1 Kings 18:18-46

1 Kings 18:18-46 “God is Powerful”

HOOK:
1-Light a candle.  Ask the children what they think will happen if you put water on the fire.  Would the fire go out or keep burning?  Put the water on the candle.  Say, “The water put the fire out!”
2-Have a small stick or twig soaked in water.  Ask the children, “Do you think this stick will catch fire if it is wet?”  Demonstrate that it won’t.

We are going to learn a story from the Bible where fire wouldn’t go out with water.

BOOK: 1 Kings 18:18-46

LOOK:
There was a bad King in Israel named Ahab.  He didn’t believe in God.  He believed that there was another god named Baal.  So Elijah told Ahab, “Let’s see whose god is the true God.”  We will both sacrifice an ox and put it on wood.  Your prophets can call on your god and I will call on the Name of the Lord and the God who answers by fire, He is God.

So the prophets of Baal put an ox on wood and cried out to Baal to put fire on the wood.  They cried out, they jumped up and down, they cried louder and louder, but no fire.

Then Elijah told the people to come over to him.  He fixed God’s altar and then put a trench around it.  A trench is something that can hold water (like a moat around a sand castle at the beach).

He told them to put water on the sacrifice and on the wood.  He told them to do it again.  He told them to put water on the wood and the sacrifice a third time.  The trenches around the altar were overflowing with water.  Elijah asked God to send the fire so the people could see and turn their hearts back to Him.  Then the fire of God came down and burnt up the sacrifice, the wood, stones and dried up all the water in the trenches!  All the people saw this and they fell to the ground and said, “The Lord, He is God!”

TOOK:
God is very powerful.  He can do things that are amazing.  You saw that when I tried to burn the wet stick, it wouldn’t catch on fire. Also, when I put water on the candle the fire went out.  God took wet wood and burned it and He took fire that wouldn’t go out with water to show how powerful He is and how real He is.  We can put our trust in God.  He is there all the time and He is powerful!

MEMORY VERSE:
“ . . . The Lord, He is God.”  1 Kings 18:39

CLOSING PRAYER:
We thank you God for being powerful.  You are the only true God and you love us and you are always there to take care of us.  Please help us to believe in you and to trust you every day! In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!

Lesson from Kingdom Kids from Catalyst Ministry