God Is Session 5 Lessons for the Leader Jehovah Rohi means "God is my Shepherd." God is the Great and Perfect Shepherd. Read 1 Samuel 16:10-23. When God called David to be king of Israel, David was working in the fields as a shepherd. At this time crop cultivation had increased, and the job of shepherd had become the lowly job of younger sons or slaves. Have you had to do lowly jobs because of your age or lack of experience? What did you learn from those jobs? How did God use you in these jobs? Read 1 Samuel 17:12-15,34-37a and Psalm 23. Because David was the youngest son, he "inherited" the task of shepherding. How would you feel if you were forced to do a job you did not choose? David seemed to flourish in his assignment. He guarded the sheep day and night, protected them from predators, led them to green pastures and water, and calmed them with music. Reflect on the things David learned while shepherding that he used later in life. He played soothing music when the evil spirit tortured King Saul. David fought and killed a giant who threatened Israel just as David fought and killed lions and bears to protect his father's sheep. When David became king, he continued to shepherd the Israelites and to lead them to worship, praise, and obey God. How are you using your skills to worship, praise, and obey God? How are you leading others, especially the children you teach, to worship, praise, and obey God? Think about God as your Shepherd Jehovah Rohi loves and cares for you and the children you teach. Worship Jehovah Rohi with praises for His love and care. What do these symbols mean? Application Activities Format: 1t Follow the numbers with arrows for a 30-minute, large group plus 20-minute Application Activities format. Large Group Format: 1 Follow all the numbers for a 45- to 60-minute large group only format. Jehovah Rohi Focus Passages: 1 Samuel 16:10-23; 17:12-15,34-37a; Psalm 23 Key Bible Verse: Psalm 23:1 Life Application I can trust that God loves me and cares for me. Session at a Glance Introduction to Worship (8 minutes) Greet the Children Play "Lost Sheep" Worship (30 minutes/45 minutes) Sing "Our Love Is Loud" Introduce God's Name: Jehovah Rohi Sing "Awesome in This Place"/Receive Offering Pray Tell the Bible Story Sing "Ancient Words" Sing "Day After Day" Review the Bible Story Use Bibles Learn the Key Bible Verse Show "Joey B." Video #2 Make Life Application Use Worship Guides Play a Game Application Activities (20 minutes) Wrap-Up (10 minutes) OK to copy. Page 1 of 13
Introduction to Worship 1tGreet the Children 2tPlay "Lost Sheep" Stuffed animal (preferably a sheep) or beanbag Teacher Tip Form 2 teams and hide 2 different stuffed animals. Direct the teams to make 2 different sounds to guide their teammates. Select one child to be the "shepherd." Instruct the "shepherd" to close his eyes while the rest of the group hides the sheep. Instruct all of the children to make noises to distract the "shepherd." Play a type of "hot and cold" game. Tell the kids to clap softly and then louder and louder as the "shepherd" gets closer to finding the sheep. Play a few rounds as time allows. Say: "We focused on sheep in this game because we will learn about someone in the Bible who cared for sheep." Worship 3tSing "Our Love Is Loud" (DVD, 3 minutes) 4t Introduce God's Name: Jehovah Rohi (2 minutes) Say: "When we worship God, we focus attention on God and we enjoy His presence." Help the children worship God by asking them to recall some of the things they know about Him. Explain: "God is Jehovah Rohi (ROH-ih), which means 'God is my Shepherd.' God is the greatest Shepherd. God loves and cares for all people. That means Jehovah Rohi loves and cares for you." 5 Sing "Awesome in This Place" (DVD, 3 minutes)/receive Offering 6tPray (1 minute) Invite a child to lead the group prayer. Close the prayer by reading aloud Psalm 91:11. 7tTell the Bible Story (4 minutes) Print "David" Teaching Picture and "David the Shepherd Pictures" (CD). Place the pictures around the room. Walk around the room, show the pictures, and tell each part of the story. David the Shepherd Based on 1 Samuel 16:10-23; 17:12-15,34-37a; Psalm 23 God told the prophet, Samuel, to go and anoint the next king of Israel. Samuel obeyed God and arrived at the tent of Jesse. Jesse brought in his seven oldest sons. Samuel looked at the sons, but God told him that none of the boys would be the next king. Samuel asked if there were other sons. The only son not there was the youngest, David. David was taking care of the sheep. [Show the teaching picture.] Samuel told Jesse to send for David. When David arrived, God told Samuel that David would be the next king. [Pick up the jar of oil picture.] Samuel poured oil on David's head to anoint him. Anointing was an action that showed God had chosen David for a special job. Although David would be the next king, he would have to wait a long time to become king. [Replace the jar picture and move to the next picture.] Later, King Saul called upon David to play the harp for him. [Pick up the harp picture.] David came from the fields to the palace. He played the harp to make King Saul feel calmer. David was a great help to King Saul. [Replace the harp picture and move to the next picture.] During a time when the Israelites were at war with the Philistines, David's three older brothers were in King Saul's army. While David visited the battlefield to check on his brothers, he heard the 9-foot-9-inch Philistine giant, Goliath, challenge the Israelites to battle. Even worse, Goliath made fun of God. David said he would fight the giant [show the lion and bear pictures] because he had killed a lion and a bear that came to attack his family's sheep. David knew that God would give him the ability to fight Israel's enemy too. Jehovah Rohi Page 2 of 13
[Replace the pictures and return to the starting point.] Many years later, when David became king, he used many of his shepherding skills to care for the people of Israel. David also realized that God was like a shepherd who loved and cared for him. David wrote a psalm about how God, the Great Shepherd, takes care of his people. [Open your Bible and read aloud Psalm 23.] 8 Sing "Ancient Words" (DVD, 3 minutes) 9tSing "Day After Day" (DVD, 3 minutes) 10tReview the Bible Story (3 minutes) Worship Guides, pencils Distribute Worship Guides and pencils. Instruct the children to complete "The Shepherd" on their Worship Guides. Ask: "What do you think it means to trust that God loves us and cares for us?" 11 Use Bibles (2 minutes) Bibles Direct the children to locate Psalm 23:1 in their Bibles. Call on volunteers to read aloud the verse from their Bibles. 12tLearn the Key Bible Verse (2 minutes) Poster board, marker, tape Write the words of Psalm 23:1 on the poster board. Display the poster. Form two groups. Direct one group to clap a beat as they say the words. Direct the other group to stomp a beat when they say the words. Lead the groups to say the verse in unison. Say: "God loves us and cares for us. God is Jehovah Rohi, which means 'God is my Shepherd.' God cares for all people." 13t Show "Joey B." Video #2 (DVD, 8 minutes) Show the video. Say: "In today's Bible story, we learned that David knew God is the Great Shepherd." Ask: "What did the video teach us about God? How can we obey, respect, and honor God?" 14tMake Life Application (4 minutes) Print "Sheep Facts" (CD) (1 copy per child). Distribute "Sheep Facts." Read the facts together. Direct the children to think about themselves. Ask: "What are some 'people facts' that describe needs of people?" Lead children to write these ideas in the sheep shapes on their Worship Guides. Call for volunteers to share their ideas. Be prepared to offer some suggestions to help the children understand the assignment. (People need food, water, shelter, love, etc.) Say: "Because God is Jehovah Rohi, we can trust that He loves us and cares for us." 15tUse Worship Guides (3 minutes) Continue: "Because God loves us and cares for us, we can praise Him!" Lead children to complete the "Ways to Praise" activity on their Worship Guides. 16 Play a Game (3 minutes) Worship Guides, marker, index cards, gift bag, stopwatch or watch with second hand Write the following praise ideas on separate index cards: read Bible verses, sing, pray, write a praise, dance, lift your hands, bow down, kneel, clap. Place index cards in gift bag. Review the "Ways to Praise" drawings on the kids' Worship Guides. Say: "We can praise God because He loves us and cares for us!" Play a charades game. Call on a volunteer to choose a card from the gift bag and act it out for the group. Allow 30 seconds for the other children to guess the action. The correct guesser can choose the next card and continue the game. Continue play as time allows. Say: "We can trust God loves us and cares for us." 17t Transition to Application Activities or Wrap-Up God Is Session 5 Page 3 of 13
Wrap-Up (Large Group Only Format) Wrap-Up (Application Activities Format) 18 Sing "Whoa!" (DVD, 3 minutes) 19 Review (2 minutes) Lead the children to recall the names of God they learned this month and what each name means. ttyahweh "The Great I AM" ttel Shaddai "God Almighty" ttjehovah Jireh "God who provides" ttjehovah Rophe "God who heals" ttjehovah Rohi "God is my Shepherd" Encourage the children to state other things they know about God. 20 Review Today's Key Bible Verse (4 minutes) Foam ball, key Bible verse poster (step 12) Call attention to the key Bible verse poster. Invite a volunteer to stand beside you and lead the group to say the verse. Give the volunteer the foam ball. Say: "Toss the ball to someone who will say the first word of the verse and toss the ball back to you. Continue tossing the ball to different people until someone says the last word." Challenge the children to continue to read their Bibles and learn more about God who loves and cares for them. 18tShare Application Activities (6 minutes) Invite the children to share their Application Activity experiences. ttarts and Crafts Bracelets and Suncatchers ttdramatic Play Praise Charades and Praise Prayer ttgames "Shepherd and the Sheep" ttexploration and Discovery Sheep Research 19tSing "Whoa!" (DVD, 3 minutes) 20tPray (1 minute) Ask: "Who is Jehovah Rohi? (God) What does Jehovah Rohi mean?" (God is my Shepherd) Say: "God loves and cares for all people. That means Jehovah Rohi loves and cares for us." Call on a volunteer to pray, thanking God for His love and care. 21tDismiss the Children to Their Parents 21 Pray (1 minute) Emphasize: "God is Jehovah Rohi, which means 'God is my Shepherd.' God loves and cares for all people. That means Jehovah Rohi loves and cares for us." Call on a volunteer to pray, thanking God for His love and care. 22 Dismiss the Children to Their Parents God Is Session 5 Worship KidStyle Children s Edition Leader Guide, Volume 1 2013 LifeWay. Page 4 of 13
Application Activities Select from the following choices. Each choice is designed for 20 minutes of small group time. Bibles, Worship Guides, scissors, ruler, craft foam, markers that will print on craft foam, self-adhesive hook-and-loop fasteners (1 set per bracelet), self-adhesive decoration (jewels or craft foam shapes), old CDs, fishing line, poster board Cut the craft foam into 1-by-8-inch strips. Write all the names of God studied this month (see Wrap-Up section) and their explanations on a poster. Display the poster. Bibles, Worship Guides, concordances, markers, index cards, gift bag Write the following praise ideas on separate index cards: read Bible verses, sing, pray, write a praise, dance, lift your hands, bow down, kneel, clap. Place index cards in gift bag. Worship Through Arts and Crafts Bracelets and Suncatchers Review "Ways to Praise" the kids drew on their Worship Guides. Help the children locate today's key verse, Psalm 23:1, in their Bibles and take turns reading aloud. Say: "God is our Shepherd. His name is Jehovah Rohi. We can trust that God loves and cares for us." Place all the materials on a table to make "God's Name" bracelets and CD suncatchers. Guide the children to use markers to write Jehovah Rohi on their bracelets or suncatchers. Review the other names of God. Help children add selfadhesive hook-and-loop fasteners to the ends of the bracelets or tie their suncatchers together using the fishing line. Direct the children to locate today's key verse in their Bibles and write the words of the verse on the inside of their bracelets and on their suncatchers. Allow children to further decorate their bracelets and suncatchers with selfadhesive jewels or craft foam shapes. Encourage the children to wear their bracelets and display their suncatchers as reminders to praise God for loving and caring for them. Pray. Call God by name, Jehovah Rohi. Praise Him for being our Shepherd. Worship Him for being perfect, loving, and caring. Thank Him for the way He loves and cares for all people. Worship Through Dramatic Play Praise Charades and Praise Prayer Help the children locate today's key verse, Psalm 23:1, in their Bibles. Call on a volunteer to read aloud the verse. Talk about the many ways God shows love and care for people. Review the "Ways to Praise" the kids drew on their Worship Guides. Say: "You can use these ways to praise God for His love and care." Play a charades game. Call on a volunteer to choose a card from the gift bag and act it out for the others. The correct guesser can choose the next card and continue the game. End the game after all of the children have a chance to choose a card out of the bag. Lead the boys and girls to use concordances to find the praise ideas acted out in the game. Help the children find the Bible verses in their Bibles. Call on volunteers to read aloud what the Bible says about praising God. Say: "We can trust that God loves and cares for us." Lead children to say a praise prayer by repeating phrases after you: "Jehovah Rohi [kids repeat], Your love and care is perfect [kids repeat]. You are the Great Shepherd of all people [kids repeat]. We know how to love and care for others [kids repeat] because of how You love and care for us [kids repeat]. [Read together Psalm 23:1.] Amen." God Is Session 5 Page 5 of 13
Bibles, Worship Guides Clear the playing area of chairs or other obstacles. Worship Through Games "Shepherd and the Sheep" Lead the children to locate the key verse, Psalm 23:1, in their Bibles. Call on volunteers to read aloud the verse. Review "Ways to Praise" the kids drew on their Worship Guides. Play "Shepherd and the Sheep" game. Choose two to four "shepherds." Assign each one a different "tag identity" to say to the "sheep." For example: Shepherd 1's "tag identity" is sit, Shepherd 2's "tag identity" is stand, Shepherd 3's "tag identity" is hands up, and Shepherd 4's "tag identity" is down on all fours. Instruct the "shepherds" to say their "tag identity" each time they touch a sheep. Instruct the rest of the children to be the "sheep" and scatter out across the playing field. Instruct the "sheep" to do as the "shepherd" says when they are tagged, and freeze in place. Give the signal to begin. When all the sheep have been tagged, determine a winning "shepherd" by counting the tag identities displayed by the sheep. Choose new "shepherds," assign "tag identities," and play again. Continue the game until each child has an opportunity to be a "shepherd." Say: "God is Jehovah Rohi. He is our Shepherd. He loves and cares for us." Pray. Call God by name, Jehovah Rohi. Praise Him for being our Shepherd. Acknowledge that His love and care are perfect. Thank Him for the ways He loves and cares for every person. Books and materials that contain facts about sheep, wool item, tape, poster board, pencils, markers Print "Sheep Facts" and "Sheep Shape" (CD). Photocopy several copies of "Sheep Shape" for each child. Display the poster board. Worship Through Exploration and Discovery Sheep Research Explain that many verses in the Bible talk about sheep. People are called the "sheep of God's pasture," and God is called "The Great Shepherd." Guide the children to locate Psalm 23 in their Bibles. Allow boys and girls to work together to identify ways the shepherd cared for David, the person who wrote Psalm 23. List on the poster board the actions the children name. Distribute books and materials, "Sheep Facts," and "Sheep Shapes." Guide the children to create a "flock of facts" by writing facts on their sheep shapes and attaching the shapes to the wall. Show the wool item. Encourage the children to touch and feel the wool. Allow the children to share information they discovered about things made from wool. Ask: "How are our needs similar to the needs of sheep?" Point out that God shows love and care for people the way a shepherd does for sheep. Provide each child with another "Sheep Shape." Direct children to list some of their needs on one side of the sheep shape and then write today's key Bible verse on the other side of the sheep shape. Pray. Call God by name, Jehovah Rohi. Give thanks to God for His love and care. End the prayer by leading the children to say the key verse together. Worship KidStyle Children s Edition Leader Guide, Volume 1 2013 LifeWay. OK to copy. Page 6 of 13
David the Shepherd (1 Samuel 16:10-23; 17:12-15,34-37a; Psalm 23) God Is Session 5 Worship KidStyle Children's Edition, Volume 1 Corbert Gauthier 2013 LifeWay. Printed in the USA. OK to copy. Page 7 of 13
David the Shepherd Pictures (God Is Session 5) Worship KidStyle Children s Edition, Volume 1 2013 LifeWay. Printed in the USA. OK to copy. Page 8 of 13
David the Shepherd Pictures (God Is Session 5) Worship KidStyle Children s Edition, Volume 1 2013 LifeWay. Printed in the USA. OK to copy. Page 9 of 13
David the Shepherd Pictures (God Is Session 5) Worship KidStyle Children s Edition, Volume 1 2013 LifeWay. Printed in the USA. OK to copy. Page 10 of 13
David the Shepherd Pictures (God Is Session 5) Worship KidStyle Children s Edition, Volume 1 2013 LifeWay. Printed in the USA. OK to copy. Page 11 of 13
Sheep Facts Sheep can be milked just like cows! Female sheep are ewes. Male sheep are rams. Baby sheep are lambs. Sheep weigh about 9 pounds when they are born. Sheep usually live to be about 8 years old, but can live to be 20. When sheep get a haircut it is called shearing. (That's where wool comes from.) Sheep hooves grow like fingernails and have to be trimmed every few months. Sheep grazed on the White House lawn during Woodrow Wilson's term as president. Sheep have a strong instinct (natural response) to follow. If one jumps off a cliff, the others are likely to follow! Sheep like to be in groups and can become agitated (upset) if left alone. Sheep can become stressed if they are not shorn at least once a year. Sheep Facts (God Is Session 5) Worship KidStyle Children's Edition, Volume 1 2013 LifeWay. Printed in the USA. OK to copy. Page 12 of 13
Sheep Shape (God Is Session 5) Worship KidStyle Children s Edition, Volume 1 2013 LifeWay. Printed in the USA. OK to copy. Page 13 of 13