LEADERS HUB
Year 1, Term 3, Week 4: Ideas for Senior Group
Week 4: God Wants to Know His People - Israel!
Lesson Objective:
God showed his power by saving Israel from Egypt and leading them across the Red Sea on dry land.
Bible Passage:
Exodus 13:17 - 14:31 (Crossing the red sea)
Memory Verse:
Exodus 14:31 - Because of the mighty power he had used against the Egyptians, the Israelites worshiped him and trusted him and his servant Moses.
Story Idea: Act It!
Before the lesson:
- Create a cloud and fire hat by attaching cotton wool balls and yellow/orange tissue paper to hats
- Bring along a walking stick or other stick
- Set up the red sea using two blue bed sheets/tablecloths/tarps lying on the ground side by side
- For added effect, use a brown sheet under the centre of the blue sheets to make a 'dry ground' to cross on
- Gather a kings crown and some biblical robes from the costume cupboard
Prepare the kids:
- Choose a child to be Pharoah (wears crown) and another to be his army (wears robe)
- Have some helpers sit at the red sea, ready to pull the edges of the red sea sheets up in the centre to form a path
- All of the rest of the kids are 'God's people' and wear robes
- The leader (narrator) wears the cloud hat and carries the fire hat and staff
- Everyone stands in a group near Pharoah
Tell the story and act it with the kids, covering the main points:
- After all of the bad things that happened in Egypt, Pharoah finally decided to let God's people go!
- God led His people through the dessert with a big cloud during the day and a fire at night (swap hats as you're walking around in the dessert)
- God told the Israelites to camp near the Red Sea - He had a PLAN!
- God was going to make the Pharoah stubborn again, he would change his mind and chase God's people, but God would show them how POWERFUL He was by saving them!
- While God's people were camped by the sea, Pharoah thought they were afraid to cross and decided to go catch them to make them slaves again!
- Pharoah got his army ready and ordered them to chase God's people!
- God's people saw them coming and they were AFRAID!
- They begged God to help them and MOANED and complained to Moses - 'Why did you bring us out here to die! Our lives were better when we were slaves!'
- Moses trusted that GOD was POWERFUL and he told the people to be brave and trust God - God was going to SAVE them!
- God told Moses to tell the people to walk forwards to the water and to stretch out his staff, and as he did - the wind blew and the waters parted! (helpers pull sheets up to reveal dry ground)
- God's people walked safely to the other side, but Pharoah's army was still chasing them
- The army followed them down between the water but Moses held out his staff again and the waters collapsed on them!
- God's people knew that HE had saved them!
- Exodus 14:31 says 'Because of the mighty power he had used against the Egyptians, the Israelites worshiped him and trusted him and his servant Moses.'
Quiz Questions:
1. What did the king do when he heard the people had finally left Egypt? He changed his mind and sent his army to chase them and catch them again
2. What were the two things the Israelites did when they saw the Egyptians chasing after them?
- Begged God to help them
- Complained to Moses
3. What were the people complaining to Moses about? They asked him why he brought them out of Egypt to die - they thought their lives were better as slaves!
4. What was Moses' response? Be brave! The Lord will save you!
5. What did God ask Moses to do? Hold his stick above the water
6. What did God do? Part the waters of the Red Sea so the people could walk across on dry ground
7. What does the Egyptian army do? Follow them in
8. When the Israelites make it to the other side, Moses stretches his arm across the water again, what happens then? The waters come crashing down over the Egyptian army
9. It says in the Bible that God made Pharoah change his mind and decide to chase the Israelites again, that seems like a bad thing, why did God do this? So he would have a chance to show His people that He was powerful and looking after them
10. What do you think this story tells us about God?
- He is powerful
- He loves us and will rescue us
11. How did the Israelites respond to God after he saved them? They worshiped him!
12. What does this all mean for us?
- We can trust God
- We know that God cares for His people and He wants us to be free to worship Him
Game Idea: Egypt to the Sea!
- Designate one side of the room as Egypt and the other side as the Red Sea
- Explain the actions for each word:
EGYPT = Run to Egypt
SEA = Run to the Red Sea
SCARED = Crouch down and make scared face
SAVED = Stand with arms in the air like praising God
ARMY = Stand with arms crossed in battle pose
- Call out directions and have kids do the correct action
- The last kid to do the correct action is out and sits to the side
- The last player left in is the winner!
Remind the kids that God's people were scared of the army, but God saved them at the Red sea and they praised Him!
Game Idea: Crossing the Sea!
- Set up a sea (two ropes/broom handles/lines of markers separated by two metres) at one side of the room
- Place markers around the outskirts of the room for the kids to run around
- Play music and have the kids run around the markers and through the sea
- When you pause the music, anyone standing in the sea is out
- The last player remaining wins!
Craft Idea: Red Sea Collage
Before the lesson:
- Make batches of blue jelly
- Gather plates, tiny teddies or jelly babies and something to stick the people to the plate with (eg. icing)
- Download and print the lesson reminder signs and cut out
- Gather toothpicks and tape from the cupboard
Have the kids:
- Put the two sides of the jelly sea on their plate
- Stick their people down
- Create and stick in their lesson reminder sign!
Prayer Idea: Dice Prayers
- Download and print the dice prayers sheet and use a die from the cupboard
- Have each kid roll the die and pray according to the number rolled
