Priorities
WELCOME TO WEEK 1
What are some things you do first thing in thee morning? What do you do before you play in a game? What are some things you do before you go to a birthday party? We all have things we know we must do first or things we believe are important to do before we do anything else. We can show others what we consider most important based on what we make time to do. This week we will see if we are putting God first.
BIBLE STORY
The Israelites traveled through the wilderness so let’s pretend we are traveling too! When you take a trip, it is fun to play games in the car. Let’s play a popular car game. Play the game “I’m going on a trip…” and tell what you will bring. The items each person brings must start with their first name. For younger children you can tell them the rule of the game since thinking of objects with the start letter may be difficult. For older children, give several examples and see if they can figure out the rule that allows them to take the trip as well.
Was that game fun? It is fun to play car games on a trip to help pass the time. This game had a rule that you had to follow in order to join in on our pretend trip. While Moses and the Israelites were in the wilderness God gave them His law. Moses was the one who brought the law to the rest of the people.
Read or listen to the Bible verse for this week: Exodus 20:1-6
What did God say he did for his people? (Brought them out of slavery from the land of Egypt)
What did God tell them not to have? (Other gods besides God)
What should they not make for themselves? (Idols)
What shapes did God say their idols should not be made into? (Anything from the heavens above or the earth or waters below)
How did God describe himself as if his people made idols? (He is a jealous God)
How long does God show faithful love to those who love and obey Him? (For a thousand generations)
BIBLE STORY ACTIVITY
God’s law was not just a list of do’s and don’ts, but it was a guide to show that His followers would behave this way. God’s law was given in love and obeyed in love. If you follow God, you will behave in this way, the way His law describes.
Activity
Listen to the following actions and decide if it is violating one of the first 2 commandments or keeping the commandments. If it is violating the commandments, make a big X with your arms. If it is keeping the commandments, give 2 thumbs up.
Materials: printed actions
Alternate
On road trips most people like to have several types of snacks available. I have several options for candy, when you pull one out of the bag listen fir the instructions you will follow. Put several or 3 different types of snacks into a non-see through bag. Have a child reach into the bag to pull out one type of candy. Determine ahead of time that each candy will receive a different type of response. Candy 1: give an example of someone putting other god’s before God. Candy 2: Give an example of someone who has made an idol for themselves. Candy 3: give an example of putting God first. Play several rounds giving several examples.
Materials: 3 types of candy, non see-through bag
Independent activity:
Create a collage of things you do every day. Some of the things we do take a lot of time while others only take a short while. No matter how busy we are, we can find time to spend with God. When we put time with Him first, everything else will fit in place. Add the pictures of things that you do each day or week to your collage. Use pictures from magazines or draw the pictures. Be sure to draw or use a picture of someone spending time with God and glue that picture in the middle.
Materials: construction paper, crayons, magazines for cutting, scissors, glue
ARTS & CAFTS
CRAFT 1
Make a 10 commandments expandable craft stick craft. Paint 11 craft sticks. Use a sharpie to label each stick with the ten commandments and label one “The 10 commandments”. Add a new stick each week as commandments are talked about or complete this craft in one lesson. Place tape along the backside of the craft sticks to secure them together.
Materials: 11 craft sticks, tape, paint, markers, sharpie marker, stickers for decoration
Craft 2
Coloring page
Materials: printed coloring sheet, crayons
FOLLOW-UP
Read or listen to Psalm 19:7-10. Listen to how the Psalmist describes God. List all of the descriptive words the Psalmist used to describe characteristics of God. (Perfect, trustworthy, pure, lasts forever, reliable, righteous).
God’s ways last forever and are pure and just. When we follow God and His ways we can trust that He is perfect and reliable.
What are other things you can describe as being perfect?
What other things can you think of that will last forever?
Why is it important to invest our time and energy into things that will last?
Do you ever spend a lot of time on something only for it to be over minutes later?
How is investing in God a good use of our time?
Does the order in which we complete tasks show how important it is to us?
Practical Application at Home
The things we eat first, grab first or do first can show what we think is most important. When we grab an apple over a soda for a snack, we show that we think it is more important to be healthy. When a carpenter grabs his hammer first, it shows he thinks this tool is most important. An author may write down a story before playing because she wants to get her story on paper because her story is more important than play. We call choose one thing over another every day, and we tend to choose what we do first because we believe it is most important. It doesn’t mean we don’t continue to enjoy other things, but we want to be sure we make time for what is most important. When we choose to make God first and give Him our time, we show that God is important.
Make a list of things you do or enjoy each day. Then rank your list and recopy it into the correct oder of importance, keeping God first.
Additional Resources
Outings to Reinforce Lesson
Donate to a local food shelter or toy drive this Christmas season. As a family, volunteer together or pick out toys you think another child your age might enjoy.