Scripture: Luke 1:1-25 and 57-80
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn nothing is impossible for God.
- Students will learn God wants us to have faith in Him and His promises.
- Students will learn God always keeps His promises.
- Students will learn to trust in God no matter what.
Guiding Question: How does knowing the characteristics of God help us to trust in Him?
Materials: Slips of paper with Bible verses written on them
Procedure: Review the story of the Birth of John the Baptist. Remind the students that even when John’s birth seemed impossible, God made it possible because it was part of His plan for John to do great things for God’s Kingdom. God wants us to have faith in Him when life is both easy and difficult. God always keeps His promises to love and care for us through everything we deal with. It is important to lean on God and pray about the difficult things going on in your life so you can have strength and wisdom from God.
Prior to the lesson, type up a number of Bible verses about the characteristics of God and trusting God Cut each verse in half. Choose one student to be it. The student reads the first half of a verse. All of the other students have been given a second half to different verses. Only one person has the correct second half. The students may or may not know which is actually the correct second half. Each student must try to convince the student with the first half that they have the correct ending to his/her verse. If the person who has the first part of the verse chooses correctly the second half, the person holding that second half draws a new first part of a verse. If the person chooses incorrectly, the person whose verse he chose becomes “It” and still works to find the correct ending for that verse. After a few rounds, discuss what made people trust some people and not others. Point out the characteristics of God from those and other verses that make us know we can always trust God.
Options for Bible Verses:
-Psalm 18:30
-Psalm 116:5
-2 Peter 3:9
-James 1:17
-John 14:26
-Psalm 13:5
-Psalm 56:3
-Proverbs 3:5-6
-1 Chronicles 16:11
-Exodus 15:2
Additional Questions: How can other’s experiences teach about trusting God?
Supplemental Activity: Have the students skype with a missionary or have a missionary in your congregation come to talk about a hardship on a mission that felt impossible to overcome. Have them talk to the students about how God was faithful and it was important that they trusted in him.