Teaching Daniel 3

3-5s

Theme: God rescues His people

Aim: That they trust that God is powerful, rescuing God

Intro:

Cover last week's statue in gold/yellow paper [you'll also need some musical instruments and 4 cut-out people, and a 'fiery furnace', a box with red and orange crepe paper stuffed inside, hide one cut-out person inside before]

Teaching: [note - they will have heard the story in church, this could be more interactive to see how much they can remember and have understood]

[Have some pictures of people needing rescued eg in the sea, stuck up a tree, etc.]

What do all these people need? Rescuing. We're going to meet some people in our story today who needed God to rescue them.

Recap - do you remember our statue from last week? King Neb dreamt of the statue and learnt that God knows everything. But he hasn't quite learnt it properly!

Do you know what he does this week? He sets up a big gold statue and demands that everyone bow down and worship it. [hand out some instruments] So when the instruments make a noise everybody was to worship the statue. If anyone didn't then they'd be thrown into a big fiery furnace.

Do you think God would be happy with that?

Well Daniel's friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, knew that God wouldn't be happy with it and so they refused to bow. They said, 'God can rescue us from this fire. And even if He doesn't, there's no way we're going to bow down to a made up statue!'

When the king heard about this, he was FURIOUS! He ordered that the fiery furnace be made even hotter and hotter. [add more red and orange crepe paper] And then the 3 friends were thrown into the fire. [put the three men inside the box]

But as soon as the king had sat back down and calmed down a bit, he sat bolt upright on his throne. 'Didn't we throw three men into the fire? Why then is there a fourth man in there?' [Show fourth man in the box]

'Bring out Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego!'

So the three men were brought out and not even a hair on their heads had singed! They didn't even smell of smoke.

Nebuchadnezzar was amazed and he called out, 'Your God is amazing, He rescues people! No-one must say anything bad about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's God.'

Do you know our God is a rescuing God! This big gold statue can't rescue people [push it over] But God can and God does! He is so big and so strong and so amazing. And He came and was with Shadrach and his friends in the fire. He was with them when it was scary and they were afraid.

And do you know, He rescues us through Jesus [show a picture of a cross]. And Jesus is with us when we're scared and afraid too.

Pray

Craft:

• Fiery furnace - Get them to stick on red and orange crepe paper and cut-out men onto a paper place, or open box. Stick on tag - 'God rescues His people'
• Colouring page

Songs:

• My God is so big
• Super Saviour
• He Died Upon the Cross

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5-11s

Theme: God is a rescuing God who stands with His people when they trust Him

Aim: That the children recognise this and are prepared to put God first no matter what

Intro:

Who will bow - have up a statue of gold. Ask them if they'd bow before the statue: for a sweet? Two sweets? - reward all those who don't bow with a sweet.

Teaching:

[note - they will have heard the story read in church. So we'll assume they were listening!]

Recap - use the timeline to remind where Daniel comes in the Bible story. See how much they can remember about the last two weeks, particularly the statue from last week.

[Have an area set up as the fiery furnace - ie fill with red and orange paper/cloth/etc

Have a large gold statue on the powerpoint from the first game]

Re-read/re-enact v1-7.

Ask them - would you bow? Not even if your life depended on it?

Apply - People in our lives are unlikely to set up big gold statues, but they will ask us to make other things more important that God (eg ?), and when we don't will think we're really strange. [think up some personal examples that are safe to share]

Re-read/re-enact v8-18.

Would you be prepared to say what S,M&A said? Why, what would give you confidence?

Re-read/re-enact v19-25 using the 'fiery furnace' area.

What is going on here? Who do you think the fourth person might be?

Why did the fire not hurt them?

Re-read/re-enact v26-30.

What had King Neb realised about God?

What had he not yet realised?

How does this story point us to Jesus?

Table time:

[for pieces of the memory verse: Daniel 6:26]

• Why were Daniel's friends in danger?
• What would you have done? Why?
• What did God do? Why?
• Where do we see Jesus in this story?
• How can we trust God and put Him first always?