DANIEL ‐ DAY 3 ELEMENTARY BIBLE LESSON
LESSON TITLE: Daniel LESSON OVERVIEW: In this lesson we will learn about a young man named Daniel. This lesson will teach us about obedience, strength, and the confidence that only God can provide. BIBLE STORY: Daniel (Daniel 1, 3, 6) MEMORY VERSE: “ Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.” Psalm 31:24 TEACHING OBJECTIVE: T o help children learn that they can be strong and trust in God when they are choosing to follow Him and do what He says in His word. SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THE LESSON ● Part 1: The Gathering: Gospel wristbands for all kids ● Part 2: Bible Lesson Leader: 3 Poster Boards ● Part 3: Memory Verse Activity: 1 Poster Board, package of index cards, 2 buckets ● Part 4: Game Leader: fabric to make at least 30 strips that are 2 ‐ 3 ft. long ● Part 5: Small Group Time: A copy of small group questions for each small group of 7 ‐ 10 kids
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PART 1: THE GATHERING (35 minutes) Welcome and Prayer (5 minutes) Worship (15 minutes) ‐ led by a reviveKIDS representative Introduction to Lesson: Simon Says SUPPLIES: None PREPARE: Be ready to give quick instructions for the game of Simon says. Wow! You guys did great at that game. One thing about the game of Simon says if that you have to listen very carefully to the instructions. Tonight in our Bible lesson we are going to hear about some guys who listened to what God said in His word and they obeyed His word. Our desire at reviveKIDS is to help you come to know Jesus and to teach you how you can share Jesus with others. If you don’t have a gospel wristband, raise your hand and we will make sure that you have one. Let’s go over the colors and what they mean so that everyone here can be able to understand it and then share it with someone else. ● Yellow is Sin, remember that sin is anything that we say, think or do that breaks God’s heart. ● 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 we can’t see. ● Green is Life , we have life forever with God when we believe and trust in Jesus. Let’s pray and ask God to help us understand and learn from all that we do tonight. 2
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PART 2: BIBLE LESSON (25 minutes) BIBLE LESSON TEXT: Daniel 1, 3, 6 SUPPLIES: 3 poster boards, marker PREPARE: Write out one of these word on each poster board: obedience, strength and confidence. INTRODUCTION TO LESSON: Think of a personal time in your life when you obeyed God and how He gave you strength confidence to truly walk out His word. Say, today we are going to talk about a man, his friends and 3 words. The three words are this (show poster board): obedience, strength and confidence. Can you think of a time in your life when it has been hard to obey? (answers may vary, but most likely will be directed toward obeying parents, teachers and others in authority). It is not always easy to obey those people but how you obey say your parents or teachers is practice for how you will obey God. Today we are going to learn how Daniel and his friends obeyed God and found strength and confidence to do what was right. Let’s have a little fun with our lesson today. Daniel was a young man who stood up and did what was right so every time you hear me say “Daniel”, I want you to stand up and then sit back down. Teaching Tip: Make sure your Bible is in your hand opened to Daniel. Don’t rush through the lesson. 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: Our Bible lesson today is from the book of Daniel, chapters 1, 3 and 6. Is Daniel in the Old Testament or New Testament? (Old Testament). Our lesson today starts with King Nebuchadnezzar going to Jerusalem and taking what he wanted including young men who were very handsome, strong and quick to understand. These young guys were going to be taken captive so that they could learn the language and literature of Babylonia. He assigned them a certain amount of food and wine from the king’s table. But, the Bible says that Daniel resolved or decided not to defile (or wrong) himself this way. You see the king’s food was offered to idols and Daniel could not and would not give anyone or anything but God honor. Daniel asked the official if he would give him and his friends nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink for the next 10 days and then compare their appearance with the that of the other young men who eat the royal food. Can you imagine, ten days of just water and vegetables? What, no donuts, no soda, no chips?!! Daniel and his friends wanted to honor God even if it meant giving up some really delicious food. What do you think happened at the end of the 10 days? The Bible tells us that to these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. When the king brought them in to question them, he found them to be 10 times better than all the other magicians and others in his kingdom that he sought knowledge from. You see Daniel and his friends chose obedience to God rather than man! The story gets even better!! So let’s review, 3
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we have Daniel and his friends and they chose to, what? That’s right eat vegetables and drink water for how many days? Yes, 10. They chose to do that because they wanted to obey who? Yes, God. Daniel and his friends chose to obey and He gave them strength unlike any of the others who were eating the king’s food. A fews years later King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold of himself. He gathered all the public officials and then they proclaimed that when anyone hears the sound of the trumpet, flute or music they are fall down and worship the gold image. AND, whoever doesn’t fall down will be thrown into a fiery furnace. Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abnego did not bow down because they chose to obey God in His word where He says we are to have NO other gods before Him. (kids may ask but the Bible does not tell us where Daniel was at this time) Some people noticed that they were not bowing down and told the King about it. So King Nebuchadnezzar sent for Shadrach, Meshach and Abnego and told them that if they did not worship the image he made, they will be thrown into the blazing furnace (that’s really hot!). They told the king that they would not bow down and they did not need to defend themselves ‐ the God whom they serve is able to deliver them. They also said, that even if God doesn’t deliver us, we will not bow down. Wow! They chose to obey and were given confidence in God! And you know what happened next? Yep, that’s right. God sent an angel to protect them from the fire and their hair was not even singed! And because of this King Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abnego.” So let’s review our words, obedience, strength and what? Confidence!! There’s still more…..can you believe how God worked in the lives of Daniel and his friends when they chose to obey Him. Fast forward a few years later and a new king. Daniel continue to move up in position and King Darius was thinking of putting him in charge of the whole kingdom. The other men got jealous and wanted to figure out a way to get rid of Daniel. So they tricked King Darius to make a decree that during the next 30 days, that anyone who prays to any god other than King Darius would be thrown into a lion’s den. Perhaps you have heard this story? The Bible tells us that Daniel continue to pray to God 3 times a day and continued to give thanks to God just as he had done before. Daniel knew that obedience would give him strength and confidence in God. Well, although King Darius really hated to do it because he really like Daniel, he had him thrown into the lion’s den. But get this, King Darius knew that Daniel served God so before he had him thrown in the king said, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” Daniel had lived his life in such a way, standing up for God, that King Darius knew it. Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den and God sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions and protected Daniel. Because of this, King Darius then believed and issued a decree that every part of his kingdom must fear and respect the God of Daniel because He is the living God. 4
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Boys and girls, God wants people today to stand up for Him the way that Daniel did. It was probably not easy for Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abnego to stand up knowing that they were going to put in a fiery furnace and thrown in a lion’s den, but, they were obedient and God gave them what? strength and confidence. Our prayer is that we would stand up for God like that. I pray that we will not be afraid to pray with people who need it, to tell people about Jesus, to choose to do what is right in God’s sight. God will honor our obedience! Remember how both of the Kings ended up acknowledging praise to the God of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abnego. Choosing obedience helps others see who God is. The key to having this kind of strength and confidence is having a relationship with God. If you and I are going to do what God asked us to do, we must read the Bible and do what it says. We have learned 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 reviveKIDS leaders. Continue to discuss the Bible lesson until it is time for kids to rotate to next activity. 5
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PART 3: MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY/GAME (25 minutes) ‐ Crazy Courage “ Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.” Psalm 31:24 SUPPLIES: Poster Board, Notecards, 2 buckets to put cards in PREPARATION: Write crazy ways kids will say the verse (2 sets). For example, say the verse while: 1. Standing on one leg 2. Turning in a circle 3. Patting your head 4. Doing jumping jacks 5. Holding your nose Make 2 sets of at least 10 notecards. READ THE VERSE: Read the verse aloud several times and/or ask several children to read it out loud. EXPLAIN THE VERSE: This verse tells us that we can be strong and have courage to do things because our hope and our strength is in the Lord. In our Bible lesson today, you will or have heard about Daniel and his friends who had courage to do what would bring God honor and glory. LEARN THE VERSE: Bible Verse Review Game – Crazy Courage Divide kids into two groups and have them get into relay lines. The first kid will go down and pick a card from the bucket and say the verse in the “crazy” way the card says. EXTRA ACTIVITY: Sparkle ‐ Have all the kids get into a straight line. The first child will say the first word of the verse then going down the line each child will say the next word of the verse and the reference. Once the whole verse is quoted, the next person says “sparkle” and then the next person in line sits down. Continue playing until there is only one student left. 6
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PART 4: GAMES (25 minutes) ‐ Lion’s Tail SUPPLIES: You will need some strips of cloth (approx. 23 ft. of scrap fabric) for everyone who plays.
PREPARATION: Cut strips of fabric for every kid in each group to have one (approx. 25). Have extra fabric on hand to cut just in case you need more strips. INSTRUCTION for Lion’s Tail: H ave everyone tuck the strips into the back of
their pants or shorts so that approx. 2 feet of excess strip is left hanging. The object of the game is to pull all the other players tails off. The last one standing with their tail is the winner. When someone’s tail gets pulled out, they sit down right where they are and can pull other’s tails as they run by them. Have everyone run with their hands on their head except when grabbing a tail. This prevents people from blocking and makes them look pretty funny.
EXTRA ACTIVITY: C hange the variety of the game up and have the kids play while crawling around like a lion, some kids standing and some kids sitting, etc. 7
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PART 5: SMALL GROUP TIME 1. What did you like about this story? 2. What did you not like about this story? 3. What does the story tell us about God? 4. What does the story tell us about man? 5. Do you find it easy to obey God? (remind them of situations where they would be living out obedience like obeying parents, being kind to siblings and friends, not stealing, not cheating, telling the truth, telling others about Jesus) 6. When are some times that it is hard? 7. What is one thing that you can do to stand up for God? Instruct kids to get a partner in their small group and share what one thing they are going to do to stand up for God and pray for each other to obey God so that they will have strength and confidence to do it.
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