Salty Words

This is a salt shaker with real salt glued on the top! Glue sticks work wonders! :)

Daniel and the Lions Den

This is another adorable craft my three year old twins came home with. We have used the bag puppet to retell the story about 100 times since Sunday! :)

Habakkuk lesson and craft ideas

Here is a Habakkuk lesson:

What does it mean to be near something? It means you can reach out and touch it. It means you can feel it and know that it is there. Near is being close by to something.

God is always near to us.
God hears every word we say and knows every thought in our minds.

·If we want to be closer to God all we have to do is get closer to Him.

·Read James 4:8 – Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

·Ask God to come to you and he will! What a wonderful and powerful promise from God to us.

Story

·God is always near to us. Even in the Old Testament God was near.

·In fact, in those days God actually talked to people.

·Those people were called prophets.

·What do you remember about prophets?

·Sing prophet song.

· There was a prophet named Habakkuk. The book in the Bible that he wrote for us is a conversation between him and God! Isn’t that cool?!?!

· Habakkuk had a lot of questions that he wanted to ask God.

· If you could ask God a question, what would it be?

· Let’s see what questions Habakkuk asked God.

· Read Habakkuk 1:1-4

· Hold up Questions chart.

· God was near to Habakkuk. He heard his questions and he answered them!

· How do we ask God questions today? (through prayer)

· Habakkuk got his answer by hearing God’s voice.

· How do we get our answers?

· We get our answers by praying more and reading the Bible by ourselves and with our families.

· ;Habakkuk stood on the watchtower and saw all the bad things that were happening in the city. It made him very sad and confused.

· But Habakkuk trusted God to take care of him and his people.

· Sometimes we see all the bad things that people do and we get sad and confused. But like Habakkuk, we need to trust God and listen for his answer.

· Read Habakkuk 2:1

God is near to us. He will hear our cries and our questions. And God will answer us, just like he answered Habakkuk.

Here are more craft ideas for Habakkuk:

· Kids draw a watchtower and glue a strip with verse 2:1 on it to the paper.

· Use sugar cubes to build a watchtower. Could glue it to paper and then glue on verse strip.

· Homework coupon – to pray with your family this week.

1. watchtower – build out of sugar cubes or cardboard blocks

2. WS with watchtower and verse Hab. 2:1. Also discuss looking for God and His ways, not mans as you stand guard. – Connect to Proverbs 18:10

3. Temple –Hab.2:20 – Sing song from song book – Mirror WS since we are God’s temple

4. Habakkuk talked directly to God. We can talk to God through prayer. Prayer FC lesson – door hanger or prayer journal

5. Based on Hab 2:2-3 – Create tablets (on a WS or out of fun foam) and write “God has a plan.” OR a verse on the tablets. Could also be a puzzle.

6. Make a bookmark about reading the Bible every day to prepare self for evil around us.

7. See Gal 6:7 lesson for WS

8. Hab. 2:4 – “Righteous will live by his faith.” – Faith song – Faith definition worksheet – See Romans 4 lessons for walk in faith of Abe WS

9.Discuss asking God questions. Make a list of the questions Habakkuk asked God. Then make a list of questions the kids would ask God. Could write them on butcher paper cut into a questions mark shape. Talk about how we talk to God today and we can ask Him all of our questions. Discuss how Habakkuk got his answers. Contrast with how we get our answers. Encourage prayer life and family Bible study time. Homework – coupon for family Bible reading and prayer time.

10. For the topic of “God is in contol.” – Make a spin-a-story paper plate craft titled “Times when God is in control.” Kids draw 4 times – sunshine for morning, moon for night, with friends, at dinner, at school, etc.

Zephaniah

Blanks say "God is the only judge."

Here is the lesson:

• Review “What is a Prophet?” poster
• Sing Prophet song
• Find prophet section in Bible
• Discuss who Zephaniah was. He preached to Judah
• Zephaniah wanted people to stop doing wrong and start doing the right things. He wanted them to return to God.
• Discuss a court room. Bring a picture of the courtroom
• Discuss a defendant, prosecutor, and judge and what each one does.
• Who decides who is right and wrong in the courtroom?
• What does it mean to judge something?
• Who decides right and wrong? God, parents
• How do our parents and other grown-ups determine right or wrong? They follow God’s rules
• Who is the ultimate judge who gets to decide right and wrong? God
• Does he surprise us with the rules? No, he tells us everything we need to know.
• God loves us and wants us to do right and good.
• He judges us based on the Bible.
• How do we know what rules God wants us to know and do? We read the Bible and do what it says. 
• Is God ever wrong in what He says is right? No!!
• What will God judge in us? Our lives, hearts, and actions.
• What happens on judgment day? Those who make decisions that make God happy and do what’s right will go to heaven. Those that make bad decisions will not.
• How can we be sure we are right when God judges us?  Obey the Bible, love God and Jesus, live holy lives
• What’s our reward for making good decisions? Heaven!!