Anyways, these are a few of my foundational standbys. No matter what age, principles can be adapted into a lesson, applied to life, and they are easy to memorize. Memorizing, knowing, short Biblical principles will stand them in good stead in life.
"Thy word have I hid in mine heart,
that I might not sin against thee." Psa 119:11
Last edited 7/26/10
_________________________________________________
(Seems so basic, but teaching kids this not only
introduces them to Heaven as a real place,
but also it cements in their minds,
that God does exist.
Why? because He is somewhere.)
Have your kids repeat it after you, if they are younger.
God. is. in. Heaven!
Emphasize "Heaven" as a happy exclaimation.
If you are teaching older kids, just repeat it in a serious but firm tone. It might be basic, especially for christian's kids or 15, 16 year old boys. But, think about it. When life gets rough, where do you turn?
Psa 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And when temptation comes? What prevents us from caving in, what stops us in our tracks?
Ecc 5:2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart
be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven,
and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
_________________________________________________
(I try to introduce them to God is in Heaven first, simply because, Jesus loving them makes no sense, unless they know why He is important in their life. "God is in Heaven" introduces them to God, His location, and that He exists (is). "Jesus Loves Me!"introduces them to the boundless love that every soul craves, the amazing personable connection. I try to always put an exclamation mark. Why? --'Cause its amazing that Someone loves you all the time, forever and ever and ever! )
2Th 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself,
and God, even our Father,
which hath loved us.
Joh 11:35-36 Jesus wept. Then said the Jews,
Behold how he loved him!
_________________________________________________
(Never be shy to tell your kids that Jesus Is God. Little children have rarely have trouble understanding this. They believe it. They know it. When you are confident, they are confident. In every person's soul is that empty hole that craves the presence of their Creator, little children recognize their need of God so much sooner than adults. Don't bother complicating it with explaining the "one God, three parts" concept yet, just establish in their minds that Jesus IS God. Let them know how wonderful that is. Why? Because Jesus loves them and God is in Heaven. Now they understand that Jesus is in heaven too. Heaven is cemented in their minds as a place where love comes from. Aren't you glad there is a God in Heaven who loves you? )
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Eph 3:9 ... God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
Php 3:20 ...whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
__________________________________________________
At this point, I love to teach them that God is love. Not only does it neatly link everything back to the beginning, re-enforcing the other three principles, it creates a nice bridge to the next couple.
See, the fact that God is in Heaven confirms a location and His existence. The fact that Jesus loves me introduces the personal relationship between God and me. Jesus is God confirms the deity of Christ and His love for us. God is Love introduces us to the person of God.
We have: Where God is.
What God does.
Who God is.
Now we branch into: What is God like?
God is Love.
1Jn 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love
1Jn 4:8c,9 for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
1Co 13:4 Love suffereth long, and is kind; Love envieth not; Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Love never faileth:
__________________________________________________
What is God like? God is light. And in Him, is no darkness at all. This is a concept that touches home with us as adults, "no darkness at all". Are there things in our lives that pertain to the darkness? Sin? Things that do not honor God? Unfruitful works of darkness? What about what we read, look at? For us, these verses have a darker heavier meaning, for a little child these verses have a comforting meaning. I remember intending to use these verses to talk about sin, thinking to install solemnity into my lesson, instead I received cheerful sunny smiles. Why? Very simply: Children are scared of the dark.
When I told them "no darkness at all", they loved Him. God was there best friend at that moment, because in Him was no darkness at all. So, instead of talking about disobedience to parents, we talked about night lights. Ever wondered why our Saviour said "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."
Their simplicity is their comfort. God is Light.
1Jn 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
__________________________________________________
So now, God's character has been established. Children understand love, they understand light; darkness is bad. I find this is the perfect opportunity to tell them that God is Good! Sometimes, we have trouble establishing good from bad, life gets complicated and we loose the clear cut answers. Children do not generally have this problem. They know the difference between good and bad.
Psalm 73:1 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Psalm 52:1 The goodness of God endureth continually.
__________________________________________________
Ah, the attribute that should pause us in our steps: God is Holy.
At this point, children tend to get a bit confused, God is holey? Holes?
For an adult holiness is hard to define, it seems to be a concept that is far from our grasp.
As hard as holiness is hard for any one to understand, once children have seen that God is good, they are already coming on the premise of no matter how hard to understand, everything about God is good.
If God is good and God is holy, then being holy is a good thing.
Once they determine holiness to be a good thing, they accept the truth, even without comprehending it.
As hard as holiness is hard for any one to understand, once children have seen that God is good, they are already coming on the premise of no matter how hard to understand, everything about God is good.
If God is good and God is holy, then being holy is a good thing.
Once they determine holiness to be a good thing, they accept the truth, even without comprehending it.
I like to describe holiness as doing exactly as God would do, having the mind of God, doing what is right- always. That is why God is ultimately holy. He always does what is right.
God tells us to imitate him, be holy as he is holy. For us this is hard, we like to take false comfort in the fact that we are human and will never be perfect here on earth, and God is perfect, so we will never attain holiness anyways. Somehow "never" exonerates us? Not a chance. While we may not "get" the concept of imitating perfection and coming up short (yet it still being worth while), children are always imitating. They know they aren't really cooking on the play stove, but still say "Look! I'm cooking!"
Leviticus 20:7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.
Psalm 89:35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
1Thessalonians 4:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
God tells us to imitate him, be holy as he is holy. For us this is hard, we like to take false comfort in the fact that we are human and will never be perfect here on earth, and God is perfect, so we will never attain holiness anyways. Somehow "never" exonerates us? Not a chance. While we may not "get" the concept of imitating perfection and coming up short (yet it still being worth while), children are always imitating. They know they aren't really cooking on the play stove, but still say "Look! I'm cooking!"
Leviticus 20:7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.
Psalm 89:35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
1Thessalonians 4:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
