LEADERS HUB
Year 1, Term 3, Week 1: Ideas for Senior Group
Week 1: God Loves his People - And Sends a Rescuer
Lesson Objective:
God wanted his people, Israel to have a relationship with him. He asked Moses to lead them out of slavery so they could worship him freely.
Bible Passage:
Exodus 3:1-21 (Moses and the burning bush)
Memory Verse:
Exodus 3:8- And I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians. I will bring my people out of Egypt into a country where there is good land, rich with milk and honey.
Story Idea: Play-dough Pictionary & Read It!
Before the lesson:
- Make a batch of playdough - here is a recipe
To introduce the lesson:
- Split the kids into teams and give each team a lump of play-dough on a table or plate in a corner of the room
- Have one kid from each team come to the centre to be given a word relating to the story (eg. tree, fire, people, God, talk etc.)
- The kids must race back to their teams and make something to help their team guess the word
- Ask if the kids can guess the story based on the words
Have the kids read Exodus 3:1-21
Quiz Questions:
​
1. What was Moses doing before the angel of the Lord appeared to him? Caring for sheep and goats
2. How did the angel of the Lord appear to Moses? In a burning bush
3. What was strange or miraculous about the burning bush? It was on fire but not burning up!
4. How did Moses respond when he realised God was talking to him? He was afraid and hid his face
5. God said that he had seen the suffering of his people in Egypt, what was he going to do for them? Bring them out of Egypt
6. What would their new land be like? A land flowing with milk and honey- a land full of good things
7. What was God asking Moses to do? Go to his people and lead them out of Egypt
8. What were the people to do when they went out into the wilderness? Make sacrifices to God
9. Do you think it would have been hard for God's people to worship him while they were in slavery in Egypt? Yes
10. Why? Life was difficult so it was probably hard to focus on God & the Egyptian leaders may not have allowed them to worship God
11. Why do you think God wanted his people to be saved from Egypt? Because He loved them, He wanted them to be free so that they could worship him and him and have a relationship with him again
12. What does this miracle (bush on fire but not being burned) and story teach us about God? That God is powerful and that he loves his people and wants them to have a relationship with him
Game Idea: Burning Bush
- Have the kids walk around in a circle to music and the leader (the bush) stand in the middle with their arms by their side
- At some point, the leader waves their arms in the air like flames and gives a direction (eg. jump, hop, crawl, sit, walk backwards etc.) and all of the kids must follow the direction, but only if they wave their arms - if their arms are NOT waving, the kids should carry on as before
- When kids make a mistake, they are out and should sit to the side
- Once the kids get the hang of the game, allow volounteers a turn in the centre as the 'bush' controlling everyone's movements
Remind the kids that God used the burning bush to talk to Moses, God can use all sorts of ways to talk to us!
Craft Idea: Burning Tree Craft
.jpg)
Before the lesson:
- Download and print the bush outline on green paper (one page per child) and cut out the four bushes
- Gather toilet rolls and four slits in the top (a little triangle cut at the top of the slit helps threading the tree part in)
- Gather glue, scissors and pens
Have the kids:
- Fold the four bush parts in half and glue them together as shown
- Cut flame shapes from cellophane and tissue paper, then glue them to the top of the bush
- Decorate the tree with pens
Prayer Idea: Circle Prayer!
- Remind the kids that we can talk to God, just like Moses did! We can tell Him our concerns and ask Him to help us and be with us, knowing that He loves us - just as He loved His people way back then!
Allow the kids to pray and ask God to help them to do what God wants or to ask God to be with them when they are unsure
