3-5s
Theme:
God is in charge and gives life to those who trust Him
Aim:
That they trust Him and delight in Him
Intro:
Decorate
crowns
Kings Keys
(steal the keys from a blindfolded King)
Teaching:
Recap using
pictures from Daniel 1-7
God had
given Daniel great news; it was nearly time to go home! That must have been
really exciting.
But then
God tells Daniel what will happen in the future to God's people. [for this
you'll need lots of crowns]
There will
be a 4 kings who come [swap on crowns with 1-4 on]. The fourth will be called
Alexander. He will be a mighty King and will do whatever he wants (v3). [get
them to show muscles]
Then there
would be a king of the north and a king of the south [put crowns on two of the
children]. They will be friends for a while, but then they had a bit of a
fight! [get them to show fists]
Then
another man with a funny name will become king, Antiochus [put on another
crown]. He will be cruel and hated (v25) and will attack lots of people,
including God's people. [do a cruel face]
What a lot
of kings Daniel hears about. But who is in charge of every King? God.
Even this king [hold up a crown]? etc.
God is in
charge of all these kings, good and bad. And there were a few bad kings who
were to come. Maybe going back home wasn't going to be so great after all!
But God was
promising something even better: read v1b-3.
God says,
"I will give you life forever. One day I will make everything perfect and
wonderful. But in the meantime, I'm in charge of all these Kings!"
Crafts:
- Toilet roll kings
- Colour in world - draw round
hands and stick on
Songs:
- My God is so Big
- No more tears (from A Very,
Very Big God)
- Our God is a Very, Very Big God
(from a Very, very Big God)
- He's got the whole world in His
hands
5-11s
Theme:
Don't be disappointed - God is in charge and has an amazing future in store for
those who trust Him
Aim:
That they trust Him, look to Him and are satisfied in Him
Intro:
Quiz on the
term - promise a great prize for correct answers, which turns out to be a bit
rubbish. Are they disappointed. Promise (and give!) a great reward at the end
of the session.
Teaching:
Recap -
pictures of Daniel 1-7, outline of the kingdoms from previous weeks.
Remember
Daniel had worked out that it was time to go home! How do you think they felt?
Excited? This was it! All their problems would be solved; or would they?
So God
tells them what would happen in the future. We've seen this already with
strange dreams of many headed beasts and rams and goats. But God tells it
again, for a different reason this time. Lets see:
First, God
says there will be 4 kings - and the fourth will be Alexander the Great. Read
v2-4. [put a crown on one with 'Alexander']
Then there
will be two Kings, one from the North and one from the South [put crowns on two
more]. That's Syria and Egypt
Then there
will be a King called Antiochus the Great (Read v10-11). [put a crown on
another]
Then, and
we're about 200 years before the first Christmas now, there will be another
King called Antiochus. This time he's Antiochus Epiphanes. Listen to what he's
like, read v21-24. [put a crown on a child and get them to act out]
Let's
listen to how he treats God's people: read v31-33. Do you think that would have
been nice for God's people? How do you think they would have felt, given that
they thought that returning to the land would be perfect?
It must
have been a real disappointment to them.
I bet
you're hoping for lots of lovely things for Christmas - but if you think
they're going to make your life brilliant, then you'll be disappointed. [Give
examples - eg XBox, breaks or bored of it]
God tells
Daniel that there is something so much better that is coming, something which
will never disappoint: Read v1b-3. What will happen? New life forever with
God, how amazing!
Pray
Table
time [while decorating crowns for younger ones]
Knowledge
What does
God tell Daniel?
Understanding
Why does
God tell Daniel this?
What were
the people thinking would happen when they returned to the land?
How does
God know?
Application
When have
you been disappointed?
What is
much better about God's promise?
Why won't
it disappoint?
Give reward
Pray for
persecuted countries
Memory
verse
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