GOD GIVES US SHELTER

by Kimber Bailey Scott

Matthew 6:8

SING:

God Cares for Me

(tune: Farmer in the Dell)

God Cares for me, and God cares for you.

All the time, from morning ‘til night,

Yes, God Cares for us

(point to yourself and to others at appropriate times)

God is so Good

God is so good, God is so good.

God is so good. God is good to me.

(God gives me food, God gives me water, God cares for me, etc.)

RHYME:

Listening Rhyme

By Dorothy Fay Richards

First our feet go tap-tap-tap (tap feet on floor)

Then our hands go clap-clap-clap (clap hands)

We look with both our eyes. (make glasses by circling fingers around eyes)

We hear with both our ears. (cup hands behind ears)

And then our hands fall in our laps (fold hands in lap)

PRAY:

Pull out your Bible from your magic bag. Hold out your Bible. Our Bible tells us that “God is good.” God takes good care of us in many ways. Let’s bow our heads, fold our hands and close our eyes; then we can tell God, “Thank You, God for loving us and caring for us. Thank You for giving us homes to live in. In Jesus’s name, amen.”

LESSON:

Have a box with a door and window cut out of it or a toy house. Also have a figurine they’d recognize like Sesame Street character figurine. Where oh where is _______? Have the toy pop out of the house. There he is! He was inside his house where it is safe and warm. Our Bible tells us that God gives us homes. Let’s find out how God does that. Put away the house and toy. Pull out your Bible.

When God made the world, He knew that animals and people would need places to go to get out of the rain and places where they could be warm when the weather was cold. So God made all kinds of things that people could use to build houses. In fact, the Bible tells us point to Matthew 6:8 that God knows the things you need before you ask him. So before people even started building houses, God had already given us all kinds of things to build with.

Some people who live where it is very, very cold all the time, build houses out of blocks of ice. Show picture of igloo. It’s called an igloo.

Some people who live where it is very, very warm all of the time build houses out of mud and grass. Show picture of the mud hut. It’s called a hut.

Some people build houses out of stones and logs. Show picture of the log cabin.

Some people live in tents. Show picture of the tent.

Some people live on boats. Show picture of the house boat.

Did you know there are so many different places to live?

What do you think your house is made from? Show a piece of wood. Wood? And do you know where wood comes from? Wood comes from trees. And who made the trees for us? That’s right, God did!

Some of our houses are made with bricks. Show a brick. Bricks are made out of clay and little pieces of rock and sand mixed with water. Who made the clay and rocks and sand? God did!

The strong steel poles that hold up the tallest buildings are made from metal that people dig out of the earth and even the glass in our windows is made from sand. God gave us everything we need to build houses!

Isn’t it wonderful that God “knows the things you need before you ask him”? Let’s thank God for giving us the things we need to build houses that keep us warm and safe.

APPLY:

Do you live in a house made out of grass?

Is your house made out of ice? NO!

What does your house look like? Make sure each child gets a chance to tell about his house.

Some houses are very big and some are small. God has helped each of us to have a home. Let’s thank God right now for our homes and for taking care of us.

Thank You, God for loving us and caring for us. Thank You for giving us homes to live in. In Jesus’s name, amen.

MEMORY VERSE:

The Bible tells us that God made the world. The Bible says, “God is good.“ Can you say those words with me? Say them louder. Say them softer.

Give each one a Bible (or share) & ask each to say, “GOD IS GOOD” Psalm 73:1

ART/CRAFT:

Make copies of the house pattern on poster board or cardboard and cut them out. Make the house part “stickers” ahead of time. Help them glue their house parts onto their house pattern. They may color whatever is left.

Do you know that God gave us everything we need to build houses? _____, can you tell me where wood comes from? ____, who made the trees? ____, what is the bottom part of this house made of? Rocks! That’s right! Who made rocks? What is this sidewalk made out of? Did you know that bricks are made from sand and rocks? Who gave us sand and rocks? God is very good to give us all these things, isn’t He? GOD IS GOOD!

SCIENCE EXPERIMENT:

Lay a shower curtain or drop cloth to protect the floor and for easy clean up. Mix the water, salt, oil and enough food coloring to make a brick color. (Dough may also be left white.) Gradually work flour and cornstarch into the mixture until it reaches a bread consistency. Let the children knead the dough and then play with it! Let the children experiment with the dough for a while. Then encourage them to roll out or pat the dough and make bricks with the cookie cutters. Some children may want to build a house.

Play dough recipe:

1 cup cold water

1 cup salt

2 T cornstarch

3 cups flour

Food coloring

We made our bricks out of play dough but what are real bricks made of? Yes, some bricks are made from mud, some are made from sand and stone. What else can we use bricks for? Can we build a sidewalk with bricks? Can we build a fence with bricks?

NEED:

Magic bag

Bible

Toy house or box

Toy figurine

Pictures (tent, houseboat, log cabin, igloo, hut, etc.)

Piece of wood

Brick

House pattern

House part “stickers”

Glue

Wet wipes

Shower curtain or drop cloth

Cleaning supplies

Cold water

Salt

Cornstarch

Flour

Food coloring

Brick shaped or square cookie cutters