During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide, Student Page, Family Connection Card, and other resources can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:
In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.
If possible, bring the children to an outdoor space for this lesson. If this is not possible, place a few leaves, flowers, feathers, and other small nature items in different areas of the teaching space. Seeing things God has created will increase each child’s sense of wonder at His amazing creation.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord God.“ I am the God who is, and who was, and who will come. I am the Mighty One.”
Revelation 1:8
God is, was, and will always be. That is amazing to think about! Take a moment to consider all of the events God has been present for. He saw the creation of the universe. He saw the earth being formed. He was there as His Son died on the cross. There is nothing that has ever happened that God has not seen!
If you could ask God about any of the things He has seen or about how He made any of the things in the universe, what would you ask Him? Maybe you wonder how He made the huge mountains, mighty waves of the ocean, or vast deserts. While it is good to accept that there are many things you do not know about God, wondering about Him and His creation can help you to experience awe in Him. He is mighty, and He is worthy of awe!
Encourage families to talk about how long it takes to perform a daily task, such as cooking a meal. Ask them to talk about how many times they could perform this task in their lifetimes.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Greet the children as they come to class. Ask them to find partners and share something amazing and wonderful they have seen.
Today we will talk about something very exciting! We will talk about all of the amazing things God does and who He is.
Have you ever looked at something and wondered how it worked? Have you ever wanted to know more about where something came from? Have you ever been amazed by something you have seen? Our interest in the things around us is called wonder or amazement. When we look at God’s creation, we usually feel wonder or amazement. And when we think about how it all came to be and how it all works, it helps us to better understand God.
To help us think about God in a different way than we often do, let’s start with an activity. In a moment, I will ask you to share questions you have about the things around you. You can ask questions about anything, whether it was created directly by God or made by people using tools. I will give you a little time to walk around our space. Find at least 1 thing that is interesting to you and think of at least 1 thing you wonder about it. Ready? Go!
Allow the children to walk around the teaching space. If you meet inside, you may also allow the children to look out a window or door. After about 2 minutes, invite the children to sit with you in a circle.
Let’s ask the questions we wonder about. It is okay to repeat the same question as someone else, but try to really think about what you saw and what you want to know more about. I will start.
Optional: If you have something you wonder about, use your own question instead of the one that follows.
How are large birds able to fly even though they are so big?
I may not be able to answer the questions like this one. It is okay if we do not have the answers. Now it is your turn to ask questions.
Go around the circle and allow the children to share their questions.
You all had some very good questions! It is good to wonder about things because this helps us to understand that God created the universe and everything in it using a lot of thought and detail. This is something only God could have done! Let’s talk a bit more about wonder and who God is.
Have the children remain in a circle for the rest of the lesson.
We have learned a lot about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But we might still have this question:
Who is God?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
The answer to this question is not at all simple. God is our Creator, our Father, our Protector, our Provider, our Comfort, and our Strength. God has many roles in our lives, and He is so amazing and does so many things that it can be difficult for us to understand. Listen to what this verse from the Bible says about God:
If possible, read this verse directly from your Bible.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be honored among the nations. I will be honored in the earth.”
Psalm 46:10
This verse tells us that all honour and glory belong to God because of who He is. Why is this true? To help you to understand why God is worthy of all honour and glory, I will tell you a story.
Optional: If possible, share the image from The Action Bible.
The Bible tells the true story of what happened when Moses met with God on a mountain. Moses was walking up a mountain when he noticed a large bush that appeared to be on fire.
Imagine walking along and seeing a big bush on fire! When you look a little closer, you notice the bush is not being burned up by the flames.
Would you go closer to or farther away from this bush? Why?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
Moses was so interested to see how it was possible that this bush was on fire but not burning up that he got closer to it. Listen to what happened next.
The Lord saw that Moses had gone over to look. So God spoke to him from inside the bush. He called out, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am,” Moses said. “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals. The place you are standing on is holy ground.”
Exodus 3:4–5
Let’s do this now. If you are wearing shoes, remove them and imagine what it would
be like to be in God’s presence. If I were Moses, I would bow or fall to the ground. Show me what you would do.
Give the children 30 seconds to remove their shoes. Allow them to show how they would respond.
At the time this story happened, God’s people, the Israelites, were slaves in Egypt. God saw how His people were suffering in Egypt, and He promised Moses He would take them out of the country and send them to a land filled with good things. God told Moses to go speak with Pharaoh—the king of Egypt—and bring the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses did not feel he was important enough for this important job. Listen to how God responded:
God said to Moses, “I am who I am. Here is what you must say to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
Exodus 3:14
What does God tell Moses to call Him?
He tells Moses to call Him “I am.”
God is called “I am” because He has always existed and He always will. There has never been a time when God was not here, and there never will be. He always is! Listen to what the Bible says about God:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord God. “I am the God who is, and who was, and who will come. I am the Mighty One.”
Revelation 1:8
God is the most amazing, powerful, and awesome being because He does not have a beginning or an end. This verse can be difficult to understand because our idea of time is completely different than God’s. We were born on a specific day, and someday we will die. There are some things that happen in between, and we may get excited about things that will happen in the future.
God is not limited by time the way we are. He has always existed, and He always will. To help us understand the difference between God’s time and ours, let’s build a timeline. Raise your hand if you remember being born.
Pause for about 10 seconds. At this time, you may pick up the piece of string.
We do not remember being born, but we know we must have been born because we are all here together today. Our birth is similar to the beginning of creation. Just as our mothers were present at our births, God was present at the birth of creation. We do not remember it, but we know it must have happened because we can look around us and see many of the things God created.
The beginning of creation is the first event on our timeline.
Choose 1 end of the string to represent the beginning of creation. Ask 1 child to stand in the middle of the circle and hold this end of the string. Explain to the children this end represents the beginning of creation.
We continue through our lives until the time when we die. In the time between birth and death, most people experience many events. For those of us here today, these events are all in the future. Let’s call the other end of the string “the future.”
Choose another child to come up and hold the other end of the string so that the string extends out in a straight line. Explain to the children that this end represents the future.
Think of something that has happened in your life or an event in the Bible we have talked about. If you think of something, raise your hand.
Call on several children to respond. Ask 4–5 children who name something that happened in the Bible to come to the centre of the circle with you.
Ask each child to restate her event or the person she remembers from the Bible. Have the children spread out along the string in any order. The volunteers may stand anywhere along the middle of the string.
If we were to look at time through what happened in the Bible, our timeline would look something like this. However, when we talk about how time works for God, it is different. Let’s try to make our timeline look a bit more like how God might see these events.
Next, ask the children at the ends of the string to remain where they are, and have one of the other volunteers stand along the string just slightly closer to the beginning of the string than the future end.
All of the events that happened in the Bible, and all of the events that have happened since then can fit into a very small space on our timeline when we try to imagine how God might experience time. For God, time goes on forever and ever. Remember, the Bible tells us:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord God. “I am the God who is, and who was, and who will come. I am the Mighty One.”
Revelation 1:8
Can you think of a shape that you could move along forever?
Allow 2–3 children to respond. Then ask the children at each end of the string to come together and join the ends of the string together. Have the children set the circle of string down on the ground.
Just as a circle does not have a beginning or end, God also does not have a beginning or an end. God has always existed, He exists now, and He will always exist.
We cannot completely understand what it means to exist forever, but it does make us wonder about God. This mystery is one of the reasons God is worthy of our worship. We will never completely understand Him!
There is another thing about God that is completely beyond our understanding. God, who has always been and always will be, made you and loves you! He will never stop loving you, no matter what happens in your life. His love has no end.
How does it make you feel to know that God, who never ends, loves you?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
God, the great “I am,” loves you! He never ends, and neither does His love. That is amazing!
We learned a lot today about who God is. For example, we heard that God is the great “I am.” Think of 1 way to describe God.
Allow 30 seconds for the children to think about their responses.
Who would like to share a way to describe God?
Call on 4–8 children.
As the children respond to the question, remember what they have said for the next part of the activity. If possible, write their answers down on paper. If the children struggle to answer the question, you may suggest any or all of the following ideas:
Let’s praise God in a fun way! We will use the ideas we came up with to help us praise God for who He is. Choose 1 way you will describe God. Then squat down where you are. Be sure your feet are on the ground under you so you can move. When I say, “Go!” you will spring up and praise God.
Give the children an example by squatting down and springing up while saying, “God, I praise You! You are mighty!”
Ready? Go!
When you say, “Go!” the children will spring up and say their praises at the same time. Wait for a few seconds after the children finish saying their praises to give all the children an opportunity to participate.
There are many ways we can describe God, and they all remind us He is worthy of our praise! God is amazing! Our memory verse today reminds us of who God is.
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord God. “I am the God who is, and who was, and who will come. I am the Mighty One.”
Revelation 1:8
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End—Look up at the sky. Extend 1 arm out to that side as you say, “Alpha,” and extend the other arm to the other side as you say, “Omega.”
I am the Mighty One—Extend your arms out to each side. Curve your arms at your elbows and pretend to show your muscles.
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, give the children crayons and scissors. Allow about 3–5 minutes for them to create their bracelets.
End class by saying this blessing, based on Psalm 46:10, over the children.
Blessing: May you be still and know that God is the great “I am.” May you honour and worship Him with your thoughts of wonder at who He is.
Lead the children in singing this quarter’s song, if possible.
Life on Life ©2020 David C Cook. Reproducible for home or classroom use only. All other uses require written permission from David C Cook [email protected]. All rights reserved.
