Children's Church: The Sword of the Spirit

Opening:

Welcome!

Learning about armor of God

War; not with with people; with unseen powers of evil

We are on winning side

We have a weapon; a sword!

The Bible!

Have kids cut out sword shapes from the aluminium foil

Combine to make one big sword

Share about the book I have read most recently

Ask kids to share about the books they have read most recently

Open Bible to Ephesians 6.

Reading books is fun

The Bible is the most fun book!

Full of words that help us fight the enemy

No other book is a sword

But first, talk to God

PRAY

Core Bible Discovery

Armor of God

War, but not with people; with Evil

Ephesians 6:10–12 NLT

10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Last piece = only offensive piece

Ephesians 6:17 ESV

17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

We fight evil with God’s word

Jesus shows us how to do this

His battle wasn’t against people either!

40 days in wilderness

Tell about a time you really, really wanted something.

Nintendo Wii

When we feel this away about doing things that are wrong that is called temptation

Draw posters of the temptations Jesus faced

You might even make up a fun slogan!

Split into three groups (if possible)

Give each group a Bible, a piece of newsprint of bulletin board paper, and markers

Assign each group one of the temptations.

Each group reads their assigned verses and then draw an ad for the temptation

The Three Temptations:

Luke 4:3 (turn stones into bread)

Luke 4:5-7 (worship Satan)

Luke 4:9-11 (jump off the Temple)

Have each kid give their presentation

For each temptation, have a reader from another group read the verse on the corresponding sword (verse 4 for stones to bread, verse 8 for worship Satan, and verse 12 for jumping off the Temple) and use the sword to stab through the poster.

Give each kid a “Swords” handout

Jesus temptations might seem different

But more familiar than you might think

First, turn rocks into bread.

No eating for 40 days

He was hungry!

One temptation we fave: focusing on ourselves and doing whatever feels good

But we fight evil with God’s word

Have kids point out the sword with the right Scripture response

Q. Why is this Bible verse helpful when you want to focus on getting what you want?

Another temptation = getting other people to focus on us

For Jesus = bowing to Satan, all kingdoms look to Him

Lots of kids are “YouTube” famous these days

Q. What is your favorite thing to watch on YouTube?

Q. If you could be famous for doing something on YouTube, what would you want it to be?

Not sin to be famous

But when tempted on getting people to focus on us instead of God, that’s a problem

Have kids point out the sword with the right Scripture response

Q. How does this verse help you when yo’re tempted to put the focus on yourself?

Last temptation: Show off by jumping off building

We can be tempted to show off, too!

Have kids point out the sword with the right Scripture response

Ask a reader to read the response aloud

Then have older kids help younger kids fold their papers in

What’s the difference between being humble and being a showoff?

When we face temptations like Jesus did, we can do just what he did!

Use Bible verses to fight off temptation

We fight evil with God’s word

Take swords home

Craft

Life-Application Wrap-Up

Give each kid a Bible

Have each kid stand in a warrior pose, holding their Bible like swords

· As kids pose, they can take turns praying aloud that God would help them love the Bible and use it to fight the enemy.

PRAY/Invite to GLOW Party