Listening to God

Last week we read a Bible story that taught us the

importance of listening to God and doing exactly what He says. In order to
really understand this story, we first read it together a couple of times. Once
students became familiar with the story line, a few volunteers took different
roles in the story and began to act it out. We acted out the story quite a few
times with different students as different characters so each child had an
opportunity to participate. The video below shows one of the many times we
acted out the story. I’m sure you will recognize this particular Bible story
once you begin watching the video.

After having fun, taking different character roles and
acting them out, we had a discussion about why it was so important for Samuel
to listen to what God had to tell him. In connecting this to our own lives,
students recognized that God does not speak to us the exact same way that He
spoke to Samuel, but He still does speak to us. Students pointed out that by
reading the Bible, God speaks to us and tells us what He expects of us. Through
listening to and understanding His commandments we can do what He tells us just
like Samuel did in the story. So, not only do we need to read our Bibles and
listen to what God has to tell us, we need to take action and do what He wants
us to do.

Jesus said, “Whoever is of God hears the words of God.” John 8:47

A Mighty Fortress is our God

This past Friday being Halloween as well as Reformation, we wanted to do something different in the classroom to celebrate. We began our Bible discussion with a description of what Martin Luther did and why we remember Reformation. Because Martin Luther wrote, “A Mighty Fortress is our God”, we based our activity off of this song.

Throughout this activity students would be given a few pieces of construction paper and pieces of tape in order to build their own fortress. The students were told that they needed to build a fortress that was pretty tall and would be very strong. Once students finished building their fortresses, we would test their strength by putting one of our Reading Street books on top to see if they could withstand the weight. Students then paired up and were given 15 minutes to construct their fortresses.

Once students finished building their creations, we tested each fortress…each and every one failed the strength test and crumpled under the weight of the Reading Street book. After testing each fortress, students sat down and were told that now we would see how strong God’s fortress is. With 1 piece of construction paper and a few pieces of tape, God’s fortress was created. This fortress could withhold 5 Reading Street books whereas our fortresses couldn’t hold up 1!

As students sat in awe of God’s fortress as it continued to hold 5 Reading Street books, we talked about how God’s fortress is so much stronger than any man made fortress could be. Though students tried their hardest to create a strong fortress, they failed. Just like if we try in our own lives to get to heaven on our own, we will fail each and every time. Through this activity, student experienced the reality that God is much more powerful than we could ever be, which is why we place our trust in Him.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2