That’s the Rule

Scripture: Exodus 32-34

Learning Objectives:

  • Students will learn that God gives us rules out of love because he knows what is best for us.
  • Students will learn the importance of rules and how they make living in a community safer and more efficient.

Guiding Questions:

Why are rules important?

How do rules in our community make it easier to get along with others and live our daily life?

How do God’s rules help us?

Materials: common card or board game, rules from your local community for students to read and discuss

Procedure: Review the story of the Golden Calf focusing on how disobeying God’s rules resulted in hardship for the Israelites. Discuss how God knows what is best for His people. To begin, let students play a common game such as a board game or cards. Tell them that they can play however they want and there are no rules. The only goal is to win. Let students struggle to play and find it frustrating. Then discuss how rules make a game more fun and help us get along with others.

Divide students in groups and have them read some laws in their local community. Students then rank what they think are the top three laws and tell the class their reasoning. Is there a general consensus or did some people value laws differently? Emphasize that though we should obey government laws, God’s laws are perfect and always come first. If you have extra time at the end, let students play the game from the beginning of lesson. How is it more fun to play with rules?

Additional Questions:

  • What would life be like if there were no rules?
  • How are rules an example of God’s love?
  • What are some consequences of not obeying the law?

Supplemental Activities:

  • Have students suggest rules that they think should be in place in their community to make it safer/better. Then have them write a letter asking their representative or leader to consider their position. Have them support their argument with valid reasons. This can be done for any level including school, neighborhood, city, state, etc.
  • Have students create a mini government to hold a class discussion based on a topic of their choice or the teacher’s choosing. Let them vote on a leader to guide the discussion and come up with rules so that it is not chaotic. Such rules might include hand-raising, using a talking stick (where only one person may speak at a time), respecting peers, etc.

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