LEADERS HUB
Year 1, Term 2, Week 1: Ideas for Senior Group
Week 1: Serving God - Saved by Faith!
Lesson Objective:
We are saved through faith by the grace of God because Jesus died on the cross- not because we have done anything to earn it.
Bible Passage:
Matthew 19:16-26
Memory Verse:
Ephesians 2:8-9- You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God’s gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own.
Story Idea: Egg Experiment & Read It!
You will need:
- Boiled egg
- Matchbox
- Glass bottle
- Bibles
Object Lesson:
- Show the kids the boiled egg and bottle
- Ask the kids if they think you can push the egg into the bottle without damaging it (No!)
- Light a match and drop it into the bottle then place the egg around the top, making sure it forms a seal with the top of the bottle
- After a few seconds, the egg will pull into the bottle
Discuss: It should be impossible for the big egg to fit through the small opening in the bottle, but the match makes it possible!
Have the kids read Matthew 19:16-26, then Ephesians 2:8-9
Quiz Questions:
1. What was the man’s first question to Jesus? What good thing do I need to do to gain eternal life?
2. What is eternal life? Life forever in Heaven with God
3. What did God say the man had to obey to get eternal life? His commandments
4. What were some of the commandments? Do not murder, be faithful in marriage, do not steal, do not tell lies, respect your father and mother, love others as much as you love yourself
5. The man tells Jesus that he has already obeyed all of the commandments and asks what else he can do, what does Jesus say? Sell everything and give it to the poor, then come and be my follower
6. Why was this upsetting to the man? He had a lot of money!
7. What did Jesus say about rich people getting into heaven? It is harder for them to get into Heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
8. Do you think we are like rich people? Yes, compared to most of the world we are very rich!
9. Earlier in the story, the man claimed to have followed all the commandments… Do you think this is true based on his attitude towards his money? No, one of the commandments was to love others as much as you love yourself, but this man wanted to keep all of his money for himself instead of giving it to the poor.
10. Do you think we as humans can obey all of Gods commandments all of the time? No.
11. The disciples are confused, what about? What do they ask Jesus? It seems impossible to get into Heaven, how can anyone be saved?
12. What is Jesus’ response? Some things are impossible for man, but God can do anything!
13. How did God make it possible for us to be saved and have eternal life? By having Jesus die on the cross to pay for our sins
14. Do we get to Heaven because of what we have done or because of what Jesus did? Because of what Jesus did!
Game Idea: Tunnel Challenge!
Before the lesson, set up two long tunnels using either a series of chairs in a row (tunnel through the legs) or two lines of chairs parallel with sheets draped over the top
Split the kids into teams and have the teams race relay style through the tunnel
Fitting through a narrow tunnel is hard, Jesus said it would be harder for rich people to make it into Heaven than for a camel to get through a needle... We are all sinners and want to put ourselves before others and God which makes it impossible for us to get into Heaven because we don't do the right thing ALL the time... Thankfully, God made a way for us by sending Jesus!
Game Idea: Hoop challenge!
- Have the kids join hands in a circle
- Place the hoop around the hand-link between two kids
- Challenge the group to make the hoop travel all the way around the circle so that everyone climbs through without letting go!
- Time the challenge and repeat, encouraging the group to beat their time!
Remind the kids that Jesus said it would be harder for us to earn our way into Heaven than it would be for a big camel to go through a tiny hole in the end of a needle! Thankfully, Jesus made a way for us!
​Craft Idea: Camel Craft!
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Before the lesson:
- Download and print the camel outline template, double sided on coloured card and cut around the outside (ensure printer is set to 'full size' not 'fit to page' so that the two sides of the camel line up, or print on separate pages and cut both out to be stuck together
- Gather wool, googley eyes, wooden pegs, scissors, glue and pencils and strips of cardboard about 7cm wide
Have the kids:
- Decorate their camel
- Stick on eyes, attach pegs and colour hooves and gluing on tufts of hair
- Tufts of hair can be created by winding wool around a strip of cardboard, using a small piece of wool to tie the winds together at one edge of the cardboard and snipping the winds at the other end (two tufts for the humps and one for the tail)
Prayer Idea: Pray 3 times!
Have everyone sit in a circle and go around three times, each time praying in a different way:
- Thank God for something
- Pray for someone else
- Ask God to help you with something
Encourage each child to pray, even if it's just a simple prayer!
