Main Idea: GOD FIGHTS FOR US
Suggested Schedule: (90 mins)
- Welcome (5 mins)
- Game (5mins)
- Review Big Verse (5 mins)
- Set the Scene: Bible story/skit and review questions (10-15 mins)
- Object Lesson 1 talk (5mins)
- Game (5 mins)
- Object Lesson 2 talk (5 mins)
- Game (5 mins)
- Object Lesson 3 game and talk (10 mins)
- Game (5 mins)
- Sense How You Feel activity (10 – 25 mins)
- Seek God Prayer (5 mins)
Supplies:
SONG and BIBLE STORY VIDEO IDEAS available via our dedicated Pinterest Board.
GAME IDEAS:
MAGIC CARPET RACE – 5 mins
Description: Team Relay
Supplies: bath mat per team
Details: (regular/widescreen) In teams children must take turns to sit on their bath mat and shuffle along to the other side of the room before running back and letting the next child have a go.
CATERPILLAR RACE – 5 MINS
Description: Team Game
Supplies: No supplies needed
Details: (regular/widescreen) Children line up in their teams and put their hands on each others shoulders. The person at the front jumps first, then the 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc until the whole line has jumped forward. The back player shouts ‘Jump!’ And the front player is able to jump again. The first team to get to the other end of the room the fastest is the winning team.
NEWSPAPER RACE – 10 MINS
Description: Partner game
Supplies: 2 pieces of newspaper per team
Details: (regular/widescreen) Children play in pairs and have two pieces of newspaper in their team. They must use the paper to get to the other side of the room without falling off the paper. Children must get their team across by taking turns to step on the first newspaper piece whilst they lay the next one in front. Then they jump from newspaper to newspaper. The quickest team is the winning team.
BIG VERSE: Our God is a God who saves: from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death. Psalm 48:20.
(regular/widescreen/social media) Download the Bible cards here.
SET THE SCENE: 10-15 MINS
Description: Story time
Supplies: Bible or try one of the Bible videos listed on our Pinterest Board.
Details: Read Exodus 14 – or act out then ask a few of the review questions below:
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
- Why did the Pharoah change his mind about letting God’s people go?
- What did he take to stop the Israelites?
- How did God tell Moses to part the water?
- What happened to the army?
SPOT THE SIMPLE MEANING:
1) WE DON’T NEED TO FIGHT AGAINST PEOPLE – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 1
Supplies: boxing gloves. You could also use some inflatable boxing gloves and have a fun game of the leaders fighting one another with them on.
Details:
Say: Have you ever got in a really big fight? [Get boxing gloves out and start pretending to fight]
We might think that we always need to fight for what we need… but God already knows what we need. There are times when we may need to stand up for ourselves, we may need to tell people what we need. Yet God is the One who will ultimately help us to get what we need… we don’t need to try and take it on our own.
Perhaps there is a bully at school who is making life difficult for you. Maybe you have someone at home who is making life hard. It’s tempting to try and fight those people. Yet the Bible tells us that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood. We don’t fight against people, but against the principalities of this world.
That means there are bigger things at work. There are things that we can’t see happening in the background.
[Show picture of a boxing ring]
The Bible tells us that we have an enemy; the Devil. He is God’s enemy. He prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour. The Devil has lots of demon friends who like to make life difficult for us. We can’t see them, but they are there.
[Show picture of germs]
We don’t need to be scared of them! They are tiny in comparison to our humongous God! They are like germs or bacteria… you don’t worry about those things. But sometimes they like to attack and that’s when we become ill unless we have protected ourselves.
We can protect ourselves from the Devil’s schemes by putting on the full armour of God. We can pray and ask God to protect us. So when the Devil tries to attack us He will not bring us down!
You see, we do not fight against people… but we need God to fight on our behalf against the Devil and his wicked plans. God is way bigger than any puny devil. He is the Creator of the Universe! Nothing can stand against Him.
2) GOD FIGHTS FOR US – 5 MINS
Description: Game and application
Supplies: Would you rather? Game questions below
Details:
Say: Who would you rather have fight for you?
Batman or Superman?
Aquaman or the Flash?
The Hulk or Wolverine?
Iron Man or Doctor Strange?
Black Panther or Captain America?
Captain Marvel or Wonder Woman?
Say: God’s final display of glory is in this end scene of Israel’s escape. Everything looks like it’s coming to an end… surely the Israelites are about to get caught by the Egyptians?! They have 600 chariots and all Moses has is a staff.
Yet Moses wasn’t fighting with his staff. He wasn’t fighting at all. Why? Because He knew that God would fight for him.
Exodus 14 tells us that God will fight for us, we need only be still. It seems silly to think that we don’t need to fight. Perhaps we think we do..
- we think we need to fight for people to listen to us
- We think we need to fight for that sports position we want in that team
- We think we need to fight to become popular in our class at school
Yet God says we don’t need to fight for anything, He will fight for us. All we need to be is still and to trust in Him.
When the Israelites trusted God, the water rose and parted like walls. They walked through the Red Sea. It was impossible! Yet God can do the impossible! He does the impossible every day! So if you feel like what you’re going through is an impossible situation right now, remember that God fights for you. You just have to let Him!
3) GOD WILL HELP US FIND A WAY OUT – 5 MINS
Description: Activity
Supplies: A selection of Mazes and answers.
Details:
Say: Can you find your way out of these mazes? [Display the mazes on the screen – see direct download – and get some volunteers to show the way out.]
The story of Moses can be found in the Book of Exodus. Exodus means ‘a going out’ or ‘the way out’. It looked like there was no way out for the Israelites. They had the army chasing them on one side and on the other side was a wide expanse of water. What would they do?
Moses raised his staff in an act of faith. He believed that God would fight for His people and God would do the work. There was nothing else Moses could do.
God found the way out for the Israelites. When all hope looked lost, God showed the people that He was able to perform a great miracle to get them out of their problem.
You may feel like there is no way out of a situation you are in. You may look around and wonder how it is all going to get worked out. Yet God is able to step in and perform a great miracle. He is able to find a new way out… something you would never see on your own.
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES:
FIGHTS IN THE BIBLE ESCAPE ROOM – 10 MINS
Description: Team game.
Supplies: Fights in the Bible PDF and a way to show it.
Details:
This activity is for children that are fairly familiar with their Bibles. If your children aren’t sure, perhaps you could hold up the images/words of the Bible characters and explain their stories briefly.
ESCAPE ROOM:
Enter a room. Have a piece of paper that tells the children that they must find the clues in the room to escape. All these clues will be references to fights in the Bible. Can they work out what the battles are?
You can have the Bible references with the images also. Have the children find the corresponding numbers to the stories to be released from the room. To make it more fun split the group into teams and have them race to see who can escape the room first.
Clue #1: a brick (Battle of Jericho)
Clue #2: a horn (Gideon and the Midianites)
Clue #3: a sling (David and Goliath)
Clue #4: sheep (Saul and Amelakites)
(Battle of Ai and the sin of Achan)
Clue #5: golden statue Nebuchadnezzar takes over Jerusalem
Clue #6: (ark of the covenant) Philistines take the ark
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- Have you ever been in a fight? What happened?
- Why and how do you think God fights for us?
- How did God help His people during these fights?
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: Moses and the Red Sea craft, scissors, glue, blue paper.
Details: Print out the craft and stick Moses to the sheet of blue paper. Stick the waves down on either side. Then stick the fish in the waves or on the blue paper.
Description: Moulding activity.
Supplies: Playdough or clay.
Details: Mould baby Moses in his basket.
Description: Building activity.
Supplies: Lego or construction toys.
Details: Build the scene of Moses floating on the river and Pharoah’s daughter in front of the palace.
Description: Sensory activity.
Supplies: Tub of water and some bath toy fish.
Details: Encourage the children to have a splash with the water and the bath toy fish as they think about Moses and the Israelites passing through the Red Sea.
Description: Activity Booklets.
Supplies: 5-7s and 8-11s booklets (included in download), markers.
Details: Fill in or color the 5-7s and 8-11s booklets.
SEEK GOD: 5 MINS
Description: Prayer activity
Supplies:
Details:
Say: Is there something that God wants you to stop fighting? Someone He wants you to stop fighting with?
Take a few minutes to think about who that might be or the situation that might be.
[Play Chris Tomlin – Whom Shall I Fear? God of Angel Armies]
Pray: Thank You God that I don’t need to fight against people. Thank You that You fight for me. Help me to trust You to do the fighting so that I don’t have to. Help me not to fight people when I’m tempted. Amen.
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