Sermon on the Mount: House Foundations

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following passage:

Matthew 7:21-29; Luke 6:46-49

In this section, Jesus is finishing his teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. He tells the people listening that there will be some who think they are going to heaven, but will not get in. People will cry out in desperation, saying that they had done so many wonderful things for God, but Jesus will send them away. Jesus says only those who do the will of God will enter heaven.
Jesus continues by telling a story of two houses. One was built on a strong rock foundation. The other was built on shifting sand. One day a big storm came with rain, flooding, and strong winds that beat against the houses. The house built on the sand fell down with a great crash, while the house on the rock stood firm.
After Jesus finished all his teaching on the mountain side, the people were amazed. Jesus taught them with great authority, which was very different from the way the other teachers of the law taught.

Object Lesson:

Supplies Needed:
• Two trays
• A brick or flat rock
• Bucket with packed sand
• Building blocks
• Pitcher of water
Directions:
1. Set the two trays out. On one tray place the brick. On the other tray turn out the bucket of sand as if you were making a sand castle.
2. As you tell the story, build little houses on the brick and sand. When the rain comes in the story, pour the water from the pitcher over the houses. When pouring over the sand be sure to get the sand good and wet so that is will crumble under the house.
3. Explain to the children that our lives are like the houses. Jesus is like the rock, and anything else we try to depend on is like the sand. When we build our lives on Jesus, and depend on him only, the storms of life will come, but will not be able to destroy us. When we depend on other things instead of Jesus, the storms of life will come and we will be destroyed.

Memory Verse:

Matthew 7:24

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Jesus Connection:

Jesus is the rock foundation upon which we should build our lives. If we have our foundation firmly planted in him, when the storms of life come and beat against us, we will remain standing. If we have our foundation in anything other than Jesus, as soon as the storms of life come, we will fall to the ground and our destruction will be great.

Songs

The Wise Man Built His House Upon The Rock

The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
And the rain came tumbling down

Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the wise man's house stood firm.

The foolish man built his house upon the sand
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
And the rain came tumbling down

Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the foolish man's house went "splat!" [clap hands once]

So, build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
And the blessings will come down

Oh, the blessings come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings come down
As your prayer go up
So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Games/Activities

Human Pyramid

Directions:
1. Ask the children to work together to make a human pyramid. Explain that they will need to have a strong foundation (the biggest kids) and everyone else will climb on their backs.
2. If you have small children who cannot climb well, help place the children on the upper levels of the pyramid.
3. You can take a picture of the finished pyramid and print it out to hang on the wall in the classroom for the children to see and remember the lesson.

Cup Stacking

Supplies Needed:
• 10 disposable cups per child
Directions:
1. Build a pyramid using the cups. (4 on the bottom row, then 3, then 2, then 1 on top)
2. After the children have practiced building their pyramid, have a race to see who can do it the fastest. You can also race to see who can do it with only one hand.

Crafts

Jesus Is My Rock

Supplies Needed:
• Smooth rocks
• Paints
• Paint brushes
• Scrap paper
Directions:
1. Give each child a scrap paper. Place a rock on the scrap paper to keep the table underneath from being painted on.
2. Allow the children to pain their rock. Encourage them to draw pictures that would remind them of the lesson (a house, Jesus, rain…) Remind the children that their rock will dry faster if they do not have the paint on so thick.
3. Allow the rocks to dry. Perhaps leave the rocks in the classroom until your next meeting, or do the craft first so there is more time for it to dry.

House on the Rock

Supplies Needed:
• House template
• Colors
• Scissors
• Glue/tape
Directions:
1. Color the house template.
2. Cut out the template on the solid lines.
3. Fold the template on the dotted lines.
4. Assemble the house by matching the letters together. Glue or tape the flaps in place.

Coloring Page