2026-02-01 The Ten Commandments Show Us God's Ways

Introduction

Today’s lesson emphasizes a major theme inteaches the Bible justification in faith alone. As sinners, we are worthyimportance of the Ten Commandments. The purpose of the Ten Commandments is to show God’s punishment,holiness, goodness, and righteousness. It also shows how we cannotfall “earn”short our salvation through good works. We can only be saved by trusting inmeeting God’s savingstandards provision.through Abrahamour showsown hisefforts faithand byour trustingneed infor God’sa promises.perfect, law-keeping Saviour.  

Praise and Worship (15 mins)

Parents: The parent and child scheduled for this week will lead us in singing on Sunday. Please take time to practice the songs together at home, helping your child feel confident and joyful as they prepare to lead.

Suggested Songs:

• GreatLord isI ThyLife FaithfulnessYour Name on High

• Jesus Loves Me

Prayer and Offering (5 mins)

Parents: Please encourage your children to bring an offering to church. You may help your child prepare by setting aside a coin for them to bring on Sunday. This is a great opportunity to teach them about giving to God with a thankful heart and trusting Him to provide.

What is Offering?

Offering is when we give something to God to show our love and thankfulness. In church, we often give money as an offering, but we can also give our time, talents, and kindness to God and others.

Why Do We Make an Offering?

To Thank God – Everything we have comes from God! Giving back is a way to say, "Thank You, God!"
To Trust God – When we give, we show that we trust God to take care of us.
To Help Others – Offerings help the church teach about Jesus, help people in need, and share God's love.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:7,
"God loves a cheerful giver!" That means God is happy when we give with a joyful heart!

Prayer for Offering

Dear God, thank You for giving us everything we need. We want to give back to You with joyful hearts. Please use our offering to help others and share Your love. Help us to always trust You. In Jesus' name, Amen!

Review 

• Teacher: “LastWe’ve week,been welearning learneda about promises. We learned God makes lots of promises and He always keepskeep them. SomeWhat were some of Godthe promises arewe for good things, other promises are warnings.learned?”
• Teacher: “Why did God send a flood over the whole world?”
• (Expected response: BecauseGod peoplenever didflooding notthe world again, God promising to give Abraham lots and lots of children and He will love them all forever)
  
• Teacher: “Last week, we learned about Abraham and trustSarah. God)We learned that Abraham always trusted God even when it was hard to do so. What were some of the ways Abraham showed he trusted God?” 
• (Expected response: left their home and moved to a new place, sacrificed Isaac) 
• Teacher: “DidThere everyoneis diea inspecial theword flood?for when we trust God with all our heart. Do you remember that word?”
•  (Expected response: Noah and his family survived)faith)
• Teacher: “ButBecause weren’tAbraham Noahhad so much faith in God, God made a very special promise to Abraham: He promised to give Abraham many, many grandchildren, and hisgreat familygrandchildren, sinnersand too?great-great Whatgrandchildren- madeas themmany different?as there are stars in the sky. And God will bless everyone in Abraham’s family.”
• (Expected“Isn’t response:that Noah trustedwonderful? God tois fixso hispowerful sinfuland heart)
  great, He can love so many people at once!”

Bible Story (10 min)

Introduction (2 min)

Props Needed:

• Sand
Classroom
• Magnifying glasses
• Teaspoon
• Small plastic container
• Small bucket
• Check out lesson materialrules

Teacher: " I need some help. Can you help me count out 10 grains of sand?" 

(OfferReview magnifyingclass glassroom to volunteers to help)rules)

Teacher: " Can“Do you countthink outit’s 20fair grainsif ofI sand?"punished you for breaking these rules if I didn’t tell you about them first?”

(LetExpected volunteersresponse: count)No!)

Teacher: "How many grains of sand do you think is in the spoons? In this container? In this bucket?"

(Allow children to guess)

Teacher: "That“That’s right, it’s not fair at all. A good teacher should explain the rules. If someone does something that isn’t nice, but they didn’t know it wasn’t nice and was punished for it, that is anot lotfair.”

of

“Rules sand!are Didvery youimportant- knowthey tell us how to think, say, and act. God oncegave madeus asome promisevery toimportant arules.” man that he would have a family so big, that number would be greater than the grains of sand on the entire seashore?"

Story Telling (5 min)

Props / Visuals Suggested:

• StoryTen ofCommandments Abrahamwritten visuals (JWS_E-display_Visuals_Lesson_9)
• Heart cut from blackon construction paper
• Heart cut from red construction paper"tablets"

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Teacher:

• “AfterGod thekept flood,His the world beganpromise to fill with people again. Because NoahAbraham and hisgave him many, many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. One of Abraham’s family were sinners, all the people born after the flood were also sinners. Two of these people were Abram and Sarai. Abrammembers was Noah'sa great-great-great-great-greatman grandson”
  
named
• (Show Abram and Sarai visual)Moses.”
• “Moses was very special. God toldchose AbramMoses to leavelead histhe homeIsraelites out of Egypt and travel tointo a special place far, far away. God promised Abram a great reward: God will make Abram the father of a great nation of many people. But how can Abram be a father? He and Sarai don’t have any children! God promised He would give Abram and Sarai a baby boy. As a sign of God’s promise, God gave Abram and Sarai new names- their new names are Abraham and Sarah.”
• “Abraham knew God is the most special person of all. Abraham trusted God to keep his promise. Abraham and Sarah left their home and moved to the special place Godhas prepared for them. God keptalso Hischose promiseMoses andto Abrahamgive andthe Sarahpeople the special rules God had afor babythem. boyThese namedspecial Isaac.”rules
  
are
• (Showcalled Isaacthe visual)
10
• “When Isaac was a young boy, God told Abraham to kill Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice instead of an animal.Commandments.”
• “DoThe you remember why people during Bible timesIsraelites needed to sacrificeknow anwhat animal?”
God’s
• (Expectedrules response:were. EveryoneJust islike afor sinner.us, Weit’s hard to know how to behave in class if we don’t know the rules, God needed to tell the animal’sIsraelites bloodthe wasrules usedfor how to coverthink, thesay, sinsand ofdo. theGod people.)
gave
• “Dothese you think Abraham wantedrules to kill Isaac?”
• (Expected response: No!)
• “Abraham trusted God with all his heart and obeyed him. In the Bible, it said” Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But an angel of the Lord called to him from the heavens and said ‘Abraham, Abraham! Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him.”
• “When God saw Abraham was willing to sacrifice his own son, He knew Abraham trusted and obeyed Him. God was very happy with Abraham. God sent a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead of his son.”
• (Show ram visual)
• “Abraham was a sinner- just like Abel and Noah. He knew he couldn’t fix his sinful heart.”
• (Show Abram visual with a dark heart)
• “Abraham believed that God was the most special person of all,Moses so he trustedcan teach it to the Israelites. There were 10 rules and we’re going to learn about them.”
  • “Rule #1: There’s one God! Listen to Him.”
    • (Hold up one finger for one God)
  • “Rule #2: No fake gods. Sometimes, people try to make things that look like God and obeyedthen Him.they Heworship trustedthose thatthings Godare wouldpretend provideit IS God. That’s silly! Don’t make a sacrifice-pretend theGod.” ram- to cover Abraham’s sinful heart.”
  • (CoverHold the2 darkfingers heartlike onscissors, thepretend Abramto visual“cut” without apretend redgods)
  heart)
  • “WhenRule #3: God’s name is special, don’t use it like any other word. We want to ‘watch our words.’”
    • (Hold 3 fingers to form a “W” for ‘watch your words’)
  • “Rule #4: Take time on Sunday to rest and focus on God. What is one way we trustcan Goddo that?”
    • (Hold 4 fingers, say ‘we drive to church on Sundays, your car has 4 wheels’)
  • “Rule #5: Respect your mom and dad”
    • (Hold 5 fingers, moving to salute- we salute people we respect)
  • “Rule #6: Don’t kill anyone.”
    • (Hold up 5 fingers on one hand, 1 finger with allthe ourother. heart,“Stab” that’s called having faith. God was pleasedsomeone with Abraham’sthe faithsingle finger)
  • “Rule #7: Respect marriage. When people like moms and madedads get married, they make a very special promise to him.love Godeach promisedother forever.”
    • (Hold up 5 fingers on one hand, 2 fingers with the other. Point to giveeyes Abraham many, many grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren- as many as there are stars inwith the sky2 andfingers grainsto of“look sandonly onat the beach.person Godyou willlove”)
    also
    bless everyone in Abraham’s family because of Abraham’s faith.”
  • “AllRule #8: Don’t steal. We don’t take things without asking.”
    • (Hold up 4 fingers on each hand, make “raking” motion as if taking something)
  • “Rule #9: Tell the truth, don’t tell lies.”
    • (Hold up 5 fingers on one hand, 4 fingers with the other. Cup your hands together as if whispering in someone’s ear.)
  • “Rule #10: Be happy with what you have, don’t be jealous of theseothers.
    • (Hold up 5 fingers on each hand, make “gimme, gimme” motion)
• “After receiving the Ten Commandments, the people of Israel said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will lovedo, and trust God, just like Abraham. And Godwe will tellbe everyone that these are My special people and My friends. God is so powerful and has so much love, He can love many, many people at once and save them. God made that promise to Abraham a long time ago and God is still keeping that promise today.obedient.’”

 

Wrap-up & Discussion (3 min)

(Gather children close for reflection.)

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Discussion Questions:

Question 1: "Why "Dodo you think God wantsgave tous sharethese His love and joy with just a few people or with lots and lots of people?rules?"

(Wait for responses.)

Expected Response: "LotsSo ofwe people!know what to do!"

Teacher Follow-up: "“God isknows we need to be told what His rules are. Do you remember the rule He told Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? He told them not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve knew the rule and broke it so special,they wonderful,were great,punished. andIf powerful.God Hehad ispunished ablethem towithout lovetelling andthem savethe asrule, manythat peoplewould asnot Hebe chooses."fair.”

---

 

Question 2: (Show a cookies cutter) "HowIf didI Abrahamwere showto thatuse hethis reallyto trustsmake God?cookies, what shape would the cookies be? Why?"

(Wait for responses.)

Expected Response:  "HeCookie leftcutters hismake homeeverything ORthe hesame sacrificed Isaac"shape!"

Teacher Follow-up: "Abraham was“Because probablyGod reallyis scaredholy, righteous, and good, His commands are going to leave‘be shaped’ like His character. That means his homerules to go live somewhere else. Heare also lovedholy, Isaac really, really much. He probably didn’t want to sacrifice Isaac. But Abraham had faith in Godrighteous, and remembered all the good things God has done for him."good.”

"When we get scared or have a hard time trusting in God, we can think back on all the good things God has done to give us confidence that God can always be trusted."

 

Question 3: "Can“What youis thinkthe offirst another Father that sacrificed their son, just like when Abraham sacrificed Isaac?"commandment?”

(Wait for responses.)

Expected Response:response: "“There is only one God!”

Teacher Follow-up: “The first commandment says there is only one God sacrificedand Jesus”we (notshould likelyonly tolove getand worship Him. When we obey this response)commandment, we are showing God that we believe He is more special than any other thing or person. We are saying ‘God is the best, He is the greatest! I love God most of all!”

 

Question #4: “After hearing God’s rules, the Israelites said they would obey them. Do you think that really happened?”

(Wait for responses.)

Expected response: “Probably not!”

Teacher Follow-up: "“Do you think God sacrificedis OK if we only followed some of His Son,rules Jesus,and onnot all of them?”

Expected response: “No”

Teacher Follow-up: “God’s laws and rules are holy (perfect), right, and good- just like He is- so God expects that people obey all of His commands. Following God’s commands might seem like it is very hard to do, and it sounds like a lot of work- maybe even too much work for some people. Next week, we are going to find out if the crossIsraelites forreally ourdid sins.say Eventhey thoughwould Godand lovedobeyed Jesus very much, God loves us even more. Jesus dying on the cross is the best sacrifice- even better than an animal sacrifice- because it covers ALL our sins. Becauseall of Jesus’God’s sacrifice, we don’t have to sacrifice an animal every time we sin; Jesus’ sacrifice is enough."commands.”

 

Closing Prayer for Bible Story

(Invite children to bow their heads and fold their hands.)

Teacher leads prayer:

"Dear God, 

Thank Youyou for being soholy, greatrighteous, and powerful that You can love so many people.good. Thank you for givingYour us the wonderful promises of salvation.commandments. Help us tosee alwaysand stayunderstand faithfulwhy Your commandments are important and help us to Youobey likethem Abrahamalways. and to trust in You when we are afraid.

In Jesus' name, Amen."

Memory Verse: PsalmRomans 86:97:12

PsalmRomans 86:97:12 

"AllSo the nationslaw youis have made shall comeholy, and worshipthe beforecommandment you,is Ois Lord,holy, righteous, and shall glorify your name.'good."

Teacher:

• “Our memory verse today comes from PsalmRomans 86:9:7:12: ‘AllSo the nationslaw youis have made shall comeholy, and worshipthe beforecommandment you,is O Lord,holy and shallrighteous glorifyand your name.good.’ “
  
• “AllDo you know what the nationsword in‘holy’ thismeans? verseIt meanmeans allperfect, peoplewithout fromany allmistakes, overand the world. Can you name a country that is not Canada?special.”
• (Can bring out a globe or world map, wait for children to respond)
• “This meansBible verse is saying because God wantsis theholy, boysrighteous, and girlsgood, inHis [insertcommands countriesare childrenalso mentioned]holy, to know who He isrighteous, and how special He is.”
• “To help us remember the verse, we can use some actions:good.”
  • All(Before class, write the nations:out usingthe bothfollowing hands, each hand drawing halfon a circlewhiteboard: 
  • youS__ havethe madel__w shallis come:ho__y, beckonand withthe handco__man__ment asis if__oly sayingand "comerigh__eous and __ood.
  • Write the missing letters (o, a, l, m, d, t, h, g) on small pieces of paper and worship before you: put handsin a bag. Invite children to pick a letter and tape it to the correct place on the whiteboard. Read the verse together asonce ifit praying
  is
  • O Lord, and shall glorify your name: clap right palm onto the left, as you bring the right hand back to your side, wiggle the fingers as if light beamsletters are shiningfilled out from it (ASL sign for “glory”)in).
• (Repeat the verse usingseveral actions)times)

Activity (10 mins)

Craft: "Star10 inCommandments thePuzzle" Sky Memory Verse" (5 minutes)

Materials Needed:

• Black10 constructionCommandment paperPuzzle Handout
  
• Yellow/ white tissue paper (cut into small squares
• White crayons/ colouredColoured pencils
• GlueScissors

Teacher: "God told Abraham to look up to the sky. God promised he will give Abraham as many grandchildren, great grandchildren, great-great grandchildren as thereWe are starsgoing in the sky. God will bless all of Abraham's family because of Abraham's faith."

"Today, we willto make a starpuzzle to remindhelp us God created everyone on earth and we should worship God because He isremember the most10 special person of all!Commandments."

Instructions:

1. DrawColour athe starpuzzle outline onto black construction paper. pieces
2. WriteCut theout memory versepieces (All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. Psalm 86:9) on it- olderyounger children canmay writeneed the memory verse themselves.assistance)
3. HandReview out10 smallcommandments squaresby ofassembling yellow/ white tissue paper. Have children scrunch the tissue paper into small balls and glue them to “colour” the star.puzzle

Response Song

"Before we close, let's sing a song to help us remember what we learned today! This song is about faith and trusting God."

 

Snack Time (10 mins)

Snack Prayer

(After the closing prayer, prepare for snack time. Have children stay seated or move to snack tables. Before eating, lead them in the snack prayer.)

Teacher: "Before we eat, let's thank God for our snack."

"Now, let us thank You for the snack we're about to enjoy.
We fold our hands.
We bow our heads.
We thank You, God,
for this daily bread.
Amen."

During Snack Time

Conversation Starters for Snack Time:
While children are eating, you can ask these casual questions to reinforce the lesson:

• "Can anyone tell me what we learned about today?"
• "Where can we find our memory verses?"
• "WhatWhich of the Ten Commandments do you think is the name of Abraham's wife? His son?"
• "If God asked youhardest to leave your home and move somewhere far away from your family like he asked Abraham to do, would you do it?obey?" 
• "God wants everyone in the world to know how special He is, what are some ways we can show our family and friends how special God is?"
  
• "What was your favorite part of today's lesson?"

Remember: Keep the conversation light and friendly during snack time. This is also a good time for children to relax and socialize.

Free Time & Children Pickup (15 mins)

Activity Suggestions:

• Free play with toys or blocks
  
• Review memory verses one more time with interested children
• Quiet reading of Bible story books
• Simple puzzles or games
• Drawing pictures of today's story

Parent Communication:
As parents arrive to pick up their children, briefly share one highlight from today's lesson. For example: "Today we learned about the 10 Commandments today. Because God choseis Abrahamholy, to be his friendrighteous, and givesgood, AbrahamHis faithcommandments toare trustalso inholy, Him.righteous, and good." Encourage parents to review the memory verses at home and discuss what it means to have faith in God.