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History And Our Own Stories Lead Us To God

Unit 9 / Lesson 2

History And Our Own Stories Lead Us To God

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Teacher’s Prep

  • Games

    • Mad Libs

    • Speed Play-Doh Modeling

      • Materials needed: 

        • Play-Doh – enough for each child to do some basic modeling of simple objects. Play-Doh can be found in small containers at the dollar store. One container should be enough for 1-2 children.

        • Set up a table for every 4-6 children

      • An alternative to consider

        • To save prep time, you can play Pictionary instead. Pictionary would allow for the same object lesson. 

        • Play-Doh modeling is recommended in this lesson because it is a tactile game and invites more participation and creativity.

    • Face the Cookie


    Intro

    SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    • How was your week?

    SLIDE 2

  • Intro Activity: Mad Libs

    • Instructions

      • We will start off with a Mad Lib! You've probably all seen Mad Libs before. We'll go on a website that asks us for some words, and then when we're done filling in the words, we'll get a story.

      • Teacher: share screen. Then, with the class, fill out a mad lib from this website: https://www.glowwordbooks.com/blog/category/kids-online-mad-libs/

      • Have fun with the students; if they enjoy it, you can play more rounds, scrolling down the webpage.

    • Debrief

      • In this game, we all knew that we had made up this story. But if you read it to your friends who weren’t here, they would all think that something is strange about your story. They’d think it's funny, but it's probably not true. Sometimes there is a way to know if the story is true or not, even if you weren't there.

    SLIDE 3

    • We need a certain skill to separate true stories from made-up stories, and we need to use that skill for the most important story of all, which is the story of Jesus in the Bible.

  • Big Question

    • Our big question today is: how can we know that God is real?

    • We actually answered this question last week. We learned that science points us to God. When we see how amazing the world and the universe are, it's right to think that someone made it, someone who's a lot stronger and wiser than a human being. We call that person God.

    • Today we will learn another reason to believe in God.

  • Relevance

    • It’s good to know more than one reason. The more reasons we have to be Christians, the more we can follow Jesus boldly without worrying. Also, the more reasons we have to be Christians, the easier it will be for us to help other people to start a relationship with God.

    • Today we’ll ask the same question as last week: how can we know that God is real?

    SLIDE 4

  • Big Idea

  • Our answer today is: 

    • 1. We can see God's work in history, and 

    • 2. We can see God’s work in our everyday life.


    Point 1

    SLIDE 5

  • Our first point is, we can see God’s work in history.

    SLIDE 6

  • Game: Speed Play-Doh Modeling

    • Instructions

      • Let's start this point with a game!

      • It's called speed Play-Doh Modeling! When I'm done talking, everyone will go to a table.

      • We'll all get a bit of Play-Doh, and I'll tell you some things to make out of it, and you’ll have one minute to make each of those things.

      • Teacher: get the children to tables and distribute Play-Doh.

      • Is everyone ready? Alright, you have one minute to make…

        • Things to make (one a time, for a minute each)

        • A butterfly

        • Sunglasses

        • Mickey Mouse

        • A truck

    • Debrief

      • In this game, you only had a short time to make things, so you had to concentrate on the most important parts. If you did, most of us would be able to tell what you were trying to make.

      • Play-doh is like that: no matter how hard you try, you can't get all the details, but you can get enough details to get the main idea across.

      • This game helps us understand something we all depend on, which is history. History is the study of things that happened in the past, usually a long time ago. History is a bit like Play-Doh.

      • People who study history sometimes find really old books and really old pieces of paper with writing on them.

    SLIDE 7

    • People from a long time ago wrote down what happened during their lives. We can never get the whole picture when we read those old books, but if the writer is really good at what they do, we will get the big idea every time.

    • That’s what we find in the Bible. The Bible has a lot of history.

    SLIDE 8

    • When we look at the writings that people left behind about Jesus, we can know about Him, and we can know that His stories are true.

  • Bible Reference

    • In the book of Acts, a Christian named Paul was talking to some people who didn't believe in Jesus, so he told them about something that happened in the past, in history. Let's read what Paul said about God:

    SLIDE 9

    • Acts 17:31 (CEV)

      • He has set a day when he will judge the world's people with fairness. And he has chosen the man Jesus to do the judging for him. God has given proof of this to all of us by raising Jesus from death. 

  • Explanation

    • Paul said that God had raised Jesus from the dead, and anyone can know that He rose from the dead. That includes us. We can know that Jesus rose from the dead, even if we weren't there to see it. The way we know is by using history.

    • We can read the things that people wrote when they saw Jesus.

    SLIDE 10

    • There are a lot of things to read because a lot of people wrote about Jesus. When we put all their stories together, they all point us to the right answer, that Jesus rose from the dead.

  • Application

    • And, we can all see this proof for ourselves, but first we need training so that we will be good at reading stories. It helps to practice reading stories from real life. Read things like the newspaper. See what it's like when a person is telling the truth. Normally when you've found the truth, you will find that everyone will agree on the most important facts.

    • Once you get good at reading stories, you'll be ready to study the stories of Jesus, and all those stories will lead you to the amazing conclusion that God raised Jesus from the dead.

    SLIDE 11

  • Discussion Question

    • Let's pause for a discussion question.

    • Do you have any ideas for how to tell if someone is telling the truth or if they're lying?


    Point 2

    SLIDE 12

  • Our second point is, we can see God’s work in our everyday life.

    SLIDE 13

  • Game: Face the Cookie

    • Instructions

      • We’ll start this point with a game! The game is Face the Cookie!

      • You will all get an Oreo cookie. You play the game by tilting your head up and putting the Oreo cookie on your eye. Then you need to move the cookie into your mouth using just the muscles on your head and your face. If your cookie drops off your face, put the cookie on your eye and try again.

      • Teacher: demonstrate how the game works. Alternatively, there is a video tutorial on YouTube which you can show to the children. Also, you may want them to play standing around a table so the cookies will drop onto the table instead of the ground.

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it helps us to understand two kinds of truth. First, there is truth that everyone can see. For example, everyone can see when the cookie gets into your mouth. BUT, there is truth that nobody else can know except for you. When you are eating a cookie, nobody can taste it except you. 

    SLIDE 14

    • So also, in the Christian life, there is a kind of truth that nobody knows except for you. It's your own experience, when you see God at work in your everyday life.

  • Bible Reference

    SLIDE 15

    • Jesus taught us that we can all know God like that. If you have a good relationship with God, you can feel what God does in your everyday life. Jesus said in John 7:38-39:

      • 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

  • Explanation

    SLIDE 16

    • These verses tell us, if you want to experience God, first you need to believe in Him. In the Bible, believing isn't just something you do with your head, it's something you do with your whole heart and life. Believing in God means trusting Him and doing what He says. If you have that kind of relationship with God, Jesus said it will be like a river of living water inside of you. 

    • Jesus spoke to people who lived in a very dry land. A river and water made a huge difference in a dry land. When we know God, He changes us in all the best ways, and He makes us come alive inside our heart.

  • Application

    SLIDE 17

    • If you want to know God like this, the key is to take God seriously and trust Him even when you don't really feel like it. Every day we need to make a decision to believe in Jesus with our heart and our mind and our strength – to trust Him with our whole life. If you do, then over time, you will experience God, and He will bring you to life.

    SLIDE 18

  • Discussion Question

    • Let’s stop to discuss:

    • Do you have any ideas for having a great relationship with God?


    Conclusion

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

  • Our big question was: how can we know that God is real? It's an important question because we need to know we’re on the right track when times get tough, and we also need to help other people to start a relationship with God.

  • Our answer today was that we know God is real because we can see God's work in history and in our everyday life.

    SLIDE 19

  • If we want to know God through history, we can read all kinds of stories from real life, and we can get to know how history works. Then we can appreciate how good the story of Jesus is, and how it has all the signs of being a true story.

  • We can also know God from everyday life. If we have a good relationship with God, trust Him and do what He says, He will bring us to life. Even though nobody can feel what we are feeling, we will know in our hearts that God is with us.


    SLIDE 20

    Short Film

  • We'll end this lesson with a short film! It's called: Dinosaurs: The True Story

  • It says it's a true story, but maybe it's not! You can judge for yourself.

  • This film is a reminder that some stories are true, and some are not. But we can know if the Bible's history is true.

  • Teacher: play this YouTube video:


    SLIDE 21

    Ending: One Truth or a Lie

  • Teacher: if you have extra time at the end of the lesson, this game can be a nice filler activity. It’s based on the popular game “two truths and a lie,” in which people say three things about themselves, one of which is a lie. In our experience, children do better if they are asked to tell just one truth OR a lie.

  • Since we have time, let’s end with a game! It’s called “One truth or a Lie,” and it helps us to practice figuring out if someone is telling the truth or a lie.

  • It’s super simple. We’ll just take turns saying one thing about ourselves. Something like, “my favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate.” We’ll vote on who thinks it’s true and who thinks it’s a lie. Whoever can fool the most people wins!

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