Psalm 23: My Good Shepherd gives me new life

1. Lesson (based on Psalm 23:3)

HOOK

• Have you ever messed your room or home up really, really bad? Maybe you didn’t pick up all your toys. Your clothes are all over. Your books area spread out on the floor. You can’t even walk through it without stepping on something. It’s a great big mess!
• Some people’s lives are also great big mess. Sometimes they don’t know it’s a mess. But they are feeling lost and lonely, hurt and sad. Unlike the mess in the room, they can’t clean up their lives on their own. They need Someone to come and help them. To take out the garbage, to disinfect and arrange everything back neatly. They need a fresh and brand new start.
• Jesus is that Person who can do all that for us. He gives us new life and His right way of living. 

Psalm 23: My Good Shepherd provides me everything

1. Lesson (based on Psalm 23:1-2)

• Last week, we started looking at Psalm 23. Who can remember the first verse? The Lord is my Shepherd.
• Why do you think sheep need a shepherd? <get kids to answer> 
• People say sheep are a bit dumb. Left on their own, they’ll just walk and eat and walk and eat until they get lost. Even if they are near good food, they’ll just eat whatever is in front of them, even lousy grass.
• David tells us that when the Lord is our shepherd, He provides everything for us.

Psalm 23: The Lord is my Shepherd

1. Lesson (based on Psalm 23:1)

• Today we’re going to look at a psalm of David. 
• What’s a psalm? A psalm is a Hebrew poem or song, usually played on a harp or a string instrument. 
• Do you remember who David was? David was the shepherd boy who took down Goliath with a slingshot and some smooth stones.  
• David became King of Israel. But he was also a musician and liked to write poems and songs.  He was a famous psalm writer or psalmist. 
• This particular psalm is about God being his Shepherd-King.
• Psalm 23 is one of the more famous psalms written by David. We’re going to learn and meditate on this psalm in the next few weeks. And by the end of it, all of you will be able to memorise the psalm. 

• Psalm 23:1  The Lord is my shepherd.

God will take care of my problems

1. Hook:  

• Ever thought you had such a big problem you couldn’t solve?  Maybe someone is giving you a hard time in school eg your classmate made fun of  you or your teacher said something that made you  sad or angry. Or maybe it’s something that happened at home.
• You feel that there is nothing you can do. You don’t even know what to do. 
• But do you know that there’s nothing too difficult for God. He knows the problem you have and He is with you. He loves you and He will take care of you. 

2. Story: (Based on Joshua 6) 

• God told Joshua  that He will give him and the Israelites the Promised Land. God promised that He will be with Joshua and Joshua will be succeed in taking over the land.
• The first city that Joshua was to conquer was Jericho. Now the king of Jericho and his people knew that the Israelites were coming to take over their city. So they made sure that the gates of the city were safely locked. No one was allowed to go out and no one was allowed to come in to the city.

God fights the battle for me!

1. Hook:

• Option 1: Ready, Get set, Go!
• How many of you like to run? Who thinks they can run the fastest?
• Imagine you have to take part in a race. It’s a big competition. All the best runners will be there. What do you do? 
• You exercise every day. [get kids to do some stretching exercises, e.g. right hand over head and bend to the left, 1-2-3-4; the other side, 2-2-2-4; the other side, 3-2-3-4 etc] 
• You train hard. [get kids to run on the spot for 10 seconds]
• You build up your strength [get kids to show you their muscles. Biggest muscles or most creative pose wins prize?]
• [get kids to sit down. Give everyone a clap] 

• Option 2: Biggest, strongest, tallest
• Get children into 2 or more groups.
• Issue a challenge and each group has to send their best contender. Each kid can only come up once until all have had a chance to participate.
• Examples of challenges: the longest hair, the biggest smile, the widest palm, the largest shoe etc.
• To make it more exciting (esp for older kids), you can just give the adjective first. E.g. “I am looking for the ‘longest’ … ”. Team contenders come forward. Then only you reveal, “I am looking for the longest hair.”
• The winning contender scores one point for his/her team. Team with most points wins.

• Conclusion: 
• Yes, when you take part in a competition or race, you want to be the strongest, fastest and the best.
• But do you know, children, that sometimes God uses the weakest and the slowest to do His work? 
• Why would God do that? Why doesn’t He choose the strongest, the fastest and the best?
• Because when the weak and the slow win, everyone will know that it’s God who won it for them!
• Today we will learn that God fights the battle for you and for me!

Thank you God for all the great things you have done for me!

1. Hook:

• Memory matching game


• Prepare 12 rock-shaped cards. Behind the cards, print/draw 6 pairs of images; 2 of a kind.
• Mix up the cards and paste the image-side onto the wall with blu tack.
• Get kids to come one by one to choose a card and attempt to find its pair.
• Once a match is made, the cards are removed.
• Game continues until all 6 matches are made. 
• Conclusion: All of you have good memory! God gave us the ability to remember things and events that happened and lessons we’ve learnt. Let’s learn about how He helped the Israelites to remember a very important lesson in their lives. 

God stopped the waters for the Israelites. God can do anything for me!

1. Hook:

• Water pouring 
• Bring a pitcher of water, a large bowl and a large towel.
• Show how you will pour the water into the bowl. Just pour a trickle of water into the bowl. 
• Then ask for volunteers to come try to stop the small trickle of water coming out of the pitcher. The children can try all kinds of ways of doing it, but it won’t be able to be done. 
• Explain to the children that they could not stop even a trickle. But God is able to stop a whole river that was overflowing. That’s the amazing God we have!

2. Story (based on Joshua 3) 

• Last week we learned about the 2 spies that went to spy out the Promised Land. They returned and told Joshua, “Yes, God has given us the land!”

God liked Rahab; God likes me too … always!

1. Lesson (based on Joshua 2): Rahab & the 2 Spies

• Game: “I spy with my little eye”

• Hook:
• Have you ever felt that nobody liked you?
• Maybe some other kids don’t like you because you are different — the clothes you wear, or the way you speak. Maybe they think you are weird. Maybe they tell their friends not to be your friend. Maybe they don’t want to share their toys with you or to play with you. Maybe it’s because you once did something wrong that made them unhappy.
• It’s tough when you feel nobody likes you. It’s tough when you think you are not good enough. You can feel lonely, or sad, or angry. Sometimes we all feel this way.
• But do you know that there’s Someone who likes you ALL the time. He doesn’t care about what you wear, or how your talk or what you’ve done. Even if you made other people really, really mad. He’s there for you. And He loves you always.
• What’s His name? Jesus!
• 
  

• Story:
• Once upon a time, there was a woman called Rahab. She lived in a town called Jericho. People in the town did not like her very much. Because she did things that were not very good.
• One day, she met two men. They were Israelites from the desert. They wanted to find out some information about Jericho. They were spies.

God was with Joshua (Part 2)

1. Lesson (based on Joshua 1)

• Hook:
• Have your parents or teachers ever asked you to do a big and important job? Perhaps it was to perform on stage or give a speech in front of many people. Or to organize an event. Or to lead a group to do something big. Maybe it feels too difficult for you. Maybe you were afraid. What would you do?
• What if someone big came to help you? Say an experienced senior, your parents or your teacher? This person not only helps you but even prepares everything you need to do the big job. All you had to do was just to follow the person and trust that they will take care of everything. Suddenly the BIG job seems smaller and easier. Wouldn’t that be great?

• Story:
• Let me tell you about someone who had to take over a BIG job.

God is with Joshua

1. Story (based on Numbers 13:1-30)

• God’s special people, the Israelites, were slaves in Egypt for 400 years.
• One day, God saved them and brought them out of Egypt. He was going to bring them into the Promised Land, the special place that He had reserved for them.
• But first, they had to cross a desert. So for many months they walked, until one day, they were near the Promised Land.
• Then God told Moses, “Send spies into Canaan, the country I am giving you. Tell them to see what sort of land it is. Find out what the people are like who live there.”
• Moses did as God asked. He choice one man from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. Moses raised his hand and blessed the 12 men as they left camp.

Jesus Goes Up to Heaven

1. Story (based on Luke 24:44-53)

•  Last week we learnt about how Jesus appeared his disciples. What was the name of the disciple who wanted proof that Jesus was alive? (Thomas) And who did Jesus say was more blessed because they believed without seeing? (All of us)
• Over the next 40 days, Jesus met and talked with His disciples and explained many things to them.
• He explained to them about what all the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms were talking about — they were talking about Jesus. Everything that happened to Him — His life, His death and His resurrection — had already been planned by God from the beginning of time.

Jesus appears to His disciples

1. Story (based on Luke 24:36-53; John 20:24-29)

• Last week we learnt about how Jesus appeared to some of His disciples. How many? (2) What was the name of one of them? (Cleopas). Where were they walking to? (Emmaus)
• After the two disciples recognized Jesus, they quickly ran all the way back to Jerusalem to tell the others that they had seen Jesus.
• The other disciples were also excited … Jesus had appeared to Simon Peter. As they were talking, suddenly, guess who appeared before them? Jesus!
• The disciples were startled and afraid. They thought He was a ghost!

A Walk to Emmaus

1. Story (based on Luke 24:13-35)

• Last week, we heard of how Mary and Peter and John went to Jesus’ tomb and saw that it was empty!
• That same day, two other disciples — Cleopas and his friend — were walking to a village called Emmaus, about 7 miles from Jerusalem.
• How do you think they were feeling? Yes, they were feeling sad! They were feeling dejected. Disappointed. Defeated.
• Their friend Jesus had died. Their hopes and dreams for a superhero savior had been dashed. And now, they have heard that Jesus’ tomb was empty!
• As they walked and talked to each other, suddenly Jesus came by and walked together with them. But somehow, they were not able to recognize him.

The Empty Tomb

Lesson: The Empty Tomb

1. Story (based on Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-18)

• Good morning, boys and girls! (Good morning!) 
• Do you like mystery stories?
• Today we are going to hear about the most exciting mystery story every told. I call it, "The Case of the Empty Tomb." 
• This is a story about what happened after Jesus died on the cross.  Jesus died on a Friday.  It was a very sad day.  It was sad because Jesus’ friends didn’t know what was going to happen.  They didn’t understand why Jesus had to die.
• Late on that Friday afternoon, Jesus’ body was taken down from the cross.  It was wrapped in long strips of cloth.  And it was buried in a rich man’s tomb.  A large stone was rolled over the entrance to the tomb, and soldiers were standing outside to make sure that nothing happened to Jesus’ body.  Jesus was dead.