Nature Window: WaterfallsWaterfalls are beautiful nature spots. They happen when a stream or river goes over a ledge and drops vertically. Some are small, and some are so tall that during hot seasons the water vaporizes before it reaches the bottom! Waterfalls are so strong that we can use them to generate electricity. We call that hydroelectric power. Waterfalls can be very dangerous. You never want to be on that stream that's about to go over the waterfall. You can sense something is about to happen because the stream starts to move faster and faster and faster as it gets closer to the waterfall. Waterfalls remind me of the Bible verse Exodus 23:2 which says, "You shall not follow a crowd to do evil." When people get together to do bad things, they are on that stream heading toward a waterfall. It's even hard to stop doing bad things when everyone is doing it and you have joined them. During the time of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar tried to get the whole country to worship an idol he made. Everyone there got in that fast moving stream with him, EXCEPT Daniel's three friends - Hananiah, Mishael, and Azsariah. They stayed true to God, even though King Nebuchadnezzar had changed their names to mean they worshipped other gods. During your nature walk, see if you can find a house gutter, stream, or another place where there could (or would) be moving water. Which direction would a little boat go on that water if you placed it there? It would follow the way the water was going. Never join a crowd that is doing bad things. It's hard to not do what they do, but it is possible. Memory Mastery: The GodheadThis quarter we are learning more about the Godhead. During our time, we will unpack a little of the mystery of God to help the children understand some important principles. At the end of our questions and answers, you will find a poem about the Godhead that I want the children to memorize. Who is God?
Did God really make everything? What was there before Him? Reference: Acts 17:24-28
Do you like to be alone all by yourself? Neither does God. In fact, did you know God has his own family? References: 1 John 5:7; Mark 1:9-11
Can we see God? References: 1 John 4:12; John 6:46; Hebrews 4:14; John 15:26; John 14:7-9
Here is a poem I wrote to help us remember each person of the Godhead. Let's say it and do our hand motions. (This poem is the actual memory mastery project we will memorize as a class.)
Mission Trip: Secondary School for GabonOur 13th Sabbath world church mission offering is going to help build a Seventh-day Adventist secondary school (grades 6 to 12) in Libreville, Gabon. Please bring your coins all quarter long to dedicate to this special project. Meanwhile, let's learn more about Gabon. Did you know that Gabon is working hard to become an international site for protected rain forest? Up to 90% of their country is covered in precious rain forest. They have already designated many acres of their land as National Parks.
One special animal they are trying to save with their protected land is the endangered forest elephant. The forest elephant has been hunted by people who want to sell their ivory husks. This animal is fast disappearing. Gabon is probably the only hope of this animal not becoming extinct. The Gabon government is even having to station soldiers within National Parks to keep people from coming in to kill their precious elephants. Bible Story: The Fiery FurnaceReference: Daniel 3 King Nebuchadnezzar soon lost respect for the God of heaven, but he was still thinking about the dream God had given him. He wondered why his kingdom wouldn't last forever and decided he would create a great idol statue that represented his kingdom. So, he erected a big idol on the plain of Dura made of all gold that looked like the statue in his dream. "My kingdom WILL last forever," he said to himself, "and everyone will acknowledge that." So, King Nebuchadnezzar gathered everyone in his kingdom to a great celebration to dedicate his golden statue. "At the sound of the music, you will all bow down and worship my statue." When the music started, everyone bowed down to the golden idol, ... but three people - Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah - whom Nebuchadnezzar called Shadrach, Meshak, and Abednego. When King Nebuchadnezzar found out that Daniel's friends didn't bow down with everyone else, he got very angry. He asked them why they didn't obey his orders. They said, "We cannot obey your order because we serve the God of heaven. We will only bow down to worship Him." King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw them in the fiery furnace if they didn't bow down to his idol. They said, "We will not bow down. Our God is able to save us from the fire if He chooses. But, if He doesn't save us, we are happy to die for Him." King Nebuchadnezzar ordered that the fire be made hotter. His soldiers threw Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah into the fire. The soldiers even died in the fire. But, King Nebuchadnezzar was very surprised. There were 4 men walking around in the fire! "Come out, Shadrach, Meshak, and Abednego," he called. When God's three servants came out, they were alive and not hurt at all. God had sent His Son to be there with them and protect them. King Nebuchadnezzar fell down at their feet. "Surely, your God is the God above all gods! Only He is able to save His people from the fire like that. I make a decree that no one can say anything bad against the God of Shadrach, Meshak, and Abednego." Our prayer verse is Isaiah 41:13, which says, "I am the Lord your God. I am holding your right hand. And I tell you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I will help you'' (ICB). King Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom are gone, now. But, the God of Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach), and Azariah (Abednego), is still alive today. He is still there to help us and protect us. He is still looking for special servants who will obey Him no matter what everyone else is doing. Are you His special servant? Dear Father God, Thank You for holding my hand. I will not be afraid. I know You will help me. In Jesus' name, Amen Daniel's friends - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - were not afraid of the fire because they trusted in God. They stood up for Jesus when everyone else bowed down to the false idol. So, sit down and play the game of hot potato. We are going to pretend this potato (ball, etc.) is really really hot. That means it's hard to keep it in your hands, so you have to pass it around really fast. As we pass it around, we are going to listen to the song, Stand Up for Jesus. Whoever has the potato when the song says, "Stand up, stand up for Jesus," has to be brave like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and stand up and hold the hot potato during that little phrase.
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Nature Window: Forecasting the WeatherDo you ever hear mommy and daddy say to each other, "What's the weather going to be tomorrow?" "Let me check the weather forecast to find out!" Then they check the weather app on their phone and it tells them if it's going to be sunny, cold, rainy, windy, etc. But sometimes, the weather doesn't happen just like the weather app says it's going to happen. In fact, if you looked closely at the weather app, you would see that even the forecasters don't say for sure what will happen. They say, "There's a good chance of rain tomorrow," OR, "We will likely have sunny skies." That's because we cannot for sure predict the weather of tomorrow. Thankfully, weather technology is getting better and better, so that we can at least have an idea of the weather to make plans. Before weather technology, people still tried to predict the weather. They studied patterns in the sky and in how animals responded to figure out what the weather would be tomorrow. Some of their methods were pretty good at predicting the weather. Others were not. One way that has been shown by science to be fairly accurate, is actually found in the Bible. Jesus says in Matthew 16:2,3, "When you see the sunset, you know what the weather will be. If the sky is red, then you say we will have good weather. And in the morning if the sky is dark and red, then you say that it will be a rainy day. You see these signs in the sky, and you know what they mean. In the same way, you see the things that are happening now. But you don’t know their meaning." Jesus explains that God has also given us other signs, so we can know that Jesus is coming soon. Our Bible story today is about a strange dream that tells world history leading up to the second coming of Jesus. Check out this animated video to learn more about the amazing satellites scientists use to help them predict the weather.
Memory Mastery: The GodheadThis quarter we are learning more about the Godhead. During our time, we will unpack a little of the mystery of God to help the children understand some important principles. At the end of our questions and answers, you will find a poem about the Godhead that I want the children to memorize. Who is God?
Did God really make everything? What was there before Him? Reference: Acts 17:24-28
Do you like to be alone all by yourself? Neither does God. In fact, did you know God has his own family? References: 1 John 5:7; Mark 1:9-11
Can we see God? References: 1 John 4:12; John 6:46; Hebrews 4:14; John 15:26; John 14:7-9
Here is a poem I wrote to help us remember each person of the Godhead. Let's say it and do our hand motions. (This poem is the actual memory mastery project we will memorize as a class.)
Mission Trip: Secondary School in Libreville, GabonThis quarter the world church is raising money to build a secondary school in Libreville, Gabon. Please set aside coins all quarter long to donate to the world mission project. Visit the page below to learn more about the flag of Gabon. Then, can you draw and color your own? What do the colors mean? Bible Story: Nebuchadnezzar's Strange DreamReference: Daniel 2 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon woke up from a strange dream. The dream bothered him so much that he determined to know what it meant. He called in all the wise men of Babylon. "Tell me my dream, and tell me what it means," he demanded. The wise men answered the king, "Please tell us your dream, and then we will tell you what it means. Only the gods can tell you both." The king got very angry at them. He knew they were going to tell him a lie. He told the commander of his guard, Arioch, to kill all the wise men. Yikes! When commander Arioch told Daniel the news, Daniel went to King Nebuchadnezzar and said, "I need a little time, but I will tell you what your dream is and what it means." Daniel called his friends together - Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. "Let's pray and ask God to tell us about the king's dream." That night, God showed Daniel in his dreams what the king's dream was and what it meant. Daniel hurried to the King of Babylon. "King Nebuchadnezzar, there is a God in heaven who knows all things. He gave you your dream, and He has told me what it is. God has shown you what will happen in the future." Daniel went on to explain, "In your dream, you saw a great statue, with a golden head, a silver chest, a bronze belly and thighs, iron legs, and feet that are mixed with iron and clay. Then you saw a great stone crash into the feet of the statue. The statue broke into tiny pieces and blew away. The stone that was left became a big mountain that filled the whole earth." "Yes," said the king, "that was my dream!" Daniel continued explaining. "God is showing you the future. You, king Nebuchadnezzar, and your kingdom of Babylon are the head of gold. After your kingdom, another kingdom will take over that is not as great as yours. That's the silver kingdom. Then, there will be another kingdom even less great. That's the belly and thighs of bronze. Finally, there will come fourth kingdom so strong and cruel, like iron, that will rule. That kingdom will eventually break up into smaller kingdoms that will never be fully united again. During the time of the divided iron kingdom, God will set up His own kingdom. God's kingdom is the rock. His kingdom will last forever!" King Nebuchadnezzar responded, "Surely, Daniel, your God is the God above all other Gods, for no other gods are able to tell the dream and the interpretation!" The king made Daniel head of all the wise men in Babylon. And at Daniel's request, the king appointed his friends - Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah - as leaders in the land. Our prayer verse is Amos 3:7, which says, "Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets." Daniel was now one of God's prophets. God would give him dreams and visions, too, about the future, so he could understand and write them down for us living today. He wrote down his life experiences and the visions God gave him in a book that is a part of our Bible. If you read the book of Daniel carefully, God will show you, too, what has happened in world history and what is still to come. Everything that God showed king Nebuchadnezzar came to pass. First there was Babylon, that golden kingdom. Then there was the silver kingdom of Medo-Persia. Then the bronze kingdom of Greece came. Finally, the iron kingdom of Rome was indeed strong and cruel. Rome was not conquered by another kingdom, just like the king's dream said. Instead, Rome was invaded by different tribes that broke the kingdom up into smaller pieces that make up Europe today. We are living during the time of the feet. The only part of the dream left to happen is for the great rock to come. That great rock in Nebuchadnezzar's dream is the second coming of Jesus Christ! Dear Father God, I know Jesus is coming back very very soon. Help me read my Bible and understand books like Daniel, so I can be ready. In Jesus' Name, Amen Use 4 blocks, some paper pieces, and 2 rocks, a smaller and a bigger, to retell the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. The blocks will be the 4 parts of the statue with the paper pieces representing the feet. Then the small rock knocks them all down and grows into the bigger rock. |
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