Lesson: The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace

This is the fourth lesson in our series called “How to Win Against Sin.” It’s based on the Armor of God teaching found in Ephesians 6. Click here to see more Bible lessons in this unit.
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How to Win Against Sin, Lesson Four: The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace
 Scripture References:

• Ephesians 6:11-15
• 1 Peter 3:15

Teacher Preparation: Read the lesson beforehand and familiarize yourself with it.  You do not have to read it word for word.  Feel free to make it your own, just be sure to get the theme across.  Pray for your class.
Gather the following supplies:

• Bible.
• Poster and pieces (download & print) activity page for each child.
• One  large (12X18) sheets of construction paper per child.
• Tape.
• Crayons, scissors, glue sticks

For further information on peace, study the following passages. As you study these, allow the Holy Spirit to work these truths into your life so you can share them with the students.

• Ephesians 6:11-15
• 1 Peter 3:15
• John 16:33

Theme: The third piece of armor are the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace.  When we put on these shoes and remember the gospel every day, we are able to follow Jesus instead of Satan and tell everyone we meet about God’s love.
Memory Verse: Ephesians 6:11 (ESV)  “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”
Game: Shoe Soup
Have all the kids take off their shoes and place them in a pile on one side of the room, then have them all stand on the opposite side. When you say go, they all have to run to the shoes, grab a pair that does not belong to them, find the person they belong to and put their shoes on them. As you help them put on their shoes, ask them questions until you find out something you did not know about them. You must take turns putting on shoes and having someone put your shoes on you. This is not a race with just one winner. All the students need to work together and make sure everyone has their shoes on right and makes it back safely.  Just like in the Christian race, they are not supposed to run on their own, only looking out for themselves.  Encourage the older students to help the younger ones. When everyone gets back with their shoes on, discuss what you learned about each other.
Present the Bible Lesson
Pray with your class.
So far we have learned that we are in a war with Satan, but God gives us armor to protect us.  We know that with Jesus we can WIN AGAINST SIN!  We know how to put on the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness.  Let’s sing our song to help us remember which piece of armor comes next.
Pretend to put on each piece of armor as you sing it. Hold the sword up high. When you sing “this is the armor of our Lord,” march in place.
Belt, breastplate, shoes and shield,
Helmet and sword,
Belt, breastplate, shoes and shield,
Helmet and sword,
This is the armor of our Lord,
Belt, breastplate, shoes and shield,
Helmet and sword.
 Now let’s all practice our memory verse together. I will say it once, and then we will practice our motions to help us remember it. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Now stand up and we will learn a few motions to help us learn this Bible verse. “Put on the whole armor” As you say this, pretend to get dressed.  Put on your pants and a jacket. “of God”  Sign God.  (with right hand, thumb facing you, bring your flattened palm downward from your forehead to your chest.) “So that you may be able to stand against” Stand with your feet slightly more than shoulder width apart with your hands on your hips, like a super hero. “against the schemes” Rub your hands together like an evil villain.  “Of the devil.” Sign devil. (Put your thumbs to your temples, and your forefingers and middle fingers straight in the air. Bend them twice, like air quoting. Repeat the entire verse with the children, leading them in doing the motions.Raise your hand if you are wearing shoes today. Well, why? Of course you wore shoes today so you would be able to run around and not hurt your feet. Why do you think shoes are included in the Armor of God?  We are told to prepare our feet with the preparation that comes with the Gospel of Peace. What is the Gospel of Peace? Allow a few students to answer.  The Gospel of Peace is that Jesus came and died on the cross for our sins and then rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven. This means that if we believe in Jesus Christ and ask Him to forgive us of our sins, then we can live a peaceful life without worry.  We don’t have to worry because we know we are going to Heaven. Why do you think we have to prepare our feet with this? Let a few students answer briefly. Our job as warriors for God is to let as many people as we can know about the Gospel. One way we can do this is to tell them about the ABC’s of salvation. What are the ABC’s of salvation? “ A” means you accept that you’re a sinner and need somebody to help you out of your sins.  “B” means you believe that Jesus Christ has already died for all of your sins and wants you to follow Him for the rest of your life and someday go to Heaven.  “C” means you confess your sins to Jesus and ask Him to come into your heart and forgive you of your sins. If you haven’t already done this in your own life, then how can you show other people how to do this?  If we say that we love Jesus, we need to act like we love Jesus.  We need to walk the walk. Picture this: if you were playing basketball with someone and they said they could slam dunk, you would want to see it, right? What if they kept bragging that they could slam dunk but then never did?  Would you still believe that they can slam dunk? Probably not. If they showed you a slam dunk, then you would believe them. Being a Christian is kind of the same way.  When we say we love Jesus, but then we don’t act like it, we are not walking the walk. The shoes of the Gospel of Peace help us to remember to follow Jesus.  When we are following Jesus and doing what he wants us to do, we cannot follow Satan, and we cannot do what Satan wants us to do. It is important to put on the shoes of the Gospel of Peace every day, so we can tell others about Jesus, and keep ourselves from following Satan. How do we put on the shoes of the Gospel of Peace? Ephesians 6:15 says that we “put on the readiness that comes with the gospel of peace.” This means we have to be ready to tell others about Jesus. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us how to do this. Read the verse for them.
Poster Review the pieces from previous weeks and add the shoes to the children on the poster.
Craft: Make shoes of the gospel of peace.

1. Have children trace both their feet.
2. Cut them out and decorate.
3. Cut out strips of paper to go over the top of the shoe. The strip should be long enough to tuck under the cut out of the foot. Tape the strip to the bottom, after the kids write PEACE across it.
4. Remember, theses shoes are for decoration, and not really for real use. Wear them to take a picture and then leave them with the rest of your armor.

Pray with your class, then pass out the Shoes of Peace activity sheet. Go through the maze. Along the way, you must cross over every person without crossing over your tracks. As we go about our lives, we tell people about Jesus. Give the younger children the Shoes of Peace 2 activity sheet. These can be done in class or taken home to reinforce the lesson.