Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
Science (or Games) Workshop
Message: God is Big Enough for ALL the Hurt
Activity: Children will build waterways to transport water from “point A” to the ground (a bush or new plant, perhaps).
Materials:
- Gutters
- Wooden blocks
- Buckets; cups
- Other random building accessories
- Water
- Paper
- Pencils
* In case of bad weather, extra buckets and orbeez (water beads) will be provided for inside play.
Set Up:
- Divide materials in two groups
- Have water in buckets/watering cans
Lesson:
- Children sit in circle in Bowling Alley with CREATE children to hear Bible Story (see below)
- Take MOVE children outside; Divide into 2 groups
- Tell them they need to get the water from the bucket to the plant using the materials they have
- Give them about 10 min to create and experiment
- Have each group “Show and Tell”
- Ask: (ideas of possible answers – no answers are right or wrong!)
- What did you do (literally)? (built water chutes; put gutters together to make water slides…)
- How did it go? (we worked well together; “so and so” wouldn’t listen to our ideas, and that made it hard to work together; we tried x, y, z things before we found what worked…)
- I wonder what this has to do with the Bible Story? (it was like a fountain of tears flowing to God; the ground is like God and can absorb all of our tears and prayers…)
- I wonder what that has to do with life? (God cares about us and wants to know what is upsetting to us; God is there for us when we are sad and angry and hurting; God is big enough to hold all our pain and everyone else’s; We can share our pain with God through prayer…) - If time, have them write a prayer on a small piece of paper and send it down the water chute.
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
18 God, I am very sad and afraid.
19 Listen to my people.
Everywhere in this country, people are crying for help.
They say, “Is the Lord still at Zion?
Is Zion’s King still there?”
But God says,
“The people of Judah worshiped their worthless foreign idols.
That made me very angry!
Why did they do that?”
20 And the people say,
“Harvest time is over.
Summer is gone,
and still we have not been saved.”
21 My people are hurt, so I am hurt.
I am too sad to speak.
22 Surely there is some medicine in Gilead.
Surely there is a doctor in Gilead.
So why are the wounds of my people not healed?
9 If my head were filled with water,
and if my eyes were a fountain of tears,
I would cry day and night for my people who have been destroyed.
1 Timothy 2:1-3 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
God Wants Us to Pray for Everyone
2 First of all, I ask that you pray for all people. Ask God to bless them and give them what they need. And give thanks. 2 You should pray for rulers and for all who have authority. Pray for these leaders so that we can live quiet and peaceful lives—lives full of devotion to God and respect for him. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior.
