This page has been designed for you to photocopy and place in your Bible as a ready reference. Follow Me: Peter Learns from Christ Parable of the House on the Rock Lesson2 Lesson Overview Scripture Matthew 7:24-27 Memory Psalm 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that Verse seek him with the whole heart. Teaching The saved child will read and obey God s Word and live His way. Objective Main God knows the best way to live. Teaching Emphasis Believe on Jesus to save you from your sins. for Unsaved Teaching Build your life on Jesus! Statement Visual Aids Flashcards 2-1 6 Schedule 60- min 75- min Before Club Complete attendance record, listen to each child recite previous verse, check Wonder Devotional Books, attendance incentive Opening Welcome, prayer, establish rules 5 5 Theme Song What s the News? 2 2 Missions Song: Let s Get Started Story: Five Big Choices, part 2 Teaching, offering, prayer 10 10 Song Wordless Book Song 2 2 Gospel Activity Gospel Hearts 6 6 Memory Verse (Review previous verse) Psalm 119:2 Repetition: Find It 8 8 Bible Lesson/ Invitation Parable of the House on the Rock Review previous lesson 18 18 Review Help! I m Stuck! review game 0 6 Song Just Turn Around (visualized song) 2 2 Wonder Time God Wants to Spend Time with Just You, quiet time teaching and 60-Day Wonder Devotional Book review, awards 6 15 Closing Announcements, prayer, verse/teaching tokens, Wonderzone/Truth Chasers Club bookmarks, Truth Chasers Club starter lessons 1 1 Outline I. INTRODUCTION Flashcard 2-1 Do you remember who Peter was? Peter was amazed at the things Jesus did! II. PROGRESSION OF EVENTS A. Flashcard 2-2 (Matthew 7:24) 1. Jesus spoke to a large crowd of people. 2. Jesus told a story to help the people know what He was talking about. 3. Jesus said, Whoever hears me and does them is like a wise man. 4. This man built his house on a rock foundation. B. Flashcard 2-3 (Matthew 7:25a) 1. Peter started imagining what the house looked like. 2. The house was built on rock. 3. Have you ever wondered how to stand firm, even in a storm? [Psalm 119:2] 4. There was a big storm! The rain fell and the wind blew. C. Flashcard 2-4 (Matthew 7:25b) 1. The house built on the rock stood firm. 2. If you have believed on Jesus as your Savior, remember that God knows the best way to live. [Philippians 2:13] D. Flashcard 2-5 (Matthew 7:26-27a) 1. Jesus said a man who does not listen to Him is like a foolish man. 2. This foolish man built his house on the sand. 3. Are you like the man who built his house on the sand? [Ecclesiastes 7:20; 1 Corinthians 15:3-5] 4. When the storm came, what do you think happened to the house built on the sand? III. CLIMAX Flashcard 2-6 (Matthew 7:27b) The house collapsed! IV. CONCLUSION A. Maybe Peter was thinking about which man he was like the wise man or the foolish man. B. Those who have believed on Jesus as their Savior are like the wise man who built his house on the rock. [Psalm 119:2] C. But you can t live God s way if you ve never believed on Jesus to save you from your sins. [John 5:24] Scripture verses in parentheses are background text. Bracketed verses should be quoted or read from God s Word. Follow Me: Peter Learns from Christ 2013 Child Evangelism Fellowship Inc. Permission is given to photocopy this page for club or class use. All other rights reserved. Lesson 2 1
The memory verses in this series are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. If you are using another version, you may need to adapt the explanations slightly. Adaptations for the English Standard Version are provided in the GNC resource pack. Preschool Memory Verse Review Psalm 31:14. Teaching the Memory Verse Memory Verse: Psalm 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. Introduction: How many of you like to play Hide and Seek? (Allow response.) Do you prefer to hide or seek? (Allow response.) To seek is to go in search of something. Do you know what the Bible tells us we should seek? Let s find out! Presentation: Explanation: Application: Our verse today is found in the book of Psalms in the Old Testament part of the Bible (point out on the Books of the Bible chart). Can I have a volunteer come here and open my Bible to the middle? (Have volunteer open Bible to the middle and read the name of the book.) An easy way to find the book of Psalms is to open your Bible to the middle. Another easy way to find any book of the Bible is to look in the front at the Table of Contents. (Turn there in your Bible and show the kids.) Much of the book of Psalms was written by King David, a real person who lived several thousand years ago. Did you know people who study history have discovered stone tablets with King David s name on them? This is one more way we can know the Bible is God s true Word! (Read the verse from your Bible while children follow along on the visual.) Blessed are they that keep his testimonies His testimonies in this verse means God s Word. God wants you to obey His Word because He knows that s the best way for you to live. When you obey God s Word, you are blessed full of joy! and that seek him with the whole heart One way you seek God with your whole heart is by reading and obeying God s Word, doing so because you love Him and want to know Him better. Saved: If you have already believed on Jesus as your Savior, remember that God knows the best way to live. You can know how God wants you to live by reading and obeying His Word, the Bible. If you do this with your whole heart because you love Him and want to know Him better He promises to bless you. Preschool Repetition Up and Down Repeat the verse once. Then have the children say the verse on tiptoe if they can. Next time have them say it while crouching down. Repeat the verse several times, alternating between crouching and standing on tiptoe. Repetition: Unsaved: If you have not believed on Jesus as your Savior, then you are not able to seek God. But God is seeking you! He wants to forgive your sins and give you a friendship with Him that will last forever. That s why Jesus died on the cross and rose again. You can believe on Jesus and be saved today. Find It (While a child is out of the room, hide a small object so the rest of the group knows where it is. The child then comes back into the room and tries to find it. The other children repeat the verse over and over, saying it softly when the child moves farther away from the object and more loudly as he gets closer, until at last he finds it. Choose other volunteers and repeat as time allows.) 2 Follow Me: Peter Learns from Christ 2013 Child Evangelism Fellowship Inc. Permission is given to photocopy memory verse teaching for club or class use. All other rights reserved.
Gospel Activity Gospel Hearts (Show Heaven heart.) Many people think that only good people go to Heaven. I m glad that s not true! Do you know why? (Allow response.) The Bible says, There is not a just [righteous; sinless] man [or woman or child] upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not (Ecclessiastes 7:20). None of us deserves to go to Heaven. God says all of us sin and not even one of us is good! (Turn to back side, showing dark heart.) Sin is anything you think, say or do that breaks God s laws. What are some ways children your age sin? (Let children share examples.) You do these wrong things because you were born with a sinful heart. Your heart, the real you inside that thinks and feels, wants you to do things your way instead of God s way. You deserve God s punishment for sin, which is separation from Him forever in a terrible place of punishment called Hell. God is holy (perfect) and He hates sin. He knows about all those wrong things you do even the wrong things you think about because He made you. But God doesn t hate you; He loves you! (Fold dark heart back, showing cross heart.) God loves you so much He sent His perfect (sinless) Son, the Lord Jesus, to take your punishment. The Bible says, (read 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus knew no sin but He took your sin upon Himself when He died on the cross so you could be made right before God. After Jesus died, He was buried. On the third day He rose from the dead and today He is alive in Heaven ruling as Lord of all. (Fold cross heart back, showing question mark heart.) Have you believed on (put your trust in) Jesus as your Savior from sin? The Bible says, (read John 5:24). Do you know you have sinned? Do you believe Jesus died to pay for your sins and rose again? If you ve never believed on (trusted) Jesus as your Savior, you can do that today. (Turn to back side, showing a clean heart.) God will forgive your sins and help you do things His way instead of your way. You will have everlasting life with God a friendship with Him now and someday you will be with Him in Heaven. You won t see any good people up there just lots of forgiven people! Create a visual with three hearts connected at the sides. (See diagram and GNC resource pack.) Color the heart on the left black to create a dark heart. In the center heart place the word Heaven or an illustration and place a question mark on the back side of that heart. In the heart on the right draw a red cross. Leave the backs of the dark heart and the cross heart blank to represent clean hearts. Fold the cross heart behind the Heaven heart and the dark heart over the cross heart. Begin your presentation by showing the Heaven heart with the dark heart facing you. Lesson INTRODUCTION Slide 01 Do you remember who Peter was? (Allow response.) Peter had been a fisherman until Jesus called him to become a fisher of men! Now Peter was following Jesus and learning how to bring others to Him. He saw Jesus do many miracles things only God could do! Jesus healed sick people made blind people see, lame people walk and deaf people hear. Peter was amazed at the things Jesus did! PROGRESSION OF EVENTS Slide 02 Wherever Jesus went, people came from miles around to be healed and to hear Him speak. The crowd was so large one day that Jesus went a short distance up a mountainside and sat down where everyone could hear. Then Jesus began to teach. He taught about how God wanted them to live how to pray, how to treat other people, what to do with money and much more. Some of what Jesus said surprised the people; for example, that they should love their enemies as well as their friends! And Jesus didn t just talk about what they should do but about having the right heart attitudes the right reasons for doing things. Jesus ended His teaching with a parable a short story with a lesson in it. Sometimes Jesus would tell parables to help people understand what He was trying to teach them. Peter leaned forward to listen he didn t want to miss a word Jesus was saying! Jesus said, (read Matthew 7:24 from your Bible). Occasionally ask for a volunteer to read. Place a marker in your Bible and have the child turn to it. Lesson 2 3
Tell the children that every time they hear the word rock, they should make a fist and hit the palm of their other hand. Slide 03 Maybe Peter started imagining what the house looked like. What does your house look like? (Allow response.) When Jesus was on Earth, most houses were very simple. Many had just a couple of rooms. The walls were made of stone or hard, mud bricks and the floors were hard mud as well. Maybe the house looked like this (point to visual). But the design of the house wasn t important. What did Jesus say the wise man built his house on? (Allow response.) Yes, on the rock! In Israel there is sand everywhere. It looks and feels very hard and sturdy until it rains. Then the sand gets soft and moves around. So a wise person would build his house on rock, not sand. Then the house would be able to stand firm, even in a storm. Slide 04 Teaching Card Show the card and have the children repeat the statement: Build your life on Jesus! Tell them that anytime you call out Word Up! they are to shout the phrase back. Call it out during transition times, times when they are restless or just anytime! Sing I Can Know God. Have you ever wondered how to stand firm, even in a storm? You may have storms in your life temptations that are hard for you to stand against. Maybe your parents fight a lot it scares you and makes you angry; sometimes you are tempted to yell at other people, like your brothers and sisters. Maybe a bully picks on you and you are tempted to fight back and really teach him a lesson. Maybe you are tempted to be rude or disrespectful when your parents say no to something you want to do. But if you have believed on Jesus as your Savior, remember that God knows the best way to live. Our memory verse says, (quote Psalm 119:2 with the children). To keep his testimonies and seek Him with [your] whole heart means to read and obey God s Word with the right attitude. If you do this, God will show you the best way to live. He will show you what to do about the temptations in your life. Living God s way is like building your life on the rock you will stand firm even in a storm! Slide 05 The wise man in the parable built his house on rock so it would stand firm, even in a storm. Peter was a fisherman he knew about storms! He must have listened intently as Jesus said, (read Matthew 7:25a). Can you imagine a great big storm with lots of rain and wind? Have you ever seen a storm like that? Storms can be scary, can t they? On the count of three everyone blow like the wind and clap your hands like thunder. Ready? (Participate with the children.) Slide 06 What do you think happened to the house built on the rock when the storm came? (Allow response.) You re right it stood firm! The house built on the rock is like someone who has believed on Jesus as his Savior from sin. Jesus is the rock that his life is built on. The Bible says, (read Isaiah 26:4). Those who trust Him know the best way to live. Slide 07 Teaching Card Show the card and have the children repeat the statement: Build your life on Jesus! Tell them that anytime you call out Word Up! they are to shout the phrase back. Call it out during transition times, times when they are restless or just anytime! Sing The Prayer Song. If you have believed on Jesus as your Savior, remember that God knows the best way to live. He loves you and wants to help you with the temptations you are facing. The best way to live is to read and obey His Word, depend on His Holy Spirit to give you strength and wisdom, and pray about everything that concerns you. If your parents are fighting and you feel upset and angry and tempted to yell at your brothers and sisters, ask God to help you be calm and pray for your parents instead. God can help you trust Him and give you peace inside even if they don t change. Instead of trying to get even with a bully, obey God s Word and ask Him to give your courage to show kindness to your enemy. God can help you know what to do or show you who to ask for help. When you are tempted to be rude or disrespectful to your parents, you can pray and ask 4 Follow Me: Peter Learns from Christ
God to help you be kind and show respect. God promises in His Word, (read Philippians 2:13). If you have believed on Jesus as your Savior, remember that God knows the best way to live. Those who read and obey God s Word and put Him first in everything they do are like the house built on a rock. They will stand firm even when they have problems. Jesus wanted the people to understand that He is the rock they should build their lives on. By believing on Him as Savior, they would know the best way to live. Slide 08 But Jesus wasn t finished with his story. Peter kept listening as Jesus continued. (Read Matthew 7:26.) Have you ever built a sand castle? Maybe you spent a lot of time on it only to have the tide come in and wash the whole thing away. That s what would happen to the house built with only sand as the foundation. The two houses looked the same but they were very different because of their foundations. The house built on the rock reminds us of someone who has believed in Jesus as his Savior and is letting God change his heart. The house built on the sand is like someone who has not believed on Jesus as his Savior. This person might do and say all the right things. But if he hasn t built his life on Jesus, believing on Him as Savior and following Him, this person is still living in sin. Are you like this person? Maybe you think that trying to do the right things will make you good enough to go to Heaven. But even if you try as hard as you can, you can t even come close to being good enough for God on your own. He is holy perfect in every way! God knows everything about the universe and He made everything in it. He knows everything about you and He made you! He knows what you ll be when you grow up and He knows what you are going to do when you go home. He not only knows everything about you but He loves you. He loves you even though you have sinned you think, say and do things that do not please Him. When you show disrespect to your parents or teachers, look at bad pictures and videos on the Internet or TV or make other things more important than God is, that is sin. The Bible says everyone has sinned, (read Ecclesiastes 7:20). You and I were born with a want to to disobey God. And we do disobey Him! Because of that we deserve to be separated from God forever in a place of punishment. But because of the great love God has for you, He sent His perfect Son, the Lord Jesus, to Earth as a tiny baby. When Jesus became a man He did many wonderful things for people and taught them about God. But God s plan was that Jesus would take the punishment for your sin by dying on a cross. When God s time was right, Jesus allowed men to nail His hands and feet to a cross, where He bled and died. Jesus was the only one who could take the punishment of your sin because He is perfect. After Jesus died they buried Him in a tomb. But then the most wonderful thing happened! On the third day Jesus came alive again! He was seen by hundreds of people who talked to Him. We know this is true because the Bible says, (read 1 Corinthians 15:3-5). After 40 days Jesus went back to Heaven, where He is today ruling as the great King. This is God s plan so your sin can be forgiven, you can have a friendship with God here on Earth and someday you can go to Heaven to be with Him. Trying to do the right things can never make you good enough to go to Heaven. Since this lesson is focused on Christian growth, the message of salvation is condensed. You will want to reinforce the presentation of the Gospel at another point in the class hour as noted in the schedule. For preschoolers present the Gospel using Gospel Hearts, p. 18. Sing Nothing But the Blood. The house built on the sand is like someone who has not believed on Jesus as his Savior. This person might do and say all the right things. But if he hasn t built his life on Jesus, believing on Him as Savior and following Him, this person is still living in sin. Jesus went on with His story. The rain came and the winds blew. What do you think happened to the house built only on the sand? (Allow response.) Lesson 2 5
CLIMAX Slide 09 The house collapsed! The Bible says, Great was the fall of it. The house did not last because it was built on sand. CONCLUSION When Jesus was finished with the story, the crowd was amazed. No one had ever spoken to them with such authority and wisdom. Jesus gave them all something to think about. As the sun set and the crowd made their way to their homes, Peter may have sat there a little longer than the rest. As usual, Jesus teachings had made him think. Maybe Peter was thinking about which man he was like the wise man who built a house on a rock foundation or the foolish man who built his house only on sand. Slide 10 CHALLENGE Teaching Card Show the card and have the children repeat the statement: Build your life on Jesus! Tell them that anytime you call out Word Up! they are to shout the phrase back. Call it out during transition times, times when they are restless or just anytime! Invite children to come to Christ using the method given here or one you have found effective. Having children pray silently during the class time is useful when it is not possible to talk with each child individually. A sample prayer is as follows: Dear God, I know I have sinned and I am sorry. I know I deserve to be punished for my sin. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me and came alive again. Thank You that Jesus took my punishment so I can be saved from my sins forever. Help me live to please You. In Jesus name. Amen. Whenever possible, however, meet with each child after the invitation. See How to Lead a Child to Christ, inside front cover. Those who have believed on Jesus as their Savior are like the wise man who built his house on the rock. They can know that God knows the best way to live. Is that you today? If so, you can stand firm even when temptations come. As you read and obey God s Word and put Him first in everything you do, you can trust Him to help you. Our memory verse says, (quote Psalm 119:2 with the children). You can find peace even when your parents are fighting. You can have courage when a bully is picking on you. You can show kindness and respect toward your parents, even when you don t feel like it. God loves you and will show you what to do. Will you choose to live God s way every day? You can depend on God s Holy Spirit, who lives in you, to help you obey. Next week you can tell us how God helped you as you chose to live His way. INVITATION But you can t live God s way if you ve never believed on Jesus to save you from your sins. The Bible clearly tells you about your problem of sin and that you cannot save yourself. But because of God s great love for you, Jesus died and came alive again so you can have a friendship with God now and life with Him in Heaven someday. The Bible says, (read John 5:24). This verse says you need to believe on Jesus. To believe means to trust completely in Jesus as the only one who can save you from your sins. This is the most important decision you can ever make no one else can make it for you. If you trust Him as your Savior, you can tell Him that right now. You can tell God you know you have sinned and are sorry for those sins. You can tell God you believe Jesus died and came alive again to take away your sins and you want to live to please Him. Will you believe on Jesus as your Savior today? I d like everyone to bow your head and close your eyes. If you believed on Jesus for the first time today or if you would like to know more about believing on Him, would you please show me by raising your hand? (Acknowledge responses.) If you raised your hand to show me you want to talk more about believing on Jesus, you may meet me (designate time and location) and I will show you more from God s Word. Sing Good News. Preschool Invitation Present the invitation using Acts 16:31 and believe on terminology. Ask those who believe on Jesus for the first time or those who want to talk to you about what believing on Jesus means to stay with you at the story rug. 6 Follow Me: Peter Learns from Christ
Review Questions 1. What is a parable? (A short story with a lesson in it.) 2. What was the foundation the first house was built on? (Rock.) 3. What happened to the first house when the storm came? (It did not fall.) 4. What kind of people are like a house built on the rock? (People who have believed on Jesus as Savior and live God s way.) 5. When hard times come in your life, what should you remember to do? (Live God s way.) 6. According to our memory verse, Psalm 119:2, who should we seek with our whole heart? (God.) 7. What was the foundation the second house was built on? (Sand.) 8. If you do a lot of good things, will you be good enough to go to Heaven? (No.) 9. Who is the Rock we should build our lives on? (Jesus.) 10. What happened to the second house when the storm came? (It collapsed!) 11. What kind of people are like the house built on the sand? (People who do not listen to or obey God.) 12. What does believe on Jesus mean? (To completely trust Jesus as your Savior.) Preschool Review Questions 1. What happens to sand when it gets wet? (It gets soft and moves around.) 2. Should houses be built on rock or sand? (Rock.) 3. Who knows the best way to live? (God.) 4. Who has sinned? (Everyone.) Wonder Time Teaching Why does having a quiet time with God help me live for Him? Stand up if you ve ever gone on a trip. (Acknowledge response.) Where did you go? (Allow brief response.) Maybe your parents were driving or you went in an airplane, but somebody had to have the directions to know where to go. It s the same way with living God s way. You need to learn what God says in order to live His way. How can you learn more about what God says? (Spend time with Him.) How can you spend time with Him? (Have a quiet time read the Bible and pray every day.) When you have a question about something in school, what do you do? (Ask the teacher.) If you have a question about living God s way, what can you do? (Read the Bible, pray, ask a Good News Club teacher.) If you have a temptation you re facing or you don t know the right thing to do, you can talk to God anytime and anywhere. He will always listen and answer. Review Game Help! I m Stuck! Divide the children into two teams and have each choose someone to be stuck to the wall (with his back, head, hands and feet against it). Ask questions, alternating between the teams. If a child answers a question correctly, he gets to help the stuck person on his team get unstuck by pulling one part of his body away from the wall (e.g., his hand). If a question is answered incorrectly, no team gets a point but the other team may guess the answer. Each team can answer a maximum of six questions correctly, which would unstick the head, back and both hands and feet of their stuck person. Preschool Review Game House on the Rock Ask children review questions. When a child answers a question correctly, he may come up and be the man who built his house on a rock. Have him hold one hand palm up and place his other fist on it to represent the rock. When the next child answers a question, have the first child sit down and let the next child have a turn. Follow Me: Peter Learns from Christ 2013 Child Evangelism Fellowship Inc. Permission is given to photocopy review questions and games for club or class use. All other rights reserved. Lesson 2 7