11 October 2020 Junior Church Resources
For our Younger Children
God Provides
https://youtu.be/HZEzfJ3Eigw
Theme: Worship God and Him alone.
Object: A small statue
Bible Reading
Exodus 32:1-14 – New International Version – UK
When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered round Aaron and said, ‘Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’
Aaron answered them, ‘Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.’ So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, ‘Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.’ So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterwards they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
‘I have seen these people,’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.’
But Moses sought the favour of the Lord his God. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, “It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth”? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance for ever.”’ Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
Story & Activity
Explain to the kids that each time you hold up the statue that you brought with you, that they have to freeze like a statue. They must hold their frozen statue pose until you are no longer holding the statue up in the air. You will do this multiple times as you tell today’s lesson so encourage them to pay close attention.
Who can tell me what this is? (Give time for answers.) That’s right, it’s a statue. (Hold it up and kids freeze.) How many of you have statues (Hold it up and kids freeze.) in your home? Have you ever seen any statues in parks around the city? Perhaps you’ve seen a statue of a famous baseball player or an artist or author. I once went to a park with statues of characters from books by Dr. Seuss. My favorite was Horton the elephant.
Statues are fine unless they become something that we worship other than God. (Hold it up and kids freeze.) When we do that, the statue becomes an idol that replaces our God.
That is what our Bible lesson is about this morning. Moses was up on a mountain called Mt. Sanai. I am sure that you remember that God had told Moses to go up on the mountain so that God could give him the Ten Commandments for the people to follow.
Now Moses stayed up on the mountain longer than the people thought he should. (Hold it up and kids freeze.) They went to Aaron and said to him, “We want you to create gods who will go before us so that we will know what way to go. As for this fellow, Moses, who brought us out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings you are wearing and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took all the gold they had given to him and made it into an idol in the shape of a calf. (Hold it up and kids freeze.) The people were very happy with the idol that had been made for them.
When Aaron saw how happy the people were, he built an altar for the calf. He said, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord and you are to rise up early and make a sacrifice of burnt offerings before the calf.” (Hold it up and kids freeze.)
When God saw what the people were doing, He became very angry and told Moses that He was going to destroy the people because of their unfaithfulness. But Moses begged the Lord to remember the promise that He had made to Abraham, Isaac, and the children of Israel. Moses convinced the Lord and He changed His mind and did not do what He said He might do—He did not destroy them.
What can we learn from this? We sometimes put other things before God. It may not be an idol made of gold in the shape of a calf, but it may be things like money, friends, or sports. Anything we put ahead of our love for God becomes an idol and that is a big mistake.
Dear God, let us always remember that You created us and all we have. You must always have first place in our life. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Daily Discussion
Daily Discussion – click here to view
For our older Junior Church Members
Grab the popcorn and gather round to watch this classic Rob Bell video – Kickball
From Rob Bell: Why do we do the things we do? why do we go to church or give money away? Because we’re supposed to or because we think God needs it? Do we honestly put on our best clothes for an hour once a week, stand and sit at all the right times, and sing all the appropriate songs for God’s sake, or because it’ll make us look better to the world around us? We’re tired of all the empty rituals and routines. And so is God. God hates it when we call ourselves Christians but ignore all the things he really cares about. He hates it when we go through hollow religious routines out of some felling of duty or obligation. God doesn’t want the meaningless rituals. God wants our hearts.
https://youtu.be/QfJcqDuf8Zk
Some questions you may wish to discuss together…
1. Have you ever attended a church service out of a sense of duty or because you think you’re supposed to?
2. When it comes to church, what do you think God has in mind?
3. How much time do you spend worrying about what other people think of you?
4. Is it possible to be interested in Christian faith but turned off by Christianity?
5. Does God need us to attend a church service once or twice a week? Why or why not?
6. How do we know that God has our hearts, and that we’re not just going through the motions?
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