People Rebel Against God- Sunday October 17, 2021
Sunday October 17, 2021 (Vol 1, Unit 2, Session 4)
Hi there, and thanks for joining us this week. FriendshipKids exists to help families bring their children to Christ and disciple them to be maturing, lifelong, reproducing followers of Jesus Christ. We hope this blog will be a useful tool for you to use to fulfill that call on your life. Week by week, we will review the previous Sunday’s Children’s church lesson and help your kids grow in their faith. Please feel free to use as much of it as you choose. You know your kids and are the best possible teacher for them. God has given you the power of the Holy Spirit to enable you to do more than you think possible (Eph 3:20). So, let’s have some fun and teach our kids from the scriptures.
Parent Devotional
People Rebel Against God
We love to measure the health, success, or sustainability of pretty much anything and everything. We measure our kids by their grades in school. We measure teams by their wins and losses. We measure people by their influence and following on social media. In a world obsessed with measuring “success,” we ought to be assessing in our own lives something we cannot see: our motivation.
We can define motivation simply as the reason we do something. Motivation is the driving force behind the decisions we make. There is a reason for everything that we do—both big and small—but what that motivation is might not be obvious to those around us.
In Genesis 11, Noah’s family had grown and began to rebuild the earth’s population. At some point along the way, they decided to ignore God’s command to spread out and subdue the earth for God’s glory. Instead, the people decided to build a tower to show their greatness. Their motivation was both obvious and arrogant.
Read Psalm 127:1-2. These verses provide a blatant reminder that God is the only true builder. His glory is our only proper motivation. Additionally, this psalm gives us a promise that those who love God will be able to rest from being driven by selfish motivation.
Doesn’t it sound pretty attractive to be able to rest from selfish motivation that plagues so much of our thinking and behavior? In God’s economy, He’s less worried with the outcome of our decisions and more concerned with the reason for our decisions. That’s not to say that it doesn’t matter what we do. Rather, if our motivation is right—if our hearts are right—our actions will follow. And not only will our motivation and behavior honor God, but much of the anxiety of life will fade away too.
When was the last time you measured your motivation? Is the driving force behind what you do making a name for yourself, your kids, or even your church? Or is the primary desire driving your life boasting in the name of Christ? Read Psalm 127:1 again. May we be driven by God’s glory and not our own.
PLACES TO KNOW
Babel: Name given to the city that the disobedient descendants of Noah built so they would not be scattered over all the earth. Referred to as Babylon in some Bible translations.
Parent Guidance and Instructions
As we begin to explore this week’s devotional, take a moment to pray and meditate on the verse from Deuteronomy about teaching your children the scriptures. Deuteronomy 6:7 says: “You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Maybe you do not have time to sit and have an hour of Bible time all at once, or perhaps your children are too young to sit for that long. Consider the key points of the lesson and ask God to give you opportunities to speak them into the hearts of your children throughout the week. Let the Bible become a part of your day-to-day. Be blessed this week, my friends!
Each week we include songs, activity pages, the bible lesson video, and memory verses. We pray this will help you find ways to engage your kids spiritually. It is written in script form from the K-2nd grade lesson, so you can read directly from it or change it to suit your children. Take some time to look at and print the activity pages and to review the lesson so you can adjust as needed. Once you are ready, go ahead and start with these songs if you would like, or pick some of your favorite worship songs and then jump right in! Have fun! And remember, this does not need to be done in one sitting! Feel free to break it up over the week. Please contact us at the church if you have any questions or suggestions. We would love to hear from you!
Opening
“Blessings and Bummers”
Let’s get started. Tell me, what have you seen the Lord doing in your lives this week? What have your greatest blessings been? How about your biggest challenges?
Parents share your blessings and bummers, encourage the kids to do the same. The goal is for kids to see God at work in the everyday, seemingly small and mundane things. It doesn’t matter if it is something as small as getting to watch a favorite TV show or something big like a new baby sibling being born, God is active and in our midst.
Prayer
Let’s go to the Lord in prayer: Father God, Thank you. Thank you for providing for our needs. You are so good to us even though we do not deserve it! Thank you for continuing to bless us, Lord. Thank you for being patient with us. Thank you to our friends as well as our families. Most importantly, we thank you always for sending Jesus to live a perfect life and die to pay for our sins. Thank you for raising Him from the dead and promising us life with you forever if we believe in Him. Please help us be thankful for all you do for us and look to you in all that we do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
(Please add to or customize prayer time to fit your family)
Praise the Lord for hearing our prayers!
Let’s go!
Welcome! It’s so good to see you. If you brought your Bible, hold it up. [Provide Bibles for kids who need one.] Can anyone tell me what the Bible is about? [Allow kids to respond.] The Bible is God’s Word. It tells us the wonderful story of God’s plan to rescue sinners.
The Bible tells us what is true about God and about ourselves. One truth we clearly see in God’s Word and in the world around us is this: People rebel against God. We resist God’s authority in our lives.
What does it mean to sin? To sin is to think, say, or behave in any way that goes against God and His commands. This big picture question reflects a big truth we will see over and over again in the Bible. Remember that sin is not just something we do. Our thoughts and words can be sinful. Even failing to do what is right can be sinful. This is because sin runs deep; it is a problem rooted in our hearts.
Review
We’ve been talking a lot about sin. The big truth about sin is important to understanding the Bible. We’ve heard three Bible stories about how sin changed everything. Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, and it spread to all people. God hates sin, but He loves people. He judged sin by sending a flood but spared Noah on the ark.
After Noah got off the ark, God commanded Noah and his family, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth’ (Gen. 9:1). This was the same command God gave to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1. God created people in His own image and for His own glory. He commanded people to spread out on the earth to live as His representatives. As we will see in today’s Bible story, people rebel against God. They turned against God long ago, and people still rebel against Him today. One way people rebel is by seeking their own glory.
Bible Lesson
God had commanded Noah and his sons to grow their families and fill the earth. Is that what happened? No. The people rebelled against God. They did not obey Him. Instead, the people wanted to build a great tower. Was it really that great? Look at Genesis 11:5. [Choose a volunteer to read aloud Gen. 5:11.] God came down to look at the tower. It did not reach to heaven. When people try to gain the glory that only God deserves, they fall short.
Did the people’s rebellion stop God’s plan for people to fill the earth? Look at Genesis 11:8. [Choose a volunteer to read aloud Gen. 11:8.] God confused their language so they had to spread out.
The people chose to disobey God. They wanted to be as important as God. They were saying ‘Look how great we are,’ instead of ‘Look how great God is.’ They wanted glory for themselves instead of God. But God is greater than anyone. God created people to give glory to Him alone.
Sin is in all of our hearts, so we believe lies that lead to unbelief, or not trusting God. These lies lead to idolatry, or putting other things in the place of God. They also lead to rebellion, resisting or turning against God. We might try to follow our own feelings or ideas to make us happy or feel in control. But like Eve in the garden, listening to our own hearts is actually listening to the lies of Satan. Going our own way will always lead to disappointment and—apart from God—to death. But God offers us forgiveness through Jesus when we are sorry for our sin. Jesus came to bring rebellious sinners back to God.
Christ Connection
SAY People wanted glory for themselves instead of God. They ignored God’s plan, so God confused their language and scattered them all over the earth. We can hear this story and look forward to Jesus. One day, Jesus will gather together all of God’s people—from every tribe and language—and they will worship Him together.
Bible Time!
Distribute Bibles and display the Old Testament Mediterranean Sea map. Guide kids to open their Bibles to Genesis 11. Explain that the place with the unfinished tower was called Babel or Babylon. Point to Babylon (F11) on the map.
Consider comparing the Old Testament Mediterranean Sea to a modern-day map to help kids understand where this story took place. (Tip: Locate the area in the center of modern-day Iraq.) Choose a volunteer to read aloud Genesis 11:9.
Say God confused the people’s language to stop them from working together to disobey Him. The people scattered throughout the earth as God had commanded them to do.
DISCUSSION
Ask the following questions. Lead the group to discuss.
Say In what ways do people rebel against God today?
Remind kids that all sin is rebellion against God. What does it mean to sin? To sin is to think, say, or behave in any way that goes against God and His commands. Allow kids to share their ideas of ways people sin against God. Point out that we fail to love God and others in the way He has commanded. Our rebellion breaks God’s heart, and He wants us to turn back to Him.
(Option: Choose a volunteer to read James 1:14.)
Say Can our disobedience stop God’s good plan?
Remind kids that God is at work in the world and in control of all things. Our sin and rebellion separates us from God. We deserve God’s judgment. But God loves us and offers us grace. We know from the Bible that in the end, Jesus will return and God’s plans will succeed. Any rebellion against God will fail, but we can align ourselves with God through Jesus and be part of His good plan.
(Option: Choose a volunteer to read Ps. 33:11.)
Say What opportunities has God given you in your neighborhood, school, community, and beyond to make God’s name great? What steps will you take this week to do that?
Invite kids to share their ideas. Suggest they tell others the good news about what God has done for rebellious people. Kids might choose one or two people to reach out to this week. Pray for God to prepare those people’s hearts. Kids may also invite other kids to join them at church.
(Option: Choose a volunteer to read Luke 2:10.)
Key Memory Verse
Show the key passage poster. Lead kids in reading aloud Romans 3:23 together. Instruct kids to stand in a circle. Give one kid a ball. Prompt him to say the first word of the key passage. Then invite him to toss the ball to another player.
Kids should continue passing the ball, saying one word of the verse at a time. As kids master the verse, encourage them to pass the ball more quickly. For an added challenge, randomly call out, “Stop!” and guide the player holding the ball to recite the entire key passage.
SAY What does it mean to sin? To sin is to think, say, or behave in any way that goes against God and His commands. Our greatest problem is our sin. All people sin, and our sin keeps us from God. The next verse—Romans 3:24—tells us the good news that God frees us from sin through Jesus.
Lead kids to sing “For All Have Sinned (Romans 3:23).” You may also choose to sing a worship song of your choice.
That is all I have for this week. Let’s pray together:
God, we confess that we have sin in our hearts. It is our greatest problem because it separates us from You. Change us, Father. Soften our hearts to love You more. Amen.
Thanks for joining us! I hope to meet you here again next week!
Thank you to Lifeway for allowing us to publish this lesson using their Gospel Project materials.
