Theme: Keeping your heart with God
Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:7
Once there was a boy whose job was to take care of the family’s sheep. It was a big flock, so this was a big responsibility. He had to make sure none of them wandered off and got lost. He had to drive them all from pasture to pasture so they could find enough to eat. And, of course, he had to protect them from the wolves and other wild animals.
The boy had seven older brothers, and one day one of the brothers came out to the field and said to the boy, “Father wants you back at the house.” So the boy ran back to the house, and when he got there, there was a stranger sitting with his father. He wondered who this stranger was. And his father said, “Son, this is Samuel, the prophet of God. He wants to meet you.”
The boy’s eyes got very wide, and he thought, “Why would the prophet of God want to meet me, a lowly shepherd boy?” Then Samuel stood up, poured some oil on the boys head and said, “God has chosen you to be king of Israel.”
Imagine how surprised he must have been. One minute he’s tending the sheep, and the next he’s being anointed king of Israel! And he had seven older brothers who were big and tall; why not anoint one of them to become king of Israel? God gives us the answer in 1 Samuel 16:7. “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance (in other words how you look), but the Lord looks at the heart.”
You see, it doesn’t matter if you’re big or little or what job you’re in. What matters is whether your heart is where is should be: with God.
That shepherd boy’s name was David, and David became the greatest king Israel ever had. But more important than that, God called David a man after His own heart. Wouldn’t you like God to say that about you? Well, if your heart is where it should be, who knows what God will help you to become.
That’s something we should pray about: Heavenly Father, help us to always have our hearts in the right place: with you. We pray that some day you will say that, like David, we are people after your own heart. Amen.
Song: “I Love You, Lord”
From ChildrensSermonsOnline.net
© Copyright 2009 by Steven Rudolph. All rights reserved.
Activities To Do After The Lesson
1. Let your kids watch the animated video of David and Goliath:
2. After which, do this activity: GIANTS
Prepare:
A drawing of a person 9 feet tall on a large piece of paper (or just put a picture of a giant head 9 feet up on a wall), markers . You could also mark this out with masking tape on the floor.
“Goliath was a giant – literally! He was 9 feet tall! Let’s see how tall that is. (pull out the paper and tape it on the wall)
David was only a boy and a shepherd. He was so small compared to Goliath. He looked at Goliath and probably got a little scared. But, David had one thing that Goliath didn’t. He had God on his side. When we have God on our side, we can face any giant.
We all have giants in our lives. Now we don’t have 9 foot tall men with armor and a sword, but we do face giants. A giant is something that seems too big for us to handle by ourselves. It may be a math test, a friend that is mad at us, or trouble at home. I want you all to think about a giant that you have in your life. Then you’ll all be able to write that giant on our Goliath poster.”
- Give the children a little time to think
- Let the children walk up and write their “giant” on Goliath
How does God help us with our problems? (allow for responses – probably like, pray, reading the Bible, sending friends/family to help)
Now let’s go through these “giants” and see how God can help us.”
Go through the list, reading them and then write over them “GOD”
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