November 2020

Weekly Lessons

November 29, 2020: God is the Living God

Today’s lesson is based on Acts 17

Let’s Start!

Let’s Talk!

One day Paul traveled to the city of Athens to tell the people there about Jesus. The people in Athens believed that there were many different gods. They believed in a god of the sun, a god of music, a god of farming, a god of fire. . .In fact, they believed there were so many gods it was impossible to remember or even name them all, so they even worshipped “the unknown god” in case they had missed one – they didn’t want to make one angry by forgetting him!
Why did they worship so many gods? Well, they thought all those gods were in charge of those things. Like, if you wanted sunshine for your birthday party you’d ask the sun God. If you wanted your crops to grow, you’d give money to the farming god.
Have you ever heard stories about how to make sure you had a snow day the next day like Miss Erin tried? What do people say you’re supposed to do? Sleep with your pajamas inside out and backwards, put your pillow case on inside out, sleep with cotton balls under your pillow, do a special dance before you go to sleep.
Let’s say you did ALL that, but woke up the next day and it didn’t even snow!! What do you think might have gone wrong?
- Did you not use enough cotton balls?
- Was your dance too boring?
- Did none of that actually have anything to do with whether or not you’d have a snow day?
The people of Athens thought that if they didn’t get what they wanted the gods must be angry because they didn’t give them enough gifts. But Paul came and told them something else. Something that seemed totally crazy! Paul said:
- There is only ONE God, not many.
- That ONE God not only controls ALL those other things, he CREATED them!
- God isn’t some angry person floating up in the air somewhere, He loves you and wants to know you – and wants you to know Him!
Let’s watch this video to see how the message Paul shared with them was different:

Let’s Watch!

When the video ends, talk about it together:
What is God trying to remind his people? How much He loves them!
How is God’s story different than what the people in Athens believed? God created people and He loves them. He’s been writing a story from the very beginning that shows people His love. He’s not floating up in the air somewhere, and he’s not “unknown.” You can know God – and he wants you to be part of his family!

Let’s Do:

What you do:

Place a few objects in a bag and have your child(ren) take turns reaching into the bag – without looking! And holding an object in their hand. Have them try to guess what the object is just by touch!
If they don’t have any idea, you can give them clues!

What you say:

That was tricky guessing what things were just by touch! We don’t have to guess what God is like, though, we know what he’s like because we read about Him in the Bible, He speaks to us, and we see what he’s like in his creation.
See if your family can make a list together of what God is like! Some ideas to get you started: Loving, caring, powerful. . .

Let’s Pray!

Take a look at the list you made of who God is:
Which one of those is your favorite, and why? For instance, I love that God is powerful because it helps me to remember that He is bigger than things that feel scary or hard!
Which one do you need God to help you to remember? Ie: I need God to remind me that he is always there because sometimes I feel alone.
Pray together and thank God for who He is, and ask him to reveal himself to each person the way they need him to this week!

Let’s Memorize!

Let’s Bless!

Parents/Guardians, close out your lesson time by speaking this blessing over your child(ren):

Weekly Lessons

November 22, 2020: God is Good | A Lesson in Thankfulness

This week’s lesson is based on Acts 16: 16-35

Let’s Start!

Let’s Watch!

Let’s Talk!

Woah! What a crazy story!
What do you think prison was like for Paul and Silas? Was it a nice place to be? No! They were chained, there were many other prisoners, cells were probably not nice to be in.
How do you think YOU would feel if you were locked in a cell with chains around your arms or legs so that you couldn’t leave? Scared, angry, confused.
Sounds like a pretty lousy day for Paul and Silas, right?
Have you ever had a really, really lousy day? What happened?
Remember, Paul used to be a very different person before he met Jesus. In fact, he used to track down Christians and throw THEM in prison, and now he’s the one stuck in a jail cell! You’d expect Paul to be pretty grumpy about that, right? But what did Paul and Silas do while they were in prison? Praised God and sang songs.
Wait, what?! They were stuck in some stinky jail cell, chained up, and they SANG praises?!
Why do you think they did that? Possible answers: to focus on something else, they loved Jesus, there was nothing else to do. . .
Paul and Silas could have let their grumpiness about their lousy day take over, but they didn’t. Because they loved Jesus and wanted to serve Him, even if that meant being thrown into jail.
In fact, PRAISE is a way of telling God how much you love him, and how THANKFUL you are for who He is and what He’s done – even on the lousy days! Paul was able to praise God even from prison because Jesus had totally changed His life, and He knew that no matter what happened God was ALWAYS with him.
What do YOU have to be thankful for? Family, friends, food, Jesus. . .
What do you think would happen if you chose to be thankful (focus on the good things – like who God is and what he’s done for you) even on really hard days?

A Note to parents: Choosing to be thankful even in the hard times helps gives us a totally different perspective. It changes our internal thoughts, our external behavior, and the way we respond to those around us. In fact, like the jailer in today’s story who came to know Jesus because of how Paul and Silas acted – when we choose thankfulness: focusing on who God is and what he’s done for us – it not only changes OUR perspective, but can change the perspectives of those around us, too. For many of us, this has been an incredibly challenging year. We feel it, our kids feel it, our neighbors and our friends feel it. As you talk with your family this week, think about these questions: Where can you choose to see God’s goodness? How can you cultivate an atmosphere of praise and thanksgiving in your home? How would it change your perspective?

Let’s Do:

What you need:

Child safe paint (finger paint or tempera paint would work) (Brown plus other colors of your choice)
A sharpie
A piece of white paper.

What you do:

Paint your child’s palm and thumb with brown paint (for the turkey’s body). Then paint the bottom of each finger with a different color of paint (to make the feathers).
Place their hand on the paper and gently press down, leaving a turkey print. Set aside to dry fully. (you could paint the face and legs now or draw them with a marker later)
Once the Turkey print is dry, have your child think of four things they are thankful for and write them on the tail feathers in black sharpie!

EGC Kids Tip: You could do this activity by tracing your child’s hand on construction paper and cutting out colored feathers instead of using paint.

Let’s Pray!

Go around the room and have each person your family share something they are thankful for.
Then, take some time to thank God together for the things you have on your list!

Let’s Memorize!

Let’s Bless!

Parents/Guardians, close out your lesson time by speaking this blessing over your child(ren):

Weekly Lessons

November 15, 2020: God Wants Everyone to Know Him

This week’s lesson is based on Acts 11: 19-30

Let’s Watch!

“The church of Antioch” by Saddleback Kids

Let’s Talk!

When the church in Jerusalem heard that there were a lot of people in Antioch who believed in Jesus, who did they send to check things out? Barnabus
As the church grew and grew, who did Barnabus ask to join him in Antioch and help him teach people about the Gospel? Paul
Antioch was the first place where people who believed in Jesus were called what? Christians (which means follower of Christ)
When a prophet told the Christians in Antioch that there was going to be a famine, what did they do? They sent a gift to the leaders in Jerusalem to help them.
If someone asked you: “What is the church?” what would YOU say?
- A place where you go to learn about God?
- The place that hosts crazy cool fall festivals and drops eggs from helicopters?
Well, let’s watch this next video together and see what it has to say about the church.

“What is the Church?” by Life Kids

After watching that video, how would you describe the church (would you change your answer at all from before? We are the church.
Look up John 13:35 in your Bible and read it out loud together.
How did people know that Christians were Jesus’ disciples? They loved others! (Like the church in Antioch who sent money and gifts to help Jerusalem or the man who sold his field and gave all the money to the church to help people who needed it).
The Bible says that more and more people became Christians because of the powerful things that God did through His people (the early church), and because of the way that Christians treated others with love.
Can you think of a time that you felt Jesus’ love because of something that someone else did for you? What happened?

Let’s Do!

What you do:

Print out the donkey poster and tails below (or draw a funny donkey shape on a piece of paper and cut thin strips of paper to use as a tail).
Place a small piece of poster putty or a rolled up piece of tape on the back of the tail and hand it to your child.
Place a blindfold on your child’s eyes and gently guide them to spin around 3 times and then walk to the poster to pin the tail on the donkey.
Make sure everyone in your house gets a turn, and then compare who’s tail was the closest!

Pin the Tail on the Donkey Printable Download

Then, repeat the game but this time use a map or a globe.

Have each person spin around (or spin the globe) and then randomly put their finger down somewhere on the map. (if they end up in the middle of an ocean somewhere, they can take another turn).
Write down the name of the country they landed on.
During your prayer time today, take some time to pray for the people living in that country that they would come to know Jesus and trust Him as their savior!

EGC Kids tip: If you’d like to take this activity a step further, you (or your child) can do some research here or here about the countries you landed on so that you have some specific things to pray about this week!

Let’s Pray!

God wants all people to know Him. And he wants us, as the church, to tell others about him, and to love other people the way He loves us!
Let’s take a few minutes and ask God to show us who we can show his love to this week.
- Maybe it’s being kind to a sibling or family member
- Maybe it’s sending someone a card or dropping off a meal or something they need.
Then, spend some time praying for that person – and for the people in the country you chose in the pin the tail on the donkey activity.

Let’s Memorize!

To help you memorize your verse this week, pair up with a sibling or parent and take turns saying the verse two words at a time.

(PERSON 1) | (PERSON 2)
By this | everyone will
know that | you are
my disciples | if you
LOVE ONE ANOTHER

When you get to “love one another” give each other a big hug and say the words at the same time.
Then, high-five your partner when you say “John 13:35”

Let’s Bless!

Parents/Guardians, close out your lesson time by speaking this blessing based on Philippians 1: 9-11 over your child(ren):

Weekly Lessons

November 8, 2020: Jesus changes everything.

Today’s lesson is based on Acts 9

Let’s Start!

Let’s Watch!

Paul, Jesus, and the Road to Damascus | by LifeKids via Youtube

Let’s Talk!

Before Paul was known as Paul – what was his name? Saul
What did Saul do to people who followed Jesus? He captured them and put them in prison. Some were even killed.
When Saul was on his way to Damascus, what happened? He saw a bright light and Jesus talked to him! After that, he couldn’t see for three days.
Ananias also heard the voice of Jesus. What did Jesus tell Ananias? To go to Saul and pray for him so that he could see again.
How did Ananias feel about that? He was scared! He knew what Saul did to people who believed in Jesus. It was hard for him to believe he could change.
The moment Ananias laid hands on Saul, his eyes were opened. From then on, Paul began to share the good news of Jesus with everyone! Talk about a big change!!
How has knowing Jesus changed YOUR life?

Parents / Guardians: This is a fantastic opportunity to share a bit of your testimony with your child. When did you come to know Jesus? What changed after you gave your life to him? (be honest and open with your kids, but keep it age appropriate). For some of us (adults or kids), our testimony might not include a dramatic conversion like Paul’s. Perhaps you’ve always known and served Jesus. If that’s the case – he’s been changing you all along to be more like Him – and still is! Think about ways that your life would have been different if you didn’t know him, or ways that he is helping you change or grow.

Let’s Do!

When Saul met Jesus, everything changed! We’re going to try some “change it up” challenges today to see how well YOU do with change!

Challenge #1: Spell it!

For this challenge, first choose a word that your child is able to spell and ask them to spell it for you out loud.
Then, tell them that the rules have changed and they have to spell the word backwards!
Backwards is trickier, right? How about this challenge:

Challenge #2 Write it!

Have your child write their name on a piece of paper.
Then, tell them that the rules have changed again, and they must write their name with their non-dominant hand.
Have them write their name again and compare the two! (to add to the challenge, you could have them try it again and write their name with their eyes closed!)

Challenge #3 Walk it!

Have your child walk from one designated point to another point in the room.
Then, tell them that the rules have changed (again!) and they must walk back to the starting point but this time, with their eyes closed, AND walking backwards!
(EGC Kids Tip: Stay close by and assist as needed so that no one gets hurt!)

Let’s Pray!

The good news about Jesus is that HE changes us. God doesn’t expect us to just be able to switch and do something backwards and instantly be different all on our own. That’s what Jesus does!
Paul was created by God, and loved by God – and so are you and I. But sometimes, we choose to do what we want instead of choosing God. The Bible calls that sin. In fact, that’s the whole reason Jesus came! When Jesus died and rose again, he defeated sin and death once and for all.
Now, when we choose to believe him and give him our lives, everything changes. He forgives us and makes us new again (2 Cor 5:17) and we become part of God’s big story – part of his family forever (John 1:12). Not only are we changed into a new person, but he helps us to keep changing – to keep becoming more and more like Him.
Have you ever given your life to Jesus? If not, would you like to today?

Parents / Guardians: What about you? Have you ever chosen to give your life to Jesus? The Bible tells us that we ALL have sinned (Rom 3:23), and that sin separates us from God. The gospel – the good news of Jesus – is so much more than a cute story for our kids to learn about in kids’ church on Sunday mornings. The gospel says: no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done: you are loved by a God who would go to incredible lengths to forgive you, to welcome you home, and to make you new. He wants to do that for you, today. If you, or someone in your home would like to make a commitment to follow Jesus, there are some resources below that can help! If you have any questions or would like to speak with someone here at EGC about what it means to follow Jesus, you can reach a member of our pastoral staff here our our kids min team here.

Additional Resources for Families:

What is the Big God story? This video tells the story of the Bible from creation to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection to what it means for us today. It’s a great summary for early elementary ages.
Leading Kids to Jesus Below is a document provided by TruStory (the curriculum we base our lessons on each week.

Salvation Path for Children Printable Download

If you, or someone in your family prayed today to ask Jesus into your life, we’d love to celebrate with you! Send us an email at egckids@elimgospel.org and let us know!

If you’ve already made a commitment to follow Jesus, hooray! That’s awesome! Do you know someone who doesn’t know Him yet? Maybe a friend or someone in your family, a leader, or someone at school (maybe even someone who isn’t usually very nice to you)?
Jesus loves them too – just like he loved Saul, and just like he loves you! Take some time right now to pray for them, that they would come to know Jesus! And, pray that God would give you the courage to talk to them about Him, just like Ananias in today’s story.

Let’s Memorize!

Let’s Bless!

Parents/Guardians, close out your lesson time by speaking this blessing over your child(ren):