Sunday School 3/22/2020
Youngest Kiddos (or anyone of any age can start here, too... everything will fit together)
Read Daniel 3 and paraphrase it to your kids or if you have a children's bible storybook on hand, you can read the account of what these men experienced.
Depending on the age of your children, here are some topics for discussion:
- King Nebuchadnezzar expected all the people to worship the statue that looked like him. This breaks one of the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:4).
- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship the statue and said that they would only worship God. Worshipping God was the very most important thing to them. Even when they were in a scary situation, worshipping God was still the most important.
- Even my 10-month old is beginning to understand the concept of "HOT." Talk with your kids about how hot a fire is and how the only way you can be sure it won't burn you is to NOT TOUCH IT and STAY AWAY. It's important for our kids to understand they have to use good sense to keep themselves safe, but it's equally important for them to remember that God can help them when they feel scared. This is why it's so important that God is the very most important things to us. Keeping God first and making Him THE most important thing in your family is your kiddos' first line of defense during scary times.
Another idea is watching one or all of these videos (and you can still use the talking points above after you've watched together):
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Fiery Furnace
Read Daniel 3 and paraphrase it to your kids or if you have a children's bible storybook on hand, you can read the account of what these men experienced.
Depending on the age of your children, here are some topics for discussion:
- King Nebuchadnezzar expected all the people to worship the statue that looked like him. This breaks one of the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:4).
- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship the statue and said that they would only worship God. Worshipping God was the very most important thing to them. Even when they were in a scary situation, worshipping God was still the most important.
- Even my 10-month old is beginning to understand the concept of "HOT." Talk with your kids about how hot a fire is and how the only way you can be sure it won't burn you is to NOT TOUCH IT and STAY AWAY. It's important for our kids to understand they have to use good sense to keep themselves safe, but it's equally important for them to remember that God can help them when they feel scared. This is why it's so important that God is the very most important things to us. Keeping God first and making Him THE most important thing in your family is your kiddos' first line of defense during scary times.
Another idea is watching one or all of these videos (and you can still use the talking points above after you've watched together):
This one is a simple paraphrasing of the scriptures. It's about 5 minutes long.
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This one is an excerpt from The Bible miniseries. It takes some liberties, but we've enjoyed watching it together as a family. I think watching a video like this with real people helps our kids (and us as parents, too!) to remember that men like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were just regular, normal, everyday people like we are. And that they actually existed in real life and aren't just part of another cartoon fairytale or adventure story! This video is about 6 minutes long.
The discrepancies between biblical truth and how the creators of this series (and many other movies/shows, books, etc.) added things or left things out is a great opportunity for discussion depending on the age of your kids. "That's not what the Bible says happened... what really happened? See how important it is to read your Bible and know what it really says!"
(The guy with the curly hair that you see early on in the video is Daniel)
(The guy with the curly hair that you see early on in the video is Daniel)
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And... just for fun, Veggietales! Rack, Shack, and Benny - about 30 minutes long
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This is a song we learned a few years back in VBS.
Lyrics
Three good men lived very long ago,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
To an idol they would never bow,
Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego
Into a fiery furnace they were therefore cast
Nebuchadnezzar thought they’d never last
But God was there, He never let them go
Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego
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Activities
- Build a furnace and figures to represent Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego out of Play-Doh, blocks, Legos, etc. Or make a furnace out of pillows, blankets, and furniture and let your stuffed animals pretend to be Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
- Something as simple as drawing or painting a scene to represent this account from the Bible can be fun and make it more memorable.
- If the weather permits (and you can do so safely), build a fire outside. Any size will do. Observe the fire with your kids. Feel the heat coming from it, look at how bright the flames are, smell the smoke. Especially notice the smell of the smoke and how quickly you begin to smell it, even in an open, outdoor setting. Most of the time, you can smell smoke on your clothes and hair even if you're near the fire for only a short time. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were actually IN the fire... a HUGE fire! And when they came out, not only were they not burned, their clothes didn't even SMELL like smoke! Amazing! (Bonus points if you use this opportunity to roast marshmallows!)
Older Kiddos (probably best suited for 10 and up, but, of course, everyone can listen)
Sunday School lesson via Vimeo
Talking points and interesting information for your family
- I mentioned briefly about Daniel's and his companions' names. Daniel was given a Babylonian name as well - Belteshazzar - but we know him by his original Hebrew name. Their names were changed because of their meanings: Daniel means "God is my judge;" Shadrach's Hebrew name was Hananiah, which means "God has favored;" Meshach's Hebrew name was Mishael, which means "Who is like God?"; and Abednego's Hebrew name was Azariah which means "God has helped." No wonder Nebuchadnezzar wanted them to forget about their old names! Kinda makes me want to call them by those names instead of their Babylonian ones!
- Something else I mentioned in passing is that Israel witnessed many great things and saw as God provided for them miraculously and still they turned away from God time after time. Psalm 78 is great companion reading for that point and also pretty timely for us now.
- At the end of the video I challenged everyone to write down the two commandments Jesus named in Matthew 22: 37, 39 or at least to write down the words "LOVE GOD" and "LOVE OTHERS" to display somewhere in their homes. In this confusing and potentially frightening time we're all living in right now, these simple, straightforward words are a comfort and a blessing to me. It's helpful to me when I find myself mixed up and overwhelmed to just take a minute to slow down and remind myself of these foundational instructions.
I also mentioned that you could discuss as families what that could mean in a practical sense. How can your family or each of you as individuals put those commandments into action? Remember that real love isn't just a word, it has to be an active, living thing. Love isn't what you say, it's what you do. Many times LOVE equals SERVE or loving is shown through serving. Discuss some ways you and your family can do that. Even the seemingly small things matter.
And just for fun... 😁
- Something as simple as drawing or painting a scene to represent this account from the Bible can be fun and make it more memorable.
- If the weather permits (and you can do so safely), build a fire outside. Any size will do. Observe the fire with your kids. Feel the heat coming from it, look at how bright the flames are, smell the smoke. Especially notice the smell of the smoke and how quickly you begin to smell it, even in an open, outdoor setting. Most of the time, you can smell smoke on your clothes and hair even if you're near the fire for only a short time. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were actually IN the fire... a HUGE fire! And when they came out, not only were they not burned, their clothes didn't even SMELL like smoke! Amazing! (Bonus points if you use this opportunity to roast marshmallows!)
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Older Kiddos (probably best suited for 10 and up, but, of course, everyone can listen)
Sunday School lesson via Vimeo
Talking points and interesting information for your family
- I mentioned briefly about Daniel's and his companions' names. Daniel was given a Babylonian name as well - Belteshazzar - but we know him by his original Hebrew name. Their names were changed because of their meanings: Daniel means "God is my judge;" Shadrach's Hebrew name was Hananiah, which means "God has favored;" Meshach's Hebrew name was Mishael, which means "Who is like God?"; and Abednego's Hebrew name was Azariah which means "God has helped." No wonder Nebuchadnezzar wanted them to forget about their old names! Kinda makes me want to call them by those names instead of their Babylonian ones!
- Something else I mentioned in passing is that Israel witnessed many great things and saw as God provided for them miraculously and still they turned away from God time after time. Psalm 78 is great companion reading for that point and also pretty timely for us now.
- At the end of the video I challenged everyone to write down the two commandments Jesus named in Matthew 22: 37, 39 or at least to write down the words "LOVE GOD" and "LOVE OTHERS" to display somewhere in their homes. In this confusing and potentially frightening time we're all living in right now, these simple, straightforward words are a comfort and a blessing to me. It's helpful to me when I find myself mixed up and overwhelmed to just take a minute to slow down and remind myself of these foundational instructions.
I also mentioned that you could discuss as families what that could mean in a practical sense. How can your family or each of you as individuals put those commandments into action? Remember that real love isn't just a word, it has to be an active, living thing. Love isn't what you say, it's what you do. Many times LOVE equals SERVE or loving is shown through serving. Discuss some ways you and your family can do that. Even the seemingly small things matter.
And just for fun... 😁
MercyMe - Happy Dance
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Be blessed, friends!
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