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Knowing What God Wants

Unit 19 / Lesson 4

Knowing What God Wants

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Lesson 108: Knowing What God Wants

  • Teacher's Prep

  • Intro

    • Gathering

      • How was your week?

    • Intro Game: Charades

      • Instructions

        • We'll start our lesson with a game of Charades!

        • For those who haven't played before it's a really simple game. We need one volunteer to come up in front of everyone. I'll tell them a word to act, and then everyone will try to guess the word. The tricky thing is if you're acting you have to try not to say anything. Just use your body and try to make some shapes, or pretend you're doing something.

        • And then, the rest of us will shout out what we think the word is. And if they're right, we all win!

        • Can we have a volunteer to be our first actor?

        • Instructions for the teacher:

          • Try to pick an experienced student for your first actor, as that will help everyone get the gist of the game.

          • When actors go in front of the group, pick a word from the lists below to act out. There are easy words, medium words, and hard words -- so you will want to use your judgment in giving words that suit a child's ability.

          • You can either whisper the word to the student, or show them the word on a piece of paper (or on a mobile phone). Just make sure they only see one word, and not all the words.

          • You don't need to use every word in the lists! The point of the game is to have some fun and to engage the children so that the game can effectively launch the remainder of the lesson.

      • Suggested words:

        • Easy words

          • Alligator

          • Bike

          • Frog

          • Chicken

          • Bubble

        • Medium words

          • Truck

          • Ants

          • Snowman

          • Starfish

        • Hard words

          • Lemon

          • Dragon

          • Battery

          • Solar system

      • Debrief

        • We played this game because it gives you a feeling that you don't know exactly what the answer is. But, normally, if you keep trying, you'll figure it out.

    • Relevance

      • And, life is like that too. If you're a Christian, you are friends with God -- and, that's a great thing! God is so wise, and he knows what we should do every day. So, if we just do what God wants, we will be very happy in the end. But, we can't exactly talk to God in the same way that we talk to our friends.

    • Big Question

      • So, our big question today is:

        • How can we know what God wants us to do?

      • Today’s Bible story will show us how we can know what God wants us to do every day!

    • Big Idea

      • Today we will learn that:

        • 1. Sometimes God tells us exactly what to do.

        • 2. Other times, God points us in the right direction.

    • Bible Reference

      • Now, let's watch a cartoon about our Bible story. It's about a guy named Saul.

      • Teacher: play this video from 0:00 to 5:26

      • Now, let's read from the Bible. Our story is really long so we'll only be able to read a few parts of it today. Let's start reading at the place when Jesus talked to Ananias.

      • Acts 9:10-12 (ICB)

        • 10 There was a follower of Jesus in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to Ananias in a vision, “Ananias!”

        • Ananias answered, “Here I am, Lord.”

        • 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight Street. Find the house of Judas. Ask for a man named Saul from the city of Tarsus. He is there now, praying. 12 Saul has seen a vision. In it a man named Ananias comes to him and lays his hands on him. Then he sees again.”

      • Acts 9:17-20 (ICB)

        • 17 So Ananias went to the house of Judas. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus sent me. He is the one you saw on the road on your way here. He sent me so that you can see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something that looked like fish scales fell from Saul’s eyes. He was able to see again! Then Saul got up and was baptized. 19 After eating some food, his strength returned.

        • Saul stayed with the followers of Jesus in Damascus for a few days. 20 Soon he began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “Jesus is the Son of God!”

      • Acts 9:23-25 (ICB)

        • 23 After many days, the Jews made plans to kill Saul. 24 They were watching the city gates day and night. They wanted to kill him, but Saul learned about their plan. 25 One night some followers of Saul helped him leave the city. They lowered him in a basket through an opening in the city wall.

  • Point 1

    • Point

      • 1. Sometimes God tells us exactly what to do.

    • Game: Captain's Coming

      • Instructions

        • Let's start this point with a game! A game of Captain's Coming.

        • Teacher: you may want to play this video to help kids get familiar with the rules of Captain's Coming

        • Sample Phrases

          • BOW: shipmates race to the front of the room

          • STERN: shipmates run to the back of the room

          • STARBOARD: shipmates run to the right of the room

          • PORT: shipmates run to the left of the room

          • CAPTAIN'S COMING: shipmates stand at attention, salute, and say, "Aye aye, Captain!"

          • SCRUB THE DECK: shipmates mime scrubbing on hands and knees or with a mop

          • CLIMB THE RIGGING: shipmates pretend to climb a rope ladder

          • MAN THE LIFEBOAT: shipmates find a partner and hold both hands together

          • SHARK ATTACK: shipmates lie on their backs with their feet up

          • FREEZE: shipmates stop all actions and can't continue until the captain says, "Unfreeze"

      • Debrief

        • We played this game because it's about doing exactly what the captain says.  If the captain says something, you know exactly what to do!

        • And, sometimes life is like that too. Sometimes God tells us exactly what to do, and we don't have to guess. Our Bible story is about one of those times.

    • Bible Reference

      • Acts 9:10-12 (ICB)

        • 10 There was a follower of Jesus in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to Ananias in a vision, “Ananias!” Ananias answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight Street. Find the house of Judas. Ask for a man named Saul from the city of Tarsus. He is there now, praying. 12 Saul has seen a vision. In it a man named Ananias comes to him and lays his hands on him. Then he sees again.”

    • Explanation

      • Our Bible passage tells us, God spoke to Ananias in a vision. A vision is a special message from God. It works a bit like a TV screen that pops up out of nowhere. A vision lets you see things that you normally wouldn't see. And, God gave Ananias a vision, so that Ananias could know exactly where to go and exactly what to do.

      • But, Ananias didn't feel like going! Remember, Saul was a really scary guy! Saul was finding Christians and dragging them to jail. All the Christians were really afraid of Saul.

      • But, God encouraged Ananias and told Ananias that this was really important, because Saul was about to become a great Christian. So Ananias went, and he did exactly what God told him to do.

    • Application

      • Sometimes it's like that for us too. Sometimes we know exactly what God wants us to do.

      • God tells us to obey our parents and to respect people like teachers. So, if our parents tell us to do things, normally it means God wants us to do that. And if our teacher wants us to do things, normally it means God wants us to do that. Once in a while parents and teachers will tell us to do something that is totally wrong, but that doesn't happen very often. Most of the time, God just wants us to follow instructions, and be kind to everyone, and keep learning.

      • So, a lot of the time, we know exactly what God wants us to do! But it's still hard to do it! Sometimes we really won't feel like doing the right thing.

      • But when that happens, you can remember Ananias! The story of Ananias will remind you that God has great plans, and you get to be part of his great plans. And, if you can just follow God’s instructions, then sooner or later, God will do amazing things with you.

    • Discussion Question

      • Now let's pause for a discussion question.

        • What's something that you know is the right thing to do, but it's still hard to do?

  • Point 2

    • Point

      • Moving on, our second point is:

        • 2. Sometimes, God points us in the right direction.

    • Game: Blind Man's Bluff

      • Instructions

        • We'll start this point with a game of Blind Man's Bluff!

        • It's a bit like “tag,” but the person who is "it" can't see. And they get a pool noodle to tag everyone with.

        • If you're "it" we'll blindfold you, and you can try to tag someone with the pool noodle. Once you tag someone, they will be “it” and will be blindfolded, and they will try to tag someone else.

        • Teacher: play for a while until several children have had a chance to be “it.”

      • Debrief

        • We played this game because it's not just about following instructions. We all know the rules, but we need more than just the rules. We also need to think of our own ideas for how to win. That's what makes it fun!

        • And, real life is like that too. Sometimes God gives us a few rules, but he doesn't tell us exactly what to do. So, we need to use our brains and think of our own ideas. That's what we see in our Bible story.

    • Bible Reference

      • Let's read the last part of our story again.

      • Acts 9:17-20 (ICB)

        • 17 So Ananias went to the house of Judas. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus sent me. He is the one you saw on the road on your way here. He sent me so that you can see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something that looked like fish scales fell from Saul’s eyes. He was able to see again! Then Saul got up and was baptized. 19 After eating some food, his strength returned.

        • Saul stayed with the followers of Jesus in Damascus for a few days. 20 Soon he began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “Jesus is the Son of God!”

      • Acts 9:23-25 (ICB)

        • 23 After many days, the Jews made plans to kill Saul. 24 They were watching the city gates day and night. They wanted to kill him, but Saul learned about their plan. 25 One night some followers of Saul helped him leave the city. They lowered him in a basket through an opening in the city wall.

    • Explanation

      • In the first part of our story, God told Ananias exactly what to do. So, Ananias went to meet Saul, and helped Saul to see again! It was great! But, after that, the followers of Jesus needed to use their brains.

      • Saul was really hungry, so they gave him food. And, they gave him a place to stay. Then, Saul started telling everyone about Jesus, because he wanted everyone to know about Jesus. And, the Jews didn't like it. So, his friends help him to escape and be safe.

      • The Christians didn't need God to tell them to do all of those things. They just knew God wanted them to take care of each other, and God wanted more people to know about Jesus. So, Paul and his friends just used their brains to do God's work.

    • Application

      • And, we can do that too. Sometimes, God doesn't tell us exactly what to do. Sometimes he just tells us what's important, and then he wants us to use our brains. So, we need to be creative, and we need to work together, and sometimes we need to try different things to see if they work. That’s part of God’s plan for us, to try different ideas!

      • So, let's always try our best for him. Even if we don't know exactly what to do, we know it's always time to love God and love people. And, most of the time, that just means trying our best – for him and for other people. And, if we just keep doing our best for him, we can know that God is happy with us. And, God will make everything right in the end.

    • Discussion Question

      • Let's pause for a discussion question

        • Using your brain, can you think of a creative idea to help people?

  • Conclusion

    • Let's wrap up this lesson by going back to the big ideas.

    • Our big question today was:

      • How can we know what God wants us to do?

    • Our big idea was:

      • 1. Sometimes God tells us exactly what to do.

      • 2. Other times, God points us in the right direction.

    • So, if he doesn't tell you exactly what to do, you can just use your brain and do your best for him. And if you do, God will be happy with you, and he will make everything right in the end.

  • Main Activity: Rice Krispie Treats

    • And now, it's time for our main activity. Today we're making Rice Krispie Treats! 

    • Let's watch a video for how they are made

    • Teacher: please show this video:

    • As we make these Rice Krispie Treats we can remember our lesson. We can remember that we have instructions that we need to follow. But when we start following the instructions, we’ll notice we’ll also need to use our brains – because the instructions don’t tell us everything we need to do.

    • And, the Christian life is like that too. We should follow God's instructions, but when there are no instructions, we should just use our brains to do our best for him.

    • Now let's get baking!

    • Teacher: please follow instructions online. Instructions can be found at this website:


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