“Help Me Find Him” Holy Spirit Bible Lesson for Kids

This is the third in a series of four Bible lessons for children teaching them about the Holy Spirit. Here is the link to see all lessons in this series index.  It was first prepared for a Children’s Church setting, but would work well as a Sunday School lesson also.  Through a review game/object lesson, a Bible lesson game, and an art project, students will learn how to identify the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives.

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Bible Story: “Help Me Find Him”
Scriptures: multiple references about the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives
Target Age Group: 1st – 6th grade
Time: 45-60 Minutes

Learning Activity #1:  “Building on our Foundation” ( Review Game/Object Lesson)
Supplies needed:  any type of building block (I used big Melissa & Doug blocks, but anything should work, even random recyclables such as cereal boxes, mailing packages, etc.)

Directions:  Use this in conjunction with the first two Holy Spirit lessons as a review.  Read the following “fill in the blank statements” to your students. Have students raise their hands if they know the answer.   If they can complete the statement with the correct word, they get a block for building.  Award students one block for every fill in the blank they complete.

1. The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity of God.  There are three parts:  The Father, _________ , (The Son Jesus) and the Holy Spirit.
2. Sometimes, we compare the Trinity to an ________ (egg) or water in its three states.  God is three persons in one.  Besides that, He is nothing like an egg or water!
3. We get the Holy Spirit by ________________(repenting) of our sins.
4. If we have accepted what Jesus has done for us on the cross, the Holy Spirit makes His home in  _________.  (us)
5. When the Holy Spirit is part of our lives, He does a bunch of things!  He __________(gives us courage to tell about Jesus), He ______________(teaches) us, He _______________(gives us peace), and He ______________(convicts the world of guilt.)
6. The fruit of the Spirit is _________(love), joy, _________(peace), patience, __________(kindness), goodness, gentleness, ____________(faithfulness), and self-control.
7. We can actually make the Holy Spirit __________(sad), by making wrong choices for our lives.
8. Luke 10:27 says to love the Lord your God with all your _________(heart), with all your soul, with all your ___________(strength), and with all your mind.
9. When we love God the way He asks us to, we also end up loving our _____________(neighbors) as ourselves.
10. The church is not a building that we go to on Sunday mornings.  It is a group of believers, who each have the _______ _________ (Holy Spirit) in their lives.

Now look at our house!  We started with one brick and now we’ve got quite a building! Is our building perfect?  Absolutely not!  But together, we are definitely stronger than we could ever be on our own!  This reminds me of a verse from our last lesson:  Ephesians 2:21-22, “In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.”

Learning Activity #2:  “Help Me Find Him” (Bible Lesson/Game)
Supplies:  puzzle pieces (made ahead of time), a whiteboard/blackboard, tape for sticking them up (optional), flashlights for each child (optional)

Prior to class, cut out pieces of construction paper into rectangular pieces.  (Mine were 6”w x 2”h.)  Cut through the middle with a puzzle design.  You now have a matching puzzle.  On the left side, write the question.  On the right side, write its corresponding answer (verse).  Continue to make individual puzzles of two pieces each, making certain that each cut is different.

Hide the puzzle pieces around your space before children arrive.   (I estimated one for each child.)  Turn lights off and distribute flashlights if you have them available.  Have children search for them.  Vary difficulty of hiding spots according to the age of the students involved.  Once children find a puzzle piece, have them find someone with their match.

Once a match is found, have the students sit and read their puzzle pieces to try to figure out the meanings.   After all matches have been found, have the students bring up the puzzle pieces one by one and read them.  (If students are confident readers, they can do so.  If not, read for them.)  Post them on the blackboard/whiteboard.  Briefly explain verses as necessary.

Before the game begins, say: We’re learning more about the Holy Spirit every day, but He still is a mystery.  Let’s try to hunt for clues to decipher what He does.  I’ve hidden questions and answers around our space.  Your job is to be a detective and find them!  Everyone here needs to find one puzzle piece.  Once you find that piece, find a friend who has its match.  Read your question and answer together.  Try to figure it out so that you can help the rest of us understand.

After the game, say: You’ve found the puzzles, now let’s figure them out!  As each group reads their question and answer, listen for what the Holy Spirit does.  You may hear the Holy Spirit teaching, comforting, guiding, and giving you joy.  Help me find Him!

Once the students figure out what the Holy Spirit does, have the students collectively say, “That’s Him!”

Here are the pieces of the puzzle

1.  How can we learn more about God?
“…The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”  John 14:26

2.  How will we know what to say?
“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”  Luke 12:11-13

3.  Jesus left us with a gift.  What was it?
“If then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”  Luke 11:13

4.  How can we know the way to go?
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide us into all truth.”  John 16:13

5.  How can we tell others about God?
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  Acts 1:8

6.  How can we have peace in this world? “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  John 14:27

7.  How do we tell others about Jesus?
“My message and preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.”  1 Corinthians 2:4

8.  Where does joy and peace come from?
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Romans 15:13

9.  Does hope in God disappoint us?
“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”  Romans 5:5

10.  How can my faith grow stronger?
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”  Ephesians 3:16

Learning Activity #3:  “Stained Glass Art” (An Art Project)
Supplies:  pictures of stained glass windows, construction paper cutouts of a typical stained glass window frame, multi-colored pieces of tissue paper cut into ½”-1” squares, small containers for the tissue paper, clear contact paper squares (big enough for the window cutouts), scissors, finished example

Stained glass windows have been around for thousands of years.  They have mostly been used to decorate churches.  Sometimes stained glass windows tell a story about people from the Bible.  Sometimes a lot of windows work together to tell about the days of creation, the life of Christ, or the early church.

Today we shined light on some of the things that the Holy Spirit does in our lives.  We learned that we can find Him teaching us, giving us words to say, helping us make right decisions, giving us joy, peace, and hope, and making us stronger.  If you were to make a stained glass window that described the Holy Spirit, what would it look like?  It may have a heart, a dove (symbol for peace), words such as hope, love, joy, or maybe a person (the Holy Spirit’s home).  You choose!  Let’s get started!

1. Distribute construction paper cutouts.
2. Fold in half.  Make a parallel cut one inch inside to create the frame for the window.
3. Open the window and place it on the contact paper.
4. Sticky side up, place the squares of tissue paper inside the window on the contact paper, in whatever design the student chooses.
5. When the window is filled with tissue paper and the design is complete, place a second piece of contact paper over the whole thing.  Press it carefully, watching out for air bubbles.
6. Cut off the remaining contact paper, leaving some extra along the edges of the window to help it adhere better.
7. You’re done!  Hang up in a window and watch the light shine through!  Windows can be used for decoration in the classroom or brought home for the students to remind them of the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives.