Fulfilled
WELCOME TO WEEK 4
What are some things you celebrate? Perhaps you celebrate birthdays, holidays or winning a game. We can celebrate lots of things throughout our year. We can also celebrate that God keeps his promises. We can trust the promises God has made in the Bible, He will keep them! This week we will look at some promises God has made and celebrate His faithfulness.
BIBLE STORY
Listen to the following promises I will say. You need to decide if this promise is from God, or if its a promise a person would make. Designate 2 areas for the child to stand, one area to represent God’s promises and the other area represents man’s promise.
—I will never leave nor forsake you
—I will always wash the dishes
—I will never destroy the earth with a flood again
—I will never lie to my parents again
—I will bless you to a thousand generations
—In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world
—I will always love you if you are kind to me
—I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you will be also
Some of these promises are from God and some sound like the promises we make to other people. How could you tell the difference between the promises? Sometimes we make promises that we intend to keep but we fail, and sometimes we make promises that are really too hard for us to keep. We want others to keep their promises with us as well, and sometimes they fail too. God is the only one who is able to keep all of His promises, regardless if they are big or small. God knows the beginning to the end, and He can deliver His promises right on time! This week we will see how God fulfilled a promise he made to someone even though he had to wait a very long time.
Read or listen to the scripture story in Luke 2:25-38
What had the Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon? (That he would not die until he saw the Messiah)
What made Simeon go to the temple? (The holy spirit moved him to go)
What were Mary and Joseph doing in the temple at that same time? (To do for Jesus what the custom required)
When Simeon saw the child what did he say? (Now you can dismiss your servant, I have seen your salvation you’ve prepared before all nations)
Why were Mary and Joseph surpised by the things Simeon said? (They were surprise he knew Jesus was the messiah)
What did the prophet Anna at the temple? (She never left the temple but prayed day and night)
What did Anna say about Jesus? (She gave thanks for him and spoke about the child to anyone who was looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem)
BIBLE STORY ACTIVITY
It is wonderful to know that God knows exactly who I am. It is also wonderful to know that no matter where we are, God is there. We can not find a place where God is not present there. He even knew us before we were born! God saw us before we were made and knew all of our days to come. We are not here by accident, we were a part of God’s plan. That makes you a wonderful creation!
Activity
It is hard to wait sometimes, just as Simeon and Anna waited for God’s promise to be fulfilled. Let’s play a game that involves waiting. This game requires at least 2 people to play. Print and cut the following activity page into strips and place them in a bowl. Print and cut the Wait cards and place them in a bowl or pile. Take a strip of paper from the bowl this is the challenge both players will race to complete. Then each player pulls one card from the Wait pile to determine how long they will have to wait before beginning the challenge. Take time to gather any materials you might need for the challenge before determining a start time. Once all players are ready, then say Start, and players who pulled a start card can begin and others use a timer to wait the time indicated on their card. Whoever completes the challenge first, wins! Continue playing additional rounds using one challenge while each player takes a wait card, until all the challenges are complete.
Materials: printed “I am and I can self picture”, pencil, crayons or colored pencils
Alternate
God promised blessings to people in the bible, but the promise was not always fulfilled right away. They had to wait for the promise to happen. Look at the promises listed on the following activity sheet, then match the promise they were given with the person it was promised to.
Materials: printed activity sheet, pencil
Independent activity:
Complete the following challenges. Create different structures or paths using household materials. Gather some or all the following materials you have at home: q-tip swabs, tissue tubes, cotton balls, mini-marshmallows, toothpicks, pretzel sticks, craft sticks, index cards, small toy animals. Use the materials to build the challenges given on each card. Use toy animals and people to use in your structures to test your structures.
Materials: printed challenge cards, optional household materials: q-tips, tissue tubes, cotton balls, mini marshmallows, toothpicks, pretzel sticks, craft sticks, index cards, small toy animals
ARTS & CAFTS
CRAFT 1
Coloring page.
Materials: printed coloring page, glue, scissors, markers
Craft 2
Coloring page
Materials: printed coloring sheet, crayons
FOLLOW-UP
Read Joshua 21:45 Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
Have you ever made a promise to someone that failed?
Has anyone ever promised something to you and they failed to fulfill it?
The bible says that God does not fail on his promises. Every promise He made He fulfilled. Israel may have questioned if God forgot about the promise He made to send them a Messiah, someone to save them. They waited a very long time to see God’s promised fulfilled, but God did not forget His promise. Simeon and Anna both saw baby Jesus and knew God had answered their prayer. Just as the people before them who waited on God to fulfill His promises, they were not disappointed. It is hard to wait for things. Sometimes we get impatient and do things our own way instead of waiting on God, but this just makes things harder. We can wait on God and trust He will keep His promises.
Practical Application at Home
God makes promises for us today. We can trust God will fulfill the promises he has made to us. Even if it feels like it is taking a long time to come true, God will always keep his promises. We can be patient and wait on God, because we will not be disappointed by God’s amazing plan for us. Look up the following scriptures and tell the promise that God is making.
Isaiah 9:6-7
Romans 10:9
Philippians 4:19
Romans 8:28
John 1:12
2 Corinthians 1:20
Philippians 4:13
Hebrews 4:16
We can trust God’s promises for us now and what will come in His timing. We will need to be patient and trust He has not forgotten us but loves us. God sent His son to earth to live, die, and be resurrected. He lived a sinless life, but died for our sins. The wages of our sins was taken on by His death so that we can live forever with God. God wants to be in relationship with us because He loves us. He loves us so much that He gave His son to die in our place. That is Great news that we can celebrate not just once a year, but every single day. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved”(Acts 16:31). What a wonderful promise we can trust God to fulfill.
Additional Resources
Outings to Reinforce Lesson
Go to a park and spend time in worship and prayer. Ask God to show you ways to trust him and listen to his voice.