Preschool
Birds Feed Elijah
1 Kings 17:1-6
BIG IDEA: God loves and cares for us!
GET TALKING:
- What message did God give Elijah? (That it wouldn't rain for a long time. Told him to go hide by a little stream.)
- How did God love and care for Elijah? (God supplied his needs. He gave him water to drink. And had birds bring him bread and meat to eat.)
- God was good to Elijah. And He is good to us! What are some ways God has taken care of you? (Ex. warm home, food in our fridge, moms/dad/grandparents to take care of us.)
ACTION PLAN: Name a way God loves and cares for you.
PRAYER: Thank God for loving and caring for us all the time.
JULY MEMORY VERSE:
"God has been good to me." Genesis 33:11
Elementary
Beating All Odds
Judges 7:1-23
BIG IDEA: It is wise to obey God by doing what He asks of me.
GET TALKING:
- What did God tell Gideon about the number of soldiers in his army? (There were too many.)
- Gideon started with 32,000 soldiers, how many did he end up with? (300)
- How did he narrow it down? (First he asked if anyone was afraid, and let them go home. Then he took them to a stream for a drink of water, and he kept only those that cupped the water and brought it up to their face.)
- Why did God want Gideon to have a smaller army? (So people would know that God won the battle, not the soldiers. So they couldn't take credit for winning.)
- What happened during the battle? (Gideon and his army split into 3 groups of 100, carrying trumpets, jars and torches. They surprised the enemy. The Midianites were confused and fought each other. God won the battle!)
CONNECTING TO JESUS: God's battle plan to defeat the Midianites might have seemed silly, but Gideon had made up his mind to obey God, no matter what. And because he trusted and obeyed, God showed His great power to everyone around! Jesus also made the choice to trust and obey His Father's plan, even though it meant death. And because He did, God showed the whole world that He has power to raise the dead and make anyone who believes in Jesus a member of His family. God's plans are always best, even when they are difficult. He promises to be with us and take care of us the whole way!
ACTION PLAN: Talk about reasons why obeying God is the wisest choice.