GOD PROVIDES FOR GROWTH AND CHANGE

Transcription

1 BOOK 2, PART 2, LESSON 7 GOD PROVIDES FOR GROWTH AND CHANGE THE BIBLE: Psalm 67:6-7; Ecclesiastes 3:1; Ecclesiastes 3:11a; Psalm 104:9, THEME: The Bible gives us a recrd f Gd as creatr and sustainer f the universe, and f the persns wh are created in the image f Gd. PREPARING FOR THE LESSON MAIN IDEA: Gd made the wrld a gd place t live by prviding fr grwth and change. We enjy the rder and change f creatin and praise Gd fr it. MEMORY VERSE: Everything n earth has its wn time and its wn seasn. Ecclesiastes 3:1 CEV KEY WORDS AND CONCEPTS TO BE LEARNED: a. Change t make smething different than if it was left alne. b. Dependability ability t cunt n smething, trust in smething cnstant. MAJOR LEARNINGS: Gd has planned fr things t change and t grw. We can depend n Gd because Gd has planned fr creatin in a beautiful way. BIBLE BACKGROUND: The Bible passages t be used this week are in reference t the cnstancy f creatin. Seasns f grwing and seasns f harvesting cme and g. Night and day cme and g. Life is always changing, yet in the midst f thse changes, Gd prvides. The writer f Ecclesiastes indicates that the wrds are thse f a teacher, and begins with philsphical reflectins abut life and the cnstancy f it. UNDERSTANDING YOUR STUDENTS: It is always necessary t remember that children have had little experience with the regularity f the earth and the sense f passing seasns and times f change beynd their immediate cncerns. As we wrk with them t understand that Gd has placed an rder fr all f creatin, it will be necessary fr us t talk with them abut change in the midst f cnstancy. Children are very curius and willing t learn abut many things. They will apprach a subject with many questins and even bring sme misunderstandings frm ut f their limited experiences with thers. It will be imprtant t hear their questins and t respnd t them in a psitive way while nt reinfrcing infrmatin that may nt be crrect. In this lessn, ne f the pictures will be f the grwth cycle f a persn r animal. Remember that the children will nt really have a cncept f hw they are ging t grw althugh they will have the cncept f being a small baby at first. It is hard fr them t see yu as having been brn a baby they have nt experienced adulthd yet.

2 DEVELOPING YOUR FAITH: This week, begin a time each day in prayer asking Gd fr guidance in teaching the children in yur grup. Name thse children yu feel need special prayer and ask Gd t tuch them in a special way. Read and study Chapter 3 f Ecclesiastes. Read thrugh the chapter beginning with verse 1 and ending with 15. Think abut what the writer is saying. Each day select a different verse r tw t think abut. What are yur experiences with what the Scriptures are saying? Can yu relate t them? Are their specific things that speak t yu? As yu reflect n hw these verses relate t yur experience, cnsider hw yu wuld explain each f these t the children in yur class. This will help yu think thrugh yur wn beliefs and prepare t teach the children mre effectively. 1. INTRODUCTION TEACHING THE LESSON Have the teaching picture(s) related t this lessn n the table, wall r flr as the children arrive. (Artist: Make a series f drawings (can be n ne sheet) that depict the grwth f a plant r flwer frm a seed r seeding t full blm. Als draw a picture that depicts the grwth f a human frm newbrn thrugh childhd t adulthd.) Encurage the children wh arrive early t lk at the pictures and talk t each ther abut what they see. When yu feel all the children have arrived, begin the lessn. Hld the teaching picture(s) that shw the grwth f a plant t the children. ASK: What d yu think is happening in these drawings? Let them give yu any answers that they wish t give, accepting them and giving them guidance when they are nt crrect. SAY: This picture shws hw a flwer (r whatever the artist has drawn) begins and grws t becme a full grwn thing f beauty. What can yu tell me abut flwers and plants that yu have watched blm and grw? Hld up the ther teaching picture(s) that shws the human grwth cycle. ASK: What can yu tell me abut this picture? (Yu can ask questins abut whether they have a small brther r sister at hme r if they have seen a sibling grw int anther stage f develpment.) D yu think yur mther, r father, r grandmther were ever tiny like that? Help them t see that it is Gd s plan fr peple, plants, and animals t grw. 2. EXPLORE THE BIBLE MESSAGE Read the Bible verses Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 3:11 t the children. Talk with them abut what the passages mean. Read the fllwing verses:

3 Fr everything in seasn and fr every activity under heaven its time: a time t be brn and a time t uprt; a time t kill and a time t heal; a time t break dwn and a time t build up; a time t weep and a time t laugh; a time fr murning and a time fr dancing; a time t scatter stnes and a time t gather them; a time t embrace and a time t abstain frm embracing; a time t seek and a time t lse; a time t keep and a time t discard; a time t tear and a time t mend; a time fr silence and a time fr speech; a time t lve and a time t hate; a time fr war and a time fr peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-10 He has made everything t suit its time; mrever He has given making a sense f past and future, but n cmprehensin f Gd s wrk frm beginning t end. Ecclesiastes 3: RESPOND TO THE BIBLE MESSAGE ACTIVITY 1: Smetimes Game Have the children stand. Tell them t listen t yur wrds and d the same actins that yu are ding. This is called Smetimes. Smetimes I m very, very small. (Squat dwn.) Smetimes I m very, very tall, (Stretch up n tiptes) Smetimes small, (Squat dwn.) Smetimes tall. (Stretch up n tiptes.) See what I am nw. (Either stretch up, squat up, squat dwn, r in between.) D this tw times with yu leading the wrds and mvement. Then invite ne f the children t lead the mvements. Give several children a chance t lead befre ending the game. (This is fun fr the children and helps them t think abut the develpmental stages that yu talked abut earlier. It will als give them sme gd exercise and prepare them t sit back dwn fr a while.) SAY: The Bible tells us many things. The verses we talked abut earlier are frm a bk in the Old Testament. Amng ther things, in this bk we read abut hw Gd has planned fr everything t have its wn time. By that the writer means such things as there is a time fr the sun t shine and a time when the sun des nt shine. ASK: When are thse times? (day, night, when the cluds cver the sun) SAY: The same wuld be true fr the mn. The writer calls this a seasn. (Read Ecclesiastes 3:1 again.)

4 ASK: What are sme f the things yu can think f that have their seasn? (Teacher: use sme f the ideas frm the first eight verses yu studied in Ecclesiastes 3 this week t fill in sme examples such as when we d nt feel like being lvable, when we are being angry, when we d nt feel like speaking, r when we are being quiet. The ppsite f these things are true als.) Tell the children t listen and d what yu are saying. Lead the children in ding the fllwing: Make a happy face! Make a sad face! Can yu make bth faces at the same time? Nt very well! Make sme happy sunds! Be s very quiet that we can hear each ther breathing. Can yu d bth f these things at the same time? N! Clse yur eyes! Open yur eyes! Can yu d bth f these things at the same time? N! Make fists with yur hands! Open yur hands wide! Can yu d bth f these things at the same time? N! SAY: This is the kind f thing the Bible is telling us abut. Gd has planned everything s that, in its time, it can be accmplished; the planting f fd, the gathering f fd like the planting f the banana tree, the picking f bananas s that we might eat them. The cming f the rainy times and the ht and dry time is anther example. SAY: All f this is change. We can watch peple, animals, and plants grw and change. We can see the cluds gathering, rain cming and then the sunshine that fllws. All f these things are a part f Gd s plan fr the wrld. ACTIVITY 2: Gathering in grups Have the children gather int smaller grups, sitting clse tgether s that they can hear each ther. Instruct them t talk abut what they have learned frm the lessn tday. Ask them fr examples that shw Gd s plan fr everything t have its wn time. ACTIVITY 3: Experiment Grwing Familiar Things If pssible, bring sme grwing thing that the children will be familiar with frm the area like a branch and a flwer, r a branch and sme kind f fruit. Have them identify the bjects and then ask them t explain hw they illustrate what yu have been talking abut in the lessn tday. Help them t see the relatinship that yu intend that there is a time when the plant grws, then the time fr the fruit t develp r the flwer t blssm, and finally the time t be picked t eat r t enjy. Tell them that is a part f Gd s plan fr everything t have its wn time.

5 3. CLOSE IN PRAYER Read the fllwing pem t the children: Gd has a plan fr everything under the sun, The rain, the cluds, a child n the run. Gd has a plan fr grwing and change, Fr peple, animals, plants and everything in range. Gd has a plan fr yu and fr me, And Gd s plan is a wnder t see. Ask the children t tell yu what their favrite thing in creatin is. Help them t see that each thing has its wn time and may be here fr nly a shrt while and then g n t be smething else, t change int a different frm r g away cmpletely, Help the children t learn the memry verse fr tday. Read again Ecclesiastes 3:1. Have them repeat it ver and ver until yu feel they have learned it. SAY: As yu g away frm this place tday and as yu mve arund in yur huse and utside in the wrld, think abut hw Gd has planned fr things t change and t grw. See just hw many things yu can see that will nt stay the same. Hw many things yu can see that will grw r change frm what it is nw. If we just take time t lk arund, we can see hw we can depend n Gd, because Gd has planned fr creatin in such a beautiful way. Clse the time with asking ne f the children t pray. If pssible, have them hld hands with the persn n either side f them while the prayer is said. If n ne wants t pray alud, tell them t bw their heads and in the quiet f their mind that they are t say their wn prayers and yu will clse the prayer time in a few minutes. PRAY: Dear Gd, Yur plan fr ur wrld and ur lives is s special. We are special because yu have created us in yur image. Yu have given us a wnderful place in which t live, with things f beauty all arund us. Help us this week t watch fr thse places that yu have created and t watch fr grwth and change in ur lives. Amen.