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The Only True Religion

Unit 9 / Lesson 4

The Only True Religion

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Teacher's Prep

  • Intro Activity: Switch Sides If...

    • Before the lesson, make a line on the floor that divides the room into two. The ideal line is made of green painter's tape, as it is very easy to see, and also reasonably easy to remove.

  • Games


    Intro 

    SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    • How was your week?

    SLIDE 2

  • Intro Activity: Switch Sides If...

    • Instructions

      • We'll start our lesson with a game. It's called, "Switch Sides If...." It's a game that helps us to get to know each other a bit better.

      • It's really simple. I'll just tell you to switch sides if something is true. If it’s true, you need to cross to the other side of the line on the ground.

      • Teacher: Below are statements that follow after "Switch sides if..."

      • Switch sides if…

    SLIDE 3

    • You like to cook

    SLIDE 4

    • You like summer more than winter

    SLIDE 5

    • You have at least one sibling

    SLIDE 6

    • You like dogs more than cats

    SLIDE 7

    • You play an instrument 

    SLIDE 8

    • You like spring more than fall

    SLIDE 9

    • You have ridden a horse

    SLIDE 10

    • You have lived in another city

    SLIDE 11

    • You like pie more than cake 

    SLIDE 12

    • You have a pet

    SLIDE 13

    • You like morning more than night

    SLIDE 14

    • You like to sing

    SLIDE 15

    • You speak another language

    SLIDE 16

    • You like mountains more than a beach

    SLIDE 17

    • You like books more than movies

    SLIDE 18

    • Play an instrument

    SLIDE 19

    • You like to play sports

    SLIDE 20

    • You like dark chocolate more than white chocolate

    • Debrief

      • We started with this game because it has no wrong answers. Some people like books, and some people like movies. Some people like dogs, and some people like cats. It's great that we're all so different.

      • But today we're going to talk about different religions. Religions are the ideas people believe about God and the big questions about life, like where we came from, where we are going, and what we're supposed to be doing while we're on earth.

      • Different people believe different things. Some believe in Jesus. Some believe in another God, and some people think there's no God at all. Some people think it doesn't matter what we believe as long as we get along.

      • But the Bible teaches there is one right religion, and all the others are wrong.

    SLIDE 21

    • All religions might tell you to be a good person, but the only people who will be happy in the end are those who trust Jesus.

  • Relevance

    • But we can't just tell people the Bible says so. Most people don't believe what the Bible says. Instead, we can show them which religion is right even without using the Bible. That's one way we can really help people.

  • Big Question

    • Our big question today is: Which religion is right about invisible things?

    • We need to ask about invisible things because it's the invisible things that are most important in the end. It really matters if we can live forever with God in heaven, or if we can't.


  • Big Idea

  • SLIDE 22

    • Our big idea today is: We CAN know which religion is right, and:

      • 1. Not all religions can be right, but

      • 2. The right religion gives us the best reasons to believe.

  • Bible Reference

    SLIDE 23

    • We'll see these ideas in our main verse today:

    • Listen to what Jesus said about the people who didn’t trust Him:

      • John 15:24 (CEV)

        • I have done things no one else has ever done. If they had not seen me do these things, they would not be guilty. But they did see me do these things, and they still hate me and my Father too. 

    Point 1

  • Our first point is, not all religions can be right.

    SLIDE 24

  • Game: Blow the Ping Pong Ball

    • Instructions

      • Teacher: pick the side of the room that the children will line up on, and mark a starting line, either with tape or with some physical markers like pylons. On the far side of the room, set chairs for each team, leaving space all around the chairs so that children can blow a ping pong ball around the chairs. 

      • We'll start off this point with a game!

      • It's a relay race with ping pong balls! Here's how it works. We will have teams of five people each. If you have six people, one of you needs to join another team. If you have less than five, some of you might need to go twice.

      • Each team will have a ping pong ball. You will take turns blowing the ping pong ball across the room and back. To make this more challenging, there is a chair on the other side of the room, and you will need to blow the ping pong ball around the far side of the chair before you get back.

      • Teacher: demonstrate the path of the ball: from the starting line, around the back of the chair, and then back to the starting line.

      • Let's form our teams, and line up one one side of the room. We'll see how fast we can do this relay race.

      • Teacher: You may want to play more than one round if time and interest allows.

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it takes strategy. You need the right ideas if you want to move the ping pong ball quickly. You can't just do anything you want. For example, you can't just stand in one place and hope it keeps moving. But, there's a right way to play and a wrong way to play. That's how religions work too. There’s a right way to think about God and about the important things in life.

  • Bible Reference

    SLIDE 25

    • Back when the Bible was written, God's people had a choice between many religions. Some people worshiped a god named Molech. When King Solomon lost his way in life, he made a place for people to worship Molech:

      • 1 Kings 11:7 (CEV)

        • Solomon built shrines on a hill east of Jerusalem to worship Chemosh the disgusting god of Moab, and Molech the disgusting god of Ammon. 

  • Explanation

    • There's a reason why the Bible says those gods are disgusting. It's because those gods and those religions taught parents to sacrifice their children to worship the gods. Parents would even take some of their children to the temple to be killed.

    SLIDE 26

    • God told His people:

      • “‘You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech. This will show that you do not respect your God. I am the Lord. (Leviticus 18:21, CEV)

    • This is one example where one religion is right and the other religion is wrong. They can't both be right. It's either right for parents to kill their own children, or it's wrong. 

    • The point is, not all religions teach the same things, and not all religions are right.

  • Application

    • Even today, not all religions teach the same thing.

    SLIDE 27

    • For example, Muslims believe in a God who created the world. They also believe that we will spend eternity in heaven or hell, and they believe if we obey Allah and Mohammad, we will go to heaven. On the other hand,

    • CLICK Buddhists don't believe any of those things. Buddhists don't believe in a god. They don't believe that the world was created, they don't believe that we can live forever, and they don't even think it's a good thing to live forever.

    • Muslims and Buddhists believe opposite things, and they can't both be right!

    • Whenever a person says all religions teach the same things, we can know for sure that they are wrong.

    SLIDE 28

    • Often it's not the right time to argue with them, but sometimes we will get a chance to talk about religions and we can explain what we know.

    • That wraps up our first point, which is that not all religions can be right.

  • Discussion Question

    SLIDE 29

    • Let's stop for a discussion question!

    • Do you think we should be friends with people who believe in another religion?

    • A possible answer from the teacher

      • Yes, the Bible encourages us to make friends with lots of people, even if they don't believe the same things (Luke 16:9). When we are friends with people who aren't Christians, we give them the best chance to start a relationship with God.

      • That's not the only reason to be friends.

    SLIDE 30

    • God taught us to love all people. If we are kind to other people, a lot of them will be kind to us back, and we will have the start of a friendship just because we are doing things God's way.


    Point 2

  • Our second point is, the right religion gives us the best reasons to believe.

    SLIDE 31

  • Game: Breakfast Scramble

    • Instructions

      • Teacher: you may want to set up tables with a puzzle on each one, so that each group of 4-5 can access their puzzle.

      • We'll start this point with a game! It's called Breakfast Scramble. We'll form teams of about 4 people, and your team will put a puzzle together. We'll see how quickly you can do the puzzle.

      • Teacher: you may want to play multiple rounds, with the children switching stations each round so that they have a fresh picture to work with.

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it's like finding the right religion. We all start off with a big jumble of pieces, and nothing really makes much sense. But, when we keep working on it, we see pieces fitting together. In the end we know when we've finished the puzzle, because there's no other way to put all the pieces together. That's what it's like when you've found the right religion; it's like all the puzzle pieces of your life suddenly fit together, and it all makes sense, and you know it's the only way to really make sense of life.

  • Bible Reference

    • The Bible tells us when we believe in Jesus, we can know we've found the right answer.

    SLIDE 32

    • Jesus talked one time about the people who didn't trust him. He said:

      • John 15:24 (CEV)

      • I have done things no one else has ever done. If they had not seen me do these things, they would not be guilty. But they did see me do these things, and they still hate me and my Father too. 

  • Explanation

    • Jesus was saying, He only expected people to trust Him after He did things that nobody else did. Jesus would heal the sick, raise the dead and feed thousands of people with a few loaves of bread. He proved to people that He was not just an ordinary man. He gave people a reason to listen to Him and to trust Him. All through the Bible, God only asked people to trust Him after He gave them a really good reason. Even today, God only asks us to trust Him because He has given us really good reasons.

    • God has given us reasons in science and history and math, and in our sense of right and wrong. Anyone who wants to know the truth about God can find it.

    • The problem is, sometimes the truth will make us uncomfortable. God might tell us to be friends with someone who is really unpopular, or He might tell us to do what our parents say when we really don't want to, or He might tell us to stop chasing after certain dreams.

    SLIDE 33

    • The truth can sometimes make us very unhappy, at least for a while. That’s why a lot of people don't want the truth. But, Jesus said, the truth will set us free. In the end, if we stick to the truth, we will have the best life.

  • Application

    • If you want to know which religion is the right one, just keep searching for the truth. Then, when you study religions, you'll find that most religions don't even try to prove that they are true. But when you study Christianity, you will see that we have lots of reasons to believe what Jesus said. As Christians, we have the best reasons to believe what we believe, and no other religion comes close.

    SLIDE 34

    • If a friend asks you which religion is true, you can study the reasons with them. You don't need to memorize all the answers off the top of your head. If they want the truth, they can wait a day for you to find the answer. Take a day to learn the reasons to be a Christian. If you keep searching for the truth and for good reasons, you will find them.

  • Discussion Question

    SLIDE 35

    • Let's stop for a discussion question!

    • Why should we be Christians and not follow another religion?


    Conclusion

    SLIDE 36

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

  • Our big question today was: which religion is right about invisible things?

  • Our big idea was:

    • We CAN know which religion is right, and:

      • 1. Not all religions can be right, but

      • 2. The right religion gives us the best reasons to believe.


    SLIDE 37

    Short Film: Holy Monks

  • We'll end with a short film! This one is called Holy Monks

  • It reminds us that most religions will teach us to live a good life, but the Christian religion is about a relationship with a real God. And if you have a relationship with God, you will be happy in the end.

  • Teacher: play this YouTube video:


    Ending

  • Teacher: if you have extra time after the lesson, you can play some games together, do a Bible memory drill for a prize, or sing some songs.

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