Getting to Know God: Who God Is

Getting to Know God: Who God Is Week 10: God Knows Everything

This includes: Leader Preparation Lesson Guide

LEADER PREPARATION

BIBLE BASIS Through all his trials, Job never cursed God. But he did ask God to explain what had happened to him. In response, God showed Job—and us—a glimpse of his all-knowing power and glory. Use this lesson to help your kids see what an incomprehensibly awesome God we serve, and to thank him for knowing everything about us and still loving us.

DISCOVERY POINT God knows everything.

BIBLE FOCUS Job 38:1-21; Psalm 139:1-3

KEY VERSE “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me” (Psalm 139:1).

TEACHING PREP The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson.

Supplies You’ll Need: Getting to Know God: Who God Is (Year 2/Quarter 5) CD, LIVE Children’s Curriculum (Year 2) DVD, CD player, TV/DVD player, “Father Knows Best” handout, “God Knows” handout, coins, paper, pencils, Bibles, pens, crayons, markers, highlighters, tape, and maps

Before This Lesson • Print the “Father Knows Best” handout. You’ll need one copy per team of four kids. • Print the “God Knows” handout. You’ll need one copy per team of four kids. • Assemble Bible Exploration Kits (one per four kids): Bible, “Father Knows Best” handout, “God Knows” handout, paper, pens, tape, crayons, a map of your town or city, highlighter, and colored markers. • Review Job 38:1-21; Psalm 139:1-3. • Cue "Into the Bible" (Track 1) on Getting to Know God: Who God Is (Year 2/Quarter 5) CD or (Quarter 5/Track 1) on the LIVE Children’s Curriculum (Year 2) DVD. • Huddle briefly with your volunteers beforehand. Answer any questions they have. Encourage them and pray. PARENT EMAIL

We’ve provided you with a “Family Devotion” handout to send the Bible learning and faith discovery home. When kids and parents have faith discussions regularly, kids’ faith multiplies.

So we’ve given you two options:  Print the “Family Devotion” handout and make enough copies for each child to take one home.  Email the “Family Devotion” to families before or after the actual lesson.

Or why not do both? That way you’ll double the opportunities for parents to actually get the handout. Getting to Know God: Who God Is Week 10: God Knows Everything

LESSON GUIDE

WELCOME! Supplies: Getting to Know God: Who God Is (Year 2/Quarter 5) CD, LIVE Children’s Curriculum (Year 2) DVD, CD player, TV/DVD player, paper, pencils, coins

1. Play “Into the Bible” (Track 1) from the Getting to Know God: Who God Is (Year 2/Quarter 5) CD or (Quarter 5/Track 1) from the LIVE Children’s Curriculum (Year 2) DVD as kids arrive.

• “Into the Bible” Makes me wanna jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Makes me wanna sing! Hallelujah! It’s the greatest book. Come and take a look. Makes me wanna shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! So that everyone will see I’m getting into the Bible And the Bible...is getting into me!

We’re discovering a brand-new world As we dig a little deeper (deeper), Finding out about who God is. Open it up and see it (see it)! There’s nothin’ like God’s Word, and I get So excited. It makes me wanna, Makes me,

Makes me wanna jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Makes me wanna sing! Hallelujah! It’s the greatest book. Come and take a look. Makes me wanna shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! So that everyone will see I’m getting into the Bible And the Bible...is getting into me!

2. Have kids form pairs. Give each pair a sheet of paper, a pencil, and a coin. 3. Have partners take turns flipping the coin in the air while the other partner predicts whether it will land heads up or tails up. Have pairs keep track of how often their predictions were correct.

4. After several minutes, start the “Python Countdown” (Quarter 5/Countdown Track 2) on the LIVE Children’s Curriculum (Year 2) DVD, and turn the volume way up. Lead kids in counting along. Gather everyone together, and SAY: Thanks for coming today! I just knew each of you would be here today! Do you believe that? Pause. OK, I actually didn’t know—how could I? But today we are going to learn about our God who knows everything! First, let’s see how well you did in your coin tosses.

5. ASK: • How often did you and your partner correctly guess how the coin would land? Were you right all the time? half the time? • Why weren’t you right every time? • Think of something in your life right now where you don’t know what will happen. How do you feel when you don’t know what will happen? • Explain why you do or don’t think God ever has to guess what will happen next. SAY: In our coin toss, we were just guessing how the coin might land. We couldn’t actually know what was going to happen. But God never has to guess. God always knows what’s going to happen because God knows everything. Let’s explore that a little more.

6. Play the “Rocket Countdown” (Quarter 5/Countdown Track 1) on the LIVE Children’s Curriculum (Year 2) DVD, and have kids call out the numbers as they appear.

LET’S EXPLORE! Supplies: assembled Bible Exploration Kits

1. SAY: Before we get into today’s Bible story, I need to give you a little background. A man named Job loved God. He was a good guy and followed God’s laws. Satan told God that Job probably wouldn’t be so good if he had a bunch of trouble in his life. Then Satan caused some trouble for Job, such as destroying his house and family and even giving Job yucky sores all over his body. God told Satan that he couldn’t kill Job, though. Job still didn’t get mad at God the way Satan thought he would. But he did ask God some questions, basically saying, “What’s up with all this trouble? What did I do to deserve this?” Today’s Bible lesson tells us some of what God replied to Job. And it’s pretty amazing!

2. Have kids form Bible Crews, and give each crew a Bible Exploration Kit. Have crews remove the supplies from the Exploration Kits and find Job 38 in their Bibles. Have crews follow the directions on the “Father Knows Best” handout. Explain that kids will only have time to read Job 38:1-21, but they can read the rest of the passage mentioned on the handout later at home. When kids have finished drawing, let them explain their pictures to their crew members. Then have kids hang their pictures around the room as an art gallery. Give everyone a few minutes to admire each other’s work. ASK: • How would you answer God’s questions? • When are you tempted to question God’s actions as Job did? • How can this passage remind you to have faith in God because he knows everything? SAY: Job learned that because God knows everything, he could trust God no matter what. After all, God is so amazing that he created the whole universe! If he can do that, he can certainly take care of our little problems. Oh, and by the way, after Job had so much trouble, God ended up blessing Job with more family and riches than he had before. God always knows what he’s doing!

3. SAY: In a minute, we’ll take a look at our Key Verse for today. It tells us more about how God knows everything. But first, let’s play a quick game. Gather everyone together, and choose one person to be “It.” Designate a home base. Have It close his or her eyes and count to 25 while everyone else hides. Then let It try to tag players. Anyone who is tagged is out of the game. Those who make it to home base are “safe.” Play for several minutes. Then have kids regroup into their previous Bible Crews to answer these questions. ASK: • Why were you or weren’t you able to hide from “It” in this game? • Why do you or don’t you think we’re ever able to hide from God? • What are some things you’re glad God knows about you? SAY: In Hide-and-Seek, we’re often able to hide and not be tagged. The person who is “It” doesn’t always know where we are. But God knows everything. He always knows where we are and what we’re doing. Here’s what the Bible says.

4. Have crews find Psalm 139:1. Have them repeat the verse aloud with you several times. SAY: This next activity will help us understand how God knows everything about us. Have kids take the “God Knows” handout from the Bible Exploration Kits and follow the directions. Tell kids they can find all the supplies they need in their kits. When kids have finished with their maps, ASK: • What is it like to know that God knows everything about you? • How can it be a good thing that God knows everything about you? • How can God knowing everything about you be a scary thing? SAY: If you’re like me, at first you might think, “Yikes! I don’t want God to know everything about me. I mess up a lot.” But no matter how we feel about it, God knows everything. Think about it—the God who made the whole universe loves us enough to care what we do each day. That’s pretty amazing! God knows everything about us. He knows everything we do, say, and think. And he still loves us! In fact, he loves us so much that he sent his Son, Jesus, to die for us to make up for all those times we mess up. That’s real love!

LET’S PRAISE! Supplies: Getting to Know God: Who God Is (Year 2/Quarter 5) CD or LIVE Children’s Curriculum (Year 2) DVD, CD player or TV/DVD player

1. SAY: Let’s praise God for knowing and loving us.

2. Set up the Getting to Know God: Who God Is (Year 2/Quarter 5) CD or the LIVE Children’s Curriculum (Year 2) DVD. PLAY: • “You Know Everything About Me” (Psalm 139:1-3) (CD Track 4) (DVD Quarter 5/Track 4) O Lord, you have examined my heart; You know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up; You know everything about me.

You know everything, Every little thing about me, about me. You know everything, Every little thing about me, about me.

O Lord, you know my thoughts and my ways; You know everything about me. You chart the path that I take; You know everything about me.

You know everything, Every little thing about me, about me. You know everything; Every little thing about me, about me.

O Lord, you have examined my heart; You know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up; You know everything about me.

You know everything, Every little thing about me, about me.

“You Know Everything About Me” (Psalm 139:1-3) by Ben Glover and Jay Stocker. © 2004 Group Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission to use lyrics granted for local church use only. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

• “We Can Trust Him” (Psalm 33:4) (CD Track 5) (DVD Quarter 5/Track 5) We can trust him. Yeah!

If there’s one thing we can count on, It’s that God will never let us down, and We can trust everything he does. He keeps his promises. We know because Yeah, the Word of the Lord holds true. We can trust him. We can trust him. Yeah, the Word of the Lord holds true. We can trust him. We can trust him .

Yeah, the Word of the Lord holds true. We can trust him. We can trust him. Yeah, the Word of the Lord holds true. We can trust him. We can trust him. We can trust him. We can trust him.

“We Can Trust Him” (Psalm 33:4) by Jay Stocker. © 2007, 2009 Group Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission to use lyrics granted for local church use only. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

• “The One and Only Lord” (Mark 12:29) (CD Track 2) (DVD Quarter 5/Track 2) (Verse) Listen (echo), O, Israel! (echo) Listen (echo), O, Israel! (echo)

(Chorus) The Lord our God is the one and only Lord (clap) (clap). The Lord our God is the one and only Lord (clap) (clap). The one and only (clap) (clap) Lord.

(Repeat from beginning.)

“The One and Only Lord” (Mark 12:29) by Jay Stocker. © 2005 Group Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission to use lyrics granted for local church use only. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

LET’S PRAY! Supplies: assembled Bible Exploration Kits, Getting to Know God: Who God Is (Year 2/Quarter 5) CD, CD player

1. Have kids each take a sheet of paper and a pen from their Bible Exploration Kit. Have kids write everything they know about God.

2. As kids work, softly play the instrumental version of “Give Thanks to the Lord” (Psalm 107:1) (Track 15) from the Getting to Know God: Who God Is (Year 2/Quarter 5) CD.

3. After a few minutes, SAY: Think about what God said to Job in our Bible story. Think about how God knows everything and how he knows every detail of our amazing universe. Pause. Now look at your paper. What we know about God doesn’t even fill one sheet of paper. We know so little! Let’s ask God to help us learn more and more about him.

4. Have kids turn their papers over and write a prayer to God, telling God the things they most want to know about him.

HIGH FIVES Supplies: none

As kids leave, have them put on their wisest look and, while they high five others in the group, say, “God knows everything, even more than me!”

FOR-EXTRA-TIME ACTIVITIES Who’s In Control? Supplies: none Have kids try to control an aspect of nature. They might go to the window and tell the sun to stop shining, or look at the clock and tell time to stand still. Then have them discuss how God could have done what they attempted because God is in control of everything and God knows everything.

Mighty Mural Supplies: newsprint, tape, colored markers, Getting to Know God: Who God Is (Year 2/Quarter 5) CD, CD player Have kids listen to “God Answers Job” (Track 18) from the Getting to Know God: Who God Is (Year 2/Quarter 5) CD, that recounts Job 38:1-21. Hang a large sheet of horizontal newsprint on the wall at kids’ eye level. Set out colored markers. Let kids work on creating a mural that captures what they heard. As kids work, have them discuss how God knows everything about the universe—and about them! As kids draw, encourage them to add one- word reactions to how God knows everything. They might write “Wow!” “Awesome,” and “Thank You!”

Hiding It in Your Heart Supplies: paper, scissors, pens Have kids find the Key Verse, Psalm 139:1, and read it aloud. Have kids each fold a sheet of paper in half and cut out a heart shape, being careful not to cut on the fold. Let kids open the heart like a card. On the outside, have them write things about themselves that are obvious, such as hair color and height. On the inside, have them write about what only God knows about them, such as their fears, dreams, and thoughts.

Create a Bible Dictionary Supplies: paper, markers, dictionary, CD player, Getting to Know God: Who God Is (Year 2/Quarter 5) CD Ask kids to create one or more pages, each with a new word, for a Bible dictionary. Have kids suggest words from today’s lesson—examine and all-knowing are two suggestions. Have them write each word on a sheet of paper in fun letters, add a definition, list Scripture references, and make illustrations. Play “The Books of the Bible Song” (Track 8), from the Getting to Know God: Who God Is (Year 2/Quarter 5) CD while kids work. Add each page to a three-ring binder, and watch the dictionary grow!