18
"Does God Care How I Do in School?”
Big Idea
On your homework or test, give God your best!
Materials Needed:
Piece of paper, Markers, Small table or desk, Chair, Flower in a vase/flowerpot
Setup:
1. Set up the small table or desk to the side of the teaching area. Place the piece of paper, markers, and flowers on the table.
Lesson
1. Review the big idea from last meeting's lesson: "When we obey our parents, we obey God!" Ask the question, "Should I
listen to my parents?" and have the children repeat the big idea a few
times, doing the motions below as you say each word.
Obey: hold arms above head to form the letter "O"
Parents: Sign
language sign for parents: with right hand open and facing away from
you, touch the tip of your thumb to your chin, then your forehead
Obey: hold arms above head to form the letter "O"
God: point up
2. Explain/ask the following:
One thing all of you have in common is the fact that, each day, you have to go to school and spend time learning new things. What are some things your teacher has you do to help you learn new stuff?
Allow the children to respond, writing their responses on the board, but leaving space along the top of the board. Ask, "Who are some people who care about how you do in school? In other words, who is someone who would be disappointed if you didn't try very hard in school?"
Allow the children to respond, this time writing their responses on the top of the board. Explain the following:
We all know at least one person who cares about how well we do in school. It may be our teacher, our mom or dad, our grandma or grandpa. It could be our principal or school counselor. And we can see why they care about how well we do in school. It's their job to care about us!
But what about God? (Write "God?" alongside the other responses on the top of the board.) Does he belong on this list? Does God care about how you do in school? That's the question we're going to try to answer tonight. First, we'll read a verse from God's word, the Bible. Then we'll see what that verse has to do with our question by acting out three different situations.
3. Select a child to read the following from his/her Bible: Corinthians 10:31 - "So eat and drink and do everything else for the glory of God" (NIrV). Explain the following:
So, according to this verse, no matter what we do, whether it's eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or drinking some chocolate milk or anything else we could possibly do, we're supposed to do it for the glory of God. It's easy to understand what it means to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or drink chocolate milk or do anything else, but what does "for the glory of God" mean?
To give God glory means to worship him or give him praise. It means to say wonderful things about him and do wonderful things for him to show him how much we love him. To do something for the glory of God is a bit like giving him a present by doing something special for him.
So, let's put this whole verse together back together: no matter what it is we do, whether it's eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or drinking chocolate milk, we should do it as if we're doing it as a special gift to God to show him how much we love him.
Still a little confused? Well, let's see how this would in a couple different situations.
4. Select a child to come forward and sit in the chair at the table. Ask him/her to use the markers and paper to draw a picture of the flower. But, tell him/her to quickly draw a really poor picture of the flower on purpose, as if he/she were someone really didn't care what the picture looked like. As he/she is drawing, explain the following:
Remember our verse said that we need to do every single thing we do for God's glory, as if we're doing it as a special present for him. Drawing a picture is something that we sometimes do. So, if we want to follow what God wants us to do, we're supposed to do it as a special present for God. We should try our best to make the very best drawing we can.
Have your volunteer hold up his/her picture of the flower. Ask your volunteer, "Do you think this is a great drawing of a flower?" Allow him/her to respond. Ask, "Why isn't it a very good drawing of a flower?" Allow him/her to respond. Explain the following:
The reason this isn't a very good drawing of a flower is because I told you to draw the picture as if you were someone who really didn't care how good of a job he/she did. I'm sure if I gave you more time and you tried your best, you'd make a great drawing of a flower.
Let me ask you one more question. We're supposed to do everything for God's glory, as if it were a special gift to him. If someone drew a picture like this, if they really didn't try very hard at all, do you think God would be pleased with it?" Allow your volunteer to respond. Explain the following:
Of course God wouldn't be pleased with a picture like that. And that's because the person who did it really didn't try at all. If you asked me to draw a picture for you, and I just scribbled on a scrap piece of paper for a few seconds and handed it to you, you wouldn't be pleased either!
So, drawing a picture is something we can do for the glory of God, as if it were a special present for him. And if we do it poorly because we really aren't trying, God isn't pleased. Let's check out another situation.
5. Let your first volunteer return to his/her seat. Select another volunteer to come up front. Hand him/her the musical instrument. Ask, "Can one of you think of a good name for a new song?" Allow one child to respond. Ask your volunteer to make up a song on the instrument based on the title of that song. But, tell him/her to play as if they were someone who really didn't care how good the song sounded. After your volunteer plays for a little bit, ask him/her, "Do you think that was a great sounding song?" Allow him/her to respond. Ask, "Why wasn't it a very good song?" Allow him/her to respond. Explain the following:
The
reason that wasn't a very good song is because is because I told you play like someone who didn't care how good the song sounded. Also, I didn't even give you a chance to practice! I'm sure if you tried hard and practiced, you could create a great song!
One more question. We're supposed to do everything for God's glory, as if it were a special gift to him. If someone played a song like that, if they really didn't try very hard at all, do you think God would be pleased with it?" Allow your volunteer to respond. Explain the following:
Of course God wouldn't be pleased with a song like that. And that's because the person who did it really didn't try at all. If you asked me to play a song for you, and I just banged my fists on a piano and yelled gibberish at the top of my lungs, you wouldn't be pleased either!
So, playing a song is something we can do for the glory of God, as if it were a special present for him. And if we do it poorly because we really aren't trying, God isn't pleased.
6. Let your volunteer return to his/her seat. Explain the following:
Remember what our verse said? Whether we're eating or drinking or anything else we do, we need to do it for God's glory, as if it were a special present for him. We saw how God wouldn't be pleased if we didn't try very hard at things we do. It wouldn't really be a special present for him at all!
Our question for today is, "Does God really care how I do in school?" What do you think the answer to that question is? (Allow a child to respond.)
The stuff we do at school, all this stuff we listed on the board earlier, they can and should be done for God's glory, as a special gift to him. Remember, the verse didn't say, "Only do some stuff for the glory of God." It said, "So eat and drink and do everything else for the glory of God." All these things we do at school fits in under the "everything else" part of this verse.
So, just like with drawing a picture or playing a song, God isn't pleased when we don't put any effort into our schoolwork. It isn't a special gift for God's glory when we don't try very hard in school. Instead, we should do everything we do at school as if we're doing it as a special gift for God, for his glory. We need to try our best and we need to do it for God. The verse we read earlier could just as easily say, "So study for your test and finish your homework and do everything else for the glory of God."
So, on your homework or test, give God your best!
7. Explain that the big idea from today's lesson is: "On your homework or test, give God your best!" Ask the question, "Does God care how I do in school?" and have the children repeat the big idea a few times, doing the motions below as you say each word.