Aim to be able to describe God
Aim
* To be able to describe God
Materials
* Hoon Dok for Children Book 1 – Living with God. pp. 28-35
* pictures of creation and people
* worksheet
* small mirrors
Lesson Outline
1. We can feel God in the Creation
2. God is like a person
3. How can we feel God’s love?
4. Story – Hansol’s Dream
5. Worksheet
7. Review the lesson aim
8. Prayer
1) We can Feel God in the Creation
Last time we learnt about cause and effect. We can learn a lot about God (cause) by studying what He made (effect).
For this reason, Paul said, Rom 1:20
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without
excuse…..
Look at the pictures of creation. What do they tell us about God?
2) God is like a person
1. We are created in God’s image
Of all God’s creations, human beings are the closest to God. It says in the Bible that God created us in His image. Our image is what we see when we look in a mirror. By studying human beings we
can learn very much about God.
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
God is both Male and Female
God made everything in pairs of male and female. Therefore God must be both male and female.
All people are either men and women. All animals are either male or female
We can see God in people
Jesus said that people could see God when they looked at him, because God was living in his heart
Each one of us expresses some part of God
John 14:9-10
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my
own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
Look in a mirror at yourself. Can you see God in yourself?
Look at pictures of people. What do they tell us about God?
2. God is our Heavenly Parent
God is like our parents. He is like our father and mother joined together. He created us as His children. We call God our Heavenly Father, but we can also say God is our Heavenly Mother. The
love we feel from our parents is the same as God’s love.
3. God is a God of heart.
God has feelings, just like us. He can be happy or sad or angry. Just as the most important part of us is our heart, the most important part of God is His heart. Our heart is that part of us that wants to give love and receive love. God is the same. God wants to give us all His love, because we are His children. But, like us, God cannot be happy if He has no one to give love to.
4. God is a God of goodness.
God is only good. He wants each of us to be good. When we follow God’s way we are good and this makes God happy.
3) How can we feel God’s love?
When we are good.
God loves each one of us. He is always with us, but we don’t realize it. What can we do to feel God’s love? We can feel God’s love when we think as God thinks, feel as God thinks and do the things that God would do. When we are good and have a loving heart, God can be with us. When we are bad God feels far away
When we obey our parents
When we obey our parents we can feel God’s love. Then God’s love can flow through our parents to us. When we are disobedient, we stop God’s loves coming to us.
When we open up our senses
Because of the fall of Adam and Eve we lost our sensitivity to God. To feel God in creation or in a person we have to open up our senses. Go for a walk in nature. Try to see God in a person.
3) Story
* Read from Hansol’s dream from ‘Hoon Dok for Children’ and use the visual aids
It is about a Korean boy, Hansol. His homework is to draw a picture of God. One night he has a dream. In the dream he tries to find God. He asks a flower, the river, birds, the wind and a church
minister. The minister explains that God made everything, lives in everything and knows everything. He even knows our thoughts and can punish us if we are bad.
When all the children hand in their homework these pictures of God are drawn:
– Hansol has drawn flowers, trees and a river
– a bright sun on top of clouds
– a frightening God who is driving out Satan
– a kind grandfather
– the teacher draws a heart to show God is love
* Discuss with the children about the pictures and ask for other suggestions
5) Complete the worksheet
* Hand out the worksheet. Children fill in the missing words and draw their own picture of God
God is a God of heart. A heart that wants to love and be loved.
God is also our loving parent, who lives inside each of our hearts.
He is like our father and mother joined into one and we are his children.
He doesn’t have a face and body like we do, but He lives in everything there is. He lives in flowers, trees, the sky, oceans, mountains and all the animals. Through the beauty of creation we can feel
God’s love. And everything that is beautiful shows what God looks like. This is why everything in the world belongs to God and everything is within God’s heart.
6) Review the lesson aim
* To be able to describe God
– We can feel God in the creation
– God is like a person
– God is both male and female
– We can see God in people
– God is our Heavenly parent
– God is a God of heart
– God is a God of goodness
– We can feel God’s love when we are good
7) End with a prayer
