Nehemiah and Ezra Sunday School Lesson for Kids -

Rebuilding Jerusalem

Use this children’s Sunday School lesson about Ezra and Nehemiah to teach kids about the forgiveness of God and the unity of Christians.

Needed: index cards with “Exile!” and “God Forgives You!” written on them, building blocks

Lesson

Say, The two kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been conquered. God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer Israel and Judah because the people of Israel and Judah had done so many bad things. They had believed in and worshiped fake gods instead of the real God, and they had done all the wrong things that God didn’t do want them to do. So, God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer their kingdoms and carry the Israelite people back to Assyria and Babylon.

But God didn’t punish the Israelites forever. He had promised that after 70 years, He would let them go back to their homeland.

Game: Going Home 

Print out or write the words “Exile!” and “God Forgives You!” on index cards. You should have an equal number of cards that say “Exile!” as “God Forgives You!” Place three each in a direct line for as many teams as you plan to have. You’ll have three “Exile!” cards and three “God Forgives You!” cards laid out in front of each team, stretching from one side of your play area to the other. Mix them up within each line, but always have a “God Forgives You!” card as the last one in the line.

Then, divide the kids into teams. Tell them that their goal is to make it to the other side of the room, their Home. When you say, “Go!” the first student on each team races forward and picks up the first card. If it says, “God Forgives You!” they can go on to the next. If it says, “Exile!” their turn is over. They go to the back of their team’s line, and the next student runs out to pick up the next card.

The team who picks up all their cards and makes it to the Home side of the room first wins. Play again if time allows.

Lesson continues...

In our story today, we’ll read about how God forgave the Israelites and let them go home to Israel and their capital city of Jerusalem.

(Read the following summary story based on Ezra and Nehemiah.)

Summary Story

After God’s hand wrote on the wall that He was bringing the kingdom of Babylon to an end, two kingdoms divided Babylon. One of the kingdoms was Persia, ruled by King Cyrus.

When Cyrus became king, he let the Israelites go back to their homeland. The Israelites were very happy.

Everyone, cheer to show that you’re happy for the Israelites getting to go back home.

King Cyrus even gave them back all the items Babylon had stolen from God’s Temple church. King Cyrus told the people of Israel to rebuild the Temple because the Babylonian army had destroyed it.

When the Israelites started rebuilding the Temple, other people in the area wanted to help.

Everyone, cheer for other people wanting to help.

But these other people believed in many gods, not the true God only.

Everyone, boo that the other people believed in other gods.

So, the Israelites told the other people that they couldn’t help rebuild the Temple church.

Do you think it was right that the Israelites wouldn’t let the other people help? Why or why not?

Remember that God’s number 1 rule is that we can only believe in Him as God. God wouldn’t want people working on His Temple if they believed in other gods.

So, the Israelites started building the Temple church themselves. They were doing well rebuilding the Temple, but it took a long time. They didn’t have trucks or power tools to help them build back then, so building the Temple took years and years. In fact, it took so long that King Cyrus died before they finished.

When Artaxerxes became King of Persia, Israel’s enemies wrote King Artaxerxes a letter telling him lies about the Israelites. They said that the Israelites would rebel against the king if they finished building the Temple.

Everyone, boo for the people telling lies about Israel.

Why do you think Israel’s enemies didn’t want them to finish the Temple?

They didn’t want the Israelites to come back to their home and start rebuilding the Temple. They wanted to take over and live in the Israelites’ homeland. People still want to take over and live in Israel even though God gave that country to the Israelites.

When King Artaxerxes read the letter from the Israelites’ enemies, he believed their lies and told the Israelites to stop building the Temple.

Everyone, boo for King Artaxerxes making the Israelites stop building the Temple.

Later, another king told the Israelites that they could finish the Temple, and they did.

Everyone, cheer for the Israelites rebuilding the Temple.

Game: Rebuilding the Temple

Divide the students into two or more teams and give and have them line up on one side of your play area. Place a set of building blocks in front of each team on the other side of the play area. The blocks can be any type or size. Tell the students that their goal is to build a Temple using their blocks, but that they can only retrieve one block at a time.

                                                         

When you say, “Go!” the first student from each team runs to get a block. When they return, the second student runs to get one. The first team to retrieve all their blocks and use them to build a Temple wins. But to illustrate the lesson, you’ll yell “Bad king!” to signal each team to freeze in place and then, “Good king!” to unfreeze them.

When the game is over, remind students that the Israelites had to stop building the Temple for a while when Israel’s enemies told the king lies about them, but that they eventually finished it when another king said they could continue building.

Story continues...

Later, a man named Nehemiah was the cupbearer for the king. He was the one who would bring the king his drinks. He also tasted the king’s drink before he gave them to the king to make sure that no one had put poison in the king’s drinks.

One day, the king noticed that Nehemiah was sad. He asked Nehemiah why he was so sad, and Nehemiah said that it was because the people hadn’t finished rebuilding Jerusalem. Then, the king told Nehemiah that he could go back to Israel and finish building the walls around the city.

Why do you think it was important to have walls around Jerusalem?

A wall was important to keep Israel’s enemies out of the city if anyone wanted to attack them.

So, Nehemiah went back to Israel and told the people that they could start rebuilding the walls. Everyone worked together, and every family did their part to build a section of the wall.

Everyone, cheer for the Israelites working together!

It’s important for us to all work together too. As Christians, we can work together in our church to do great things for God. What are some things that we work together to do? (Provide suggestions based on your church’s ministries.)

And we can also work as Christians with other churches and Christians groups to do great things for God in our world. What are some things we can work with other Christians to do for God in the world? (Examples include supporting missionaries to evangelize and ending poverty.)

So, all the families in Israel worked together to rebuild the wall. The enemies of the Israelites tried to make them stop building the walls, but the Israelites didn’t listen to them. Sometimes, people try to make us stop being Christians, but we can’t listen to them either.

Why do you think some people don’t want us to be Christians?

Some people think that believing in God is silly. Other people don’t like the rules God gives us. But we know that God is real and that the rules He gives us helps us to be happy. So, we don’t listen to other people when they say we shouldn’t believe in God because we know that we should believe in Him.

Because God forgave the people of Israel for all the wrong things they did, He let them come back to their home. And, eventually, they were able to all work together to rebuild the Temple and the walls around Jerusalem.

Activity: Acting It Out

Divide students into groups of three or four. Have each group decide on and act out a scene in which a group of Christians from other churches or countries can work together to do something.

Closing Prayer

Father God, we thank You for forgiving us too when we do wrong things. And we ask that You’ll help us and all Christians work together to do what You want us to do in our church and in our world. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Queen Esther Sunday School Lesson for Kids – 

For Such a Time as This

Use this children’s Sunday School lesson about Esther to teach children about being ready for God to use them.

Needed: a copy of the script for each character (or each student if you want them to read along), soft balls, empty two-liter bottles or other lightweight items to knock over

Intro Game: Right Time Bowling

Divide the students into two or more teams. Give each team a soft ball and set an empty two-liter or another lightweight item in front of each team. Set a timer for 5 minutes. When you say, “Go!” the first student from each team rolls their ball toward their two-liter. The trick is that one or more leaders pace from one side of the room to the other, walking in between the players and their two-liters.

Students need to time their rolls so that the leader doesn’t get in front of them and block them. After they roll, they run to retrieve their ball and hand it off to the next student. Students score a point for their team each time they knock over their bottle. The team with the most points after 5 minutes wins.

After the game, ask students, When was the best time to roll your ball? (When the leader wasn’t walking in front of them.)

So, you saw when it was the right time, when you had an opportunity, and went for it! Today, we’re going to learn about a woman whom God made queen during a certain time so that she would have the opportunity to do something very important.

Lesson

Say, The two kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been conquered. God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer Israel and Judah because the people of Israel and Judah had done so many bad things. They had believed in and worshiped fake gods instead of the real God, and they had done all the wrong things that God didn’t do want them to do. So, God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer their kingdoms and carry the Israelite people back to Assyria and Babylon.

Then, after 70 years, God forgave the Israelites, and the people of Judah and He told King Cyrus to let the people go back to Israel. Many Israelites went home to Israel. They rebuilt the Temple church in Jerusalem and rebuilt the wall around the city. But some of the Israelites stayed in Babylon. One of them was a young woman named Esther.

(Perform the following drama with your students to learn the story of Esther. Then, follow up with the review questions at the end.)

The Story of Queen Esther

Characters: Narrator, King Xerxes, Esther, Haman, Mordecai

King Xerxes: I am King Xerxes. I was having a feast, and I ordered my wife, Queen Vashti, to come to the feast so that I could show off how beautiful she was, but she said that she would not come. Now, I am going to have a contest to see who the new queen will be. Whoever is the most beautiful woman in the country, will become the new queen.

Narrator: A young Israelite woman named Esther (Esther stands up) was the most beautiful woman in the whole country, so King Xerxes chose her to be his new queen.

Esther: Yes, I know. I’m very beautiful. But I didn’t tell anyone that I was an Israelite, not even King Xerxes.

Mordecai: That’s because I warned her not to. Hi, I’m Mordecai, Esther’s older cousin. When Esther’s parents died, I adopted Esther and took care of her like she was my daughter. I told her not to tell anyone she was an Israelite, though, because a lot of people still didn’t like Israelites and I thought King Xerxes might not pick her to be the new queen if he knew she was an Israelite.

Esther: So, we kept it a secret, and I married the king.

Narrator: A little while later, two of King Xerxes’ guards decided to try to kill the king and take over the kingdom for themselves.

Mordecai: But I heard them talking, and I told Queen Esther about it.

Esther: And I told King Xerxes.

King Xerxes: And I ordered that those two guards be killed. But I forgot to thank Mordecai for telling us about it and saving my life.

Narrator: Instead, King Xerxes found a new favorite servant named Haman.

Haman: That’s me!

Narrator: Haman became very powerful because he was King Xerxes’ favorite servant. Everyone would bow down to him – everyone, that is, except for Mordecai.

Mordecai: Why should I bow down to Haman? It’s not like he’s God or anything. He’s a regular person, the same as me.

Narrator: So, Haman hated Mordecai because he wouldn’t bow down to him.

Haman: I’ll kill you, Mordecai.

Narrator: And when Haman found out that Mordecai was an Israelite, he decided to kill all the Israelites, not Mordecai only.

Haman: King Xerxes, can I kill all the Israelites living in your kingdom?

King Xerxes: Sure.

Narrator: So, Haman set a date and sent letters all over the kingdom, saying that on a certain day, everyone in the kingdom should attack and kill all the Israelites living in the kingdom.

Esther: I was the queen, but I didn’t know anything about this plan.

Mordecai: I was the one who heard about it and told her. I wanted her to tell King Xerxes that she was an Israelite too so that then, the king would change his mind and not let everyone kill the Israelites.

Esther: “I can’t tell the king I’m an Israelite,” I said. “I’ll be killed too. Besides, I’m only the queen. I can’t go talk to the king unless he calls for me.”

Mordecai: You have to tell him, Esther. Maybe this is why God made you Queen, so that you could change the king’s mind and help save all the Israelites.

Esther: I knew Mordecai was right, so I said, “Okay, tell everyone to pray for me. Then, I’ll go see the king, and if I die, then I die. At least I’ll know I tried.”

King Xerxes: Three days later, Queen Esther came to my throne room. She knew I could have her killed for coming to see me when I hadn’t called for her, but I liked Esther, so I let her come in. “What can I do for you?” I asked her.

Esther: King Xerxes, I’m making dinner for you tomorrow night. Please come with your servant Haman. Then, I will tell you what I want you to do for me.

Narrator: A little while later, King Xerxes told Haman about how the queen had invited them both to dinner.

Haman: All right!

Narrator: But when Haman left the palace, he saw Mordecai again, and Mordecai didn’t bow down to him.

Haman: I hate you, Mordecai!

Mordecai: I only bow down to God.

Narrator: Haman was so angry that he decided not to wait for the day when all the Israelites would be killed. He wanted to kill Mordecai right then. He went home and built a pole to hang Mordecai on. The next morning, he went to the king to ask him if he could kill Mordecai and put him on the pole. But before Haman could ask, King Xerxes said,

King Xerxes: Haman, what should I do if I want to reward someone?

Narrator: Haman thought the king wanted to reward him since he was the king’s favorite servant, so he said,

Haman: You should give him one of the king’s robes and one of the king’s horses and let him ride around town.

King Xerxes: That sounds like a great idea, Haman! I want you to give one of my robes and one of my horses to Mordecai, and lead him around the city. He heard two of my guards planning to kill me once, and I forgot to thank him for warning me.

Narrator: Haman was very mad that he had to reward Mordecai instead of killing him, but he had to do it because that’s what the king ordered him to do. After he was done leading Mordecai through the city, it was time for Haman to go to dinner with the king and Queen Esther.

Haman: At least I get to eat some good food now.

Narrator: But when they were at the dinner, King Xerxes asked,

King Xerxes: So, Queen Esther, what did you want me to do for you?

Esther: I want you to save my life and the lives of my people. I am an Israelite, but Haman has convinced you to kill all the Israelites in the kingdom.

Narrator: King Xerxes didn’t know what to do, so he got up from the dinner table and walked out of the room. He had to think about what he could do. Meanwhile, Haman leaned in really close to Esther,

Haman: Please, Queen Esther, I didn’t know you were an Israelite. I wasn’t trying to kill you. If the king thinks I was trying to kill you, he’ll kill me instead.

Narrator: Just then, King Xerxes came back into the room. He saw Haman leaning in close to Queen Esther, and he thought Haman was trying to kiss her.

King Xerxes: This man is trying to kiss my queen! Hang him on the pole he set up in his yard.

Narrator: So, Haman was hung on the pole he had set up to hang Mordecai on.

Mordecai: And I became the king’s favorite servant instead of Haman!

King Xerxes: And I ordered that the Israelites could fight back if anyone tried to kill them.

Esther: So, everything worked out. I guess God really did make me Queen so that I could change the king’s mind and save all the Israelites.

Narrator: The end.

Review Questions

Why did Haman hate Mordecai so much? (Because Mordecai wouldn’t bow down to him.)

Why wouldn’t Mordecai bow down to him? (Because Mordecai knew that we’re only supposed to bow down to God.)

Why did God make Esther the Queen? (So that she could change King Xerxes’ mind about killing all the Israelites.)

Remember, there are times when God might want you to do something, just like He wanted Queen Esther to save the Israelites. Always try to think about what God wants you to do, and then, when He gives you the opportunity, do it.

Game: Right Time Bowling 

Play the intro game again and remind students that we need to look for the opportunities that God gives us.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we thank You for making Esther the queen so that she would have the opportunity to save the Israelites. We pray that You’ll help us to see what opportunities You’re giving us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Sunday School Lesson for Kids -

Being Brave for God

Use this fiery furnace Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego children’s Sunday School lesson to teach children about the need to be brave and do the right thing.

Needed: Bibles, soft balls or paper wads, a world map, drawing paper and crayons or colored pencils

Intro Game: Angels’ Protection Dodge Ball 

Divide your play area in half and divide the students into two teams. Give each team an equal number of soft balls or paper wads to throw. They have to stay on their side of the play area.

The trick to this version is that each team can choose one or two players to be Angels. The Angels run in front of the balls or paper wads to protect their teammates. They can’t get out. Remind students that God sends His invisible angels to protect and help us.

The team who gets all of the opposite team’s regular members out first wins.

Lesson

Ask, Can anyone think of some things that you’re afraid of?

What would you do if someone told you that you were going to get in trouble if you kept believing in God? Would you keep believing in God anyway, or would you stop believing in God so that you wouldn’t get in trouble?

What would you do if someone told you that they were going to kill you if you kept believing in God? Would you keep believing in God anyway, or would you stop believing in God so that you wouldn’t get killed?

The two kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been conquered. God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer Israel and Judah because the people of Israel and Judah had done so many bad things. They had believed in and worshipped fake gods instead of the real God, and they had done all the wrong things that God didn’t do want them to do. So, God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer their kingdoms and carry the Israelite people back to Assyria and Babylon.

But even in Assyria and Babylon, some of the Israelites still loved God and did all the right things that He wanted them to do. Three of those men were named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and today, we’re going to read about the scary thing that happened to them.

(Read Daniel 3 with your students, or read the following story as a summary.)

Summary Story

In the kingdom of Babylon, where the Israelites from the Kingdom of Judah were living as slaves and prisoners, reigned King Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar didn’t believe in or worship the real God. Instead, he made a golden statue and told everyone to worship it as their god. He said that whenever his servants blew the horns and played their musical instruments, everyone had to bow down and worship the gold statue he made.

What did King Nebuchadnezzar say people had to do when they heard the music? (Bow down and worship his gold statue.)

Are we allowed to worship anyone or anything other than God? (No.)

God’s number 1 rule is that we can only believe in and worship Him, not fake gods or statues or anything like that.

Then, King Nebuchadnezzar said that if anyone didn’t bow down and worship his gold statue when they heard the music, he would throw them into a fiery furnace. The fiery furnace was a big fireplace that got hot enough to melt metal.

What would happen to people if they didn’t worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue? (They would be thrown into a furnace and be burned up.)

The horns blew, and the music played, and everyone bowed down and worshipped King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. Well, almost everyone bowed down and worshipped it. Some of the king’s servants saw that three Israelites – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – weren’t bowing down. They told the king, and King Nebuchadnezzar ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego come before him.

The king said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you won’t worship the statue I made? When you hear the music, I order you to worship the statue. If you don’t, I’ll have you thrown into the fiery furnace. Will your God be able to rescue you then?”

Do you think Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego should listen to King Nebuchadnezzar and worship his gold statue, or should they listen to God and not worship the gold statue? (They should listen to God.)

But if they don’t listen to King Nebuchadnezzar and worship his statue, they’ll be thrown into the furnace and burned up. Do you think God can save them from being burned up?

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king. They said, “Our God is able to save us from your fiery furnace. But even if He chooses not to save us, we still won’t worship the statue. We will worship the real God only.”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were pretty brave, weren’t they? They said that whether God saved them from the furnace or not, they still wouldn’t break God’s rules and worship the gold statue. They wanted to do the right thing that God wanted them to do, no matter what.

King Nebuchadnezzar became so angry with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that he ordered his servants to make the fiery furnace seven times hotter than normal and to throw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fire.

So, the servants made the fire hotter, and King Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers grabbed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and marched them up to the furnace. They threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fire, but as they were doing so, the soldiers got burnt up themselves – the fire was so hot!

Then, King Nebuchadnezzar saw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walking around in the fiery furnace, but he also saw a fourth man in the fiery furnace with them. Who do you think that fourth man was? (God, Jesus, or an angel.)

God was in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, protecting them. Did you know that God can protect us too when scary things happen to us?

God is always with us, even if we can’t see Him, and He can protect us from anything.

King Nebuchadnezzar ran up to the opening of the furnace and yelled, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come out!”

They came out and were completely fine. They weren’t burned at all. Their clothes and hair weren’t even burned. They didn’t even smell like fire. The king saw how God had protected Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and he made a rule that no one in the kingdom of Babylon was allowed to say anything bad out the God of the Israelites. Then, he promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and made them leaders over the kingdom.

Everything worked out for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego because they were brave and did the right thing that God wanted them to do. So remember, if you will be brave and always do the right things that God wants you to do, then God will be with you too, and God will be happy with you.

Game: Fiery Furnace Tag

Divide students into two teams and set a timer for 5 minutes. The first team is the Nebuchadnezzars, and the other is the Shadrach, Meshach, Abednegos. The Shadrach team chooses one member to be an Angel. The Nebuchadnezzars chase and tag the Shadrach team. Whenever a member of the Shadrach team is tagged, they stand in the out section, the Fiery Furnace.

The Nebuchadnezzars cannot tag the Angel until at least three members of the Shadrach team are in the Fiery Furnace. At the point, the Angel can run into the Fiery Furnace, freeing any team members who are there. If the Nebuchadnezzars tag the Angel before he or she gets to the Fiery Furnace, the game is over. If the Angel succeeds in freeing his or her teammates, the Nebuchadnezzars cannot tag the Angel again until three members of the Shadrach team are again in the Fiery Furnace.

When the Nebuchadnezzars win or at the end of 5 minutes, switch roles and play again.

Craft Prayer Activity: The Persecuted Church

Look up a current news story about where Christians are being persecuted. Show the location on a map and summarize the situation for the children and explain why a certain government doesn’t want the people to believe in God. Then, have students write a prayer for their fellow Christians in that situation, or draw a picture illustrating God’s protection around those persecuted Christians.

Closing Prayer

God, we thank You for protecting Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We pray that You’ll protect us like that too. But even more than that, we pray that You’ll make us brave for You and give us the courage to do the right things, no matter what. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

 

Ezekiel Sunday School Lesson for Kids - Ezekiel the Watchman

Ezekiel Sunday School Lesson for Kids -

Warning!

Use this children’s Sunday School lesson about Ezekiel to teach kids about the need to tell others about their faith.

Needed: Bibles, a volunteer to play Ezekiel (or you can do this yourself)

Intro Game: Watchman

Divide students into two teams. The first team spreads out on one side of your play area and closes their eyes. Choose one of the students on that team to be the Watchman. Explain that a watchman is a lookout to see if another army is coming to attack. In this game, the Watchman won’t use their eyes though. They’ll use their ears.

The second team then tries to sneak up and tag members of the first. If the Watchman hears them sneaking up, he or she calls out, and the first team chases the second until they tag everyone. The teams then switch roles.

Lesson

(Note: Always allow students enough time to think about and answer the questions before clarifying the teaching.)

Say, The two kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been conquered. God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer Israel and Judah because the people of Israel and Judah had done so many bad things. They had believed in and worshiped fake gods instead of the real God, and they had done all the wrong things that God didn’t do want them to do. So, God let the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquer their kingdoms and carry the Israelite people back to Assyria and Babylon.

(Read Ezekiel 1-2 with your students, or read the following story as a summary.)

Ezekiel: Hi, everyone! I’m Ezekiel. I was an Israelite living in Babylon after God punished up by letting the Babylonians conquer us and take us back to their country.

One day, while I was living in Babylon, I began to feel a lot of wind blowing toward me. It was very strong. And there was a huge cloud over my head with lightning in it and fire. Inside the fire were four angels. These angels had four faces, one on each side of their head. One face was a regular human face, but they also had a lion face and an eagle face and a bull face. And they had six wings each, with eyes totally covering their wings.

The four angels were carrying a throne above their heads. God was on the throne. He looked like a man, but from His stomach up, He looked like glowing metal, and from His stomach down, He looked like only fire. I don’t know if that’s how God looks all the time, but that’s how He looked then.

How would all of you like to see God?

Do you think you would be scared?

Well, I can tell you that I was scared, seeing those angels and God. I simply fell down on the ground and bowed before God.

Then God said, “Ezekiel, I’m going to make you a prophet. I want you to go preach to the Israelites living in Babylon and tell them to believe in Me and do the right things that I want them to do. I am making you like a guard on top of the castle. When the guard sees an enemy coming, he’s supposed to warn the rest of the people. Now, I want you to warn the Israelites. Tell them that if they don’t believe in Me and do the right things that I want them to do, then I will punish them again.

“If you don’t warn them, you will be guilty of doing something wrong too, because I told you to warn them and you didn’t. But if you do warn them, and they still won’t believe in Me and do the right things, then only they will be guilty. You will have done the right thing by warning them.”

So, from then on, I was a prophet. Whatever God told me to do, I did. And I tried to warn the people of Israel to start believing in God again and to do the right things that God wanted them to do. Some people believed me and started believing in God, but other people didn’t. At least, I had done what I was supposed to do and warned them, right?

(Have students thank “Ezekiel” for coming to talk to them.)

Review Questions

What did God tell Ezekiel to do? (To warn people to believe in God and do the right things that He wanted them to do.)

What would happen if Ezekiel didn’t warn people to believe in God? (Ezekiel would get in trouble for not warning people as God said.)

Do you think God wants us to tell other people to believe in God too? (Yes.)

What happens to people if they don’t believe in God when they die? Where do they go? (Hell.)

But God doesn’t want people to go to Hell. God loves everyone. He wants us to warn other people to believe in Him so that they can go to Heaven when they die instead of Hell. God says that anyone who believes in Him will go to Heaven and live with Him forever and ever. So, let’s do our best to tell as many people as possible about God so that they can believe in Him too and go to Heaven when they die.

Game: Disciple Tag

Choose one student to be It. When they tag someone, that person links hands with them and joins their team. They continue adding people to their team, linking hands with each one until all but one student is part of their chain. That remaining student becomes It for the next round.

Play two or three rounds and then, explain that when we tell people about Jesus, we want them to believe in Jesus too. If they do, they become a Christian and join our team. Then, they help us tell more people about Jesus.

Activity: Acting it Out

Divide students into groups of two or three. Have each group decide on and act out one way that they can help someone and convince them to believe in Jesus. Name some outreach activities that your church does if students need help thinking of something.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we thank You for being a good and loving God and wanting everyone to go to Heaven when they die. Help us to tell other people about You so that they can believe in You and go to Heaven when they die.
 

King Josiah Sunday School Lesson -

The Case of the Missing Bible

Use this children’s Sunday School lesson about King Josiah to teach kids about the importance of studying the Bible.

Needed: Bibles, strips of paper with clues written on them, construction paper, hole punches, ribbon, and craft supplies

Intro Game 1: The Case of the Missing Bible

Prepare a clue hunt around the church or your meeting area. The clues can be strips of paper hidden in a room. The clue on each strip of paper gives the students a hint as to where to find the next strip of paper. The last clue should lead the students to your Bible. Introduce the clue hunt by telling students that you left your Bible somewhere and give them the first clue.

Intro Game 2: Follow the Leader 

The teacher chooses a Leader. Students must follow the Leader in every way, going where they go and doing what they do. Play for a specified amount of time and then, choose a new Leader. Play until everyone has had a chance to be Leader or until students lose interest. After the game, explain that today’s lesson is about why we should study the Bible. When we study the Bible, we are learning how to play Follow the Leader. God and Jesus are our Leaders, and the Bible tells us everything we need to know to follow Them. The Bible tells us how we can live the way Jesus lived and how we can do the things that God is happy for us to do.

Lesson

Say, We’ve been reading and learning about the kings and prophets of Israel. Remember that the people of Israel actually had two kingdoms, Judah and the new country of Israel, because the country of Israel had split when King Solomon’s son, King Rehoboam, wanted to make the people work too hard.

Usually, both kingdoms had bad kings who didn’t believe in God and didn’t do the right things God wanted them to do. They believed in fake gods and did wrong things. But once in a while, there would be a good king who loved God and did the right things. One of those good kings was King Hezekiah, whom we learned about last time. His great-grandson, King Josiah, was another good king.

(Read 2 Kings 22-23:7 with your students, or read the following story as a summary.)

Summary Story

Josiah became king of Judah when he was only eight years old, and he followed God’s rules exactly right.

How would you like to be the king or queen when you’re only eight years old?

When Josiah grew up, he saw that God’s Temple church was starting to fall apart because no one was taking very good care of it. He ordered the priests to pay workers to fix the Temple church.

Why do you think King Josiah wanted the Temple church to be fixed and not fall apart? (Josiah wanted the Temple to be fixed so that people could go there and worship God.)

While they were cleaning and fixing the Temple church, Hilkiah the priest found the Bible. No one had seen the Bible for a very long time because the priests and kings that came before hadn’t been following the Bible. They didn’t believe in God or follow His rules, and so they put the Bible away and forgot about it. No one knew where it was until they started cleaning and fixing the Temple. Then, the priest, Hilkiah, found it again.

Hilkiah gave it to King Josiah, and when King Josiah read it, he was afraid, and he was sad.

Why do you think King Josiah would be afraid and sad when he read the Bible?

King Josiah was afraid and sad because when he read the Bible, he saw what God’s rules were and he knew that people had not been following God’s rules. Instead of believing in and worshipping only God, most people believed in fake gods and did the wrong things that God didn’t want them to do. Josiah was afraid that God was going to punish the people for not believing in Him and following His rules.

So, King Josiah sent Hilkiah the priest and his servants to the woman prophet, Huldah, to ask her what they should do. Huldah said, “God is going to punish the Israelites for not believing in God or following His rules. But because King Josiah does believe in God and listens to God’s rules, then God will wait until after King Josiah is dead. Then, He will let another country conquer Judah as a punishment to them.”

Hilkiah, the priest, told King Josiah everything Huldah said. Then, Josiah made it a rule in Judah that people could only believe in and worship the real God. He wouldn’t let anyone worship the fake gods anymore, and he made everyone follow God’s rules in the Bible.

The Bible tells us that King Josiah was one of the greatest kings there ever was because of how much he loved God and did the right things that God wanted him to do.

Do you all love God?

Do you want to do the right things that God wants you to do?

Where can you find God’s rules for what He wants you to do? (In the Bible.)

God gave us the Bible so that we would know how much He loves us and so that we would know what His rules are. If we love God and are careful to follow His rules in the Bible, then God will be happy with us, just like He was happy with King Josiah.

Craft: Devotion Diaries 

Let children use construction paper, hole punches, ribbon, and craft supplies to make their own Devotion Diaries. Students will tie construction paper into a booklet with ribbon and then, decorate the covers with markers, stickers, or whatever else you have available. Encourage students to take their booklets home and record Bible verses, prayers, and important things they learn about God in them.

Game: Sword Drill 

Give each student a Bible. Then, call out the name of one of the books of the Bible. The student who finds that book first wins. To make it a little more difficult, you can call out the chapter and verse of a book or the name of a Biblical person or event.

Remind students how important it is to read and study the Bible on their own so that they can know it well.

Closing Prayer

Father God, thank You for giving us Your words in the Bible. Help us to read the Bible and study it and follow it so that we can serve You the best we can, just like King Josiah. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

 

Jeremiah Sunday School Lesson for Kids - The Exile of Israel

Jeremiah Sunday School Lesson for Kids -

Exiled!

Use this children’s Sunday School lesson about Jeremiah and the Exile to teach kids about God's forgiveness.

Needed: Bibles, Play-Doh or clay

Intro Game: Forgiveness Tag!

Divide students into two teams. One team chases the other for five minutes. When someone is tagged, they’re out, but only temporarily. They go to the sidelines and count to seven out loud. Then, they re-enter the game.

If the first team can tag everyone and keep them in the out zone at any time within the five-minute period, they win. If they do win, or when the time runs out, switch which team is chasing the other.

Intro Craft Activity: God the Potter

Give each student a clump of clay. Let them make whatever they like for a moment. Then, tell them to make a cup.

When they’ve made a cup, tell them to make a house.

When they’ve made a house, tell them to make an animal.

When they’ve made an animal, tell them to make a person.

Tell students, The Bible tells us that we are like clay. Just like we made different things out of the clay, God can make anything He wants, and He can make us. But just like you had to destroy your things to make something new, God sometimes has to destroy the things He made.

Lesson

In the Bible, God told the prophet Jeremiah that He had made the countries of Israel and Judah, and He made the people who lived in Israel and Judah, just like God makes all of us before we are born.

But the people of Israel and Judah were doing too many bad things. They were believing in and worshiping fake gods instead of the real God, and they were doing all the wrong things instead of the right things that God wanted them to do.

So, God said He was going to destroy the countries of Israel and Judah. Just like we can destroy the things we made out of our clay, God can destroy anything He wants to. He sent foreign armies, the Assyrians and Babylonians, to come to conquer Israel and Judah.

Israel and Judah fought against the Assyrians and the Babylonians, of course, but they didn’t win because God wasn’t helping them. He sent the Assyrians and the Babylonians to conquer Israel and Judah as a punishment to them for not believing in Him and for not doing the right things that He wanted them to do.

The Assyrians conquered Israel, and the Babylonians conquered Judah. The Assyrians took the people of Israel to their own country of Assyria, and the Babylonians took the people of Judah back with them to Babylon.

It was a very sad time for the Israelites and the people of Judah because God was punishing them.

But do you know what the good news is?

The good news is that God didn’t make the Israelites or the people of Judah stay in Assyria and Babylon forever. God said that He would keep them there for 70 years as a punishment, but that then, He would forgive them and let them come back to Israel and Judah.

We’ll start learning about the Israelites in Assyria and Babylon next time, but for now, I just want to tell you that even if God punishes us for doing something bad, He will always forgive us if we ask Him to, just like He punished but then, forgave the Israelites when He let them be conquered. God will always forgive us because God always loves us.

Craft Activity: God the Potter part 2

Have students make one more thing out of their clay. Ask them to make something that shows someone asking God to forgive them or someone whom God has forgiven. Have students tell about their creations once they finish.

Game: Forgiveness Tag! 

Play the intro game again. Remind students that the Israelites went into Exile for 70 years as a punishment for their sin, but that then, God forgave them and brought them back.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we thank You for always loving us and also forgiving us if we ask You to. Right now, we pray that You’ll forgive us for anything wrong we’ve done. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

 

King Hezekiah Sunday School Lesson for Kids -

King Hezekiah and the Prophet Isaiah

Use this children’s Sunday School lesson about Isaiah and King Hezekiah to teach kids about prayer.

Needed: Bibles, dice, index cards with weapons or God on them,

Intro Game: Raising the Dice

Divide students into two teams and give each time a six-sided die. The first student from each team runs up to a table and rolls their dice. The student with the highest roll gets a point for their team.

The trick is that each team can help their player. As the students are rolling their die, the teams cheer. The team that’s the loudest gets to add one number to their player’s die roll. So, if Team A’s player rolls a 3, but their team is cheering the loudest, you’ll count that player’s roll as a 4.

Students re-roll in case of a tie, but only if the tie occurs after you add the cheering bonus.

After the first two students roll and you determine who gets the point, those students run back to their teams, hand off their die, and the next students run up. The team with the most points after everyone has rolled wins.

Explain that when we pray for someone, it’s like we’re cheering for them. We’re asking God to help them. God doesn’t have to answer all of our prayers, but our prayers for someone else can help God decide to help that person.

Lesson

Say, We’ve been reading and learning about the kings and prophets of Israel. Remember that the people of Israel actually had two kingdoms, Judah and the new country of Israel because the country of Israel had split when King Solomon’s son, King Rehoboam, wanted to make the people work too hard. Usually, both kingdoms had bad kings who didn’t believe in God and didn’t do the right things God wanted them to do. They believed in fake gods and did wrong things.

(Read 2 Kings 18-20 with your students or read the following story as a summary.)

Summary Story

But then, Hezekiah became the king of Judah. King Hezekiah was a good king. He believed only in God and told the people not to believe in the fake gods anymore. God was happy with King Hezekiah, and so God always helped Hezekiah defeat his enemies when another country came to attack Judah.

One time, though, a very powerful country, the country of Assyria, sent their army to attack Judah. The commander of the Assyrian army came up to the walls of Jerusalem and said, “We have conquered many countries already. Now, we will conquer Judah. All those other people believed in their gods, but none of their gods could help them. Now, your God won’t be able to help you either.”

Why do you think the other gods couldn’t help the other countries that the Assyrians conquered? (Because the other gods aren’t real. They can’t do anything to help anyone.)

But can the real God help people? (Yes.)

Can the real God help Judah and King Hezekiah win against the Assyrians? (Yes.)

So, the prophet Isaiah came and told King Hezekiah, “The Assyrians think God can’t help us win, so God is going to show them what He can do.”

Game: Army vs. God 

Print out pictures or write the names of various weapons (such as swords, spears, and shields) and the word “God” on a set of index cards. You should have an equal number of cards that have weapons as God.

Divide students into two teams and have the teams line up on separate sides of the room in single file lines. Mix up the cards and give each student a card randomly. Set a timer for 3-5 minutes, depending on how many students you have. When you say Go! the first student on both teams run toward each and show each other their cards.

If one has a weapon and the other says God, the student with God scores a point for their team. The person with a weapon does not score. If both say God, both score a point, and if both have a weapon, neither does. Both return to the back of their lines and trade their cards for a new card.

As soon as they leave the center, the second two players run up and do the same thing. Play continues until the timer runs out. The team with the most points at the end wins.

Story continues...

That night, God sent an angel to the Assyrian camp. The angel killed 185,000 of the Assyrian soldiers while they were sleeping. The next morning, the rest of the Assyrians woke up and saw all the bodies of the dead soldiers. They were so afraid of God that they left Judah and went back to their own country.

And that’s how God saved Judah and King Hezekiah from the Assyrian army.

A little while later, though, King Hezekiah got very sick. The prophet Isaiah came to him and said, “Hezekiah, God says that you’re not going to get better. You’re going to die.” Then, Isaiah walked back out of King Hezekiah’s palace.

Hezekiah was very sad, so he prayed to God. He said, “God, remember that I believe in You and that I always do the right things that you want me to do. Please help me to get better and let me live a little while longer.”

Do you think God should answer King Hezekiah’s prayer and let him live?

Remember that God doesn’t answer every prayer. He doesn’t have to answer our prayers even if we do believe in Him and follow Him. God will take us all to Heaven when we die if we believe in Him, but He doesn’t always heal us when we get sick. Sometimes, God lets people die.

But this time, God did heal Hezekiah. Isaiah was still walking out of the palace when God told him to go back to King Hezekiah. God said, “Tell Hezekiah that I have heard his prayer and that I will heal him and let him live for another 15 years.”

Do you think it was nice for God to heal Hezekiah and let him live longer?

God doesn’t heal everyone, but sometimes, He does do miracles like that.

The king of Babylon heard that Hezekiah had been sick, so he sent some messengers to bring him a gift and to say that he hoped he felt better. When the messengers got there, though, Hezekiah was all healed. Then, Hezekiah took the messengers all around his palace and showed them all the gold and treasures that he had. King Hezekiah was very proud of how much money he had, and he liked showing off his treasure to the messengers.

Do you think God wants us to show off our things? (No.)

It’s okay to have nice things, but God doesn’t want us to show off or be proud of those things.

So, the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and said, “One day, after you die, the army of Babylon will come and conquer Judah and Jerusalem. They will steal all your treasures and take it back to Babylon with them.”

King Hezekiah was sorry that he had shown off, but he was happy that God would make the Babylonians wait until after he was dead for them to come and conquer his country.

Game: Angel Attack! 

Divide the kids into two teams. One team will spread out in your play area and pretend to be the sleeping Assyrians. With their eyes closed, they’ll listen for the angels (the other team) coming to sneak up on them. The angels will tap the sleeping Assyrians. If they tap an Assyrian, that Assyrian stays quiet and is out when the round is over. The angels get a point for every Assyrian they tag.

If the Assyrians hear any movement before the angels tap them, they raise the alarm, and the round is over. The two teams switch roles.

Play three rounds. The team with the most points at the end wins.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we thank You for the good example of King Hezekiah. We also pray that You’ll help us to trust You even when You don’t answer our prayers like we want You to. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

 

Jonah Sunday School Lesson for Kids

The Prophet Jonah Sunday School Lesson for Kids

Use this children’s Sunday School lesson about Jonah to teach kids about the need to obey God and the richness of God's forgiveness.

Needed: Bibles, towel or blanket, action figure or doll or stuffed animal, trashcan or bucket or box

Intro Activity: Acting It Out

Divide students into groups of two or three. Have each group decide on and act out a scene in which someone can be nice to a person who’s been mean to them.

Lesson: Read Jonah 1-4 with your students or read the following story as a summary.

Summary Story

One day, God told the prophet Jonah, “Jonah, go preach to the people of Nineveh. Tell them that they better start believing in Me and doing the right things I want them to do or else I’m going to send fire down from Heaven to destroy their city and burn them up.”

But Jonah didn’t want to go preach to the people of Nineveh. He didn’t them want to believe in God and start doing the right things God wanted them to do because the people of Nineveh were Israel’s enemies. Jonah wanted God to send fire down from Heaven to destroy their city and burn them up.

Do you think it was nice for Jonah to want the people of Nineveh to die? (No.)

But Jonah did want the people of Nineveh to die, and he didn’t want to preach to them. So, he got on a boat and went far away from Nineveh instead of going to Nineveh as God told him to.

Do you think it was good for Jonah to go far away from Nineveh when God told him to go to Nineveh? (No.)

Jonah disobeyed God, so God sent a very bad storm to attack Jonah’s boat. The wind was blowing…

Everyone, blow as hard as you can to show what the wind was like.

The waves were going up and down….

Everyone, show me with your arms how the waves went up and down.

And everyone on the boat was so afraid. They thought they were going to drown. Jonah knew that it was God who had sent the storm and he knew that it was because he was disobeying God. Jonah told the other sailors, “If you want the storm to stop, you have to throw me overboard into the sea.”

The sailors didn’t want to throw Jonah overboard because they thought he would drown, so they kept trying to row back to land. But God made the storm even stronger, so the men had to throw Jonah into the sea.

Jonah was almost going to drown, but God sent a huge fish to come and swallow him, and God kept Jonah safe inside the fish’s belly for three days and three nights.

On the third day, God told the fish to spit Jonah out, and the fish spit Jonah out on the land. Then, God said, “Jonah, go preach to the people of Nineveh. Tell them that they better start believing in Me and doing the right things I want them to do or else I’m going to send fire down from Heaven to destroy their city and burn them up.”

That’s the same thing God told Jonah to do before, isn’t it? God was giving Jonah a second chance to listen to Him. Aren’t you glad God always gives us a second chance too? God always forgives us and gives us more chances to believe in Him and to obey Him.

Jonah listened to God this time and went to Nineveh. Even though he still didn’t like the people of Nineveh, Jonah went and preached to them and warned them to start believing in God and doing the right things or else God would destroy them.

Do you think the people of Nineveh will listen to Jonah and start believing in God?

The Bible tells us that when Jonah preached to the people of Nineveh, they all believed in God and started doing the right things. They prayed to God and asked Him not to destroy them.

God was happy that the people started believing in Him and so He did not destroy them. But Jonah still didn’t like the people of Nineveh. He was mad that they believed in God and that God didn’t destroy them.

Do you think it’s nice for Jonah to be mad that God didn’t destroy the people of Nineveh? (No.)

God said, “Jonah, you should not be mad. I care about the people of Nineveh and their animals. I didn’t want to destroy them. That’s why I sent you to preach to them. Now, I’m happy that they believe in Me and I don’t have to destroy them.”

And that’s the story of Jonah. Jonah wanted God to kill the people of Nineveh, but God wanted to forgive them. God always wants to forgive people instead of punishing them, and if people will believe in God and start doing the right things that He wants them to do, then God will forgive them.

Game: Listening to God 

Have students line up at one side of the room. The teacher gives instructions, saying “Teacher Says” as in “Simon Says.” Do the motions as you say the instruction. Every once in a while, do something and give the instruction without saying “Teacher says” first. Anyone who does something without the teacher having said, “Teacher says” has to pretend that they’ve been swallowed by a fish and taken to Nineveh at the other side of the room. You can also give an instruction that doesn’t match your motion to catch kids off guard. Students who are out wait there until the end of the round and then, join back in. The last student in the game becomes the new leader.

Game: Reverse Fishing 

Place a large trashcan, bucket, or box, at the end of the room. Give students a blanket or towel and an action figure, doll, or stuffed animal. Students try to launch their action figure (Jonah) into the trashcan (fish’s mouth) using only their blanket (waves of the sea).

Remind students about how Jonah disobeyed God and had to be thrown into the sea to make the storm stop. Then, God saved him by sending a fish to swallow him.

Closing Prayer

God, we thank You for being a good God and caring about all people. Help us to be like You and love even the people that we don’t like. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.