LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio God Gives the Te Commadmets (Part 1) What Rules? (about 10 mi.) Form 2 groups, ad make up somethig for the other group members to do with mixed-up directios. God s Commadmets (about 25 mi.) Liste to the CD, ad examie each of the first 4 commadmets. idex cards, pecils Bibles, CD player, Bible Truth Sleuth, pes, paper, markers, tape, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD, Bible Timelie Exodus 19:16 20:21 Most third- ad fourth-graders recogize the differece betwee right ad wrog. They ca make deliberate choices about their actios. This meas kids this age should be able to uderstad right ways to hoor God. They also kow certai actios ad attitudes do ot hoor God. Use this lesso to help your kids uderstad that hoorig God is a choice they ca make each day. Tear out the Lesso 4 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Lesso 4 Bible Poit Hoor God by obeyig him. 37 Key Verse Love the Lord your God with all your heart ad with all your soul ad with all your stregth (Deuteroomy 6:5). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will hoor God by obeyig his commads. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 4
38 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life 4 Lastig Impressios Hoorig God (about 15 mi.) Lear the Key Verse through a active game. Upo My Heart (about 10 mi.) Create hearts, ad write o them a persoal coectio to each of the four commadmets they ve leared. Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bibles red costructio paper, markers, scissors (several pairs), Bible Truth Sleuth Bible Truth Sleuth Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 4 Grades 3 & 4
39 God Gives the Te Commadmets (Part 1) Exodus 19:16 20:21 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS This week s Bible Backgroud cocetrates o the evets surroudig the givig of the Te Commadmets, while ext week s cocetrates o the commadmets themselves. You may wat to read both Bible Backgrouds before begiig this lesso. The Israelites Battle the Amalekites The Amalekites attacked the Israelites where they were camped. God had prepared the Israelites faith for this test through his provisio for them i so may ways. So the Israelites put together a army uder the leadership of Joshua ad wet o the attack. Moses held high i the air the staff that had struck the rock to get water the staff of God. As log as Moses held the staff i the air, the Israelites cotiued to wi so Aaro ad Hur helped hold Moses hads up, ad the Israelites defeated the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-16). Jethro Advises Moses to Focus o God Moses father-i-law, Jethro, came to visit after the battle with the Amalekites. Seeig Moses burdeed with judgig disagreemets amog the 2 millio Israelites, Jethro gave Moses some good advice. He suggested that Moses appoit judges to serve the people so that Moses could cocetrate o what was most importat beig the people s represetative before God. Moses took the advice ad the led the Israelites o to Mout Siai, where Moses had previously met God i the burig bush. They arrived at Mout Siai three moths to the day from whe they left Egypt (Exodus 18:5 19:2). him that Israel would be his treasured possessio, his holy people if they would obey him. After Moses told the people what God had said, they respoded gratefully: We will do everythig the Lord has said. God respoded by tellig Moses that God himself would come dow ad speak with the Israelites from a cloud. The law God gave spelled out how the Israelites were to hoor him through their obediece. I the thousads of years that have passed sice this evet, oe thig has t chaged: The best way we ca hoor God is by obeyig him. The Jesus Coectio Followig Jesus is ot about obeyig rules; it s about kowig him. However, our obediece i hoorig ad glorifyig God i our everyday lives allows our relatioship with Jesus to grow. I the space below, write a prayer that the miistry you are ivolved i today helps your group experiece God s blessig. May you see the fruit of God s work through your obediece. Moses Receives the Commadmets From God A sigificat evet is recorded i the ext few verses (Exodus 19:3-9): God spoke to Moses ad promised Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 4
40 GETTING STARTED What Rules? Supplies idex cards pecils What Rules? What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Have kids form two groups. Distribute pecils ad idex cards to each group. Say: Each group will thik of somethig for the other group to do ad specific ways for the group to do that thig. As a group, write out the goal for the other group as well as the procedures for the task. Make the task as complicated as you wat. Write each step o a separate idex card; the shuffle the cards before you give them to the other group. For example, oe group may decide it wats the other group to stack three chairs o top of oe aother by havig members carry each chair aroud the room oce, stop, set the chair dow, all spi aroud three times, ad the start stackig the chairs. However, whe their cards are shuffled, the order of directios will become cofusig. Give groups three miutes to write their tasks ad procedures for each other. Whe both groups have writte their istructios, say: Give your istructios to the other group. As a group, it s your job to figure out how to do what the other group wrote dow. You ca refer oly to the writte istructios. Allow time. See how far kids get. After three miutes, brig kids together. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What was it like to do a task that was so complicated? What might ve bee differet if you could ve spoke to the rule-makers? Say: I our game, rules were a bit cofusig ad we were t able to get more iformatio. It s similar to how God asks us to follow his rules. The big differece is that God gives us lots of ways to kow how to follow his rules well. Today we ll lear about some rules God gave his people. He wats us to have rules that will help us, ot keep us from ejoyig life. We HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM. Lesso 4 Grades 3 & 4
41 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION God s Commadmets What You ll Do Poit out the God Gives the Te Commadmets picture o the Bible Timelie. Say: This week ad ext week, we ll lear about rules God gave the Israelites. They re called commadmets, ad God gave them to the Israelites so they would kow how to live i a way that hoored God. Just over two moths after the Israelites had left Egypt, they came to Mout Siai. This is where God gave Moses the Te Commadmets. God wated to let the Israelites ad us kow what to do to live our lives i a way that hoors him. Let s read our Bible passage ad fid out what God says. Distribute Bibles, ad ask a willig child to read aloud Exodus 19:16-18. Ecourage the other kids to act out what s happeig i the passage as the child reads. Play Rumblig Moutai (track 9 o the CD) whe the moutai begis to rumble. The ask aother child to read aloud Exodus 19:19-25. Ecourage kids to act out the passage agai this time, too. Say: Moses told the people about God s Te Commadmets. The first commadmet God gives us is You shall have o other gods before me. What s oe way you ca put God first i your life? God s Commadmets Supplies Bibles CD player Bible Truth Sleuth pes paper markers tape copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: Rumblig Moutai (track 9), Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) (track 3) Bible Timelie God s Commadmets Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 4 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Distribute pes ad this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages, ad have kids tur to the Hoor God activity. Have them fid the Have No Other Gods Before Me headig, ad ask them to list other religios that people might follow. The have them place Jesus at the top of the list i big, bold letters ad cross out the other religios. Say: I the secod commadmet, God tells us ot to create or worship idols. What are some of the thigs we idolize ad worship istead of God? Say: God wats us to make him our umber-oe priority. Uder Do t Worship Idols, have kids draw a picture of somethig i their lives that sometimes seems more importat tha God. Whe they ve fiished their drawigs, say: Write God Is First across your picture. Say: The third commadmet tells us ot to misuse God s ame. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 4
42 What do you thik it meas to misuse God s ame? What are some ways you ca use God s ame i a good way? Say: Let s sig a sog that will praise God s ame ad hoor him. Distribute copies of the lyrics page, ad play Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) (track 3 o the CD). The lead kids i sigig alog with the CD. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Make kow amog the atios what he has doe. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Make kow amog the atios what he has doe. Sig to him! Sig praise to him. Tell of his woderful works. Sig to him. Sig praise to him. (Repeat from the begiig.) Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) by Jay Stocker. 2006 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Have kids fid a parter ad share somethig they praise God for. The have kids write what they ad their parters shared i the Do t Misuse God s Name area o their pages. Say: The fourth commadmet says, Remember the Sabbath day by keepig it holy. How does keepig the Sabbath day holy hoor God? Set out paper, markers, ad tape, ad have kids create a baer depictig ways they ca keep the Sabbath holy. Have them each work o a separate piece of paper. They ll put together the pages at the ed to make a complete baer. Ecourage kids to work together where possible to make this a collaborative project. Lesso 4 Grades 3 & 4
43 Say: Choose oe thig o your baer, ad write it uder the last headig of your Bible Truth Sleuth page. Give kids a miute to decide ad write. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Which of these commadmets do you thik you d like to make a bigger part of your life? What do you thik of God givig these rules to you? What ca you do to respect God s rules? Say: We ca HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM. We wat to hoor God to show him our love. Givig the Te Commadmets was God s way of helpig the Israelites kow what to do for their part of a coveat, or very special promise, with God. God gave them these rules to help them. We ca follow these rules because they re good for us, too. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Hoorig God What You ll Do Make sure each child has a Bible. Say: Our Key Verse today is Deuteroomy 6:5. Hoorig God Supplies Bibles Have kids fid the verse i their Bibles, ad ask a willig child to read the Key Verse aloud: Love the Lord your God with all your heart ad with all your soul ad with all your stregth. Have kids form four groups (a group ca be just oe perso). Give each group oe sectio of the verse as listed below, ad have groups make up some actios that would help them remember their part of the verse. Group 1: Love the Lord your God Group 2: with all your heart Group 3: ad with all your soul Group 4: ad with all your stregth. Whe kids have fiished makig up actios, have them teach their sectio of the verse to the rest of the group. The whe everyoe has leared the other groups actios, repeat the Key Verse aloud together a couple of times. Ecourage kids all to act out the pieces of the verse together. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 4
44 Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What are some ways we ca love God with our whole heart? What are some ways we ca love God with our whole mid? What are some ways we ca love God with our lives? Say: If you re stuck tryig to figure out how to love God i ay situatio this week, you ca remember these actios. We ca hoor ad love God i every momet of our lives. We ca HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM ad obeyig his commadmets. Let s make somethig to help us remember to obey God. Upo My Heart Supplies red costructio paper markers scissors (several pairs) Bible Truth Sleuth Upo My Heart What You ll Do Set out markers ad scissors, ad give kids each a piece of red costructio paper. Show them how to cut a heart out of it. After everyoe has a heart shape, say: O your heart, write the commadmets we leared. Have kids write the followig abbreviated commadmets across their hearts: Have o other gods before me. Do t worship idols. Do t misuse God s ame. Keep the Sabbath holy. Ecourage kids to refer to their Bible Truth Sleuth pages if they eed help rememberig the abbreviated commads. Have kids form pairs. Say: Take turs talkig about oe way you ca follow oe of these rules. Allow time, ad the ecourage kids to pray for each other. After about three miutes, say: Now that you ve each writte these commadmets o a paper heart, take your heart home with you to help remid you to write them o your real heart ad to love God with all your heart, soul, ad stregth. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What differece do you thik it might make i your life to follow the rule you told your parter about? How did you react the last time someoe told you to obey a rule? How ca God help you obey him? Say: I all situatios, we ca HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM. We do t have to figure out how to obey God all o our ow; we ca let God help us. He s already helped us by givig us the Te Commadmets. Let s HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM this week. Lesso 4 Grades 3 & 4
45 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Let s cosider this week how we ca HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM. Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Get your family together ad worship God. Praise his ame, ad talk about how you ca follow the third commadmet together. Choose a day to be your Sabbath. Sped time with God, ad do t let yourself be distracted. Cosider some thigs you sometimes sped too much time doig: playig video games? watchig movies? playig sports? Choose oe activity you wo t do this week, ad istead sped that time with God. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: The Israelites leared some of the rules that God wated them to follow. Let s HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM by followig through o our Daily Challeges. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about hoorig God by obeyig him. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Say: Today let s close by sharig with oe aother the ways we will hoor God with our lives. As we bow our heads, each perso will say, I will hoor God by ad offer oe way you will hoor God with your whole heart. Ask kids to pray. If kids wat to pass, allow them to do so. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 4
46 Lyrics Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Make kow amog the atios what he has doe. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Make kow amog the atios what he has doe. Sig to him! Sig praise to him. Tell of his woderful works. Sig to him. Sig praise to him. (Repeat from the begiig.) Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) by Jay Stocker. 2006 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved.! OK TO COPY Lesso 4 Grades 3 & 4