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.
Before class, place the obstacles randomly throughout your teaching space to create obstacles children will need to walk through. Leave some clear space around the outside edges of the teaching space where teams of children can gather.
Lord, those who know you will trust in you. You have never deserted those who look to you.
Psalm 9:10
Trust God. This sounds easy, right? As Christians, we are told to trust God with all of our hearts. That is a great idea and something the Bible tells us many times that we can and should do. However, it is not always easy to actually give God all of our worries and fears. In fact, it can be very difficult to trust Him with everything that happens in our lives.
Think for a moment about God’s faithfulness. Pause and think about a time when God helped you through a difficult time. What was it about the way you made it through the difficulty that showed you God was there with you? Did this help you to trust God even more? The chances are good that if you trusted God to carry you through something difficult, you trust Him even more now. God has a way of revealing His presence and His love when you experience big challenges. You can trust God to be with you through everything that happens in your life!
Encourage families to talk to their children about what it means to trust someone and what makes someone trustworthy. They can ask their children to share 1 way they will trust God this week.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Welcome the students as they enter the teaching space. Give a number to each of the first 4 children who enter. Ask them to show their numbers with their fingers. Then have the 4 children stand at different edges of the space. As the other children are welcomed in, give them each a number and ask them to stand by the child showing that number with her fingers.
Let’s start our class with a hike. A hike is like a walk, but it is usually a bit more difficult. If you look around our space, you will notice there are a few obstacles. It would be easy for you to just walk around the obstacles. Let’s make it more challenging.
Point to 2 groups on opposite edges of the space. These groups will go first. Depending on the space and the obstacles, if it is too difficult for 2 groups to take the Trust Hike at the same time, have the children participate 1 group at a time.
These 2 groups will take the Trust Hike first. They will hike at the same time. Each group will line up. The first person will lead the other group members to the opposite corner of the space. Everyone behind the leader, place your right hand on the shoulder of the person in front of you. Everyone except the leaders will close your eyes and place your left hands over your closed eyes. I trust you not to peek. Each team’s leader will guide his team on the Trust Hike to the opposite corner of the space.
Optional Supplies: If you have enough blindfolds, the children will use these instead of closing their eyes. After they have completed the Trust Hike, they will pass the blindfolds to another group to use.
Give the groups a few minutes to hike through the obstacles. Clap for the groups when they reach the other side. Repeat the hiking instructions for the other 2 groups and allow them to do the hike.
Answers may include: nervous, afraid to take a step, it was not scary, and other similar responses.
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, give each child a crayon and allow 2 minutes for the children to complete the activity.
God asks us to put our trust in Him. This is especially important when we feel nervous and afraid.
Do you remember when we learned about God’s promise? God promised Abraham that he would have a son and that his family would be very big. From Abraham’s big family would come a Saviour. Many, many years later, God sent His only Son, Jesus. God keeps His promises to us. He is also honest and good. Because of this, we know we can trust God.
Today, you will hear a true story from the Bible about 3 men who loved and trusted God. The names of these 3 men are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These names are not easy to say. I will just call them “the 3 men.” This story also has a king. His name is Nebuchadnezzar. Wow! That is fun to say. Try to say it with me: Nebuchadnezzar (repeat this with the children 1 time). Let’s just call him “the king.”
As I tell this true story from the Bible, I will do some motions. You will repeat the motions as I do them. For example, to show that a statue is big and tall, I will look up.
If you are using The Action Bible images, show them as you tell the story below.
In this true story, the king made a golden statue. It was a very big, very tall statue (look up high above you). The king wanted people to worship the golden statue like a god.
Show the Action Bible picture to the class if possible.
Before Jesus came to earth, God gave people 10 commandments (hold up 10 fingers). Commandments are rules or laws that people are supposed to follow. Some of you may have learned about these commandments. First, God said He alone is the One True God and not to worship other gods or idols. God also said not to make statues and bow down to them.
God does not want us to worship statues. However, the king did not know the One True God. He decided that anyone who did not worship this golden statue would be thrown into a blazing furnace of fire (hold both hands up and wiggle your fingers)! Being thrown into a fire is dangerous and scary!
The 3 men in our story worshipped the One True God. Now, they had a choice to make (put your index finger on the side of your head). They could either disobey what God wanted them to do, or they could risk being thrown into the fire.
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
That is right! Since the men loved God, they chose not to worship the statue even with the risk of being thrown into the fire. The 3 men decided to trust God! When the king ordered a large crowd of people to bow to the big statue, the 3 men did not bow (indicate no). When the king found out they did not bow, he said they would be thrown into the fire.
Listen to what they said to the king:
Read these verses directly from your Bible.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him. They said, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to talk about this anymore. We might be thrown into the blazing furnace. But the God we serve is able to bring us out of it alive. He will save us from your power. But we want you to know this, Your Majesty. Even if we knew that our God wouldn’t save us, we still wouldn’t serve your gods. We wouldn’t worship the gold statue you set up.”
Daniel 3:16–18
The 3 men trusted God! They knew that the One True God is powerful (flex arm to show strength). They knew the golden statue was not God and had no power. These men knew they could trust God in a dangerous and scary situation. They knew that even if they were thrown into the blazing furnace of fire (hold both hands up and wiggle your fingers), God was with them (hug self)! They knew God could save them, but even if they died in the fire, they trusted and honoured God who was with them. Listen to a verse that tells us about trusting God:
Lord, those who know you will trust in you. You have never deserted those who look to you.
Psalm 9:10
The 3 men trusted God to stay with them. They looked to God for help because they knew that God would not leave them. The next time we meet, we will hear the rest of the story of the 3 men.
Help the children form teams of 4–5.
Let’s play the game “I Can Trust God!” To play, each of you will think of 1 thing happening in your life that you want to trust God with. For example, maybe you want to become a Christian, but you are scared because no one else in your family is a Christian. You would say, “I choose to trust God with my decision.” Now think about something in your own life you can choose to trust God with.
Pause for 1 minute to give the children time to think. Then give each team a stick.
In a moment, each member of your team will pass the stick from one person to another. As you pass the stick, whisper that thing you want to trust God with. Then pretend to write it on your stick. Take a moment to do that now.
Give the children 2 minutes to pass their sticks. Then, ask each team to stand in a line. The children should spread out so that their arms can barely reach the arms of the other members of their team. Then make sure the child at 1 end of each team’s line has her stick.
Now that you have placed those things you want to trust God with onto a stick, your team will quickly pass your stick from one end of the line to the other end. Each person will say, “I can trust God” as she passes the stick. When the stick reaches the last person in your line, that person will toss the stick as far from her as possible and say, “I can trust God!” Be careful so that you toss the stick away from other people so no one gets hit! The team that completes the race first will win the game! Ready? Go!
Watch to see which team completes the race first. Allow all of the teams to complete the race before you announce the winning team.
Today, you learned that you can trust God. God cares for you, He loves you, and He is always with you. Our memory verse today talks about why we can trust God.
Show the Memory Verse poster if you are using it.
What the Lord says is right and true. He is faithful in everything he does.
Psalm 33:4
Clap to the rhythm of the words in the first half of the verse. Demonstrate these motions for the second part of the verse:
Repeat the words, rhythm, and motions with the children 3 times. End class by saying this blessing, based on Psalm 9:10, over the children.
Blessing: May you grow to know and trust God. May you experience His faithfulness.
Lead the students in singing this quarter’s song, if possible.
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