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.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever, who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.
Psalm 136:1, 4–5
When we consider all the wonders of creation, we can feel pretty small. How could God care for us when He set the stars, the sun, and the moon in motion? Yet this psalm assures us over and over that His love endures forever. He loves all of His creation—us included!
Spend a few minutes outside at night and look at the stars or moon if possible. Marvel that the One who created these and knows every star by name also knows you intimately. He knows the very number of hairs on your head. You are valuable to Him! Celebrate with the children in your class this love of our great, great God!
Let families know that today is a celebration lesson. Celebrations are important in Scripture as times to remember and celebrate who God is and all He has done for His people. Encourage your children to share with their families things they learned today.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Greet your children by name if possible as they come to class today. In your lesson today, the children will learn how God knows each star by name.
Ask the children to look at the bowl or cup and guess how many items are in it. They should keep their guesses secret for now.
Today we will learn some amazing things about the stars, sun, and moon that God created. But first we will see how close someone got to the correct number of items in our bowl. Everyone stand up. We will see who guessed the closest to the correct number without going over. If your guess is eliminated, you must sit down.
Give statements that will eliminate the children based on their guesses. For example, if the actual number of pebbles in the bowl is 96, you could say, “If you guessed 20 or less, sit down” or “If you guessed more than 150, sit down.” Continue with other statements that eliminate children until you get the closest guess that did not go over. Clap for the winner.
Have you ever thought about how many stars there are in the sky? Today we will talk about the stars as well as the moon and sun. This information comes from 2 men who love the stars. One man is Matt Redman, a Christian songwriter and author. The other man is a pastor and book author, Louie Giglio. He loves astronomy.
It is the study of the stars.
Now let’s talk about the stars. Raise your hand if you have ever looked at the stars at night. Some people never look at them. Maybe they live in big cities and the lights block out the starlight. Some people are so used to the stars being up there that they never think about them or praise God for them.
Let the children make suggestions. Their ideas might include things such as: No one would sleep that night. Everyone would be thrilled and take pictures.
We get very used to seeing stars. When they come out most of us just sit inside and forget about them. We do not appreciate how amazing they are!
Today I will tell you some amazing things about the stars, sun and moon. Remember that God made these heavenly lights. After each fact, I want all of you who did not know that fact to stand up and stretch your hands as far up to the sky as possible. Then sit down to hear the next fact.
Fact 1: The sun and the moon look the same size in our sky. But the sun is 400 times larger than the moon, and it is 400 times farther away. If you had to drive from the moon to the Earth at 100 kph, it would take you 153 days driving nonstop 24 hours a day! God created the moon to work with the earth and cause tides in the oceans and lakes. That is why there are waves.
Fact 2: Just a few hundred years ago, people who studied the stars believed there were only about 6,000 stars in the whole universe. They were very, very wrong. Astronomers now believe that there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on all the world’s beaches and deserts. Today, astronomers believe there are between 100 and 200 billion galaxies in the universe. A galaxy is an enormous group of stars and planets and gas and dust. Each galaxy has hundreds of billions of stars in it. God our Creator made all of these stars and galaxies, and they show His creative power!
The children can have fun with this question. Encourage them to use their imaginations.
Fact 3: Stars look little, but most of them are massive. One huge star is called Canis Majoris, what a funny name! Listen to how big it is in comparison to the earth or even the sun. It would take about 45–50 hours to fly a plane around the earth. It would take 6 months to fly a plane around the sun. But it would take about 1,100 years to fly a plane around Canis Majoris!
Fact 4: Light from the sun and stars travels very fast. It is so fast that it can circle the earth 7 times in a single second. It travels at the amazing speed of 299,792 kilometres every second! We cannot see anything moving that fast, but God can because He created light to do this.
Fact 5: Stars die. They are made up mostly of hydrogen gas. They generate energy and release radiation from their centres. This gives stars energy to shine for billions of years. But eventually they use up their energy. When a star dies, spectacular things happen. For example, a star called Supernova 1987A died. For a few months at the end of that star’s life, it burned over 100 million times brighter than our sun. You can be friends with the God who created the stars, the God whose power knows no end.
Fact 6: We all know that stars shine, but did you know they also sing? Scientists using large radio telescopes aimed at the stars discovered that they make individual sounds. For example, a star called Vela sends out a nonstop rhythmic, staccato beat. Other stars hum and sound like violins playing in different octaves. When God created the stars, He also created His own string orchestra! Listen to what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 148:
Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.
Psalm 148:3
And they do! We can praise Him too! Let’s stop right now and praise God with a song. Stars spin in the sky, so let’s follow their example and sing our song and spin in one direction and then the other. Be careful you do not spin into anyone else. Just spin and praise God.
Pick a Christian song the children know and sing together as they spin. After you finish singing, have the children sit down and continue.
Think about it. God made all the wonderful stars. Stars cannot love. Stars cannot choose to follow God. Only we, of all of God’s creation, can make the choice to love Him. God values us above everything else He made—because He made us in His image and He wants us to belong to His family.
The beautiful truth is this—God, who created the stars and named each of them, knows each of us by name, too. He loves and cares for each of us, in the good times and the hard times.
I will read some verses from the Bible about stars. Then we will have fun picking the child who will answer a question about the verse.
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
Psalm 33:6
The tallest boy in this class will answer this question.
He created the stars in the sky by His word and breath.
The shortest girl in the class will answer this question.
This verse uses poetic language. Instead of saying stars, the poet says starry host. Pretend to be a poet. How would you describe the heavens filled with stars?
Now let’s listen to another verse from the Bible.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
Isaiah 40:26
The child with the longest hair will answer this question.
The child with the largest hands will answer this question.
Listen to another verse.
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Psalm 19:1
The child whose birthday is closest to today will answer this question.
The child who can jump the highest will answer this question.
Listen to this verse:
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good … who by his understanding made the heavens… the sun to govern the day… the moon and stars to govern the night.
Psalm 136:1, 5, 8–9
Any child who loves Jesus can answer this question.
It is okay if several children answer this question.
Pick the option that best fits your class.
Optional:
Option 1: Outside Option
If your class is held at a time or place where the children can safely view the stars, have them sit and enjoy God’s wonderful creation. Tell them children not to look at you while you ask them questions and they answer. Tell them to only look at the stars.
Option 2: Inside Option
If your class is held at a time or in a place where the children are not able to view the stars, use this option.
End of Option
Ask the children to close their eyes as you read this final section to them.
The number, beauty, and power of the stars is hard to imagine. But think about this: Our God who made them and knows each by name wants to be our Father. Life is hard sometimes, but we know we are always being held by God. He loves us. He knows our names, just as He knows the name of every star. We are not alone.
We will now read a psalm together. I will say a line and then everyone will repeat with this line: “His love endures forever.” Everyone say that line together now to practice.
Read the lines from Psalm 136 and allow the children to respond with their line before saying the next line. The line you read is in italics and the line the children will say is in regular print.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever… to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. who made the great lights— His love endures forever. the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever. the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.
Psalm 136:1, 4–9
His love endures forever!
God created the sun, moon, and stars. The God who made billions and billions of stars and named each of them loves us. His love endures forever—no matter what you have done or thought or said, no matter what has been done or said to you. He loves you and knows you by name. His love for you endures forever!
Optional: If you are using the Student Pages, have the children draw a picture showing how they feel knowing that God knows them by name.
End class with this blessing based on Psalm 147:3–5.
Blessing: May you know the God who determines the number of the stars and calls them by name. May you know that He is mighty. He can heal you if you are brokenhearted. He can heal your wounds.
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.
