Aim to learn how God talks to us
Aims
*To be familiar with main points of the story
*To learn how God talks to us
Materials
Exodus 3:1-8 (The Beginner’s Bible)
picture cards from the story
Spot-the-difference pictures
white paper, red & yellow tissue paper, scissors, glue, coloured pencils, yarn
Key words: Moses, Pharaoh, Egypt, staff, snake
Lesson Outline
1. Introduction
2. Story
3. Questions
4. How does God talk to us?
5. Activities – retell the story, memory game, spot-the difference, burning bush craft, holy ground circle
6. Review the aims
7. Prayer
1) Introduction
Ask the children how many ways they can think of that people use to communicate.
Examples:
Voice – talk, whisper, shout, scream, pray, sing
Gestures- wave, shake hands, point with fingers, finger to the mouth, thumbs-up, shrug shoulders, shake head, sign language
Other Ways – letters, telephone, computer
How does God communicate with us? Today we will learn one way God talked with Moses..
2) Story
The Burning Bush
When Moses grew up, he left the palace. Pharaoh was still treating the Israelites like slaves. Moses tried to protect them. Then Pharaoh tried to kill him. Moses escaped from Egypt to a place Called Midian and learned how to be a shepherd. A shepherd takes care of sheep. One day Moses was out in the fields with the sheep. As he was leading the sheep, he came to a mountain. All of a sudden Moses saw a strange thing. He saw fire coming out of a tree—but the tree was still green. Nothing was burning up or turning brown! Moses walked closer to get a better view.
Then the voice of God spoke to him, “Moses, Moses!”
Moses said, “I’m right here.”
Then God said, “Stay where you are. Take off your sandals because this is holy ground.
God told Moses, “Moses, bring my people out of Egypt. Take them to a new land that I will show you. This land is called Canaan.”
Moses just stood there. He was afraid. He afraid Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to him.
Then God asked Moses to throw down his staff. It became a snake! Then he asked Moses to pick it up by the tail. It turned back into a staff. God said, “I will use signs like this to show Pharaoh that I have sent you.”.
Moses was STILL afraid. He told God that he couldn’t speak well. He stuttered. Then God told Moses that his brother Aaron could also help. “Do not worry. Your brother is a good speaker. I will send him with you.” So, Moses and Aaron and their families traveled back to Egypt to meet Pharaoh.
3) Questions
1. What was it that Moses saw? (A burning bush)
2. What was strange about the burning bush? (The fire was not burning the bush up – the bush was still alive)
3. Who spoke to Moses in the bush? (God)
4. What did God tell Moses to take off? (his shoes)
5. Why? (Because God said that Moses was standing on holy ground)
6. What did God want Moses to do? (Lead the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt to their own land)
7. Why was Moses afraid? (He thought pharaoh wouldn’t listen to him)
8. What did God do to help Moses? (performed a miracle by changing his staff into a snake)
9. Why was Moses still afraid? (He stuttered)
10.What did God do to help him? (He said his brother, Aaron, would help and speak to pharaoh.
4) How does God talk to us?
* God spoke to Moses through a burning bush. How does God speak to us? We may not hear God’s voice as clearly as Moses did, but God talks to us through our hearts and minds. We might hear a voice in our mind, like a whisper.
* When we pray God hears us and wants answer us. That’s why we need to take time to pray, and hear what God has to say. God might answer our prayer through the words of people.
* God can also talk to us through our parents, because they teach us Gods words They teach us what is right and wrong.
* God can also talk to us through stories, such as Bible stories, because it is the story of God’s people
5) Activities
*Retell the story – Put the pictures in the correct order and retell the story in your own words
*Memory game – using picture cards
*Spot-the -difference – find 10 differences between the pictures. Circle them
* Burning Bush Craft
Children trace their own hand onto white paper. Color trunk brown and leaves green. Cut and glue tissue paper pieces to form flames onto “bush” shape. Paste the words, “Take off your sandals because this is holy ground.” Exodus 3:5
* Holy Ground Circle:
Use a piece of yarn to make a circle on the floor that is big enough for everyone to stand in,
Children stand around the outside of the circle. Say, “This circle is for a special people. Let’s find out who belongs in the special circle.
– Everyone who God loves take one step forward.
– Everyone who like Moses, wants to listen to God, take a step forward.
– Everyone who does hard things sometimes, and needs God’s help, just like Moses, take a step forward.
– Everyone who wants to help God by helping people, just like Moses, take a step into the circle.”
By now everyone should be in the circle. Say, “Look at all the special people we have the group. We are all like Moses. When we are like Moses, and try to help God, it is like we are standing on “Holy Ground. ” That is what this circle could be like: holy ground.”
6) Review the lesson aims
*To be familiar with main points of the story
*To learn how God talks to us
7) Prayer
