BIG POINT: WORSHIPPERS LOVE GOD WITHEVERYTHING THEY ARE
BIG WORD: “LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART ANDWITH ALL YOUR SOUL AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. THIS ISTHE FIRST AND GREATEST COMMANDMENT.”MATTHEW 22:37-38 (NIV)
Learning Outcomes
BIG PICTURE: EXTREME LIVINGBIG IDEA: THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT
At the conclusion of this lesson children will:• Understand that worship is about our whole life
not just singing.• Learn that worship is an important part of our
Christian lives.• Discover ways that they can worship God everyday.
S U P E R N A T U R A L
BIG MESSAGE ‘LIVE’ OUTLINEDOCUMENT PURPOSE
Use this outline to construct a message that works for you and your children’sministry.
INTRO
Have you ever been somewhere that is the border between two states or twocountries, when you can put one foot in one country and your other foot in anothercountry? It’s like being in two places at once!
Even right now in this room you could be in two places at once. You might easilyfind yourself sitting in church or sitting in class at school, and although your bodyis here in the room your mind is off somewhere else. Your attention is out the doorand your imagination is going wild with ideas, or you’re thinking about what you feellike eating for lunch. All of a sudden you snap back and realise that while you werephysically here you were somewhere else at the same time.
When we worship we need to pay attention to the right things, worshipping withyour body and your mind at the same time, in the same place. When you worshipGod you don’t want to have your hands raised and your mouth singing the words,
but your mind thinking about which kind of ice cream you like best. Matthew 22:37- 38 says, “Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul andwith ALL your mind.” Love God with every part of you and have your focus on Him.
While it’s cool to be able to stand on a border and be in two places at once, imaginea room full of people all focused on the one thing, all giving praise to God and givingHim their all.
Supplies Needed:
If you have a photo ofyourself standing on thethe border between twostates or countries you
can show it as part ofyour introduction, or usethe cartoon image fromthe print material disc.
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STORYTELLINGShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Share the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the book of Danielchapter 3.
Instruct your characters to crouch down, and each time you say their name theymust stand up then crouch down again.
ere once was a King, in the land of Babylon named King Nebuchadnezzar. KingNebuchadnezzar made an image of gold that was so high it seemed to touch theclouds. King Nebuchadnezzar then summoned the important people to come to thededication of the huge image he had set up. ey all stood at it’s base and KingNebuchadnezzar’s herald proclaimed, “All the people of the land must fall down andworship the image as soon as they hear the music play. You must all fall down andworship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does notfall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
Everyone set about their business and when the sound rang out across the landeveryone bowed down and worshipped the image. All except 3.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were Jews and they had someone else to worship.ey knew that God didn’t want people to worship anything or anyone other thanHim. ey knew that to worship a statue that doesn’t know them, love them or carefor them is just crazy!
Some of King Nebuchadnezzar’s workers heard that Shadrach, Meshach,and Abednego were not joining in when the music played. ey said to KingNebuchadnezzar, “You have issued a decree, O King Nebuchadnezzar, that everyonewho hears the sound of the music must fall down and worship the image of gold, andthat whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace.But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province ofBabylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, O KingNebuchadnezzar. ey neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold youhave set up.”
King Nebuchadnezzar was mad, furious and outraged. He summoned Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach andAbednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have setup? Now when you hear the sound of the music, if you are ready to fall down andworship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrownimmediately into a blazing furnace. en what god will be able to rescue you frommy hand?”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, wedo not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into theblazing furnace the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us fromyour hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know O King, that we will notserve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
is made King Nebuchadnezzar even more furious with Shadrach, Meshach andAbednego. He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than usual thencommanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshachand Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. Shadrach, Meshach andAbednego, wearing all their clothing, were sent into the blazing furnace.
Supplies Needed:
Make a cardboardcrown and writeNebuchadnezzar acrossit. Make 3 cards, withstring, to hang aroundthe neck. Write onefor Shadrach, one forMeshach, and one forAbednego.
BIG PICTURE: EXTREME LIVINGBIG IDEA: THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT S U P E R N A T
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When King Nebuchadnezzar went to the furnace he couldn’t believe his eyes. Heleapt to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men thatwe tied up and threw into the fire?”
ey replied, “Certainly, O King Nebuchadnezzar.”
He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed.Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and a fourth who looks like a son of the gods.”
King Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace andshouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, comehere!”
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire and a crowd gathered
around them. ey saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies; not a hair of theirheads was singed, their clothes were not burnt, and they didn’t even smell like acampfire!
King Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach andAbednego who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! ey trusted in Him anddefied the King’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serveor worship any god except their own God. erefore I decree that the people of anynation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach andAbednego be cut into pieces, and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for noother god can save in this way.”
en King Nebuchadnezzar promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and gavethem better jobs and a huge pay rise.
OBJECT LESSON
Imagine your life like this pie. You may like Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Chicken Pie orany sort of pie. Not because your life is full of yummy filling and covered in pastrybut imagine your whole life being represented by this pie. ink about all the areasof your life. You might think you have one piece for your family, one piece for school,another for friends, another for sport, another piece for your hobbies, a piece forchurch and a piece here for God. When this pie is all sliced up, and all the pieces
given to all the parts of your life it can look like a bit of a mess. But what happenswhen you need to make another slice for something new that comes along? Keepcutting up the pie until it has so many pieces it’s all a big mess.
You might begin to feel like you just don’t have enough pie to go around and youmight end up with a smaller and smaller piece that you can devote to God. Well thetruth is that God doesn’t want a small piece of your life he wants the whole thing!Give your whole pie to God.
at doesn’t mean we can’t have hobbies and friends and play sport, but we can letGod into all those pieces of our life. See all parts of your life as belonging to God. InActs 17:28 (TNIV) Paul says, “For in him we live and move and have our being.” God
breathes life into us and to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind, is to honourHim with everything that we are.
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POINTS1. Love God with everything you are.
Worship is more than just singing. Worship doesn’t even have to involve music atall. Worship is all about our attitude. Hebrews 12:28 (NIV) says, “Let us be thankful,and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe”
John 4:23-24 (NIV) says, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the trueworshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind ofworshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship inspirit and in truth.”
Worship is all about an attitude of recognising God’s worth and responding withhonour to Him. We can worship God with everything that we are, giving Him our all.When you think about God, surrender all to Him and love Him with everything thatyou are, that is where you find worship.
2. We are created to worship.
We are created to worship God. God created humans in His image to worship Him.1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you outof darkness into his wonderful light.”
Just like a violin is made by a craftsman so that it can be played, giving melody andsound to its creator, we are created by God worship to Him. You might not be good atsinging or playing music. Maybe when you sing glasses break and people cover theirears, but you have a song and you can worship. Your life itself can be a song to God.Don’t worry about how great a singer you are, God loves the sound of your singingand you should sing to Him all the time anyway!
3. All You Need Is Love
LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.When you LOVE someone you think about them, you honour them and you think
they are amazing. Take time to think about your LOVE for God. He LOVES you andwhen you think about, sing about, tell about, feel about His love you can only loveHim back. God’s love makes all the difference. No matter what you’re facing whenyou think about how much God loves you, your life begins to change.
