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    • Today's Theme:
    God wants to put his Spirit inside us so we will follow Him.

     

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    Today's Story:

    		Daniel and his friends are taken to Babylon
    II Kings 25, II Chronicles 36, and Daniel 1
    Optional Memory verse: Ezekiel 36:27
    "I will put my Spirit inside you.  
    And I will help you live by m rules."
    International Children's Bible, New Century Version
    • Materials Needed:
    		Promised Land Mat
    Bulletin board paper or paper bags cut apart and taped together
    Old seed and garden catalogues
    Children's scissors, crayons, glue sticks
    Southern King figure (purple king)
    Prophet figure
    Priest figure
    Pharaoh figure from Moses lessons
    Daniel figure
    3 Fisher Price or similar type boy figures to be Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
    5 or 6 Fisher Price or similar type people to be God's people
    Shoe Box Temple
    Blocks
    Optional Snack: Assorted dried fruit, nuts, and a bowl:
    		Before the children arrive hide the snack items in 2 or 3 of corners of the room.

     

    • Intro. Activity: Prior to the lesson have the kids make Babylon:
    		Use a piece of bulletin board paper or paper bags cut apart and taped together:
    		Draw a river and let the kids color it in,
    Let the kids cut pictures of trees and flowers from garden catalogues and glue on the paper.
    Tell the children that they are making a far away place called Babylon  to use in today's story.
    We will be using the "Babylon" mat for the next several weeks".

     

    • Resume the story at the Babylon mat:

    • Closing Discussion

    • Close in Prayer asking God to help us ask him to forgive us when we do wrong things.  Ask God to put His Spirit inside us so that we will love Him more than anyone or anything else.

    Telling the Story:

    Today you will be telling the story in 2 places in the room:

    1. Around the Promised Land mat on 1 side of the room,
    2. Around the Babylonian mat the kids made on another side of the room.

     

    		Let's put the Promised Land right here and the Babylon mat that you made way over there.
    		Direct the kids to put Babylon on the other side of the room from the Promised Land.
    Babylon had a king.  Let's pretend that this is Babylon's king.
    		Show the children the Pharaoh figure.
    Place the Pharaoh figure on the Babylon mat.
    Last week we learned that all the people in this part of the Promised Land had to leave the Promised Land because they didn't follow God's most important rule to never make pretend gods.
    The king we learned about last week made golden cows and told God's people to pray to them.
    		Place the golden cows in the Promised Land
    This week we're going to learn about this part of the Promised Land where the temple was.
    		Add the temple and point out the Southern kingdom near the Dead Sea.
    Place the priest figure in front of the temple.
    Do you think the people in this part of the Promised Land followed God's most important rule to never make pretend gods?
    We already know that King Solomon did not follow this most important rule when he made pretend gods for his wives.
    		Place several towers of blocks in the Southern part of the mat.
    There were lots and lots of kings in this part of the Promised Land  after King Solomon and his son King Ray grew old and died.
    		Place Southern king near the temple.
    And there were lots of people who lived in this part of the Promised Land.
    		Place some Fisher Price or similar type figures on the mat near the Dead Sea.
    Every time the king died there was a new king to rule over all these people.
    		Spin king figure around to indicate the death of 1 and a new king to replace him.
    And every time there was a new king God sent a prophet to remind the new king of his most important rule.
    Let's pretend this is a new king and a prophet is coming to see him.  You be the prophet's voice and give him God's message,
    		Walk the prophet figure to the king,
    Lead the kids in telling the king,
    		"Never make your own gods,
    If you do I will make you leave this good land."
    But most of the kings would not listen to the prophets.
    Some of them even made more pretend gods.
    		Add more towers of blocks.
    But not all of the kings in this part of the Promised Land were bad.
    One king was so upset when he heard about God's most important rule that he destroyed all of the pretend gods down here.
    		Walk king figure to the towers and have him knock them over.
    He even destroyed the golden cows that King Jerry made.
    		Walk him to the cows and have him knock them over.
    But he grew old and died.
    		Spin him around.
    And his son became king.
    And his son rebuilt the pretend gods that his father had destroyed
    		Rebuild the towers.
    God sent his prophet to warn him.
    		Walk the prophet figure to the king
    Lead the kids in telling the king God's most important rule.
    But that king wouldn't listen.
    There were more kings.
    		Spin the king figure around.
    One king was so bad that God told his prophet to write God's rules on a scroll of paper and read it to the king. 
    But the king just tore the scroll up and threw it in the fire.
    Finally God sent a prophet to tell the king and all the people that God was going to make them all leave the Promised Land.
    God told them that He was going to let their enemies take over their land.
    But the king and the people just laughed and did mean things to the prophet.
    At that time there were 4 young men who lived in this part of the Promised Land.
    They were named Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
    		Place the Daniel figure and 3 other figures on the mat.
    Daniel and his 3 friends were from the king's family.  They might have even been princes.
    Well the King of Babylon decided that he wanted the Promised Land.
    		Point to the Babylon mat.
    So he and his soldiers marched to the Promised Land.
    		Direct the kids to make marching noises with their feet.
    They burned down the temple.
    		Knock the temple over.
    And they made God's people march to Babylon.
    		Direct the kids to pretend they are soldiers marching God's people to Babylon.
    They should each take 1 or more  figures to the Babylon mat including:
    		Daniel, 
    Shadrach, 
    Meshach, 
    Abednego, 
    priest figure
    the prophet figure, 
    the king and 
    all of the figures representing God's people.
    God did make his people leave the Promised Land just like he said he would.
    And God's people became slaves all over Babylon
    		Set the figures representing God's people all over the Babylon mat.
    But even though God punished his people by making them leave the Promised Land, he still loved them.
    God made Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego become important helpers to the king of Babylon.
    		Place those 4 figures around the Babylonian king figure.
    God took care of his people in Babylon.
    He made sure there were prophets and priests there to teach them about God.
    		Point out the prophet and priest figures.
    And God promised them that someday they would go back to the Promised Land.
    God made another promise, too.
    He promised them that he would give them a perfect king who would never, never make pretend gods.
    And God promised to put His spirit inside them so they would follow His rules.
    Then they would be careful to never make pretend gods.
    God loves us and wants to put His spirit inside us so we will follow Him.
    How did God make His people leave the Promised Land?
    		He let their enemies take over their land
    God's people had trouble  even following the most important law not to make their own gods.  
    We don't pray to pretend gods, but sometimes we make things more important than God.  
    What kinds of things can you think of that we make more important than God?
    		 toys,  friends, activities
    God wants us to love Him more than anything else.
    When we have God's Spirit inside of us, He helps us to love God more than anything else.
    How do we get God's Spirit to live inside of us?
    		By asking Jesus to forgive us for the wrong things that we do,
    By asking Jesus to put His Spirit inside of us.
    You can pray right now if you want ask Jesus to put his Spirit inside of you.

     

    • Action Game: Journey to Babylon
    		Designate each corner of the room as a stage of the journey to Babylon:
    		1. Through the forest,
    2. Along the river,
    3. Over the mountains,
    4. Into Babylon.
    Play "The King Says" (a version of Simon Says) in each corner using terms relevant to each region, e.g.:
    		"The king says"
    		take 3 side steps around some big rocks in the forest,
    1 giant leap over a stream,
    turn sideways and take 2 slides along a cliff wall,
    etc.
    Before leaving regions with the hidden snack foods, have the king command the kids to scatter and find food:
    		Direct the kids to find the a hidden food which might be:
    		Dried grapes in the mountains (raisins)
    Nuts in the forest,
    etc.

    Optional Snack: Dried Fruits and nuts

    Supplemental Bible Readings:
    (Suggested daily readings)

     

    • Materials Needed for Next Week:
    		Promised Land Mat
    Paper Babylon mat from today's lesson
    Prophet figure
    Pharaoh figure from Moses lessons
    Daniel figure
    3 Fisher Price or similar type boy figures to be Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
    5 or 6 Fisher Price or similar type people
    Blocks
    Optional Snack: vegetables and dip
    • Figures Needed for Upcoming Lessons:
    		In mid December you will need the figures from a childproof Nativity set.
    In January you will need a Christ figure

     

    © 1999 Linda Lawler.  
    Permission granted to copy for personal use only.  Not for resale.

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