Teaching Jeremiah 1

[This is part one of our series on Jeremiah]

5-11s

Theme: Listen! God will follow through on His threats

Aim: That the children listen even when God is saying things we don’t like

Intro:

Leader sits during news time with finger in their ears singing ‘la, la, la’!

Listening games – Chinese whispers, record leaders’ voices, Simon says

Bible teaching:

Recap kings and timeline – Josiah (but also 2 bad kings following Josiah)

Introduce Jeremiah (dress up one child). God called Jeremiah to be His messenger, His prophet: read v5 or play a recording.

But Jeremiah objected (have Jeremiah read v6).

God reassured Jeremiah that He was the right man for the job and that He had a message for God’s people that Jeremiah had to deliver (read v8-10).

God gave Jeremiah 2 pictures. Here’s the first:

Read v11-12. [Have a picture on screen or made of a tree with eyes on it] It’s a funny picture, isn’t it? What do you think it means?

It was a watching tree. God was making absolutely sure that everything He says comes true. And we can be absolutely sure of that with God: everything He says comes true.

Here’s the second picture: read v13. [have a picture] What do you think this means?

God is saying that an army is going to come and take the people away from this land, away from their homes and families and jobs. Read v14-16.

Do you think the people will want to hear this? Is this a nice message to take to people? Jeremiah was afraid but God reassured Him. Read v17-19.

But God’s people didn’t listen, they never do! When God speaks, its really important that we listen to what He says. Particularly when God is saying something we don’t want to hear. So when God is saying that we mustn’t do something that we want to do: its really important that we listen to Him and do it, because He is the Almighty God. When God tells us to stop doing something that doesn’t please Him, we must listen and stop doing it. When God says we must trust in His Son, the Lord Jesus, then we should do it. What sorts of things does God tell us not to do, which we really want to? What things does God tell us to do, which we don’t want to?

Pray

Table time:

Have pictures of Jeremiah, the tree and the pot.

Knowledge:

• What job did Jeremiah have?
• What was the tree tell us about God?
• What does the pot tell us about what God was going to do to His people?

Understanding:

• How did Jeremiah feel about his job as a prophet?
• How did the people feel about what God had to say to them?
• What promises did God give Jeremiah?

Application:

• What do you know God wants you to do, but you don’t want to do it?
• What do you know God wants you to stop doing, but you don’t want to?
• When do you really need to start listening to God?
  3-5s

Theme: Listen! God will follow through on His threats

Aim: That the children listen even when God is saying things we don’t like

Intro:

Leader sits during news time with finger in their ears singing ‘la, la, la’!

Jeremiah says – do your Mum or Dad tell you what to do? What do they tell you to do? Do you always want to do what they tell you? Sometimes we don’t like it what they say to us. Does that mean we don’t need to listen to them? What happens if we don’t listen to our Mums and Dads?

Bible teaching:

Do you remember these kings we’ve been looking at? Do you remember Josiah? (get them to remember what he did).

Well, when Josiah was King, God sent someone to speak to His people. God’s messengers are called prophets. [get them to say] This prophet was called Jeremiah. [get them to say, have a picture of Jeremiah]

So God called Jeremiah – read Jeremiah 1:5 (or play a recording). God had always planned that Jeremiah would be a prophet and speak to the people.

But Jeremiah wasn’t so sure: read v6. He thought he was too young, he wasn’t able to do what God was asking.

But God reassured Jeremiah: read v7-9. God was going to be with Jeremiah. He would go with Jeremiah to speak to the people.

So if God was speaking to the people it was really important that they listened to God. And its really important that we listen to God too. God speaks to us in the Bible, even through these words of Jeremiah. So we need to listen carefully to all that God’s going to say to us through Jeremiah this term.

So what message did God give to Jeremiah for His people? Well, he showed Jeremiah a picture: read v13 and have a picture of a boiling pot.

Do you think this was a nice message, a good message? Read v14. An army is going to come and attack Judah, God’s people, just as they attacked Israel in the north. This isn’t a nice message for the people. But they still needed to listen really carefully because God was definitely going to do it. He always does what He says He’ll do.

The problem is they wouldn’t listen, because they have never listened to God. Read v17 and 19.

Boys and girls, we must never ignore God. Even when He is saying difficult things to us that we don’t want to hear, we must still listen. God is in charge of everything. When he tells us we’ve done something wrong, we must listen and say sorry. When He says we must stop doing something, we must listen. When He says that we’re to trust in His Son, Jesus, we must listen.

Pray

Activities:

Ears – decorate and attach ears to a headband (memory verse Jer 7:13)

Megaphones

Jeremiah colouring sheet

Songs:

• God speak, we listen (from Doctor Rocktrine album)
• God sits in the Highest Place (from God Rock)