God is Faithful (Hosea) Lesson #7 in What is God Like?

When you think about what you want your children to learn at church, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind? We’ve all been there. With so much truth in the Bible where do we start? Why not start where the Bible starts. No, not necessarily creation, but GOD.

Who is God? What is God like? What does God do?

“The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls Father.” ~ C. H. Spurgeon

Through this series of 42 lessons we’ll be introducing children to fullness of God’s character one attribute at a time. Most churched children will tell you that God created the world, or He rescues His people, or even that Jesus came to earth to rescue God’s people, but the goal of these lessons is for them to begin to know more of who He is and what it means to worship Him for who He is.

AGE GROUP: elementary (ages 6-11)
TIME REQUIRED: 45 minutes

This is lesson 7 of 42. in our study on the Attributes of God called “Can you tell me what God is like?” Visit the series index to view all the lessons and get more ideas for using this curriculum in your children’s ministry.

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LESSON 7: GOD IS FAITHFUL

• Key Verse: “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.” Deuteronomy 7:9
• Teaching Passage: the story of Hosea as a picture of God’s faithfulness to unfaithful people- Hosea
• Supporting Texts: Deuteronomy 7:9,  32:4,  Psalm 25:10, Psalm 33:4

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS  FAITHFUL  written on it, key verse (Deuteronomy 7:9) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group

LESSON OUTLINE:

REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:  

Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.

Ask if anyone can remember the 3 truths we’ve learned so far. Have the kids stand up and say the attributes of God and do the motions.

• God is Almighty=  He has absolute power or is all powerful
• God is the Alpha and Omega= He is the beginning and the end, the first and the last
• God is Awesome = He inspires awe and amazement

• God is Compassionate = He shows a deep concern for His people & a desire to meet their needs
  

• God is the Deliverer = He is the rescuer or savior
  
• God is Exalted = He is noble, elevated and lifted up

TEACH- GOD IS FAITHFUL: 

Start out by reading this week’s memory verse (Deuteronomy 7:9) and then asking if anyone in the group can define the word faithful. Explain that when we say God is faithful that means that God keeps His promises and always does what He says He will do.  Ask a couple of kids to come up and act out what being faithful might look like (or what being unfaithful- not keeping promises may look like. 

After the skit, explain that you want to tell them a story from the Bible that explains God’s faithfulness.
Tell the story of Hosea in your own words using the following outline:

1. Hosea was a prophet of God during a time when the people of Israel were particularly unfaithful to God.
2. God had continued to be faithful to His people (as He always is), but His people weren’t being faithful to Him~ they were worshipping false gods and turning their back on God.
   
3. In order to teach the people of Israel about God’s faithfulness and their unfaithfulness, God told Hosea to marry a woman named Gomer who wouldn’t be faithful to him~ someone who wouldn’t keep her marriage promises to him and would leave him to love another man.
   
4. God told Hosea that every time his wife left him and broke her promises to him that he should take her back and forgive her.
   
5. God wanted Hosea & Gomer’s marriage to be a picture of God’s love for His people. God wanted the people to see that even when they are unfaithful and follow other gods that He is always faithful. 
   
6. Over and over in the book of Hosea, God sends Hosea to the people of Israel to tell them to repent of their unfaithfulness and come back to Him. Then, He tells Hosea to tell the people that He will punish their unfaithfulness, but that He will still be faithful to His promise to rescue His people and will forgive them when they repent.
   

DEFINE AND REMEMBER:

To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.

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FAITHFUL = RELIABLE, TRUSTED, TRUE TO HIS WORD, KEEPS HIS PROMISES 

EXPLAIN: Ask…..”How did we see God being faithful in this story?” 

Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for FAITHFUL. A good motion might be to cross your fingers as a sign of making a promise, or shake your neighbor’s hand. 

Then, have the kids read the supporting verses for more evidence of God being faithful. (Deuteronomy 7:9,  32:4,  Psalm 25:10, Psalm 33:4)

MEMORY VERSE:

SAY: “This week’s memory verse is Deuteronomy 7:9. This verse reminds us that God always keeps His promises, that He is faithful, by reminding us that He has kept all of His promises.” As a group come up with a list of promises that God made and kept in the Bible. (EX: promises to make Abraham into a great nation – the people of Israel grew from 1 family to a whole nation is Egypt, He promised to send a rescuer and Jesus came). Have the kids help you think of other examples.

Read the memory verse (Deuteronomy 7:9) a few times together and do the motion for awesome.

CROSS CONNECTION:

The truth we see in the Bible is that all of us are like Hosea’s wife. We have all sinned and are all unfaithful to God.  The story of Hosea and his wife is the story of all of us and God. The story of the Bible though is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Read 1 John 1:8-9. That’s the good news. God promised long ago to rescue His people and He is faithful and will do what He said He would~ and He fulfills His promise through Jesus.

REVIEW:

Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word faithful somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for faithful or the memory verse or they could illustrate any of the passages you read about God being faithful. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.

PRAYER:

Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would learn to trust God’s faithfulness in their life knowing that He will always do what he has promised.