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"But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments" Psalm 103:17-18 (ESV). 

Bible lesson plans for Children's Ministry

Teach children to follow Jesus---make lesson time meaningful and fun! Check out our Sunday school Bible curriculum, Bible games, Christian skits, and Christian craft activities--for Sunday school, midweek classes, and Bible clubs too!

Should Christians Observe the Feasts  

of the Lord and Kosher Laws too? (05/25/2018) --from Come Celebrate the Feasts of the Lord.

The giving of the Law, plans for the tabernacle/temple, sacrifices, Kosher Laws, and celebrating the Feasts were a model of heavenly things (Ex. 25:9, Numbers 8:4), a shadow of things to come when Messiah would fulfill the law (Acts 7:44, Hebrews 8:5, Matthew 5:17) and bring in the new covenant. All this was was predicted in the old covenant (Jeremiah 31:31, Hebrew 8:6ff) long before Jesus stepped foot on our planet. 

Jesus didn't negate the law, he fulfilled it (Matthew 5:17). He is the sacrifice spoken of in Isaiah 53. He is our atonement for sin, our Passover Lamb (Feast of Passover). Jesus has rescued us from slavery to sin. Our perfect, without leaven, sacrifice was laid in the tomb---he did not decay (Feast of Unleavened Bread). Jesus rose from the dead three days later (Feast of Firstfruits). For all those who put their faith in him, he is the firstfruits promise of eternal life (Feast of Pentecost Shavuot). God gives his children Pentecost power, his Spirit, to trumpet the arrival of his Kingdom. We are to announce it to all people, calling them to repent and accept Christ's atonement (Feast of Trumpets). And we are not alone in our mission; God promises he'll faithfully lead us as we travel in our earthly bodies, tabernacling our way to the Promised Land---a new heaven and a new earth (Feast of Tabernacles). Jesus made atonement for us (Day of Atonement). He is sitting on the right hand of God the Father Almighty (Psalm 110:1, Matthew 22:41-46).

Colossians 2:17 says, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Jesus is our Sabbath rest (Hebrews 4:9).

Live in freedom.

Bible Game: Got Power? (05/23/2018)

--from our Lighthouse Bible Lessons, Chapter 3--Equipped and Empowered

"May the God of peace . . . equip you with everything good for doing his will . . . " Hebrews 13:20-21.

Set up: Establish a large circular playing area. Place a large cross* in the center.

How to Play: Players line up along the edge of the circle, the start position, with their backs facing the center of the circle. At the go, players walk backwards towards the center of the field to touch the cross. When they reach the cross they must stop--waiting like the disciples waited in Jerusalem to receive God's gift of the Holy Spirit--shout out the Bible verse, then "repent," that is turn around, facing forward, to race back to the start line. Play as long as time allows.

*Variation: We created a cross using 2" PVC pipes with connectors, and then placed color-coded dot stickers (red, orange, and yellow), to represent tongues of fire, onto the cross before playing. When players touch the cross, they remove one dot from the cross and place it on their foreheads, shout out the Bible verse, and then race back to the start. Play continues until players have all three flame-colored dots on their foreheads. Make sure to have enough dots for all players.

After the Game Discussion: Ask players, do you have Holy Spirit power? Have you repented and turned from your sins? Have you asked Jesus to be your Savior and Forever Friend? If so, then God has empowered and equipped you---through the Holy Spirit---to do his will! Those dots on your foreheads remind me of a Bible verse that says, "When you believed, you were marked in Christ with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. He is our guarantee that we will be included in God's kingdom . . ." (Ephesians 1:13). If you've never invited Jesus into your life, you can do so now by praying with me: "Dear Jesus, I admit I sin against you. Thank you for dying on the cross to forgive my sins. Thank you for rising from the dead to overcome death, so I can live eternally in your Kingdom. Help me to follow you all the days of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, amen."

Lighthouse Bible Lessons---An overview for children on the Book of Acts and the Glory of God
Copyright 2010 / 2014 SA Keith -- SundaySchoolNetwork.com

 

Discipline Ideas (05/22/2018)

 for Church and Sunday School

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

Discipline is a word that often conjures up images of time-outs, withdrawing rewards, and other negative experiences. On the other hand, to be known as someone who is disciplined, tells others that you are a responsible person, someone who is dependable. Disciple, the root of these two words, is defined as a person who is a student, or who follows the teachings of another, as did the twelve disciples who followed Jesus Christ's teachings, and millions of others who followed him, and continue to follow him today. 

To become a faithful disciple of Jesus requires discipline in order to become disciplined in our faith. However, how do we as teachers achieve this in our classrooms without negative feelings being transferred to the children we teach? And does this mean we should never use timeouts or withhold rewards to avoid upsetting our kids? 

Over the past decade, our children's ministry has tried several techniques to engage children in Bible lesson time to mitigate negative behavior, thereby preventing the need for negative discipline. Continue reading about effective classroom discipline.

 

 

Your Choice (05/21/2018)

--from our Bible lesson plans, Choose This Day Whom You Will Serve   

An introduction for children on the importance of making good choices: Ask a few volunteers to come forward. Hide a piece of candy in one hand. Have one of the volunteers attempt to choose which hand has the treat. Make a big display of the choice and if the child chose well or not. If he or she misses, go to the next volunteer, but hide your hands and switch or pretend to switch hands first. Continue allowing kids to choose for a few more tries. 

Everyday we are faced with many choices. (Have the children think about and discuss the choices they made throughout their day. You might prompt them by asking: What did you choose to eat? To wear? Did you choose to obey your teachers and parents today or not? Did you choose to be kind or not to someone?) 

Many of our choices have little to no eternal consequences. (Discuss the meaning of consequences. Consequence means the outcome, effect, or result of our actions on us or towards others.) 

What we chose to eat or wear today will have no consequence for eternity, but there are choices that we make everyday that do matter for eternity. In fact, many times we might not even be aware of how important some of our choices can be. Our choices reveal the kind of person we are. For example, people who always want the biggest slice of pizza. What might that say about them? (Maybe they're greedy, or just hungry all the time.) What if people always want to be first in line? What might that say about them? (They're not considerate of others.) What does it say about people who want to share what they have? (They're generous, kind.) You see, the choices we make are important! They reveal what kind of people we are. Our choices show whom we follow: God or ourselves. The Bible teaches us how to make the right choices in our lives. The first, and best choice to make is asking Jesus to be our Savior and Forever Friend. Then as we learn what the Bible teaches us, God will guide us to make the right choices: "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it'" Isaiah 30:21 (NIV).

Teach children how to make the best choices for their lives. Learn more about these Sunday school lessons.

 

Bible Game: Part The Sea (05/17/2018)

--from our Bible curriculum, Amazing Miracles of the Bible.

Set Up: Divide players into two lines with players facing one another. The space between the two lines represents the path through the Red Sea. Depending on the size of your church group, choose 1-3 players to be the Egyptians and 1-3 players to be the Israelites.

How To Play: Have the players standing in the lines hold their hands out in front of themselves and wave them up and down to represent the waves in the sea. At the go the Egyptians chase the Israelites around in a circle, racing behind the rows. At any given point the teacher may cry out, PART THE SEA, whereby the players standing in line must raise their hands to part the water. The Israelites may then run through the space between the players in line, the path through the Red Sea, to escape being caught by the Egyptians. When the Egyptians enter the Red Sea path the teacher may say, MAKE WAVES, whereby the players standing in line must lower their hands to capture the Egyptians. Once caught, players switch with other players in line. Play continues as long as time allows. 

 

 


Learn more about our Bible Games for children's ministry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where will you spend eternity? Are you going to heaven?