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l e s sonYear B2nd QuarterLesson 5Passing the TestWorship We are happy to worship God.ReferencesDaniel 1; Prophets and Kings, pp. 479-490.Memory Verse“Reject the wrong and choose the right” (Isaiah 7:15, NIV).ObjectivesThe children will:Know that they can worship God by making good choices.Feel responsible for the choices they make.Respond by choosing only things that are good for them.The Message e worship God when we choose good things.WGetting Ready to TeachThe Bible Lesson at a Glance and his friends appear to be healthierDaniel and his friends are taken captive and forced to live in KingNebuchadnezzar’s palace. When theyare offered rich food and wine from theking’s table, they decide to ask for simple foods and water. They ask the king’sservant to let them eat and drink thethings they know will keep them healthyand make them strong. The servantagrees to let them try simple foods for10 days. At the end of that time, Daniel50and stronger than any of those captiveswho drank wine and ate food from theking’s table. They chose what they knewwas best for them.This is a lesson about worship.Making good choices tells God that wecare about ourselves and about Him. Whenwe choose to eat foods that will keep ushealthy, we are worshiping God by keeping our bodies healthy. God wants us to

FiveProgram Outline1*2Lesson SectionMinutesActivitiesWelcomeongoing Greet students at door; hearpleased/troublednoneReadinessup to 10A. Choices CollageOptions old magazines, scissors, paper, gluesticksB. Food Pyramidfood pyramid pattern (see p. 141),crayonsC. Children, May I?nonePrayer andPraise*up to 10Bible Lessonup to 20See page 57.*Prayer and Praise may beused at any time during the program.Experiencing the Story cloth or plastic gloves (optional);washable colored markers; string,yarn, twine, ribbons or chenille wiresof different colors (optional)Bible StudyMemory Verse3Materials NeededBibleBibleApplyingup to 15Eggsactly Rightplastic eggs, tiny bags, or otherthe Lesson small containers, various pictures orobjects4Sharingup to 15Good Choices Badgebadge pattern (see p. 141); heavythe Lesson paper; crayons; scissors; yarn, string,or ribbonmake wise choices in everything we do.dishonor the principles of the law ofGod” (Prophets and Kings, p. 481).Teacher Enrichment“Today men and nations are being“But a portion having been offered to tested by the plummet in the hand ofidols, the food from the king’s table was Him who makes no mistake. All are byconsecrated to idolatry; and one partak- their own choice deciding their destiny,ing of it would be regarded as offeringand God is overruling all for the accomhomage to the gods of Babylon. In such plishment of His purposes” (Prophets andhomage, loyalty to Jehovah forbadeKings, p. 536).Daniel and his companions to join. Evena mere pretense of eating the food orRoom Decorationsdrinking the wine would be a denial ofContinue to use the “throne room”their faith. To do this would be to . . .from Lesson 2.51

Lesson 5Teaching the LessonWelcomeWelcome children at the door. Ask how their week has been—whatthey are pleased/troubled about. Encourage them to share any experiences from last week’s lesson study. Have them begin the readinessactivity of your choice.1Readiness ActivitiesSelect the activity most appropriate for your situation.A. Choices CollageHelp the children draw a line through the center of theirpaper. Then have them cut out pictures of people makinggood and bad choices and glue the good choices to one sideof their paper, and the bad choices to the other side.You Need:q oldmagazinesq scissorsq paperq glue sticksDebriefingAllow responses as you ask: Did you find more peoplemaking good choices or bad choices? Which do youthink it is easier to do? Do you want to make good choices?God is happy when we make good choices because we becomecloser to Him. Jesus wants to help you make good choices. Our Biblestory is about four young men who had to make a choice about whatto eat. Today’s message is:We worship God when we choose good things.Say that with me.B. Food PyramidSupply each child with a food pyramid pattern (see p. 141)and crayons. Have them color the foods in the pyramid. Say:Have you ever seen this before? It is a food pyramid.Do you know what a pyramid is? A pyramid is shapedlike a triangle, and it is strongest and largest on thebottom. This food pyramid tells us what foods are thehealthiest to eat and how much of them we shouldeat. Talk about the different food groups and how many servings a day they should have, etc.You Need:q foodpyramidpattern(see p. 141)q crayonsDebriefingAllow response time as you ask: What is your favorite food? Where isit on the food pyramid? Does that mean you should eat a lot of it orjust a little of it? Why is it important to eat healthy food? Does Jesus52

Lesson 5want us to keep our bodies healthy?Our Bible story is about four friends and the food choices theyhad to make. Jesus is happy when we make good choices because webecome closer to Him. Today’s message is:We worship God when we choose good things.Say that with me.C. Children, May I?This is a twist on the children’s game “Mother, May I.” Have all the childrenstand against the back wall of the room or in a line several feet away from you.Say: I’m going to ask your permission to do different things. Someare good for me. Some are bad for me. If something is good forme, I want you to shout, “Yes, you may!” If it’s bad for me, shout,“No, you may not!” Let’s practice. I’ll ask, “Children, may I hit mymommy?” You’ll say, “No, you may not!” Repeat after me. I’ll say,“Children, may I read the Bible?” You’ll say “Yes, you may!” Repeatafter me.Each time you answer yes, you may take one step forward. Eachtime you answer no, you must take one step backward. Ask variousquestions until everyone is fairly close to you, then ask: “Children, may Igive you a hug?” They’ll probably say yes. Then you will do a group hug.DebriefingAllow response time as you ask: What did you like best about thisgame? Was it because you got to tell me what to do? God isn’t likethat. He lets us make choices.Our Bible story is about four friends who had to choose betweenhealthful food and water that they knew was good for them, or thefood and wine that was not good for them. God is happy when wechoose good things because it makes us closer to Him. Today’s message is:We worship God when we choose good things.Say that with me.*NOTE: Prayer and Praise appears on page 57.53

Lesson 52Bible LessonExperiencing the StoryBut Daniel and his friends looked at oneanother sadly [fingers drooping]. It wasn’tthe kind of food God had said theyshould eat. [Thumb folded; four fingersclose together and waving back and forthas if to say “No.”]So Daniel [wiggle index finger as hetalks] asked Melzar, the king’s servant[thumb pops up], “May my friends [wiggle three fingers] and I eat the kind offood we are used to eating? the kindof food our God has told us to eat?”Melzar [thumb pops up—continue onin the same fashion] liked Daniel, but hedidn’t think Daniel’s idea was a goodone. So he said, “The king ordered youto eat his food. If you get skinny andsick, the king will get rid of me for notdoing my job.”Daniel thought about this and said,“Please test us for 10 days. Give us onlysimple food to eat—food that our Godsays is clean. And give us water to drink.Then see how we look after 10 days.”Melzar agreed [thumb nods yes] tolet Daniel and his friends eat, for 10Read or tell the story.Daniel and his friends were very, very days, the kind of food God told themtired [four fingers of gloved hand drooping; was OK. When the 10 testing days wereup, Daniel and his friends looked verythumb folded on palm]. And they werehealthy and very strong. [Move fourvery, very sad [four fingers drooping].fingers as if they are exercising.] TheyThey had been captured by the king oflooked healthier than the other captivesBabylon, Nebuchadnezzar. [Have thewho had been eating the king’s foodthumb grab the four fingers in the glove.]and drinking the king’s wine. Melzar,He had brought them to his palace tothe servant [pop thumb up], decidedteach them lots of things. [The thumb isstill grabbing the other fingers and march- Daniel and his friends had made a goodchoice. He let them continue to eat theing them along—bobbing up and down.]After they had taken a bath and changed simple food they wanted. [Melzar nodsyes.]into new clothes, the king’s servant,God blessed Daniel and his friendsMelzar [thumb pops up; wiggle thumb[wiggle four fingers] at Kingup and down], said, “Supper is ready.”Nebuchadnezzar’s palace. He helpedDaniel and his friends entered thethem as they studied in Kingdining room. [Thumb folded; four fingersNebuchadnezzar’s school. And on theup straight.] The tables were coveredday the king asked them what they hadwith beautiful, delicious-looking food.Give each child a cloth or plasYou Need: tic glove. Help them draw a simpleface on each of the five fingers ofq cloth orthe glove. The thumb will be bothplasticthe king and Melzar, the index finglovesger Daniel, the other three fingers(optional)Daniel’s friends. Make one for yourq washableself to use also.coloredIf it is too impractical to usemarkersgloves, draw the characters on theq string,fingers and thumb of one hand ofyarn, twine,each child with some washable writribbons,ing material. Or wrap string, yarn,or chenilletwine, ribbons, or chenille wires ofwires ofdifferent colors around each fingerdifferentto represent the different characters.colorsSay: We’re going to tell(optional)today’s story together. Let’s puton our story gloves and begin. Showthe children whom the different fingers represent and how to manipulate their fingersfor the various characters. Tell the childrento follow your actions as you tell the story.54

Lesson 5learned in his school, Daniel and histhree friends responded better and morewisely than all the other wise men in thekingdom. [March fingers around proudly.]DebriefingAllow responses as you ask: Whatchoices did Daniel and his threefriends make? Did they choosegood things or bad things? Do youthink Daniel and his friends werea little scared to ask Melzar if theycould have different food? Whohelped them? Do you think theirchoice made God happy? How didGod help Daniel and his friends?Daniel and his friends had tochoose between obeying God andeating good food, or obeying theking and eating unhealthful food.When we choose to obey God, weare worshiping Him. Remember ourmessage? Let’s say it together:DebriefingAllow response time as you ask:Where were Daniel and his threefriends taken after they werecaptured? What did the king wantthem to eat and drink? What didDaniel and his friends want to eat?How long was their test period?How did they look after the 10days? After three years how didthey do on the king’s test?Do you want to choose goodthings as Daniel and his friendsdid? Remember . . .We worship God whenwe choose good things.Say that with me.Memory Verse(Story glove idea adapted from Saving Your Sanity: ACreative System for Teaching Preschoolers [Loveland, Colo.:Group Publishing, 1997], pp. 84, 85.)Turn to Isaiah 7:15 and say:You Need:This is where we find ourmemory verse in God’s Word,q Biblethe Bible. Read aloud the portionof the verse that is the memory verse.“Reject the wrong and choose theright.” Then proceed to teach thememory verse as outlined below.Bible StudyReject the wrong Shake head noand frown.We worship God whenwe choose good things.Open your Bible toDaniel 1. Point to thetext and say: This isq Biblewhere today’sstory is found in the Bible. Read theverses aloud, paraphrasing as necessary.You Need:and choose Nod head yesthe right.and smile.Isaiah 7:15 Palms together,then open.55