God looks at the heart

September 12, 2016September 12, 2016 ~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hey everyone! Welcome back! Today’s story comes from 1 Samuel 16. Last year’s lesson can be found HERE.

So God was unhappy with Saul as king and He told Samuel to go pick a new one. God would show him who should be king next.

God told Samuel to go to Bethlehem (that’s the city where Jesus would later be born). There he should find a daddy named Jesse. One of Jesse’s boys would be the new king. So Samuel found Jesse and he found Jesse’s biggest boy. The biggest boy was VERY big..and handsome and strong…everything a king should be.

“This is him, right God?’ asked Samuel.

“No” answered God. “I have not chosen him….don’t just look at how big and strong he is. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

One by one Jesse brought each of his boys before Samuel (just like the step sisters in Cinderella) but every time God said no.

“Are these ALL of your boys?” Samuel asked.

“Well…” Jesse said, “There’s my youngest boy…but he’s out taking care of the sheep.”

Samuel said “Go get him.” So they went to get David, the littlest boy and God said, “THIS is the one!” Samuel poured special oil on David’s head and declared him the new king. (I wonder how his brothers and his dad felt!?)

God knew that David would love him. God doesn’t always pick the biggest, smartest, prettiest, or tallest. God doesn’t care if you have yellow hair or black hair, purple skin or blue skin, if you wear glasses or braces, if you can’t speak very well or if you’re not very good at school work. What matters to God is what is in your heart. Do you love God? Will you obey Him?

God chooses people who will love and obey Him. He chose little David. God had big HUGE plans for David, and He has big plans for you too if you will love and obey Him.

For our craft today, we cut out people shapes and decorated them. Then we took a heart sticker and added it and our text which reads: Man looks at what’s on the outside, but God cares about what’s in our hearts! 1 Samuel 16

Thanks for joining us! Love to you all!

The Ark Moves

September 7, 2016September 7, 2016 ~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hello all! Yesterday we did “Samuel hears God” found HERE. Today’s story is from 1 Samuel 4-7.

The Israelites were living in the promised land (the land God had promised to them). They had a tabernacle (like a church) where they would worship God. Inside the tabernacle, there was a big curtain and behind the big curtain was the Holy of Holies–the special place where God’s Spirit lived and where the chief priest only went one time a year to be with God. There was a box in this special place called an ark. (Not a boat, like Noah’s ark–this was a box). It was called the ark of the covenant. A covenant is like a promise. God had made a promise to always be with His people and to always love them. (He promises us that too!)

This box had a lot of special rules. Only the Levites (the people in charge of the church) could touch it and only in a special way. It was supposed to stay in the tabernacle and stay covered behind the big curtain. If they had to move it, it was supposed to be covered with three blankets so the people couldn’t see it. (The Bible says we can’t look at God because He is so bright and amazing!) God even told Moses EXACTLY how it was supposed to be built. Inside the box they put the rules God gave Moses for the people to obey, they also put Aaron’s staff (his special stick) and they put some manna (that special bread God gave His people). God’s Spirit, His power was over the box. God was very specific in how He wanted it to look and how the people should treat it. They should be very careful and very worshipful. (Because it wasn’t “just” a box–it was God’s Spirit and power.)

Samuel was a grown up now and Eli the priest was now a grandpa. He had two boys who were grown ups too. One day, the Israelites went to fight the Philistines and they decided to take the ark of the covenant with them so they could win. (They did not ask God is they could). They fought and fought…but they lost and the Philistines TOOK the ark with them!

Eli’s two sons died during the fight and when Eli heard they died AND that the special box was gone, he fell over in his chair, bonked his head and he died too.

The Philistines took the special box (the ark) to one of their cities and put it next to one of their pretend gods. The next day, they found the pretend god statue face down on the ground in front of the ark (like it was worshipping the REAL God). They put the statue back up and the next day they found it again on the ground, like it was worshipping God, but this time the statue’s head and hands were broken off. The people in that city were scared and then they got very very sick and they decided to move the ark. “That God must not like us having His ark, we should move it!”

So they moved it to a different Philistine city. And all the people in THAT city got sick. They moved it AGAIN and those people got sick too! So they decided maybe they should just send it back to Israel!

They put the ark on a special truck and had two cows pull it. The cows brought the ark back to Israel. When it got to Israel, the Levites (the people in charge of the church who were allowed to touch the ark) carefully took it off the truck. Some of the Israelites didn’t obey God’s rules though and they peeked into the box and then they died.

Then they took the ark to a man’s house. His name was Abinadab. Abinadab loved and obeyed God. His son was put in charge of watching the ark and taking care of it. And it stayed at his house a looooong time. It SHOULD have gone back to the tabernacle…but it didn’t for a long long time.

The people did not take care of God’s special box. They did not respect God’s power or His instructions. The people in this story did not ask God if they could take the box from the tabernacle, the Philistines didn’t care about moving the box away from God’s people…the Israelites didn’t obey God and they looked inside…everyone thought God’s power was something THEY could move around. But no one is bigger, stronger, or smarter than God.

God is WONDERFUL and PERFECT and POWERFUL, He can be everywhere at all times and He is bigger than everything and He loves us and takes care of us….isn’t that amazing?! That’s why we worship Him! We love Him and pray to Him, we trust only Him…but the people in this story did not. They thought they could do whatever they wanted with God’s things…instead of respecting God and asking HIM what they should do.

God tells us what He wants us to know in the Bible–we can read His words and know what He wants. When God tells us to do something (or to not do something) we should always obey because we know God’s way is the BEST way.

For our craft today, we drew the ark of the covenant. (Instructions from Exodus 25). This is my 5 year olds’ interpretation of what it looked like.

Thanks for joining us again. Love to you all!

Hannah Prays

September 3, 2016September 3, 2016 ~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hello all! Today’s lesson is from 1 Samuel 1-2. Last year’s lesson and craft can be found HERE.

During the time of the judges, there lived a woman named Hannah. She was married but she didn’t have any children. More than ANYTHING she wanted to be a mommy. She prayed and prayed and waited and waited…but no baby.

Hannah’s husband loved her very much and wanted her to be happy. But there was another mommy who DID have kids who was very mean to Hannah and said “Ha ha! I have kids and you don’t!”

Sometimes the things people say to us make us feel very bad. These words made Hannah feel worse too.

Each year, Hannah and her husband would travel across Israel to go to the tabernacle (the church) to pray and give their gifts and sacrifices to God.

One year, after a long time praying and waiting, Hannah was so upset, she went outside and prayed. She talked to God and said, “If You will give me a baby, I promise I will teach him about you, and he will serve You his whole life!”

She prayed and cried so much that Eli, the chief priest (the lead caretaker of the tabernacle) came out and said, “Why you are acting so crazy? Have you done something bad?”

“No! I haven’t done anything bad,” answered Hannah. “I was just praying!”

Then God told Eli to say, “May God give you what you have asked of Him.”

Hannah believed the words of God..that she would be given a baby and when she went home, God gave her a baby in her belly! She had a baby boy and named him Samuel. When Samuel was big enough, Hannah taught him all about God, and how God had listened to her and what a wonderful God He is. When Samuel got even a little bigger, Hannah took him back to the tabernacle so he could live with Eli and learn how to serve God.

Hannah promised to raise her baby to love God and to serve in the tabernacle. If God had given her a baby before then, she might not have taken him to the tabernacle to serve God…but God had big plans for Samuel.

God’s plan and His timing is always right. We know God hears us when we pray…but that doesn’t mean we can ask God for everything we want and we will get it right away. Sometimes God says yes, sometimes He says no, and sometimes He has us wait.

Waiting can be hard…but God has a good plan. We can always trust His plan, even if things don’t go our way (like Hannah did). She was a good mommy to teach Samuel about God and she was good woman to trust God, even when it was hard.

For our craft today, we just used watercolors to illustrate any part of the story they wanted to.

“Hannah and the lady that was mean to her”

“Hannah with a baby in her belly and a polka dot dress”

Thanks for joining us again. Love to you all!

Ruth

September 1, 2016 ~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Welcome back!

Today’s story is from the book of Ruth. Last year’s story and lesson can be found HERE.

ruth-clipart

So just before Deborah was judge over Israel, the people next door to Israel, Moab, were being hard on Israel. Things were hard in Israel. There was no food (a famine) and a woman from Israel, named Naomi had married a man from Moab. She moved there and lived in Moab and they had a son. Their son grew up and he married a woman named Ruth.

Naomi’s husband died and Ruth’s husband died…so it was just the two women left. Ruth and her mother in law, Naomi.

Back then, women couldn’t just go get a job, so they knew they would be very very poor and have to beg for food and money to live. Naomi told Ruth to go back to her family so they could take care of her.

But Ruth wouldn’t leave Naomi. “Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God,” Ruth told Naomi. Ruth wouldn’t just leave Naomi all alone.

Ruth went with Naomi and they moved back to Israel. It was a hard life in Israel. They had no food or money, so Ruth went out each day and followed the workers in the field. (Naomi was too old to be out all day working, so Ruth took care of her.) She would take the leftovers and she and Naomi lived off the leftovers from the field.

There was a very nice man, named Boaz who owned the field where Ruth picked her leftovers. He noticed her one day and invited her to lunch. He told her he was very happy because he saw how much Ruth took care of Naomi. He told her she could always stay in his field and help herself to any of his leftovers. Before she left, he loaded her up with lots of food for her and Naomi. He told her God noticed what a caring and hardworking person she was and he knew God would give good things to her.

When Ruth went home, she told Naomi all about the nice man Boaz and how he had taken care of her.

“Boaz!?” said Naomi, “He is from our family!”

Naomi knew Boaz would take good care of Ruth and she thought it would be a good idea if they got married. So, one day, she told Ruth to dress really pretty and put on some good smelling perfume and to go lay down next to Boaz at bedtime.

When Boaz woke up in the middle of the night, he saw Ruth laying there and he was happy to see her and said he wanted to marry her.

Boaz was a kinsman-redeemer. This is someone in the family who can claim property or take over caring for people. Boaz was a kinsman-redeemer for Naomi and Ruth. He was allowed to buy some of the land that belonged to Naomi’s husband, and he got to marry Ruth too! Jesus is like a kinsman-redeemer for us. He paid the price for our sins and made us part of His family…sons and daughters of God. Boaz redeemed (saved) Ruth and Naomi from being poor and alone…and Jesus saves us from our sins and being alone from God forever.

Boaz and Ruth got married. Later, they had a baby boy named Obed. When Obed grew up, he had a baby named Jesse and when Jesse grew up, he had a son named David (as in David and Goliath/King David). And way way way down the line from David comes Jesus!

God used Ruth’s heart to be part of Jesus’ family. Ruth was a good hard worker who did the right thing. She took care of her mother-in-law, even when it would be hard. Boaz also did a good job taking care of his family. Do you know that one of the ways we can serve God is by loving our family? Sometimes people think you have to do something BIG or go far away to serve God or love other people. But one of the ways we can show God’s love best is by being an important part of our own family–loving the people He put us with every single day! How can YOU be a good worker in your family? How can you show your mom, dad, grandma, brother, or sister love?

For today we watched the Veggie Tales “Duke and the Great Pie War” (available to rent or buy on amazon).

Thanks for joining us again. Love to you all.

Samson (reboot)

August 30, 2016August 30, 2016 ~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi all! Today we studied Judges 13-16 about Samson. We used last year’s lesson found HERE.

What I tried to emphasize today is that Samson did not always obey God. But God used him anyway. Sometimes we disobey God too…but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t have big plans for us!

God gives you special things YOU are good at. He wants you to use those things to worship Him and to love others. Samson gave his power to Delilah instead of keeping it and using it for God. If you sing, sing songs of praise to God. If you draw, draw pictures to give to others. If you play sports, show the love of God while you play…be a good sport. Work hard in whatever you do. But don’t let anything become more important than God and always see how God can use your gifts to help others.

The Bible says Samson was more useful when he died (because he also killed those mean Philistines)…but that wasn’t God’s plan for Samson. God WANTED Samson to do great things with his strength while he was alive! (Like that time he defeated the 1000 men all on his own!) Let’s think about the things WE are good at…the things God has given US and see how we can serve God with those things NOW.

For today’s craft, we made “Samson knocking down the pillars” pictures. We drew our Samson (long hair and arms extended). Then we took toilet paper and paper towel tubes and taped them on each side to be the pillars. You could paint or marker these as well to look even more “pillar-y.”

Our text says: Samson-Judges 13-16.

Thanks for joining us. Love to you all!

Gideon the warrior

August 29, 2016August 29, 2016 ~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hello again! Today’s story is from Judges 6-8 in the Bible. Last year’s lesson can be found HERE.

https://kelund.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/stolen-bibles-and-a-restored-marriage/

Today’s story is about a man named Gideon. Gideon was just a regular guy, one of the Israelites (God’s chosen people). He was living in the promised land with the other Israelites, taking care of his sheep. Now since they had moved in, the Israelites had a bad habit of following God and then forgetting and making bad choices. Then God would punish them, send them a new leader (a judge) and they would follow Him again. Over and over and over. (God is very very patient!)

After Deborah was gone, they once again started making bad choices and God let the Midianites be in charge of them for seven years. The people were scared and had to hide because the Midianites were so mean to them.

One day, an angel came and told the people to stop disobeying God! Make good choices!

Then the angel appeared to Gideon, and said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!”

Gideon couldn’t believe the angel was talking to him. He wasn’t a mighty warrior?! “Who ME?!”

But the angel answered, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. I am sending you! I will be with you.” (God was with Gideon and would help him defeat the Midianites.)

Gideon asked God for THREE different signs before he believed that God had really chosen him. And God was patient enough that He did show Gideon over and over “YES! I want YOU to lead the army!”

Finally Gideon trusted! So he rounded up a big huge army and set out. But God said no. It was too many fighters. So everyone who was scared was allowed to go home. Then Gideon started off again, but God said no again. The army was still too big. He had Gideon send even more men home. God did this so that when the Israelites won, everyone would know it was GOD who had defeated the Midianites and not the army, or Gideon.

So Gideon led his tiny army to the place where the GIANT Midianite army was camped. They had over 135000 men in their army and Gideon was allowed to have 300 men. That’s like if Pluto was going to fight the sun!

So Gideon’s army split into three teams and quietly tiptoed around at night time and surrounded the Midianites. They brought breakable clay jars, trumpets, and torches (fire) with them. Then, when Gideon told them to, everyone blew their trumpets really loudly, smashed the jars and yelled. They waved the firy torches around. The noise and commotion scared the Midianites so much, that started killing each other?! Only a few of them got away but the Israelites got them and defeated every last one.

After Gideon and the men returned, the people wanted Gideon to be their king. But he said, “No. Let GOD be your king.”

Gideon was a good leader. Remember, God doesn’t always pick the most important people or the most popular to be the leader…God cares about what’s in your heart. Gideon was a good leader not because he was someone important, or because he was big or strong…he was a good leader because he pointed the people back to God! When you are being a leader for your friends, make sure you a good leader…who trusts and obeys God. We know God’s plan is the BEST plan and that we can always trust Him. A good leader follows God and helps other people trust Him too!

THIS VIDEO is from Teaching Kids About Jesus.

There is also a veggie tales about Gideon.

A cute snack for today’s lesson is to have bugels be the trumpets, cheese for the fire and maybe tortilla scoops to be the clay jars. The kids *could* smash them on the table if you’re really that brave :0)

Thanks again for joining us, love to you all!

Deborah and Jael

August 28, 2016August 28, 2016 ~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi all! Today’s story is from Judges 4-5. Last year’s lesson and craft can be found HERE.

deborah

So the Israelites needed a leader. God was giving them judges (people who help make decisions) to help lead the people and remind them of God’s laws. When the people had a judge, they obeyed God. When a judge got old and died…the people would disobey God again until He gave them a new judge.

One of those judges was named Deborah. She was very wise and the Bible says she would give advice and teach the people outside under some palm trees.

The Israelites had been disobeying God so they were now working for the Canaanites (the people who lived in the promised land that they were SUPPOSED to defeat before but hadn’t). The people complained and asked God for help. Deborah told Barak (the leader of the Israelite army) that God said he should lead the army to face the Canaanite army leader. She said God would help them defeat Sisera (the leader) and his army.

And big, strong Barak said….”ummm only if you go with me??” He was too scared to go alone!

Deborah said “Yes, I will go with you…but because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will give Sisera into the hands of a woman.” (A woman will defeat Sisera and not you!)

So off they went. They met Sisera and his army and Deborah was not afraid. “Go! God is with you!” she said. And the Israelites defeated the Canaanites. Only Sisera was still alive and he ran and ran until he came to a tent.

There was a woman there named Jael.

Jael said to Sisera “Come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

“I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” So she gave him a drink, and covered him up so he could take a nap.

“Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’”

But instead, while he fell asleep, Jael killed him.

Just then Barak came by looking for Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera–dead.

Deborah sang a song of praise to God for helping them defeat their enemies.

God used two women, Deborah and Jael in His big plan. Barak was scared to go without Deborah, but we never have to be afraid to follow God. Deborah and Jael were brave and they trusted God to help them.

We can always trust God to help us do the things He asks us to do. And no one can ever tell you that you can not be a leader for others. No one can say “because you are a girl, or a kid, or have brown skin, or white skin, or are too short, or too tall, or have curly hair, or wear glasses you can’t be a leader.” God can use ANYONE He wants to be a great leader! Let’s trust God to use us to do big things and not be afraid to follow Him always!

THIS is the link to the BrickTestament retelling of the story (a LEGO version).

THIS is a video by BimBam (formerly G-dcast).

And THIS video is a song about Deborah posted by sheilahamil. (While admittedly, it’s not the best quality video…it is full of truths that could be adapted to your own home or Sunday school lesson).

Thanks for joining us! Love to you all!

Judges

August 25, 2016August 25, 2016 ~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hey all! Today’s brief story is from Judges 1-3:6.

judge-clipart-occupations_judge

Joshua was leading the Israelites into the promised land. They were SUPPOSED to defeat everyone and take over the WHOLE land…but they didn’t exactly do that. There were still some of the people that they didn’t defeat.

But Joshua was getting old and all the people who had been mommies and daddies when they got to the promised land were now grandmas and grandpas! And there were new mommies and daddies and new kids and babies. Joshua and the others were getting old and they died.

The new mommies and daddies started to forget all the great things God had done. And they became friends with the people they hadn’t defeated. But those other people didn’t worship God. They had their own pretend gods–statues and idols. They prayed and worshipped to those things….and the Israelites started to too!

God was NOT happy. This was supposed to be the land for His people and they were supposed to worship only Him. So He gave them some judges. A judge is the person who sits in the court and decides if people are following the rules and if they AREN’T…what their consequences will be. If someone steals or kills somebody, they go before a judge. A judge decides if that person really did do those bad things and then they decide what the consequence will be.

So for a long time there were judges who helped Israel make good choices. When God gave the people a judge, that person would help them make good choices and they would follow God…but when there wasn’t a judge…the people would start making bad choices again–and even worse than before!!

Over the next couple of days we will learn about a COUPLE of these judges. The Bible tells us about 15 of these judges. We will be learning about 5 of them.

Thanks for joining us again! Love to you all!

I choose God!

August 23, 2016August 23, 2016 ~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hey all! Today’s lesson is based off of Joshua 24. Last year’s lesson and craft can be found HERE.

After Moses died, God had Joshua lead His people into the promised land. They divided up all the land so that each tribe (or big family) got their own part.

When Joshua was very very old and about to die, he called the leaders together and reminded them of all God had done for them and all He had taught them.He reminded them of how many times He had saved them and fought for them. (Sometimes we don’t even KNOW God is helping us! Sometimes we forget! Maybe take a minute to think with your family about some of the great things God has done for you, or things He has taught you!)

He told them to be strong and not to be afraid. He reminded them to always love and obey God.

Lastly, in Joshua 24:15, he told the people they had to choose for themselves if they would serve God or not. “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” he said.

Your mom and dad can tell you about God and about Jesus’ love and how He died for your sins. You can sing songs and your family can go to church. But YOU, in your heart, have to choose to follow God. You don’t just love God because mommy and daddy do. You have to choose in your heart to love and obey God. As you grow up, you will learn more and more what it means to follow and love God and you’ll also understand more and more how much He loves you!

And we don’t just choose to love God one day and then forget about it. (That’s what happened to the Israelites a LOT!) We choose to love God everyday…we pray…and read our Bibles…and obey what He tells us. We worship God everyday with the choices we make. But just like Joshua told the people they had to have faith of their own, you have to choose too, if you want to follow and obey God.

For our craft today, we made hearts and then added the text: “As for MY heart, I choose God!” Then we made a space to write our names and added some heart stickers.

Thanks for joining us again! Love to you all!

The day the sun stood still

August 21, 2016August 21, 2016 ~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hello again! Today we continue in Joshua. Today’s story is from Joshua 10. Last year’s lesson and craft can be found HERE.

As the Israelites (God’s people) were moving into the promised land God was giving them, it was a pretty big place and there were a lot of cities already there. So Joshua and God’s people had to fight a lot of people to get that land. (You may ask why God would have them defeat people for THAT land instead of giving them some place where no one lived? Why all the fighting? Well…God DID give them that land a looooooong time ago. Remember way back when, when God first promised that land to Abraham? Then Isaac and Jacob? That had always been the plan–for God’s people to live there. But now that other people had taken that land, Israel had to take it back.)

Whenever they obeyed God, they would win. If they didn’t obey God, they wouldn’t win. Well, they had taken a lot of cities and made peace with several kings. (They were going to work together). One of those places with Gibeon. Gibeon and Israel were on a team now. But the king of a different city was scared! He said…”Those other people are working WITH the Israelites!” So he called 4 of the other nearby kings and said, “Maybe if we all work together…we can defeat those guys AND the Israelites!”

So the king of Gibeon asked Joshua and Israel to come help! The 5 kings all joined together to defeat Joshua, but God said, “Don’t be afraid. I will make sure you win.” So Joshua and the Israelites went ahead and they surprised the kings and other armies. It took a long time to defeat all those guys, so Joshua said, “Sun! Stand still!” (Because you can’t fight very well in the dark).

And do you know what happened?! The sun STOOD. STILL. It took FAITH (Joshua TRUSTED in God’s power) to ask God to make the sun stand still. And we know God CAN make the sun stand still because God can do…ANYTHING!

The sun stayed in the sky almost a whole extra day, until Israel had defeated all those other guys.

Joshua and his men defeated a LOT of people as they took over the promised land–because GOD fought with them. When God is for us who can stand against us? (Romans 8:31)

God doesn’t always do the things we ask…if you go outside and ask the sun to stop…it probably won’t. But that doesn’t mean God isn’t fighting for you. God has big plans for you, and just like He parted the waters for Moses, or made the sun stand still for Joshua, or even sent His own son to die for my sins and your sins, God will do GREAT things in your life if you trust Him and obey Him.

For our craft today, we made suns. We used paper plates and cut some triangles out of yellow and orange paper and attached the triangles with tape to be the sun’s rays. Then we decorated them. We used stamps and stickers today but you could use anything you want. Then we acted out the story using our suns.