Lesso 3 29 God Provides Water Exodus 17:1-7 Preschoolers ca be very impatiet whe waitig for their eeds to be met or their desires to be fulfilled. Just as the Israelites forgot what God had doe, they sometimes forget that parets or caregivers have provided for them i the past. Use this lesso to help childre uderstad that God loves them o matter what. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started about 5 mi. 2 Key Verse Activity about 10 mi. Welcome ad Celebrate Welcome each other, ad praise God through music. Needs ad Wats Play a game to lear about how God gives us everythig we eed. CD player, scissors, crayos Teacher Pack: CD, bird ad flower patters Bible, CD player Teacher Pack: CD Photocopy ad cut out 2 or 3 flowers usig the flower patter. Bible Poit God always loves us. Key Verse The Lord is my shepherd, I shall ot be i wat (Psalm 23:1). Weavig Faith Ito Life Childre will kow God loves them o matter what. 3 Bible Exploratio about 15 mi. Puppy Poiters Hear how Theo gets over beig grumpy. Bible Time: Water for God s People Discover water i a rock. CD player, Theo puppet, strig or tape, small bowl Teacher Pack: CD Bible, CD player, paper grocery bag, bowl of water, stick or cae Teacher Pack: CD Tie or tape the small bowl to Theo s paw. Put the bowl of water i the bag, ad set out of reach of childre. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 3
30 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP Ceter 1: God Gave Water Make a craft showig water comig from a rock. My Bible Hugs, 1 paper muffi cup per child, glue sticks, blue crepe paper Remove the Lesso 3 pages from each My Bible Hugs studet book, ad write childre s ames o them. 4 Weavig Faith Ito Life about 20 mi. (Choose 2 ceters.) 5 Lastig Impressios about 10 mi. Ceter 2: Pretzel-Staff Sack Clap pretzel sticks together to ask for juice. Ceter 3: Water From a Rock Mold rocks ad water from modelig clay. Ceter 4: Like God s Love Make heart-shaped crafts. Daily Challeges Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Actio Prayer Thak God for his love. Weavig Faith at Home Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. pretzel sticks, cups, juice, atibacterial gel (optioal) brow ad blue modelig clay scissors, colored tissue paper, paitbrushes, liquid starch, cups of water, 1 copy per child of the Big Love page (at the ed of the lesso) My Bible Hugs Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 3 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
31 God Provides Water Exodus 17:1-7 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS Food ad Whie Be Ecouraged As we begi today s lesso, we fid the Israelites cotiuig their jourey toward the Promised Lad. They re still gettig maa every morig ad quail every eveig, but they ca t fid water at their latest campsite. It s importat to take a momet to recall that the Israelites were just begiig to kow God. This is the first time God had iteracted with the Israelite commuity as a whole. Though this does t excuse their actios, it might give some cotext for us to see ourselves i more clearly. Agai, istead of callig i faith upo the God who had secured their freedom, tured bitter water sweet, ad provided maa ad quail, the people complaied to Moses. Agai, istead of trustig God, they lameted that they were goig to die i the desert for lack of water. As you ca see from Exodus 17:4, Moses was exasperated. God, however, proves his patiece ad love i this passage, givig the Hebrews the water they eeded i spite of their complaiig ad their lack of faith. The ames Moses gave to the place where all this happeed mea temptatio ad murmurig. No doubt Moses itet was to make this place a remider of the people s ubelief but also a ecouragemet toward faith i the God who had provided for them. The Jesus Coectio Thik of someoe who has frustrated you recetly. What eeds to happe to resolve the situatio? A relatioship with Jesus brigs us forgiveess, ot perfectio. Pray for clarity ad the opportuity to recogize whe you eed to exted the same type of grace ad uderstadig that Jesus has give you. O the lies below, write a prayer for the perso who has recetly frustrated you. Actig o Faith God had a pla. His istructios to Moses must have seemed ludicrous! Moses was to take with him the leaders of the people likely represetatives from each tribe so that they could see firsthad what God was goig to do. I frot of these leaders, Moses was to hit with his staff a rock that God would poit out to him. Ad eough water would come out of the rock to take care of the eeds of 2 millio people. As ulikely as God s pla seemed, Moses did t questio God. He did what God told him to do, ad God did what he said he would do. Moses ad God gave a covicig demostratio of what actig o faith i God ca do. Ad God was glorified whe the leaders brought back their report. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 3
32 GETTING STARTED Welcome ad Celebrate CD player scissors crayos Teacher Pack CD: We re at Church (track 2), He Cares for You (1 Peter 5:7) (track 5) bird ad flower patters Welcome ad Celebrate Easy Prep Photocopy ad cut out 2 or 3 flowers usig the flower patter. Welcome ad Celebrate Tip Cosistetly use the same sigal to aouce a trasitio to the ext activity. You could flip the lights off ad o, use a trai whistle, have a puppet rustlig iside a bag, or sig cleaup sogs. Keep it simple, cosistet, ad fu. As the childre arrive, greet each oe with a smile. Whe it s time to begi, use your sigal to gather the childre together i a circle o the floor. Lead childre i sigig We re at Church (track 2 o the CD). Ecourage childre to follow the motios i paretheses. We re at church, (make a steeple with hads) We re at church (make a steeple with hads) To worship God ad lear his Word (make a book with hads) With a prayer ad a sog ad a Bible story too. (make prayer hads) God loves me ad God loves you! (hug self; the poit to others) (Repeat 3x.) Say: Today we re learig that GOD ALWAYS LOVES US, just like we sag i our sog. Let s sig a sog about how God cares for us. Have the childre sit i a circle, ad place several crayos i the middle of the circle. Lead childre i sigig He Cares for You (1 Peter 5:7) (track 5 o the CD). As childre sig, have them pass the paper flowers aroud the circle. At the ed of each staza, pause the CD. Have the childre who are holdig the flowers thak God for somethig he s give them ad quickly draw happy faces o the flowers. The cotiue playig the CD. Repeat the sog util everyoe who wats to share has doe so. What are you worried about ow? Tryig to figure it out ow God kows right where you are ow. You kow it s all i his hads ow. You kow he cares for you; He always cares for you. You kow he ll see you through; He ll always see you through. Lesso 3 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
33 Cast all Your axiety O him Because he cares for you. He cares for you. Cast all Your axiety O him Because he cares for you. He cares for you. Jesus cares for you. (Repeat from the begiig.) What are you worried about ow? Tryig to figure it out ow God kows right where you are ow. You kow it s all i his hads ow. He Cares for You (1 Peter 5:7) by Jay Stocker. 2004 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Say: These flowers are all dressed differetly, are t they? God made the flowers, ad he cares for them. God made you, too, ad he loves you so much. Whe we look at these flowers, we ca remember GOD ALWAYS LOVES US. 2 KEY VERSE ACTIVITY Needs ad Wats Have childre form a circle ad sit dow. Ope your Bible to Psalm 23:1, ad show childre the words. Tell kids the Bible is God s special book. Say: Our Key Verse from the Bible says, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall ot be i wat (Psalm 23:1). That meas God s with us, takig care of us, ad he gives us all we eed. Let s say our Key Verse together. Lead the childre i repeatig the adapted verse with you: God gives me everythig I eed (Psalm 23:1). Needs ad Wats Bible CD player Teacher Pack CD: I Need It! (track 8) Say: Whe I say I wat somethig, ad whe I say I eed somethig, it s two differet thigs. I might wat to watch TV or to eat cady. But I do t eed to do those thigs. I do eed food to eat ad water to drik. Our Key Verse tells us God gives us everythig we eed. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 3
34 Have the childre stad i a lie, shoulder to shoulder. Say: Let s liste to some people o the CD ad decide if each perso eeds somethig or wats somethig. Play I Need It! (track 8 o the CD). Be ready to pause it as directed. At the pause, say: If you heard a eed, step forward. Have kids stad i place if they thik it was t a eed. If you heard a wat, step backward. Have kids stad i place if they thik it was t a wat. After childre make a mistake, explai whether it was really a wat or a eed, ad the lead childre i steppig i the correct directio. Lead the childre i repeatig the adapted verse with you: God gives me everythig I eed (Psalm 23:1). Cotiue this same process with each example i track 8 o the CD. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What did you thik about some of the thigs the people said they eeded? What are some thigs you eed? God gives you all you eed. Why does that help you kow God loves you? Say: We do t always get what we wat, but God gives us everythig we eed. That s because GOD ALWAYS LOVES US i the best way possible. Today we ll hear how God showed his love to some people i the Bible by takig care of their eeds. 3 BIBLE EXPLORATION Puppy Poiters CD player Theo puppet strig or tape small bowl Teacher Pack CD: Here, Theo (track 3) Puppy Poiters Easy Prep Tie or tape the small bowl to Theo s paw. Puppy Poiters Say: Liste, everyoe, Theo s comig! He has somethig to show us. Let s fid out what it is. Play Here, Theo (track 3 o the CD), ad brig out Theophilus the FaithRetriever. Theo: Hi, everybody! Teacher: Hello, Theo! It s so good to see you at church with us today. What do you have there? Theo: I brought my water dish. Teacher: Why did you brig your water dish, Theo? Theo: I wat you to get me some water right ow. Teacher: Ca t you wait util sack time, Theo? We re gettig ready to read the Bible. Theo: But I wat some water right ow! Lesso 3 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
35 Teacher: Please do t be agry with me, Theo. I ve always take care of you. I ll get your water soo. You kow, we re learig our Bible Poit about how God always loves us. Frieds, let s all say our Bible Poit for Theo. (Lead childre i sayig the Bible Poit for Theo: GOD ALWAYS LOVES US.) Teacher: Ad today we ll hear how God loved his people, the Israelites, ad gave them water i the desert. Theo: So maybe God will give me the water I eed, too. I m sorry for beig grumpy. I love you. Teacher: Thak you for sayig you re sorry, Theo. I love you, too. Theo: I m goig to go rest while I wait for you to fill my water bowl. I ll wait util after you read the Bible. I kow you love me eve whe I m grumpy, just as God loves all of us o matter how we feel. Teacher: That s right, Theo. GOD ALWAYS LOVES US. Frieds, let s say goodbye to Theo. Ecourage the childre to wave or say goodbye to Theo. The put Theo away i a safe place for ext week s use. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: Tell about a time you eeded somethig as much as Theo seemed to eed water. Why do you kow God will always give you everythig you eed? Why are you thakful for God s love ad care? Say: Theo eeded water, ad he was gettig kid of grumpy about it. Like that, sometimes we ca get grumpy whe we re waitig for what we eed. But we kow that GOD ALWAYS LOVES US, ad he ll be sure to give us what we eed at the right time. Let s lear how God showed his love for some grumpy Israelites. Bible Time: Water for God s People Ope your Bible to Exodus 17:1-7, ad show childre the words. Tell childre that the Bible is God s special book. Say: Today we ll hear about God s people, the Israelites. They were walkig i a desert. A desert is a hot, dry place. Have the kids preted to be hot ad fa themselves. Say: Out there i the dry, hot desert, the Israelites got really thirsty. Ad they got very grumpy. Ad they started complaiig. Let s liste. Play Agry People (track 6 o the CD). The lead the childre i bagig their fists o the floor ad repeatig, We wat water! We wat water! Bible Time: Water for God s People Bible CD player paper grocery bag bowl of water stick or cae Teacher Pack CD: Agry People (track 6) Bible Time: Water for God s People Easy Prep Put the bowl of water i the bag ad set out of reach of childre. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 3
36 Say: Moses asked God what to do. God told Moses to go to a certai rock with several other people ad to hit the rock with his staff. Lead the childre to the paper grocery bag with the water iside. Allow each child to use a stick or cae to tap the bag. The ope the bag ad show kids the bowl of water. Say: God helped the Israelites by givig them water to drik. Eve though the people were grumpy ad forgot to trust God to care for them, God loved them. GOD ALWAYS LOVES US, too. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What do you thik about how grumpy the Israelites were? Tell about a time you were grumpy. What ca you do to remember God will take care of you whe you eed somethig? Say: We do t eed to be grumpy whe we eed somethig. We ca trust God because we kow GOD ALWAYS LOVES US. He ll care for us just as much as he cared for the Israelites. 4 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Ceter 1: God Gave Water My Bible Hugs 1 paper muffi cup per child glue sticks blue crepe paper Ceter 1: God Gave Water Easy Prep Remove the Lesso 3 pages from each My Bible Hugs studet book, ad write childre s ames o them. Choose at least two of the learig ceters to help reiforce today s Bible lesso. Gather the eeded materials, ad put the supplies i a out-of-sight area util you re ready for them. Allow the childre to choose which ceter they d like to explore first. The circulate amog the childre as they create ad explore. Ecourage them to make coectios betwee their activities ad the Bible by askig them the questios icluded with each ceter s descriptio. CENTER 1: God Gave Water Give each child a Lesso 3 page from My Bible Hugs. Say: Here s a picture of the Israelites. They were grumpy because they eeded water, ad God provided water for them. Eve though they were complaiig ad grumpy, God loved them ad wated the best for them. GOD ALWAYS LOVES US, too. Let s say that together. Have kids repeat the Bible Poit with you. Let s make rocks like the oe we heard about today i the Bible. Lesso 3 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
37 Have each child poke a hole i his or her muffi cup ad stick a piece of blue crepe paper through it. The have each child glue the edges of the muffi cup to the page so it looks like a rock with water ruig out of it. Say: These rocks ca remid us that GOD ALWAYS LOVES US ad takes care of us, just as he took care of the Israelites whe they were thirsty i the desert. CENTER 2: Pretzel-Staff Sack Have childre clea their hads ad the sit dow for the sack. Say: Whe the Israelites eeded water, God told them to tap a specific rock with a staff. Let s preted to be the Israelites tappig our staffs to get somethig to drik. Give each child a hadful of pretzel sticks, but o juice. Say: Preted your pretzel sticks are staffs. Tap them together like Moses tapped his staff agaist the rock. After kids tap for a few secods, serve them the juice. Lead childre i this discussio. Ceter 2: Pretzel-Staff Sack pretzel sticks cups juice atibacterial gel (optioal)! ALLERGY ALERT Ask: What s amazig about how God gave the Israelites water? What are some amazig thigs God ca do for you? What do you like about beig loved by God so much? Say: God made water come from a rock. He does great thigs for us, too. That s because GOD ALWAYS LOVES US. Let s thak God for always lovig us ad for providig our sack. Ivite a child to pray for the sack, ad the let childre ejoy their pretzels ad juice. CENTER 3: Water From a Rock Say: Today we re learig that GOD ALWAYS LOVES US. He shows us he loves us i all kids of ways, but oe way we read about today was whe he gave some thirsty people somethig to drik. Ceter 3: Water From a Rock brow ad blue modelig clay Give each child a piece of brow modelig clay to make a rock. Say: God showed his love for the Israelites by makig water come from a rock. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 3
38 Give each child blue modelig clay, ad have childre create water comig from their rocks. Ivite childre to discuss their favorite part of God s love as they work. Say: Whe the Israelites were thirsty, they forgot how good God had bee to them. God loved them so much, but they forgot that. GOD ALWAYS LOVES US so much, too, eve whe we complai like the Israelites. But this week, let s trust God ad thak him for always lovig ad takig care of us. Ceter 4: Like God s Love scissors colored tissue paper paitbrushes liquid starch cups of water 1 copy per child of the Big Love page (at the ed of the lesso) CENTER 4: Like God s Love Give each child a Big Love page. Say: GOD ALWAYS LOVES US. He has a great big love for us. His love spreads everywhere. Let s see what that looks like. Show childre how to brush liquid starch o the paper ad the press pieces of tissue paper oto the starch. Whe they ve added several pieces of the tissue, show them how to dip their brushes i clear water ad pait over the tissue pieces so that the color spreads out oto the paper. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What did you thik of what happeed with your heart? Tell about a time your love was so big that it seemed to spread. What are some ways God shows you that he loves you? Say: GOD ALWAYS LOVES US. His love spreads everywhere, just as the colors from the tissue are spreadig everywhere o your paper! Love makes the world a much icer place. Let s remember to love God because he always loves us. 5 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges My Bible Hugs Daily Challeges After the childre have cleaed up their ceters, brig everyoe back to a circle area o the floor. Review the lesso activities ad the Bible Poit, ad the ecourage the childre to share what they remember about what they leared from the Bible today. Lesso 3 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
39 Also use this time to challege kids i their faith. Ecourage them to choose a Daily Challege for applyig today s lesso to their lives this week. Use this challege for ecouragig your childre s growig relatioships with Jesus. Say: Today we leared that GOD ALWAYS LOVES US. I would like each of you to choose a way to remember this week that God always loves you. Give kids these two challeges to choose from: Draw a picture of you ad Jesus together. Put the picture i your pocket, ad take it with you to remember that God loves you all the time. Give a hug to a fried or family member who is sad, ad say that God always loves him or her. Say: If you wat to draw a picture, circle the choice with oe dot. If you wat to give a hug, circle the choice with two dots. Check that each child circled a choice o his or her My Bible Hugs page. Make sure you tell kids the challege you choose. Your commitmet will ispire childre ad will give them a opportuity to see God at work i your life as well as i theirs! Actio Prayer Gather kids i a circle, ad have them hold hads. Have childre repeat each lie of the prayer after you. Pray: Dear God, Thak you for lovig me Ad for lovig my family. Help me, God, so I will say Oly the truth every day. I Jesus ame, ame. Weavig Faith at Home Have childre take home their My Bible Hugs pages whether they worked o them or ot. Have the childre tell their parets the challege they committed to i the Daily Challeges activity. Ecourage the parets to help their kids fulfill this commitmet durig the week. By workig together ad focusig o the same goals, you ad parets ca help childre weave faith ito their lives! Talk to your Director about emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 3
40 Big Love! OK TO COPY Lesso 3 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4