Building Each Other Up - Encouraging others

Lesson:

Gather the children around a table with a box of dominos.

Good morning, Children! How are you all today?

Today, I have a fun activity for us. Do you know what these little blocks are? Yes, they are dominos! We’re going to set up these dominos in a line. But first, I need your help. Who wants to help me set up the dominos?

Hand out dominos to the children and guide them in setting up a long line of dominos.

Now, as we’re setting up these dominos, notice how we have to be very careful. We need to place each one gently and make sure they’re all lined up just right. It takes time, patience, and a lot of care to get them all set up perfectly, doesn’t it? Help them out if needed.

Wait for the children to finish setting up the dominos.

Great job, everyone! Look at this amazing line of dominos we’ve created together. It took a lot of hard work and careful effort, didn’t it?

Now, I’m going to ask one of you to do something special. Who would like to knock over the first domino?

Choose a child to knock over the first domino and watch as they all fall down quickly.

Wow! Did you see how fast all the dominos fell? It took a lot of time and effort to set them up, but it only took a second to knock them all down.

This is a lot like how we treat each other. God wants us to build each other up with kind words and actions. It takes time, patience, and effort to encourage others and help them feel good. Just like setting up these dominos, it’s hard work, but it’s worth it. (You could get the kids to give you some examples of how you can “build others up”.)

But, just like it was easy to knock down the dominos, it can be very easy to hurt someone with unkind words or actions. One mean word or action can quickly make someone feel sad or upset, just like knocking over the first domino made them all fall down.

So, what can we learn from this? We need God’s help and patience to build each other up and be kind. It’s important to take our time to encourage and support our friends and family. And we should always be careful with our words and actions, because it’s easy to knock someone down. Anyone can do that.

Let's pray and ask God to help us be kind and encouraging:

Everyone bows their heads

Dear God, thank you for teaching us the importance of building each other up. Help us to be patient, kind, and encouraging to everyone around us. Give us the strength to use our words and actions to lift others up and not knock them down. Amen.

Thank the kids for participtating in your lesson.

Alright, kids! Remember, just like setting up dominos takes care and patience, we should take care and be patient with each other. Let’s build each other up with kindness every day. Have a wonderful week!

Copyright SundayChildrensFocus  2024

Object Lesson / Sunday School Outline: God Knows Our Names

Title: God Knows Your Name

Scripture: John 10:3 - "The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."

Objective: To teach children that while we may need name tags to remember each other’s names, God knows each of us by name and knows everything about us. He knows us personally.

Object lesson items:

• Name tags and markers, A Bible, A large sheet of paper or whiteboard, Markers or crayons

Welcome and Opening Prayer

• Briefly introduce the topic of the lesson: God's personal knowledge of us.
• Activity: Give each child a name tag and a marker. Have them write their name on the tag and wear it. (If you are doing this in church you could skip this part.) Ask the children why they think we wear name tags in church or at events. Discuss their answers.
  • Explain that name tags help us remember each other’s names because sometimes we forget or don’t know everyone.
  • Share that God never needs a name tag to remember us. He knows our names and everything about us. How wonderful is that! Consider playing the song "He knows my name" by Tommy Walker. It's very powerful. 

2. Scripture Reading:
   • Read John 10:1-5 aloud to the children. Or, give your own paraphrase.
   • Focus on verse 3: "The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."
3. Interactive Discussion:
   • Ask the children how it feels when someone remembers their name. Discuss how it makes them feel special and important. Explain that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, knows each of us by name. He calls us and leads us because He loves us deeply.
4. Illustration Activity: (if you are in a class room)
   • Visual Aid:
     • Draw a large sheepfold (sheep pen) on the whiteboard or paper. Add a gatekeeper and a shepherd. Draw several sheep inside the pen and write the children's names on the sheep. As you call out each child’s name, write it on a sheep and add it to the pen. Explain that just as you know their names, Jesus knows their names even more perfectly.

5. Application:
   • Encourage the children to remember that God knows everything about them – their likes, dislikes, fears, and dreams. Remind them that they can always talk to God in prayer because He cares for them individually and listens to them by name.
6. Conclusion:
   • Summarize the main point: While we might need name tags to remember each other’s names, God knows each of us by name without any help. Encourage them to trust in God's personal knowledge and care.
7. Closing Prayer:
   • Pray, thanking God for His intimate knowledge of each child and asking Him to help them remember that they are known and loved by Him.
8. Optional Craft Activity:
   • Provide each child with a small card and markers or crayons. Have them decorate the card with their name and a reminder: "God knows my name!" They can take this card home as a reminder of today’s lesson.

The Power of Helping Each Other

Lesson:

Holding up a set of jumper cables

Good morning Children! How are you all today?

Today, I brought something interesting to show you. Does anyone know what these are?

Wait for responses (Give them some hints it they don’t know)

That's right! These are jumper cables. Now, can anyone tell me what we use jumper cables for?

Wait for responses

Exactly! We use jumper cables to help start a car when its battery is dead. Has that ever happened to your family? (There could be some fun responses)

Imagine you’re on a trip with your family and suddenly, the car won't start. It feels a bit scary and frustrating, right? But, if another car with a good battery comes along, we can connect these jumper cables from the working car to the one that isn't starting. The energy from the good battery flows through the cables and helps the other car start again. Isn't that amazing?

Now, think about this: Sometimes in our lives, we feel a bit like that car with a dead battery. Maybe we’re sad, or tired, or just need a little extra help. And that's okay! Because just like cars need help to get going sometimes, we need help from others too.

This is exactly how God created us to be. God didn’t want us to do everything all by ourselves. He wants us to live in a community, helping and supporting each other.

Hold up one end of the jumper cables

This end represents someone who needs help.

Hold up the other end of the jumper cables

And this end represents someone who can give help. When we connect them, something powerful happens. The energy flows through, and together, they make things work.

Let’s think about this in our lives. Maybe you have a friend who’s feeling lonely. You can be the person who connects with them, just like these cables, and make them feel better. Or maybe you need help with something, and a friend or family member can help you out.

And you know what's even better? God is like the ultimate power source. When we feel weak or need strength, we can always pray and ask God for help. He loves us and wants to help us, just like He wants us to help each other.

So remember kids, it’s okay to need help, and it’s wonderful to give help. We’re like these jumper cables, connecting with each other and sharing our strength.

Let's pray and thank God for making us a community:

Children’s Prayer:  Dear God, thank you for giving us friends and family who can help us when we need it. Thank you for being our source of strength and love. Help us to always remember to help others and to ask for help when we need it. In  Jesus’ name – Amen!

Copywrite - SundayChildrensfocus.com  - Andrew Hewlett 2024

Sunday School Object Lesson: Seeing God Clearly – One day face to face

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV): "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

Object:  

Welding glasses or eclipse glasses (You might have some left over from watching the recent eclipse.) Remind the kids that it is dangerous to look at the sun without special glasses.

Lesson idea:

 Show the children your dark glasses.  These glasses are used to protect our eyes from really bright light, making it hard to see clearly when we wear them. This can illustrate how our understanding of God is limited while we are here on Earth, but one day, we will see Him clearly.

Other items Needed:

• Welding glasses or glasses used to watch an eclipse
• A bright light source (like a flashlight or lamp)
• A clear glass or mirror

1. Introduction:
   • Show the kids the welding glasses or eclipse glasses.
   • Explain that these glasses are used to protect our eyes from very bright light, such as when welding or watching a solar eclipse (as recently happened)
2. Demonstration:
   • Have a child put on the glasses and describe what they see. They won’t be able to see much.
   • Shine the bright light source while they wear the glasses and ask them to describe how clear or unclear things look. Let some other kids try if you have time. Have some fun.
3. Discussion:
   • Explain that wearing these glasses makes it hard to see things clearly.
   • Relate this to the scripture: "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face."
   • Discuss how, just like the glasses make things look dark and unclear, our understanding of God is not complete in this world. We can't see or understand everything about God right now.
4. Scripture Connection:
   • Read 1 Corinthians 13:12 together or read out your own paraphrase version.
   • Explain that the Bible tells us that our knowledge of God is like looking through dark glasses. We can see something, but it's not very clear.
   • But one day, in heaven, we will see God clearly, face to face, and understand Him fully.
5. Illustration with Clear Glass:
   • Show the clear glass or mirror to the children.
   • Explain that just as the clear glass allows us to see things clearly, one day we will see God clearly without any barriers or limitations.
6. Conclusion:
   • Encourage the kids that while we may not understand everything now, we can trust that God has a perfect plan and one day we will know Him completely. You could emphasise that now we do have his Word – the Bible.
   • Emphasize the importance of faith and trust in God, even when things are not clear.
7. Prayer:

“Dear God, we know that there is so much we don’t understand about you. We also wish we could see you clearly. Even though now it’s like we are looking though a dark glass, we are so thankful that one day we will see you face to face. Thank you for the wonderful and certain hope – in Jesus’ name – Amen!