DAY 1 ELEMENTARY BIBLE LESSON LESSON TITLE: David Praises God LESSON OVERVIEW: The Bible tells us that David was a man after God s own heart. David loved God and worshiped Him with all of his heart, soul, mind and strength. He wasn t concerned about what others thought of him. This lesson will teach the kids that God is worthy of our worship and we know can be in His presence always. BIBLE STORY: David Dances (2 Samuel 6:14 19) MEMORY VERSE: David was dancing before the Lord with all his might.. 2 Samuel 6:14 TEACHING OBJECTIVE: To teach kids that God deserves our worship and praise. SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THE LESSON Part 1: The Gathering: Gospel wristbands for all kids Part 2: Bible Lesson Leader: Ark of the Covenant, picture of the Ark of the Covenant, poster board Part 3: Memory Verse Activity: poster board, paper for each child, crayons or markers, cd player or other method to play music Part 4: Game Leader: Part 5: Small Group Time: A copy of small group questions for each small group of 7 10 kids
PART 1: THE GATHERING (35 minutes) Welcome and Prayer (5 minutes) Worship (15 minutes) led by a revivekids representative Introduction to Lesson: We are going to start this night off with some Popcorn Praises! What does that mean? Well, you know how popcorn just pops up when it is cooking? That s what I want you to do; I want you to pop up out of your chair and tell us something you can praise God for. It may be family, His grace, etc. We are going to keep going as long as kids are popping up (make sure you take turns). Are you ready? O.K., ready, set, go! SUPPLIES: None PREPARE: Prayerfully consider those things in your life that you can personally praise God for. We are so excited about this week and about you being here at revivekids! It is our desire to help you come to know Jesus and to teach you how you can share Jesus with others. Tonight we are going to give each one of you a gospel wristband and we will walk through what these colors mean. Everyone put your wristband in your hand. Yellow is Sin, sin is anything that we say, think or do that breaks God s heart. It is doing things our way instead of God s way. Black is Death, what we deserve for our sin is death (to be forever separated from God). Red is Love, God showed you and I His love by sending Jesus to pay the price for our sin and death. Blue is Faith, when we believe and trust in something or someone. Green is Life, we have life forever with God when we believe and trust in Jesus. How many of you have ever heard some of these verses before? That s great! This week, we will continue to talk about what they mean and how we can know God. We also want to encourage you to invite your friends to revivekids. Let s see how many kids we can pack in here this week! All of the leaders here in this room are here for you this week. We will answer your questions, pray with you and help you to understand what God is saying to you. We believe that you can do anything that an adult can do when it comes to following Jesus. Pray with me now and let s ask God to help us truly give Him the praise that He deserves and for God to help us to learn and do what God s word says. 2
PART 2: BIBLE LESSON (25 minutes) BIBLE LESSON TEXT: 2 Samuel 6:14 19 SUPPLIES: Box representing the Ark of the Covenant or a picture of the Ark of the Covenant (page 8) and a poster board that says God s Presence. PREPARE: Prepare an Ark of the Covenant made from a small box OR print image of the Ark of the Covenant and write God s Presence on poster board. INTRODUCTION TO LESSON: Does anyone know what the Ark of the Covenant is? Give children time to answer and then clarify. The Ark of the Covenant represented God s presence here on earth for the Jews. When God would speak to Moses, he did so from the two cherubims (angels) on top of the Ark. As the Israelites were in the wilderness, a cloud would hover over the Tabernacle, where the Ark was, during the day and a pillar of fire by night. When the cloud moved, the Israelites moved, when the pillar of fire moved, the Israelites moved. They wanted to always be in God s presence and have His protection over their lives. Today, we are going to pretend like we are the Israelites and go where the Ark goes. Instruct the kids to follow you and the Ark or poster that says God s Presence on it. Begin to walk around the room as you tell the following story about David. Teaching Tip: Make sure your Bible is in your hand opened to 2 Samuel 6. Teach with enthusiasm for God s word. Speak loudly, take your time and use your own words so that you are able to do it without looking at the curriculum. BIBLE LESSON: David s story is a Bible classic from his start in a sheep pasture to his legacy as Israel s most admired king. Do you know anything about David? (Affirm the kids who share what they know). Most people know the story of David s famous battle with Goliath, how David was chosen to be the next King when he was just a young boy, his clash with King Saul (King Saul was really jealous of David) and David also had some mistakes along the way (like all of us). He had a lot of ups and downs in his life, but in the Bible it says that God said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will. (Acts 13:22) Because David was a man after God s heart, it was important to him for the Ark of the Covenant to be in Jerusalem, where the Jews were. Remember, we said that the Ark of the Covenant represented God s presence for the Israelites. Wouldn t you want to be in the presence of God? Well, they did too and David knew the importance of the Ark of the Covenant to the Jewish people. As the ruler of the nation of Israel, David wanted to honor God and protect the people. 3
Put down the Ark (or sign) and continue telling the story walking around the room without God s presence. The Philistines had defeated the Jews and the Ark had been captured by them. Everywhere the Philistines would take the Ark, the people would suffer because the Ark of the Covenant belonged to the Jews. The Philistines finally decided to send the Ark back to the Israelites. Pick back up the Ark or sign representing God s presence. The Ark was moved to a few different places and then David went down and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed Edom into the City of David. David reached the highpoint of his life when he established his kingdom and brought the Ark of God s presence (known as the Ark of the Covenant) back into Jerusalem to the City of David. As the Ark entered the city, David danced in the streets before God with all his might. (2 Sam. 6:16). How did you feel when we were walking around with God s presence? What about when we didn t have it? I hope this gives you just a little idea of how David felt as the Ark of the Covenant entered the City of David. David was free to sing and dance before the Lord! He knew who the worship belonged to. God is perfect, He is holy and David wanted to honor God and show His praise to Him. Today, we don t have to carry around an Ark or any other object in order to be in the presence of God because of what Jesus did for us. The Bible tells us in John 14:6 that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him. Jesus makes the way for us to know God and to have a relationship with Him right now and forever. That is worth dancing for!! Boys and girls, we at revivekids want you to really understand that God wants us to know Him but the problem is that our sin separates us from God but you can trust Jesus to pay the price for your sin and death and place your faith (your belief) in Him so that you may know and live with God forever. If you have more questions about what that means, please feel free to talk with me or one of the other leaders. Continue to discuss the Bible lesson until it is time for kids to rotate to next activity. 4
PART 3: MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY/GAME (25 minutes) David was dancing before the Lord with all his might... 2 Samuel 6:14 SUPPLIES: poster board, paper for each child, crayons or markers, cd player or other method to play music PREPARATION: Write the verse on the poster board, set out paper and crayons or markers for kids. READ THE VERSE: Read the verse aloud several times and/or ask several children to read it out loud. EXPLAIN THE VERSE: David was excited about the fact that the Ark of the Covenant was being returned. He wanted to give glory and praise to God so he did it by dancing. What do you think it means to give praise with ALL of your might? Yes, that means with his mind, he thought about God, with his heart, he loved God and with his body, he worshiped God. LEARN THE VERSE: Bible Verse Review/Reflection Verse Art Give each child a blank sheet of paper and access to crayons or markers. Ask the children to draw a picture that shows either them giving praise to God or something that they can praise God for. Instruct them to write the verse under the picture that they drew. EXTRA ACTIVITY: Play dance freeze play kid appropriate upbeat Christian music and instruct the kids that when the music stops, they should freeze. When everyone freezes, have them say the verse. Continue until it s time to go to next rotation. 5
PART 4: GAMES (25 minutes) Move the Ark Relay SUPPLIES: Two shoe boxes (or identical small boxes), two broom sticks or dowel rods of the same length, masking tape, gold wrapping paper or gold paint. PREPARATION: Wrap or paint the boxes to be gold, mark off a start and finish line for the relay of about 5 10 ft. INSTRUCTION for Move the Ark Relay: Divide kids into two teams. Give the first two kids in line the poles and the Ark of the Covenant. Explain to the kids that it is important that the Ark of the Covenant was with God s people and that those carrying it were not allowed to touch it. So we are going to play a game where we are moving the Ark of the Covenant. Instruct the kids to place the box on poles and walk to the finish line and back. Give the next kids in line the Ark of the Covenant. EXTRA ACTIVITY: Move the Cookie! Place a cookie on player s forehead. Using only your facial muscles, move the cookie to your mouth. This one will bring on lots of laughs! Talk about how the Israelites moved the Ark back to the City of David. 6
PART 5: SMALL GROUP TIME: 1. What was one thing that you learned about the Ark of the Covenant? (answers will vary) 2. What did the Ark of the Covenant represent? (God s presence) 3. How did you feel walking around with God s presence? (answers will vary) 4. How did you feel when God s presence wasn t with us? (answers will vary) 5. What did David do as the Ark of the Covenant entered the City of David? (he danced) 6. How do you express worship to God? (sing, read, pray, dance, etc.) 7. What is one thing that you can praise God for? (answers will vary) 8. Let s spend time praying and giving God praise for who He is and what He has done to show us His love. Spend time allowing the kids to pray for one another to know and follow Jesus. 7
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