Main Idea: God always has a plan and invites us to be part of it! We just need to have faith and step out in what God tells us to do.
Aim: The aim of the ‘Deborah and Jael’ Childrens Lesson on Judges 4 is to encourage children to want to be part of God’s plan and have the faith for it – no matter how strange it may feel.
Suggested Schedule: (90 mins)
- Welcome (5 mins)
- Game 1 (5mins)
- Review Big Verse (5 mins)
- Set the Scene: Bible story/skit and review questions (10-15 mins)
- Object Lesson 1 talk (5mins)
- Game 2 (5 mins)
- Object Lesson 2 talk (5 mins)
- Game 3 (5 mins)
- Object Lesson 3 talk (10 mins)
- Hook a duck Game (5 mins)
- Sense How You Feel – activity (10 – 25 mins)
- Seek God – prayer (5 mins)
Setting the Stage: This series is all about strange stories in the Old Testament which illustrate how God does crazy and unexpected things! If you have the space, then you could create your own circus backdrop or have a talent slot in your program where the children and leaders can show any circus skills or crazy talents that they have.
Supplies:
- XXXL long-sleeve t-shirts
- Balloons
- Masking tape
- Egg
- Toilet roll tube
- Pie Pan (or cardboard)
- Glass of water
- Party invitation
- Wheelbarrow
- Hook a duck set (or use our printed ducks)
- Pintables:, Hook a duck PDF, Ticket craft PDF, invitations PDF
- Ticket Wallet (to be used throughout the different lessons)
- Coloring pens
- Playdough or clay
- Lego or construction toys
- Prayer tent materials – cushions, bibles, fairy lights, cross, candles etc
- Worship music
- All PowerPoint games with some way of showing them (i.e. laptop and screen)
SONG and BIBLE STORY VIDEO IDEAS available via our dedicated Pinterest Board.
GAME IDEAS:
GAME 1: STRONG MAN RELAY – 5 MINS
Description: Team Game.
Supplies: XXXL long-sleeve T-shirts, balloons, masking tape.
Details: Strong man relay. (regular/widescreen) Use masking tape to make lines about 20 feet apart. Form as many teams as you have oversized shirts and give each team four inflated balloons. The first child from each team puts on a shirt, stuffs the balloons into the sleeves as “muscles,” runs to the other line and back.
GAME 2: CIRCUS ANIMALS – 5 MINS
Description: Group Game.
Supplies:
Details: Circus Animals. (regular/widescreen/PDF) Give each child an animal of either an elephant, lion, dog or horse. When the game starts, they have to gather with their team members by making the sound of their team’s animal and listening for the other kids. The first team who can get all together, wins.
GAME 3: CIRCUS MEMORY GAME – 10 MINS
Description: PowerPoint Game
Supplies: Slide of 12-20 circus items (bunting, hoops, elephant, ring master hat, big top, ticket, feather, tiger, ball, cannon, balloon, bow tie, popcorn, ice cream, merry go round, drum, clown hat, moustache, juggling ball)
Details: Circus Memory Game. (Keynote/PowerPoint) Children need to remember as many of the cir-cus items as they can. The slide is shown for 1 minute, then taken off screen. Children can write or shout out the items that they remember. If not all the items recalled, the slide can be shown again to identify the last items.
BIG VERSE: But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Corinthians 1:27
(regular/widescreen/social media image) Download the Bible cards here.
SET THE SCENE: 10-15 MINS
Description: Bible story and questions
Supplies: Bible, picture of women superhero’s (such as Wonder Woman) Bible story video
Details: You may want to have some of the children act out the story at the same time as you read the passage.
Say: Can anyone name any famous women super heroes? What about famous women in the bible? (allow children to name any they know). There’s actually not that many!
But in our lesson today we’re going to hear about two! Deborah and Jael – one was a Prophetess and the other a Warrior! It’s a really exciting story that can be found in Judges 4
Read Judges 4 ([NOTE: Only go into as much detail as is age appropriate.] or you could use the recap below.
God chose a woman, Deborah, to judge Israel for a period of time. Deborah was also a prophetess – this means that God spoke to the people through her. She sat under a palm tree and the people of Israel would come to her for guidance and help from God. God told Deborah to send for Barak and tell him to fight against their oppressors – Jabin, king of Canaan and Sisera, the commander of his army. Barak responded that he would only go if Deborah went with him. Though Deborah knew women did not normally fight in war she agreed to go. So they went into battle and guess what! God gave them victory! But one of the kings, Sisera, got away and escaped from the battle to the tent of Jael. While Sisera slept, she put a tent peg through his head. The battle was won by a woman and Jael became the heroine instead of Barak just as Deborah had said. She knew that being friends with the evil king was not a wise thing to do and fighting on God’s side was the right thing to do. She helped God’s people to victory.
Deborah was a woman who trusted God. God had a big job for her and she believed He would help her do it. Jael shows strength and bravery – choosing faith over fear.
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
1.What was the name of the woman Judge?
2.Who was the general of God’s army?
3.Why did Deborah go with Barak into the battle?
4.How did the Israelites win against an army with 900 iron chariots?
5.Where did Sisera, the general of the enemy’s army hide?
6.Who killed Sisera?
SPOT THE SIMPLE MEANING:
1) GOD ALWAYS HAS A PLAN – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 1
Supplies: egg, toilet roll tube, pie pan (or piece of card), glass of water (around three quarters full).
Details: Using a table or flat surface, place the pie pan on top of the glass of water. Then balance the toilet roll vertically on the pie pan and place the egg carefully on top of the toilet roll tube. (You will be hitting the pie pan from the side with enough force that will knock the tube out from under the egg which will fall into the glass – you might need to practice a few times!)
See The Egg Drop | Science Experiment (stevespanglerscience.com)
Say: Now I am going to show you something pretty amazing! When you look at this egg it seems impossible that the egg is going to fall into the water right? Well we’re going to see the impossible become possible! (Encourage the children to do a drum roll then hit the pie pan so that the egg falls into the glass). WOW I think that deserves a round of applause! We just saw the impossible become possible! And that’s exactly what God does. He always has a plan where the impossible becomes possible. Now God is amazing and he could do the impossible without our help. But just as I pushed the pie pan, God has a job for us do. He wants us to be part of his plan!
2) GOD INVITES US TO BE PART OF THE PLAN – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 2
Supplies: Party Invitation
Details:
Say: Have you ever received a party invitation (Hold up a party invitation). Of course you have! I love getting invitations. But what do we need to do when we get an invitation (wait for responses). That’s right! We need to respond and say that we can go. It’s called an RSVP!
We just saw how God doesn’t need us but how He invites us to be part of His plan. He has a job for each of us to do but we need to respond. Just like you need to respond to a party invitation we need to say YES to God’s plan for our lives and have faith to do what God tells us to do!
3) A FAITH CHALLENGE – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 3
Supplies: Wheelbarrow, Marking Tape, Charles Blondin image (see Pinterest Board).
Details: Mark tape across the teaching area. Have the wheelbarrow at one end.
Say: Has anyone been Niagara falls (show PowerPoint photo). Well in 1859 a man called Charles Blondin became famous for walking from one end of Nia-gara Falls to the other across a tightrope! (show PowerPoint photo). He walked 160 feet above the falls several times back and forth between Canada and the United States. Huge crowds on both sides looked on with shock and wonder (walk along the masking tape). Once he crossed in a sack, once on stilts, an-other time on a bicycle, and once he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet!
But then one day (take the wheelbarrow) he walked backwards across the tightrope pushing a wheelbarrow! The crowds all cheered with excitement. Then he asked the audience – “do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?” Everyone shouted Yes! They had seen him go up and down the tightrope many times!
But when Blondin asked for a volunteer, Guess what? No one said Yes! You see they might have said that they believed but their actions proved they didn’t really.
It’s one thing for us to say we believe in God and that we want to be part of his plan. We also need to put our faith into action.
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: HOOK A DUCK GAME – 10 MINS
Description: Team or individual game
Supplies: Hook-a-duck set (Keynote/PowerPoint), bibles.
Details: Write the following scriptures references on the bottom (or back) of the ducks. Make sure that you have enough ducks for either each group or individuals.
Invite the children to come to the hook a duck stall and hook a duck. In their groups ask them to find the scripture in a bible and read it to the group. Hook a duck bible verses:
• Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God, that is, for those who are called according to his purpose, all things are working together for good.
• Psalm 33:11 The plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.
• Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans
I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
• Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
• 2 Timothy 1:7 For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
• James 2:18 I will show you my faith by my works.
Then discuss the questions below.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. How does God accomplish His plans?
2. Think about the times when you need God’s help?
3. What are some things you do well, and how can you see God helping you do those things?
SENSE HOW YOU FEEL – 10 MINS EACH OR IN TANDEM/ROTATION
Encourage the children to think about the questions above as they do one of the activities:
Description: Craft.
Supplies: Pens, Deborah and Jael pdf on circus ticket, wallet (each week a cir-cus ticket craft can be placed in the wallet)
Details: Color and decorate the sheet and then place ticket in the wallet until next week.
Description: Moulding activity.
Supplies: Playdough or clay.
Details: Mould Deborah and Jael.
Description: Building activity.
Supplies: Lego or construction toys.
Details: Build a scene from the bible where the impossible became possible.
Description: Sensory activity.
Supplies: Create a prayer tent space using cushions, lights, a cross and tent if you have one. Have some quiet music playing.
Details: Encourage the children to spend some time listening to God. Have some scriptures around to help focus them. Allow time to draw or write anything that they have heard.
Description: Activity Booklets.
Supplies: 5-7s and 8-11s booklets (included in download), markers.
Details: Fill in or color the 5-7s (PDF) and 8-11s (PDF) booklets
SEEK GOD: 5 MINS
Description: Prayer/Encounter activity
Supplies: soft worship music, invitations, pens
Details: Ask the children to stand. Play some quiet music in the background
Say: Today we have heard about two brave women who said Yes to God’s plan. Instead of being fearful they put their faith in God. Are we going to say YES to whatever God has planned for our lives? Let’s spend some time listening to God. If you want to say Yes to being part of God’s plan then come and get an invitation and write or say yes to God.
Maybe you feel a little bit scared that God is going to ask you to do something that you can’t do. Let’s spend some time praying for each other to give us faith and help us step out for Him. (you could do this in small groups or one big group)
Closing Prayer: Dear God, thank you that you always make the impossible possible and you invite us to be part of that. We say Yes to being part of your plan. Help us this week to step out in Faith. AMEN.
ZOOM FRIENDLY LESSON:
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE GAME (Keynote/PowerPoint)
CIRCUS SKILLS GAME (Keynote/PowerPoint)
