Psalms

Psalm 23- The Good Shepherd
HOOK:
Read a children’s picture book about Psalm 23 (choose your own or use the one provided).  Explain to the children that just like a shepherd watches over his sheep, God is our Good Shepherd and He watches over us.

BOOK: Psalm 23:1  “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”
God gave us the Bible to tell us about who He is and how He wants us to live.  King David wrote the book of Psalms in the Bible (show children your Bible and where the book of Psalms is).  A Psalm is like a song.  David played the harp, and these could be the songs or poems he used to sing when he played his harp.  God wants us to worship him with our lives.  We can worship him by singing, like we do at the beginning of Kingdom Kids.  We can worship God by serving Him (putting together a “Samaritan’s Purse” shoebox to give to a little kid that doesn’t know Jesus, going to a nursing home and cheering up the elderly people, helping clean up the nursery).  We can worship God by being obedient to our parents.  We can worship God by giving some of our money to buy a Bible for one of our friends.  There’s a lot of ways we can worship God.  The best way to worship God is by believing in Him and trusting Him.

LOOK:
Sheep can’t take care of themselves.  They need a shepherd to take care of them.  A shepherd has to take the sheep to a place where they can eat grass, drink water and stay out of danger.  A sheep would die if a shepherd didn’t do all those things for it.  When you are little, you can’t take care of yourself either.  If your parents didn’t feed you, buy your clothes and help you get dressed, take you to school and to church, you would be in big trouble.  Just like sheep need the shepherd to take care of them, we need our parents to take care of us when we’re little.  But what about when you grow up?  Do you need your parents to take care of you?  Do they have to feed you and help you get dressed?  No, you can do that all by yourself.  Even though you won’t always need your parents like a sheep needs a shepherd, you will always need God to take care of you.  God says He is our Good Shepherd because He is always there to take care of us.  When we know and trust that God is with us and He is taking care of us, we make Him happy.  We need to act like sheep and do what God says just like the sheep do what the shepherd says.

TOOK:
When you think about God, remember that He is always looking out for you, taking care of you and will never leave you.  He is your Good Shepherd and He knows how to take care of His little sheep.  Have you ever seen a sheep by itself, just wandering around?  You would never see a sheep without its shepherd.  Even though we can’t see God, He is always with us, and He will always take care of us.  We just have to trust and follow and obey Him.

MEMORY VERSE:
“I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”  Psalm 23:4

CLOSING PRAYER:
Thank you, God, for being our Good Shepherd and taking care of us.  Help us to believe, follow and trust in you, because you are always with us.  In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!

Kingdom Kids from Catalyst Ministry

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Psalm 34:8 GOD IS GOOD

HOOK:
Bring in a candy bar and take your time unwrapping it.  Talk about how delicious it’s going to be and how much you are going to enjoy it when you bite into it.  Ask all kinds of questions: Has anyone ever had this kind of candy bar?  What is your favorite candy bar?  Wouldn’t they love it if they could all have a taste?  Keep talking about the taste of the candy bar and how enjoyable it is to eat it.

BOOK: Psalm 34:8
God is a good God and He wants us to have a good life.  What do you think a “good life” is?  (lots of toys, lots of candy, watching lots of movies, etc.)  Sometimes what we think is good might turn into something bad.  Having lots of candy might give you holes in your teeth (cavities), even if you have a lot of toys, things break or you get tired of them.  Watching lots of movies makes you feel tired and lazy and bored.  The Bible tells us that a good life is when you know God and you let Him wash away the black marks of sin from your heart.  When you know that God loves you, that He is protecting you from danger and providing for you (taking care of all that you need), you have a good life.  God is good.  There is nothing bad about Him.  He is the same yesterday, today and He will be the same forever.  You can believe in all that He promises in the Bible.  He will never lie to you or leave you alone.  When you become a child of God, you learn that the things in this world don’t last forever.  If you want to live forever and have a good life on earth, then you need to ask Jesus to come into your life and make your heart new.  God is good and everything He made is good.  He wants you to be His child and He wants to give you a good life by taking care of you.

LOOK:
When I was telling you about how I was going to taste my candy bar and enjoy the delicious flavor of it, my mouth was watering.  But the only way I could really enjoy the candy bar, is when I put it in my mouth, take a bite, chew it and swallow it.  The Bible says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)  How can we “taste” God?   Well, just like you can’t enjoy a candy bar without taking a bite, you can’t enjoy God until you ask Him into your life and ask Him to clean your heart from sin (explain that sin is all the things we do that makes God sad).  God wants us to know Him just like we know our Moms and Dads and the friends we play with.  We can talk to God all the time anywhere (prayer), we can have someone read us the Bible to learn more about God, and we can try to do things the way Jesus wants us to (love your neighbor as yourself).  When we know God, we will know that He is a good God!

TOOK:
Does anyone want to taste my candy bar?  It would be fun for all of us to enjoy a special treat.  If I let you hold it, and then take it back, you wouldn’t enjoy eating it.  If I opened it and let you smell it, you still wouldn’t enjoy it.  It’s not until I give you each a taste and you put it in your mouth that you FINALLY can enjoy it!  When you think about God, does He seem far away, or does He feel like a friend?  If you want to know Him as a friend, a teacher or your Mom or Dad can pray with you and help you to know God better.  The Bible says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good”.  Make sure that you invite God into your life instead of just knowing what other people tell you about God.  He is GOOD!!

MEMORY VERSE:
“Taste and see that the Lord is good.”  Psalm 34:8

CLOSING PRAYER:
Dear God, please help me understand that you love me and that you want me to be your child.  I know you are a good God and you are taking care of me.  Thank you for your love and protection and for being so good.  I love you.   In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!

Lesson from Kingdom Kids from Catalyst Ministry

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Psalm 100:4-
THANKSGIVING- Lesson #1

HOOK:
Have two children come up to stand in front of the class.  When the teacher points to one child, they say, “Thanks”.  When the teacher points to the second child, they say “giving”
Repeat several times, getting faster and faster until the two words are combined and they say “THANKSGIVING”.
Ex. Thanks …… giving
Thanks …… giving
Thanksgiving!

Who should we be giving most, if not all, of our thanks to?

BOOK:
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.”

Psalm 100:4

LOOK:
During this time every year, we celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving.  We have a lot to be thankful for!  Let’s go around the room and share what each one of us is thankful for (Ideas:  that we can see, hear, run, our families, friends, nice home, food.  Try to get the kids to say something specific.  If they say “friends”, ask them to name a special friend.  If they say “food”, ask them what their favorite food is).

What does your family do to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday?  (Do you go to Grandma’s, do you have special family/friends over, what do you have to eat every year, does your family put together a food basket or serve a meal to the homeless?)

We have so many special things we do this time of year, but the most important thing we need to do is remember to GIVE God THANKS from our hearts for everything!

TOOK:
When you go to the store and see all the pretty decorations, or when you jump in a leaf pile, or when you smell a cozy fire in the air or sit down to a meal with your family, don’t forget to say “Thank you” to God for all the good things He made for us to enjoy.  If we celebrate the holiday, but forget to give praise and Thanksgiving to God, than we’re forgetting the most important part.  If you ate an Oreo cookie without the cream, something would be missing.  Let’s not miss out on saying thank you to God every day!

CLOSING PRAYER:
God, you are so good to us.  Thank you for our healthy bodies, for our Mommys and Daddys, sisters and brothers, and all the fun toys we have, great food we get to eat and the great places we get to go.  Please help us to always say thank you to and be happy because you are a good God.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

Memory Verse:
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.” Psalm 100:4

Lesson from Kingdom Kids from Catalyst Ministry

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Psalm 139:13ff
GOD MADE ME

HOOK:
Use the puppets to interact with the children.

Doggie- I wish I was bigger like all the other dogs on my block.  I am so puny.  Everything about me is small.  I have a small body, a small head, a small tail and even a small bark.  Listen . . . (let out a weak, wimpy bark to get a laugh from the kids).

Bunny- You should talk!!  At least you CAN bark!  What sound do rabbits make?  Have you ever heard anybody sing about a bunny on Old McDonald’s Farm?  (singing) . . .And on this farm he had a bunny, E-I-E-I-O.  With a _____, here and a ________ there, see what I mean?  What do bunnies say?  I would love to be able to oink like a pig, or moo like a cow, or bark like a dog.  All I can do is twitch my nose, and that doesn’t get anyone’s attention.  What a rip-off!

Doggie- Hmm, I never thought of that.  But you do a lot of other neat things.  You can hop so silently that nobody can hear you.  You have the biggest, bestest ears to hear any danger coming in the woods.  Kids love to have bunnies for pets.  You’re soft and cuddly.

Bunny- I didn’t kmow anybody thought my big floppy ears were cool.  It is nice to be cuddled by kids and hear them laugh and play with me.  And you know what, you are the perfect size, too, for somebody to pick you up and cuddle you.  Big dogs might look stronger and have a louder bark, but you can be held and cuddled and a lot of people like dogs that don’t take up a lot of space and make a lot of noise.

Doggie-  Wow, I never thought of that.  Thanks, Bunny, you made me feel a lot better.  I’m glad we’re friends.

Bunny-  Yeah, me too.  Even though I’ll never make it on Old McDonald’s top ten animal noises, I guess there’s other things about me that are special.

BOOK: The Bible says in Psalm 139:13ff-
“You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful . . . “

That means that God made us just the way we are and He didn’t make a mistake.  You have the face, body, and special talents God gave you because He loves you and wanted to make you just this way.  The Bible says that God skillfully put you together.  He could see that you were a wonderful masterpiece even when you were still hidden in your mother’s belly and nobody could see you but God.  If God wanted something to be different, He could have changed it, because God can do anything.  God made you special and different from everybody else because He loves you just the way you are!

LOOK:
Each one of us has different color hair, eyes and even skin.  Some of us are tall and some of us are short.  Some people have to use a wheelchair to get around or have some other kind of disability.   Just because we’re different from each other doesn’t mean that somebody is better and somebody is not as good.  Being different is good, because God is the Creator and all of His creation is good.  If we make fun of somebody because of what they look like or what they can’t do, we are hurting God because He made that person.  Everybody has something special about them, and if you take the time to get to know people, you will like them for who they are, not for what they look like on the outside.

TOOK:
We should be thankful for the way God made us on the outside, and let Him change the things on the inside that need to change (like being more kind and obedient and thoughtful).  Also, we should never make fun of other people who may look or act different.  Every person is a creation of God and He loves each one.  We need to be sure that we treat each other in the way that makes God  happy.  God made everyone special and different and that’s a good thing to enjoy!

Closing Prayer:
Creator God, thank you for the wonder of your creation around us and for each human being who is a miracle from you.  Help us to be thankful for the way you made us and to be loving and kind to others who may be different from us.  In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!

Lesson from Kingdom Kids from Catalyst Ministry

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