LESSON 4 DANIEL TELLS THE TRUTH. Key Verse: Psalm 34:13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies.

Transcription

1 LESSON 4 DANIEL TELLS THE TRUTH Bible Reference: Daniel 5:1-31 Key Verse: Psalm 34:13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies. OVERVIEW - Bible Story - Key Verse - Prayer Part - Small Group Activities ITEMS NEEDED: - Signs that say: King Belshazzar, Daniel - Signs for: The Lord s Prayer sign - Two balloons and the key verse on a small slip of paper (which needs to be in your pocket) - One or two marker boards or poster boards and markers to write on them. - Each small group will need a paper plate for each student and items such as ribbon, hole punches, tissue paper and glue, marker and crayons, etc. to help in decorating their plates. - A place for students to turn in prayer requests. BIBLE LESSON (Based on Daniel 5:1-31) SAY: Good morning. We are so glad that you re here this morning. Today we re continuing a new series called No Compromise: Dare to be a Daniel. And, unlike last week s story, today s story is all about Daniel! CONTROL TOOL Anytime I say, No Compromise! I want you to say, Live for Jesus! Practice a few times. If you want have a boys verses girls competition to see who can be louder. REPEAT after me: I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength Philippians 4:13. SAY: God gives you the strength to live for Him everyday. Review ASK: Who can tell me about last week s story? Briefly re-cap last week s story with your students. Bible Story ASK: Who thinks they have good handwriting? (Choose two volunteers. Send them to a markerboard and ask them to use their best handwriting to write, Always at the top) Give your volunteers a hand.

2 SAY: Handwriting is part of today s Bible story but we ll get to that part in a minute. First I have a question ASK: When Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were taken from the land of Judah, there is something else the Bible specifically says that King Nebuchadnezzar took as well Who remembers what He took? (For a hint, tell them that it was from Jerusalem that it came from an important place of worship ) SAY: The king took items from the Temple. These items were set apart for worshipping God and today were going to find out what happened with some of them. Choose 1 volunteer SAY: The past three weeks we ve talked about King Nebuchadnezzar. In today s story, King Nebuchadnezzar s son is now the king. His name was Belshazzar. Give your volunteer the King Belshazzar sign. SAY: Before we listen to what he does, I need two more volunteers. ASK: Who else thinks they have good handwriting? (Choose two volunteers. Send them to a markerboard and ask them to use their best handwriting to write, Tell beneath the word from last time.) Give your volunteers a hand. SAY: Let s see what this king does Read Daniel 5:1-4 from your Bible SAY: The King is using the items from the Temple and giving praise to gods of gold and silver and other things. But these items had been set aside for God s use. ASK: Do you remember what the word defiled means? (To make something dirty or unclean.) SAY: These objects were for God s use and the king had defiled them. Then in the middle of the feast, something frighteningly amazing happens. Read Daniel 5:5-6 from your Bible ASK: If you were a king and suddenly during one of your feasts a hand appeared and began writing on the wall, what would you do? What do you think Belshazzar did? SAY: Like when his father, King Nebuchadnezzar, had the unsettling dreams about the future, King Belshazzar called for the wise men to help him. The problem is that the ones who came couldn t figure out what it said. Then the queen came to him and told him about Daniel. Choose 1 volunteer to hold the Daniel sign.

3 SAY: But before we get to Daniel, I need two more volunteers who think they have good handwriting. (Choose two volunteers. Send them to a markerboard and ask them to use their best handwriting to write, The beneath the word from last time.) SAY: The king called for Daniel and promised him rewards and the authority to be the third ruler in the kingdom, if he could interpret what the hand had written. But the message was harsh. It was judgment against the king for defiling the items from the Temple. This would not be something that any king would want to hear. ASK: Do you think Daniel told the truth or told the king something that he would have wanted to hear? Why do you think this? SAY: Even if this isn t a familiar story to you, you probably already know what Daniel did because you ve been around Daniel enough to know his heart. He, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, had rather die than dishonor or disobey God. He didn t hide anything from the king and was very upfront with the truth. This is part of what he said Read Daniel 5:22-24 from your Bible ASK: Does anybody know or can anybody guess what the handwriting on the wall said? SAY: The message had four words in it and was simply that: - God had numbered Belshazzar s days - God had judged him and found him lacking - And that his kingdom would be divided and ruled by the Medes and Persians. SAY: Even though this was a message of judgment against the king for his sins, he still rewarded Daniel for delivering the message. That night King Belshazzar died. SAY: Let s give our volunteers a hand for helping us.

4 KEY VERSE Before your part, be sure to blow up two balloons and to hide today s key verse in your pocket. SAY: The message that was written in this story had four words and so far we ve written only three on our marker boards. Of course, these are totally different words from the message in the story, but these words are going to help us discover today s key verse. SAY: First, I need two more volunteers with good handwriting. Choose two volunteers and send them to a markerboard ASK: So far we have Always Tell The What word do you think should come next? (Truth.) SAY: God always wants you to tell the truth. SAY: Sometimes when there s something difficult that we need to say, like Daniel delivering God s message to the king, we might feel tempted not to tell the whole truth or to tell a lie. SAY: It s never okay to lie or to deceive. Always tell the truth. Choose 1 volunteer SAY: Let s say [your volunteer] asks me, Do you know where today s verse is? I do know where today s verse is, so - If said No, would I be telling the truth or lying? (Lying) - If said I don t know, would I be telling the truth or lying? (Lying) - If I said, kind of, would I be telling the truth or lying? (I don t kind of know where it is I know where it is. So that statement isn t totally true.) SAY: But let s pretend I m NOT supposed to know where the verse is and I know I ll get in trouble if I say Yes. Should this change any of my answers? Does it make it okay to lie if it gets me out of trouble? Does it make it okay to lie if I get something I want? No, it s never okay to lie. SAY: I have two balloons. (Show them two balloons.) Now let s pretend, [your volunteer] asked me where the verse was and I said, Which balloon do you think it s in? Ask your volunteer to choose a balloon. Whichever one he chooses, ask him to pop it. He ll find nothing inside. SAY: Now let s say I looked at him and said, Guess you chose the wrong one! (Pop the other balloon.) But it s not in this one either. I never said the verse was in the balloon but by what I said in this story, I would have led him to believe that it was in a balloon. That s deceiving which is a kind of lying. I m using my mouth to point people the wrong way. SAY: But God always wants us to tell the truth. Pull the verse from your pocket and read Psalm 34:13. Have your students repeat it after you with a whisper and then repeat it loudly. Then have them repeat it holding their tongues. CONTROL TOOL Leader: No Compromise! Students: Live for Jesus!

5 PRAYER PART Hallowed Be Your Name Choose 2 volunteers to hold the Lord s Prayer sign. Ask your kids to say it with you. SAY: We ve been saying the Lord s Prayer each week because we want you to learn it. Next weeks we re going to try to say it without using the posters. ASK: What does Hallowed mean? ASK: What does it mean that God s name is holy? SAY: Holy means that something is set apart It s not common, but set apart for God. The items from the Temple in today s story the Bible elsewhere refers to as holy The items weren t good or bad, but they were set apart for God s purpose. Likewise, God s name is holy It is set apart and should not be misused or defiled. ASK: How can a person misuse God s name? (By cussing with it or using it in vain. Here s a great standard to know if you re using God s name in vain: If you re not talking to Him or about Him, then you re misusing His name Saying it in surprise or anger or just because it s a habit isn t keeping His name Holy Instead of it being set apart, you re just tossing it around like every other common name.) KEY: God is holy and God has called us to be holy too To live lives that are set apart for His purpose. SAY: Our key verse today said, Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies (Psalm 34:13). Using God s name correctly is one way to keep your tongue from evil. PRAY SAY: Everybody bow your heads and close your eyes. Now with your heads bowed and your eyes closed, before we pray together, I want you to tell God if there s anything that you ve been doing that is not holy. Is there anything that you ve been doing that is wrong like telling lies or saying words you know you shouldn t that goes against the purpose for which God has set you apart. If so, ask God to forgive you and make you clean again. Then stop doing what you know is wrong. SAY: I m also going to call out some of today s prayer requests and as I do, I want you to pray silently for them. (Pause Call out some of the prayer requests and then pray.) Dismiss to Small Groups SAY: Right now it is time for our small groups, so I m going to dismiss you one row at a time. Dismiss rows of chairs to the tables in the rooms. Give them specific directions where to go.

6 The Daniel Tells the Truth Craft SMALL GROUPS Craft SAY: Today we re going to decorate plates to take home and hang up to help remind us to always tell the truth. Give each student a plate. First, have them write today s verse on the middle. Younger students can look at the last page of this lesson to help them write the verse. Then let them be creative in decorating their plates. They can color and draw on them, punch holes in the sides and attach ribbon, cut out tissue paper and glue the pieces on, etc. Encourage them to be creative and have fun but most of all, to remember to keep their mouths from speaking evil or telling lies. Discussion Questions: Below are questions that you can discuss with your students before, after or while making the craft: - Are you aware of any lies that your friends have told? Without saying names, what did they lie about? - Are you aware of any of your friends telling a lie to their parents? A teacher? - Are you ever tempted to lie? - When are you tempted the most to lie? (To get out of trouble, to make yourself look good, to help other students to like you, to your parents, to get something you want, etc.) - What can help you overcome this temptation? - Have you ever known someone that you trusted to only tell you the truth? Why did you trust them so much? - What can you do this week to become like Daniel to speak the truth even if it might come with tough consequences? Prayer Take prayer requests and pray with your students. Pray specifically for your students to always tell the truth.

7 Optional Activity for OLDER STUDENTS Tell your students that you are going to go around the small group and you want every one to tell the group three things about themselves two that are true and one that is false. Then the group will vote to see how many guessed the untrue statement. Keep tabs on how the voting goes so that at the end you can deem one of your students the Mostly Likely To Spot a Lie. Discussion ASK: What percentage of the time is God trustworthy? (100%. God does not lie and is always trustworthy.) ASK: What percentage of the time are you trustworthy? ASK: Would you lie in any of the following situations? (1) You do something that is wrong. The other students involved get caught but they won t tell on you but a teacher asks you if you were involved too. Would you lie to stay out of trouble? (2) You find a wallet in it with $1,000 in cash. Would you take the money (or some of the money out) and then turn it in saying that it had no money in it when you found it? Read Proverbs 12:19, 22 ASK: Considering your level of honesty, how do you think God looks at you? Why do you feel this way? SAY: God hates dishonesty even when we justify it as an excuse or half- truth. God still loves us but He wants us to always speak the truth and to be honest people. The Bible is clear that there are harsh and tough consequences for lying, both spiritually and in this world. Consider the consequences of lying: - Lying creates conflict. - Lying breaks relationships. - Lying is a form of idolatry because you are choosing something (whether it is the praise of people or the chance to get out of trouble, etc.) as being more important than following Jesus. - Lying creates mistrust that is not easily overcome. - Lying leads to more lying to hide the truth. - Lying leads to more lying by way of habits and your habits becomes your character and your character determines your destiny. - Lying never goes unpunished. - Other consequences? - Don t answer aloud: Are you currently facing a situation in which are being tempted to lie? - Don t answer aloud: Have you told lies in the past you need to confess to God and others? SAY: Remember, God delights in people who are truthful. Prayer Take prayer requests and pray with your students. Pray specifically for your students to always tell the truth.

8 Use this page to help younger students know how to write today s verse. Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies. Psalm 34:13

9 Key Verse Slip of Paper: Psalm 34:13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies.