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

Sermon on the Mount: The Beatitudes

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following:

Matthew 5: 1-12; Luke 6:20-26

Large crowds of people began following Jesus because of the things he was doing and teaching. Seeing the crowd, Jesus went up to the side of a mountain, sat down, and began teaching them. This set of teaching is known to us as the Sermon on the Mount. In the book of Matthew, Jesus began his teaching with a segment known as The Beatitudes. In this portion of Jesus’ teachings he shows us that certain attitudes will yield to us certain results. If we want the things of God then we must act in ways that are meek, merciful, peaceful, and pure in heart (and so on…). He ends this segment with an encouragement to those who are persecuted, reminding them that the prophets of old were persecuted in the same way.

Object Lesson:

Supplies Needed:
• Jar with lid
• Water
• Oil
• Food coloring
Directions:
1. Fill the jar half full with water. The water represents the people world; people who do not know God.
2. Fill the water the rest of the way with oil. The oil represents Christians; people who know and love God.
3. Add food coloring. It should mix with the water and not the oil.
4. Explain to the children that in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was telling people that if they loved God they needed to behave differently. They needed to be IN the world, but not OF the world. When the food coloring was added, it went into the water and became part of the water. You can no longer tell the difference between the water and the drops of color. They are the same. Jesus says that it is the same with people who are of the world. The color did not stick to the oil. Jesus says that it should be the same with people who belong to God and are IN the world, but not OF the world. The attitudes listed in this section of Jesus’ sermon show us how we can be IN the world and not OF it.

Memory Verse:

Matthew 5:3

Blessed are the pour in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus Connection:

We are all called to be like Christ. It can be hard to grasp how we can accomplish this feat. In this list of beatitudes we can see several ways that we can become more like Jesus. Each of the beatitude has a perfect example in the life of Jesus. The rewards that come with each beatitude we also see played out in Jesus. If we strive to attain these attitudes in our life, we will naturally become more holy, as He himself is holy. (1 Peter 1:16)

Songs

The Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
Theirs is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are the ones who mourn,
They will be comforted.
Blessed are the ones who mourn,
They will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek in spirit,
They will inherit the earth.
Blessed are the meek in spirit,
They will inherit the earth.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
They will see God.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
They will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
They will be sons of God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
Call them the sons of God.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
Blessed are the pure in heart.

Games/Activities

Beatitudes Panorama

Supplies Needed:
• A large roll of paper (or 8 large pieces of paper)
• Colors
• The 8 beatitudes writing on slips of paper
Directions:
• The children will help you make a panorama of the beatitudes that can be hung on the classroom wall.
• Roll out the paper. If you do not have a paper roll, lay out 8 pieces of large paper.
• Give each child a beatitude that is written on a slip of paper. If you have more than 8 children, put them in small groups to work together. If you have less than 8 then some children may have more than one.
• Have the children write their beatitude on their section of the paper. Then, have them draw a picture of what they think that particular beatitude means. They may want to write down a short description of their picture on the bottom of the paper.
• It may be a good idea to have some practical examples ready for each beatitude, to give them an idea of what they can draw. Encourage the children to talk together to come up with ideas.

Crafts

Blessed Wreath

Supplies Needed:
• Paper plates
• Colored paper
• Pencils
• Scissors
• Stick glue
• A list of the beatitudes
Directions:
1. Create a list of the beatitudes that is large enough for the children to read easily. Display this in a prominent place in the classroom.
2. Give each child a paper plate and 8 pieces of colored paper. Have them trace their hands on each of the pieces of paper and cut them out.
3. On each of their hand cut-outs have them write a different beatitude.
4. In the center of the paper plates write the words: Blessed Are…
5. Glue the hands around the rim of the paper place with the fingers pointing outward and the words facing up.

Coloring Page

Sermon on the Mount: The Lord's Prayer

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following passages:

Matthew 6:5-15; Luke 11:1-13

People were following Jesus everywhere. One day they followed him up the side of a mountain. Jesus turned to the crowd of people and began teaching them many things. At one point some of the disciples asked Jesus to teach them who to pray, just as John the baptizer had taught his disciples how to pray. So, Jesus told them to pray this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be don’t on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6: 9-13) In Luke’s account of this teaching, Jesus goes on to tell two parables to show us how we should ask for things. The first parable shows us that we should ask with persistence. The second shows us when we ask for good things, God will give us good things.

Object Lesson:

Supplies Needed:
• An assortment of random objects (rocks, sticks, crumbled paper, an empty candy wrapper…)
• A bag
Directions:
1. Before class, place all your items in a bag. Make sure you have enough items that each child can be given one.
2. As an example for the second parable in this story, instruct the children one at a time to ask you for anything they can think of that they would like to have at that moment.
3. As they ask for something, pull and item out of the bag and give it to them. Try to make it as far away from what they asked as possible.
4. Discuss how it felt for them when you gave them the things they did not like. Explain to them that God likes to give us good thing.

Memory Verse:

Luke 11:9-10
So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Jesus Connection:

In teaching the disciples to pray and sharing the parables along with it, Jesus is telling us that prayer is something that should always be on our lips. Jesus is continually demonstrating the importance of prayer. We often see him going to a lonely place to pray. The disciples understood the importance of prayer, too. That is why we are told to pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17) It is how we stay connected with Jesus.

Songs

God is so Good

God is so good,
God is so good,
God is so good,
He’s so good to me.

He answers prayer,
He answers prayer,
He answers prayer,
He’s so good to me.

He loves us so,
He loves us so,
He loves us so,
He’s so good to me.

Games/Activities

Mother May I

Directions:
1. Choose one child to be the ‘mother’. Have that child stand at one end of the classroom, facing the wall. Have all the other children line up against the wall on the other side of the room.
2. The children will now take turns asking “Mother, may I ___?” and makes a movement suggestion.  The mother either replies “Yes, you may” or “No, you may not do that, but you may ___ instead”.
a. Take (#) steps forward
b. Take (#) giant steps forward
c. Take (#) baby steps forward
d. Hop forward like a frog (#) times
e. Run forward for (#) seconds
f. Crabwalk for (#) seconds
g. Ect….
3. The child who reaches the mother first wins and gets to be the mother for the next round.

Crafts

Prayer Journal

Supplies Needed:
• Pens
• Washi tape of different designs
• Small, cheap notebooks
• Colored Paper
• Colors
• Stick glue
• Scissors
Directions:
1. Give each child a pen and a notebook. These will be theirs to keep.
2. Use the washi tape to decorate the pens
3. Open the notebook and lay it flat on a piece of colored paper. Trace the notebook and cut it out. Close the notebook. Glue the cut out onto the outside of the closed notebook.  Decorate the outside of the notebook with colors.
4. Encourage the children to write down their prayer requests in the notebook. Also encourage them to write down when God answers those prayers.

Coloring Page

Sermon on the Mount: Salt and Light

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following:

Matthew 5:13-16

Jesus continues his teaching of the Sermon on the Mount by making two comparisons. First he says that we are like salt. Salt is used to flavor and preserve food. If salt loses its taste, then it is no longer good for anything. As Christians, we are to function the same way in the world, but if we do not continue to function in this manner, we are good for nothing. In the second comparison, Jesus says we are like light. When we light a candle, we do not put a bowl on top of it. This hides, or even puts out the light. Instead, we put it on a table or a shelf where everybody can see it. Just as you cannot hide a city on a hill, you want to place the light where it is seen by all. As Christians, we are to function the same way in the world as light does in a house. When we are light salt and light in the world, it brings glory to God.

Object Lessons:

Object lesson #1: Salt

Supplies Needed:
• Salt
Directions:
1. Invite the children to taste some salt. Ask them what salt is used for.
2. Explain that salt is very useful for flavoring and preserving food. If salt does not taste salty any more, then we can no longer use it in food. All we can do with it is throw it away.

Object Lesson #2: Light

Supplies Needed:
• A small candle (tea light)
• A cup or a bowl (big enough to put the candle under)
• A lighter/matches
Directions:
1. Light the candle and set it in front of the children. Explain to the children that we light candles to people can see. It would be pointless to light a candle and then hide it. (Take the bowl/cup and cover the candle.) We can no longer see the light. In fact, if the bowl is left on the candle long enough, the fire will go out. (Pick up the bowl and reveal no more flame.) God wants to use us like the candle. He wants to put us in places around the world where we can let our lights shine brightly for Him. This kind of living makes Him happy.

Memory Verse:

Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Jesus Connection:

In this passage, Jesus tells us that we are all lights in the world. What does our light reveal? Our light reveals the purest, brightest light of them all, Jesus himself. In John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” Jesus declares that he is lighting the way to God. If we walk in his light, then we have his light in us. With his light in us, we can show the world the glory of God so that it is clear and easy to see.

Songs

This Little Light of Mine

This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shin, let it shine.

All around the neighborhood, I’m going to let it shine.
All around the neighborhood, I’m going to let it shine.
All around the neighborhood, I’m going to let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shin, let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m going to let it shine.
Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m going to let it shine.
Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m going to let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shin, let it shine.

Don’t let Satan [blow] it out! I’m going to let it shine.
Don’t let Satan [blow] it out! I’m going to let it shine.
Don’t let Satan [blow] it out! I’m going to let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shin, let it shine.

Games/Activities

Cup Stacking

Supplies Needed:
• Plastic cups (10 per child)
• Blind folds
Directions:
1. Give each child 10 plastic cups. Keep them stacked together. When you say ‘go’, all the children race to stack their cups in the shape of a pyramid (4 on bottom, the three, and then two, then one on top). Restack cups together and repeat the race as many times as you wish.
2. Have the children stack their cups in front of them. Blindfold each child and repeat the cup stacking race. Repeat the blindfolded race as many times as you wish.
3. Ask the children which race was more difficult. Explain that when we have the light of Jesus in our lives, he helps us see the path in front of us that God wants us to walk in.

Crafts

Lantern

Supplies Needed:
• Small glass jars (pint sized)
• Crepe paper in various colors
• Glue sticks
• Tea light candles
• A lighter
Directions:
1. Give each child a glass jar and a glue stick.
2. Cut out and glue colored crepe paper to the outside of the glass jar. (I had small 1 inch squares already cut from various colors.)
3. Place a tea light candle in the bottom of the jar and light it. Enjoy the colorful glow.

Coloring Page