LESSON 11 Worship Bible Basis: Daniel 6; Acts 16:16 35 Key Verse: Psalm 95:1: Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD. Let us give a loud shout to the Rock who saves us. Key Question: How do I honor God in the way he deserves? Key Idea: I worship God for who he is and what he has done for me. Resource: Believe Storybook Bible, Chapter 11, Worship Master Supplies List Believe Storybook Bible PowerPoint slides or printable posters of illustrations Whiteboard or flipchart with easel Dry-erase or regular markers Family Page (one per child) Optional Supplies You will need the following supplies based on which option(s) you choose in Step 3 Explore More: OPTION 1: Gray construction paper strips about 8½ x 2 (eleven strips per child plus extras), crayons or markers, glue sticks; whiteboard or easel and flipchart, dry-erase or regular marker OPTION 3: Worship Poem sheet (one per child), pencils, crayons or markers; whiteboard or easel and flipchart, dry-erase or regular marker OPTION 4: Crayons or markers, Let s Color! sheet (one per child) OPTION 6: Two puppets
STEP 1 Come Together (10 min) GATHER the children. PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS DECIDE in advance a problem in the classroom that you will need the children s help to solve. For example, you might write something on the board and pretend as if you need it to be erased, but you can t figure out how. You can hide the eraser from the children so that they must figure out another way to clear the board. Or you might put a box in a high place out of reach and tell the children that you need to get that box down, but you can t figure out how. Guide the children in solving the problem by giving them hints and clues. ASK, What problem or challenge did I have when you came into the class today? (Take responses) ASK, Who can define the word problem? (Something that is difficult or hard to do; a trouble or worry; something you don t want to do or face) SAY, Some of you helped me to solve my problem. You helped me find a solution. What was the solution? (Take responses) ASK, So what do you think a solution is? (Something that helps you overcome a challenge or do something that is hard to do) SAY, Today we are going to hear about some people in the Bible who had some pretty big problems. Daniel, Jesus, and Paul all had problems that had to do with worship the way they honored God for being great. In each case, God provided solutions. Learning about their problems and solutions will help us understand how to worship God! KEY VERSE REVIEW this week s Key Verse. You may want to repeat the verse slowly a few times until the children are able to say the verse from memory. NOTE: You may also choose to review last week s Key Verse together. Psalm 95:1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us give a loud shout to the Rock who saves us. (sweep your hands toward yourself, inviting someone to come) (raise hands to the sky) (pretend to shout, using your hands as a megaphone) LESSON 11: Worship EARLY ELEMENTARY 2
STEP 2 Hear the Story (15 min) Supplies: Whiteboard or flipchart with easel, dry-erase or regular markers Teacher Prep: Draw the following table on the whiteboard or flipchart. Daniel Jesus Paul & Silas Problem Solution INTRODUCTION TELL the children that they will be learning about some heroes of the Bible who faced problems and about how God always had a solution planned for them. READ the names from the table aloud together. ASK the children to listen carefully for any problems and their solutions so you can record them in the table. READ CHAPTER 11 READ aloud chapter 11, Worship, from the Believe Storybook Bible. SHOW the illustrations included with this curriculum on PowerPoint slides or printable posters. PAUSE at appropriate points in the chapter to take children s suggestions and record their ideas in the table. The finished table should look somewhat like this: Problem Daniel It was illegal to worship God; Daniel was thrown into the lions den. Jesus Jesus saw people only pretending to worship God. Paul & Silas They were beaten and put in prison for teaching about Jesus; the jailer thought the prisoners would run away. Solution God sent an angel to close the lions mouths. He taught us how to really worship God by loving him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. They kept praying and singing to God; God sent an earthquake; the prisoners all stayed, and the jailer and his family were baptized. LESSON 11: Worship EARLY ELEMENTARY 3
REVIEW DANIEL ASK, Why was there a law in Babylon against worshiping God? (King Darius s servants tricked him into making the law because they were jealous of Daniel) ASK, What did King Darius learn from Daniel? (Daniel s God is the living God; God is a deliverer and Savior) REVIEW JESUS ASK, What did the people learn from Jesus about how to worship God? (We must honor God by worshiping him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength) REVIEW PAUL & SILAS ASK, Why were Paul and Silas thrown into prison? (They had been teaching about Jesus, and the people who did not want to hear complained to the city officials) ASK, What happened to the jailer after the earthquake? (At first he was going to kill himself; then he learned that he must believe in Jesus to be saved; then he and everyone in his household were baptized) PRAY, Thank you, God, for being the one true living God whom we want to worship with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Amen. STEP 3 Explore More Choose from these activity options, depending on your available time frame, to help the children explore the lesson further. Option 1: Memory Verse Chain (15 min) Supplies: Gray construction paper strips about 8½ x 2 (eleven strips per child plus extras), crayons or markers, glue sticks, whiteboard or easel and flipchart, dry-erase or regular marker Teacher Prep: Write Psalm 95:1 on the whiteboard or flipchart, so the children can easily copy the words of the verse. Psalm 95:1: Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD. Let us give a loud shout to the Rock who saves us. SAY, Our craft today will help you remember both Psalm 95:1, our Key Verse, and the story of Paul and Silas. INSTRUCT the children to write in the middle of the paper strips in LESSON 11: Worship EARLY ELEMENTARY 4
large, clear letters two words from the memory verse on each strip (the last strip will contain three words). They should also write Psalm 95:1 on a separate strip. DEMONSTRATE how to glue the ends of the paper together to form a loop with the words on the outside. Dirtydog_Creative/www.istock.com INSTRUCT the children to continue writing and gluing, inserting each strip into the previous loop, to form a paper chain in the correct order. TELL the children to tell the story of Paul and Silas to someone and to use their paper chain to help them memorize Psalm 95:1. Option 2: Daniel, Law, Lions (10 min) ASK, Has anyone ever played the game Rock, Paper, Scissors? (If so, have a child help demonstrate the game and explain the rules. If not, explain and demonstrate yourself.) SAY, Today I m going to teach you the Daniel version of the game. It s called Daniel, Law, Lions. This is Daniel (show fist); show me your Daniel (wait for children to show fists). He is the rock because his faith was rock solid! This is the law (show flat hand). Try that one (wait for children to imitate). That s because laws are written on paper. This is the lion (show scissor fingers). Can you try? See how it looks like a lion s mouth? CONTINUE, The law beats Daniel because he was thrown into the lions den for breaking the law (with a child s help, demonstrate paper beating rock ). Daniel beats the lions because God saved him (with a child s help, demonstrate rock beating scissors ). And the lions beat the law, because the evil servants who thought up the law were thrown to the lions in the end (with a child s help, demonstrate scissors beating paper ). INSTRUCT the children to hold one hand behind their back and make a fist, flat hand, or scissors symbol while you say Daniel in the lions den together. On the word den, they should reveal their hand signal. ALLOW the children to play several rounds of Daniel, Law, Lions with a partner. LESSON 11: Worship EARLY ELEMENTARY 5
Option 3: Worship Poem (15 min) Supplies: Worship Poem sheet (one per child), pencils, crayons or markers, whiteboard or easel and flipchart, dry-erase or regular marker Teacher Prep: Print and photocopy the Worship Poem sheet provided for this lesson (one per child). GIVE a copy of the poem sheet to each child. SAY, There are many ways to worship God. The writer of Psalm 95 used poetry to sing about God as King and Creator. Today you ll write a type of poem called an acrostic to worship God. An acrostic begins each line with the first letter of a certain word. CHOOSE one child s name to demonstrate an acrostic for the class. For example, to describe a boy named Bob, you might write an acrostic like this: Boy who wears red shoes. On Sundays, he plays soccer with his dad. Best friends with Jack. SAY, There is an acrostic in Psalms that uses every letter of the alphabet. Your acrostic will use the letters in the word worship. TELL the children that their poem does not have to rhyme, and each line can be as long or as short as they like. BRAINSTORM on the whiteboard or flipchart some of the ideas that the children learned today about worshiping God. GIVE the children time to complete their poems. ALLOW the children to read their poems to the class if time permits. NOTE: You may also choose to have the children complete this activity in pairs or together as a class, instead of individually. Option 4: Let s Color! (10 min) Supplies: Crayons or markers, Let s Color! sheet (one per child) Teacher Prep: Print and photocopy the Let s Color! sheet (one per child) GIVE each child a coloring page. PROVIDE a selection of crayons and/or markers for the children to share. DISCUSS this week s Key Idea as the children color. LESSON 11: Worship EARLY ELEMENTARY 6
Option 5: Praise and Worship (15 min) My God Is So Big by Ruth Harms Calkin 1959, 2002 by Nuggets of Truth CCLI #2501437 Holy, Holy, Holy by Christopher Norton, John Bacchus Dykes, and Reginald Heber (words, public domain) 1998 by HarperCollins Religious CCLI #3317084 Option 6: Act It Out (10 min) We Worship God Use two actors or puppets to act out the following short skit. Characters Kara Graham Props (optional): Two puppets Kara: Hey, friend, I have a riddle for you! Graham: Ooh, I love riddles. Kara: What s something we need to live, but God wants us to give away? Graham: Hmm... something we need to live but that God wants us to give away? That s hard! How can we give away something we need to live? I m stumped! Kara: It s our heart! We need our hearts to live, but God wants us to give our hearts to him in worship. Graham: I get it! But what is worship anyway? Kara: Well, remember when Daniel kept praying to God every day? Even when King Darius made a law that he shouldn t? Praying is how he worshiped God! Graham: Oh, I see. So we worship God through prayer. Kara: Yeah, but that s just one way to worship him. Did you know there is more than one way to worship God? Graham: So we can worship God in many ways! How else can we worship God? Kara: Well, remember that other Bible story about Paul and Silas in jail? LESSON 11: Worship EARLY ELEMENTARY 7
They were singing songs and praising God. Singing is how they worshiped God! Graham: That s so neat! We can worship God through song. Kara: There are so many ways to worship God. Even Jesus worshiped God. Remember when he was sharing the bread and the wine with his disciples? He gave thanks to God for their food. Giving thanks is one way that he worshiped God! Graham: Okay. We can worship God by giving thanks. Kara: That s at least three ways to worship God! Let s try them now. Why don t you start? Graham: Sure, I ll start by giving thanks! Thank you, God, for all these children who are here today learning more about you! Kara: Amen to that! I ll go next. I ll pray to God. Dear God, you are the Creator of the universe. You are good and holy. We love you. Amen. Graham: I can t wait for the last one singing! That s one of my favorite ways to worship God! (sings as he leaves the stage with KARA) Jesus loves me, this I know... (fades out) STEP 4 Going Home (5 min) Supplies: Family Page (one per child) Teacher Prep: Print and photocopy the Family Page (one per child). GIVE each child a copy of this week s Family Page. SAY, Give this page to your family when they pick you up. It will remind you to tell your family how Daniel, Paul, and Silas worshiped God and how we can too! HAVE the children practice telling you some ways they can worship God. REVIEW this week s Key Verse as well as today s story and Key Idea from the Believe Storybook Bible as you wait for the children to get picked up. MAKE sure each child remembers to take home any activity sheets or craft projects and the Family Page. LESSON 11: Worship EARLY ELEMENTARY 8
Lesson 11
Lesson 11
Lesson 11
Worship Poem Name: Date: Directions: Write a poem to God. Use the letters W-O-R-S-H-I-P to begin each line. W O R S H I P LESSON 11: Worship EARLY ELEMENTARY
Let s Color! Name: [Coloring page to come] LESSON 11: Worship EARLY ELEMENTARY
FAMILY PAGE Lesson 11: Worship Bible Basis: Daniel 6; Acts 16:16 35 Key Verse: Psalm 95:1: Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD. Let us give a loud shout to the Rock who saves us. Key Question: How do I honor God in the way he deserves? Key Idea: I worship God for who he is and what he has done for me. Resource: Believe Storybook Bible, Chapter 11, Worship How to Use This Page This week, your family can either read the story from the Believe Storybook Bible or read the Bible Basis passages from your Bible to help your child remember the lesson. Use the Table Talk questions below to start a discussion around the dinner table, while driving in the car, or just about anywhere. The Living Faith activity is designed to remind your child of the Bible lesson through a drama or other engaging activity. The Extra Mile idea provides interactive ways for your child to connect with the story. Table Talk 1. If you were in charge of leading worship at your church one Sunday, what would you choose to do? What would your worship ser vice be like? 2. God wants us to worship him by giving him praise and thanks, even when things don t seem to be going the way we like. How can we be thankful and offer praise even when we don t understand or like what s happening? 3. Daniel, Paul, and Silas were all punished for doing good. Have you ever gotten into trouble for something you didn t do wrong? How did you feel? 4. How do you think your family can include more worship time (or improve your worship time) in your week? LESSON 11: Worship EARLY ELEMENTARY
Living Faith Set up a Worship Scavenger Hunt for your child to enjoy! You ll need to write the instructions ahead of time and hide them in key locations. Each clue should instruct your child to perform some type of worship and then lead your child to the next clue. Hide a small surprise of some kind at the last location. Here s what a sample scavenger hunt might look like, but you ll need to adapt it to your situation: Clue #1 (hand to child): Welcome to the Worship Scavenger Hunt! Go look up Psalm 95:1 in your Bible to get started! Clue #2 (hidden in Bible at Psalm 95): We can worship God through song! Sing a favorite worship song. Then go look in the place where we keep butter. Clue #3 (hidden in refrigerator): We can worship God through prayer! Say a prayer to God, praising him for who he is. Then go look under the place you sit to watch movies. Clue #4 (hidden under the couch): We can worship God with poetry. Read this poem aloud: Thank you for the world so sweet, thank you for the food we eat, thank you for the birds that sing, thank you, God, for everything! Then go look in the place where you use shampoo. Clue #5 (hidden in the bathtub): Great job! Don t forget to worship God from your heart every day! (include a small prize) Extra Mile Have your child try their hand at being a psalmist. Choose a simple, familiar tune such as Row, Row, Row Your Boat or Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Encourage your child to come up with new lyrics that make it a worship song. Enjoy teaching the song to others, performing it as a family, or playing along with toy instruments. Have a family worship time. In addition to worshiping at church and praying before meals and at bedtime, set aside a special time to have a family worship session. Choose a passage of Scripture to read aloud. Have your child recite memory verses or tell a favorite Bible story. Sing a few worship songs or hymns, perhaps incorporating some play instruments. Close in prayer, with each person praising God, giving thanks, or asking for a blessing. LESSON 11: Worship EARLY ELEMENTARY