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.
Prepare for the Connecting game before class. It is recommended that you play the game outside, but you can play inside as well. Create a rectangle at 1 end of your teaching space. If you are inside, mark the rectangle with string. If you are outside, mark the rectangle by drawing a line in the dirt. Make the rectangle the length of one of the shortest walls in your learning space, or 5 meters if you are outside. Make the width of your rectangle 1 meter. This will be the safe zone for the game.
The Lord gives me strength and protects me. He has saved me. He is my God, I will praise him. He is my father’s God, and I will honor him.
Exodus 15:2
Think of a time when you came through a difficult time and saw how God protected you. That is what this verse is referring to: God had just delivered the Israelites by parting the water of the Red Sea. Our God is mighty and gives us strength when we face seemingly impossible situations. He is our place of safety.
Now think of situations in your own life or in the lives of the children you teach. What things look impossible? Where is there hurt or heartache? Where is there physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual danger? Our mighty God gives strength and protection. Take those difficult situations to God, your Father and ask Him to protect and strengthen you. Praise God for being your safe place!
Encourage families to talk to their children about safety. What is important for children to know to keep them safe in the environment they live in?
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
As the children enter, greet them by name. Divide them into 2 equal teams. Have the teams stand across from the space you marked off earlier. The first team will be the Birds and the second team will be the Rats.
Today we will play a game of tag. I have marked out a space at 1 end of the teaching space that we will call the Safe Place.
Show the children the boundaries of the Safe Place. Hold up the “God Protects Us” sign. Tell the children what it says and put it in the Safe Place.
Those of you who are on the Birds team will try to get from where you are to the Safe Place. Those of you who are on the Rats team do not want the Birds to get to the Safe Place. You will try to tag the Birds gently on the arm. Be sure you only tag them on the arm.
If a Rat tags a Bird, the Bird must stop where he is and stand still for the rest of the game. If a Bird gets to the Safe Place, she is safe and should stay there. The Safe Place is protected because the Rats cannot go into it. The game is over when all the Birds have either been tagged and are standing still or are standing in the Safe Place.
If you are playing the game inside, tell the children to walk quickly instead of running. This will prevent children from getting hurt.
Give the Rat team 30 seconds to spread out between the Birds team and the Safe Place. Then yell, “Go” to start the game.
Remind the Birds who are tagged that they cannot move until the game is over. When the game is over, count the number of children in the Safe Place. Play the game again with the teams switching sides. The Rats will now race to get to the Safe Place and the Birds will try to tag the Rats. When the second game is over, count the number of children in the Safe Place. Tell the class which team had the most children in the Safe Place. Invite the children to sit down in your teaching space.
That game was a lot of fun, but it was also hard. Getting to the Safe Place was not easy with people trying to tag you.
Children may respond that they felt nervous or afraid.
Children might respond that they felt safe, good, or happy in the Safe Place. Reinforce this by saying something like: “You did not have to be afraid of being tagged in the Safe Place.”
God is our safe place! When we are scared, we can turn to Him. When something that is not safe is happening around us, we can ask God for help.
Sometimes life can be very scary. Most of the time we do not know why bad things happen, but they do. When people hurt others, it can be very sad and painful.
Remember when we learned about the creation of the world? God created the world to be perfect. He put Adam and Eve in His perfect garden. Sin entered the world because Adam disobeyed God. Sin has caused a lot of trouble for everyone since then. Because of sin, people hurt other people. But God is a safe place we can run to. Listen to these promises of God from the Bible:
Read this verse directly from your Bible.
God is our place of safety. He gives us strength. He is always there to help us in times of trouble.
Psalm 46:1
Your heavenly Father is your safe place when you are hurting or afraid. You can come to Him. He will listen to you when you pray about what is happening. You can trust Him to be with you in times of trouble. He is your safe place, just like in the game.
Turn to a person near you. This is your partner. Raise your hand if you do not have a partner. If your hand is up, find someone else without a partner and pair up. Greet your partner by saying, “God is my safe place!”
Give the partners 2 minutes to respond to each question.
You can talk to God and ask Him to help you to trust Him. God loves you and says that He will protect those who trust Him. You can trust His promise. You can trust that God is your safe place! The Bible says that God is with us in times of trouble.
The Lord is good. When people are in trouble, they can go to him for safety. He takes good care of those who trust in him.
Nahum 1:7
God is always with you, especially in times of trouble. This does not mean that you will not have trouble. It does mean that when you do have trouble, He will be with you. Whenever you feel unsafe, you can ask your heavenly Father to protect you. Ask God to keep you safe and give you strength. He can give you peace in your heart, even if you are afraid. You can trust God because He is your safe place!
Think of a time when you were unsafe. Maybe someone was hurting you or someone else. Maybe you were someplace that was unsafe like in deep water during a flood. I will give you time to think (pause for 30 seconds). Without telling exactly what happened to you, answer these questions with your partner.
Children may say that they were scared, angry, sad, tired, shaky, dizzy, or had other similar responses.
Children may respond that they could pray to God for help. They may also say that they could go to a trusted adult or to the church.
Sometimes bad things happen. Sometimes people make bad choices that hurt other people. Someone you love may get hurt or sick. You may get hurt or get sick. You can turn to your heavenly Father because He is with you and will comfort you when you call out to Him. You can trust God because He is your safe place!
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, allow the children to draw and colour pictures of themselves inside the stone wall.
Think of something that has caused trouble for you. This could be something that someone did to you or a situation that was unsafe. When I hand you a stone, I want you to whisper your trouble to the stone.
Optional: If you have paint and paintbrushes, allow the children to paint a picture of their trouble on the stone. Give them 3 minutes to paint. Then allow them 1 minute to help you clean the teaching space and the paintbrushes.
I will draw an imaginary line with my finger.
Draw an imaginary line about 1 meter long on the ground.
Each of you will place your stone on the imaginary line. Place each stone so it touches another stone to create a wall.
Give the children enough time to place their stones on the line. Encourage them to take turns and be sure they do not push each other.
This wall is a reminder that God will be your safe place in times of trouble. God loves each of you more than you can imagine. God is the Father of everything and He is always with you. Our memory verse says:
If you are using it, show the children the Memory Verse poster as you read the verse from the Bible.
There is one God and Father of all. He is over everything. He is through everything. He is in everything.
Ephesians 4:6
Say each sentence of this verse as a rhythm or sing it as a song. Feel free to change the motions to ones that you prefer. If you do this, please note the changes so you can refer to them for future lessons.
There is 1 God and Father of all—Indicate a number “1” using 1 finger or hand and point toward the sky.
He is over everything. He is through everything—Stretch your arms up above your head and release them out to your sides.
He is in everything—Hold your right hand with your palm down out in front of you. Hold your left hand near your chest with your palm facing the ground. Pass your left hand under your right hand.
End class by saying this blessing, based on Psalm 46:1, over the children.
Blessing: May you trust God to be your safe place. May you know that you can run to Him in times of trouble.
Share the worship song for this quarter with your children 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.
