Main Idea: GOD IS OUR RESCUER
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:
PIN THE TONGUE ON THE FROG – 5 mins
Description: one-on-one game
Supplies: Blindfolds, tape, frog picture and tongues cut out (letter/A2 size).
Details: (regular/widescreen) Children take turns to pin the tongue onto the frog in the correct place, whilst blindfolded. The child that gets the tongue in the closest position is the winner.
10 PLAGUES MATCHING GAME – 5 MINS
Description: Team Game
Supplies: Colored 10 plagues cards printed twice per team/pair
Details: Children play a matching game to see if they can find the two matching plagues card within the set. Simply place them all face down and have children choose from those laid out. If playing in a big group you could tape or velcro the card to a wall for children to pick.
LEAP FROG RACE – 10 MINS
Description: Team Relay Race
Supplies: No supplies
Details: (regular/widescreen) Children take turns in their teams to leap like a frog to the end of the room and back. 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 7-11 (choose parts of it or read from a Childrens storybook if preferred) – or act out then ask a few of the review questions below:
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
- What were some of the plagues?
- What did the Pharoah do after each plague?
- What did Moses do after each plague?
- How were the Israelites protected against the final plague?
- What did Pharoah do after the final plague?
SPOT THE SIMPLE MEANING:
1) GOD COMES TO OUR RESCUE – 5 MINS
Description: Rescue stories
Supplies:
Details: If you have a story about being rescued by the police, fire service, ambulance etc then it would be great to use it here. You could also find some in the newspaper if you’re struggling to think of your own.
Say: Have you or someone you know ever been rescued by the police, fire service or ambulance? [Get feedback] What happened? [Allow children to share their own stories of rescue.
This part of God’s big rescue plan for the people of Israel was pretty incredible. God sent 10 plagues on Egypt. Each plug showed how great God was and how weak the Egyptian’s gods were. The Egyptians had many gods; yet none of their gods could protect the people or their livestock.
God rescued the Israelites so that they didn’t suffer like the Egyptians suffered. They experienced some of the plagues (1-3 – Exodus 8:17) but God spared them from experiencing the rest.
God’s people lived in the land of Goshen which was located in the eastern part of the Nile Delta and some distance away from where Pharaoh and his household lived. That meant that they did not experience some of the harsher plagues when they came.
In the tenth plague, God gave the Israelites the chance to rescue their sons from being killed by putting blood on their doors. When the angel of death came, the Israelites sons were not killed.
God comes to our rescue. Just as the Israelites had called out to God, and God had heard their cry, we can call out to God too. We can trust that God will come to our rescue at the right time.
2) GOD IS ON OUR SIDE – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 2
Supplies: masking tape, tug of war rope or another game to play
Details:
Say: If there’s one thing the Israelites knew after witnessing all these things… God was on their side. For hundreds of years they had been crying out to God. Many Israelites would have died in slavery. It was not a nice way to live. The Egyptians used whips and beat God’s people. That’s why God’s people had been crying out to God for years and years… many generations of people had been calling on God. Yet it seems He was doing nothing.
Yet God had been listening and preparing.
It would be easy to think that God was weak and little and He could not do anything if all you knew was this part of the story. Yet we know that God is far greater than any enemy!
[Make a line on the ground between the children. Choose one small child and one leader to go head to head in a game. It could be tug of war (but make sure the leader knows to keep the child safe! Ask the children who they think is going to win.]
We all want to be on the side of the winner, the one who is bigger and greater and will win the battle. God is always the winner because there is nobody greater than Him. God was about to show the Egyptians just how great He is!
When God brought all the plagues on Egypt we may feel sorry for the Egyptians… but the Egyptians had been mistreating God’s people for hundreds of years. The plagues did not last very long. It is estimated by Bible scholars, at most, a year.
Yet God used the plagues to display His glory. To show the people that nobody could or would beat Him. He was on the Israelites side and they would have the victory. When God is on your side you can overcome anything!
[A great response song to this is ‘Whose Side are You Leaning On? By Metro World Kids.]
3) GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE ME OR FORSAKE ME – 5 MINS
Description:
Supplies: ‘What do you do if..? Printables printed out in large, markers.
Details: Encourage the children to work in groups to think about what they would do if they were in different situations. Encourage them to write or draw their answers and ideas.
Say: The Israelites had been in slavery for many years. Some had lost all hope that God was going to help them. Yet God had not forgotten His people. At the right time He brought the plagues to help set them free.
God showed His great power and that He was in control through the plagues. He showed the Israelites that He had not left them or abandoned them. He had always been with them and He had always been listening to their cries.
God will never leave or abandon you either. He promises in His word that He will be with us always. (Hebrews 13:5)
What do you do if…?
- You are going through a difficult time and God seems quiet?
- You feel like you don’t believe in God anymore?
- You have got bored of going to church and chasing after God?
Sometimes it’s good to think about what we would do in these situations before they happen. [Give some ideas of your own about how to, or how you have, handle/d these situations]. If you’re going through one of these situations today, I/we would love to pray with you today!
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES:
WHAT WERE THE PLAGUES – ESCAPE ROOM – 10 MINS
Description: Team Game
Supplies: 10 Plagues Cards, Bibles
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.
Take your children into a separate room and tell them:
Say: Your team has 5 minutes [or choose a different length of time depending on your kids] to find all the plagues in the room and put them in a timeline order using only the Bible to escape the room. (Use the cards from the earlier game for the children to order.)
If the children fail the task, you can help them find the order of the plagues. If you have a large group you could use this as one of the rotations in the ‘Sense How You Feel’ section and split the large group into smaller groups.
Once you have finished discuss the questions below.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- What were the plagues?
- Which do you think was the worst? Why?
- Why do you think God used the plagues to defeat Egypt?
- What did the plagues do?
- Why did God spare the Israelites from experiencing all the plagues?
- What does this show us about God?
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: Matching Game printables, markers, scissors.
Details: Children will make a matching game with 20 cards. They can color them in and cut them out. Then they turn them all over and must try and find two plagues that match. They keep doing this until they find them all. Alternatively they can play turns against a friend.
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: Toy livestock, frogs and/or toy insects
Details: Encourage children to hold the insects and animals and think about what the Egyptians faced and how God came to rescue the Israelites.
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
Supplies:
Details:
Pray: Thank You God that You are my rescuer. Thank You that I can always trust You to hear me and to listen to my cry. Please help me to hold onto You even in tough times. Amen.
For those in hard times: God, please help me to hear from You once again. I feel like You are far away but I know that You are real and that You love me. Help me to trust that You will rescue me at the right time. Amen.
Click here for the widescreen lesson image
