Today was the fourth week of The Great Sky Bridge Showdown where preschoolers are pretending to be a part of a construction crew building a great bridge that connects two tall buildings, and elementary schoolers are learning how to become wise builders who follow Jesus’ blueprints for their lives!
SpringTown & Treehouse (Preschool)
ImagiNation, Jump Street & Shockwave (Elementary School)
Need to Know: Praise God Instead of Yourself!
So often we all do things to receive the praise of others. But God teaches us through the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9 what we Need to Know today: Praise God Instead of Yourself. In this Bible story the whole world had one language, and the people were starting to feel very proud of themselves. The Babylonians wanted to build a tower that would make them famous. God knew that if this tower made them famous, they would think they were so good they did not need God anymore! To show the people they could not be great without God, He made them all speak different languages so they could not work together to build the tower.
We are all great at doing certain things, but since God is the reason we are able to do great things, we should praise Him instead of ourselves!
Have fun playing a joke on your kids to teach them how we should praise God instead of ourselves. Get your kids to help you cook dinner and clean up for your spouse or another close family member or friend. Be sure to fill the person you are cooking for in on your joke ahead of time. After cooking and cleaning, try to take all the credit for the meal and cleaning. Boast and exaggerate about having done it all yourself until the kids begin to clamor for some of the credit. Acknowledge the truth that you could not have done it without their help. Use this to explain how we do the same thing to God. We try to take credit for the work He has allowed us to do.
Today we learned the second half of our Memory Verse for this series. Practice putting the whole thing together so your child can win a prize in a few weeks. Here it is:
“Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock. Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and winds beat against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on solid rock” - Matthew 7:24-25
Motions for younger elementary kids: “Anyone who hears (cup hand around ear) and obeys (swing arms in marching motion) these teachings of mine, (hold Bible) is like a wise person (point to head) who built a house (hammer) on solid rock (pound fists on top of each other). Rain poured down, (wiggle fingers from up high to down low) rivers flooded, (palms up; lift hands from down low) and winds beat against that house. (sway side to side) But it did not fall, (stand/sit up straight and firm) because it was built on solid rock (pound fists on top of each other).” - Matthew 7:24-25 (hold up seven fingers)