the ‘Rockin’ the Light’ Childrens Lesson on Philippians 2:12-18 is part of the Jailhouse Rock! teaching series.
Main Idea: Paul shows us that we can light up dark places with the way we live our lives.
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)
- Get out of Jail Game (5 mins)
- Sense How You Feel – activity (10 – 25 mins)
- Seek God – prayer (5 mins)
Setting the Stage: This series will take us through a letter that Paul wrote to the Philippians while he was in prison. Instead of being sad and gloomy about his situation, Paul uses his time to be joyful and thankful. To create a jailhouse rock scene setting you could make your own “jail” props such as ball and chains, stocks or bars. Each week you could challenge the children to come up with a verse from Philippians that is set to music so you could also have musical instruments available.
Supplies:
- Pop up tunnels
- Cones
- Sponges
- Bowl of colored water
- Bowl of clean water
- Phone with a torch on it
- Slide of moon in the daylight
- Glitter
- Glue
- Pens
- Pintables: Star PDF , Get out of Jail PDF,
- Coloring pens
- Playdough or clay
- Lego or construction toys
- Prayer tent materials – cushions, bibles, fairy lights, cross, candles etc
- Glow sticks or torches
- 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 – TARGET PRACTICE – 5 mins
Description: One on one Game.
Supplies: Police hats (optional), small water guns, candles and matches, table
Details: Target Practice. (regular/widescreen) Place an equal number of candles on a table for each player and light them. Children face the table with the lighted candles and must use a small water gun to try and quench the flame on each of the candles. The player to quench all their candles first is the winner.
GAME 2 – LIGHT IT UP – 5 MINS
Description: One on one Game.
Supplies: Cheap round touch lights (often available from cheap dollar/pound stores).
Details: Light It Up. (regular/widescreen) Two children race around the room to touch the lights and turn them on. You can have a few lights for each child. The first child to come back to the starting place with all their lights on is the winner.
GAME 3 – TRAY GAME – 10 MINS
Description: Guessing game
Supplies: Use your own items on a table(bars, cup, bed, sheets, towel, ball and chain, handcuffs, bowl of porridge, stocks, bunch of keys, spider, chains, table, file, glass, pen, paper, candle, bucket, pillow) if playing in-person and you want the children to see them for themselves. [Also available as PowerPoint if preferred]
Details: Tray Game. (Keynote/PowerPoint) Children need to remember as many of the jail items on a tray/table as they can. Children can write or shout out the items that they remember. If not all the items recalled, they can be uncovered and can be shown again to identify the last items.
BIG VERSE: Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights. Philippians 2:15
SET THE SCENE: 10-15 MINS
Description: Bible story and questions
Supplies: Bible.
Details:
Say: When you are asked to make your bed or tidy your room – what do you say? I don’t want to? Why should I? I’ll do it later? We probably all complain and argue don’t we? Well Paul has something to tell us about this kind of attitude in the next part of his letter.
Read Philippians 2:12-18
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
- What does it mean to “work out your salvation”?
- Why do you think Paul uses the words “fear and trembling” to describe this whole process?
- What does Paul want us to become?
- How are we lights to people who don’t know Christ?
SPOT THE SIMPLE MEANING:
1) BAD ATTIUTUDE – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 1
Supplies: Sponge, bowl of colored water, bowl of clean water.
Details:
Say: What do sponges do? (allow children to share). Sponges soak up liquid and then when you squeeze the sponge the liquid comes out. Sometimes we can be like this sponge and get squeezed in life. E.g Our parents might ask us to do something that we just don’t want to do. We can let anger or frustration build up inside. And then that happens? Well if we take in a bad attitude like complaining and aruguing that’s what comes out. (Squeeze the sponge so that the coloured water comes out). We show our anger to everyone! But if we live clean lives, like Paul says in his letter, (place the sponge in clean water and squeeze), What comes out is clean water. God wants us to live clean lives and one of ways we do that is by allowing God to fill us with his goodness.
2)LIGHT AND DARK – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 2
Supplies: Phone with a torch on it.
Details:
Say: Did you know that things are naturally dark and it’s only bright when there’s a light source. During the day it’s bright outside because of the sun. At night, we can only see where we are going if we have street lamps and headlights. Have you ever walked into a room at night when the lights off? What happens? You probably have bumped into something! Now I usually carry my phone with me everywhere I go – especially at night because it has a torch on it! (show phone and make it light up). I know that light doesn’t seem that strong in this room but believe me when it’s dark outside this light seems really bright and helps me see!
Paul talks about light and darkness, but it’s not the kind of light that comes
from a phone. It’s a spiritual light that comes from God!
3) SHINE BRIGHT – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 2
Supplies: Picture of the moon in daylight (regular/widescreen)
Details:
Say: Have you ever seen the moon in broad daylight? (show picture of moon in daylight) – the moon is actually out during the day about 10 or 11 days each month! We easily see the moon glowing every night. The brightness of the moon does not change from day to night! It’s what surrounds the moon that makes the difference. During the day, the sun makes the sky so bright that the moon barely shows up. However, at night when the sky is not lit up by the sun, the moon appears to be much brighter.
This is what Paul meant in our Big Verse today: Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. – Philippians 2:15
The crooked and perverse people Paul mentioned are those who don’t follow Jesus. They are people who are in living in spiritual darkness, without the light of Jesus.
Sometimes we dread going to a place where people do not follow Jesus. We’d much rather hang out with our Christian friends. But always hanging out with other believers is kind of like the moon in the daytime. It’s not bad; it just doesn’t make much difference. If we want to shine bright then let’s go and speak to our friends who don’t know him yet!
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES:
GET OUT OF JAIL GAME – 5 MINS
Description: Team or individual game
Supplies: Get out of Jail Jpeg, bibles.
Details:
Using the printout or slide (start at the ‘imprisoned’ end and move through the maze to get to the ‘free’ on the other side) to find the scripture! The correct route will take them through the passage “Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights.” (Philippians 2: 15)
If time, spend a few moments reading Philippians 2:12-18 and share with each other which is your favorite verse and why.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- Do you think Christians should be different to the people around them?
- What is our light supposed to show?
- How can we be different to other people?
- In what ways do you stand out as “different”?
- Do you know someone who shines brightly? How are their lives different?
- In what ways would you like Jesus to change you so that you become different?
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: Star template (PDF), glue, glitter, black card
Details: Using the star template cut out and then decorate a star. Write out the verse “shine brightly for Jesus” and then stick the star on the black card.
Description: Moulding activity.
Supplies: Playdough or clay.
Details: Mould someone in your life who shines for Jesus.
Description: Building activity.
Supplies: Lego or construction toys.
Details: Build a scene of where you can shine brightly.
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, glow sticks or torches
Details: Ask the children to stand. Play some quiet music in the background
Today we have learnt that God wants us to stop complaining but instead shine brightly. We can shine so brightly that it lights up the dark places in our world.
As the music plays let’s ask God to think about the places that we can shine bright.
Ask God where He wants you to be a light. Ask God if you are shining as brightly as He wants you to. If not, what needs to change?
You could hand out some glow sticks (or torches) during a worship song or as a response time.
Pray: Dear God, thank you that you want us to be a light for you. Help us to shine brightly in those dark places. AMEN.
ZOOM FRIENDLY LESSON:
SPOT THE LIGHTBULB GAME (Keynote/PowerPoint)
RED LIGHT GREEN LIGHT GAME (Keynote/PowerPoint)
DESCRIBE THAT GAME (widescreen)
