Bible Reference:
1 Kings 15 and 16
Lesson Aim:
To tell the children about some of the kings who didn’t obey God and to explain how a sinful king can affect his people—the kings sinned and they made the Israelites sin too.
Main Message:
Some kings didn’t obey God—they sinned and made God’s people, the Israelites, sin too. God was angry.
MEMORY VERSE:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:5-6
Lesson Options
Helping It Stick
Choose from these activities to enjoy with your kids to help repeat and consolidate the Main Message from this part of the bible.
Creative
People Paper Chain “Following God”: Children can colour the people in and draw a crown on the person at the beginning. Parents can write “God’s people follow God” across the people. Find a simple People Paper Chain template at sparkleandsplatter.com
Follow God prayer Jars: Children can decorate an old jam jar (or similar) with paint, stickers, glitter, etc. Ask the children how they can follow God and things that we can pray for help in following God (e.g. sharing my toys, speaking nicely, being patient, etc.). Write each answer on a paddlepop stick that will sit inside the jar. When praying, the child can choose a paddlepop stick and pray for what it written on it.
King’s Wheel Crown: Print this template showing some OT Kings. Stick the circle print out onto a paper plate. Cut on the dotted lines, leaving a border around the edge. Colour it in and bend each triangle up and outwards to form a crown. Reflect on how each King sinned and made God angry.
Musical
Kids Church Music: Join Aiden and Josh as they sing:
He Died upon the Cross
Jesus No.1
Jesus is the Life Saver
Little by Little
Something for older kids: “King of Kings” by Hillsong
Physical/Tactile
Crown - Throne - Cross: Decide an action for each word e.g. hands on head for crown, squatting sit for throne and arms crossed over for cross. Choose someone to be the action master and they turn away from the rest of the group - everyone chooses one action to do. If the kids have the same action of the game master, they win for that round!
Royal Snap: using a normal deck of cards, play a game of snap. But everytime a King appears on top, anyone can snap.
Baking a Mess: There’s nothing like ignoring a recipe to show the results of not following instructions accurately. Make some people biscuits (or any shape) and help the kids “follow” the instructions to make the biscuits. (If you want mess, they could make the biscuits without following a recipe and see how that turns out).