Moses and the Burning Bush

Transcription

1 Moses and the Burning Bush Exodus 3 4 February 19, 2012 ON OUR PLATE TODAY The children will learn: The story of Moses and the burning bush. That Moses responded to God s calling with reverence. That we are called to respect and honor God. ACTIVITY The children will take off one of their shoes and throw them into a large container, such as a garbage can. Next, the kids will form a large circle. The leader will dump the pile of shoes in the center of the circle. When the leader gives the command to start, the children will run to the pile of shoes, and grab one shoe that is not their own. Without speaking, each child must find the correct owner to the shoe that he grabbed from the pile. When a child has found the correct owner of the shoe he grabbed, and also has his own shoe on, he may race back to his original seat in the circle! large container In the Bible account today, we are going to visit a desert in which Moses was instructed by God to take off both of his shoes because he was standing on holy ground! Let s watch and witness an amazing sign from God! BIBLE ACCOUNT Place an image of a burning bush on a screen or board in the front of the lesson area. It won t be moving, but you can put the image on the screen from the following video at the 12-second mark: The name of the video is Burning Bush submitted by JonathanDBates. (Do not show the entire video to the children.) The actor is portraying Moses, dressed in a robe and sandals, holding a staff. A narrator will start the Bible account, as Moses walks around herding sheep. A third character will be the voice of YouTube download shepherd s clothes megaphone staff Copyright 2010 KidzMatter Ministries Inc. All Rights Reserved. 1

2 God. This person will be near the image of the burning bush, but hidden from the children s view and speaking through a megaphone. Moses will act while the narrator is reading the Bible account. Narrator: Narrator: Narrator: Narrator: Moses was out tending a flock of sheep for his father-in-law, Jethro. He led the sheep to the far side of the desert, to the mountain of God. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in flames of fire from within a bush. (Moses will freeze and stare in fear at the bush.) Why isn t that bush burning up? That is so strange I m going over there to see what s going on. (walks near the bush) When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush. Moses! Moses! (terrified and shaking) Here I am! Don t come any closer. Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. (Moses fumbles and quickly removes his sandals.) (frightened) Who, who, who are you? I am God. (Moses immediately hides his face.) I ve seen how my people, the Israelites, have suffered under the Egyptians. I ve heard their cries because they are held as slaves. I m sending you, Moses, to bring my people out of Egypt. Me? But, I m nothing. Why me? Don t worry, Moses. I will be with you. Well, what should I say if the Egyptians ask me who commanded that the Israelites be let go? You tell them I AM sent you. God instructed Moses to go to the elders of Israel and tell them what He had planned for the Israelites the plan to free the Israelites from the Egyptians. But, what if they still don t believe me? Throw the staff that you re holding to the ground, Moses. (Moses throws his staff.) As soon as Moses staff hit the ground, it turned into a snake. (Moses picks up staff.) And when he picked it back up, it turned back into a staff. God also told Moses to stick his hand into his robe. When Moses pulled his hand out of his robe it was covered with leprosy sores. (Moses will act this out as the narrator is reading.) God told Moses to put his hand back into his robe, and the leprosy was gone. The Lord performed these signs and wonders to show Moses that people will believe that God is going to set His people free. But, but, but (stuttering) God, I m not a good speaker. My words are not smooth or professional. Go Moses! I will help you speak and I ll teach you what to say! Oh God. I m so scared. Please send someone else! 2

3 Narrator: (angry) Enough Moses! I ll send your brother, Aaron, to go with you! Now go! Lead the Israelites out of Egypt! (Moses quickly leaves the lesson area.) Moses left the burning bush and told his brother, Aaron, what God had said. God told Moses that he would perform many miraculous signs with his staff. God had a plan to set His people free, and He was going to use Moses in a mighty way! GAME Seat the kids in circles of about 10. The children will play a game of Hot Potato, only the potato will be a sandal. Each circle of children will pass around a sandal while music is playing. When the music stops, the child holding the sandal in each circle must answer one of the following questions. sandal(s) Christian music What was Moses doing in the desert? (tending sheep) What did Moses notice about the burning bush that was very unusual? (the bush wasn t burning up) Who spoke to Moses from within the burning bush? (God) What was the first thing God instructed Moses to do? (take off his sandals) Why did Moses have to take off his sandals? (He was standing on holy ground.) God said that He had heard the cries of His people, the Israelites. What group of people was holding the Israelites as slaves? (Egyptians) What did God send Moses to do in Egypt? (to lead the Israelites out of Egypt) How did Moses feel about going to Egypt to free the Israelites? (scared and not good enough) What name did God tell Moses to tell the Egyptians when they asked Moses who sent him? (I AM) Who did God say He would send to help Moses? (Moses brother, Aaron) MESSAGE (show slide #1) Take off your sandals! Exodus 3:5 says, Do not come any closer, God said, Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. Moses was standing in a desert. That place was not special, or holy, because it was desert ground. It was a bunch of sand and rocks with a few scraggly bushes and just a little bit of grass. That place was holy, because God was there. God s presence was very, very real there and He was going to do something amazing there. PowerPoint slide #1 When a preacher or speaker gets up to lead people in worship, it s a holy time a holy place because God s presence is real there and He wants to do something amazing in the lives of people. Whenever we are in God s presence, it s a holy place, and we should treat Him with great respect. Are you in God s presence when you have personal devotions? This should be a time when you show God great respect by listening to what He has to say through Bible reading and prayer. Have you ever felt God very near when you were looking at the mountains or a beautiful river or watching some deer grazing? God is speaking to you and it s holy ground. Name some other times when you have felt God s presence in a special way. These are holy ground times. KNOW YOUR BIBLE During the Bible account today, God instructed Moses to do something that may seem odd to you and me. What was the unusual instruction God gave Moses? God told Moses to take off his sandals, because Moses was standing on holy ground. What do you think that means? In the time and culture when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, taking off your shoes was an act of respect. Moses was about to meet with God, and that was something he shouldn t take lightly. Taking off his shoes showed Moses own unworthiness before God. The place where Moses was standing was not considered holy ground because of the sand, a tree, or PowerPoint slide #1 3

4 any rock in the place. The place was holy because God was present God was right there! Moses knew not to approach God with any lack of respect or any lack of sincerity! In some cultures around the world today, people remove their shoes before entering someone s home. Have you ever been to someone s house and they asked you to take your shoes off before you came in? That s out of respect for the things in their house to treat them nicely. In our church today we don t take off our shoes as we enter the sanctuary. It might not be a bad idea, though, to do something physical like that to get our attention that the sanctuary is a holy place. So how do we show respect to the Lord when we come to church? (at times we are quiet, we meditate, we know the appropriate times to laugh or giggle, we know the appropriate times to listen carefully, we respectfully go to communion, our posture during worship.) GAME In our church today, we may not take off our shoes when we enter church. We may not take off our shoes when we are worshipping God. We may not take off our shoes when we participate in communion. And we may not take off our shoes when we are praying for others. BUT we must approach God respectfully during all of these things. We should not be silly, obnoxious, or have a who cares attitude when we approach God. We may not take off our shoes, but there are some things that we should take off and lay at the foot of the cross when we go to church, when we worship, when we participate in communion, and when we pray. There are some things that we should take off when we are standing on holy ground! small pieces of paper masking tape markers chairs small balls Do you ever have a problem with being angry? You need to take that off! Do you ever think someone s not good enough to be your friend or good enough to come to your church? That s prejudice and you need to take that off. Do you ever find yourself wishing you had what someone else has? That s coveting and you need to take that off. Have you ever found yourself going on and on and on about what you did, because you are soooooooo good at it? That s boasting and you need to take that off. How about having a bad attitude? Lay it down take it off. Take off those shoes and come into the presence of the Lord. Divide the kids into groups of about 6 and give each child 2 small pieces of paper and access to a marker. In the groups, they will talk about different things they need to take off to experience God s presence to the fullest. Encourage them to add to the ones that we mentioned. Which things do you struggle with most? Which are the hardest for you to take off and leave when you come to worship? Each kid will write the two things that are most difficult for them to take off one on each of their pieces of paper. Then, they will use a piece of masking tape to stick each one to one of their shoes. Put a chair at the end of the room for each team. Each team will also have a ball that needs to be small enough that it will roll under the chair. At the signal the first person on each team will roll the ball, trying to get it to pass under the chair. Anyone getting the ball through the chair will name one of the things on his/ her shoes. All the kids who have a paper on their shoe with the same thing on it will remove that shoe. For example, if the kid who got the ball through the chair had jealousy on one of his shoes and that s the one he named, then he will remove that shoe and everyone else who has jealousy written on a shoe will remove it, also. If more than one child gets the ball through the chair, then each one will name something on their shoe. When they do, they will say, Remove jealousy, you are standing on holy ground. Now, go to the second person on each team to roll. When someone has both their shoes off, then they are to sit down with their team. The game is over once everyone has both shoes off, so that they are all standing on holy ground. 4

5 MESSAGE PART 2 (show slide #2) God tries to get your attention. Exodus 3:2 says, Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. Raise your hand if you ve ever been to a campfire. To start the campfire, you put logs like these (hold up campfire logs) in a fire pit. After the fire has been burning for a while, they look more like these logs. (Show the children the partially burned logs.) What differences do you notice between the unburned firewood and the burned firewood? Moses knew what burning wood should look like. He used fire for light, heat, cooking, so he knew what should be happening. The wood was NOT burning up, and Moses recognized that this was a special site! God got Moses attention in a unique way! PowerPoint slide #2 firewood pre-burned firewood I wonder how long that bush had been burning before Moses noticed. He probably had his head down and taking care of the sheep. He was busy doing what he did every day, so God did something crazy awesome to get Moses attention. Sometimes God does crazy awesome things today to get our attention. But, most of the time, He just puts opportunities in front of us. Sometimes we re so wrapped up in what we do every day that we don t recognize that God is giving us an opportunity to serve Him. How many times do we walk right past someone who could use our help? We tell ourselves that someone else can do it. Didn t Moses try to tell God that? Or, we think the job is too big for us. Didn t Moses try to tell God that? Or, we think we don t have the skills to do what needs to be done. Didn t Moses try to tell God that? God will try to get your attention, but does He really need to send a burning bush for you to notice? ACTIVITY VIDEO Beforehand, download the following YouTube video called Magic Water Faucet. YouTube video clip This is a short clip but will get your attention. If you were walking past this faucet, would you stop and look at it closer? Would it get your attention? Why does it get your attention? When something is really unusual, we take an extra look just to make sure that we saw what we thought we saw. The burning bush was something really unusual and it got Moses attention. Name some other things that get your attention. How does your mother get your attention? She usually wants to get your attention so she can tell you something that s important for you to hear or do. So, she may whistle to let you know that the bus is waiting. That s important. How does your coach get your attention? Your teacher? Your pastor? It s important for you to listen when God gets your attention. He may get your attention through an illness or through someone new coming into your life (like a missionary or a teacher) or through a book you read. He may try to get your attention when a friend mentions an idea. God has many, many ways of trying to get your attention! He used a burning bush with Moses. PUPPETS Hello Jane! Oh, hello there! I heard that today is a pretty special day for you. trick birthday candles one puppet matches cupcake 5

6 You did, huh? Why is that? I heard it s your birthday! I made something for you! Oh, that was so sweet! (cautiously) I m a little nervous to see what it is, because I know you like to play tricks on people! No tricks today, Jane. Look what I baked for you. (Jane approaches the puppet and picks up the cupcake that is next to the puppet.) Really? You baked this for me? That is so thoughtful of you! Yeah! I even remembered a candle. But my mom told me never to play with matches, so you ll have to light it. Yes, I see. Here, I ll light the candle for you. This is so kind of you! I m totally touched by your thoughtfulness! (giggling) Yes, I know, but we can t celebrate your birthday without singing Happy Birthday to you! Come on kids, help me sing Happy Birthday to Jane! (Sing song) Alright now for the big moment. Blow out your candle, Jane! Okay, here I go! (Jane blows and the candle relights.) Come on Jane, you can do better than that! Yeah, well I thought I blew it out, but I guess I didn t. (blows again and candle relights) (giggling) What s wrong, Jane? Didn t you eat your Wheaties this morning? That s so strange! I don t understand it! (tries to blow the candle out again) Come on, Jane! I always thought you had a lot of hot air in you! Blow! Very funny! I must be missing my target! One more try! (blows and candle relights) (laughing) Surprise! I got you! What do you mean you got me? That, my birthday girl, is a trick candle. It will keep relighting every time you blow it out! Isn t that awesome? Very funny, buddy! I m not sure how awesome that trick was, but it does remind me of an awesome story from the Bible! Somehow, Jane, I knew you would say that. You have a funny way of relating everything to the Bible. (delighted by the compliment) Thank you! That is the sweetest thing you have ever said to me! Do you want to hear about Moses and the burning bush? Let s hear it. You see, God wanted Moses to lead His chosen Israelites out of Egypt. The Israelites were 6

7 being held in Egypt as slaves. And to get Moses attention, God spoke to him through a burning bush! Ah-ha that is how the story relates to my trick candle. Yes. Moses noticed that the bush was on fire, but the bush never burned up! The bush never burned up? That s impossible! Yes, but all things are possible with God! God used that burning bush to get Moses attention, so God could tell Moses something really important. Moses knew how unusual it was that the bush was not burning up, and he listened to what God had to say! It sure got Moses attention! A burning bush that never burns up is way cooler than a trick birthday candle! That s our God! He is the coolest! ACTIVITY The leader will find small jobs around the lesson area to assign to a few of the children. For example, one child may vacuum, one may clean the white board, one may stack some chairs or gather up craft supplies. The leader will call on a child and tell him to vacuum the carpet. After the child completes this task, the leader will call on another child to clean the white board. vacuum chairs cleaning supplies After a few short tasks have been completed, the leader will choose another child to come to the front of the lesson area, and call on this child to walk into the sanctuary to lead the congregation in a worship song. When this child refuses to complete the task, ask him why. Ask the child if he is too scared or nervous to complete the task. Next, choose another child to come to the front of the lesson area, and call on her to go into the sanctuary to preach a sermon to the congregation. When this child refuses to complete this task, ask the child if she is too scared or nervous. Ask a third child to come to the front of the lesson area, and call on him to fly to Africa to feed the hungry and teach them about Jesus. When this child refuses to complete this task, ask the child if the task seems impossible. God may call you into a ministry that seems too big for you! Moses was called to go into Egypt to set ALL of the Israelites free from slavery! That s a big job! But we must remember that nothing is impossible with God. Since God told Moses to set His people free, you can be assured that God set His people free through Moses! And if God calls you to a task that seems too big for you, you can be assured that He is with you and that nothing is impossible for Him! You may be called to be a pastor. You may be called to be a godly school teacher. You may be called to lead a worship band, or you may be called to do missions in a different country. You may be called to tutor kids who have trouble with their studies, and do it with God s love and patience. You may be called to give up your home and go feed the poor. God has a plan for you, just like He had a plan for Moses. Remember, with God nothing is impossible! GAME The children will play a game of Who Am I? Choose one child volunteer to come to the front of the lesson area. Attach a piece of paper with a famous person s name on it to a headband (using a safety pin). Place a headband on a child. The child will not know the name on the headband, but will reveal the sign on the headband to the group of children. Then, the child will say, Who am I? and choose a person from the group to give him a one word clue until he correctly guesses the name on his headband. For example, if the name is headbands pieces of paper safety pins 7

8 Aaron Rodgers, the children may give the following clues: quarterback, Packers, champion. If the clue is Justin Bieber, the children may give the following clues: singer, boy, hairstyle. (The leader will remind each volunteer guessing the name on his headband to ask the group Who Am I? ) Moses was afraid to go to Pharoah, because he didn t think he was important enough to have the Pharoah listen to him. Why would Pharoah even let Moses talk to him? Moses got hung up on thinking it was about him and who he was. God had a pretty cool answer for Moses. It wasn t about Moses! It was about God the God who had all power! MESSAGE PART 3 (show slide #3) It s not about you. Read Exodus 3:11-12a. But Moses said to God, Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? And God said, I will be with you. Moses was told to go into a strange land that was keeping the Israelites as slaves. God told him to talk to the Egyptian leader, Pharaoh, and to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. How do you think Moses felt about doing this? Scared to death, that s how! Moses said, Who am I? Moses thought, Pharaoh will never listen to me! Who am I? Moses was focused on himself when he asked the question Who am I? But God told Moses that it s not about you, Moses. It s about the God that is with you! What was God s reply to Moses question of Who am I? God simply said, I will be with you. PowerPoint slide #3 When you try to tell someone about how God loves them, how Jesus died for them, or how the church is a place where God s people come to worship and that person makes fun of you, how does that make you feel? Pretty rotten, right? Were you doing what God wanted you to do? If you were, then God s saying, It s not about you, kid. I will be with you. Just do what I tell you to do. Name some other times when God might be saying to you, It s not about you. I will be with you. Just do what I tell you to do. ACTIVITY SKIT Don t worry, God said, I will be there! Two leaders will act out a 911 emergency phone call between Moses and the operator, and the children will continually repeat a rap throughout the conversation. First, display the rap on a screen or write it on a sign. The leader will teach the children how to rap the rap with the correct beat. The children will then say the rap every time it comes up on the screen or when the sign is held up. 2 telephones 2 actors biblical costume #1: 9-1-1, what is your emergency? #2: (stuttering) Yeah this is Moses and I have a real emergency. #1: OK, Mr. Moses. Can you give me your location? #2: I m in the desert, by the burning bush. Children: Don t worry, God said, I ll be there! #1: Do you need me to send the fire department? Is the fire spreading? #2: No! The fire isn t spreading. It isn t even burning up what s on fire. 8

9 #1: Excuse me. What are you talking about? Children: Don t worry, God said, I will be there! #2: You see God is talking to me from the burning bush. That s why the bush isn t burning up. #1: Do you have an emergency, Mr. Moses? #2: (panicked) Yes, the emergency is that I m scared to go into Egypt to free God s people! Children: Don t worry, God said, I will be there! #1: Let me get this straight. God called you to go into Egypt to free His people? #2: Yes. #1: Well then, you DO NOT have an emergency. #2: (surprised) What do you mean I don t have an emergency? #1: I know God, and if He called you to complete this task, He will help you through it! You don t need my assistance. Children: Don t worry, God said, I will be there! #2: You think I ll be okay? #1: Listen, Mr. Moses, I know you ll be okay. God will be with you. He will guide you through this. You do not have an emergency that I can assist you with! God is your answer! Children: Don t worry, God said, I will be there! PRAYER Without discussing his actions, the leader will walk up to a child and handcuff his wrist to the child s wrist. (Plastic hand cuffs can be found at most dollar stores for around $1.00.) The leader will pretend that he does not even realize there is a child connected to him. toy handcuffs Using plenty of hand gestures while speaking, the leader walks around the room, scratches his head and puts his hands on his hips, still completely ignoring the child that is handcuffed to him. I don t know, but something feels different. After the kids respond, the leader fakes surprise to the fact that there is a child handcuffed to him. Oh my! How did you get there? (holding up the handcuffed wrists) This is an illustration of how God is always with you. When I walked across the room, my handcuffed partner went with me. When I scratched my head, my handcuffed partner had to help me. No matter where you go or what you do, God is right there, joined with you. Wow! If He calls you to do something for Him, or if you re ever scared, remember that God is with you right there with you! 9

10 The children will join hands with someone close to them and repeat the following prayer phrase by phrase as you lead them. Dear God, Thank you for your Word. Thank you for the lessons we learned today. Help us to have a respectful heart towards You at all times. Help us never to be afraid. Thank you for always being with us! In Jesus name we pray, Amen. BLESSING May you always have a godly, respectful heart! EXTRA ACTIVITIES SNACK The children will create an edible burning bush! Form the trunk and sticks of the bush by laying out the pretzel sticks on the paper plate. The kids will add 6 short squirts of cheese or frosting (yellow and red) to the pretzels to represent the flames of fire. You can also use homemade pastry bags, made from parchment paper rolled into a cone and just a snip from the end where the frosting comes out. The kids can retell the Bible story to one another as they work. Although God s bush did not disappear as it burned, this tasty treat is sure to disappear quickly! pretzel sticks red and yellow squirt frostings paper plate parchment paper squirt cheese SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION Psalm 18:2-3 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. If the kids have not yet memorized the scripture passage, show the PowerPoint slide. Give each child a large piece of white paper and access to a supply of markers. Each kid will create a rebus of the scripture, replacing as many words as possible with a simple picture. There are no right or wrong pictures, but each picture should be something that child relates to and associates with that word. The picture doesn t necessarily have to have the same meaning as the word in the scripture. For example, for the word be, the child could draw a bumblebee, even though that isn t the correct meaning of the word. These word/picture associations are extremely beneficial in memorization. large pieces of white paper markers PowerPoint slide of scripture 10

11 MUSIC We have provided two songs by Yancy, a wonderful contemporary musician who creates music especially for preteens. The songs are You Alone and God is With Us. For more of Yancy s music, go to yancynotnancy.com. music DVD downloads KNOW YOUR BIBLE Moses was scared to death to go into Egypt, walk right up to Pharaoh, and tell him to let the Israelites go free! God s response to Moses was, I will be with you. Do you know what the most repeated command in the Bible is? The command Do not be afraid. It s the most repeated command in the entire Bible! Can anyone guess how many times that command is found in the Bible? Do not be afraid is in the Bible 366 times! Let s open our Bibles and find out why we should not be afraid! Read Genesis 26:24. That night the LORD appeared to him and said, I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Read Isaiah 43:5. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Read Jeremiah 1:8. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you. What is the reason given after every command of Do not be afraid? The Bible tells us that God is with us at all times. How does that help you when you re afraid? When you re afraid, do you tell yourself that God is with me. I do not need to be afraid? 11