God Is Our One and Only

Bible Passage: 1 Kings 16—18 (King Ahab and Elijah)

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© 2015 David C Cook. TruResources are developed in partnership with ROCKHARBOR Church and a national network of family and children’s ministry leaders. All rights reserved.

REMEMBER VERSEJesus answered, “It is written:

‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”Luke 4:8

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HomeFront Magazine: A Spiritual Parenting Resource This magazine gives families ideas for creating fun, spiritually forming times in their homes—setting aside a sacred space for family in the midst of their active, everyday lives! As the new issue becomes available each month, you may choose to print it for families or encourage them to visit www.HomeFrontMag.com to subscribe to have the magazine sent directly to their inboxes. HomeFront is also available as an app for iPhone, iPad, or Android devices.

Tru Mission StatementTru helps kids and their families connect to God, find their place in His big story,

and respond to Him through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Lesson Path: Seeing the Mission Statement in a Tru Lesson

Connecting leaders to God ... Inspire, Equip, and Support

Connects kids and their families to God … HomeFront WeeklyAnticipate

… His big story … Celebrate

… And invites them to respond to Him … Respond

… Through the power of the Holy Spirit. Bless

Navigating Lesson 2.7Below you will find additional information to enhance lesson sections as needed.

AnticipateCelebrate Looking Up Scripture

For the Storytelling time, station leaders around the room to assist any kids who struggle to find the Scripture passages in their Bibles.

Respond Small Group Enhancement“Would You Rather?” activities are available for this lesson. Premium, Unlimited, and Combo users may find them in the Resource Files.

Bless

ANTICIPATE | CELEBRATE | RESPOND | BLESS

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Anticipate// 5–10 min.

Option 1: Altar Stack (for Younger Kids)With the following activity, get the children thinking about the concept of altars as places of worship.

SUPPLIES• Altar image (see Resource Files)• stones (about 30, 1”–3”)• sticks and twigs (about 30, 6”–12” long)

PREPARE AHEADPrint the Altar image.

ENGAGEOne way to worship God is by presenting offerings to Him. Many times in the Old Testament, the Israelites presented their offerings to God by placing them on a small raised area made of stones. This was called an altar. Let’s see if we can build a mini version of an altar and get it to stand.

Invite each child to take a stick and a stone. Encourage the kids to take turns placing their items in the center of the group to begin building the “altar.” They can make this as orderly or as random as they want. Then they can pick up additional stones and sticks and add those to the altar. Encourage the kids to try to balance their sticks and rocks together. If the pile topples over, the kids can start again. See how high they can build the altar!

Option 2: Bring the Rain (for Older Kids)With this activity, get the kids thinking about bringing water to a dry place, which they’ll hear about in today’s portion of The Big God Story.

SUPPLIES• buckets (2, about 1 gal.)• spoon or ladle• water• disposable tablecloth (rectangular) or trash bags (4–5)• timer or stopwatch• towels (2–3)

SET UPLay the disposable tablecloth or trash bags on the floor to create one long “path.” Fill one bucket with the water and place it at one end of the path. Place the spoon or ladle next to it. Then place the empty bucket at the other end of the path (at least five feet away from the other bucket). Optional: Set the towel nearby.

ENGAGEPeople, plants, and animals need water to survive. Without water, things wither and die. Let’s play a game to see how much water we can bring to a dry place.

Ask the children to line up, single-file, behind the bucket of water. Hand the spoon or ladle to the first person in line. Explain that she will scoop up a spoonful of water, hurry to the empty bucket, dump in the water, and hurry back to the line. The next person will repeat the process, and so on. The kids get two minutes to try to get as much water as possible into the empty bucket. (If things get messy, use the towel.)

After two minutes, invite kids to gather around the formerly empty bucket to see how much water they managed to carry from the other bucket. If time permits, dump the water from the “empty” bucket back into the filled bucket and play again.

Leader TipIf you live in a warmer climate, play this game outside.

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Celebrate//35–55 min.

LARGE GROuP

S E C T I O N

Welcome & Traditions//

• Take five minutes to open your CELEBRATE time by engaging in Welcome and Traditions.• Quarterly Tradition (optional): Secret Handshake: Invite kids to form a circle around the room. Have one

leader and one child stand in the middle of the circle and make up a secret handshake. Once they’ve decided on a handshake, invite each child to try it with the person next to him. Then invite the kids to mill around the room and try to shake as many hands as possible before storytelling begins.

Remember Verse//

• This week’s Remember Verse focuses on a character trait of God that’s highlighted in today’s portion of The Big God Story.

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” Luke 4:8

Connect// Invite the children to ask one another the following question or one of your own. Encourage them to ask someone they may not know. After a minute or two, ask several children to tell the group their friends’ answers. (For Connect Question and Connect Activity slides, see Resource Files.)

QuestionWhich part of a storm do you like best: rain, hail, thunder, or lightning? Why?

Activity: Stormy SoundsInvite the children to make sounds that correspond with their favorite parts of a storm. For rain, the kids can snap their fingers or lightly clap their hands. For hail, the kids can pat their legs. For thunder, the kids can stomp on the ground. For lightning, the kids can clap their hands above their heads and say, “Crash!” Once everyone knows which sound to make, silence the room and kick off the stormy sounds by inviting the rain to start, then the hail, then the thunder, and then the lightning. After this, encourage the children to walk around the room, find someone making the same sound, and discuss why they like that part of a storm.

The Big God Story//

SUPPLIES• Bibles (1 per leader and 1 per child)• Timeline slide and animation (see Resource Files)• watering can• potted plant• Fire slide (see Resource Files)• sound effects: Rain, Fire (see Resource Files)• optional: matches (small box), clear plastic bin; small rocks, sticks, or other “altar-building” materials; bottle or

small jug of water

SET UPOptional: Place the matches, bin, rocks and sticks, and water in the storytelling area.

Worship Response//

SUPPLIES• Prayer sheet (see Resource Files)• pencils or pens• Prayer Wall worship response station• worship music (suggestion: “You Are,” TruWorship You Are)

PREPARE AHEADPrint a copy of the Prayer sheet for each child.

Ponder Point: God Is Our One and Only

Find more details for each section in the How It Works document in the Supporting Lesson Resources section of the My Lessons page at tru.davidccook.com.

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The Big God StoryBible Passage: 1 Kings 16—18Storytelling Technique: Verbal Response, Motions, Sound Effects, and Image

ENGAGEEnter carrying potted plant and watering can. Have you ever taken care of a plant? Invite a few kids to share experiences. Water the plant as you continue. Plants, trees, and the crops that feed people all need water to grow. Without rain, they’ll die. Today in The Big God Story we’ll hear about how God sent rain to prove that He is the one and only God. First, let’s ask God to teach us. Lead kids in Prayer of Release.

A couple of weeks ago we saw how David took the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. What did David do to celebrate this? Invite responses. Yes, David worshipped God by dancing! Although King David led his people to worship God, most kings after him didn’t. In fact, most of the leaders after David were evil and led the people to worship false gods.

The Israelites forgot about the one true God—the One who had led them out of Egypt and given them the Promised Land. They forgot that God is our one and only! Each time I say, “God is our one and only,” I’d like you to say it with me and hold up one finger above your head. Let’s practice. Lead kids in practicing a few times. No other god could free the people, give them life, provide for them, or be with them, because only God is the true, living God.

One of the evil kings who ruled God’s people was named Ahab. Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, believed Baal was the god of rain and crops. So, God called a prophet named Elijah to tell the king that He would keep the rain from falling. Invite kids to open their Bibles to 1 Kings 17:1 and follow along as you read. God did this to show that He is the only true God and that He controls everything, including the rain. God is our one and only! Lead kids in repeating phrase and doing motion.

Now, if Baal really had been the storm god, as Ahab believed, it should have been no problem for the country to get lots of rain. But because God controls the weather, He didn’t let rain fall for three years! In the third year, God told Elijah to go to Ahab and gather all of the prophets of Baal on a mountain called Mount Carmel. Here they would have a contest—a contest to prove that God is the one true God. God is our one and only. Lead kids in repeating phrase and doing motion.

Two altars had been set up—one for Baal and one for the God of Israel. Each altar had a sacrifice on it, and whichever god sent fire down from heaven to burn up the sacrifice would be called the real god. Everyone came together on Mount Carmel to see who would win. Invite a volunteer to read 1 Kings 18:21 as everyone follows along. At the beginning of the contest, Elijah told the Israelites to choose which god to worship. Elijah knew that as long as the people went back and forth in whom they followed, they could not live the way God desired for them to live as His chosen people. Elijah knew that God would prove He is the one true God—that God is our one and only. Lead kids in repeating phrase and doing motion.

Elijah let the prophets of Baal go first. The Bible says that they cried out to their false god from morning until noon. What do you think happened? Invite responses. Read verse 26 as kids follow along. The prophets of Baal shouted louder and kept on dancing, but nothing happened. Why? Invite responses. Exactly—because God is our one and only. Lead kids in repeating phrase and doing motion.

Later that day, Elijah gathered the people, built an altar using 12 stones, and placed the sacrifice on it. Then, he dug out the ground around the altar and filled this place with water. He also told the people to pour lots and lots of water over the sacrifice, the wood, and the altar, which made everything soaking wet. With everything wet, it would be so much harder to light on fire. But Elijah wanted to be sure that the people saw God’s amazing power.

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Optional: Ask a few volunteers to come up and use rocks and sticks to build an altar in the clear plastic bin. Then pour water over it. If you want, light a match and toss it into the water so kids can see how easily water extinguishes fire.

Invite kids to follow along as you read 1 Kings 18:37–38. Tech: Cue Fire slide and play Fire sound effect. Wow! Fire came down from heaven and burned up everything on the altar, including the stones! It also “licked up the water” around the altar. What would you have done or said if you had been there that day? Invite responses. Read verse 39 as kids follow along. The people fell on the ground and worshipped God. They saw that God is our one and only! Lead kids in repeating phrase and doing motion. After that, Elijah prayed for God to send rain, and He did! It rained for the first time in three years. Tech: Cue Rain sound effect.

Now, you might think that after this amazing display of the Lord as the one and only God, King Ahab began to follow God, but this didn’t happen. Sadly, Ahab kept worshipping other gods. But that didn’t change the fact that God is Lord over all. God is our one and only. Lead kids in repeating phrase and doing motion.

In this life, many things will try to take your attention and your worship away from God. But God wants to be our one and only. He is the only One worthy of our worship. Tell a story about a time you worshipped God as the one and only. Today let’s spend some time asking Him to reveal more of Himself to us and worshipping Him as the all-powerful, one and only God.

Worship ResponseENGAGEWorshipping God can feel uncomfortable sometimes because it’s different from what the rest of the world does. Calling out to God for Him to show Himself to you can feel even more uncomfortable because you have to rely on Him to reveal Himself. God desires to reveal Himself to us. He desires to show us that He is our one and only God.

Invite the children to stand, one at a time, and proclaim that they believe God to be the one true God. Let the kids know it’s okay if they don’t feel comfortable doing this or if they don’t know exactly what they believe.

Then pass out the Prayer sheets and pens or pencils. Encourage the kids to think through the prayer and fill in the blanks. (If you have kids who aren’t strong readers, have leaders help them fill in the blanks.) Once they’ve had time to fill out their sheets, invite them to spend a few moments in silence praying through their prayers. Also invite them to attach their prayers to the Prayer Wall.

Tech: Cue music. Finish this time by praising God through music.

JES

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KIN

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/ME

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N/A

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APOSTLES

400 YEARS OF WAITING

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© 2015 David C Cook

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Respond// 15–20 min.

Reflect: God Is Our One and OnlyBecause Ahab and the Israelites hadn’t chosen to make God their one and only, God set up a contest between Himself and Baal. Of course, God won it completely. After that, many people bowed before the one true God. Encourage the kids to open their Bibles and read the suggested passages.

Questions for Younger Kids• Why did Elijah put water on the altar? 1 Kings 18:38• What happened after God sent fire from heaven?

1 Kings 18:39• Why do you think God desires for us to step out in faith

and declare Him to be our one and only?• Has God ever asked you to step out in faith to do

something? Tell us about it.

Questions for Older Kids• What is a drought? Why was there a drought in Israel?

1 Kings 17:1• What did Elijah pray before he made a sacrifice to God?

1 Kings 18:36–37• Why did Elijah cover the altar with water? 1 Kings 18:38• What happened after God sent fire from heaven?

1 Kings 18:39• Why do you think God desires for us to step out in faith

and declare Him to be our one and only?• How do you think being out of our comfort zone prepares

us to meet with God?

Create: Fire from HeavenSUPPLIES• cardboard tube (paper towel-sized)• tissue paper (4–5 sheets, orange and yellow)• scissors• glue sticks (4–5)• string (5’–10’)• single-hole punch• markers (dark-colored)

PREPARE AHEADCut the tissue paper into four- to five-inch squares or triangles.

ENGAGEIn the contest between the prophets of Baal and Elijah, God showed Himself as the one and only by sending fire to burn up the wet altar. Let’s create our own “fire” as we remember that God is our one and only.

Today, guide your children to create a “fire tube” together. Invite them to take small pieces of tissue paper and glue them onto the cardboard tube. They can crinkle the paper before gluing it, glue down only a part of it, or glue it down perfectly smooth.

When the kids finish turning the outside of the tube into a colorful mosaic, invite them to spend a few moments thinking about God’s power and what He can do because He’s the one and only God. Then encourage each child to use a marker to write a word about God on the tube.

Now punch two holes (across from each other) at one end, and thread the string through the holes. Hold one end of the string as high as you can reach and bring the tube to the top. Select one child to hold the bottom of the string to the floor. Release the tube and let it slide down the string toward the floor. Invite kids to take turns raising the tube to the highest point and letting it slide down.

Once everyone has had a chance to participate, tie the two ends of the string together and hang your group’s “fire” somewhere in the room, where you can see it and remember how God sent fire down to show that He is the one true God.

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Encourage each child to point to the sky with one hand and open the palm of her other hand as you read Psalm 115:1–3.

Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Why do the nations, say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.

End by praying the following blessing over the children.

May you know that our God is the one and only God. May you always turn to Him for everything you need.

Bless// 5 min.

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Be sure to send home the HomeFront Weekly for next week’s lesson! This preteaching tool for parents encourages families to spend time in God’s Word together before children arrive at church.

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