fear

Halloween – Enjoy the Fun; Talk about the Fear

I was busy making ghost costumes for my 3 young boys when Betty Rich called and asked what I was doing. I was embarrassed to tell her. She was such a Godly lady, I thought she would surely be disappointed in me for allowing my children to participate in the holiday. However, I still marvel at her wisdom in the comment she made that day, “Sheilah, don’t make your children so different from the world that the world doesn’t want what you have.” I have heeded that advice through the years and applied it in numerous situations. With that in mind, we enjoy the innocent fun at Halloween.

But some things that go on at this time go beyond fun and can cause fear in children. Thus, this is a great opportunity to use the fear to teach scriptures about the power of Jesus. You could start by saying that there are bad spirits in the world, but we don’t have to be afraid of them if we believe in Jesus because of 1 John 4:4 “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won your fight with these false prophets, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.“

Emphasize this is why it is important to stay close to God because He is greater than the bad spirits. In fact, they are afraid of Him and the Bible says that at the name of Jesus they have to run away (Philip. 2:10 “so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”) He said we can use His name to tell the bad spirits to go away (Mark 3:15 “and he gave them authority to cast out demons.”) Talk to them about the power of using the name ‘Lord Jesus Christ’.

God has given us good spirits called angels to watch over us (Psalm 91:11-12 “For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.”) All of Psalm 91 is about God’s protection – good psalm for us parents to memorize.

Choose at least one scripture to memorize with your children that they can quote when they feel fearful. Two that I always use with children are:
Joshua 1:9 “I command you—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Psalm 56:3 “What time I am afraid, I will trust in God.”

Tell them the story of when Jesus used scripture to battle the devil (Luke 4) Emphasize that there is power in the Word (Isaiah 55:11 “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”)

Tell them that God doesn’t want us to be afraid (2 Tim. 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”)

A good book to teach children to use this holiday to celebrate God’s victory over evil spirits is Halloween: Is It for Real? by Harold Myra

Please check out Ministry to Children for great insights and ideas to help use Halloween to emphasize trusting Jesus.

Share

Trust

(This is a lesson from Here a Little, There a Little, a compilation of Bible activities I created to use with my preschool children. It was designed to spend a week memorizing the verse and reinforcing it through Bible lessons and activities.)

 

Trust

Bible Verse: What time I am afraid I will trust in God.  Psalm 56:3


Bible Stories:

Psalm 56 Some mean men were fighting against David.  They wanted to hurt him.  David became afraid, but he remembered that when he was afraid he could trust God.  So David said, “What time I am afraid I will trust in God..”  Then David knew that it didn’t matter what men tried to do to him because God was protecting him.

Luke 2:8-14 Remember the shepherds watching the sheep the night Jesus was born?  The Bible said that they were afraid when they saw the angel that appeared to them.  The angel said, “Don’t be afraid for I bring you good news about Jesus.”  The shepherds learned what time they were afraid to trust in God.

2 Corinthians 11 – 12:10 Paul went through many problems.  He was in prison; he was beaten; he had a wreck in a boat 3 times; some men took all he had and hurt him.  Paul had times of being hungry, thirsty, and cold.  But through all that, even though he was afraid many times, he knew to trust God to make him strong in the midst of all these problems.  Paul learned what time he was afraid to trust in God.

Genesis 14 A bad king had taken Abraham’s nephew, Lot.  Abraham knew he must do something to help Lot.  The bad king had many, many men to help him, but Abraham had only a few to help him.   However, Abraham received a promise from God that He would take care of his enemies.  Abraham didn’t have to be afraid of all those men who were going to help the bad king,  he could trust God to take care of him and his family.

Daniel 6:7-23 The king gave an order that no one was to pray to anyone but him or they would be put in the lions den.  Daniel loved God very much and he knew that the Bible said to always pray to God and only God – no one else.  So Daniel continued to pray to God and the king threw him into the lions den.  Daniel knew that when he was afraid he could trust in God, so he trusted God right there in the lions den and do you know what happened?  Instead of the lions biting Daniel like the king thought they would, God shut the mouths of the lions so they couldn’t hurt Daniel!!!


Prayer: Thank you, God,  that we can trust in You at all times in every situation.


Activities:

Make a clock face out of a paper plate and a brad to hold the clock hands on.  Write the Bible verse on the clock and hang it in a prominent place like on the refrigerator door.

Pretend together with toys, dolls, stuffed animals and that one of them is afraid. Talk about trusting in God whenever he’s afraid.

Spend time all week talking to God about a problem the child or family has. (ex. going to potty, finances, afraid of the dark, etc)  Talk about trusting God to take care of the problem.  Talk about trusting God anytime, anywhere, and with any problem.

Act out Genesis 14 with army men using many to represent king’s army and only a few for David’s.

Act out Daniel 6:7-23 in the lions den.  You could use stuffed animals for lions or make lion masks out of paper plates and yarn for the manes.

 

Songs:

Put the verse to music for easy memorizing.  Compose your own tune or use a familiar one.  Here’s mine to the tune of  ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’: What Time I Am Afraid

You can find cd’s of scripture put to music.  Steve Green has some especially for children:
Hide ’em in Your Heart Vol. 1 (This volume has Psalm 56:3 on it)
Hide ’em in Your Heart Vol. 2
Steve Green: Hide ’em in Your Heart: 13 Bible Memory Music Videos for Children of All Ages [VHS]

Books:

Find these stories in a children’s Bible.  If you don’t have one, check here or here for some good ones.  Below are two of my favorites:
The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes
Read and Share Bible

Arch Books has a book about many, many Bible stories.  Begin building your library with these colorfully illustrated paperbacks
Daniel in the Lions Den: Daniel 6 for Children (Arch Books)

Share

Halloween: Enjoy the Fun – Use the Fear

I was busy making ghost costumes for my 3 young boys when Betty Rich called and asked what I was doing.  I was embarrassed to tell her.  She was such a Godly lady, I thought she would surely be disappointed in me for allowing my children to participate in the holiday.  However, I still marvel at her wisdom in the comment she made that day, “Sheilah, don’t make your children so different from the world that the world doesn’t want what you have.”  I have heeded that advice through the years and applied it in numerous situations. With that in mind, we enjoy the innocent fun at Halloween.

But some things that go on at this time go beyond fun and can cause fear in children.  Thus, this is a great opportunity to use the fear to teach scriptures about the power of Jesus. You could start by saying that there are bad spirits in the world, but we don’t have to be afraid of them if we believe in Jesus because of 1 John 4:4 “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won your fight with these false prophets, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.“

Emphasize this is why it is important to stay close to God because He is greater than the bad spirits.  In fact, they are afraid of Him and the Bible says that at the name of Jesus they have to run away (Philip. 2:10 “so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”) He said we can use His name to tell the bad spirits to go away (Mark 3:15 “and he gave them authority to cast out demons.”) Talk to them about the power of using the name ‘Lord Jesus Christ’.

God has given us good spirits called angels to watch over us  (Psalm 91:11-12 “For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.”) All of Psalm 91 is about God’s protection – good psalm to memorize.

Choose at least one scripture to memorize with them that they can quote when they feel fearful.  Two that I always use with children are:
Joshua 1:9 “I command you—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Psalm 56:3  “What time I am afraid, I will trust in God.”

Tell them the story of when Jesus used scripture to battle the devil (Luke 4) Emphasize that there is power in the Word (Isaiah 55:11 “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”)

Tell them that God doesn’t want us to be afraid (2 Tim. 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”)

A good book to teach children to use this holiday to celebrate God’s victory over evil spirits is Halloween: Is It for Real? by Harold Myra

Please check out http://www.ministry-to-children.com for great insights and ideas to help use Halloween to emphasize trusting Jesus.

Share