for Leaders Children and the Bible 4 Life in the desert 5 Session 1 Bread and water 7 Bible passage: Exodus 16:1 17:7 Session 2 Laws for life 12 Bible passage: Exodus 19:16 20:17 Session 3 Moses meets God 17 Bible passage: Exodus 33:7 23; 34:1 9,29 35 Session 4 Giving to God 22 Bible passage: Exodus 35:20 36:7; 39:32 40:38 Session 5 Everlasting love 27 Bible passage: Psalm 136:1 9 Story seeds 32 Session 6 The story of the farmer 34 Bible passage: Matthew 13:1 23 Session 7 The wheat and the weeds story 39 Bible passage: Matthew 13:24 30,36 43 Session 8 The mustard seed and yeast stories 44 Bible passage: Matthew 13:31 33 Session 9 Jesus blesses the children 49 Bible passage: Matthew 19:13 15 God comes to his people 54 Session 10 God comes to Mary 56 Bible passage: Luke 1:26 56 Session 11 God comes to Bethlehem 61 Bible passage: Luke 2:1 7 Session 12 God comes to the shepherds 66 Bible passage: Luke 2:8 21 Session 13 God comes to the wise men 71 Bible passage: Matthew 2:1 23 Songs and Web resources for this issue 76 and 77 How to plan your session and Session planning template 78 and 79 Leading Xstream children October to December 80 Syllabus preview January to March 2018 81 Light Order form 82
Moses meets God Children of 8 to 11 have not lost their sense of wonder and are still amazed by facts from nature. Although we don t want them to feel that God is distant, we do want them to be amazed by him. Wonder at God s awesomeness together! Choose a selection of Starting, Into the Bible and Living the life activities to make your session fun and memorable. You may like to use the Session plan, on page 79, to help in your preparation. To wonder at the awesomeness of God Exodus 33:7 23; 34:1 9,29 35 Powerful things Activity time: 5 minutes Aim: to think about things that have power You will need: Xstream 3 1 Give out Xstream 3 and invite the children to look at the pictures on page 1. 2 Encourage the children to discuss what makes these things powerful. Decide together which of the things is most powerful and why. 3 Then challenge the children to decide what they think the most powerful and awesome thing in the world might be and to draw it in the blank space. Encourage them to share what they have drawn. Creation praise Activity time: 5 minutes Aim: to wonder at what our awesome God has created You will need: pictures from Web resources (optional) 1 Collect some pictures of natural wonders (see Web resources) and display them for the children to see. Alternatively, talk about the amazing natural things God has created. 2 Remind the children that God is greater than the things he has created more beautiful than a sunset, stronger than an elephant and so on. 3 Use these ideas and other thoughts stimulated by the pictures to worship God. Invite the children to use short phrases such as: God, you are brighter than the sun! or Wow, God, you re more powerful than a lion! Twenty questions Activity time: 10 minutes Aim: to remember God s awesome deeds You will need: list from Web resources (optional) 1 Challenge a child to think silently about an awesome or amazing thing God has done. (They could use the SU Bible Timeline, a Bible or the list from Web resources as a prompt.) 2 Invite the other children to take it in turns to guess what it is by asking up to 20 questions that can only be answered with yes or no. 3 The child who guesses correctly could have the next turn. (You could keep a score by recording how many questions it takes to guess.) 4 Explain that today they will learn more about how awesome God is. All activities assume that you have the items in the basic kit. This is given on page 78 and on the Series introduction pages. It is important to have a variety of styles of activity in your group. Make time for movement, stillness, interaction and the creative arts. Session 3 15 October Moses meets God Exodus 33:7 23; 34:1 9,29 35 Starting activities 17
Bible study Activity time: 20 minutes Aim: to wonder at the awesomeness of God You will need: Xstream 3 1 Bible Timeline Look at the SU Bible Timeline and encourage the children to find examples of God being with his people. Ask the children how God made himself known (for example, through a burning bush Moses; with a blinding light Paul). If no one has mentioned them, remind the children that God sometimes did great signs and so he was seen as awesome and powerful. Ask the children how they would feel if, like the Israelites, they could always see the pillar of cloud, which meant God was with them, but never actually heard his voice and never knew what he would do next? Say that, to a lot of the Jews, God was rather scary! 2 Xstream quiz Give each child a copy of Xstream 3 and invite them to turn to pages 2 and 3. The pages have three sections the camp, the tent and the mountain and each section has a short quiz. There are also three discussion points on the page. Help the children to find Exodus in their Bibles and remind them how to find the chapters and verses. Then challenge them to look up the verses to complete the puzzles. If you have a large group they could divide into three smaller groups and each look at one of the sections. Otherwise, they should first look at the camp, then the tent and finally the mountain. 3 Chat As a whole group, talk about the discussion points below, or ask each small group to think about one of the questions and then feedback their answers. (These questions are also in Xstream 3, pages 2 and 3.) How do you think the people felt about God? What is God like? Why do you think Moses face was shining after he met with God? Help the group to recognise that God is holy and awesome: the people were afraid of God s holiness and very aware of how much power he had. (For older children, you may like to point out that just before this chapter the people had made a golden calf to worship and that God was very angry with them because of this.) Look again at what God said about himself when Moses met him, and talk about why they think no one is allowed to see God s face. 4 Response Look at the wordsearch answers, or at Exodus 33:19,20 and 34:5 9, to remember the things God says about himself. Make up an action for each word Lord, kind, holy, merciful, patient, loving, promise keeper. Now say all together, God is and go through the list doing the actions for each word. Do this several times, getting faster each time. Then ask the children to whisper prayers recognising God s awesomeness! 18 Session 3 15 October Moses meets God Exodus 33:7 23; 34:1 9,29 35 Into the Bible
Bible illustrated Activity time: 20 minutes Aim: to wonder at the awesomeness of God You will need: two large sheets of paper, large pieces of fabric, instruments, mask from page 21 (also available at Web resources), lolly sticks, glitter glue, gel pens 1 Prepare Before the session, copy page 21 on to thin card one per child, ideally. 2 Chat Write the words Holy and Awesome each on a large sheet of paper. Ask the children to think about what these words really mean. Invite the children to write ideas on the sheets if they wish. Talk about their responses and explain that holy means being really pure completely set apart from anything else! Ask the children how God has proved that he is holy and awesome. They can look at the SU Bible Timeline for some ideas. 3 Create the event Introduce today s Bible passage by explaining about the meeting tent set up outside the camp in the wilderness where people could go and receive a message from the Lord. God would show his presence with his people by the pillar of cloud that would come down over the tent. Read together Exodus 33:18 23; 34:5 8. Invite the children to think about what God said and did as he passed by Moses. Challenge the children to think creatively about what it might have been like when the awesome God passed by Moses. You could write down their thoughts as reminders. What would it look like? What sounds would there be? Might there have been a particular God smell? Now encourage the children to try and create these images using fabric to make the mountain and the crack in it and choosing a way to represent God. (It would be good to have a large quantity of fabric for the children to choose from, so that they can really use their imaginations.) When they have created the mountain, invite them to add sound effects. Again, let them be creative with these. Lastly, they will need to think about God s voice as he passes. One of the children could read out verses 6b and 7, possibly using a microphone, or several children could read it together in the form of choral speaking. Then choose someone to be Moses and pop him into the crevice! (As far as possible, let the children run with their own ideas in this activity.) 4 Shining face Ask the children to read Exodus 34:29 33. Talk about how Moses face was shining and how the people would respond to that. Give each child a copy of page 21 and invite them to cut out the mask. Some children may need help with cutting out the eye holes. Invite them to attach a lolly stick to the base so they can hold it in front of their face. Give them opportunity to decorate their mask with gel pens and glitter. 5 Response Talk together about why Moses face shone when he had spent time with God. You could stimulate discussion by asking some of the following questions: Why do you think the people were afraid when they saw Moses face shine? Do you think that Moses would have acted differently when his face was shining and he had to wear a veil? Why? Ask the children if they can tell when people have spent time with God. Do their friends notice when they have spent time with God? Are they different then? Have a moment of silence while the children think about the answer to that last question! Invite them to display their mask at home as a reminder that God is awesome, but still wants to meet with his people. He supplies the needs of those who honour him; he hears their cries and saves them. Psalm 145:19 Ask the children to discuss the needs that God has met for them this week. If you can think of any examples where God has provided for your needs, share them as well. Alternatively, use the PowerPoint and cards available at Web resources, or sing the song He supplies on the Bitesize Bible Songs 2 CD. Session 3 15 October Moses meets God Exodus 33:7 23; 34:1 9,29 35 Into the Bible 19
Collage Activity time: 10 15 minutes Aim: to reflect on God s awesomeness You will need: shiny paper and fabric, large sheets of paper 1 Challenge the children to think about the awesomeness of God. 2 Invite them to use their ideas to create a collage. The collage could be made of pictures of God s awesome deeds, or it can be of words that the children write about God. Alternatively, it could be an abstract collage with silver and gold and cloud effects to show God s holiness. If necessary, this could be done in small groups. 3 Encourage the children to write prayers or poems about God s holiness; cut them out and add them to the collage. 4 If possible, display your collage. Encourage the children to think quietly about God s awesomeness and to read out some of the prayers. Meditation Activity time: 5 10 minutes Aim: to wonder at the awesomeness of God You will need: a worship CD, Xstream 3 1 Create a peaceful atmosphere by closing the curtains and playing worship music. Invite the children to make themselves as comfortable as possible and close their eyes. 2 Ask the children to meditate on how awesome God is as they listen to the music. They can think about the wonders of creation as well as today s Bible story. 3 Invite the children to use the space on page 4 of Xstream 3 to write down anything they wish to about God. If appropriate, allow time for the children to read out what they have written. 4 Finish by singing songs about God s majesty, such as, God is an awesome God from the Light for Everyone CD or Our God is great. Acting out Activity time: 10 15 minutes Aim: to think about whether God s presence makes a difference You will need: scenarios from Web resources (optional) 1 Invite the children to form groups of three or four. Give each group a scenario and challenge them to produce two short sketches. One sketch should show how they would act in the situation normally. The second sketch should show how they would act in that same situation if they were really aware of God s awesome presence with them. 2 Give the groups time to practise and then encourage them to show their sketches to each other. 3 Scenarios to use could include: trying to get on with someone you don t like; watching a football match when your team is losing; being in a lesson you hate at school. Write an acrostic poem using the words GOD IS AWESOME. for Leaders 20 Session 3 15 October Moses meets God Exodus 33:7 23; 34:1 9,29 35 Living the life
for Leaders October to December 2017 Session 3 Cut out the mask and carefully cut out the eye holes. Tape a lolly stick to the bottom so you can hold the mask in front of your face. Decorate the mask with glitter as if your face is shining like Moses face after he had met with God. Scripture Union 2017 Session 3 15 October Moses meets God Exodus 33:7 23; 34:1 9,29 35 Photocopiable resource 21