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 9 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.
LESSON 9: GOD IS GLORIOUS
- Key Verse: “Praise be to His glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His glory.” Psalm 72:19
- Teaching Passage: Moses and the glory of God- Exodus 32-34
- Supporting Texts: Psalm 111:3, Exodus 15:11, Isaiah 42:8, Revelation 21:23
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS GLORIOUS written on it, key verse (Psalm 72:19) 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 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
- God is Faithful = He is reliable, trustworthy, true to His Word & keeps His promises
- God Forgives = He grants pardon and cancels the debt of sin
Play a quick review game by randomly calling out one of the definitions and asking kids to name which truth about God that refers to.
TEACH- GOD IS GLORIOUS:
Start out by reading this week’s memory verse (Psalm 72:19) and then asking if anyone in the group can define the word glorious. Point out that the word glorious has the word glory in it and ask if anyone knows what the word glory means. Let the kids know that you’ll explain more about the words glory and glorious in a minute.
Tell the kids that you want to tell them a story from the Bible that explains what it means that God is glorious. Talk through Exodus 33-34 in your own words using the following outline….it will help the kids to have some background/ context for the story:
- This story is while the people of Israel are out in the wilderness between Egypt and the promised land. Moses went up on the mountain to meet with God and while he was on the mountain the people freaked out and made a statue of a golden calf and were worshipping it.
- Moses came down from the mountain, saw what they were doing and he destroyed their idol and broke the stones with the 10 commandments that God had just given him.
- Then, Moses went back up to the Lord to see if he could make up for their sin.
- Moses asked God to forgive their sin and even offered to take the punishment for their sin upon Himself, but God said that their sin would have to be punished and sent a plague on the people of Israel.
- Then, God told Moses that He could no longer lead them to the promised land because of their rebellion and said that if He stayed with them that He might destroy them on the way.
- When Moses told the people what God said, they were sad and the repented of worshipping the golden calf.
- Moses went back to God and reminded Him that they were His special people and God agreed that He would lead them to the promised land as He had promised
- Moses asked God to show him His glory….this is the part from the skit….. God told Moses that no one could see His face, but that he could hide in the side of a rock and God would pass by him
- After God passed by him, Moses worshipped God on the mountain. While Moses was on the mountain God gave him the 10 commandments again, as well as more laws and rules.
- When Moses came down from the mountain his face was shining because he had been in the presence of God and had seen the glory of God. Moses had to cover his face in the camp, but every time he went back into the tent of meeting to meet with God, he uncovered his face and spoke with the Lord.
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
GLORIOUS = FULL OF GLORY (PRAISE HONOR AND DISTINCTION)
EXPLAIN: Remind the kids in the group that in today’s story Moses asked to see God’s glory…. he wanted to see the greatness of God. God passed by him and met with him and just from spending time with God, Moses‘ face was changed….because he had been in the presence of the glory of God.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for GLORIOUS. A good motion might be to hold your hands up by your face like a mirror to remember God’s glory reflecting on Moses. Or, you may want to wave hands in the air in praise.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This week our memory verse is Psalm 72:19 and the truth we’re learning about is that God is glorious. In the story we just heard about how Moses’ face shined bright after he had been in God’s presence. Moses was reflecting the glory of God. Where do we see reflections? (mirrors, shiny surfaces, water). Talk about how all of these reflections are an image of something else. We’re not actually in the mirror when we look in the mirror, but it reflects what we look like. In a similar way, after Moses had been in God’s presence he was reflecting God’s glory to the people.”
Read the memory verse (Psalm 72:19) a few times together and do the motion for glorious.
CROSS CONNECTION:
“Do you know what the greatest display of God’s glory is? It is when Jesus died on the cross for our sin and rose from the dead! By dying on the cross, Jesus displayed God’s mercy and grace for all to see. That gave God great glory! Moses tried to take the punishment Israel deserved, but he couldn’t because he was a sinner. But Jesus did what Moses could never do. He lived a sinless life and then gave it up for us. Now that is glorious!” (The Gospel Story Bible- page 74). In our story this morning, God showed His glory/ greatness to Moses and Moses was never the same. When we understand the glory of God and how God gave His only Son to rescue us from our sin, we will never be the same either. We can’t be in the presence of God and know what He has done to rescue us without our lives changing forever.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word glorious somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. You may want to provide a mirror and encourage some of the kids to attempt to write in reflection by holding the paper up facing the mirror and looking at the paper in the mirror while writing on the paper. Or, you could encourage them to draw Moses with a veil on his face after seeing God’s glory. 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 start to see and experience more and more of who God is through this study and would turn to Him for salvation.