Zephaniah

Teaching Zephaniah for 3-5s

Theme: God is angry with those who say ‘No’ to Him, but will make a good world for those who trust Him.

Intro: Emotions – guess how I’m feeling either using facial expressions or emoticons

Make Zephaniah puppets from lollypop sticks, with faces and clothes

Story:

[use lollypop character to be Zephaniah, a family of figures and some statues, an angry and sad emoticon and a happy emoticon]

Can we remember last week’s messenger? Micah, Hosea

This week we’re meeting another messenger. His name is Zephaniah. Let’s say hello to Zephaniah.

Zephaniah was speaking in the days of a great king called Josiah. Josiah realised that God’s people weren’t living God’s way.

Zephaniah brought a very important message to God’s people. The first thing he said was a very sad message. Can we do a sad face?

Why was it sad? Because God’s people were worshipping made-up gods! [Put out some statues or pictures of statues and get the figures to bow down before them.]

How do you think God felt about them worshipping made up gods instead of Him? Sad? More than that He was really angry! ‘I made you and yet you’re saying this statue made you!’ [show angry face]

God is going to punish those who have said no to Him. And it will be horrible when He does. And all those people will wish they had listened to Zephaniah and His warnings.

But Zephaniah gives us a brilliant promise that God makes for those who trust Him. God is going to make the world right and take away all sadness and pain. God will take away all the things they have done wrong and will love them with such a huge and amazing love. [show loving happy face]

Recap: The message Zephaniah brings is a warning not to worship made up gods, that’s disastrous. But to trust God as He will make everything good again.

Songs: No more tears

            There’s a way back to God

Activities:

·        Sad people in a sad world, happy people in a happy world – stick idols and sad people onto background, then on the reverse stick happy people worshipping God.

·        Colouring – Zephaniah saying the theme sentence

Zephaniah for 5-11s

Theme: God will bring judgement on the whole earth but will delight and restore those who trust Him

Intros:

·        Policemen: Have a policeman’s helmet. Remind them of the prophets we’ve looked at and what they did. Prophets were people who spoke God’s words. And their particular job was to call people back to obeying God’s law, like Policemen. Get them to name some of God’s laws. Then ask them what the most important law was. If they don’t get it right remind them that it was to worship God alone, to love Him only with all their hearts. What do they think might happen if the people don’t do this? As a result could play a variation of Captain’s on board.

Talk:

·        God’s people should have been keeping God’s law.

·        In Zephaniah’s day Josiah was king and they’d just rediscovered God’s law, so Zephaniah was calling God’s people back to it.

·        Get someone dressed up as Zephaniah to read out v4-9 and get the kids to tell you what God’s people were doing wrong.

·        Have some pictures up of false gods. Ask them what God was going to do because they were worshipping these made up gods.

·        Listen to how terrible this will be: read 1:14-18. That sounds really scary.

·        Apply: This is still to come and will be horrible for those who don’t trust and worship the Lord God.

·        But God makes a brilliant promise: read 3:9-13. He’s going to gather a people for Himself from all the countries in the world. Ask: How has He done this already?

·        Then Zephaniah tells us about how God feels about His people: Read 3:14-17. How does He feel about you?

·        But the promise is even greater: He’s going to create a whole new world which will be wonderful: Read 3:18-20.

Table time:

·        Police missions looking at the passages

·        Make a model of the perfect world God promises