Christianity Cove

One of the greatest Bible stories for children is David defeating Goliath in the Valley of Elah.  This lesson shows them that God is willing to use the small and the young to stand as his most important servants and come out victorious over giants.

This Sunday school lesson will teach how God gave David training for killing Goliath by making him a shepherd. Sometimes our lives don’t make sense, but it’s all a part of God’s training and God’s plan.

God gave David the power to do something very brave, something not even the biggest and bravest soldier in the Israeli army could not do. God gave him power to kill Goliath, a man who stood over nine feet tall.

But God gave him some special training as well. He got this training because he was a shepherd, and when he was watching over the sheep, what would happen sometimes?

David killed at least one lion and one bear with his bare hands to protect the sheep. The story goes that David would knock out the huge lion or bear with stones flung from his sling shot. But who would have ever thought that protecting sheep would be training to kill a huge bully like Goliath?

How would you feel, staring down a huge, hungry lion or bear? Scared.

Do you think David really wanted to kill lions and bears when he was just a kid or just a teenager?  If God can do anything, why didn’t He just kill the lion or bear himself ? Why did God set it up so David had to kill the lion or bear? Because he wanted David to be strong and responsible and not lazy.

What did David’s training enable him to do? It helped him to kill a giant bully.

What if the Lord had not asked David to kill wild animals to protect his sheep?  He could not have killed Goliath.

Sometimes our parents ask us to do things that seem bothersome, and we don’t understand. However, all responsibility we take now is great training for becoming a hero to others–this is one of the many lessons we learn from the story of David and Goliath.

Technorati Tags: Bible stories for children, Sunday school, David and Goliath

Here is an activity to continue your Bible study for Joshua and the walls of Jericho.  I have used this often with my younger Sunday school students to reinforce the message of the lesson.

God and Joshua worked together to get the walls of Jericho to come down. Joshua had to lead the men who blew the horns. After the walls came down, Joshua had to lead the army in to take over the land. God made the walls tumble down.

When we work together with God, amazing things can happen. To remind us of that, we’re making our own “Jericho Horns” today.

Jericho Horns
• construction paper, one sheet for each child
• glue sticks
• marker pens
• stapler
• brown construction paper, maybe five sheets cut into little squares to make bricks.

Give each student a sheet of construction paper. You should have the word JOSHUA written in large letters at the top of each sheet, or show them how to do this if they are old enough.

The small brown squares are bricks of the walls of Jericho which they can glue on in a haphazard fashion (as if they are flying).
**Note to students: If they only glue down half of each brick, the unglued part might vibrate and add to the noise, depending on the type of paper used, once the horn is made.

Have each student roll his paper lengthwise but unevenly, so that near the mouth, there is only a very small hole, and near the opposite end there is a bigger hole. They can blow through the horns.

Sometimes we think of being strong as having lots of muscles. But one of the most important things about true strength is that true strength sees the good in everyone.  A strong heart is more important than a strong body!

Technorati Tags: Bible study for Joshua, Sunday school

This is one of the free lesson plans for Sunday school that will teach your students how they become strong with Christ.

With Jesus in charge of our lives, we can look forward to someday being very big and strong Christians. With Jesus in charge of our lives, we can count on Him to do the hard work to make us strong and successful. But we have to be willing to work at being strong Christians.

When Joshua led the Hebrew army to take Jericho, one of their biggest obstacles would be to break through the big, thick walls that protected that city. However, the Lord went before them and did the toughest work Himself, which was to demolish that wall and give the army many directions from which to attack.

Jericho was the first land the Hebrews took in the forty years since they left Egypt. Now they were being told to stand up like men and fight. Sometimes following God is not easy. Sometimes we have to do what we don’t want to do in order to build our faith or build up our courage and strength. Think of some things you don’t like to do but that you have to do.

Could it be that God wants us to work when we’re tired? Why would He want that? He
knows that working when you don’t want to makes you stronger. What happens when we do things we don’t want to do because we love God? We get stronger.

Ask your Sunday school students if they have to do things they don’t want to do or are too tired to do.
Prompts:
Minding your parents’ rules, even though you might not always like them;
Standing up for God when others say that faith is silliness;
Resisting temptation to lie or steal, even tho a friend is doing that.

When you do these things, God starts working his own little miracles inside of you. Every time you resist temptation to take the easy way out and you do the right thing, you get a little bit stronger in Christ.

Technorati Tags: free lesson plans for Sunday school, Joshua, Jericho, Sunday school

To continue your Bible studies for children, try using games to teach your younger Sunday school students.

After the Hebrews’ 40 years in the desert, they were finally ready to become a nation, to capture land of their own. We’ve spent the last few weeks looking at some of the Ten Commandments. God gave these to the Hebrew people while they were wandering around the desert.

The Hebrews went into the desert with Moses as former slaves who needed to learn many things in order to become strong. God gave these tasks to the Hebrew people while they were wandering around the desert. Joshua led the Hebrew army after Moses led them for 40 years through the desert.

Try this activity with your younger Sunday school students to illustrate to them how much the Hebrews had to learn before they could establish their own nation.

Growing Up Strong Game
Have children form two lines for a relay race at one end of the room.
Each child must cross the room twice before the next child can go.

Each must:

• Crawl on all fours to the other end
• Hop back one foot
• Hop to the other end on two feet
• Run to the finish and tag the next child.

If you don’t have enough children for a relay, simply time them, one compared to the next. When all have been timed, ask them how it felt to have to crawl in the beginning?Then they ‘grew,’ but were still a little clumsy. That was the hopping-on-one-foot part. Did they feel clumsy? Then, they got to hop on two feet. Did they feel a little more graceful?
And how about running for the finish line? Were you glad to be free and strong?

We can’t expect to do everything right, especially when we are little and just learning.  But Jesus helps us, and every day we get a little bigger, stronger, and more free! With Jesus in charge of our lives, we can look forward to someday
being very big and strong Christians.

Technorati Tags: Bible studies for children, Moses, Joshua, Sunday school

Here is one of the children’s Sunday school activities I do with older Sunday school students.  I use it when studying the Ten Commandments. It is a memorial to the journey the Hebrews made in the desert.

Before Moses got the Ten Commandments from God, the Hebrews had to walk in the desert a very long time, and it was hot. But God took care of them.

This activity is a memorial to that journey. If we put it at home somewhere where we can see it, let it serve to remind us that God takes care of us in tough times also.

Give each student a baby food jar with lid and a spoon. Put the different colored sand bags down on the table where they can share.
Show them how to spoon in different colors to make layers.
Explain:
• brown sand represents the dry ground
• green sand represents what little vegetation they could find in the desert
• blue sand symbolizes the sky and how it rarely rained
• yellow sand symbolizes the sun
• red sand symbolizes how God fed them in the desert when there wasn’t any food
• white sand symbolizes God Himself and how he always watches over us

Note: For sand projects, it pays to put newspaper down under the work table.

Technorati Tags: children’s Sunday school activities, Sunday school, Ten Commandments