Ecclesiastes

Passage:

Familiarize yourself with this passage:

The book of Ecclesiastes
This book was thought to be written by King Solomon. When Solomon became king, he asked God for wisdom, and he became the wisest man in the world.  He studied, taught, judged, and wrote.  All the nations come to Jerusalem to learn from him.  But with all of his practical insight on life, Solomon failed to heed his own advice, and he began a downward spiral.  Near the end of his life, Solomon looked back with an attitude of humility and repentance.  He summed up the world as he experienced it, hoping to spare his readers the bitterness of learning through personal experience that everything apart from God is empty, hollow, and meaningless.  Solomon was not trying to leave us without hope, though.  He was trying to tell us that we can have hope and joy in this life, and that it comes from God alone.

Object Lesson:

A Meaningless Easter Egg Hunt
Supplies needed:
·         A bunch of empty Easter eggs
Directions:
1.       Gather together a bunch of empty Easter eggs.
2.       Close them and hide them around the room.  Leave them empty!
3.       When the kids come into the class room, ask them to find all the eggs, but do not open them yet.
4.       When all the eggs have been found, have the kids open the eggs and reveal their empty contents.
5.       Discussion: Ask the kids how they feel about the empty eggs.  Explain to the kids that many things we do in life are pointless, just like hunting for empty Easter eggs.  It leaves us feeling sad, frustrated and disappointed.  Let them know, however, that they are about to learn what they Bible says about these meaningless things in life.

Memory Verse:

Ecclesiastes 3:1
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

Jesus Connection:

As Solomon concludes his book, he comes to the conclusion that our responsibility in life is to have a right relationship with God (12:13). This is the only thing in life that is not meaningless.  When we look to Jesus, we see that he came into this world as one of us, and experienced the world in all its meaninglessness. We can rejoice because we know that Jesus died, once for all, and did away with the meaninglessness brought on by the curse of sin. (Romans 6:10) We are all now free to live a life full of meaning in Jesus!

Songs:

“Turn, Turn, Turn” by The Byrds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKz8OOz_UQg
To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

Game/Activities

Odd Ball Out

Supplies needed:
·         Nothing :)
Directions:
1.       Tell the kids you are thinking of a time (a season or a holiday).  Tell them what one you are thinking of.
2.       Then tell the kids three thing.  Two of them pertain to the time you told them about, and one does not.
3.       Ask the kids to identify what does not belong to that time, and what time it does belong to.
4.       Pass the lead onto the kids after they get the hang of the game.
Example:
·         Time: Christmas
o   Presents
o   Lights
o   Sand* (sand is for the summer!)

Craft:

Time for Everything Clock

Supplies needed:
·         Paper plates with small slits in the center of each
·         Brads (paper fasteners)
·         Clock arrows print outs
·         Colors
·         Scissors
Directions:
1.       Give each child a paper plate with a small slit in the center.
2.       Explain to the children that Solomon is teaching us that there is a time for everything. Read the beginning of Ecclesiastes 3 out loud for the kids.
3.       Ask the kids to draw “times” on their clocks.  This does not mean drawing the numbers, like on a normal clock.  Rather, have the kids draw pictures of different times in their life, or of the seasons.  For example, they can draw a school, the beach, a graduation hat, a wedding dress, or they can draw the four seasons.
4.       Give each of the kids a print out of the clock arrows.  Have them cut out their arrows
5.       Fasten the arrows to the paper plates using brads.
6.       Explain to the kids that this clock is special, and it reminds them that no matter what happens, there is a time for everything, and God has always been, is now and will always be present whatever time it is.

Coloring Page: