Do All to the Glory of God 1 Corinthians 10:31 KJV - Sunday School Lesson

1 Corinthians 10:31 KJV says "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." This is a hard concept to grasp at any age. Yes, we know that we are suppose to do everything to the glory of God, but how can what we eat and drink be done for God?

Teaching Sunday school children early that doing everything for the glory of God is a way of life instead of just occasionally, will help them to grow to become strong in the Lord and have a wonderful relationship with Him along the way.

Do All to the Glory of God

When beginning this Sunday school lesson, you will need to keep in mind that gentle reminders are a great way to get the point across. Also, a great way to keep kids on track during the week is to text them or email mail them. There are very few children nowadays that do no have cell phones, iPods, iPads, computers, etc. Use these devices to keep in touch during the week:)

As kids come into class today, have them write down any information you may need to get in touch with them. If needed, ask for the parents numbers or email addresses. Then, let the parents know you will be sending out texts or emails to the kids during the week. Most parents will LOVE this idea and welcome it! Also, it lets parents know what their children are learning and can help encourage them:)

What to Do:

Before class, come up with several scenarios that your kids can relate to such as: being bossy, sneaking extra cookies, skipping church to ride bikes, throwing rocks at the neighbors dog, and so on. Also, come up with a few good scenarios such as helping mom carry in groceries, putting shoes away, picking up toys, sharing, and so on.

Now, we are going to use these scenarios to get the idea of doing everything for God rolling!

Begin by mixing up the good and bad scenarios and asking the kids if they believe the scenario is doing something for God or not. This will help to get their train of thought working.

Now, ask, "Do you think that stuffing yourself with a whole extra-large pizza can be done for the glory of God?"

The answer of course is 'no'.

God did not design our bodies to be stuffed full at every meal. He gave us food to sustain us and to enjoy, but not to overeat.

Ask, "What about smoking or drugs?"

1 Corinthians 3:16 KJV

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

 

We are to treat our bodies like the temple of God it is! Overeating, smoking, drugs, and other corrupt things were not meant to be used by our bodies.

Now, ask, "Since we know that putting things inside our bodies that shouldn't be there is not glorifying God, what do you think about what you drink?"

Of course many children will know that alcohol will not glorify God, but what about other drinks? God wants us to enjoy what we drink as long as it isn't hurting us, but drinking sodas, sugary drinks, and other drinks that were not designed by God for us to drink can harm us if drank in over abundance! Believe it or not, drinking too much water or milk can even harm our bodies!

Read about the risks of drinking too much milk here.
Read about the risks of drinking too much water here.

We are to partake food and drinks to sustain us and not for gluttony or to look cool.

What Else?

There are ways to glorify God in all that we do even as children. Have the kids think about their every day activities: soccer, basketball, fishing, hunting, school, and so on.

Express the importance of using all of their activities for God. All of our actions, words, and motions we portray can let others see God in us. We can let God shine in us so others may want to know more about God.

Have you ever heard the saying, "I like your God, but I don't like your Christians?"

This can be very true about so many non-Christians. Non-Christians look at us and can't see Jesus anywhere in us! What a sad thought.

Think about it...

How often do we gripe, complain, grouch, yell, get angry, and so on. These are not attributes of God.

Philippians 2:14 KJV

 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

 

 

We are all guilty of these things, but because of God's mercy, we can ask forgiveness and start again! Praise the Lord we serve a loving God!

 

I learned a lot myself from this Sunday school lesson!

 

 

Image of reading the bible courtesy of Photo-Monique

Image of basketball courtesy of Ixitixel



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Fruit of the Spirit - Sunday School Lesson

Learning about the fruit of the spirit at a young age will help your Sunday school children grow to live a more Godly life. Without the basic knowledge of how God expects us to live, children may never grow to let God shine through and may even come short of the glory of God.

Fruit of the Spirit
Photo Courtesy of Yosarian, Wikimedia

While learning to get by in this world is a necessity, our eternal life is the most important thing children need to know about and how to share that knowledge with others.

That being said, let's begin our Sunday school lesson about the fruit of the spirit.

What Are the Fruits of the Spirit?

The fruit of the spirit can be found in Galatians 5:22-23. I've added the verse below for you.

 

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

²³ Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

 

 

There are 9 elements to the fruit of the spirit as you can see in the verses above. For younger children, you may have to work on two at a time while older children can do three, four or even five one week and finish up the others in the weeks to come.

 

Trying to do all 9 in one lesson may result in the kids forgetting them or even becoming confused.

 

One of the best ways to learn all of the fruits is by learning them just as they are in the bible. Start with the first part of the verse - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness.

 

Again, if you have smaller children, just work on two - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy.

 

Many kids learn visually, so having these printed on a large piece of poster board will be your best option. Of course, if you have a black board or a dry erase board, those will work great too.

 

Print this on the board...

 

But the

fruit of the Spirit

is

love

joy

peace

longsuffering

gentleness

 





Don't add the other fruits until you are ready. Having too much on the poster board will only cause confusion.

 

When the kids have learned the first part, then and only then should you move on to the last part of the verse...

 

goodness

faith

meekness

temperance

against such there is no law.

 

 

So, what do these fruits mean?

 

Meaning of the Fruit of the Spirit

 



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First, it is important to know that God calls them the fruit of the spirit not 'fruits'. The best way to
describe this is to say that it is ONE fruit with nine elements. The first three elements are in relation to God. The second three are in relation to man. The last three are in relation to one's (inner) self.

 

If you'd like to study these using the elements above, only do three each time you meet that way you can talk about the relation to God, man, and one's self as well.

 

We'll start with the first one and go through all nine. I've listed them below in case you need them.

 

• love - to be self-sacrificing and show a Christlike love.
• joy - to have an inner rejoicing in the Lord.
• peace - to have the peace (salvation) that only Christ can give and no one can take it away.
• longsuffering - showing patience in times of trouble or suffering especially when those troubles are brought on by other people such as being provoked.
• gentleness - to be kind, gracious, tender, and mild
• goodness - always ready to do good and to be moral
• faith - being true to his promise and tasks he performs
• meekness - having controlled strength and listening to hear God
• temperance - self-control

And, last but not least, the end of the verse. What does 'against such there is no law' mean?

 

This means that there is no law that says you can not possess these virtues. There are so many laws in this world telling us what we can and can't do, it is good to know that no man can take these things away from us.







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Teach Bible Verses as Your Sunday School Lessons

Sunday school lessons can be taught using many different techniques. Not every Sunday school class has to be the same. For instance, do you stick to a routine each Sunday? Do you have the kids sit in the same chairs, around the same table, or in the same spot on the floor? Does snack time come at the end of each lesson?

This week, shake things up a bit and have the kids doing something totally different!

The more fun stuff you do in class that is out of routine the more kids will look forward to coming. They won't know what you're going to do next and won't be able to wait to get to Sunday school each week!

The best mind set I can give you is think like it is VBS all the time!

That being said, let's take a look at how to use bible verses as this week's Sunday school lesson.

Sunday School Lessons
can be taught playing and having fun!
Photo: Daniel Schwen, Wikimedia

Sunday School Lessons Using Bible Verses

For this Sunday school lesson, you'll need:

• yarn or twine
• large index cards
• marker
• an empty 2 liter plastic bottle (you can fill it 3/4 full with water)
• a table or area to lay out the cards

Decide on which verse you would like to teach the kids. For this example, we are going to use:

Psalm 100:2 KJV

 

Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

Teaching kids the importance of serving the Lord with gladness is a lesson all in itself, but go a bit further and add on the second part. Every time we come before the Lord we should do it joyfully with singing.

Does this mean he expects us to sing all our words?

I don't think so, but when the opportunity presents itself, we shouldn't be ashamed. We should do it willingly and joyfully.

Have you ever read the book, "90 Minutes in Heaven"?

There is a part in the book that talks about how the preacher is in heaven. He describes how he hears hundreds of voices singing. They are singing different songs, but the voices are so beautiful, the songs sound amazing together. If you've never read it, you should.

I think God enjoys music. He loves to hear singing and loves it when we sing.

What You Need to Do

Find more ways to teach
kids in Sunday school!

Divide your class into two teams.

Write one word of the bible verse onto each index card. You need two of each so that each team has the whole verse. If you don't have enough kids, give two words to each child, but still only put one word on each card. This means that some kids will have two index cards. If needed, some kids can have three.

Tape the string or yarn onto the back of the index cards. It should be long enough to go around a child's neck.

Have the kids form a circle. Place the bottle in the center. Let the kids take turns spinning the bottle. To make things fair, the bottle will need to go around at least 3 times before it can stop. This will help eliminate cheating and allow the child spinning to get back into place.

When the bottle's top lands on a child, that child gets to put his card onto the table. If that child has another card, let him get back into the circle. If he doesn't, he will stand by the cards to help put the verse in order as the kids continue playing. The kids can move in closer as more kids move out of the circle.

Keep the game moving fast by letting the next child go immediately.

Continue playing until one team finishes putting his verse into order.

What You Learn

The kids learn not only to work as a team, but they will learn the bible verse. Talk about the importance of the verse. You can choose whatever verse you wish for this Sunday school lesson.

The main point of the verse above is that we should serve the Lord willingly and joyfully. When it is time for church, we shouldn't complain about not wanting to go or about how the big game or movie is coming on TV. We should be ready to go willingly when it is time.

When it is time to read our bible at night, we shouldn't say 'I'm too tired'.

What if God was too tired for us?

Always do things for the Lord willingly and happily. NO grumbling or complaining.

Philippians 2:14 KJV

 

Do all things without murmurings and disputings.

 

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Daily Prayer with Prayer Partners | Sunday School Lessons

Sunday school lessons should teach kids about daily living as well as bible stories. For instance, how many of your Sunday school kids practice daily prayer? If you ask the kids this question, most will probably say they pray each day.

Prayer Partners
Sunday School Lesson
Photo: 松岡明芳
Wikimedia Commons

Now, ask them when they pray and what they pray about.

Wait for answers.

Most of the answers will be "praying over food", "thanking God for family", "praying for family", and other things similar.

Today's Sunday school lesson is going to focus on daily prayer with prayer partners. Prayer partners can mean many different things, but today we are going to pair up the kids so that they can pray for each other all week long.

Teaching kids to pray for each other will help them understand the other person better along with following the Word of God and learning to develop a great prayer life.

Bible Verses About Prayer

Colossians 4:2 KJV

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

 

Matthew 18:20 KJV

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

 

1 Thessalonians KJV

Pray without ceasing.

 

Matthew 21:22 KJV

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

 

 

Sunday School Lesson - Daily Prayer



Prayer Crossword Puzzle
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You can use any of the above bible verse about prayer for your lesson, or find another one you like. It's always a good idea to go over a bible verse with the kids each Sunday as it helps them learn God's Word and keep it close to their heart.

 

The bible teaches us about many people who prayed and God answered their prayers.

 

Daniel prayed every morning, noon, and night and God saved him from the lion's den.

 

The famous prayer of Jabez found in 1 Chronicles 4:10 KJV says, "And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested."

 

There is also the famous 'Lord's Prayer' where Jesus is teaching his disciples how to pray.

 

Jesus himself even prayed.

 

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before he died on the cross for our sins. He prayed again on the cross asking God to forgive those around him. Another time he prayed was when he blessed the food before breaking it when he fed the 5000.

 

Prayer Partners - What To Do

 

What You'll Need:

 

• something to write on
• something to write with
• cut pieces of yarn large enough to tie around a child's wrist or ankle

 

Once you've discussed some of the prayers above, sit the kids down in a semi-circle on the floor. Have a large paper, poster board, or dry erase board to write on for everyone to see.

 

Go through each child one-by-one and ask for prayer requests. Write them on the board or paper for all to see. Be sure to write the child's name beside the prayer request.

 

Ask the next child in the circle, "Did you hear that prayer request?"

 

Then, tie a piece of yarn around that child's wrist and say, "You are in charge of praying for that request every day until next week."

 

The yarn will serve as a reminder for that child to pray for their partner's prayer request.

 

Instruct the child to pray for that person and their prayer request every time the yarn reminds them to pray. Even if it is 10 times each day.

 

Now, go to the next child and ask for their request.

 

Continue this until every one has someone praying for their request and everyone is praying for someone.

 

What You'll Learn

 

Praying for yourself and your own family is wonderful, but when we join together and pray for someone else and their prayer request we learn the importance of caring for others. It helps us to understand one another, grow closer to God, and get in a routine of praying all throughout the day.

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