Weekly Lessons

April 18, 2021: God Dwells with His People

Today’s lesson is based on Exodus 25-40

Let’s Start!

Let’s Watch!

We’ve been following the story of Moses and the Israelites for a few weeks now. Last week, we talked about how God made a covenant with his people – He would be their God, and he would bless them as His people; and they agreed to live the way He wanted them to. For a long time, it was just Moses who talked to God and spent time with Him – Let’s watch a video to see how, and then we’ll talk about what changed!

Woah, pretty cool for Moses, right? But, God had made a covenant with all of His people. He wanted to be in relationship with them (not just with Moses). So he told the people to build a tabernacle. What is a tabernacle? Glad you asked!!

Parents, if you want to explore the idea of a covenant relationship and the tablernacle God asked His people to build in more depth, check out this video from The Bible Project.

Let’s Talk!

For today’s lesson, grab a large blanket or sheet and some tall chairs to make a tent while you are talking about the tabernacle!

Open your Bible to Exodus 25 and read verses 8-9
What is a tabernacle? A tent
With the tabernacle, God would dwell with his people! Now, do you think God actually lives in a tent or a house? He’s God, so he’s everywhere! He can’t just be in only one spot.
That’s right! But, when he chose to dwell among his people, his presence came to the tabernacle. He came close to his people there so that they could spend time with Him.
Have you ever built something out of legos? When you open up a new box of legos, what else is in the box besides the bricks? (the instructions!)
You can build some pretty cool things out of legos on your own, but you won’t be able to build exactly what the set is supposed to be unless you follow the instructions, right?
The Tabernacle was the same way! God gave his people specific instructions for how to build his tabernacle. They brought fabric to make beautiful curtains to hang inside, they brought incense and spices to burn to create a nice smell, and olive oil to put inside lamps and burn, kind of like a candle.
The people could come inside the courtyard of the tabernacle (or the outside area) to spend time with God. Who do you like to spend time with?
Then, God told his people to make something else. Let’s read Exodus 25:10-11 to find out what it was!
So the Ark of the Covenant was like a huge, shiny gold covered box. God’s presence would dwell above the box in the tabernacle.
But the ark sat in a room called the Holy of Holies and a thick curtain separated it from everything else. What does holy mean? Holy means set apart, which means that God, because he is Holy, can’t dwell with sin.
In the Old Testament, when the tabernacle was built, Jesus hadn’t come to defeat sin yet, so the big curtain separated God’s presence from most of the people. He was too holy for them to come too close to Him. But God had a plan. One day, Jesus would come so that we didn’t have to be separated from God’s presence. And when he died and rose again, that big thick curtain got torn in two. Now, God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell inside everyone who chooses to trust in Jesus.
God dwells with US!

Let’s Do!

God chose to dwell with his people in the tabernacle – and gave them some pretty specific instructions for what it was supposed to be like! Think about your perfect place to live (or dwell), what would it be like? Would it be a house, a tree house, a huge building, a large tent?

Grab a piece of paper and draw your ideal dwelling place!

Let’s Memorize!

Let’s Pray!

God wanted to be with his people, so he asked them to build the tabernacle. But that wasn’t all. He wanted to be even closer to us than in a tent, and he knew that our sin would get in the way. So Jesus came to die for our sins. So that we don’t have to be separated from God. When we trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us! We are never alone because he is ALWAYS with us!
Is there anything you want to talk to Him about today? Tell him what’s on your mind, and then thank Him for always being with you!

Let’s Bless!

Parents, end your prayer time by praying the following blessing over your child(ren):

May you know that God dwells with you no matter where you go. May you sense Him with you today, and every day!

Weekly Lessons

Holy Week 2021: Easter Sunday -Jesus is Alive!

This week’s lesson is based on John 20

Let’s Start!

Imagine that it’s night time, and you’re outside looking up at the sky. What would you see? Stars, clouds, planets, the moon. . .
Now, what if I told you that out there, farther away than you could see, was a planet in our solar system called Neptune. Would you believe me? Why or why not?
Even if YOU’VE never seen Neptune, you trust that it exists because scientists have seen it with telescopes, and we have pictures of it in our science books, right?
Can you think of anything else that you know exists even if you can’t directly SEE it? The wind, thunder, Africa, a seed planted in the ground, a helicopter that’s too far away to see (but you can hear it!)
Now, what if I told you that beyond Neptune was a planet called Smorglesdorf, and that everyone who lived on Smorglesdorf wore polka dotted shorts and sang “row row row your boat” while rowing down cotton candy streams in upside down umbrellas. Would you believe me then? Why or why not?
The disciples faced kind of the same problem after Jesus died. No, no one told them about Smorglesdorf, but think about it: They SAW Jesus die. They watched his body get placed in a grave with a huge stone in front of it. But then, someone came to them with some crazy news: JESUS was ALIVE! He had risen from the dead!!
Let’s see how they responded:

Let’s Watch!

Let’s Talk!

Jesus IS ALIVE!
Who found the empty tomb? The women
What did the Angel say to the women? He is not here! He has risen, just like He said!”
How do you think that made the women feel, and why? Excited! If Jesus was alive and had raised from the dead, that meant he really was who he said he was. He IS the LORD!
How did the disciples respond when they saw Jesus? At first they were frightened and confused. Some didn’t believe it! But once they realized it was really him the Bible says they were overjoyed (super excited!)
What did Jesus do when He spoke with Thomas? He appeared in the room – even though he hadn’t opened the door, and let Thomas touch his hands and his side so that Thomas could see for himself that Jesus was real and that he was alive.
John 20:31 says that: “By believing you may have life in Jesus’ name.” Because Jesus rose from the dead, that means he has defeated sin and death – giving us new life in Him! We can have new life forever with Jesus (someday) but also a full life here and now as part of his kingdom! (See John 10:10).
In fact, real life comes only through Jesus because HE IS ALIVE!

Let’s Do!

Make some Empty Tomb Rolls together as a family to celebrate that JESUS is ALIVE!

You can find a recipe by googling “Empty Tomb Rolls” (you’ll place a marshmallow rolled in cinnamon sugar inside of crescent roll dough or other bread dough and bake it: as they bake, the marshmallow melts into the dough leaving an empty pocket inside the roll!)

Let’s Memorize!

Let’s Pray!

Knowing that Jesus is alive, how do you want to respond to Him today?
- Do you want to ask Him to be the King of your life – and give you new life too?
- Do you want to thank Him for what He’s done for you?
- Do you want to praise Him?
Go ahead and spend some time talking to Jesus! He is still very much alive – and wants you to know Him and the new life he has for you too!

Let’s Bless!

Parents, end your prayer time by speaking the following blessing over your children:

Weekly Lessons

Holy Week 2021: Good Friday

Let’s Watch:

Weekly Lessons

Sunday, March 28: Palm Sunday

Today’s lesson is based on: Matthew 21:1–11; John 12:12–19

Let’s Start!

Today we’re going to celebrate Palm Sunday by making our own Palm Branches!

Option 1: Print the file below, color it in green, and cut along the lines to make a palm branch. To make it stronger, tape or glue your palm branch onto a paint stick, straw, or a stick from outside.

Option 2: cut your own palm branches out of green construction paper or tape thin paper strips onto a stick!

Palm Branch Printable Download

Let’s Watch!

Do you know what next Sunday is? Easter!
Next week we’ll learn more about what Easter means, but today we’re going to take some time and talk about another important day – Palm Sunday!
Before Jesus’ died and rose again, He and his disciples went to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. Passover was a special feast to celebrate how God set His people free from slavery in Egypt.
That day, Jesus made quite the entrance to Jerusalem. In fact, years before, the prophet Zechariah had talked about it (check it out in Zechariah 9:9). Let’s watch and see what happened!

Let’s Talk!

If you could ride into town on any sort of animal (real or imaginary), what would it be?
Why do you think Jesus rode into town on a donkey? A donkey was a symbol of humility and peace.
What did the people do when they saw Jesus? (check out Matthew 21:9) They waved their palm branches and shouted “Hosanna!”
Hosanna means “save us!” The people wanted Jesus, as their king, to defeat the Romans and set up his own kingdom – but Jesus’ kingdom looked different than the people expected. What is Jesus’ kingdom like? Jesus is the King of Kings! He is the King over all because he is God. He did come to rescue his people, but, instead of bringing huge armies and winning battles, he rescued them by defeating sin and death when he died on the cross and rose again.
What Kind of King is Jesus? Look up the following verses and talk about how they describe Jesus as King:
- 1 Timothy 1:17: He’s the King Immortal (forever!)
- Psalm 24:8: He’s the King of glory, He’s strong, and He wins every battle
- Isaiah 32:1: He’s righteous (makes the right decisions and pleases God)
- Revelation 1:5: He’s a loving king who chose to die to free us from our sin.
When we know Jesus as our King, we can cry out to Him: “Hosanna! Save us!” We can ask him to forgive us for our sins and help us to live our lives for Him!

Let’s Do!

Download and print the donkey poster and tails below, or draw your own donkey and use string or paper as it’s tail!
Have one person at a time wear a blindfold and spin around, then try to place the tail on the donkey. Whoever is closest wins!

Pin the Tail on the Donkey Printable Download

Let’s Memorize!

Let’s Pray!

Make sure you have your palm branches available for today’s prayer time!

How does it make you feel to know that Jesus is the king over everyone and everything?
Have you ever had to surrender to Jesus as King by doing something you knew He wanted you to do even though it was hard? (to surrender means to give up what you want and do what He wants instead) What happened?
Let’s spend a few minutes asking Him if there is anything you need to give to Him today:
- Maybe you need to ask Jesus to forgive you for not doing something he wants you to do (like being kind to your siblings or obeying your mom or dad).
- Maybe you’ve been praying about something and it hasn’t happened – and you need to give that to Jesus and say: “I trust you.”
- Or, maybe you just need to say to Him, Jesus: Thank you for being my king! You are strong and mighty and right, and I love you and trust you!
We can honor Jesus as King in our lives just like the people did on Palm Sunday by giving Him control of our lives and worshipping Him! As you pray, write down whatever you think of on your palm branches and then hold them out to Jesus.
If you’ve never asked Jesus to be King of your life, you can do that today! The Bible says that if we believe in our hearts that He is God and that He came and died and rose again to take away our sin, and we ask Him to be King in our lives, we get to be part of His kingdom! He’s not only the most powerful King ever, he’s also the BEST king ever. He loves you SO much, and He wants you to know Him.
If you do pray to ask Jesus to be king in your life, we’d love to celebrate with you! Send us an email to let our team know!

Let’s Bless!

Parents, end your prayer time by speaking the following blessing over your child(ren):

Weekly Lessons

March 14, 2021: God is Provider

Today’s lesson is based on Exodus 15:22-17:7

Let’s Start!

Do you know the difference between a want and a need? A need is something you can’t live without. A want is something you’d really, really like, but it isn’t a necessity.
Watch the video below with your family and decide whether each item is a WANT or a NEED. *Hint: you might not all agree on the answers and that’s ok!

Let’s Watch!

Sometimes, it’s hard to tell the difference between wants and needs. When you really, really want something, it starts to feel like a need! And sometimes what you want or need changes, or is different from someone else’s needs. For instance, a shiny red bike might be something you really want – if you need the bike to get to work so that you could make money to buy food for your family, well, then that want becomes a need!
Sometimes we don’t think we need something, but we do! (like when we want to stay up late and don’t think we need sleep!)
But, even if we can’t always perfectly tell what we need, there’s someone who ALWAYS can. Do you know who? God!
Let’s find out what happened to the Israelites after they were freed from Egypt, and how God met their needs!

Let’s Talk!

Why did God bring His people out of Egypt? (Ex. 5:1) He had heard their cries when they were in slavery, and he wanted them to be free to worship Him.
When they got to the Red Sea and it looked like there was nowhere to go, what did God do? Parted the waters of the sea and they walked through on dry land
Woah. You’d think the Israelites would have trusted God then, right? After all – He had done all kinds of crazy things in Egypt through plagues to prove His power, and then they were set free, and even the sea couldn’t stop them! But did they trust Him? No.
What did they complain about? (Ex. 15:24, 16:3) They were hungry and they didn’t have much food.
Is food and water a want or a need? A need
Did God know what they needed? Yes!
How did God give the people the food and water they needed? (Ex. 15:25, 16:3, 17: 5-6). He provided manna on the ground that they could make into bread, and meat, He even made fresh water flow from a rock.
God even provided a day of rest! Can you remember what that was called? (Ex. 16:23). A Sabbath.
Even though the people were wandering through a desert, God provided for all their needs. He led them with a cloud and a pillar of fire. He gave them water and food and rest. Have you ever seen God provide for you and your family? How?

Let’s Do!

DID YOU KNOW: One time, the Israelites came upon a spring of water but the water tasted bitter. God told Moses to place his staff (like a walking stick) into the water and it became sweet and good to drink! Today we’re going to pretend to make some water sweet by playing a fun game (don’t drink it though!!)

What you need:

Plastic cups (or containers, totes or buckets)
Masking tape
Wooden craft sticks (or find some small sticks outside)

WHAT you do:

Set up two cups filled about halfway with water (if dividing your family into two teams) or use one cup per child.
Note: you could also use small bins or plastic containers, you just want something that won’t dump over easily.
Make a tape line a few feet away from the cups where you want child(ren) to stand.
When you say “go” each team or child starts throwing craft sticks towards the containers. The first team or child to have all their sticks in their container wins!

Let’s Memorize!

Let’s Pray!

** Before you start, make sure that each person has a blank piece of paper to write on. You’ll also need a special snack (maybe a bowl of popcorn or a plate of cookies)!

What happened when the Israelites tried to gather too much food and save some for the next day? It went bad / it was full of bugs.
Why do you think God didn’t want them to gather food for other days? He wanted them to trust Him. If they only gathered enough food for one day, it meant they trusted that God was going to provide for them the next day too!
It was hard for the Israelites not to worry that there wouldn’t be enough food. After all, they were in a desert! They wondered if God really saw them and really cared about them. Sometimes, we worry about things too. We might worry if we’ll have enough food, or if someone will get sick, or if we’ll mess up in school and everyone will make fun of us.
On your strip of paper, write or draw something that you’re worried about. If you don’t want to write it, you could just think about it as you hold your paper. “What have you been worrying about? What’s been bothering you?” (parents, allow some time for them to think and write/draw!)
God sees you too, and He cares about your worries! Do you know what the best part is? He wants you to give them to Him! He wants you to trust him just like the Israelites did – because He loves you.
But, sometimes, instead of trusting God, we take our worries and we hold onto them tightly (have child(ren) tear their papers in half and then crumple them and hold each piece tightly – one in each hand). What happens to our worries when we hold them tightly? Do they disappear? No! Eventually, it’d hurt your hand to squeeze that paper so hard, right?
The Bible says that God is a good God and he wants to give good gifts to his children. So now, without letting go of your paper, I want you to try and hold this good gift. (have child try to take a snack from the bowl or eat a cookie with their papers still in their hands).
That’s hard to do with your worries crumpled up in your hands, right? God knows that too. So he wants us to give our worries to Him. He wants us to trust Him because He is our provider and He will take care of us too!
As a family, open up the papers and talk about the things you’ve been worrying about. Then, bring those worries to God together in prayer. When you are done, have each child take their crumpled papers and toss them into a garbage can.

Let’s Bless!

Parents, end your prayer time with the following blessing:

Weekly Lessons

March 7, 2021: Remember and Celebrate

This week we’re reviewing what we’ve talked about for the past few weeks. If you missed any of those lessons, you can find them here: God is Redeemer, God is Worthy of Worship, God is the Lord (Part I) & (Part II), God Gives New Life.

Let’s Start!

In Egypt, the Israelites had to work together to create bricks and build things for the Egyptians. Today, we’re going to work together to build some things too, but here’s the catch: you can only use your body – no other building materials!
Each time a letter, number, or shape pops up on the screen, you’ll have a few seconds to “build” it. You can use your arms or legs, or team up with a family member and build it together.

Let’s Review!

Use the following review game video to test how much you remember! Parents – you can pause the video on each question slide until your child(ren) have answered; the correct answer will pop up on the screen after a few seconds!

Let’s Talk!

Do you know what Deliverer means? Rescuer
How did God deliver His people in the Old Testament? He set them free from slavery in Egypt.
How did God deliver His people in the New Testament? Jesus came to pay the price for our sin and set US free.
Every time the Bible talks about God as deliverer, it says that he “IS” our deliverer, not he “WAS” our deliverer. He’s STILL our rescuer and he still moves in a mighty way today!
Can you think of a time that you’ve seen God’s power in your life?? Parents, lead this with a story of what you’ve seen God do in your life! Think of times that God has protected you, rescued you, seen you through a tough time, healed you, or helped you to overcome something you were struggling with. If something comes up where they need God’s deliverance – take some time to pray with them and believe for God to move in that situation!

Let’s Celebrate!

Give each child a piece of paper and allow some time for them to write or draw a picture of something they’ve seen God do. (Parents, write your story too!)
If you want, you can play some quiet music while everyone works on their papers!
When everyone is done, talk about what you wrote/drew! You could also have each person place their story on a wall with the label “God is Deliverer” to remind you of His power all week.
Then, celebrate! Enjoy a special snack or treat together, blow up some balloons, have a dance party, or find your family’s favorite way to remember and celebrate what God has done in your lives!

Let’s Pray!

God, Thank you for being our deliverer! Thank you that YOU have the power to set us free from sin, from bad attitudes, from sickness. . .and give us NEW life in you. Thank you for moving in our lives in a MIGHTY way!

Let’s Bless!

Today, have each child speak this blessing (from Psalm 67:1):

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us.

Weekly Lessons

February 28, 2021: God Gives New Life

Today’s lesson is based on Exodus 12-14

Let’s Start!

Draw lines for each letter of this week’s theme (God gives new life) on a piece of paper or dry erase board as illustrated below:

_ _ _ | _ _ _ _ _ | _ _ _ | _ _ _ _

Have children guess a letter at a time until it’s filled in!

Let’s Do!

Alternate Activity: RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK! Set up a series of challenges that students have to complete in one minute. Leader will explain the challenge, set a timer and say go! Some ideas are:

Build the tallest tower they can out of cups or legos
Complete a puzzle
Sort objects by color
Carry something (crumpled pieces of paper, stuffed animals) from a basket on one side of the room to a basket on the other side of the room

Let’s Watch!

Last week we talked about what happened when Moses when to the Pharaoh and told him to let God’s people go. Even after God sent plagues to show that He really was God (and more powerful than the Egyptian gods!), the Pharaoh still didn’t want to let the Israelites go. Let’s find out what happened next.

Let’s Talk!

For today’s activity, you didn’t have much time to find an object for the scavenger hunt or complete the challenges. In today’s Bible story, who else was told that there wouldn’t be much time? The Israelites.
What did God tell them to do to be ready to go right away? Pack their things, make bread without yeast in it, and eat dinner in the clothes they would travel in.
God knew Pharaoh would set them free and wanted them to be ready to get up and go. During the very last plague, what did God tell his people to put on their doorframes? Blood from a lamb or goat.
It might seem like a strange way to protect his people, but God was giving them a picture of what was going to happen years later. You see, not only did the people in Egypt need to be saved, ALL of God’s people, you and me included, need to be saved from something too. Do you know what that is? Sin.
That’s right. God showed his people that not only was he going to protect them and get them out of slavery in Egypt and give them a new life, He was going to make a way for ALL of us to have a new life – Through Jesus!
The meal that the Israelites ate that night became known as Passover. Did you know that we still celebrate Passover today when we take communion?
The night before Jesus died, he broke bread with his disciples to celebrate Passover with them. He told them to keep celebrating together – to remember his sacrifice for us and to celebrate the new life we have in Him!
When we celebrate communion, the bread represents Jesus’ body which was broken for us. And the juice represents his blood, just like the blood of the passover lamb, that was shed so that our sins could be forgiven and we could have new life with Him.
Even though we don’t bring a suitcase with us when we take communion, we’re still saying to God: “I trust you – and I’m ready to see what you’re going to do in MY life!” because we know that God Gives New Life.

From the EGC Kids Team: Want to go deeper? Parents, we have a communion guide available here that you can use when you’re talking about communion with your kids or taking communion at home as a family!

Let’s Memorize!

Let’s Pray!

In Exodus 13:3, Moses tells the people to celebrate the Passover to remember how God saved them with his MIGHTY hand.
What do you think mighty means? Can you use an action to show might? (show off your muscles, lift something heavy)
Ok. Before we pray, let’s practice some motions we’ll use when we pray. [practice taking a step, walking in place, and taking a giant leap. As you pray, they’ll do these motions when you say “step, walk, or jump.”]
Dear Jesus, Help us to trust you. Help us to always step toward you. Help us to walk in the new life you give us, and be ready to jump into whatever you call us to do! Amen.

Let’s Bless!

Parents, end your prayer time with the following blessing:

Weekly Lessons

February 21, 2021: God is the Lord: Part II

Today’s Lesson is based on Exodus 5-11

Let’s Start!

Let’s Do!

Did you know that in Ancient Egypt, when a Pharaoh died (a Pharaoh was their ruler), they would wrap him up because they thought that doing so could make him live forever! We know that Jesus is the one who gives us eternal life, not a bunch of strips of cloth. But we’re still going to have some fun with it anyway and make our own mummy!

WHAT YOU NEED:

A roll of toilet paper or streamers

WHAT YOU DO:

Choose one person in your family to be the “mummy”
Have the rest of the family stand around the person in the center and wrap them up from head to toe in toilet paper (remember to make sure they can still breathe though!)
To make this more challenging: make it a competition! Choose two people to be mummies and see who can cover their mummy the fastest!

Let’s Watch!

** Today, we’re going to continue the story of Moses and find out what happened when he went to free the Israelites in Egypt. We’re going to be learning this story in two parts, so stop this week’s video at 4:20.

Let’s Talk!

When Moses went to talk to the Egyptian leader and tell him that God wanted him to let His people go, what did the Pharaoh do? Kicked them out and instead made the Israelites work even harder!
Last week, when Moses asked God what his name was, God said something that seemed kind of strange. Do you remember what it was? I AM
That’s right! God said to tell the people that “I AM” had sent him. God wanted the people to know not just who he wasn’t, but who he was.
God didn’t say: “Well, I’m not pharaoh, isn’t that good enough? Anyone should be better than him!”
If you asked me what my name was and I said: “I’m NOT William.” Does that help you at all? What if I said: “I’m not Abraham Lincoln?” Yeah, not super helpful.
So, who is this God who called Moses? Well, for starters, he wasn’t one of the Egyptian Gods. He wasn’t the god of the Nile River or the God of the Sun. Who was He? He was THE God. He was THEIR God. The same God who called Abraham and set them apart as His people.
How did God prove who he was to all the people in Egypt? Sending Plagues
What plagues did God send? Turned the Nile river into blood, filled the country with frogs, gnats, and locusts, made the animals and people sick, sent darkness and hailstorms.
Now, imagine that you believed there was a god that controlled the Nile River and gave you all that amazing water. Then imagine that the water gets yucky and you can’t use it and no amount of praying to your god can fix it. Would you start to think maybe Moses’ God was real? Yes! God was showing the people through the plagues that HE was the true God. He was ‘I AM.”
Can you think of anything else he proved he was more powerful than in today’s story? The weather, false gods, the pharaoh, the people, sickness and heath, animals and bugs.
Even though the Pharaoh still didn’t want to set His people free, God was proving to Him, and to the Israelites He was and always will be I AM. The one who is king over all. He is the Lord and there is no one like him! (even after all that, the Pharaoh still refused to let God’s people go free, at first. But there’s more to the story! Join us next week to find out what happened next!)

Let’s Memorize!

The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. Isaiah 40:28

Let’s Pray!

God showed the Israelites that He was all-powerful and that He loved them and had heard their cries for help.
Where do you need God’s help today? Maybe you need his strength to do something you don’t feel like you can do. Maybe you need his power – for healing in your body or in a relationship. Maybe you need His wisdom to know what to do.
Where does the world around us need God? What’s happening in your family, your school, our country or around the world? Where can you ask God to move in a powerful way?
Take some time to pray for those things now. Ask him for help for things in your life – and spend some time as a family lifting up other people or other situations that are heavy on your hearts. Remember, God’s promises aren’t just for the Israelites, they are for you too! He is with you, He hears you, and He still moves in a mighty way because HE IS LORD.

Let’s Bless!

Parents, end your prayer time by praying the following blessing over your child(ren):

Weekly Lessons

February 14, 2021: God is the Lord

Today’s lesson is based on Exodus 2-4

Let’s Start!

Can you guess what something is just by the way it sounds? Watch this video to see how many you can guess!

Let’s Do! (Name scramble / scavenger hunt)

Grab some post it notes or scraps of paper and on each one, write the letters to each family member’s name (one letter per piece of paper)
For younger kids: Scatter the papers around the room and have your child hop on one foot to collect each one. Once they have all of them, help them unscramble the letters to spell their name!
For older kids: Hide the pieces of paper around your house for each child to find like a scavenger hunt! First one to find all their letters and unscramble their name wins!

Bonus activity: Do you know what your name means? Take some time this week to look up the meaning of each of your family members’ names!

Let’s Watch!

Let’s Talk!

Do you think you would answer back if a burning bush started talking to you – or would you run as far as you could the other direction?
Moses had a hard time believing that God would talk to him, let alone ask Him do something for Him! Moses felt like a nobody. He didn’t seem to fit anywhere and he didn’t feel like anything special. But God knew who he was.
Have you ever felt like you aren’t good enough for God?
What did God want Moses to do? To go tell the Pharaoh to let his people go! (remember, the Israelites were slaves in Egypt).
Moses still felt unsure. He asked God what to say if the Israelites didn’t believe Him and asked who told Him to come. Let’s find out what God said!
Read Exodus 3:14-15 together.
What did God call Himself? I am.
That might sound like a strange name, I mean, it really isn’t even a name at all, is it? But what God is saying by using the name I AM is:
- I am the God who created you. I am powerful, and I know you.
- I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I was with them, and I am with you.
- I am real. I am not like the false gods the Egyptians worship.
- I am Your God, and you are my people.
- I am everything I say I am. You can trust me.
God wanted the Israelites to know that He was the one true God, the one who rules over ALL things, and that they belonged to Him and He wanted them to know Him. And he wants you to know Him too!

Let’s Memorize!

Follow along with Miss Crystal this week and use motions to learn your verse!

Let’s Pray!

In today’s story, Moses heard God’s voice from a burning bush! You might not hear God speak to you from a bush (and you definitely shouldn’t try to set your mom’s shrubs on fire to find out if they start talking!) but you can hear from God too!
Can you think of some ways that God speaks to us? Dreams, visions, words, knowing something we couldn’t have known otherwise, through His word, through other people.
One of our EGC Kids core truths is “God Talks to Me,” because we believe you can hear from God too. God wants you to know His voice!
Today, instead of a large group prayer, take some time to pray on your own! You can tell God about your day or things you’re worried about, but be sure to leave some time where you just sit quietly and ask Him to speak to You! Remember, sometimes when He speaks we see something, sometimes we hear something, and sometimes we just know something in our hearts. If you don’t hear anything specific this time, that’s ok. Keep asking Him to talk to you and keep listening! You’ll get to know His voice just like Moses did!

Let’s Bless!

Parents, end your prayer time with the following blessing over your child(ren):

Weekly Lessons

February 7, 2021: God is Worthy of Worship

Today’s lesson is based on G enesis 11-12; 15

Let’s Start!

Let’s Do! Build a Tower

For YOUNGER kids: Gather some building materials and see how tall of a tower you can build – either on your own or work as a group! Below are some ideas of what to build with:
- Building toys: legos, blocks, etc.
- Household items: rolls of toilet paper, pillows, plastic cups
- Outdoor option: snow!
For OLDER kids: Make it a challenge! See how fast you can build your tower, and then try to beat that time on the next round. Make it extra fun by recording a slow-mo video of you knocking it down in between!

Let’s Watch!

Let’s Talk!

What was your favorite part about building towers?
What made it hard?
Do you think that today’s story means that God really doesn’t like towers? No. . .
IS there a rule in the ten commandments that says “Thou shalt not build towers?” No!
If God doesn’t have anything against towers, what was today’s story about? Today’s story isn’t really about whether or not we should build towers, it’s about what we do with the creativity and strength and knowledge that God gives us. He wants us to use those things to honor him, and to follow him. The people in today’s story had a different idea. They wanted to become powerful. They wanted everyone to know them. They wanted to be the biggest and the best and they wanted to prove they could do it without God.
What happened next? God made it so that they all spoke different languages!
Woah, crazy, right? How many languages do YOU speak? Do you know anyone who speaks a different language?
You see, the people thought they could come up with the best plans on their own, but God ALREADY had a plan. In fact, a couple chapters later He told a man named Abram that He was going to have lots and lots and lots of kids and grandkids and great grandkids and great great grandkids and. . . well, you get the idea!
Read Genesis 12: 1-3 together
The people who wanted to build the tower thought they needed to make their own plans, but God already had a plan. They didn’t have to build a tower so that people would know them, God was going to make a great nation! It wasn’t about proving how powerful they were, it was just about following Him!
What do you think it looks like to follow Jesus?

Let’s Memorize!
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. Isaiah 40:28

Let’s Pray!

Have you ever tried really hard to impress someone else or get them to like you? Have you ever done something to prove that you were bigger or stronger than someone else?
When we do those things, it’s like we’re worshipping other people (or ourselves!) – because we’re saying that what they think is more important than what God thinks.
Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that only God is worthy of worship. Not other people, and definitely not ourselves! We need to remember that HE has a plan for us, and that we can trust Him because He’s good and He loves us.
Today as we pray, think about things that are important to you: things like other people, your favorite toys, maybe something you really want or wish you had. . . And then ask God if you’ve been treating those things as MORE important than Him. Maybe you’ve been too focused on them, or you’ve made some poor decisions because of them. If you have, ask him to forgive you and to help you to trust in HIM and His plan!

Let’s Bless!

Parents, end your prayer time by praying the following blessing over your child(ren):