Obedience Wears Listening Ears

Copyright 2014 by Elizabeth L. Hamilton All Rights Reserved. Obedience Preparation Lesson 2 of 4 Obedience Wears Listening Ears (Obedience listens very carefully to those in authority.) Scripture: Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it." Luke 11:28 Print on cardstock one copy each of pages 4, 5, and 6. Print one copy of the age-appropriate activity sheet for each child. Review Say: Let s do some more work on your character wall. (Saying YOUR character wall helps children feel ownership.) This month we are working on obedience. Hold up the 2 pictures from Lesson #1, reading the captions. Say: Last week, we learned that obedience is picky. You show obedience when you pick the right people to mind. That s where obedience begins. You think about who is asking you to do something. You should not obey people who ask you to do what is wrong. You should obey people who ask you to do what is right. If God tells you to do something and someone wants you not to do it, you should pick God every time. Introducing New Lesson Say: Today we re going to learn something that many adults don t even know. Hold up the Page 4 picture of the boy, reading: Obedience Wears Listening Ears. Display this picture throughout the first story. Say: It is not enough to be picky about whom you obey. You need to wear listening ears. I wonder what that means. Listening ears. Don t say anything out loud, but think about it as you listen to our story. Tell this story in your own words, changing it to fit your listeners adapting to their age and culture. Miss Richie smoothed her red skirt as she stood. Sit down now and stop talking, she told the class. Becky and Samuel sat down, but they kept talking and giggling. Children! The teacher s voice was louder. Sit down and stop talking! In the corner, three boys stood and argued over who d won the ball game at recess. Near the window, two girls stopped talking, but kept standing. Only the five children at the front of the room sat down and stopped talking. Miss Richie clapped her hands. SIT DOWN AND BE QUIET!!!!! Everyone looked up, surprised. They all hurried to seats and sat down. No one talked.

Why didn t you listen to me? Miss Richie asked. Did you hear me tell you to sit down and stop talking? A pudgy brown hand went up in the front row. Miss Richie sighed as she looked at the black-haired boy. What, Peter? Miss Richie, I don t think they put on their listening ears, Peter said. The teacher pushed her glasses down on her nose and looked closely at Peter. Listening ears? Peter nodded. My dad says listening ears hear much better than regular ears. Listening ears suck in every word. They make the words go deep inside where your do something lives. Miss Richie smiled a teeny bit. And what is a do something, Peter? Your do something is what makes you do something that the words ask you to do. If you tell us to get quiet, we shouldn t just hear your words and keep talking. We should do something about those words and get quiet. If Dad asks me to take out garbage, I do something and take it out. Well then, Peter, asked the teacher, what do something do you use if you are asked to do two things like when I asked everyone to sit down and stop talking? I do both, Peter answered. When Mom asks me to put my bike in the garage and lock the door, I do exactly what she asked. I put my bike in the garage and I lock the garage door. Becky raised her hand. Peter s right. We do need listening ears, she said. Our ears don t send your words deep inside where our do something lives. Can Peter tell us where to get listening ears? Miss Richie explained that Peter s listening ears weren t real ears They weren t ears that you can see. They were pretend ears. But, she said, I think we can make listening ears that will help us learn to listen better. She got out supplies, and soon all of the boys and girls were busy creating big, orange, listening ears. They wore them often after that and gradually, they learned to listen carefully. They learned to do exactly what they were asked. The paper ears wore out, of course. Still, Miss Richie only had to say, Put on your listening ears, and the children let her words go deep inside where their do something lived. They obeyed everything she said. Bible Story: Moses Only Half-Listened to God Numbers 20:2-13 The Bible tells about two brothers who forgot to put on their listening ears. Their names were Moses and Aaron. God chose Moses and Aaron to lead His people out of the land of Egypt to lead them to the Promised Land. Moses and Aaron were to obey God in everything He said to them, and they usually did, but. One day, as the crowd set up camp in the wilderness, they got thirsty. They looked here and there for a spring or a river, but they found no water. The thirsty people became angry. They talked among themselves about what bad leaders Moses and Aaron were. Talking made them angrier. The angry mob started to gang up on Moses. Some of the men began to yell at him. We d be better off dead than following you! Why d you bring us out into the wilderness? Did you want us and our cattle to die out here? Why d you bring us out of Egypt to this evil place? We have no seeds, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates we don t even have water to drink! You can imagine them chanting louder and louder, We want water! We want water! We want water! Moses didn t speak. He and Aaron walked away from the crowd. They went to their church, the tabernacle. They went to the door of the tabernacle, and as they fell on their faces to pray, God s glory appeared to them.

God said, Moses, pick up the rod. You and your brother Aaron call the people together. Then speak to the rock that s right there in front of everyone s eyes. The rock will give water, and you will bring water out of the rock. You will give all the people and all their animals water to drink. Moses and Aaron got up from the ground. Moses obeyed God and picked up the rod. Moses and Aaron obeyed God and called the people together. Then Moses disobeyed God. He spoke but not to the rock. Listen, you bunch of protesters! he said loudly. Do we have to fetch water out of this rock? Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod, he struck the rock twice he struck it! Display the Page 5 picture of Moses striking the rock as you continue the story. Whoosh! Water came bursting out of the rock! Water poured from the rock! The people drank. The animals drank. There was plenty for everyone. But Moses had not obeyed God. Moses had not put on his listening ears. God told Moses three things to do, and Moses did two of the three. Then, instead of speaking to the rock, Moses hit it. That was not obedience. Apply the two stories in age-appropriate words. Hold up the Page 4 picture of the boy and read, Obedience Wears Listening Ears. You show obedience by listening carefully to what you are told to do. You let the words go deep inside where your do something lives. You hear exactly what you are told. You do exactly as you are told. If you are asked to do more than one thing, you do everything you are asked to do. Obedience wears listening ears. All but five students in Peter s class disobeyed. Those that sat down disobeyed the stop talking part. Those that stopped talking disobeyed the sit down part. They thought they obeyed because they did part of what they were supposed to do, but no. Display the Page 6 text reading, Part-way Obedience is Disobedience. If you leave out any part of what you are told to do, that is not obedience. Part-way obedience is disobedience. Hold up the Page 5 picture of Moses again, and read, Obedience Wears Listening Ears. What three things did God tell Moses to do? Pick up the rod. Call the people together. Speak to the rock. What two things did Moses do? What did Moses not do? Moses gave God only part-way obedience. That means Moses disobeyed God. God was not happy with Moses. God punished Him. He said Moses could not go into the Promised Land because he had sinned. Obeying God only part-way is sin. Many people want to be saved, so they turn to God, but they don t serve God. That is only part-way obedience. Part-way obedience is disobedience. God says the Thessalonian people turned to God (from idols) to serve (a living and true) God. I Thessalonians 1:9b That is full obedience. That is true obedience. God tells all of us to do certain things. God tells children to obey their fathers and mothers. If you do most of what your father tells you, does God consider that obedience? No. That is only part-way obedience, and partway obedience is disobedience. Suppose your father tells you to pick up your toys and get ready for bed. You pick up your toys, but then you start reading a book. Did you obey your father? No. Suppose your mother tells you to help your sister wash the dishes, and then do your homework. You run to your homework and leave your sister to wash dishes. Did you obey your mother? No. Obedience wears listening ears. It hears each thing it is told to do. Then it does each thing it is told to do. It doesn t stop part-way. Close by handing out assignment sheets.

Part-way Obedience is Disobedience

First and Last Name: I show obedience when I listen carefully to people I should mind. You can put on listening ears every time you need them. You don t have to put on the kind of ears you can see. You just need to make the ears you have listen well. You can put on paper listening ears for fun, though. Make the paper listening ears here, and put them on now and then to help you remember. Color the picture on the next page, and write your name on the back of it. Cut out the two ears. Cut a strip of stiff cardboard or use a long pipe cleaner. Attach the strip or pipe cleaner to the top of each ear. Fit it over your head. Make sure one ear is on each side of your head. Bring your finished listening ears to our next class. Write your Bible memory verse on the back of each paper listening ear. Christian Character-Trait-of-the-Month Program Obedience #2 Ages 3 to 7 Copyright 2014 by Elizabeth L Hamilton For more information, visit www.character-in-action.com

First and Last Name: I show obedience when I listen carefully to people I should mind. Write what it means to have listening ears. Tell how listening ears might change you. Tell what part-way obedience means. What did Moses obey? What did Moses disobey? Christian Character-Trait-of-the-Month Program Copyright 2014 by Elizabeth L Hamilton Obedience #2 Ages 7 and up For more information, visit www.character-in-action.com

Color the two black and white ears below. Use the picture on the right as an example. Make your colored ears as neat as you can. Cut out the ears after you have colored them. Cut carefully. Write your Bible memory verse on the back of each ear. Cut a strip of stiff cardboard long enough to go over your head and down to your ears or use a long pipe cleaner. Attach the cardboard strip or pipe cleaner to the top of each ear. Fit it over your head. Make sure one ear is on each side of your head. Make sure the listening ears cover your own ears. Bring your finished listening ears to our next class. Christian Character-Trait-of-the-Month Program Copyright 2014 by Elizabeth L Hamilton Obedience #2 Ages 7 and up For more information, visit www.character-in-action.com