God helps us stand up for what s right.

Daniel s Friends Refuse to Bow to Idols Lesson 11 Bible Point God helps us stand up for what s right. Bible Verse [God] will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure (1 Corinthians 10:13b). Growing Closer to Jesus Students will n explore ways of being pressured, n discover ways that God helps them stand up for what s right, n learn that God provides a way out of difficult situations, and n recognize that they can look to Christian friends for help. Teacher Enrichment Bible Basis n Daniel s friends refuse to bow to idols. Daniel 3:1-30 The faith of Daniel and his friends had been tested prior to the fiery-furnace episode. They had to choose not to eat foods offered to idols. God honored these four men and gave them extraordinary skills and abilities. Daniel was placed in a high position in Nebuchadnezzar s government after interpreting the king s dream. At Daniel s request, the king made Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego administrators in the kingdom also. The statue Nebuchadnezzar had built was likely meant to represent the god Nabu. The statue was 90 feet high and was gold-plated. It must have been extremely impressive, standing about as high as a 10-story building. When forced to choose between bowing down to the statue or remaining true to God, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down. They were willing to trust God regardless of what would happen in the fiery furnace. The furnace the three were thrown into was likely used to fire bricks or to smelt metal. Certainly at its normal operating temperature probably between 1,600 and 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit survival would be impossible. Even so, God saved the three trusting Israelites from harm. We don t know for sure who the fourth person in the furnace was. Certainly it was a supernatural being, perhaps an angel or possibly Jesus himself. No matter who it was in the furnace, God provided help for Daniel and his friends so they could stand up for what was right. Prayer Read Isaiah 42:16. Think about how God has helped you to stand up for what was right. Pray: Dear God, thank you for teaching me to stand up for what is right. Please help the children in my class understand the importance of standing up for what they know is right. 125

Lesson 11 Before the Lesson n Collect the necessary items for the activities you plan to use, referring to the Classroom Supplies and Learning Lab Supplies listed on the chart. n Make photocopies of the Hands-On Fun at Home handout (at the end of this lesson) to send home with your students. n Pray for your students and for God s direction as you teach the lesson. This Lesson at a Glance Attention Grabber What Students Will Do Classroom Supplies Learning Lab Supplies Pressure Catch Attempt to play a catch game while being pressured by others. Bible Exploration & Application Bow Now! Hear and act out the story from Daniel 3:1-30. Bible Stand Up Choose gizmos to illustrate how God helps us resist temptation. Bibles Pressure Points Read Hebrews 10:24, and explore how friends can help us respond to pressure situations. Bibles, photocopy of Pressure Points handout (p. 134), scissors, newsprint, marker, tape Closing Someone to Lean On Commit to helping each other face pressure. Welcome As kids arrive, ask them how they applied last week s lesson to their lives. Ask questions such as, How did you hear God s voice in making a right decision last week? and What ways did you and your family think of to keep your minds, bodies, and spirits healthy? Tell kids that whenever you shake the noisemaker, they are to stop talking, raise their hands, and focus on you. Explain that it s important to respond to this signal quickly so the class can do as many fun activities as possible. Practice the signal two or three times. 126

Daniel s Friends Refuse to Bow to Idols Attention Grabber n Pressure Catch SUPPLIES: none Before beginning this activity, quietly recruit three children to help you in this activity. The three children will try to pressure other children to stop following the direction you ve given them. Then have kids form one circle, facing in. Give two kids (not the three you recruited) the pop-and-catch games. Say: The object of this game is to pop the ball and catch it in the basket of the popper. If you catch the ball in the basket, pass the popper to someone new in the circle, and then sit down. If you don t catch the ball by the fourth try, pass the popper to another person in the circle who hasn t tried, and then sit down. While kids are trying to catch the ball, the three children you recruited earlier should each choose a gizmo from the Learning Lab and try to pressure other children to join them in playing with the new gizmos. They should especially try to entice the children who have the pop-and-catch games. After a few minutes, call all the children together again. Say: I know that [names of three volunteers] would never be rude and disrespectful during our class time. I asked them to distract you while you worked with the pop-and-catch game. What was it like when someone tried to tempt you with another gizmo while you were trying to catch the ball? (I didn t like it; I felt bothered; I couldn t concentrate on catching the ball.) When has someone tried to tempt you to stop an important task you were doing in real life? (My sister wanted me to play when I was trying to do my homework; my friends wanted me to go with them when I was supposed to do my chores.) How was being tempted in this game like feeling pressure from others to not stand up for what s right in real life? (They try to get you to think about something besides the right thing to do.) What are some pressures in real life that keep you from standing up for what s right? (My friends, sometimes; TV or movies that aren t good.) Say: There are many situations where we may be tempted not to stand up for what s right. Sometimes other people tempt us, like kids did in our game. Today we re going to learn that God helps us stand up for what s right. In today s Bible story, we ll see how God helped Daniel s friends stand up for what was right. It s important to say the Bible Point just as it s written in each activity. Repeating the Bible Point over and over will help kids remember it and apply it to their lives. Third- and fourth-graders have a strong sense of right and wrong. But they often feel pressured to conform to their peers standards of dress, speech, and behavior to win acceptance. Sometimes this pressure causes kids to compromise what they know is right. But with God s help, kids can choose to say no! This lesson will show kids simple and meaningful ways to deal with the negative influences they face. Bible Exploration & Application n Bow Now! SUPPLIES: Bible Say: Today we re going to go back in time and explore a situation where Daniel s friends felt pressured to turn away from God. If they didn t, 127

Lesson 11 Make your class a safe zone for kids with special needs and learning disabilities. Avoid calling on students to read or pray aloud if they find it embarrassing or difficult. they d be thrown into a fiery furnace. As I tell the story, each of you will help act it out. Choose one child to be the king and the statue. Give that child the paper crown, and have him or her sit on a chair. Choose three children to be Daniel s three friends. Choose one child to be the noisemaker, and give the inflatable baseball bat to the noisemaker. Have half of the remaining kids be the guards, and give them the stripe sticks as swords. The other half can be the fiery furnace by forming a circle. Say: I ll tell the Bible story from the book of Daniel. Open your Bible to Daniel 3:1-30, and show kids the passage. Say: If you re in the circle, listen for the words fiery furnace. Whenever you hear fiery furnace, wave your hands to represent the blazing fire. You can also make loud whooshing sounds. Let s practice. Lead kids in the circle in waving their hands like flames and making whooshing sounds. King, whenever I mention the statue, stand up. If you re one of Daniel s three friends, smile and wave whenever I mention Daniel s three friends. Let kids practice. Noisemaker, whenever I say gong, hit the floor with the inflatable baseball bat. Let the noisemaker practice making a gong sound. Guards, hold up your swords whenever I mention the guards. Let kids practice. Read the following story, pausing at the italicized words so kids can act out the story. Long ago, King Nebuchadnezzar made a huge, golden statue of himself. When it was finished, he sent guards to gather all the important people in his country. The guards said, Hear ye! Hear ye! Come see the king s new statue. People came from all over to see what he had made. When they arrived, the guards said, This is what the king says you must do. When you hear the gong, you must bow down to the statue, or you ll be thrown into a fiery furnace! When the people heard the sound of the gong, they quickly did as the king had ordered. But Daniel s three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were loyal to God. They wouldn t worship a statue made of gold. Daniel s three friends refused to bow down. The guards saw that Daniel s three friends refused to bow to the statue. They went to the king and said, Your highness, you said we all had to worship your statue or we would be thrown into the fiery furnace. Everyone heard the gong. But Daniel s three friends disobeyed your order and refused to bow down. The king was furious. He sent for Daniel s three friends. He said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you must worship my statue. I ll give you one more chance. When you hear the gong, you must bow down. If you don t bow down, I ll have you thrown into the fiery furnace! Daniel s three friends said, King, we don t care what you tell us to do. We worship only God. We won t bow down. Even if God doesn t save us, we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up. So the king ordered the guards to throw Daniel s three friends into the fiery furnace. The king and his guards came to watch Daniel s three friends get thrown into the fiery furnace. The fire was so hot that it killed the guards who threw Daniel s three friends into the furnace. The people said, Look! 128

They re not burning up. And it looks like God s angel is in the flames with them. The king commanded, Bring them out of the fiery furnace. When Daniel s three friends were let out of the fiery furnace, the king said, God sent an angel to protect you. Your clothes aren t burned. You don t even smell like smoke. Praise to your God! After the story, have kids give themselves a round of applause. Return the stripe sticks, paper crown, and inflatable baseball bat to the Learning Lab for future use. Have everyone stand up. Say: I ll ask a question. When you think of an answer, raise your hand. When I call on you, give your answer, and then sit down. If someone gives a response you thought of and you don t have anything more to add, sit down. When the last person sits down, everyone stand, and I ll ask the next question. Ask: What do you think you would have done if you had been Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego? (I think I d have given in because it was so scary; I think I would have trusted God to help me.) What do you think Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego might have said to one another while they were being led to the furnace? (I think they would have told each other to be strong; I think they wouldn t have said anything because they were so scared.) Why do you think Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to give in to the pressure to bow down to the statue? (They must have loved God a lot; they wanted to stand up for what was right.) Say: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego decided to do what they knew was right instead of what everyone else was doing. They refused to bow down. They refused to worship anyone or anything other than the one true God. Their story shows that God helps us stand up for what s right. Let s find out ways God could help us stand up for what s right. Daniel s Friends Refuse to Bow to Idols n Stand Up SUPPLIES: Bibles Say: When Daniel s friends were ordered to disobey God by bowing down to the king s statue, they told the king no! They knew that God would help them stand up for what was right. Have kids form groups of up to four. Give kids Bibles. Place all the Learning Lab items in the center of the room. Read 1 Corinthians 10:13 aloud while kids follow along: [God] will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. Say: God promises to help us when we re tempted to sin. In your group, brainstorm about ways God could help you avoid doing wrong things. Your group can choose two gizmos to represent a sin or a way that God helps you avoid sin. For example, the gotcha grabber could represent the sin of gossip or using bad language, and the balancing bird could represent how God helps you rise above a situation where your friends are doing wrong. I ll give you a minute or two to brainstorm and decide which gizmos your group wants. Choose someone from your group to be a Shopper to come get the gizmos, and choose a Reporter to share your group s findings with the If you have fewer than 12 students, let each group use more than two gizmos. 129

Lesson 11 class. When I say go, your Shopper will come for the gizmos. Remember, no pushing or shoving to get a gizmo. If your gizmo has already been claimed, just choose another. You ll have five minutes before I ask you to present your ideas to the class. After a few minutes, say go to signal Shoppers to select their gizmos. Give kids five minutes to decide how to use their gizmos. Then sound the noisemaker, and have Reporters share their group s ideas with the class. After all groups have shared, ask: Was it easy or hard to do this activity? Explain. (Easy, because we have learned so much about how God helps us; hard, because the gizmos didn t really fit what we wanted to do.) How does thinking about ways God can help you avoid sin make you feel? (Hopeful, because I know I don t have to do it by myself; happy, because it means God really loves me.) What did you learn about new ways that God helps you do the right thing? (The other groups thought of things I didn t; I learned that stopping to pray can help me.) How will this activity help you stand up for what s right this week? (I ll have more ideas about how to look for God s help.) Say: One way God helps us stand up for what s right is by giving us Christian friends who can influence us in positive ways. In this activity, you worked together as a group to think of ways to stand up for what s right. Let s explore some more situations where God can use friends to help us stand up for what s right. HANDS-ON BIBLE Set out 8x8-inch squares of cotton fabric and 6x6-inch squares of cotton batting. Give each child two squares of fabric and four of batting. Make embroidery needles, thread, and scissors available to the entire group. Say: Let s make a reminder of how Daniel s three friends took the heat for their faith. Open your Hands-On Bible to the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego bio by Ezekiel 33. Read it, and then follow the instructions in the Takin the Heat activity using the supplies I ve provided. Help students with their crafts. Then ask: You may not face a fiery furnace for standing up for what s right, but when might you be faced with standing up for what s right? (Being laughed at when I share my faith; praying at school; not being included in things because I m a Christian.) Say: Take your potholders home with you, and use them to tell the Bible story of Daniel s three friends and how God helped them stand up for what was right! 130

Daniel s Friends Refuse to Bow to Idols n Pressure Points SUPPLIES: Bibles, Pressure Points handout (p. 134), scissors, newsprint, marker, tape Before class, make one photocopy of the Pressure Points handout. Cut the three situations apart. Write the following questions on newsprint: Will my action hurt me or someone else? Would I feel OK about telling my parents what I did? Would God be pleased with my action? Say: When Daniel s friends refused to yield to pressure, they risked being thrown into a fiery furnace. But one way God helped Daniel s friends was to help them stand strong together and face their consequences together. Listen to what the Bible tells us about helping each other. Have kids open their Bibles to Hebrews 10:24, and have someone read the verse aloud as everyone else follows along. Sometimes when we re facing difficult decisions, it s hard to figure out which way to go. But one way God helps us is by giving us Christian friends to walk with us and encourage us to go God s way. Ask: Who can tell me what peer pressure means? (Pressure from your friends to do something; when other people try to get you to do something.) Say: When kids your own age put pressure on you to behave a certain way, it s called peer pressure. It can be very hard not to give in to peer pressure. Let s see how we can handle the pressure. Help kids form three teams, and have each team select a Captain, a Reader, and a Reporter. The remaining children in each group should be Problem Solvers. Give each team a Pressure Points situation. Say: The Reader will read your situation. Then you ll have two minutes to brainstorm about right and wrong ways to respond to that situation. The team Captain will decide which response will be reported to the rest of the class by your team. After two minutes, shake the noisemaker, and wait for kids to respond. Have the Reporters read their group s scenario and the response that the Captain decided upon. After each response, ask the group: What pressures did the person in this situation face? (To give in and not do right.) What is another right way you could help a friend in this situation? (You could pray with her; you could tell him you are proud of him.) When all three groups have reported, say: When we re trying to stand up for what s right, it helps to have friends to guide and encourage us. It also helps to have guidelines we can follow on our own. Here are some guiding questions that can help us make good decisions. Display the newsprint on a wall, and read the three questions aloud. Say: Look at your situation again. Ask these three questions in your group, and see if you d come up with the same response. Have groups discuss their answers to the three questions on the newsprint. If the groups change their responses, have them share with the class what they changed and why. Say: God helps us stand up for what s right, especially when others are trying to influence us to do wrong. It s good to have guidelines to help us think about what to do when we face this kind of pressure. And it s great to have Christian friends. Let s see how good friends can be there for us. If you have fewer than nine kids, form two groups, and distribute only two situations. Give kids index cards, and have them copy the guidelines to keep with them as a reference when they face hard choices. 131

Lesson 11 Closing n Someone to Lean On SUPPLIES: none Have kids form pairs. You may want to have girls do this activity with other girls and boys with boys. Say: God helps us stand up for what s right. And we learned that one way he helps us is by giving us Christian friends to support us. Let s do something to show how important it is that we stand with each other to do what s right. Have kids gather at one end of the room. Say: I m going to give each pair of kids a stripe stick. One person in each pair must walk, standing straight up, with the stripe stick on his or her back, to the other side of the room. The stripe stick must not be tucked into anything or wrapped in anything. You may not touch the stripe stick with your hands. If you have tables, chairs, and other classroom stuff in the way of the students walking across the room, don t bother moving them. It makes the challenge even better. Ask: What do you think about the task you have to do? (I don t like it; I can t do that; it s impossible.) Let kids try for a few minutes to accomplish the task alone. You may have a few kids who come up with creative ways to move with the stripe stick. It will still be much easier to move it later with a partner. Ask: How did you feel while you were trying to do this task? (I just wanted to give up because you can t do it; I liked trying.) How is this task like trying to stand up for what s right? (Sometimes it feels like I can t stand up against everyone; I do what I know is right anyway, so it isn t like it at all.) Say: Now I want you to work with your partner to move the stripe stick. You still need to have the stick on your back, and you still can t touch the stick with your hands while you re walking, but you can lean on your partner to help you. If the kids have a difficult time figuring out how to do this, encourage them to lean against each other, back to back, with the stripe stick between them. Ask: Why was it easier to move the stripe stick across the room with the help of your partner? (We worked together; we could use each other s backs for support.) How is this like having friends help you stand up for what is right? (Friends make it easier to stand because you aren t alone, just like my partner made it easier to walk with the stick.) Who are some friends you have that God can use to help you stand up for what is right? (My friend Jake at school; Madison here at church.) 132

Daniel s Friends Refuse to Bow to Idols Say: The best friend God gives us is Jesus. Jesus loves us more than any other friend does and wants to be there for us no matter what. You can count on him anywhere and at any time. Ask: How has Jesus been a friend to you? (He helped me when I was sick; he comforted me when my parents got divorced.) Why is Jesus better than any other friend you have? (Jesus is always with me, and my other friends are only with me sometimes; Jesus is more powerful than any of my other friends.) Say: God can help us in many ways, and sending Jesus to be our friend is one of the best ways. Now stand back to back with your partner, and lean on each other as a reminder that God helps us stand up for what s right. While you lean on your partner, say one thing you ll do this week to remember how God helps us. For example, you might say, I ll pray, I ll read the Bible, or I ll lean on other Christians. Have kids stand back to back with their partners and tell each other their commitments. Close with a prayer similar to this: God, help us to make good decisions and give us good ideas about how to stand up for what s right. Please give us the strength to stand up for what s right, even when we have to face negative consequences. In Jesus name, amen. Growing closer to Jesus extends beyond the classroom. Photocopy the Hands-On Fun at Home handout (at the end of this lesson) for this week, and send it home with your kids. Encourage kids and parents to use the handout to spark meaningful discussion on this week s topic. 133

Cut the situations apart, and give one situation to each group.! n Pressure Point 1 Everyone in your class is making fun of a student who has trouble speaking English. Your best friend suggests you both say something nice about the student, but you are afraid to be laughed at by a whole group of kids. What can you do to stand for what is right with your friend? (Group Notes)! n Pressure Point 2 One really mean, big, strong kid tries to copy your paper during an important test. When you pull your paper away, he threatens to beat you up after school. How could God use your friends to help you do what s right? (Group Notes)! n Pressure Point 3 Pressure Points Your teacher is famous for giving hard homework assignments and you ve just gotten a big one due in a week. You re also in a group at church that s putting on a big Christmas program and you have lots of practices this week. Your neighbor offers to let you copy her paper, but your friend isn t sure that would be good. What could you and your friend do? (Group Notes)! 134 Permission to photocopy this handout from Group s Hands-On Bible Curriculum, Grades 3 & 4, granted for local church use. Copyright Group Publishing, Inc., 1515 Cascade Avenue, Loveland, CO 80538. group.com

LESSON 11 God helps us stand up for what's right. [God] will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure (1 Corinthians 10:13b). Have each person answer the following questions: When is it hard to do what s right? What are some of the temptations you face at school or work? Read Joshua 24:15. How do you stand up for what you believe is right? Read Acts 5:40-42. What joy or happiness do you find when you take a stand for God? When have you seen God give you a way out of temptation? Mix It Up Do this activity with a friend or your family. Set out sugar, cooking oil, and two glasses of warm water. Stir a tablespoon of sugar into one glass of water. You ll see that the sugar will dissolve and become part of the water. Feel inside the glass, and gradually pour the water out. Notice how the sugar is so much a part of the water that you can t see it. Then pour a tablespoon of oil into the second glass of water. Notice how the oil comes to the top. It never becomes part of the water as the sugar did. Read Romans 12:2. Discuss how we can live in the world without becoming a part of the bad things in it. Doorstop Find an old brick. Clean it up with soap and water, and let it dry. Collect fabric scraps, buttons, and yarn. Use them to make a self- portrait on the brick. Glue felt or cardboard shoes under the brick. Use the brick as a doorstop for your bedroom door to remind you to stand firm for God. Permission to photocopy this handout from Group s Hands-On Bible Curriculum, Grades 3 & 4, granted for local church use. Copyright Group Publishing, Inc., 1515 Cascade Avenue, Loveland, CO 80538. group.com 135