top of page
The Best Attitude for Church

Unit 3 / Lesson 5

The Best Attitude for Church

Click for slides

Teacher's Prep

  • Games

    • Intro Activity (Froot Loop Thread)

      • Have tables set up for students to stand around perhaps one table per group of six

      • Have enough Froot Loops for each child to have a few handfuls. They will be threading the Froot Loops into a necklace. 

      • One long piece of string per student.

      • On each table, put a large bowl of Froot Loops and six strings.

      • Hand sanitizer is highly recommended before the food is handled.

    • Water Jenga (Beginning of Point 1)

    • Deal or No Deal (Beginning of Point 2)

      • You can play the game at this website: https://kbhgames.com/game/deal-or-no-deal

      • If you have a PC with PowerPoint and not a Mac, you may want to download a different version of the game at the link below and get familiar with it. The downloaded version is better than the online version, but it is harder to use. Note, the PC version of the game works on PowerPoint but not on Google Slides.

      • https://www.rusnakcreative.com/gameshows

      • Whichever version of the game you choose, you will want to be familiar with the controls of the game before the lesson starts.

  • Main Activity Suggestions

    • Biathlon

    • The Log Game

      • You may want to have small prizes available for the children (e.g. treat sized Kit-Kat bars you can get in packs at the dollar store)


    Intro 

    SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    SLIDE 2

    • How was your week?

    SLIDE 3

  • Intro Game: Froot Loop Thread

    • Instructions

      • Teacher: set up bowls of Froot Loops and string for students on tables.

      • We'll start off this class with a really simple game. We're just going to put Froot Loops on a string. We'll see how many we can put on a string in five minutes. If you're older, maybe you can have a competition for how many you can put on the string personally.

      • Let's all go to a table.

      • Teacher: give them five minutes to play.

    • Debrief and Relevance

    SLIDE 4

    • In this game, there's a right way to put Froot Loops on a string, but there are a bunch of ways it can go wrong. 

    • For example, If we don't hold the string properly, we might put on a Froot Loop, but then one might slip out the other end. If the string is dropped, the whole thing would get dirty. However, if you make it right, you'll have a string of Froot Loops that just gets bigger and better.

    • We played this game because it's a bit like going to church. Just like there are different colors of Froot Loops, there are also different things we do at church. Everything we do at church is supposed to fit together into something bigger and better.

    SLIDE 5

    • A lot of people do church wrong. They just keep forgetting the things they learn instead of practicing what they learn. That’s like putting on a Froot Loop, and letting one slip off the other end. Other people stop trying to pay attention and get distracted at church, and they make it hard for other people to concentrate.

    • Eventually some people just stop wanting to go to church, because it's boring and they'd rather be home watching TV or sleeping in.

    • They end up missing out on the friendships they could make at church, and they miss out on wisdom that can help them have a much better life. Most of all, they miss out on a relationship with God and a chance to live forever.

    • If we have the right attitude at church, we'll learn lots of things, form great friendships, get to know God better, and it will be really good for everyone.

    SLIDE 6

  • Big Question

    • Our big question today is: what is the best attitude for church?

  • Big Idea

    • Our big idea today is: don't be God's enemy, but be God's friend.

  • Bible Reference

    SLIDE 7


    Point 1

    SLIDE 8

  • Our first point is, don't be God's Enemy.

    SLIDE 9

  • Game: Water Jenga

    • Instructions

      • Let's start with a game of Water Jenga! Let's watch a bit of this video to see how it works.

      • Teacher: play about 30 seconds of this video

      • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjqqQRBbwv4&ab_channel=Mr.T%27sChemistry

      • We'll form groups of six, and each group will go to a table. You'll split your group into two teams.

      • You’ll all take turns pouring a drop of water into the cup, bringing the amount of  water in the cup higher and higher. If it spills over the side of the cup, the other team wins, and we can start again.

    SLIDE 10

    • Debrief

      • In the game of Water Jenga, we're trying not to be the first to spill the water. This means we're hoping that someone else will spill the water. Maybe we're even putting in a few extra drops so that someone else will have a harder time.

      • It's all good fun if we're just playing a game, but it’s not so good to do that in real life.

    SLIDE 11

    • Sometimes it feels like we can only win if someone else loses. Sometimes people aren’t trying to help each other. Instead, they're hoping someone else will mess up instead. Jesus met people like that, and those people were His enemies.

    SLIDE 12

  • Bible Reference

    • Matthew 21:12-13

      • 12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

    SLIDE 13

  • Explanation

    • This whole story took place at the temple. The temple was like a church building back then, except there was only one temple in the world where people could worship the true God. Some people had to travel for weeks to get to the temple, so going there was a very big deal.

    • Can you imagine going to church, and instead of a nice place to worship God, you see a room full of farm animals and people trying to sell those animals? It would be hard to concentrate, right? It would be so disappointing if you had to travel for weeks to go to church, and that’s the place that you had to meet with God. The people in charge of the temple put all the animals right there, because that’s how they made money.

    SLIDE 14

    • Jesus got mad, because whoever was in charge of the temple was making it hard to pray. They loved money more than they loved people.

    • There was something even worse about the temple. The people in charge of the temple were planning to kill Jesus. They were like dangerous criminals who belonged in jail.

    • Jesus turned over their tables and chased out their shopkeepers, and it was His way of saying how wrong this all was. Jesus was angry because the people in charge were hurting other people. When they hurt people, they were like enemies of God.

    SLIDE 15

  • Application

    • We can learn from that situation. If we don't watch ourselves when we’re at church, we can be distracting, and we can make it hard for other people to learn and to connect with God.

    • If we aren’t careful we can end up hurting people whom God loves. Maybe we will say unkind words, or maybe we will do things that are mean.

    • That’s when God gets angry at us. He gets angry because He loves people. 

    SLIDE 16

  • Discussion Question

    • Let's pause for a discussion question!

    • Do you have any idea of what God gets angry about?


    Point 2

    SLIDE 17

  • Our second point is, we need to be God's friend.

    SLIDE 18

  • Game: Deal or No Deal

    • Instructions

      • We will start this point with a game of Deal Or No Deal!

      • We will have a bunch of suitcases, and each case will have a different amount of money in it. We play the game by getting rid of suitcases, and every time we get rid of some suitcases, the bank will call and offer us money instead of a suitcase. We need to decide if we'll take the deal or not.

      • Teacher: you may want to play a few rounds of the game depending on time and interest.

    SLIDE 19

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it's a bit like our relationship with God. If you're playing the game, you don't know how big your prize will be until you see it. But  you do know that there will be a prize, and it could be very big.

    SLIDE 20

    • That's what it's like for people who are God's friends, who want to do church right. We don't always know what we will get, BUT we can always expect something good from God, and sometimes He will give us something amazing.

    • In our Bible story, people went to Jesus expecting good things from Him. Let’s read the second half of the story.

    SLIDE 21

  • Bible Reference

    • Matthew 21:14-17

      • 14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

    SLIDE 22

    • 16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

      "Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

      “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”

      17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

    SLIDE 23

  • Explanation

    • Jesus came as a friend to people. He helped people who couldn’t see, and people who couldn’t walk. He had time for little children even when nobody else took the children seriously. The children helped Him back. They ran through the temple and shouted "Hosanna to the Son of David!" It was their way of saying, Jesus was like King David, the greatest king, and the one that God sent to help His people. Those children were telling everyone about Jesus.

    SLIDE 24

  • Application

    • We can learn from those people. We want to be like those people who couldn’t see or walk. We need to go to Jesus with our biggest problems, and we need to trust Him to be good to us. We also need to learn from the children, that no matter how young we are, we can still join God’s team and tell a great message about Him. 

    • We become God’s friends by letting Him help us, and then joining Him in His work.

    SLIDE 25

  • Discussion Question (optional)

    • Let’s pause for a discussion question

    • What is something God can do for you?

    • What is something you can do for God?


    Conclusion

    SLIDE 26

  • Let’s wrap up this lesson by going over the big ideas again.

  • Our big question today was, what is the best attitude for church?

  • Our big idea is, don't be God's enemy but be God's friend.

  • But that's harder than it sounds. If we don't want to be God's enemy, we need to be careful not to distract people or to be mean to people when we’re at church. If we want to be God's friend, we need to go to Him with our biggest problems, and we need to join Him in doing His work. Then we will see God do amazing things, and we will be full of good things to say about God.


    Main Activity: Games

  • Let’s end this lesson with some games! Games give us a chance to practice being friends. 

    SLIDE 27

    • Biathlon

      • Our first game is the biathlon! In the Olympic Games, they have an event called the biathlon, where people go skiing, and every once in a while they stop skiing and they shoot a gun at some targets. They get points for how fast they are, and also for how many targets they hit.

      • Today we will be running, and we will be using Nerf guns.

      • Here are the rules. We will have a relay race with two teams. When it’s your turn to race, you need to stand behind the line and shoot the target.

      • Every time you want to shoot a bullet, you need to run to the far wall and back. Then you can shoot at the target one time. 

        • Teacher: give the children a reasonably large target, like a whiteboard, and demonstrate how to shoot the target from behind the line, and where to run between shots.

      • If you miss, you run to the far wall and back, and try again. You're done after you shoot the target twice OR you try five times. After five times, you're automatically done and it's the next person's turn on your team. When everyone has had their turn, your team is done.

      • Teacher: you may want to play this game more than once depending on time and interest.

    SLIDE 28

    • The Log Game

      • Our second game is the Log Game! In this game, you just have to pretend to be a log on the ground. Be the best log you can possibly be. This means you don't move, because logs don't move! If you move, you're out.

      • Logs don't talk, and logs don't laugh, so if you make noise, you're out too. I'm not a log (and the helpers are not logs), so I’m going to go around to see if I can make you talk or laugh or move.

      • Let's see if you can last five minutes!

      • Teacher: go around trying to make logs laugh. If children lose, they can go to the side and watch those who remain. After five minutes, whoever still remains a log wins. You may want to give a small prize to the winners.

© 2025 Purple Curriculum. All rights reserved.

bottom of page