Kings: Ahab & Prophet Elijah

March 3, 2013UncategorizedBook 1 Kings, Topic Kings, Topic Prophetslxlam

1. Story: King AHAB & Prophet ELIJAH (1 Kings 16:29 – 1 Kings 17)

In our story today, the king who is ruling over the northern kingdom (Israel) is King Ahab. Let’s read what kind of king he was.
King Ahab was a very famous king in the Bible. Do you know why he was soooo famous? King Ahab was famous because he was a very wicked king.
He was also famous because he had a very wicked wife. Her name was Jezebel. She was not a Jewish woman. God told His people that they should not marry women who do not worship the One, True God. Jezebel had not been taught in her home to worship Jehovah God, but she had been taught to worship a fake god, called Baal, which was made of stone. (They offered their infant children as sacrifices to their god.)
King Ahab who never should have married Jezebel in the first place brings her into his family and makes her his wife. As the leader of his family he should have never allowed her to bring her Baal worship into their home. But since he didn’t make a good first choice and married a woman who didn’t love God, he made a second bad choice and allowed her to worship Baal in their house. This was a very wicked thing.
The bad influence of Ahab and Jezebel affected the Jewish people and many people sinned as a result. The people of Israel began to follow their leader’s example and many people in Israel began to worship Baal. They forgot that they had the One True God who made the whole world, who loved them, and who brought them out of Egypt.
Because God loved His people He sent messengers called prophets to call the people of Israel back to Him. Sometimes they didn’t listen, so sometimes God had to allow them to get into some sort of trouble before they would call out to Him.
One of God’s prophets was called Elijah. Elijah’s name means ‘my God is Jehovah’.

One day, Elijah went straight to King Ahab and said, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will neither be dew nor rain in the next few years, except at my word.”
What do you think King Ahab and Jezebel did as this messenger from God stood before them? It’s not written in the Bible, but based on what Elijah did next, we can only imagine that they threatened his life.
But God proved His faithfulness and love to Elijah with 3 wonderful miracles!

Miracle #1:
God told Elijah to go hide by the Brook Cherith by the Jordan River. He told him that he could drink water from the brook. He also said that He had commanded the ravens to feed him there.
When Elijah got to the brook he had plenty of water to drink. Just as God had said, every morning and every night God sent ravens with bread and meat for Elijah to eat. I couldn’t help picturing these obedient ravens swooping down on someone’s picnic and grabbing a hamburger or hotdog for Elijah to eat! Even the ravens obeyed God.
As time passed with no rain, the brook began to dry up and there was no more water for Elijah to drink. God had taken care of him this far, would God continue to help Elijah? Of course!
God told Elijah, “Arise, go to Zarephath, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow to provide for you.”
When he got to Zarephath, the widow was at the city gates gathering sticks for firewood.

Miracle #2:
“Please bring me a little water in a cup,” Elijah asked the woman. “Please bring me a morsel of bread.”
“I do not have bread,” the widow answered. “Only a handful of flour in a bin and a little oil in a jar.” Sadly, the lady told the prophet that when this was finished, she and her son would starve to death.
“Do not fear. Make me a small cake from it first, and afterwards make some for yourself and your son,” Elijah said. “The flour will not be used up, nor the oil, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.”
God would have to work a miracle for that to happen. And He did! The lady and her son ate for many days, yet the bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry! Elijah lived with them.

Miracle #3:
One day a sad thing happened. The widow’s son died. In those days, women depended a lot on men to take care of them. After her husband died, her son was her only hope.
Elijah carried the boy’s body to an upper room. He cried out to the LORD, saying, “O LORD my God I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” What an impossible prayer!
The LORD heard the voice of Elijah and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. When Elijah took the child and gave him to his mother she said, “Now by this I know that the word of the LORD in your mouth is the truth.”

(Source: Ministry to Children; Bible for Children)

2. Lesson:

God provides for our every need.

He provided food for Elijah through the ravens
He provided for the widow and her child with never-ending flour and oil!
Whenever we give what little we have to God, whether it is money, time or energy, it opens up our hearts so that God can fill us up with more. And when we give our lives to God, we can trust Him to make things right for us and to be the rewarder of our faith.

We can trust Him even in bad times.

When Ahab and Jezebel tried to kill Elijah, he trusted God to protect him.
When the widow’s son died, he trusted God to do the impossible and bring him back to life!
We, too, can trust in God in every circumstance of life. Certainly, God is able to take care of us, no matter how hopeless our situation seems, just as He cared and provided for the widow and her son.

We don’t need to look to other fake gods because we have Jesus, our Everything!

Our faith is built as God delivers us from one difficult situation and then another, just as the widow’s faith was built. Let us keep our confidence in God. He will never fail us! God wants us to learn how to trust in Him.

3. Suggested Activities:

Pick a Word Review
- Choose 10-15 key words from today’s lesson (eg: Ahab, Baal, flour, oil, ravens, Elijah, widow, son etc.). Write them on a small piece of paper and place them in a bowl. Pass the bowl around class and have each child pick one word each. After everyone has chosen a word, allow the children to take turns sharing what their word is and how it fit into today’s lesson.

Flour Game
- Prepare some flour, 2 bowls, 2 small spoons and 2 small jars that are the same size. Split your class into 2 equal teams. Set up a table for each team. On each table set up a bowl filled with enough flour to fill up a jar. Place one jar and a spoon on each table. Have 2 teams line up facing each table.
- When you say “go”, the first child in line goes to the table and takes a spoonful of flour and put into the jar. Then returns to tag their friend who goes next. Continue until all kids have their turn. Winner is team with most amount of flour in the jar.

Testimony time: Get kids to come up and share how they trusted God and He provided and protected them.

Kings: Review & Kings of Israel

February 24, 2013UncategorizedBook 1 Kings, Topic Kingslxlam

1. LESSON: Review & Kings of Israel (1 Kings 15: 25-16:28)

In the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the kings of Judahwho ruled over the Southern Kingdom (2 tribes): (use actions to reinforce and review)

Rehoboam: Not a servant king
(actions: an “X” sign with hands then open palms for “serving”)
Proud and refused to serve the people. As a result, his father’s kingdom was split into 2 — Judah (2 tribes) and Israel (10 tribes).
Jesus is our servant King who came to give us rest.

Abijah: Relied on God for victory
(actions: do V for victory sign with fingers)
God gave him victory over Jeroboam (who tried to ambush Abijah with double the number of troops) because of His covenant with David.
Because of His New Covenant with Jesus, God fights our battles for us and gives us victory!

Asa: Trust in God or trust in self?
(actions: stand on 1 foot and lean to one side; ie who are you leaning on?)
When Asa trusted in God, God gave him victory over the Egyptian king and his mighty army. But when threatened by King Baasha, Asa decided to rely on himself and formed his own alliances, instead of trusting God.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Today, we will look at 5 more kings of Israel (Northern Kingdom; 10 tribes) and see how they fared.
Generally, all the kings of Israel didn’t follow God. They did evil and led the people to worship idols. It was a vicious cycle with each new king. And there were always wars and unrest as a result.

Jeroboam (22 years)
(actions: 2 fingers on sides of head like cows’ horns)

We’ve learnt about King Jeroboam. Who remembers what he did? He made 2 golden calves for the people to worship, so they didn’t have to go to the Temple in Jerusalem.
Jeroboam tried to let unholy people worship a holy God everywhere.
Jesus’ death made us holy and opened the way for us to worship the Father in Spirit and in truth.

Nadab (2 years)
(actions: show thumb; he is 1^st of 5 new kings we’re learning today)

Son of Jeroboam; followed his father’s ways.
One day, when Nadab was busy attacking a town in Philistine (Gibbethon), one of his own people, Baasha, from the tribe of Issachar, plotted against him and killed him!

Baasha (24 years)
(actions: show 2 fingers — thumb and forefinger)

As soon as Baasha killed Nadab, he made himself king.
He killed Jeroboam’s entire family, as was prophesied to Jeroboam before as a result of his idolatry. (1 Kings 14:14-16)
Last week we learnt of how Baasha tried to attack King Asa of Judah, but Asa made a treaty with King Ben-Hadad to stop him.
Baasha also did many evil things and worshipped idols. God sent His prophet to tell Baasha: “I lifted you up from the dust and appointed you ruler over my people Israel, but you followed the ways of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin and to arouse my anger by their sins.”
As a result, God told Baasha that he and his family will suffer the same end as Jeroboam and his family.

Elah (2 years)
(actions: show 3 fingers — thumb, forefinger and 3^rd finger)

Son of Baasha.
His official, Zimri, who commanded half his chariots, plotted against him. One day when Elah was drunk, Zimri came in and struck him down.

Zimri (7 days)
(actions: show 4 fingers — thumb, forefinger, 3^rd finger and ring finger)

Zimri succeeded Elah as king of Israel and ruled in Tirzah.
Just as Baasha killed the entire family of Jeroboam, Zimri killed all of Baasha’s family, as was prophesied.
However Zimri was the shortest-reigning king in Israel. Guess how long he reigned? 7 days!
When the Israelites in the army camp heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and murdered him, they proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day there in the camp.
Omri and the Israelites then attacked Tirzah (where Zimri was ruling).
When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the royal palace and set the palace on fire around him. So he died.

Omri (12 years)
(actions: show 5 fingers)

Some Israelites supported another person to be king —Tibni, but Omri’s followers were stronger, so Omri became king.
Omri bought a hill from a man called Shemer for 2 talents of silver. He built a city on the hill and called it Samaria, after Shemer (the former owner).
Sadly, like the other kings before him, Omri also did evil in the eyes of the Lord. In fact, the Bible says he sinned more than all those before him.

Conclusion:

What can we learn from the kings of Israel? (revise with actions)

Jeroboam
Nadab
Baasha
Elah
Zimri
Omri

Because they didn’t follow God, because they did evil and led the people to worship idols, there were always wars and unrest
(note: If you recall, in the beginning, God was the King over the nation of Israel when He brought them into the Promised Land. He had judges to rule over Israel. But Israel grumbled and complained — all the other nations had kings, so they wanted a human king too! That was how Saul was appointed as Israel’s 1^stking.)
Through history, we see how human kings always fail. Because they are human. They are not perfect. They make bad decisions. They try to do things their own way, not God’s way. And as a result, the people will suffer.
Today, we have a good King. He never fails. He is perfect. He makes wise decisions. He does things His way because He is God. And as a result, all of us are blessed in Him! His name is Jesus!
Out of the 5 kings, 3 became king by killing the previous king — Baasha, Zimri and Omri. They were greedy for power and seized it for themselves by destroying others.
Jesus was King of all who came to give His life for us. When the people wanted to make Him king by force, Jesus withdrew because He knew that was not God’s time (John 6:15). When He finally entered Jerusalem as a king on a donkey (John 12:15), his purpose was to die on the cross and give His life for us.
Because Jesus died for us, you and I can be prince and princesses of the Most High God! Thank you Jesus!

2. Suggested Activities

Worksheet/Quiz

Kings: Asa of Judah

February 17, 2013UncategorizedBook 1 Kings, Book 2 Chronicles, Topic Kingslxlam

1. HOOK: Whom do you seek? Or related icebreaker

Create two cubes/lists:

possible decisions that kids have to make (e.g. school work, recreation, choosing friends etc)
possible people or things they seek help from (e.g. parents, friends, doctors, teachers etc)

Have kids roll the two dice together and discuss the way people might seek the help for the decision.
God puts wise people in our midst, and we should get help from these people, especially our parents. But our parents are also human. They don’t have all the answers or know what’s going to happen. The One person who knows everything and whom we can depend on is Jesus. So whenever we have issues or problems or have to make big decisions, talk to Jesus first, and He will show us the way.

2. LESSON: King Asa of Judah (1 Kings 15, 2 Chronicles 14-16)

King Asa

Today we meet King Asa. He was the son of King Abijah and ruled over Judah for 41 years.
Unlike his father Abijah and grandfather Rehoboam, the Bible records for us that “Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God” (2 Chron 14:2) and that he had a whole heart like David (“Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life.” 2 Chron 15:17)
What did Asa do? He:

Stopped worship to the false gods: Removed the foreign altars and high places; smashed the sacred stones; and cut down the Asherah poles (He even removed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother because she made an idol for the worship of the false goddess Asherah)
Commanded Judah to seek God and obey Him
Built up and prospered the cities of Judah in times of rest/peace

Asa & his 2 Battles: Where do you place your trust?

During Asa’s reign, Judah had peace for many years. But there were 2 instances where he faced some external threats.

#1: Zerah and the Cushites (1 Chron 14)

There was a man called Zerah, who was a Cushite. He had a large and powerful army — 1 million men and 300 chariots — from Egypt.
One day, Zerah decided to come and attack King Asa at the Valley of Zephathah.
King Asa had about 580,000 fighting men, but Zerah’s army was greater — 1 million men and 300 chariots. The odds were heavily stacked against King Asa.
What did Asa do? He called to God. “Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.” (1 Chron 14:11)
Asa trusted and relied on God. And God struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushite armies fled, and Asa and his men chased them and destroyed them.
King Asa and his men also carried away a large amount of plunder from the fallen Cushites. God gave them a great victory indeed!

#2: Baasha King of Israel (1 Chron 16)

In the 36^th year of Asa’s reign, there was another threat against Judah.
King Baasha of Israel went against King Asa. He fortified the town of Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering Judah.
What did Asa do? Call to God?
Unfortunately this time, he didn’t.
Asa decided to rely on his own cleverness this time. Asa decided to make a treaty with Ben-Hadad king of Aram, from Damascus.
Ben-Haded had a treaty with Baasha already. But King Asa gave Ben-Hadad gold and silver from the treasuries of the temple and palace and asked him to break his treaty with Baasha.
Ben-Hadad agreed. He broke off his treaty with Baasha of Israel and began conquering the towns of Israel — Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, Naphtali etc.
When Baasha heard about it, he abandoned his work at Ramah. So the men of Judah went to carry away all the stones and timber that Baasha had been using in Ramah, and they used it to build up the towns of Geba and Mizpah.
That seemed like a smart move on King Asa’s part, right?
But God didn’t think so. Asa had trusted in his own cleverness and in another man (King Ben-Hadad) instead of in God to deliver him … even though God had delivered him from Zerah and the Cushites before.
He sent Hanani the prophet to speak to Asa:“Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”
Asa didn’t listen to the prophet. He was angry with him and put him in prison.
Even when Asa was old and sick, he only trusted the doctors and did not seek help from the Lord. (1 Chron 16:12)

Asa was a good king who followed God and kept His commandments. He didn’t worship idols. But He forgot to trust God fully. He thought that he was smarter than God. He put his trust in other men. In the end, he missed out the big victory God had in store for him.
We can be good and follow God’s commandments. We can choose not to worship idols. But when we rely on our own goodness and smartness and abilities, we lose out on something greater. Jesus is our goodness. Jesus is our wisdom. Jesus is our ability.
So children, do we trust men or trust Jesus? Trust our own selves? Or trust Jesus? When we are faced with issues and decisions in life, call upon Jesus, and He will answer us and show us the best way!

Memory Verse Activity: (play game or activity to get kids to memorise)
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Kings: Abijah of Judah

February 4, 2013UncategorizedBook 1 Kings, Book 2 Chronicles, Topic Kingslxlam

1. HOOK:

Prepare a plastic chair. Get a volunteer to come forward and put a hand on the chair. Get the volunteer to lift up the outside leg and lean towards the chair. The chair would move (control it a bit for younger kids), and the kid would lose balance.
Then get another volunteer to come forward. Get this volunteer to put a hand on the wall and lean towards the wall. The wall doesn’t move, and the kid doesn’t lose balance.
Today we’re going to learn about somebody who put His trust in the Lord. He didn’t put his trust in other things (like numbers or his own strength and power), because those are like the plastic chair. If you lean on it, it may fail and you may fall. But if we trust the Lord, he is firm, like the wall.

2. LESSON: King Abijah of Judah (1 Kings 15, 2 Chronicles 13)

REVIEW: KINGS OF ISRAEL

So far, we have learnt:

Rehoboam: Solomon’s son. Did not want to serve the people. People rebelled, and the kingdom was split into 2 — Israel and Judah. Rehoboam ruled over Judah.

After Rehoboam died, his son Abijah succeeded him as king of Judah. He ruled Judah for 3 years.
What else do we know about Abijah?

The Bible records for us 2 main things in 1 Kings 15:
Abijah did not have a WHOLE HEART like King David. He only had HALF HEART. He committed the sins of his father and grandfather of worshipping other gods etc.
There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam (King of Israel) throughout Abijah’s lifetime.

THE WAR (2 Chron 13)

One day, Jeroboam wanted to attack Abijah. He had 800,000 soldiers on his side.
Abijah got his troops ready too. But he only had 400,000 soldiers.
Who had the bigger army? Jeroboam (by double the number of troops)
Who would most probably win? Jeroboam
God’s ways are not our ways. He delights to show His power in our weakness. (1 Cor 1:25)
Although we read that Abijah only had HALF HEART for God, he knew and understood that the ONLY way to win against his enemy was to fully rely on God. Not on numbers or his own strength or power.
Abijah was facing a huge enemy and he knew enough about God that he knew the only way he could win this battle was if God fought it for him.

THE SPEECH

Abijah stood on the mountain and gave a speech to Jeroboam and his soldiers. His speech included:
Reminding them of God’s promise to David that his kingdom would reign forever.
Jeroboam made golden calves to be their gods and drove out God’s priests from his kingdom and allowed anyone who wants to be a priest to be one. (our lesson last week)
Abijah’s kingdom had God’s priests who were obedient to follow God’s ways to worship.
God is with Judah and enemies will lose if they fight against Him. “People of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.” (2 Chron 13:12)

THE AMBUSH

But Jeroboam decided to go ahead.
He sent some of his troops behind Abijah’s troops to “sandwich” them.
When Judah turned and saw that there were Jeroboam’s armies in front AND behind them, they did the only thing they could do — they cried out to the Lord.
The priests blew their trumpets. The men of Judah raised the battle cry.
And even though Israel’s armies were 2x the size of Judah’s, the Bible records for us that God defeated the armies of Israel before King Abijah and Judah.
Israel’s armies fled, and Abijah and his men managed to strike down 500,000 of them. Imagine … 400,000 soldiers from Judah striking down 500,000 soldiers from Israel. Physically and logically, that was impossible. But God made it possible.
In 2 Chronicles 13:18, it says, “The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.”

Conclusion:

Even though Abijah did bad things, the one good thing he did was to remember God’s promise/covenantto his great grandfather, David.
He knew that God promised to give King David a forever kingdom.
He knew God always kept His promises.
So he knew God would not fail them.

Even as a little boy, Abijah’s great grandfather, David, also remembered God’s promise/covenant to the people of Israel (e.g. the Abrahamic covenant of a great nation).

When he saw Goliath mocking the armies of Israel, he said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam 17:26)
When Goliath insulted him, David said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (1 Sam 17:45)
David knew who was with Israel and who will fight the battle for them — God.

God is a Covenant-keeping God.

God kept His covenant when Goliath was threatening His people
God kept His covenant with David when Jeroboam’s armies tried to ambush Abijah’s

God didn’t help Abijah and Judah because they were so good or that they deserved it — even though Abijah boasted, “We are observing the requirements of the Lord our God.”
God helped Abijah and Judah because of His covenant with David — “For David’s sake, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong.”

And God keeps His covenant with Jesus, which was cut on the cross with Jesus’ blood.
God will help us in our time of need — not because we deserve it; not because we are so good; but because He is good, and because we are His children under the New Covenant.

For Jesus’ sake, God fights our battles for us. God protects us. God helps us and gives us the victory!
Praise the Lord!

Memory Verse:

o 2 Chron 13:18 The people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

Option:

o Ps 18:2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer …

Kings: Jeroboam and the Golden Calves

January 27, 2013UncategorizedBook 1 Kings, Topic Kingslxlam

1. Lesson:

Review of Kings of Israel

So far, we have learnt:

David: God promised David that there will be a Forever King on his throne.
Solomon: Solomon disobeyed God, so God told him that his kingdom will be taken away from him.
Rehoboam: Solomon’s son. Did not want to serve the people. People rebelled, and the kingdom was split into 2 — Israel and Judah. Rehoboam ruled over Judah (2 tribes)
Jeroboam: God chose Jeroboam to rule over 10 tribes (Israel)

Today we will take a look at King Jeroboam, the King of Israel (Northern Kingdom)

Jeroboam

God had told Jeroboam: “If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you.” (1 Kings 11:38)
(note: Under the Old Covenant, God’s presence and blessings were conditional — If Jeroboam obeyed fully, God would be with him and he would be blessed. If he didn’t, he would be punished.)
Jeroboam became king of Israel — 10 tribes.
Rehoboam was king of Judah — 2 tribes.

Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon, the place of worship, was in Judah.
The Jews from Israel would travel to Jerusalem for their temple worship and sacrifices.
Jeroboam thought to himself: If the people from Israel kept going to Jerusalem to worship, they would gradually start supporting King Rehoboam and accept him as their king instead of me! (1 Kings 12:26-27)
So Jeroboam decided to make 2 golden calves and set one up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
So the people of Israel went to Bethel and Dan to worship before the golden calves, instead of going to the Temple in Jerusalem. This was a sin. God had told the Israelites to worship Him only and not to bow down to any idols, such as the golden calves.
Instead of following God and obeying Him, Jeroboam went on to set up his own forms of worship and create god in his own image —

He built more shrines (holy places) on high places
He appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites (the tribe that God set aside to serve as priests)
He instituted his own religious festivals (copying the ones held in Judah)
He offered sacrifices on the altar (the job of the priests) to the golden calves

God sent prophets to warn Jeroboam about his evil ways, but he refused to change … even when his son became very ill and eventually died.
In the end, the prophet Abijah (the one who told Jeroboam that God had chosen him to be king) told him that because of the sins that Jeroboam committed and the sins he caused Israel to commit, God was very angry with Jeroboam and that his kingdom would be taken away from him one day. (1 Kings 14:7-9)

Man-made Worship vs True Worship:

In Jeroboam’s time, God’s Spirit was only in the Temple in Jerusalem. People could only worship God and make sacrifices at the Temple.
Because he feared losing his kingdom, Jeroboam took matters into his own hands and created his own methods of worship to keep people away from Jerusalem.
God gave Jeroboam a wonderful offer of a great dynasty, but Jeroboam did not believe God — he ignored God’s willingness and ability to keep His promises.
He forgot that his kingdom was from God anyway. He forgot God’s promise that as long as he followed God, God will give him a great kingdom and a powerful dynasty.
He tried to set up places of worship so people could worship God anywhere and everywhere.
However he failed. That’s because man, even kings, are sinful and unholy. They cannot simply approach God and worship Him anywhere and anyhow.
That’s why Jesus had to come to die for us and to wash us clean so that we can approach God freely anytime.
When Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman, she said, “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” (John 4:20)
Jesus told her: “A time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem … Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
Jesus was talking about a time where people would be able to approach God and worship Him anywhere in Spirit and in truth. They didn’t have to go to a temple or a mountain to worship God.
When Jesus died and rose again, those who believed in Him would have God’s Spirit in them, and they would be able to worship God in Spirit and in truth.
Because of Jesus, our Forever King, we can worship God anywhere and approach Him boldly and confidently! Thank you Jesus!

Conclusion:

Solomon was wise but disobedient king. Jesus is our wise and obedient Forever King.
Rehoboam was proud and refused to serve the people. Jesus is our servant King who came to give us rest.
Jeroboam tried to let unholy people worship a holy God everywhere. Jesus’ death made us holy and opened the way for us to worship the Father in Spirit and in truth.

Memory Verse:

John 4:23-24 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.
Simplified: John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.

Kings: Rehoboam the Proud King

January 20, 2013UncategorizedBook 1 Kings, Topic Kingslxlam

1. Lesson:

Last week we learnt: God had prophesied to Solomon that because of his disobedience, his kingdom will be taken away from him. The prophet Ahijah had prophesied to Jeroboam that he would become king over 10 of Israel’s 12 tribes.

The People’s Request

Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, succeeded to the throne after his father, Solomon, died.
Rehoboam went from Jerusalem to Shechem, a city about 40 miles north of Jerusalem, to establish himself as king in the north. (This is where Joshua spoke his last words and where Joseph’s bones were buried.)
Jeroboam had been an administrator of Shechem during the reign of King Solomon. He was popular there.
During the reign of King Solomon, Solomon had many big building projects, such as the Temple and his palace. And the people had to do a lot of the work and pay a lot of the taxes. So the people asked Jeroboam to talk to King Rehoboam on their behalf for some help.
Jeroboam and the people of Israel told King Rehoboam, “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
King Rehoboam told the people to give him 3 days to think about their requests.
Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?”
They replied, “If you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.” The elders said that If King Rehoboam helped the people, the people would always serve him faithfully. It was good advice.
But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders. Instead, he consulted his friends for their advice.
The young men gave King Rehoboam bad advice. They told him NOT to help the people and to make their problems even BIGGER! “Tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”
So 3 days later, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam.
The king answered the people harshly. “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”
So the king did not listen to the people. He did not help them. This was so that God’s prophesy through the prophet Ahijah would be fulfilled.
When all Israel saw that King Rehoboam refused to listen to them, they rebelled against the king and rejected him.
Instead they made Jeroboam their king.
Only 2 tribes — Judah and Benjamin — remained faithful to King Rehoboam.
Revise: Jeroboam was king of 10 tribes (Israel); Rehoboam was king of 2 tribes (Judah)

Conclusion: The Proud King vs Jesus: The Servant King

Rehoboam did not consult God. He did not listen to good advice. He thought he was smart enough to make his own decisions. He did not listen to the people. He had no compassion for them. He lorded over them and wanted to show his power and strength.

Rehoboam was the exact opposite of Jesus, the Forever King.
Rehoboam refused to serve his people. Jesus came to serve and to give His life for us. Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Rehoboam wanted to put a heavier yoke on the people. Jesus offered an easy yoke, a light burden and rest. Matt 11:28, 30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Rehoboam spoke harshly to the people. Jesus is gentle and humble in heart. Matt 11:29 … for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Even though Rehoboam was not a good king, God still preserved David’s line so that one day, the best king, Jesus, would come and reign as our Forever King. Thank you Jesus!

2. Suggested Activities

Memory Verse:
Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Worksheets

Kings: The Divided Kingdom

January 13, 2013UncategorizedBook 1 Kings, Topic Kingslxlam

1. Lesson: The Divided Kingdom (1 Kings 11)

REVIEW: ORIGINS OF NATIONS OF ISRAEL

Abraham: God promised, “I will make you a great nation”

Jacob: Renamed “Israel” after wrestling with God

12 Sons:

Went to Egypt when Joseph was leader

Descendants became slaves

God delivered from Egypt

Entered promised land as nation of Israel (12 tribes)

REVIEW: KINGS OF ISRAEL<suggest using flashcards or pictures for younger kids to stick up at correct places>

God was the King of Israel. He spoke to His people through prophets and judges.
But the people of Israel wanted their own king that they could see, like all the other nations around them. (1 Sam 8)
God was not happy. But He gave them a king anyway.

Saul had NO HEART for God: Disobeyed God
David had WHOLE HEART for God: Man after God’s heart
Solomon had HALF HEART for God: Started well, but ended up worshipping false gods

Solomon turned to worship his many wives’ false gods. He did not keep his promise to God to follow the One and Only True God with his WHOLE HEART, as his father David did.
Because of that, God told him that his kingdom will be divided (1 Kings 11:9-13).

Ahijah & Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:31, 37-39)
Reference: Ministry to Children

ACT IT OUT: Get 2 volunteers to act out this scene; Props needed: a large paper cloak — large piece of colour paper in shape of shirt.
Solomon had an official who was a good worker. His name was Jeroboam.
One day after Jeroboam was finished with his work and was on his way home, God sent a prophet, Ahijah, to meet him.
The prophet Ahijah was wearing a new cloak. <show paper cloak>
When he saw Jeroboam, Ahijah took his new cloak and tore it into 12 pieces. <tear the paper cloak into 12 and get the kids to count 1-12>

The prophet gave 10 pieces to Jeroboam. Ahijah told Jeroboam that because of Solomon’s disobedience, God was taking away part of his kingdom and giving it to Jeroboam. Jeroboam would be king of 10 of Israel’s 12 tribes. And if Jeroboam obeyed God and worshipped Him only, he will have a great kingdom.
The 10 tribes would form Israel; Jeroboam to be king
The remaining 2 tribes (Judah and Benjamin) would form Judah; Solomon’s son, Rehoboam to be king
Note: For younger kids, you can prepare 12 building blocks to represent the tribes of Israel. Get them to count out 10 blocks and separate it from the last 2.

Maps of Israel, pre and post division:

CONCLUSION:

Ahijah ends his prophecy with, “I will humble David’s descendants because of this, but not forever.”
Although Solomon was unfaithful, God was always faithful.
Despite Solomon’s disobedience, God did not forget His promise to David that he will have a forever kingdom (2 Sam 7:16). God promised David that David’s family would have a king to rule forever.
David was from the tribe of Judah, and one of his descendants would be the forever King and known as the Lion of Judah.
Do you know the Name of this King who was born from David’s family? (Jesus)
Because of Solomon’s sin and disobedience, his once glorious kingdom was divided and separated.
Because of our sin and disobedience, we were divided and separated from God.
But Jesus came to fulfil God’s promises as a forever King and a Saviour for all of us, so that we may be reconciled/united with God again. Thank you Jesus!

2. Activity Suggestions:

Memory Verse: Get kids to memorise
2 Cor 5:19 God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.
Song (to tune of “If you’re happy and you know it”)

The kingdom was divided, split in 2 (2x)
The kingdom was divided (2x)
The kingdom was divided, split in 2
Israel got 10 tribes, Judah 2 (2x)
Israel got 10 tribes (2x)
Israel got 10 tribes, Judah 2

Worksheet

Seek first His Kingdom

January 6, 2013UncategorizedBook Matthewlxlam

1. Icebreakers

Play a simple age-appropriate icebreaker. Some examples:

Freeze!
Play praise music and lead the children in movements (stepping side to side, clapping their hands, stomping their feet, tiptoeing, following the teacher in a circle, slapping their legs, doing jump and jacks, reaching up high and down low, etc). Have an assistant shut the worship music off and have the students freeze, standing completely still. Play the music again and repeat multiple times. For an added challenge, while students are freezing, recite a memory verse and begin again.

Simon says
One teacher is Simon. Simon yells out a command such as, “Simon says, march in place!” The students would then follow the command because “Simon says” to do it. If Simon does not use the phrase “Simon says” before stating the command and a child still follows, then that child will be seated and is out of the game until the end of the round. Play continues with eliminations until one child remains who will become the next Simon.

I spy with a little eye
Get kids to take turns spying out objects or people in the room. You may want to put some props around (e.g. stuffed animals, pictures from Bible lessons from last year etc) or get kids to sit in a circle and spy out each other. E.g. “I spy with my little eye someone wearing a red dress.”

Blanket game
Get all the kids to introduce themselves. Divide class into 2 teams. Hold a large blanket in between. Each team sends a representative to sit in front of the blanket. When blanket is dropped, first side to shout out name of the other wins a point for their team.

2. Lesson

At Christmas time, some of you had a list of presents that you wanted. Maybe it’s a new Transformers. Or a Barbie doll. Or a truck. Or a book.
As we enter this new year, what is it that we want? Is it good results? Favour with your parents? Good health? Nice new clothes? A holiday? PSP?
We all want and need good things in our lives. And God our Father wants to give us good things. He wants to bless us tremendously every day. We just need to look to Him. He is the source of everything.
Jesus tells His disciples (Matt 6:25-33): DON’T WORRY!
Don’t worry about:

What you will eat
What you will drink
Your body
What you will wear

Jesus gave us 2 examples:

Birds of the air: They don’t sow or reap or store, but the Heavenly Father feeds them.
The flowers of the field: They don’t labour or spin. They are here today and gone tomorrow. Yet God dresses them in more splendour than King Solomon.

You and I are worth much more to God than the birds and the flowers.
God who provides for the birds and the flowers will provide for you and for me. We don’t have to run after all these things like people who don’t know Jesus.
Jesus says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
It’s not because of our own goodness that we deserve all these, but because of Jesus’ goodness, Jesus’ righteousness.

We are blessed because Jesus was so good.
So let’s chase after Jesus instead. Go after His kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy. Recognise and remember that it’s His goodness in us that qualifies for any and every of God’s blessings. Chase Him, worship Him, spend time with Him … because He loves you and wants to spend time with you.
This year, 2013, let’s not chase after all these things — good results, favour with your parents, teachers and friends, good health, nice new clothes, holidays, PSP etc.
Let’s look to Jesus and His righteousness in us, and we KNOW that ALL these things will be given to us as well!
As we learned in Psalm 23, as the sheep follow the Shepherd, goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives.
Chase Jesus, and all these blessings will chase after us!

Christmas: Magi come to worship Jesus

December 30, 2012UncategorizedChristmaslxlam

1. Lesson

We’ve been looking at various Biblical prophecies about Jesus’ birth:

A Messiah from the line of David will come
A virgin will be of child
The Messiah will be born in Bethlehem

Today we look at another essential part of the Christmas story — the Magi/ Wisemen / Kings that visited Jesus (Matt 2:1-16)
Usually in Christmas cards and nativity plays, we see a picture of 3 Wisemen who visited baby Jesus in a stable, together with the shepherds.

But in reality:

We don’t know how many there were; at least 2 or more (Matthew uses the plural “we”). There were 3 gifts mentioned — gold, frankincense and myrrh — hence the idea of 3 kings.
The wisemen visited Jesus in a house (Matthew 2:11), not the stable. So it was not at the same time as the shepherds.
Jesus was probably aged between 40 days to 2 years old at the time of the visit.

The wisemen from the east travelled to visit Jesus because they saw a sign — a supernaturally bright star. They entered Jerusalem and asked around, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
The star led them ahead and stopped over the place where Jesus was staying. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

This fulfilled the prophecies by Isaiah and Solomon — Kings will worship the King of Kings

Isaiah 60:3, 6 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn … Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord

Psalm 72:10-11 May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him.May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts. May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.

· <optional>

The gifts that the wisemen gave Jesus were also prophetic in nature:

Gold:symbol of Kingship — Jesus is KING and GOD
Frankincense: used in temple worship — Jesus lived a HOLY and RIGHTEOUS life
Myrrh: used to embalm the dead — Jesus was born to DIE for us so that you and I can live!

Conclusion:

The wisemen brought gifts for Jesus. We all love to receive gifts at Christmas, don’t we?
That first Christmas day, we had the biggest and greatest gift in the world! His name was Jesus.
This Christmas season, with all the beautiful and wonderful presents we’ve received, let’s take some time to remember that it’s all about Jesus — the best present of all!
Video: Best present of all
As this is the last lesson of the year, take time to break into small groups and get them to share what it means to have Jesus in their hearts. If there are any who do not yet Jesus, lead them to accept Jesus, the best present of all.

Christmas: Shepherds heard the Good News!

December 23, 2012UncategorizedBook Luke, Christmaslxlam