Tag Archives: Bible lessons

Bible Science

Bible Science Experiment: Ice Cube Trick

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Ben Franklin’s Birthday is January 17th!  For science lovers, here’s a way to tie in God’s wondrous creation to the great inventor.  This demonstration will show that everything isn’t always what it seems to be.  We can remind the class that when tempted to do something that is questionable to remember there is always another way. 

Materials

  • Tall drinking glass
  • Ice cubes
  • Salt
  • String

Introduction

Ask the class if anyone thinks it is possible to pick up an ice-cube with only a piece of string.  Of course, that’s impossible.  In this experiment we’ll show how this can be done. 

Instructions

  1. Place an ice cube in a glass of cold water.
  2. Cut a piece of string about six inches long
  3. Try to pick up the ice-cube by laying the string across the top of it without your hands touching the ice-cube.
  4. Now wet the string and lay it across the ice-cube.
  5. Sprinkle salt on top of the ice-cube and the string.
  6. Wait a few minutes and then try again to pick up the ice-cube with the string.  This time it works.

Explanation

The salt will have melted the ice slightly and the water will have refrozen around the string making it adhere to the ice.

Teacher’s discussion

Let’s pretend that we are like the ice, God is the string, and the salt is like God’s Word.  When we “sprinkle our lives” with God’s word, it draws us closer to him and he is able to “pick us up.”   But when we sprinkle our lives with bad thoughts and evil deeds we are pulling away from God instead of reaching towards him. The Bible encourages us to draw close to God and allow our hearts and bodies to be cleansed of sin.  Hebrews 10:22 “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

Bible Activities, Object Lessons

Bible Object Lesson – “Flashlights”

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In creating New Year’s resolutions, students can learn two important principles:

  • Without God’s light and love to help us see where we’re going, we’re like blind people trying to get somewhere;
  • Reach for high goals, which bring confidence and trust in God’s power.  As Dr. Martin Luther King observes:  “You don’t have to see the whole staircase…just the next step.”    

This lesson will help students realize both principles.

Household Object:   Flashlight

Materials

  • Flashlight
  • Bag of candy kisses wrapped in silver or gold, enough for each child to have several

Preparation

  1. Before class, place 10 candy kisses around the room in various places, mostly in plain sight, but some hidden behind things.
  2. Hide the bag of candy kisses.
  3. Turn out all the lights in the room and close blinds, making it as dark as possible.
  4. Seat students around a table to listen to you, and you sit at the head.

 Lesson

Turn on flashlight so you can read.  This year, I’d like to do some amazing things. 

  1. I’d like to lose all my extra pounds. 
  2. I’d like to be able to run in a marathon, five miles at least! 
  3. I’d like to read a book a week…that’s 52 books. 
  4. I’d like to set a goal to clean my house every week and pick up every night so it never looks messy when company comes. 
  5. I’d like to be available for homework every night so that my kids can get straight A’s. 

 How many of you think I can do all that?  Shine the light around so you can see hands raised.

 Guess what my goals were last year.  Let them guess.

 Actually my goals were pretty much the same last year.  How many of those goals do you think I accomplished?  Let them answer. 

 Think of it:  If I had gotten all these goals last year, why would I be asking for them again this year? 

 I made some headway.   For maybe six weeks I cleaned my house every week.  I lost four pounds, but I gained it back.  This year is different.  This year…

 Shine the light in your smiling face… I’m letting God lead me, rather than simply telling God what I want and waiting for Him to fall into MY plans.

 Reaching your goals and dreams doesn’t happen over night.  When you don’t get them one year, should you give up?  No. 

 Failing at things can be a great opportunity in disguise.  It can bring us closer to God.  Proverbs 16:9 says, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”

 This year, I’m going to tell God what I want.  But then, I’m going to do my best to determine what he wants.  Does God want me to be a miserable failure?  No.

According to 3 John 1:2, God wants us to prosper and be in good health.   And the truth is that God works for the long-term.  We work for the short term.  I’d like to lose four pounds this week.  God would like me to become the type of person who finds comfort in Him rather than food.  

Which is the better goal?  If I follow God’s plan, will I make my goal, too?  Yes, and in a better way.

I would like to be able to run five miles in two weeks.  God wants to work on my heart, my muscles, my lungs, my mindset, my faith.   He wants to make sure I’m even more focused on my inner qualities than my appearance.  If I follow God’s timing, will I make my own goal, too?  Yes. 

To set New Year’s goals we need patience, trust, and faith in God’s direction.  

There are 10 pieces of candy hidden around this room.  Don’t anyone get up yet. 

Turn off the flashlight.

Who wants to try to find them all in the dark? 

Turn on the flashlight.

Why bust around in the dark, when we have the Light of the World to help us? 

We can set huge goals this year, so long as we are led by the Light.  Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase.  You only have to see the next step…”

Shine the light on the floor where you are sure there is a candy kiss. 

Let’s use the light of God to help us throughout this coming year.  Let’s use the light now to find all the treasures and think of them like dreams for the New Year…

Let the students take the flashlight and use it to find the 10 pieces of candy.  The light will reflect off the foil to help “illuminate” them.  Tell students not to eat the kisses, but to bring it all back to the table. 

Once everyone is seated…

Who would like to share the candy they found with those who found less?  You may get some takers, but not many. 

Isaiah 30:18 says, “The LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”

Here’s the greatest thing about God.  When we follow Him, he gives us a LOT more than what we asked for…if we wait patiently for Him. 

Take out the rest of the bag of candy kisses.  Turn on the overhead lights, and pass out so that everyone has the same amount. 

Serve with juice as a snack or snack supplement. 

Sermons for Kids, Sunday School Teaching

5 Simple Rules For Better Kid’s Sermons

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Many adults admit that when they hear the word sermon, they think: Boring!

These adults are also the first to admit that from the time they were born, their parents took them to church, where they were forced to sit still and not fidget during the sermon, which they considered the longest half hour of the week. 

A children’s sermon, that can grab a child’s interest in the first sentence and hold it until the last, is the ideal way to change this impression about sermons, and there are five tips  that will help you turn it into something so positive that children rush to hear it with the same enthusiasm they rush to the beach or their favorite swimming pool. 

Kids sermons
To make the story relevant to youth, it is imperative that you find some way to apply it to present day life.

First, let me tell you about a Sunday school teacher who reported an ingenious plan that totally cured this problem in her church.   The children there do not have this impression of sermons being boring, because the children never sat through an adult one. 

During what their church calls “Talk Time”, when neighbor greets neighbor, the children exit to a room nearby where they have “Kids Own Worship”.  Here they experience children’s worship through uplifting songs, fun and memorable Bible learning through children’s church lessons. 

While this plan has been tremendously successful in one church, it may not be possible in others.  However, the secret to successful children’s sermons consists of five basic steps that make the Bible relevant to youth.  

Creating an Engaging Sermon for Kids

1.   Be certain you know what the scripture means.  As one Sunday school teacher explained:  “I loved going to Sunday school as a child, and I adored Bible stories, but it wasn’t until I became an adult that I realized what these stories really meant.  “Jonah and the Whale,” for example was one of my favorites, but I think I lost the meaning by confusing the story with Pinocchio, and I can still visualize that picture of Geppetto sitting in his boat in the whale’s belly. 

As an adult, I looked “Jonah and the Whale” up in my concordance, and I was shocked to discover that the point of “Jonah and the Whale” is:  You can not runaway or hide from God.  Now, before I prepare a lesson, I check the concordance first, so the children will not make the same mistakes I made.    

2. To make the story relevant to youth, it is imperative that you find some way to apply it to present day life.   While it wouldn’t be too difficult for you to dream up a tale about a boy who wouldn’t listen when God spoke to him and tried to hide, you might be surprised at the answers you get if you asked the students to come up with an example.  It would be wise to have a back up example ready, just in case, but students will amaze you with the experiences they have had in school or while playing sports, and you might find yourself with a dozen examples.    

3.  One of the most important things to remember if you want  the story to be relevant to youth is to tell it in their language.   As one Sunday school teacher explained, “One of the stories that impressed me most was called, “Moses Thinks He’s a Dork”, and from beginning to end, the story of Moses was told in today’s teen vernacular, and it made for delightful and entertaining reading.   

4.  Visual props will also be a great asset in making the story relevant.  Pictures can be used, or any prop that adds to the story like a soccer ball, a basket ball, a football helmet, or even a set of shoulder pads that make the person wearing them look gigantic and tough, when he’s actually no bigger than anyone else.   

5.  Leave them with one simple thought.   It can be an outgrowth of a scripture, but it should accent the event in a simple phrase, like:  “You cannot hide from God.”  You could even add: “You may go to the ends of the earth, but nowhere can you hide from God.” 

When Bible stories become relevant to the world today, they become something of value and far more than a history lesson.  In  each story there is a message that applies to life today as strongly as it did when it was written.

Bible Lessons for Children, Sermons for Kids

Bible Lessons – Influential Women in the Bible

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In biblical times, women were not considered to be influential as a whole. That doesn’t mean there weren’t many great influential women in the Bible! Some were royalty; some rose out of poverty, and they made their way into the Books of the Bible due to heroic acts or having shown great virtue under duress.

There are stories or honorable mentions of nearly 180 great women in the Bible. If you want to celebrate some with your students, here’s our list of Twelve Great Influential Women of the Bible from the Old and New Testaments whom kids should know, all of whom make for great study:

Sarah – Wife of Abraham, she is best known for bearing Isaac at the age of 90 and being a great mother. Isaac was distraught at her death and only consoled by meeting Rebekah, whom he married. But it wasn’t all good. Impatient for a child in her earlier years, Sarah forced her husband on Haggai, their maid, who conceived Ishmael and later was banished from Abraham’s employ.

Rahab—Her tale begins with Israel’s as a nation.  Joshua sent spites into the walled city of Jericho having decided it would be the first city that the Hebrews invaded after 40 long years in the desert.  Word had gone out that the Hebrews has some strange and powerful God on their side, and the city was afraid it would be conquered. Rahab was the only citizen with the forethought and nerve to help out the Hebrew spies.  In return, they gave sanctuary to her and her family. 

Ruth – A young, pretty widow who could have opted to marry again quickly, Ruth instead chose to stay with her distraught mother-in-law, despite a threatening famine. The two concocted a plan for Ruth to capture the heart of kind-hearted Boaz, a distant relative and wealthy farmer, who eventually married her. Ruth is known for her loyalty, hard work, and risk-taking.

Deborah stepped into the history of Israel at a time when the nation had been so beaten down by Jabin, the King of Hazer, that their spirit had been broken, and they existed in a stupor of indifference.  Deborah, a judge and prophetess, against great odds, set out to free Israel from this bondage. She and sidekick Barak formed an army of 10,000 men and gave Israel back their freedom and their spirit.  For Israel this was a grand triumph, and Deborah, the wife of Lapiodth was responsible for this amazing victory.   

Esther – Esther was raised by her uncle Mordecai.  King Ahasuerus married Esther.  Mordecai urged Esther not to tell the king that they were Jewish and Esther kept this secret. Matters came to a head when the wicked and scheming Haman had the king issue a decree that all Jewish people in the land be executed.  The king signed and gave it his seal of approval.  Esther, at grave risk to herself, intervened.   As a result of her careful handling of the situation, Haman was hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai, and the decree was never carried out.

Abigail was the wife of Nabal.  The name Nabal means fool, and in addition to that he was spoiled and insolent.  When he insulted David, he put his life and that of his entire family in danger.   It was because of Abigail’s sharp mind and careful planning that their lives were spared.   After Nabal died, Abigail became the wife of David.  

Mary Mother of Jesus resided in Nazareth.  While she was engaged to Joseph, the immaculate conception took place and the archangel, Gabriel, appeared to her in a dream, telling her to name the baby Jesus and that he was the Messiah.  After delivering in a manger, being exiled to Egypt, and living what would consider a tough blue-collar life in Nazareth, Mary become one of Jesus’ foremost supporters through his ministry.  Jesus worked his first miracle of  turning water into wine at her prompting, and she was at his crucifixion, whereas some of the disciples were not. In some parts of Christendom she is considered “Holy Mary, Mother of God.”  Others relate to her humanness and God’s implied love of the masses because of her.

Elizabeth was a cousin to Mary and married to Zacharias.   They were childless and were growing too old to have children.   When the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias and said he would have a son, Zacharias raised doubts.  The angel made him mute until John’s birth.  During Elizabeth’s pregnancy, her cousin Mary, pregnant with Jesus, came to Hebron in Judah to visit and stayed for three months.  When Elizabeth’s baby was born, Zacharias was finally able to speak again and said the baby’s name would be John.

Mary Magdalene – A business woman and friend of Jesus, she was the first to reach Jesus’ tomb at the resurrection and take the angels’ message back to the disciples that He was alive.  Legend has been unkind to her, often identifying her as a prostitute, though there is no foundation which would confirm this.  She was a business woman with an astute sense of godliness.

Mary and Martha of Bethany – were sisters of Lazarus and all three were close friends of Jesus. When he and his disciples came for dinner, Mary listened to Jesus, and Martha grumbled about doing all the work.  Jesus told Martha not to worry about unimportant things.   At another time, Martha and Mary sent for Jesus, because their brother Lazarus was seriously ill.   By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus was dead, and Jesus performed a miracle by bringing him back to life.  Due to the dinner story, Martha has become famed for her hospitality and Mary for sitting by Jesus and absorbing everything he said.

Lydia – Like many women of the epistles, there are only brief mentions or short tales.  But Lydia’s was distinct in that she was a business woman, and it is through her we see our doctrine that we make the choice but God saves.  “The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul,” reads acts 16.  She was very hospitable to the apostles, insisting they stay with her after her heart was opened to the great news of the gospel.

All were influential. 

Other influential women in the Bible span the Old Testament, Gospels and New Testament epistles. But these should give your students a start through great stories or great mentions from the Apostles themselves!

Bible Lessons for Children

12 Surprising Christmas Bible Facts for Kids

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Christmas has become so commercialized that children are often confused about what is part of the Christmas story and what is myth or fable.  Most children know about Jesus being born in a manger, but many think that Santa Claus was there too!  Below are some Christmas Bible facts for kids that will help make clear what Christmas celebrations are from the Bible.  

In the entire Bible, the birth of Jesus is only told in two places, so all Christmas Bible Facts for Kids comes from these sources.   The first is Matthew 1 & 2, and the second is Luke 1&2.  Luke 2:8-16 is the beautifully written passage about angels appearing to the shepherds outside of Jerusalem.  It is included in many Christmas performances and will keep most kids on the edge of their seats—hence it is a great thing to read in Sunday School!   

Along with that special reading, here are some interesting Christmas Bible facts for kids that you can present:

  1. Joseph was Mary’s husband, but he was not Jesus’ father!  God was.  However, Joseph was a descendant of King David.
  2. John the Baptist wasn’t just born as Jesus’ friend. He was Jesus’ cousin!   Mary’s cousin Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist about six months before Jesus was born.
  3. Jesus and Mary did not live in Bethlehem.  Mary was from Nazareth.  The couple went to Bethlehem because the law said they had to take part in a census, where every man had to return to the place of his birth.  Mary went with him.
  4. Jesus was born in a manger because there was something like a convention in town!  The census had brought all sorts of people into Bethlehem and the inns were all filled up.    
  5. Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes.  It was a tradition back then to wrap all babies in strips of cloth to help straighten and strengthen their bodies. 
  6. The shepherds saw Jesus that very night.  The angels told them that the baby had just been born, and they came to manger behind the inn like the angels told them to. 
  7. The wise men probably did not visit Jesus until later.  Some traditions say that it may have been up to two years later that the wise men came and that for some reason, Mary and Joseph stayed in Bethlehem that whole time.  The reference to the wise men seeing Jesus in Matthew 2:11 says they found him in a “house.”
  8. The wise men were called Magi in the Bible.  Magi was the Greek word for “magic,” but the term meant a very wise person who understood astrology, chemistry and philosophy.  
  9. Before visiting Jesus, the Magi duped Herod, the evil king!  The Magi came to Herod when they were looking for Jesus.  Herod said he thought the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem and to report back to him where Jesus was.  He said he wanted to worship Jesus, but really he wanted to kill him. (He was afraid of Jesus taking his place as king someday).  The wise men sneaked out of Jerusalem and never let Herod know!
  10. The Wise men gave Jesus gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Gold is a symbol of both royalty and purity.  Frankincense is a symbol of suffering.  Myrrh is a symbol of worship and holiness.
  11. There were a lot of angels visiting during that time!   Elizabeth’s husband Zecharia was visited by Gabriel, the famous angel, who then visited Mary.  Gabriel told of the blessed sons which would come to both Mary and Elizabeth.  The night of Jesus’ birth, shepherds outside of Bethlehem were visited first by an angel, and then by a whole host of angels that sang!  
  12. There was a lot of dreaming going on!  Joseph dreamed he saw an angel who told him to marry Mary even though she was already pregnant.  The Magi dreamed they should not return to Herod, who was plotting evil.  Joseph dreamed he should take Jesus and Mary to Egypt so that Herod couldn’t kill the baby.      

Christmas was a suspenseful yet wonderful, God-ordained time of history as these Christmas Bible facts and many others will attest.  You can use them in trivia games, art projects, performances…or just have fun sharing the Bible facts about Christmas with your kids!