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The First Thing to Know about God

Unit 3 / Lesson 2

The First Thing to Know about God

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Teacher's Prep

  • Games

    • Trust Fall (Intro Activity)

      • You may want to set up a table and chair for advanced versions of the trust fall (falling from a chair or table).

      • Note: in this version of the trust fall, it’s not just a single person catching, but a group of people with arms out. See for a visual, see this: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ye6ULFxxfhY

    • Limbo

    • Paper Bocce

      • Get familiar with the rules of bocce https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmQVO2a9ZEI&ab_channel=MajorLeagueBocce

      • You will be playing a modified version of bocce, using paper balls of two colors (white and another color). Instead of a target ball, you will have an improvised target, like a bowling pin. Any small target should do as long as it is highly visible. Even an “X” of tape on the ground should work.

      • Have two colors of paper, and enough so each child can have three or four paper balls. Note: each child will have only one of any color.

  • Main Activity (Ice Cream Sundaes and Chips)

    • Provide regular ice cream and non-dairy/nut free if needed.

    • Provide at least three toppings for the ice cream sundae. Examples:

      • Chocolate sauce

      • Sprinkles

      • Rice Krispies

    • Bowls and spoons

    • Potato chips


    Intro

    SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    • How was your week?

    SLIDE 2

  • Intro Activity: Trust Fall

    • Instructions

      • We will start this point by doing a trust fall! 

      • The idea is to stand in front of a GROUP of your friends. They'll all have their arms out to catch you. You will tip backwards like a board without bending your knees.

      • Now you all have a choice. You can do the trust fall if you want, or you can watch and maybe help catch people.

      • Instructions for Teacher:

        • Very importantly: we need a GROUP of people to catch one person. You may want to play this short video that shows what a trust fall is like: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ye6ULFxxfhY

        • Set up the catchers -- pick some of the stronger people you have available. Then, ask who would like to do the trust fall.

        • For those who are willing to do a trust fall, try a next-level trust fall, where they fall off a chair into the arms of the catchers.

        • You might even be able to do a super-next-level trust fall, where someone volunteers to fall off a table -- though you would have to make sure the catchers are strong and ready.

        • When everyone has had plenty of chances to do a trust fall, form a circle to debrief

    SLIDE 3

    • Debrief and Relevance

      • We did the trust fall because it helps us to think about our lesson. A trust fall is fun if we know someone will catch us. If you're falling on someone you really trust, and they're really strong, then you have nothing to worry about. However, if you don't know whether or not the person will catch, you probably won't want to play the game.

      • The trust fall is scary because you can’t see the people who are supposed to catch you. Life is like that. We’re supposed to trust God, but we can’t see Him. Because of that, some people have a really hard time trusting Him.

      • The key to trusting God is to know what He is like. This brings us to our big question today. 

      SLIDE 4

  • Big Question

    • Our big question is: what is the first thing we should know about God?

    SLIDE 5

  • Big Idea

    • Our big idea is, we should know that God is really good for us.

    • Our Bible story reminds us that 

      • 1. We all have needs, but

      • 2. God meets our needs in the best way.

    • That’s why we can say God is really good for us.

    SLIDE 6

  • Bible Reference



SLIDE 7

Point 1

  • Our first point is, we all have needs.

    SLIDE 8

  • Activity: Limbo

    • Instructions

      • We'll start our point with a game of Limbo! It's a really simple game. We'll have two people holding a stick, and we'll all take turns walking under the stick.

      • The tricky part is, the stick will keep getting lower, so you'll need to walk lower by  bending your knees and leaning back.

      • You can't touch the floor with your hands. If you do, or if you fall, you're out and you can stand to the side and watch your friends to see how low they can go.

      • Teacher: do a demonstration with two volunteers to the side holding the stick.

      • Let's all form a line, and let's give it a try!

      • Teacher: Volunteers should hold the stick in cupped hands so that it will fall easily if touched. Also, you may want to play music during the game

    SLIDE 9

    • Debrief

      • Let's gather back into a circle.

      • We played this game because it reminds us we all have a limit.

      • Sooner or later we all face challenges that are too much for us to handle.

      • That's what we see in our Bible story. Let’s read the first part of the story.

    SLIDE 10

  • Bible Reference

    • John 2:1-3 (CEV)

      • 1 Three days later Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at a wedding feast in the village of Cana in Galilee. 2 Jesus and his disciples had also been invited and were there. 3 When the wine was all gone, Mary said to Jesus, “They don't have any more wine.”

    SLIDE 11

  • Explanation

    • Can you imagine inviting someone over for dinner, but not having food to give to your guests? That's kind of what was going on in our story, except this was not just any ordinary dinner. It was a wedding dinner, the most important dinner of a person's life. The families of the bride and groom came together to celebrate, along with all their friends and the people of the town. That day however, they ran out of wine which was a really big problem, because weddings back then needed wine. If they ran out, the party would be over. Maybe people would start arguing about whose fault it was, and everyone would talk about that day for the rest of their lives. They would talk about the day that they ran out of wine, and they would talk about the wedding that had a sad ending.

    • At first it just seems like a story about a wedding that happened a long time ago, but it’s also a story about us. We know it’s about us because later on in the story, Jesus turns water into wine. The Bible says when He did that, it was a sign, which is the Bible’s way of saying it was a lesson for us. Jesus was trying to teach us that He wasn’t just an ordinary human being; He was God, He was powerful enough to help, and He cared enough to help. Because of this, we can remember that God can help us. We also need to remember that we need help.

    SLIDE 12

  • Application.

    • We all have problems. Maybe you have a problem at school. Maybe there are people you can't get along with, or maybe you keep doing things you regret.

    • No matter what your problem is, God cares about you, and He is powerful enough to help you.

  • Discussion Question

    • Let's break for a discussion question

      • What is a problem in your life?


    SLIDE 13

    Point 2

  • Our second point is, God meets our needs in the best way.

    SLIDE 14

  • Activity: Paper Bocce

    • Instructions

      • Let’s start this point with a game.

      • Teacher: play this video which explains the rules of Bocce

      • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmQVO2a9ZEI&ab_channel=MajorLeagueBocce

      • Teacher: After the video, pass out paper of two colors, so that one team gets one color, and the other team gets the other color, and each child has one sheet of paper. Put the bowling pin in the middle of the room.

      • Let's go over the rules again. For this game, you'll all be standing at the edge of the room (let's all go to the edge of the room and touch the wall). 

      • You will all have a ball that is made out of paper, (take a moment to scrunch up your paper into a nice tight ball). 

      • You will be throwing your ball at this target.

      • Teacher: set up the target in the middle of the room

      • We'll all take turns tossing our balls. If your team has the closest ball, you get one point. If your team has the two closest balls, you get two points. If your team has the three closest balls, you get three points, and so on.

      • We’ll play a few rounds of this game.

      • Teacher: you may elect to give them more than one ball.

    SLIDE 15

    • Debrief

      • In this game we played, it often depends on the last ball, and we will win or lose depending on if the last person can throw the ball to the right place.

      • If you had a super skilled person to throw the ball to the right place every time, you would never lose.

      • That's what it's like when God is helping you. No matter how difficult your problem is, God can fix it.

      • God wants to meet our needs in the best way. Let’s go back to our Bible story.

    SLIDE 16

  • Bible Reference

    • John 2:3-4 (CEV)

      • 3 When the wine was all gone, Mary said to Jesus, “They don't have any more wine.” 4 Jesus replied, “Mother, my time hasn't yet come! You must not tell me what to do.” 

    SLIDE 17

  • Explanation

    • I’ll explain what’s happening. Mary felt really bad for the young man and woman who were just married that day. She didn’t want their wedding day to be ruined. She told Jesus about their problem because she knew that Jesus could help. Nobody had ever seen Jesus do a miracle yet, so they didn’t know that Jesus could help. Mary knew though, so she asked Him to help.

    • Jesus reminded her that something much bigger was happening. God had a great plan for Jesus to save the world, and Jesus had to follow God’s plan and not just do miracles whenever Mary asked. After that, Mary didn’t try to tell Jesus what to do. Instead, she told the servants to listen to Jesus, because maybe Jesus would still help the wedding.

    • Jesus did help. He turned water into wine. He didn’t just make a little bit of wine, He made a lot of wine. He didn’t just make any wine, He made the best wine. This was a lesson for His followers, that He can help us in a way that nobody else can. He is the best at helping us.

    • The most important thing was that He was teaching His followers about Himself. He was helping people to know God and live forever. Once His followers learned this, they could share this lesson with other people. Jesus was helping people in the biggest and best way, because He was helping people live forever. Along the way, He also saved a wedding.

  • Application

    • We can learn from that. Jesus wants to help us, but He wants to help us in the best way, not just any way. Sometimes people ask God for help. They might ask God to help them with school, or to make a problem go away. However, God has a bigger plan and He doesn't just do miracles any time we ask. Sometimes the things we ask for don't fit into His plan, so we should not tell God what to do. We should be like those servants though, and do whatever God says. Then, we will see God do amazing things. He will also help us in little ways. We’ll be able to join Him in His work, and we’ll help other people in big ways and in small ways.

    SLIDE 18

  • Discussion Question

    • If you were to ask God for one thing, what would it be?

    • What is something that God can give you that lasts forever?


    SLIDE 19

    Conclusion

  • Let's end our lesson by going over the big ideas again.

  • Our big question was: what is the first thing we should know about God?

  • Our big answer was: we should know that God is really good for us.

  • We learned that:

    • 1. We all have needs, but

    • 2. God meets our needs in the best way.


SLIDE 20

Main Activity: Ice Cream Sundaes and Chips

  • Today we will end with a snack: ice cream sundaes! Ice cream sundaes help us understand our lesson better. Although ice cream is good, if you have toppings to add to it, it's even better. If you have some potato chips, that’s even better because then you get a sweet snack and a salty snack.

  • This snack reminds us God is like that too. He just doesn’t give us something good, but He gives us what is best.

  • Instructions

    • Have the children make ice cream sundaes; 

    • Have chips on the side for them to access while they eat their sundaes.

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