SCRIPTURE MEMORY: Ecclesiastes 12:13(NIV) Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

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1 CONNECTION WORKSHOP PLAN WORKSHOP: Holyword Squares QUARTER: Fall MONTH: Fall 2018 SCRIPTURE: The 10 Commandments FOCUS: Rules to live by SCRIPTURE MEMORY: Ecclesiastes 12:13(NIV) Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. GRADES: 1st and 2nd ACTIVITY: Holyword Squares tic-tac-toe game. This lesson will focus on the 10 Commandments. We will discuss how God wants us to behave and that rules are for our own good. We will discuss the commandments in the context of God s love and forgiveness for us. Kids will each write their names on a piece of paper and place them in a box. The two contestants will be chosen first, then nine kids for the squares. The Secret Square question will relate to the lesson focus, specifically, the Scripture memory verse. A small prize (choice of candy or sticker) will be awarded to the entire class if the question is answered correctly. The contestant whose name was picked first gets the first turn. The contestant selects a square, and the question is asked to the child in the square. The contestant then agrees or disagrees with that answer, if the contestant is correct, the square is marked with an X or O based on the contestant s symbol. Play moves back and forth between contestant X and contestant O. The first contestant to get three-in-a-row wins. New contestants are then chosen for another game. HOLYWORD SQUARES LESSON STORY:

2 This month we will be learning about the 10 Commandments. Does anyone know where the 10 Commandments can be found in the bible? Yes, they are located in the book of Exodus, Chapter 20, verses The book of Exodus is located in the Old Testament. Let s look at some background of how the 10 Commandments came to be. Most of you remember the story of Moses and how he led God s people, the Hebrews, out of slavery in Egypt. Remember, the plagues that God sent on the Egyptians until the Pharaoh finally let the Hebrews go? Well, after this time period and the crossing of the Red Sea, the Hebrews with Moses as their leader went into the desert to find the promise land. On this journey, Moses was always seeking God s guidance. He went up into the mountains away from the rest of the people to pray. It was a place called Mount Sinai. There God gave him inscribed on two stone tablets by God, the 10 Commandments. Let s find them in the Bible and read them out loud. Exodus 20:1-17: And God spoke all these words, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me; You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor s house. You shall not covet your neighbor s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. (NIV Study Bible) Let s look at each of these commandments and see what they mean. An easy way to try to remember them is that the first four rules focus on our relationship with God, let s look at those:

3 #1. There is only one God, and we should have no other gods before him. #2, Do not worship anything else other than God. Some people worship other things that are called idols or graven images, like golden cows, or things from nature. We can also worhip things like money or things we own, if we put them before our love of God. #3. Only use God s name in a positive way. We need to honor God s name, don t use it when we are angry or being disrespectful. #4, Keep one day of the week for God. As Christians, we usually consider our Sabbath as Sunday. This is the day we usually go to church and worship God. It is also a good idea to use that day for fun and rest. Spend time with your family. Don t put off your chores or homework to do on Sunday, that way you can concentrate on resting and worshiping God. The last six rules focus on our relationships with others, now let s look at those: #5. Love and honor your Mom and Dad. #6. Don t kill or hate. #7. Be true to your husband or wife. #8. Don t steal or take what is not yours. #9. Don t lie and always be honest. #10. Don t covet, that means to be jealous and to want what others have. Don t want something of someone else so that you wish you had it and they didn t. Why do you think that God gave us these rules to live by? (take various answers). That s right, He wanted us to know how to live and be good people. He loved us and wanted to keep us safe. These rules are for our own good. God is our heavenly Father. He s like our parent. Do your parents give you rules? Why do they give you rules? Yes, just like God, they want us to be safe and have a good life. As Christians, we also look at Jesus example for how we live our life. Jesus also gave us guidance on the 10 Commandments. When he was asked what is

4 the most important commandment, his answer was: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. That follows the first four of the 10 Commandments doesn t it? Our relationship with God is most important. The second part of Jesus answer was, Love your neighbor as yourself. That follows the last six of the 10 Commandments that God wants us to have good relationships with others. It is like the golden rule which is not a commandment but summarizes how God wants us to treat others, like we would like to be treated. Jesus answer can be found in the New Testament in Mark 12: As Christians, we also need to remember that God sent his son, Jesus, to bring forgiveness. He knows that we aren t perfect like him and that we will make mistakes. When we do break God s rules, he forgives us. Jesus death on the cross brought us salvation from all our sins. We still need to work on following God s rules and Jesus example. Which of the 10 Commandments is hard for you to follow? Look at the rules and see which ones that might take some work for you. Which ones seem easier for you to follow? (Discussion) What do you think are some ways that you can get help in following these 10 Commandments? We can pray to God, we can worship Him to help get out hearts right with Him, we can ask for help from our parents, teachers, friends, etc. Let s close in prayer and thank God for the 10 Commandments that he gave to us because he loved us and wanted to keep us safe. Let s ask him to help us follow his rules more closely. HOLYWORD SQUARES QUESTIONS (Answers have an asterix or are given below. The questions should be given in the order below.): 1. Which book of the Bible are the 10 Commandments located in? Mark *Exodus Genesis 2. True or False. The Book of Exodus is located in the New Testament of the Bible. (False) 3. Who did God first deliver the 10 Commandments to? Jesus The Hebrew people

5 *Moses 4. True or False. There were originally eleven Commandments but Moses forgot one of them. (False) 5. What mountain was Moses on when God gave him the 10 Commandments? Pikes Peak Mt Everest *Mt Sinai 6. Who does God tell us that we should worship above all others? Moses Buddha The Lord your God 7. What are some examples of idols, or graven images? Golden cow Money Statues of gods * all of the above 8. How does God want us to say and keep His name? Say his name in anger Write His name all over the walls at school *Holy and respectfully 9. What day of the week do Christians traditionally celebrate the Sabbath? Saturday *Sunday Tuesday 10. How many days of the week does God tell us that we can work? Seven

6 Five *Six 11. True or False. The first four commandments focus on our relationship with God. (True) 12. How does God s 5 th commandment tell us how to treat our parents? *Honor and obey Follow their rules if we feel like it Listen to our friends first, then our parents *all of the above 13. What do the last six commandments focus on? *our relationships with others God s love for us Rules about church and worship 14. What did Jesus say the most important commandment is? Don t steal Keep the Sabbath holy *Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength 15. What did Jesus say was the second most important commandment? Don t kill *Love your neighbor as yourself Honor your mother and father 16. Why did God give us the 10 Commandments? He doesn t want us to have any fun *He loves us and wants to keep us safe He is a controlling God who likes lots of rules 17. What does the word covet mean? *to want something someone else has, like jealous to be thankful to be worshipful

7 18. True or False. Even though Jesus died for our sins, God still wants us to follow Jesus example the best we can and to tell him when we have made mistakes and ask for forgiveness. (True) 19. Give one of the 10 Commandments, you can put it in your own words. *Correct answer is any of the True or False. One of the 10 Commandments states Treat others as we would like to be treated. (False, that is the golden rule ) SECRET SQUARE QUESTION: How can we better follow the 10 Commandments if we need help following the rules? (Tell the children that there is no wrong answer and they will all get a prize when leaving but opens discussion for things like, pray for God s help, worship Him to help get our hearts right, ask for help from parents, teachers, even friends, etc. this could extend into the shepherd s time if the Shepherds don t have anything else planned.) CONNECTION BETWEEN FOCUS AND ACTIVITY: Questions will highlight the 10 Commandments and focus on God s rules for our life. The questions will help tie the 10 Commandments with God s love and forgiveness for us. SUPPLIES NEEDED: Prizes (candy and stickers), box, slips of paper, story and details for reading, about 2 dozen questions. EVALUATION: