, and God is One (meaning that God the Father, Jesus and the Spirit are One), that the Bible is also equally clear on the truth that there is ONE way for sinful man to be reconciled to God and that is through Jesus. Remind the kids why we are separated from God (because of our sin) and have them repeat after you – One God and One way. Use 1 Timothy 2:5 to support this argument. Talk about some of the other ways that some people try to get to God – other religions, being really good, coming to church. Explain that the Bible is really clear when it tells us that Jesus is the only way to God because Jesus died to pay the price for our sin.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word one somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for one or the memory verse or they could illustrate the story that they heard this morning. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Thank God for giving us the Bible where we can learn about who He is and what He is like. Ask God to continue to teach us to worship Him the way He alone deserves to be worshipped.
LESSON 26: GOD IS OMNISCIENT
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS OMNISCIENT written on it, key verse (1 Samuel 2:3) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. As a quick review, do a few of the motions and see if the kids in the group can tell you what that motion teaches us about who God is and what God is like.
TEACH- GOD IS OMNISCIENT:
Start out by reviewing the “omni” traits of God- – omnipotent & omnipresent and then tell the kids that this morning we’re going to add a 3rd ‘omni’ or ‘ALL’ trait. Ask if anyone can guess what characteristic of God they think we’re talking about. Hopefully someone will say that God is ‘all-knowing’ or that God knows everything. Tell the kids that a word we can use to describe the truth that God is all knowing is ‘omniscient.’
Ask if any of the kids in the room are all knowing. Explain that there are some people who act like “know-it-alls”- that means that they act like they know everything and they always have to be right m but that it is impossible for a human to know everything, just like being limited by time and space, we have limited knowledge. I might know everything there is to know about multiplication and can do all kinds of math in my head, but there are lots of things I can never know. Have kids help you think of some random things that we could never know: how many grains of sand there are in the desert or how many hairs are on my head (which the Bible says God knows) or the names of the stars that we can’t even see with the strongest telescope, etc.
Tell the kids that you want to walk them through a story that should help them understand more about the truth that God is all knowing.
Introduce the story from Acts 4 & 5 and tell it in your own words. Some of the truths to discuss are:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
OMNISCIENT = KNOWS EVERYTHING
EXPLAIN: Ask the kids if there is anything that God doesn’t know. Remind them of the story and how God knew what was in their hearts and knew they were lying to Peter and to God. Ask if we can ever lie to God. No, He knows our thoughts so its impossible to lie to God.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for OMNISCIENT. A good motion might be to tap the side of your head with your finger like you’re saying that you know something.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week’s memory verse is 1 Samuel 2:3. In this verse we see that God knows our thoughts and our deeds. God knows everything about everybody because God is OMNISCIENT.
Read the memory verse (1 Samuel 2:3) a few times together. Work as a group to make up motions for the verse. Then play a game to review the verse. Take turns asking questions like ‘does God know how when I lie to my mom?’ and answering ‘yes – then reciting the verse.’
CROSS CONNECTION:
Remind the kids that this morning we talked about the truth that God knows everything that that includes our thoughts and heart motives. This is one of the reasons why sin is such a HUGE problem. We need to remember that our sin is actually against God. When we tell a little lie, or do something in secret that no one will ever find out about and think we’ve gotten away with it, we need to remember that God knows our hearts. That’s why Jesus taught that just calling your brother a fool is the same as killing him, because in your heart you are thinking evil thoughts about him. When we consider our thoughts as sin, its obvious that we are all sinners. The sin in this story wasn’t keeping the money, the sin was thinking they could trick God and the church and make themselves look good. Thankfully, Jesus came and died on the cross for our sin. We can’t live the life that God calls us to live on our own, but when we follow Jesus He’ll change our hearts and start to make us more like Him so that we obey a little more every day.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word omniscient somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for omniscient or the memory verse or they could illustrate the story they heard and write something about God knowing their thoughts. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Thank God for teaching us about Him through this study so that we can come to know Him more and more.
LESSON 25: GOD IS OMNIPRESENT
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS OMNIPRESENT written on it, key verse (Psalm 139:7) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group, 12 small pieces of paper to review the attributes
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. As a quick review, choose 6 of the attributes and write them on a small piece of paper each and write those 6 definitions on small pieces of paper. Place them all face down and take turns turning over 2 at a time looking for a match. if they’re not a match, for each attribute turned up, say the definition and for each definition say the attribute. Try to use some from the beginning of the series and some more recent attributes for the warm up review.
TEACH- GOD IS OMNIPRESENT:
Start out by asking the kids where they are right now. Hopefully they’ll say they’re in their classroom, at church, or they’ll name your city or maybe someone will say that they’re on earth. Ask if they could be somewhere else right now at the same time as being here. Start with obvious ones. Can you be here and on the moon? Then, move in closer and ask – Can you be here and be in the next room? Or, can you be at the front of the room and the back of the room?
Then, ask where God is. Some kids will probably say heaven, which needs to be acknowledged as a correct answer. Some might say that God is in their heart, to which you should acknowledge that if they have repented of their sin and turned to Jesus for forgiveness that in a sense God is living in and through you. (You might want to read John 14:16-20 and point out that if you are a follower of Jesus and have turned to Him for forgiveness that you are in Him and He is in God). But then ask something like, so God is only in your heart? (that’s not fair.)
Tell the kids that the Bible tells us that God is everywhere all the time. He is not limited by time and space. God is everywhere all of the time. Go on to explain that even though God is everywhere all the time that sometimes in the Bible we read about Him entering time and space: God was in the burning bush, God was in the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, God was in the cloud that settled on the temple. But, He was also everywhere else at the same time.
Tell the kids that there is one chapter in the Bible that really helps us to understand that God is everywhere by asking a simple question. Where can I go from God’s presence? And that chapter is Psalm 139.
Read through Psalm 139 and have kids point out the truths that this one Psalm teaches us about God and the fact that He is omnipresent (or everywhere all the time). Some of the truths to discuss are:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
OMNIPRESENT = EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME
EXPLAIN: The Bible tells us that God is OMNIPRESENT, He is everywhere all the time. Read and discuss these verse to further your discussion – Proverbs 15:3 and Jeremiah 23:23-24. Talk about what these verses tell us about who God is and where God is.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for OMNIPRESENT. A good motion might be to make a big circle around your body with your hand.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is Omnipresent (or everywhere all the time). Our memory verse for the week is…
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?” Psalm 139:7. The answer is no where. There is no where we can go where God isn’t there. This should give us comfort when we feel scared or alone to remember that God is always there.”
Read the memory verse (Psalm 139:7) a few times together and each time you finish the verse yell… NOWHERE! GOD IS EVERYWHERE!
CROSS CONNECTION:
Remind the kids that this morning we talked about the truth that God is everywhere, which is an amazing truth to remember. Ask them again where they could do to hide from God and remind them that we can’t go anywhere to get away from God. Then, say something like, ‘although we’re always in God’s presence now because God is everywhere, there is still something that separates us from God. Sin is like a veil keeping us from being completely in God’s presence because He is only and He cannot have sin in His presence. The only way we can remove the veil, or get rid of the sin that separates us from God is to understand that we are sinners and that we need to be forgiven of our sin and believe that Jesus died to pay the price for our sin.’ Remind the group of the week when we talked about God’s holiness and how because God is holy He is completely separated from sin. But, because of His great love for His people, the Bible tells us that Jesus took on our sin and died in our place to pay for our sin so that we could be brought back into a right relationship with God and enjoy His presence forever!
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word OMNIPRESENT somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for OMNIPRESENT or the memory verse or they could draw something to help them remember that God is everywhere. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Thank God for always being with us and never leaving us alone. Thank His especially that through Jesus we can be in His presence forever.
LESSON 24: GOD IS OMNIPOTENT
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS OMNIPOTENT written on it, key verse (Joshua 4:24) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Choose a few of the attributes and name the attribute for the children to respond with the definition or action, OR do the action and ask the kids to respond with the attribute about God.
TEACH- GOD IS OMNIPOTENT:
Start out by asking the kids to share ‘feats of strength’…. who can do 20 push ups? who can lift their brother or sister in the air? etc. Congratulate their strength each time they share some sort of feat of strength and then ask an obvious question….like ‘its amazing that you can lift your brother in the air, but can you lift a car in the air?’ Ask kids to tell stories of the strongest people they’ve ever seen and what they’ve seen them do and then make a comment to show that even these strong men aren’t ALL powerful. Tell the kids that in order to help them understand the truth that God is OMNIPOTENTthat you’re going to look at the story of a VERY strong man in the Bible who looses his strength.
Talking about the truth God is Omnipotent should remind us of the beginning of the year when we talked about God being Almighty. Omnipotent means that God is almighty or INFINITE in power. To help us remember this truth we’re going to look at a story that reminds us that even the strongest man recorded in the Bible wasn’t omnipotent.
Talk through Judges 16 (the story of Samson & Delilah) in your own words. You might want to read parts of the text and elaborate on it. Some points to include are:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
OMNIPOTENT = ALMIGHTY OR INFINITE IN POWER
EXPLAIN: Think back to the story of Samson with the kids in the group and talk about how Samson lost His power, but God can NEVER lose His power! God’s power is infinite… it has no beginning or ending.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for OMNIPOTENT. A good motion might be to make a big circle with your arms and then a strong man pose
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is Omnipotent (or almighty and infinite in power). Our memory verse for the week is… “He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.” Joshua 4:24. Can you think of other things (stories in the Bible) that God has done with his power and might?” As kids give examples, talk through them and discuss how God shows His omnipotence in that story.
Read the memory verse – Joshua 4:24 a few times together
CROSS CONNECTION:
Remind the kids that in our story this morning we saw a very strong man and we saw how he got his strength from God. Talk about how because God is omnipotent He can give power to people when He wants to and He can take power away when He wants to. God has unlimited power. Ask the kids to remind you how Samson lost his power…. true it happened because his hair was cut off, but ultimately it was because he forgot that it was God who gave him the power and God who could take it away and like all sin in anyone’s life, Samson began to believe that he was in control and forgot about God. The story of Samson and the way his life was destroyed by sin reminds us of the truth that sin destroys all of our lives and that we are all sinners who have forgotten that God is God and we are not. The answer to the sin problem in our lives is the same as the answer that Samson saw. The only way we can be forgiven of our sin and life is to repent or turn away from our sin and believe that Jesus died to pay the price for our sin.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word omnipotent somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for omnipotent or the memory verse or they could illustrate the story of Samson or they could draw pictures of other ways that God has shown His power. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Thank God for the ways that He has shown His power to us through creation and pray that children in the group will come to understand His omnipotence more and more.
LESSON 23: GOD IS MERCIFUL
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words God is Merciful written on it, key verse (Daniel 9:9) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Do a little bit of review by reading out a few of the definitions and asking kids to tell you the attribute of God. You could also give them clues by doing the motion while reading the definition.
TEACH- GOD IS MERCIFUL:
Start out by asking the kids if they’ve ever heard someone in the movie or on TV begging and crying and saying something like, “please have mercy on me.” Ask them what they think the word mercy means and what the person in that situation might be asking for. Briefly explain that mercy is undeserved love, compassion, pity & grace. Tell the kids to listen for an example of mercy in today’s story.
Talk through 1 Kings 18:16-45 (the story of Elijah & the prophets of Baal) in your own words. You might want to read the text and elaborate on it. Some points to include are:
Make sure to include the following points:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
MERCIFUL= FULL OF COMPASSION, PITY, UNDESERVED GRACE & LOVE FOR ANOTHER
EXPLAIN: Talk about how we we saw mercy displayed in the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Ask how God showed mercy on His people in the story. Ask kids for other examples in scripture they can think of where God shows mercy to his people. Read these verses and talk about what they tell us about the mercy of God.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for MERCIFUL. A good motion might be to wipe your hands on each other twice (like you’re showing that your hands are clean).
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is merciful and we have a new verse….
“The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him.” Daniel 9:9
As a group, talk through this verse and define the words in it. Define and discuss the following words:
In your discussion, talk about how we have all rebelled against God and how God has shown mercy to us through Jesus.
Read the memory verse (Daniel 9:9) a few times together and do the motions that you’ve just come up with.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Remind the kids that in our story this morning that God’s people had forgotten about God, they had rebelled against God and they were worshipping a false God named Baal. Then, say that we have all done the same thing. True none of us bow down to statues, but the Bible tells us that we have all rebelled against God. We’ve all turned our backs on God and in our own way we have all worshipped other things. But in the story, we saw that God rescued His people from idolatry by showing them who He is and having mercy on them. They (like all of us) deserved to be punished for their sin, but God showed mercy to them and they repented. Each time we see something like this happen in the Old Testament we can be reminded of the most amazing way that God showed mercy to His people even though we all deserve punishment. Romans 5:8 tells us that because of His love for His people, God acted in mercy and Jesus died for our sins. Now that’s mercy.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word merciful somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They may want to write and illustrate the memory verse, illustrate the story or draw/ write something to remind themselves how God ultimately showed mercy to His people through Jesus’ death on the cross in our place. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would call on God for mercy and turn to God for salvation. Thank Jesus for dying on the cross as the perfect sacrifice and for paying the price for our sin.
LESSON 22: GOD IS MAJESTIC
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS MAJESTIC written on it, key verse (Psalm 8:9) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group, pages with the truths about God on the top and the definition on the bottom that have been cut in half for the review activity.
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far.
Play a quick review game where you hand each child 1 or 2 of the review pages that you’ve prepared (either attributes of God or definitions). Then, have kids race to find who has their match and put the pieces together.
TEACH- GOD IS MAJESTIC:
Start out by bowing down to the kids and saying things like “your majesty, what can I do for you?” or “welcome your majesty.”
Then, ask the kids what the word majesty makes them think of. Once someone says it makes them think of a king, ask then to describe a king. Some of the things to include in the description are – kings are royal or regal or grand, kings are powerful, kings are rich, kings are in control, kings reign over their people or their country, etc.
Have one of the kids read 2 Samuel 7:16. In this verse God is promising David that he would always have a man (or a descendant) on the throne. Explain to the kids that God’s people used this promise to keep them going as they waited for the Messiah. The Messiah would be the One who would come to rescue them. By the time Jesus was on the scene, the people were under the rule of Rome and they no longer had a king on David’s throne. They were waiting for a king to come riding triumphantly into town on a white horse and rescue them from Roman rule and reign on David’s throne. Some people started to think that maybe Jesus was the Messiah, but what He was doing just didn’t fit with their idea of what the Messiah would be. And then….
Tell the story of Matthew 21:1-11 in your own words. You might want to read the text and elaborate on it. Some points to include are:
On the surface, it would seem that the people were beginning to understand who Jesus is and were worshipping Him as their rightful king, but if you read on in the next few chapters of Matthew you’ll see that they still didn’t know and understand who He is.
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
MAJESTIC = STATELY, KINGLY, GRAND OR RAISED UP
EXPLAIN: Remind the children in your group of a few weeks ago when we learned that God is the King of kings and Lord of lords and how that reminds us that He is king over all other kings. Then, make the connection with the story today and how the people were waiting for a king to come and rescue them from Rome, but instead the KING (Jesus) came and rescued them from sin and death.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for MAJESTIC. A good motion might be to bow like you’re before a king.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is majestic. This truth reminds us that God is grand and that He is King over all.”
Read the memory verse – Psalm 8:9. Work together as a group to make up motions for the verse. Say the verse together a few times using the motions.
CROSS CONNECTION:
In our story, it seemed like the people were beginning to understand who Jesus is and that they were crying out to Him for salvation. But, Jesus knew that the same voices who cried to Him in worship on this day would only a few days later cry out for Him to be crucified. You see, Jesus wasn’t who the people thought they needed. They thought they needed an earthly king and an earthly rescue, but really they needed so much more. They needed the same thing that we all need. They needed the Messiah to save them from punishment and death. They needed the Messiah to rescue them from their sin and restore the broken relationship between them and God. All of us need to do what the people on the road to Jerusalem did that day. We all need to cry out “Hosanna” ~ Lord Saves Us! But we need to cry out for salvation from Jesus knowing that He is the only way to be saved and that His salvation is forever. In John 14:6, Jesus said that He is ‘the way, the truth and the life’ and that ‘no one comes to the Father except through Him.’ Now that’s real salvation.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word majestic somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. You may want to encourage them to illustrate the memory verse or draw the story of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Or, you could suggest that they draw palm branches all over their page and write various attributes of God on each of the branches as a reminder of all we should worship God for. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that they would bow down before Jesus and cry out to Him to save Him from their sin.
LESSON 21: GOD IS LOVE
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS LOVE written on it, key verse (1 John 4:9) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Read a few of the definitions and see if kids in the group can tell you what attribute of God you’re talking about.
TEACH- GOD IS LOVE:
Start out by asking the kids to define the word love for you. Talk about all of the things that they would say that they love…. who loves pizza, who loves football, etc. Then, say, “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is love. The word love is very confusing in today’s world. People think they know what love is, but sadly many are very mistaken. Later we’ll take some time to look at the Biblical definition of love. But first, your job is to act out how love is shown in some random situations.”
Call kids up one at a time and ask them to show you (act out) how they would show love in this scenario.
Explain that everyone in the world thinks they know what love is. (In fact, according to one list, its the 387th most commonly used English word). We all use the word every day, but do we really know what it means. Tell the kids that you want to share with them a familiar passage from the Bible that talks about love to help us all understand what love is.
Talk through 1 Corinthians 13 in your own words. You might want to read the text and elaborate on it. Some points to include are:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
LOVE= TENDER AND CARING AFFECTION FOR AN OTHER
EXPLAIN: Look up and read the following verses and talk about how they help us understand this truth about Jesus:
~ John 3:16
~ Romans 5:8
~ Psalm 36:5
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for LOVE. A good motion might be to cross your arms across your chest like you’re giving yourself a hug.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is love. To help us understand more of that truth we’re looking at the ultimate way that God showed love to His people by sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.”
Read the memory verse – 1 John 4:9 in context (1 John 4:7-21) and then have the kids read/ say the memory verse after you a couple of times.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Remind kids of the description of love that you just talked through and how that description describes God’s love and points to His greatest display of love ever. Ask one of the kids to tell you what they think that display of love was. Remind them that several of the verses you read earlier point to the truth that God sent Jesus in love or because of love. Jesus didn’t selfishly keep Himself away, but He sacrificed Himself and put our need for salvation above everything else. Jesus coming to earth and dying on the cross is the greatest example of love ever.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word love somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. You may want to encourage them to illustrate the memory verse or draw a heart and then draw a picture illustrating how God showed love to His people inside the heart. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know the love of God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that they would remember the greatest act of love ever and thank God that Jesus laid down His life for His people to save us from our sin.
LESSON 20: JESUS IS THE LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words JESUS IS THE LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH written on it, key verse (John 1:29) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Have the kids stand up and say the attributes of God and do the motions.
TEACH- JESUS IS THE LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH:
Start out by reading this week’s memory verse (John 1:29) from the poster. Ask the kids to tell you why they think that Jesus was referred to as the Lamb of God. Ask them to share other Bible stories they can think of involving lambs. Hopefully someone will mention the Old Testament sacrifice system and the Passover lamb. Talk briefly about how in both of those cases, the lamb being sacrificed pointed forward to Jesus who would be the perfect sacrifice. Tell the kids that you’ll explain more as you go through the lesson.
Tell the story of the First Passover from Exodus 11-13 in your own words.
Make sure to include the following points:
After the story & the skit, ask the following questions:
* Why did God ask His people to paint lamb’s blood on their doors? (to identify them as His people)
* How can you compare the lamb’s blood on the doors to Jesus‘ blood on the cross? (the lamb’s blood identified them and saved them from death~ Jesus‘ blood in our place identifies us as being His and saves us from the punishment/ death that we deserve.)
* What was John the Baptist saying when he said that Jesus was the lamb who would take away the sin of the world?
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
THE LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH = THE PERFECT SACRIFICE FOR SIN
EXPLAIN: Look up and read the following verses and talk about how they help us understand this truth about Jesus:
~ Leviticus 1:3– the lambs for sacrifice were to be spotless and perfect
~ 1 Peter 1:18-20– Jesus was perfect and blameless and was the perfect sacrifice for our sin
~ 1 Corinthians 5:7b- Jesus was the Passover Lamb who was sacrificed. Just like God saw the lamb’s blood
on the door’s of His people’s homes and passed over those home, when God looks at His people today He
sees the blood of His Son shed in our place and passes over us and does not deal with us as our sin
deserves.
~ Revelation 5:6– Jesus is the lamb who was slain.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for THE LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH. A good motion might be to wipe your hands on each other twice (like you’re showing that your hands are clean).
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that Jesus is the Lamb without blemish. What we’ll see is that throughout the Old Testament God commanded His people to sacrifice perfect lamb to atone for their sin. Jesus was the final sacrifice as He died to pay the price of sin. Our memory verse for the week is John 1:29 where we hear John the Baptist say this about Jesus.”
Read the memory verse (John 1:29) a few times together and do the motion for the lamb without blemish.
CROSS CONNECTION:
What we saw today is that as the lamb without blemish, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sin. This simple truth about Jesus reminds us that we are all sinners whose sin needs to be paid for. In the Old Testament the people regularly sacrificed lambs as a reminder of their sin and to temporarily pay the price for their sin, but that sacrifice was never meant to be permanent. It was designed to point to a greater sacrifice that would pay for sin once and for all. When Jesus died on the cross, He was taking the punishment that each of us deserves and paying the price for our sin. Now, just like God saw the lamb’s blood on the door’s of His people’s homes and passed over those home, when God looks at His people today, He sees the blood of His Son shed in our place and passes over us and does not deal with us as our sin deserves.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the words lamb without blemish somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. It may be helpful for them to divide the paper in 1/2 and draw a scene of the passover on one side and Jesus on the cross on the other as a reminder of the connection. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Thank Jesus for dying on the cross as the perfect sacrifice and for paying the price for our sin.
LESSON 19: GOD IS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS written on it, key verse (Revelation 19:16) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group, pages with the truths about God on the top and the definition on the bottom that have been cut in half for the review activity.
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far.
Play a quick review game where you hand each child 1 or 2 of the review pages that you’ve prepared (either attributes of God or definitions). Then, have kids race to find who has their match and put the pieces together.
TEACH- GOD IS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS:
Start out by reading this week’s memory verse (Revelation 19:16) from the poster. Ask the kids to tell you what they think it means that God is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Explain that it boils down to God ruling over or leading the rules, but that before we nail down a definition that you want to look to the Bible and see what the Bible says about God’s leadership over His people
Tell the story of Israel demanding a king from 1 Samuel 8-10 in your own words. Make sure to include the following points:
After the story, ask the following questions:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS = THE ONE WHO RULES OVER THE RULERS OF THE WORLD
EXPLAIN: Talk about how the people wanted a king like the other nations, but God was their king. They didn’t need another king. This is especially true because God rules over all of the kings of the world. As King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus is the One who rules over all rulers and all leaders. The whole world is subject to Him. Read Proverbs 21:1 as a reminder of this truth.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. A good motion might be to put a pretend crown on your head.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is the King of kings and Lord of lords. This means that God rules over all other kings and rulers. He is the ultimate authority over all.”
Read Revelation 19:11-16 and discuss what these verses tell us about Jesus.
Say the memory verse (Revelation 19:16) a few times together.
CROSS CONNECTION:
As we saw in the story this morning, God is the True King over His people and He is the king of kings and Lord of lords and He rules over all. But, because of sin, God’s people have all rebelled against His leadership and want to follow others or even just go our own way. God gave His people a king, like they demanded, even though they had just rejected Him as their True King. Thankfully, God didn’t leave His people to their own devices and plans. If you remember from last week, we saw in 2 Samuel 7:16 (right after David brought the ark into Jerusalem the right way) that God promised David that someone in His family line would be the forever King. God didn’t desert His people, but instead He stepped into human history to rescue His people. In Philippians 2:5-8, we read about Jesus leaving His rightful place in heaven, becoming a man, living a perfect life and dying on the cross in our place. Then, in verse 9-11 we read that because of the way that Jesus humbled Himself, God the Father exalted Him and brought Him back to His rightful place (the highest place) where He reigns forever as the True King of Israel.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the words king of kings and lord of lords somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. You may want to encourage them to illustrate the memory verse or draw the story of Israel rejecting God and asking for a king. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that they would follow God as their king and remember that He has ultimate authority over all.
LESSON 18: GOD IS JUST
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS JUST written on it, key verse (Psalm 9:16) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Choose a few of the attributes and name the attribute for the children to respond with the definition or action, OR do the action and ask the kids to respond with the attribute about God.
TEACH- GOD IS JUST:
Start out by reading this week’s memory verse (Psalm 9:16) from the screen. Ask is anyone can define the word just or justice. Talk briefly about how these words usually make us think of a judge or law or a court. Have one of the kids remind you what they learned about last week when they talked about God being the judge.
Then, tell the kids that you want to tell them a story from the Bible that that gives us a picture of God’s justice.
Go through 2 Samuel 6 in your own words hitting the following points:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
JUST = DOES WHAT IS RIGHT AND FAIR
EXPLAIN: Ask the kids in the group if they think it was fair for Uzzah to die for touching the ark. Talk briefly about how it’s hard to hear this story because you know that David wanted to honor God y bringing the ark to Jerusalem and Uzzah was only trying to protect the ark by touching it, and yet he ended up dying. How can that be fair. Remind the group of the week you talked about God being holy and completely set apart from sin. It’s God’s holiness that helps us understand His justice in this story. God can’t be in the presence of sin. He gave the rules for moving the ark to protect His holiness.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for JUST. A good motion might be to show 1 thumb up and one hand flat palm facing up
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week’s memory verse is Psalm 9:16. In this verse we are reminded of how God and man are opposites. God is known for His justice – bring right and fair and man is known by evil deeds. This truth should also remind us of God’s holiness in comparison to our sinfulness. God is utterly set apart from us.”
Read the memory verse (Psalm 9:16) a few times together.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Talk about how God showed that He is just in today’s story. Remind kids that God is Holy and all of the laws surrounding the tabernacle and the ark were to remind the people of God’s holiness and to help them see their own sinfulness in comparison with a holy God. It may seem harsh that God killed Uzzah for touching the ark, but the people had forgotten God’s holiness and their sinfulness and needed a reminder that God will punish sin. The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death. That reminds us that the just (or right) punishment for sin is death. As a just God, God cannot let sin go unpunished. We sin and our sin deserves death. Someone has to die for our sin. Thankfully at the end of the story we saw a glimpse into God’s plan of salvation through Jesus. You see, it was in 2 Samuel 7:16 (right after David brought the ark into Jerusalem the right way) that God promised David that someone in His family line would be the forever King. Sin must be punished, but the Forever King would come, He would die in our place for our sin and would reign forever on David’s throne.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word just somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for just or the memory verse or they could illustrate the story or what we’ve just talked about how God is just to punish sin. .After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Thank God for sending Jesus to take the punishment that we deserve and for taking God’s just punishment on Himself.
LESSON 17: GOD IS JUDGE
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS JUDGE written on it, key verse (Psalm 7:11) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group, 12 small pieces of paper to review the attributes
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. As a quick review, choose 6 of the attributes and write them on a small piece of paper each and write those 6 definitions on small pieces of paper. Place them all face down and take turns turning over 2 at a time looking for a match. if they’re not a match, for each attribute turned up, say the definition and for each definition say the attribute.
TEACH- GOD IS JUDGE:
Start out by reading this week’s memory verse (Psalm 7:11) from the poster. Ask kids to tell you what they think of when they hear the word “judge.” Talk about how the word judge makes us think of courtrooms and criminals and punishment. Explain to the kids in the group that this morning we’ll be looking at the truth of God being judge and will think about how He rules over and passes judgement on people and why we’re all deserving of His judgement.
Then, tell the kids that you want to tell them a story from the Bible that that gives us a picture of God’s judgement. Go through Joshua 7-8 in your own words hitting the following points:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
JUDGE = ONE WHO RULES OVER AND PASSES JUDGEMENT ON ANOTHER
EXPLAIN: Talk about how we saw God judge His people in today’s story. Ask why it’s fait for God to judge His people. Remind children that God had given specific laws to His people and commanded them to obey. Talk about how God knew the sin of Achan and how even though the punishment seems hard that God in His holiness cannot have sin in His presence.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for JUDGE. A good motion might be to hit your right fist on your left palm like a judge’s gavel hitting a bench
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week’s memory verse is Psalm 7:11. In this verse we see that God is a righteous judge, which means that He always judged fairly and rightly. And, we see that God shows His wrath. Wrath is another word for anger. What do you think makes God angry? (pause for responses). Right, sin. God is angry at sin and God is right to be angry at sin and God is right to judge sin.”
Read the memory verse (Psalm 7:11) a few times together and do the motion for judge.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Talk about how God judged Achan in this story. Ask if they think it was fair that Achan was killed for his sin. Have one of the kids read (or quote) Romans 6:23. Remind them that the punishment for sin is death. Remind the kids that just like God knew what Achan had done, God knows our hearts and He knows our sin. All of us are guilty of sinning against God (Romans 3:23) and just like Achan, all of us deserve to be killed for our sin (Romans 6:23). As a righteous judge, it is perfectly fair for God to give us the punishment that our sin deserves. But, God is also loving and in His great love He sent His Son to take the punishment for us. You see, someone has to pay the price for your sin and my sin. God is a righteous judge and can’t let sin go unpunished, so as judge He punished Jesus in our place.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word judge somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for judge or the memory verse or they could illustrate any of the passages you read about God being judge.After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Thank God for being the righteous judge and thank Him for sending Jesus to take the punishment that we deserve.
LESSON 16: JESUS IS IMMANUEL (GOD WITH US)
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words JESUS IS IMMANUEL: GOD WITH US written on it, key verse (Isaiah 7:14) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Play a quick review game where you read one of the attribute definitions and have someone stand and say which attribute that is. Keep playing until all the children in the room are standing.
TEACH- JESUS IS IMMANUEL (GOD WITH US):
Start out by reading this week’s memory verse (Isaiah 7:14) from the poster. Act all confused and say, “but I thought we were learning about who God is in this study. And, it sounds like this verse is about Jesus…what’s this Immanuel business, who’s he?” Hopefully someone in the group will saying something like Jesus is God – to which you can respond, yes He is and today we’re going to talk about how God came to live with His people.
Ask if any of the kids in the group know what the word Immanuel means. Briefly define “Immanuel” as meaning God with us.
Walk the kids through a brief Bible overview asking kids to help answer the question of where was God in relation to His people in each of these situations….
~ Genesis 1-2- In the Garden of Eden ~ God was with His people- walking in the garden
~ after Adam & Eve sinned and were kicked out of the garden ~ they were kicked out of God’s presence/ separated from Him because of sin
~ as they wandered through the wilderness (Exodus) ~ God was in the midst of His people but separated from them- remind kids of the curtain in the tabernacle and how only once a year one priest could enter God’s presence.
Then, ask the kids to tell you what changed from the time in the garden to the time during the exodus. Remind kids of a few weeks ago when we learned that God is holy (He is sinless, perfect and set apart from sin). Explain that because of sin the people were separated from God because God is set apart (holy). But, thankfully God did not stay separated from His people….
Explain that you’re going to tell them part of one of the most famous stories in the Bible, the story of Jesus birth. But, that this is a part of the story that you don’t hear very often. Choose 3 children to be Joseph, Mary and the angel and ask the to act out the parts while you read Matthew 1:18-24.
After reading the text, review the story with the following points:
(1) Joseph was engaged to a young girl named Mary, but they weren’t married yet.
(2) Mary got pregnant and Joseph decided it would be best to divorce her quietly to keep their from being a public scandal.
(3) An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him that the baby was the Son of God and that he should marry Mary.
(4) The angel told him that Mary would have a son and that they should name Him Jesus because He would save His people from their sin.
(5) The angel explained that this baby was the Immanuel promised in Isaiah 7:14 and that He was God coming to live with His people.
(6) Joseph woke up and married Mary as the angel commanded.
(7)…. after going through this text, briefly tell “the rest of the story” from Luke 2:1-20 in your own words or have one of the kids tell the Christmas story.
Then, have one of the kids in the group read John 1:1-2 & 14. Briefly explain how this text helps us to understand what it means that Jesus is Immanuel (God with us)….
(1) Jesus was there in the beginning,
(2) Jesus is God,
(3) Jesus took on flesh,
(4) Jesus came from God the Father.
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
IMMANUEL = GOD WITH US
EXPLAIN: Talk about how God was always separated from His people because of sin, but that by coming to earth, Jesus not only came to live with His people, but He came to live as one of His people and live the perfect live that none of us could ever live on our own.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for IMMANUEL. A good motion might be to rock a pretend baby or point up then point to yourself to show God becoming a man.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week our memory verse is Isaiah 7:14. This verse was written 400+ years before Jesus was born and yet it teaches us one of the most important truths about Jesus we’ll ever learn~ that Jesus is Immanuel or God with us. The whole point of the Christmas story is that God became a man and lived with His people and died to pay the price for sin.”
Then get a piece of paper and write the word Immanuel down the side of it. Work together as a group to make an acrostic poem using the word Immanuel (which means God with us). Have kids help you fill in each line of the poem with words or phrases that describe Jesus.
Read the memory verse (Isaiah 7:14) a few times together and do the motion for Immanuel.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Explain to the kids that we’ve seen this morning what it means that Jesus is Immanuel: God with us, so now we need to think about why Jesus came to earth. Read Philippians 2:5-11. Talk through the truths that this familiar passage teaches us about Jesus… (1) He is fully God, (2) He humbled Himself, (3) He became a man….the creator became part of His creation, (4) He obeyed His Father to the point of death, (5) He died on the cross in our place, (6) God exalted Him to His rightful place and gave Him the name above every name, (7) one day all knees will bow before Him.
Talk briefly about why Jesus came to earth according to this passage, and looking back at Matthew 1:21. Jesus came to die on the cross to pay the price for our sin and thereby to save His people from their sin. That’s what it means that Jesus is Immanuel: God with us. Jesus opened the way for salvation and forgiveness of sin by taking our place on the cross.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word Immanuel somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember that God became a man. They could write the definition for Immanuel or the memory verse or they could illustrate any of the passages you read today. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Thank God for sending Jesus to earth pay the price for our sin.
LESSON 15: GOD IS OUR HOPE
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS OUR HOPE written on it, key verse (Psalm 25:5) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Have the kids stand up and say the attributes of God and do the motions.
TEACH- GOD IS OUR HOPE:
Start out by reading this week’s memory verse (Psalm 25:5) from the poster. Ask someone to define the word HOPE. Talk briefly about what they hope in or hope for…. (what do you hope you’ll get for Christmas?, etc.) Ask the group to tell you what they are saying when they say they hope something will happen. Explain that when we say something like, “I hope I have pizza for lunch,” we’re saying that we wish it would happen. But, when we say that we hope in God we are saying something different….we are saying that we trust Him and know that He will do what He says He will do.
Tell the kids that you want to tell them a story from the Bible that helps to explain that God is our hope.
Choose 3 kids to play parts in the story as you tell it in your own words. You need Moses, the bush and the staff.
Tell the story of Exodus 2-4 in your own words, reading Exodus 3:1-15 straight from the Bible. Make sure you hit the following points:
Since this is a very familiar story, talk through it with the kids in the group. Ask what they would have been thinking if they were Moses. Ask why Moses was able to put his hope in God.
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
HOPE = THE ONE IN WHOM OUR EXPECTATIONS ARE CENTERED
EXPLAIN: Talk about how we saw God’s people hope in Him in this story. They hoped in God by remembering a promise that He made to Abraham 400 years earlier that He would rescue His people and they cried out to God for rescue. But, Moses needed something to prove who God was to hope in Him or to trust in His plan. God showed Moses that He is his hope by speaking to him and showing Moses His power.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for OUR HOPE. A good motion might be to fold hands like praying
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “Our verse today is Psalm 25:5. This verse reminds us that God is our hope….the One on whom are expectations are set. The great thing about God being our hope is that we also know He is faithful and that He will keep all His promises, so we can hope in Him, knowing that He will do what He says He will do..“
Read the memory verse (Psalm 25:5) and work together to make up motions to help you learn the verse. Say the verse with the motions a few times.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Ask the kids to remind you who had hope in God in today’s story and what their hope was. Remind them that the people of Israel had hope that God would rescue them from slavery in Egypt and that’s just what He did. But, even more than rescuing His people from slavery in Egypt, God has rescued His people from slavery to sin and death and He did it not by sending Moses to lead His people, but by sending His Son to take the punishment for His people and die on the cross in our place. The Bible tells us (Rom 3:23 & 6:23) that we are all sinners who deserve death. Without God we are hopeless and are heading to death and eternal destruction. But, Jesus is our hope and we can put our hope in Him alone to save us from our sin (Romans 5:8 & John 14:6).
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word our hope somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for hope or the memory verse or they could illustrate the story of God speaking to Moses out of the bush. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that the children in your group would place their hope in God as the only one who can bring salvation to His people.
LESSON 14: GOD IS HOLY
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS HOLY written on it, key verse (Leviticus 19:2b) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Have the kids stand up and say the attributes of God and do the motions.
TEACH – GOD IS HOLY:
Start out by reading this week’s memory verse (Leviticus 19:2) from the poster. Ask someone to define the word HOLY. Most kids in the group will think they know the word because we use it a lot, but they may not know the full definition of the word.
Tell the kids that you want to tell them a story from the Bible that helps to explain holy,and that even though its a familiar story that you want them to really pay attention and think about how this story shows that God is holy.
Read through Exodus 20 in context and discuss the commandments as you go through. Some points to include are:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
HOLY = SINLESS, PERFECT AND SET APART
EXPLAIN: Talk about how we saw God’s holiness in today’s story. Explain that God gave the 10 commandments not as a list of things to make them His people, but as a way to show they were different (or set apart) from the nations around them. God is set apart and He expects His people to be as well. The commandments also show us how easy it is for us to sin and break God’s law because we all do these things all the time…we lie, we disobey our parents, we worship ourselves instead of God, etc.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for HOLY. A good motion might be to hold your left hand out palm up and use your right hand to wipe your left hand clean as a reminder that holy is sinlessness.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week our memory verse is Leviticus 19:2 which teaches us 2 very important things…. (1) God is Holy ~ which means He is sinless, perfect and set apart from us and (2) God expects His people to be holy.”
Hand out blank pieces of paper and give the following instructions. In the middle of the page draw a cross. On the left side of the cross, draw something to illustrate the word “sin” which represents each of us. On the right side of the cross illustrate the word “holy.”
As you draw, notice that the cross (Jesus) is down the middle of the page to show that God is separated from sin and that the cross opened the way for sinful man to approach a holy God. After kids finish drawing, read the verse together a couple more times.
CROSS CONNECTION:
In our story this morning we saw God give His people instructions for living as His people; instructions for being set apart. We call those instructions the 10 commandments. But, why did God give us the law? Romand 3:20 and 7:7 tell us that God gave us the law so that we would know what sin is. The law helps us to see God’s holiness;His perfection and shows us that we are the complete opposite. Without the law we might think that we’re ok and that we don’t need to be saved, but the law acts like a mirror to show us our hearts and help us to see how truly sinful we all are. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that none of us are perfect and that we have all broken God’s law. Jesus is the only one who lived a perfect, sinless life. Only Jesus lived a holy life. The law shows us that God is holy and we are not and points to our need of a Savior. When we put our faith in Jesus and trust Him, He will forgive us of our sin and save us from God’s judgement and make us like Him.
REVIEW:
Have kids turn over the paper they were working with before and provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word holy somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. As they’ve already done some drawing, you may want to encourage them to write and illustrate the memory verse.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation.
LESSON 13: GOD HEALS HIS PEOPLE
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD HEALS HIS PEOPLE written on it, key verse (Deuteronomy 32:39) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Have the kids stand up and say the attributes of God and do the motions.
TEACH – GOD HEALS HIS PEOPLE:
Tell the kids that when most people think of God healing people, they think of Jesus healing people in the New Testament, but that you want to tell them a story from the Old Testament that should help to explain that God heals His people.
Read through the passage for the day (Numbers 21:4-9) and talk through it as you go.
Some of the points you’ll want to hit are:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
HEALS = TO MAKE HEALTHY AND WHOLE AND FREE FROM AILMENTS
EXPLAIN: Talk about how we saw God healing His people in today’s story. Talk about how God could have made all the snakes simply go away. Or He could have just healed all the people who were bitten, but instead He wanted the people to learn to trust Him and rely on Him for all things. He wanted the people to remember that He is the great healer and that they need to look to Him for salvation.
Read the memory verse (Deuteronomy 32:39) together one more time.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for HEALS. A good motion might be to make a heart shape with your hands and hold it up to your chest
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week our memory verse is Deuteronomy 32:39 which reminds us that God alone is sovereign (or in control) over life and death. God can heal and God can destroy. Life is in God’s hands.
Read the memory verse together from the Bible. Then, ask the kids to share stories from the Bible that they know where God heals someone.
CROSS CONNECTION:
In our story this morning we saw God’s people call out to Him for healing. The truth that we see in the Bible is that we all need to call out to God for healing as well. We don’t need to be rescued from a snake bite, but we all need to be rescued from something even worse; sin and punishment and death. In John 3, when Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, He compares Himself to the bronze snake. He said, (John 3:14-15), “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” Just like the people in the desert couldn’t heal themselves from their snake bites, we can’t heal ourselves from sin and death and without healing we will die. Romans 6:23 tells us that the punishment for sin is death. But, if we look to Jesus and believe that He was lifted up (died on the cross) in our place for our sin we will be saved; we will be healed from the sting of sin and death.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word heal somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for good or the memory verse or they could illustrate any of the passages you read about God being good, or they could draw something comparing their sinfulness to God’s holiness.After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
LESSON 12: GOD GUIDES HIS PEOPLE
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD GUIDES HIS PEOPLE written on it, key verse (Isaiah 58:11) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Explain that as this week we’re moving on to talk about God guiding His people that we’re going to play a game of follow the leader to review the other truths about God we’ve been learning.
Do one of the motions and have the kids copy you and then tell you what attribute that motion represents. As each attribute is named, ask if anyone can remember the definition of that attribute.
TEACH- GOD GUIDES HIS PEOPLE:
Ask if anyone in the group can think of a story in the Bible where we clearly see God guiding or leading His people… (there are lots to choose from so hopefully someone will think of something… )
Then have the group read this week’s memory verse (Isaiah 58:11) from the poster. Explain that this morning you’re going to be talking about how God guides His people and what it means that God guides His people.
Tell the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt from Exodus 13 and 14 in your own words. Make sure to hit the following points as you go through the story:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
GUIDE = ACCOMPANY, ASSIST AND GIVE DIRECTION
EXPLAIN: Talk about how we saw God guiding His people in this story based on the definition they just read. God accompanied them – He was with them in the pillar of cloud and fire, God assisted them – the pillar of cloud moved behind them while they went into the sea, the pillar of fire gave them light so they could travel at night, etc., God gave them direction – wherever the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire went they were to follow and when it stopped they were to stop.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for GUIDE. A good motion might be to motion with both hands for someone to follow you.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week’s memory verse is Isaiah 58:11. To help learn this verse and to help us understand what it means that God guides His people, you will play a game called “Follow My Lead.” To help you play the game, I’ll read the verse a couple of times and post the verse page close to you so that you can all see it.”
The way this game works is that the leader will say one of the words of the verse and the rest of the group should say the next word. The leader should randomly say words in the verse to force the group to think about what comes next. After randomly calling out words, go through the verse in order saying a few words and the group following you by saying the next few words, etc.
CROSS CONNECTION:
In our story this morning we saw God guiding His people out of slavery and leading them each step of the way with a pillar of cloud and fire. In this story, God was with them as He guided them and showed them the way. In John 14, Jesus tells His disciples that He’s going to leave them but that He will come back and take them to be with Him where He is going. Thomas (one of the disciples) gets confused and says to Jesus, ‘we don’t know where you are going so we don’t know the way.” And Jesus responds by saying that He is the way. The pillars of cloud and fire may have shown the people the way in the desert, but ultimately every time we see God guiding His people it points us to the truth that Jesus is the Way. He is the One we are to follow and its only by knowing Him and following Him that we can know God.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word guide somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for guide or the memory verse or they could illustrate the story of God guiding His people out of Egypt. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that they would follow God’s leadership in their life by following Jesus.
LESSON 11: GOD IS GRACIOUS
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS GRACIOUS written on it, key verse (Romans 8:32) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Review the attributes by calling out one of the definitions and having the kids respond with the attribute and motion.
TEACH- GOD IS GRACIOUS:
Ask if any of the kids in the group know what the word gracious means.
Then have the group read this week’s memory verse (Romans 8:32) from the poster. Ask if the verse gives any clues about what gracious means. Explain that another way we could say gracious is to say that God shows grace to His people and gives us what we don’t deserve, or doesn’t give us what we do deserve.
Tell the kids that you want to tell them a story from the Bible that helps to explain gracious.
Read 1 Samuel 1:1-8 to the group. Choose children to play the parts of Elkanah, Hannah, Peninnah & Eli while you read. After reading through the text, make sure the kids in the group get the following points.
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
GRACIOUS = MERCIFUL, BENEVOLENT, KIND & COMPASSIONATE
EXPLAIN: Talk about how we saw the graciousness of God in today’s story. In this story, God was gracious to Hannah; He heard her prayer and He gave her Samuel. Explain how gracious has the root word grace in it and that grace can be defined as getting what we don’t deserve and that God is gracious to His people by giving us what we don’t deserve
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for GRACIOUS. A good motion might be to pretend to hand someone a gift.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is gracious. Another way we could say this is to say that God shows grace to His people and gives us what we don’t deserve, or doesn’t give us what we do deserve.”
Ask, where in the story did we see this definition of grace play out? Explain that God didn’t have to give Hannah a baby, nothing she did meant that she deserved a baby, but that God was gracious to her.
Read the memory verse (Romans 8:32) one more time.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Take a few minutes to talk about the most amazing way that God has shown grace (or been gracious) to His people. Read/ quote Romans 3:23 and 6:23. Ask the questions…. who has sinned? and what does our sin deserve? Then, have one of the kids read Romans 5:8 and ask, what did God do to show His grace to us?
Explain how because of our sin we all deserve death, but that God is gracious and gave His only Son, Jesus, so that we might live. Read Ephesians 2:8-9 and ask what this verse tells us about salvation – it is a free gift of God’s grace. Remind the kids that in the story God didn’t have to give Hannah a baby, but he graciously gave her the gift of a baby, and in the same way, God didn’t have to save anyone and didn’t have to give up His Son, but because of His great love for His people He graciously did just that.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word gracious somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for gracious or the memory verse or you could encourage them to draw two cartoons, one of God being gracious to Hannah in the birth of Samuel and one of God’s ultimate act of grace in Jesus dying on he cross in our place. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would personally come to know the graciousness of God more and more each day and that they would turn to this gracious God for salvation.
LESSON 10: GOD IS GOOD
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS GOOD written on it, key verse (Mark 10:18) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Have the kids stand up and say the attributes of God and do the motions.
TEACH- GOD IS GOOD:
Start out by telling the kids that this week’s attribute is probably one of the easiest truths about God that we’re going to learn this year and that is the truth that God is good. Have them list things that they would call good. Ask them to tell you what the opposite of good is and name some things that they would call bad.
Then have the group read this week’s memory verse (Mark 10:18) from the poster. Act confused and say, “what, no one is good except God Himself?” Explain that when Jesus said these words He was acknowledging that He and the Father were one…that because He is good….He is God.
Tell the kids that you want to tell them a story from the Bible that explains what it means that God is good.
Tell the story of Joseph from (Genesis 37-50) briefly using the following outline – walk through various scenes from the life of Joseph and indicate that no matter what was happening in his life that it was good because it was from God. You might want to pause between scenes/sections and ask the class questions like…. “was it good for Joseph to be sold as a slave?”- Yes, because it was part of God’s plan and God is good.
Then, read Genesis 50:15-21 and have a few of the boys act out this scene between Joseph and his brothers. Pause and really focus in on what Joseph said to his brothers in verse 20.
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
GOOD = MORALLY EXCELLENT, VIRTUOUS, RIGHTEOUS
EXPLAIN: Talk about how we saw the goodness of God in today’s story. This story reminds us that God is good because God is always right. Everything that He does is good. God alone is morally, excellent, virtuous and righteous. God alone is without sin and therefore He alone is good.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for GOOD. A good motion might be to show 2 thumbs up.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week’s memory verse is Mark 10:18. In this verse we have Jesus saying that only God os good. Jesus’ definition of good is that God is Holy and perfect and without sin. In comparison to God’s goodness, we are not good because we are sinners… and that is what makes us not good.“
Read the memory verse (Mark 10:18) a few times together and do the motion for good.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Read Romans 3:10-12 & 23. Explain that we like to think that we are good because we keep some of God’s laws (most of us aren’t murderers for example), but that the Bible is clear in teaching us that there is no one who is good. In fact Isaiah 64:6 says that without Jesus that even the good things we do are like filthy rags. That’s true because on our own, none of us are good. The amazing news is that we can be made good. We can be made righteous so that we can stand in front of a Holy God. God gave His only Son. Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect and sinless life and then died the death we deserve. Jesus was good in our place and He paid the price for our sin. Jesus took our sin on Himself when He died on the cross.When we repent of our sin and trust in Jesus for salvation, Jesus gives us His righteousness/ His goodness, so that now, when God the Father looks at us He sees the goodness of Jesus in the place of our sin. What an amazing truth!
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word good somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for good or the memory verse or they could illustrate any of the passages you read about God being good, or they could draw something comparing their sinfulness to God’s holiness. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation.
LESSON 9: GOD IS GLORIOUS
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS GLORIOUS written on it, key verse (Psalm 72:19) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Have the kids stand up and say the attributes of God and do the motions.
Play a quick review game by randomly calling out one of the definitions and asking kids to name which truth about God that refers to.
TEACH- GOD IS GLORIOUS:
Start out by reading this week’s memory verse (Psalm 72:19) and then asking if anyone in the group can define the word glorious. Point out that the word glorious has the word glory in it and ask if anyone knows what the word glory means. Let the kids know that you’ll explain more about the words glory and glorious in a minute.
Tell the kids that you want to tell them a story from the Bible that explains what it means that God is glorious. Talk through Exodus 33-34 in your own words using the following outline….it will help the kids to have some background/ context for the story:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
GLORIOUS = FULL OF GLORY (PRAISE HONOR AND DISTINCTION)
EXPLAIN: Remind the kids in the group that in today’s story Moses asked to see God’s glory…. he wanted to see the greatness of God. God passed by him and met with him and just from spending time with God, Moses‘ face was changed….because he had been in the presence of the glory of God.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for GLORIOUS. A good motion might be to hold your hands up by your face like a mirror to remember God’s glory reflecting on Moses. Or, you may want to wave hands in the air in praise.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week our memory verse is Psalm 72:19 and the truth we’re learning about is that God is glorious. In the story we just heard about how Moses’ face shined bright after he had been in God’s presence. Moses was reflecting the glory of God. Where do we see reflections? (mirrors, shiny surfaces, water). Talk about how all of these reflections are an image of something else. We’re not actually in the mirror when we look in the mirror, but it reflects what we look like. In a similar way, after Moses had been in God’s presence he was reflecting God’s glory to the people.”
Read the memory verse (Psalm 72:19) a few times together and do the motion for glorious.
CROSS CONNECTION:
“Do you know what the greatest display of God’s glory is? It is when Jesus died on the cross for our sin and rose from the dead! By dying on the cross, Jesus displayed God’s mercy and grace for all to see. That gave God great glory! Moses tried to take the punishment Israel deserved, but he couldn’t because he was a sinner. But Jesus did what Moses could never do. He lived a sinless life and then gave it up for us. Now that is glorious!” (The Gospel Story Bible- page 74). In our story this morning, God showed His glory/ greatness to Moses and Moses was never the same. When we understand the glory of God and how God gave His only Son to rescue us from our sin, we will never be the same either. We can’t be in the presence of God and know what He has done to rescue us without our lives changing forever.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word glorious somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. You may want to provide a mirror and encourage some of the kids to attempt to write in reflection by holding the paper up facing the mirror and looking at the paper in the mirror while writing on the paper. Or, you could encourage them to draw Moses with a veil on his face after seeing God’s glory. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would start to see and experience more and more of who God is through this study and would turn to Him for salvation.
LESSON 8: GOD FORGIVES
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD FORGIVES written on it, key verse (Micah 7:18) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the 3 truths we’ve learned so far. Have the kids stand up and say the attributes of God and do the motions.
TEACH- GOD FORGIVES:
Start out by reading this week’s memory verse (Micah 7:18) and then asking if anyone in the group can define the word forgive. Have someone in the group remind you in one or two sentences who needs to be forgiven (all of us) and why we all need to be forgiven (because we have all sinned and the punishment for sin is death).
Then, choose a few kids from the group to act out the story while you read the text – Luke 5:17-26. You’ll need one child to be paralyzed, one to be Jesus, at least one to be the man’s friends and at least one pharisee.
After the skit, talk through the story in your own words using the following outline:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
FORGIVES = GRANTS PARDON AND CANCELS THE DEBT OF SIN
EXPLAIN: Talk with the kids about times they’ve done something wrong and asked for forgiveness or times when they’ve forgive someone else. Talk about how hard it is to forgive someone who has hurt you or upset you and get kids to give examples of times it was hard to forgive someone.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for FORGIVES. A good motion might be to act like you’re tearing up a piece of paper (imagine a judge tearing up a ruling).
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week our memory verse is Micah 7:18. This verse asks a very important question about God. “Who is like you?”…. who else pardons sin? The answer to that question is no one. There is one one else in the world who can pardon or forgive sin. Forgiveness of sin is only possible through Jesus’ death in our place.
Work together as a group to make up motions for the verse using the motion for forgive that you just learned to help you remember it. Read the verse with the motions together a few times.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Today’s truth about God sums up the whole story of the Bible. Knowing that God forgives sin and that He forgives through Jesus is one of the most important things we can ever know about God. When the man’s friend’s dropped him into the room with Jesus and Jesus forgave his sin, Jesus was teaching the crowd that what the man needed more than physical healing was to be healed spiritually. The Bible tells us that ever since Adam and Eve we have all sinned (Romans 3:23) and we all deserve to be punished for that sin (Romans 6:23). We are all sinners in need of forgiveness and that forgiveness is only possible through the death of Jesus in our place (Hebrews 9:22). That is the reason that Jesus came to earth; to save sinners like you and me, to forgive us of our sin and restore the broken relationship between God and His people.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word forgives somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for forgives or the memory verse or they could illustrate any of the passages you read about God being forgives. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in your group would come to see themselves as sinners in need of forgiveness and that they would turn to Christ in faith for forgiveness and salvation.
LESSON 7: GOD IS FAITHFUL
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS FAITHFUL written on it, key verse (Deuteronomy 7:9) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the 3 truths we’ve learned so far. Have the kids stand up and say the attributes of God and do the motions.
TEACH- GOD IS FAITHFUL:
Start out by reading this week’s memory verse (Deuteronomy 7:9) and then asking if anyone in the group can define the word faithful. Explain that when we say God is faithful that means that God keeps His promises and always does what He says He will do. Ask a couple of kids to come up and act out what being faithful might look like (or what being unfaithful- not keeping promises may look like.
After the skit, explain that you want to tell them a story from the Bible that explains God’s faithfulness.
Tell the story of Hosea in your own words using the following outline:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
FAITHFUL = RELIABLE, TRUSTED, TRUE TO HIS WORD, KEEPS HIS PROMISES
EXPLAIN: Ask…..”How did we see God being faithful in this story?”
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for FAITHFUL. A good motion might be to cross your fingers as a sign of making a promise, or shake your neighbor’s hand.
Then, have the kids read the supporting verses for more evidence of God being faithful. (Deuteronomy 7:9, 32:4, Psalm 25:10, Psalm 33:4)
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week’s memory verse is Deuteronomy 7:9. This verse reminds us that God always keeps His promises, that He is faithful, by reminding us that He has kept all of His promises.” As a group come up with a list of promises that God made and kept in the Bible. (EX: promises to make Abraham into a great nation – the people of Israel grew from 1 family to a whole nation is Egypt, He promised to send a rescuer and Jesus came). Have the kids help you think of other examples.
Read the memory verse (Deuteronomy 7:9) a few times together and do the motion for awesome.
CROSS CONNECTION:
The truth we see in the Bible is that all of us are like Hosea’s wife. We have all sinned and are all unfaithful to God. The story of Hosea and his wife is the story of all of us and God. The story of the Bible though is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Read 1 John 1:8-9. That’s the good news. God promised long ago to rescue His people and He is faithful and will do what He said He would~ and He fulfills His promise through Jesus.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word faithful somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for faithful or the memory verse or they could illustrate any of the passages you read about God being faithful. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would learn to trust God’s faithfulness in their life knowing that He will always do what he has promised.
LESSON 6: GOD IS EXALTED
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS EXALTED written on it, key verse (Psalm 46:10) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Have the kids stand up and say the attributes of God and do the motions.
Explain that you’re going to play a review game to see how well your remember the truths we’re learned about God. You should read the following verses one at a time and have the kids call out which truth about God it tells us about. (If you don’t think you have time to go through all of the verses, just choose a few).
Malachi 3:11, Amos 4:13, Isaiah 47:4, Revelation 1:8, John 1:1-2, Psalm 140:7, Genesis 1:1, Job 38:4, Isaiah 48:12, Revelation 15:3, Exodus 15:11, Deuteronomy 4:34, Exodus 34:6, 2 Samuel 22:2, Psalm 86:15, Joel 2:13, Psalm 145:9 , Psalm 51:1 Deuteronomy 7:21, Nehemiah 1:5, Malachi 1:11, Revelation 19:6, Revelation 22:13, Psalm 18:2, Psalm 40:17, 2 Kings 19:19, Revelation 21:6, Isaiah 14:27
TEACH- GOD IS EXALTED:
Get started by showing kids the page that says “God is Exalted” and ask if any of the kids in the group know what that word means, or if anyone has any guesses what it might mean.
Read the key verse for the week (Psalm 46:10). Discuss as a group what the world exalts (what we make much of/ what we spend our time doing/ thinking about, what we spend our money on, what motivates us- beauty, wealth, health, nice homes, new toys, celebrity, etc.) Then, read the verse (Psalm 46:10) one more time and ask the question – where is God exalted? Briefly explain that the truth we see throughout the Bible is that God is exalted (high/ above) in all the earth and He alone deserves that place of honor.
Explain that sin is when we exalt ourselves or our desires over God.
Then, read the text for the week, Isaiah 6:1-13 to the kids. After reading make these points.
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
EXALTED = NOBLE, ELEVATED OR LIFTED UP
EXPLAIN: Ask….. how did we see God exalted in this story? Talk about how in the passage in Isaiah, God was lifted up on His throne and we need to remember that when we say God is exalted we are saying He is above everyone and everything. He is the highest and the most important.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for EXALTED. A good motion might be to jump or reach as high as you can.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week’s memory verse is Psalm 46:10. This verse reminds us that God is exalted above all things.” Remind the kids of the discussion earlier about what we exalt more that God. Give kids a minute of silence to think about or confess silently what they exalt more that God and close by praying a prayer of confession of your own confessing what you put above God.
Read the memory verse (Psalm 46:10) a few times together and do the motion for exalted.
CROSS CONNECTION:
In our story this morning, we were reminded that God is the high and exalted King. He’s the one who reigns over all and the one who is worthy of all our praise. Think for a minute about that description of God and then listen to this description of Jesus from Philippians 2:5-11 (read the passage). The Bible tells us that although was high and exalted, because of our sin and because of His love for His people, He left His throne and made Himself nothing. He became a servant and lived a perfect life and died the death that we deserve for our sin. Remember that sin is when we put ourselves or our desires in the place reserved for God alone and exalt ourselves. Because we exalt ourselves, Jesus humbled Himself and died in our place. Verse 9 says… therefore….because He humbled Himself, God exalted Him again to His rightful place so that at His name every knees will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. That’s the picture of worship that we see in Revelation 5:9-10 (read the verses) – Jesus is worthy because He purchased men from all nations with His blood.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word exalted somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for exalted or the memory verse or they could illustrate any of the passages you read about God being exalted. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would thank God for the gift of Jesus and the gift of salvation for all who believe in Jesus. Pray that you and the children in the room would exalt God more that anything else in your life and that God would reveal to you things that you sinfully exalt above Him.
LESSON 5: GOD IS THE DELIVERER
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS THE DELIVERER written on it, key verse (2 Samuel 22:2) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group, a large poster board or piece of paper large enough for all the kids to sit around it.
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the 4 truths we’ve learned so far. Have the kids stand up and say the attributes of God and do the motions.
After reviewing these few truths about God, pull out a large piece of paper. Tell the kids that at the end of our story for the week, we will read this verse (Exodus 17:15)- – “….the Lord is my banner.” Moses said this as a reminder that God was the one who delivered them from the Amalekites. (We’ll hear more about that soon.
Explain that banner can be like a flag that that you wave to show your allegiance or who/ what you follow. Work together as a group to make a banner or flag that you can wave (or hang on the wall) as a reminder of who God is and what He is like. Use some of the truths of God that we’ve been learning so far this year and other things that you know about God or think we may soon be learning about God.
TEACH- GOD IS THE DELIVERER:
Get started by showing kids the poster that says GOD IS THE DELIVERER and ask if any of the kids in the group know what that word deliverer means, or if anyone has any guesses what it might mean.
Ask kids in the group to read the other supporting verses (2 Samuel 22:2, Psalm 18:2, Psalm 40:17, Psalm 140:7, 2 Kings 19:19) to see times in the Bible where God is seen as being the deliverer and after each verse, ask if they have any more of an idea of what it might mean that God is the deliverer.
Explain that often the word deliverer is used to describe someone who delivers something to someone….ask, what does the “FedEx” guy do when he delivers a package to your house?….. he makes sure that the package gets safely from his office to your door….he protects the package and takes care of it.
Explain that in one sense this is what we are saying is true about God – God delivers His people from sin & death and delivers them to life. Tell the kids that to help make sense of this truth about God that we’re going to look at a story from the Bible and see how God delivers His people in this story and what He delivers them from.
After this brief introduction, read Exodus 17:8-16. We are including that portion of scripture here from the ESV, but we recommend you read out of a printed Bible during the lesson. Please use the translation preferred by your church.
Israel Defeats Amalek
[8] Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. [9] So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” [10] So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. [11] Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. [12] But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. [13] And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.
[14] Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” [15] And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner, [16] saying, “A hand upon the throne of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (ESV)
Then, walk through the story with them, asking the following points/ review questions:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
DELIVERER = RESCUER OR SAVIOR
EXPLAIN: Ask….. how did God deliver His people in this story? Remind the kids that even though it was Joshua and his men with swords on the battlefield that it was God who won the war.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for DELIVERER. A good motion might be to pretend to hand something to your neighbor.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week’s memory verse is 2 Samuel 22:2. This verse talks about ways that God rescues His people/ ways that He is the deliverer. It says God is our rock. Rocks are strong and powerful. Big rocks can hide you from enemies and can’t be moved or shaken. It says God is our fortress. In times of battle, a fort (or fortress) is a safe place to be because you have the advantage over the enemy behind the strong walls. And, it says that God is our deliverer. This verse helps us to see how God protects and rescues His people.”
Read the memory verse (2 Samuel 22:2) a few times together and make up motions to help you learn the verse. Practice saying the verse with motions a couple of time.
CROSS CONNECTION:
In our story this morning, God delivered His people from danger by fighting for them in the battle against the Amalekites. God protected them and took them from a dangerous place where people were fighting against them to safety. Throughout the Bible we see examples of God delivering His people….Daniel from the lions, Jonah from the whale, the Israelites from slavery, etc. In each of these examples we are reminded of the ultimate deliverance that God has brought from His people through Jesus. Before Jesus we are all separated from God. The Bible says that we are living in darkness and as slaves to sin. (Ephesians 4:17-18) But, because of His great love for His children, God sent His Son as the Deliverer. The One who would lay down His own life (John 10:11, 1 John 3:16) to rescue/ save/ deliver His people.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word deliverer somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. You might want to recommend that they draw the story in a cartoon style…what happened when Moses’ hands were in the air and what happened when they dropped down. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would thank God for the gift of Jesus and the gift of salvation for all who believe in Jesus.
LESSON 4: GOD IS COMPASSIONATE
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS COMPASSIONATE written on it, key verse (Psalm 86:15) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the 3 truths we’ve learned so far. Have the kids stand up and say the attributes of God and do the motions.
TEACH- GOD IS COMPASSIONATE:
Get started by showing kids the page that says “God is compassionate” and ask if any of the kids in the group know what that word means, or if anyone has any guesses what it might mean.
Ask kids in the group to read the other supporting verses (listed at the top of the page) to see times in the Bible where God is seen as being compassionate and after each verse, ask if they have any more of an idea of what it might mean that God is compassionate. Explain that being compassionate means caring about the needs of others, feeling sorry for them and doing something to help them out. Tell the kids that this morning we’re going to look at a familiar story in the Bible where God showed compassion to people.
After this brief introduction, designate children to be the following characters and explain that they will act out their parts while you read the story from these verses – Jonah 1:1-3, 1:9, 1:12, 1:17, 2:1, 2:10, 3:1-3, 3;5, & 3:10.
After reading these verses, walk through the story, asking the following review questions:
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
COMPASSIONATE = SHOWING OR HAVING A DEEP CONCERN FOR OTHERS AND DESIRE TO MEET THEIR NEEDS
EXPLAIN: Ask….. how did God show compassion to the people of Nineveh? What need of the people did God meet? (salvation). What is our greatest need? (salvation) How has God met our greatest need? (through Jesus)
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for COMPASSIONATE. A good motion might be to hug your neighbor.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week’s memory verse is Psalm 86:15. This verse tells us that God has compassion for His people. The greatest example of God’s compassion is the truth that Jesus came to earth to die on the cross in the place of sinners.”
Read the memory verse (Psalm 86:15) a few times together and do the motion for awesome.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Ask the group to remind you what the message was that Jonah was to preach to the people of Nineveh (basically….God is going to destroy you because of your sinfulness). Explain that although this sounds harsh that this is the truth for every single person in the world. The Bible clearly tells us in Romans 3:23 that we are all sinners and in Romans 6:23 that our sin deserves death. Throughout the Bible, the payment for sin was always blood, as we see in the Old Testament stories of sacrifice. But, because of His great love, while we were still sinners who deserved punishment (Romans 5:8), God sent Jesus to earth to die as the perfect, spotless lamb of God (John 1:29) who would take away the sin of the world. Just like the people of Nineveh, we all deserve to be punished for our sin, but the good news is that Jesus has already taken that punishment for us. In our story this morning, when the people of Nineveh repented of their sin and turned to God, God had compassion on them and saved them. God has already shown His love and compassion for us through Jesus, but like the people of Nineveh we are still called to repent of our sin and turn to Jesus for salvation.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word compassionate somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for compassionate or the memory verse or they could illustrate any of the passages you read about God being compassionate. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would thank God for the gift of Jesus and the gift of salvation for all who believe in Jesus.
LESSON 3: GOD IS AWESOME
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous lesson posters (almighty and alpha & omega), a large piece of paper with the words AWESOME written on it, key verse (Exodus 15:11) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group, pages with the memory verse printed small across the top per child (optional)
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Start the lesson off by reviewing the previous lessons- “God is Almighty” and God is the Alpha and Omega”. Have one of the kids in the group remind you of the definitions and the motions. You may also want to review where in the Bible we see these attributes of God.
PLAY A REVIEW GAME –
Explain that you will read a verse and that they should do a motion to indicate which truth about God the verse is talking about.
If the verse tells us that God is ALMIGHTY make strong arms. If the verse tells us that God is the ALPHA & OMEGA point forward with one hand and backward with the other hand. If you think the verse is about today’s new truth (God is AWESOME) then do your best shocked or amazed face.
These are the verse to read …. (read the randomly)… Nehemiah 1:5, Isaiah 14:27, Exodus 15:11, Isaiah 48:12, Revelation 22:13, Revelation 19:6, Malachi 3:11, Deuteronomy 4:34, Malachi 1:11, Deuteronomy 7:21, Revelation 1:8, Revelation 21:6, John 1:1-2, Genesis 1:1, Job 38:4, Amos 4:13, Isaiah 47:4, Revelation 15:3
TEACH- GOD IS AWESOME:
Get the discussion started by setting the stage for the story. Remind the kids that the book of Exodus starts with God’s chosen people enslaved in Egypt. Remind them that God had promised Abraham years before that He would give Abraham’s family the promised land. BUT one of Abraham’s great-grandsons – Joseph- had been sold into slavery in Egypt, then he moved his family to Egypt to protect them from a famine…. and now generations have passed and God’s people have grown into a big nation and the Egyptians have enslaved them. God’s people called out to God, and God sent Moses to rescue His people and bring them out of slavery.
After this brief introduction, skim through Exodus chapters 7-11 with the kids. (Have them open their Bibles and call out the things that that they see- maybe headings in their Bibles or words they don’t know).
Work together to make a list of all of the plagues that God brought on the people of Egypt to show them that He is the awesome God who is God over all.
Choose one or two of the plagues and read through the section pertaining to those plagues and have a couple of kids act out what it would have been like to experience that plague and what it would have taught them about who God is or what He is like.
Afterwards, fill in the gaps in the story by briefly talking through the plagues and how they showed the people of Egypt that God is God of all (He is sovereign) and that God is awesome. Tell the kids that this story helps us to see that God is awesome as we see God doing things that only He could do….things that amaze and astound us….things that cause us to be in awe of His power, His sovereign rule, He authority over all things.
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
AWESOME = INSPIRING AWE OR AMAZEMENT.
EXPLAIN: talk about how although we use the word awesome to describe a good pizza (or other things) that when you really think about the word awesome, only God should be called awesome and He alone should inspire real awe or amazement. Have one of the kids define ‘awe.‘ Talk about how awe is a sense of wonder or amazement that makes you think “oh wow!”
Ask kids in the group to read the other supporting verses to see times in the Bible where God is seen as being awesome ad have kids give examples of stories in the BIble that amaze them when they think about who God is or what He is like. Some of the verses to consider are: Exodus 15:11, Deuteronomy 4:34, Deuteronomy 7:21, Nehemiah 1:5.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for AWESOME. A good motion might be to open your mouth and eyes wide and put your hands on the side of your face like you’re saying WOW!
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week’s memory verse is Exodus 15:11. This verse was sung by Moses and all of the Israelites after God led them through the sea and out of Egypt. As they reflected on what God had just sung for them, they sang a song of praise.”
Have the oldest boy in the group read this whole song (Exodus 15:1-18). After reading this song, have the other kids in the group point out the awe inspiring things that they heard in the Psalm.
If time allows, you may want to give kids time to illustrate the memory verse Provide pages with the verse printed across the top and crayons or pencils. They could (1) draw a picture of the awesome things that God did to rescue His people from Egypt, (2) draw word pictures to help them remember this verse or (3) draw a picture of the awesome way that God rescued His people through Jesus.
Read the memory verse (Exodus 15:11) a few times together and do the motion for awesome.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Ask the kids why they think that God used these plagues to rescue His people from Egypt. Then, explain that these plagues were specifically chosen by God to show the people of Israel that He alone is God. Tell the kids that the Egyptians used to worship lots of different gods… a sun god, a water god, a god of the nile, a cow god and even a frog goddess; so, each of these plagues showed that He is the One true God and that he alone can rescue His people. Fast forward to today and people still try to be saved by worshipping false gods, and yet the Bible tells us in John 14:6 that Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life” and that “no one comes to the Father except through Him.” Just like these false gods couldn’t save the Egyptians, no other ways that people try today can save them; salvation is through faith in Jesus alone. Jesus‘ death in our place on the cross is one of the best examples of how awesome (or awe inspiring) God is. The thought of God Himself taking on flesh and dying the death that we deserve should lead us to see Him as the awesome God that He is.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the words awesome somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for awesome or the memory verse or they could illustrate any of the passages you read about God being the awesome. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would be reminded this week of God’s awesomeness as they think about the fact that Jesus died on the cross in their place.
LESSON 2: GOD IS THE ALPHA & OMEGA
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, a large piece of paper with the words ALPHA & OMEGA written on it, key verse (John 1:1) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group, two sets of memory verse cards (write 1-2 words on each card for a total of 12-15 cards per set).
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Start the lesson off by reviewing the previous lesson- “God is Almighty.” Have one of the kids in the group remind you of the definition for Almighty and remind you of the motion and where in the Bible we see God as almighty.
TEACH- GOD IS ALPHA & OMEGA:
Start the teaching time, by asking kids to name some things that identify the beginning….
(1) the beginning of a sentence- a capital letter
(2) the beginning of a school year- new uniforms & new backpacks and a new teacher introducing herself
(3) the beginning of a day- a sunrise
(4) the beginning of cookies- flour, sugar & eggs being mixed together
(5) the beginning of someone’s life- when a baby starts growing inside their mom, etc.
In the same way, have them name the end of things…
(1) the end of movie- the credit roll
(2) the end of a prayer- amen
(3) the end of a sentence- a period
(4) the end of life- death, etc.
Explain that everything has a beginning and an ending, but that this morning we’re going to see that one of the truths about God in the Bible is that He is the beginning and the end.
Read John 1:1-18 to the group as a way to help them understand the truth of God being the alpha and omega. As you read through the passage, make the following points…
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
ALPHA & OMEGA = Beginning and End.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for ALPHA & OMEGA. A good motion might be to reach your arms as far to the sides as you can.
EXPLAIN: In the case of God this means that He has always been and always will be. He was there in the beginning, will be there in the end and every moment in between.….you might want to explain this name for God by telling the kids that Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, so it would like saying that God is A & Z or even A to Z.
Ask volunteers to read the other supporting verses to see times in the Bible where God is seen as the Alpha and the Omega, or passages that remind us that in the beginning God was there. The verse you’ll want to read are: Revelation 1:8, Revelation 21:6, Revelation 22:13, John 1:1-2, Genesis 1:1, Job 38:4, Isaiah 48:12
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week’s memory verse is John 1:1. This verse tells us something about the order of God’s world -what or WHO was there in the beginning and how things began. So, to help us remember this verse about order, we’re going to race to put the memory verse in order.”
Divide into 2 teams and give one person on each team a set of memory verse cards. When you say GO, teams should race to get the verse put in order without looking it up in the Bible. When a team thinks they have the verse in the correct order they should say “order” which means the other team should pause while the leader checks their verse.
Once both teams have the verse in the correct order, they should look it up in the Bible and read it together as a group.
Read the memory verse (John 1:1) a few times together.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Look back at the passage you just read (John 1) and ask the question – why did Jesus come into the world? Why did God Himself enter human history? Point them to the truth that He came to make God known (verse 18), He came to bring people into God’s family (verse 12) and ultimately He came to die for His people and pay the price for their sin. Remind them that since Jesus is life (verses 3-4), that none of us would have a beginning without Him, and without Him, our lives will end in eternal death and punishment, but with Him we have life.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the words alpha & omega somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for alpha & omega or the memory verse or they could illustrate any of the passages you read about God being the alpha & omega. If anyone in the group has a hard time figuring out what to write or draw, encourage them to make a timeline of their lives (started with birth and will end with death) and draw a timeline of God (no beginning, then the story of the Bible, and then no ending). After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Take a minute to praise God for being the Alpha and Omega and to thank Him for sending Jesus into the world to take our place on the cross.
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, a large piece of paper with the word ALMIGHTY written on it, key verse (Isaiah 14:27) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
Optional: Download our free coloring page for A is for Almighty (PDF).
LESSON OUTLINE:
Take a few minutes to introduce this new study and explain that each time you meet together you’ll be looking into the Bible to discover a different truth about who God is and what He is like.
TEACH- GOD IS ALMIGHTY:
Start out the teaching time by reading the first part of Genesis 18:14 (Is anything to hard for the Lord?). Ask the kids how they would answer that question. Have them name some things that they know that God has done that would be too hard or even impossible for people. (With younger groups you may want to be prepared with answers to this question to share with them.
Show the word “Almighty” on the poster and explain that this morning we’re talking about the truth that God is Almighty.
Read Judges 7:1-8 as a group and have a few of the kids act out what you are reading while you are reading. Then, fill in the details in the story in your own words from Judges 6-7.
Tell the kids that this story comes from the book of Judges and remind them that Judges was about the time period after God had led His people into the promised land, but that during this time they stopped following God and God judged them for the sin and then when they would repent God would send a judge (or leader) to rescue them, and that Gideon was one of the judges that God sent to rule over His people.
Include the following points in your review of the story….
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
ALMIGHTY = Having absolute power or all powerful
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for ALMIGHTY. A good motion might be to make strong arms (flexing muscles).
Ask kids to give examples from Scripture of times that they see this attribute of God. You might want to be prepared with a few examples of your own by asking questions like:
(1) Who shut the lions mouth to protect Daniel? or
(2) How did God lead His people out of Egypt? or
(3) How did God give the people the city of Jericho?
To help solidify this truth in the minds of the kids in your group, read these passages together – or have kids taking turns reading a passage to the group.
Genesis 1:1-5, Genesis 7:17-8:1, Genesis 21:1-7, Exodus 14:21-31, Job 38:4-24, Matthew 8:23-27, John 11:25-44.
After each passage, have one of the kids explain how that passage teaches us that God is almighty. Ask what does God do in this passage to show His power?
MEMORY VERSE:
Read the memory verse (Isaiah 14:27) off the poster a couple of times and have the kids do the motion for the word almighty.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Help the kids to make the connection between God being almighty and the work that Jesus did on the cross. Explain (or remind the kids) that God saved the Israelites with only 300 men to show His power and to make sure that the Israelites knew that salvation was through God alone. God wanted to make sure that no one could boast in their own strength or think that they had fought the battle on their own. The same is true for us when we think about salvation.
Ephesians 2:8 tells us that salvation is a gift from God because of His grace, not something that we can do on our own. The only way we can be saved is to be like Gideon and trust in God’s plan to save us through the death of Jesus in our place.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word almighty somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for almighty or the memory verse or they could illustrate the verse or the story of Gideon or any of the other passages you read about God being almighty. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Praise the almighty God for the way we saw Him rescue His people in this morning’s story and ultimately for the way we see Him rescue His people through the death of Jesus.
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