Preschool Teacher Guide Session Title: God Called Isaiah Bible Passage: Isaiah 6 Big Picture Question: Why did God call Isaiah? God called Isaiah to warn His people. Key Passage: Isaiah 53:6 Unit Christ Connection: God s promised Messiah comes out of David s family and is described in Isaiah s prophecy. TEACHER BIBLE STUDY Prep Time King Uzziah s death marked the end of an era. His reign had been long and prosperous. Uzziah became king when he was 16, and he reigned over Judah for 52 years. Uzziah had listened to the prophet Zechariah; he feared God and God made him prosper. But Uzziah s pride got the best of him. When he became strong, he grew arrogant and it led to his own destruction. He acted unfaithfully against the Lord (2 Chron. 26:16). God struck Uzziah with leprosy. Then Uzziah died. Under Uzziah s leadership, God s people had turned away from the promises of God and trusted in the promises of the world around them. God had promised to bless the entire world through Abraham s family, but God s people were rebellious. Instead of blessing, they set themselves up to receive God s judgment. But God s plans and promises were not thwarted. God sent Isaiah to preach a message of hope. Even though God was going to correct His people through judgment, His purpose was one of grace through which God would receive glory. God planned to send a Messiah who would bring salvation to the world. Isaiah 6 opens with Isaiah worshiping in the temple. Then God gave Isaiah a vision. Isaiah saw God sitting on a throne. In the year that King Uzziah died, God was sitting on the throne. God was reigning over the universe. The magnitude of God s holiness made Isaiah realize the magnitude of his own sin. His response? Woe is me! God extended His grace to Isaiah. He took away Isaiah s guilt. God passed over Isaiah s sins because He was going to send Jesus to pay for them. In His death on the cross, Jesus paid for the sins past, present, and future of those who would trust in Him. When we trust in Jesus, God says to us, Your guilt is taken away. Your sin is atoned for. Welcome/Transition Time (15 minutes) Lesson Snack/Video Activities 1 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources
WELCOME/TRANSITION TIME (15 minutes) Greet boys and girls as they arrive. Direct them to work on the color/activity page. After that, they may choose to play with a favorite toy or do another activity that you have provided. Color Page/Activity Sheet: Compare and Answer - provided Crayons or colored pencils color/activity sheet, 1 per child Read the comparison words for each set of pictures. Talk about better and best shown in the pictures. Ask kids to circle the picture of the best characteristic shown in each set. They must follow the dots to answer the last question. Say Isaiah wrote Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts (Isaiah 6:3). Jesus can make people holy, but Holy, holy, holy means God is the very most holy possible. God is separated from the world because He is perfect. Nothing and nobody is Holy, holy, holy except God. Practice Using Tongs - provided Set us a table center with two bowls. Using tongs, have the children transfer the items from one bowl to another. If the children are older, you can make it a race. Say In our Bible story today, an angel used tongs to pick up something that was hot. Listen carefully to our Bible story to hear what the angel picked up. Transition to Lesson Use your usual transition cue to signal that it is time for Bible study. Ring the bell, show the countdown video, flip the lights, or clap a simple rhythm for children to copy to gain attention. LESSON Worship Music Classroom DVD contains worship songs for each unit that the children will enjoy learning. Unit 15 DVD Story Time Say Who has a dream you can tell us about? [Listen to responses.] Today s Bible story is about a prophet named Isaiah. He had a vision in the temple. A vision is like a dream, but the person is awake. Let s watch (or listen to) the Bible story to learn what happened to Isaiah s mouth. 2 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources
THE BIBLE STORY God Called Isaiah Isaiah 6 Isaiah was a prophet like the prophets Joel and Jonah. God chose Isaiah to take God s message to His people. Do you know what the name Isaiah means? It has a special meaning. It means The Lord saves. That was God s message Isaiah took to the people: God saves sinners. When God spoke to Isaiah, Isaiah heard His voice, but Isaiah had never seen God. One day, God did something Isaiah would never forget. Isaiah was worshiping God in the temple, and God gave him a vision. A vision is like a dream, but Isaiah was awake. Isaiah saw God sitting on a throne. Who sits on thrones? Kings do! God was wearing a long robe. It was so long, it filled the temple! And creatures with wings were standing above God. They said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. The whole earth is filled with His glory. The voices of the creatures made the temple shake, and it filled with smoke. Isaiah knew he was with God. He said, Oh no! I am a sinner. I cannot be with God, or I will die! But I ve seen Him! Then one of the winged creatures flew to Isaiah. The creature had a burning coal. He touched Isaiah s mouth with the coal and said, Your guilt is gone, and your sin is wiped away. Then Isaiah heard God talking. God said, Who will I send? Who will go for us? God had an important message to share, and He wanted someone to tell it to everyone. Isaiah said, I m here! Send me. God said, Go. Isaiah went to the people to preach to them. First, God warned Isaiah, The people will not listen to what you have to say. You will tell them My message that they can stop sinning and be rescued but they will not listen. How long should I talk to them? Isaiah asked. How long will they not listen? Keep telling them My message until their cities are destroyed and no one lives there anymore, God said. I am going to send the people far away. God said that some of the people would come home one day. God would bring some people back to Judah. Those people would be some of the only ones left in Abraham s family. A long time ago, God promised to bless the world through Abraham s family. God was going to keep His promise; God always keeps His promises. Christ Connection: Isaiah knew he was sinful and shouldn t be with God. God is holy. God forgave Isaiah s sin. God had a plan to send His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins. We must trust Him. When we trust in Jesus, we answer like Isaiah: Here I am. Send me. 3 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources
Review/Key Passage Key Passage Poster Big Picture Question Poster Say Who was on the throne in Isaiah s vision? (God) What did He look like? (His train filled temple; creatures with wings surrounded Him.) Why was Isaiah afraid he might die? (God was awesome and perfect, and Isaiah wasn t.) What did God want Isaiah to do? Why did God call Isaiah? God called Isaiah to warn His people. God told Isaiah to keep telling people to stop sinning even though they wouldn t listen. He would let the people be sent to live away from home, but one day He would let them come back home. Isaiah knew he was sinful and shouldn t be with God. God is holy. God forgave Isaiah s sin. God had a plan to send His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins. When we trust in Jesus, we answer like Isaiah: Here I am. Send me. SNACK/VIDEO Snack Signal for cleanup time using the countdown video or whatever method you prefer. Take a bathroom break and wash hands before the snack. Ask for volunteers to help set up and serve the snack. Remind kids to wait until everyone has been served before eating. Thank God for your snack. Watch Video Show the video God Called Isaiah (from Classroom DVD) 4 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources
ACTIVITIES Make A Megaphone - provided Show how to roll a sheet of paper into a cone shape to make a megaphone. Tape the cone to hold its shape. Kids may decorate their cones if they wish. Form two groups and line them up facing each other on opposite sides of the room. Practice these sentences from the Bible story; kids shout across the room without using megaphones. Repeat, using the megaphones. (1) Leader: The seraphim (creatures with wings) said Kids: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. (2) Leader: Who should I send? Who will go for Us? Kids: Here I am. Send me. Say Why did God call Isaiah? God called Isaiah to warn His people. Pick up Preschool children need to be picked up by a parent/grandparent and the adult must show the parent receipt with matching I.D. number. If the tag is missing, the adult can go to the Welcome Center and have a receipt reprinted. Welcome the second session teachers and tell them what they need to know about the children who are present. 5 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources