Moses and the Red Sea Sunday School Lesson
Moses and the Red Sea Sunday School Lesson For Kids:
BOTTOM LINE:
Follow God and trust him to lead you.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will learn to follow God in faith.
KEY PASSAGE:
Exodus 14:13-31. Israelites Cross the Red Sea.
MEMORY VERSE:
Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. -1 Chronicles 16:11
SUMMARY:
Sometimes we don't know where we're going or what we're doing. But if we're willing to follow God, he will take us to amazing new places.
SIMPLE PRAYER:
Dear God,
We know you have plans for us, and we thank you for that. Guide us, and show us where you want us to go.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
MEMORY VERSE
Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. -1 Chronicles 16:11 (NIV)
Look to the Lord and to his strength. Always look to him. - 1 Chronicles 16:11 (NIRV)
LARGE GROUP:
Put the verse on the big screen and read it aloud with the kids.
SMALL GROUP:
Ask the kids what they think the writer was trying to say when he wrote these words. Then ask them how this verse is connected to today’s story.
SKIT
DIARY OF A GODLY KID: FOLLOWING GOD
ITEMS NEEDED:
Biblical costumes, fake fish
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:
3M
CHARACTERS:
Greg- An Israelite kid
Moses
Greg’s Dad
Greg enters, dressed in Biblical clothes.
GREG: Dear diary, my name’s Greg, and until just a few days ago, I was a slave. I’m an Israelite, and for centuries, my people have lived in Egypt. When we came here, everyone loved us. Joseph, he’s one of my ancestors, had saved Egypt from a famine, and Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, invited Joseph’s whole family to move in. But after Pharaoh and Joseph died, a new Pharaoh made my people slaves. Then one day, a man named Moses showed up.
Moses enters.
MOSES: I’m here to save you all! Let me go talk to Pharaoh, and I’ll lead you to a new land!
GREG: Pharaoh didn’t listen, but after God did a little convincing, he agreed.
MOSES: Come on, everybody! We’re going to the land that was promised to our forefather, Abraham!
GREG: Everyone was so excited - except me! I didn’t want to be a slave, but I was scared. Where were we going? How would we get there? Would it be cool?
Dad enters.
DAD: Relax, Greg. God sent Moses to lead us, and God will make a way for us.
GREG: That’s my Dad. He loves God, and he’s prayed every day for God to free us. But even he got nervous when we left Egypt and ran into a dead end!
DAD: Oh no! The Red Sea is right in our path. And the Pharaoh is coming after us! What are we going to do?
MOSES: God will open the way for us! Follow me!
Moses exits.
GREG: You know what? God did open the way for us! Moses reached out his hand, and God split the sea right in two!
DAD: It’s a miracle!
GREG: So here we are, half way across the sea, on our way to the promised land. Will we get there safely? Will Pharaoh catch up to us? I don’t know! I only know two things. One, wherever we are going, God will lead us there, and he will not let us down. And two, we’re going to be eating a lot of fish in the next few weeks.
DAD: Come on, Greg! Don’t forget to pick up some fish on the way!
Dad picks up two fake fish and exits, following Moses. Greg picks up a fish.
GREG: Ewww!
OBJECT LESSON
ITEMS NEEDED:
A puzzle with no picture or box
Use a 24 or 48 piece puzzle, depending on the age group you are addressing. Choose a few kids to come up and try to assemble the puzzle together, without the help of a photo or box. Give them a little help if time runs a little short.
Sometimes following God is like assembling a puzzle with no photo to guide you. It’s hard to see where you’re going. Sometimes you don’t know what comes next. Slowly but surely, things come into view and you can see what God is up to. Then you see the big picture and thank God for what he has done!
God wants us to have faith in him. That means God wants us to trust him without knowing all the answers ahead of time. Like the Israelites in the wilderness, God will lead us step by step. We may know the final destination, as the Israelites did. We may not, as our puzzle makers did. But over and over, God shows he is looking out for our best. He protects us, he guides us, and yes, sometimes he surprises us.
God has a path for all of us to follow. He won’t show you all the steps. He may not even show you where the path leads. Whatever path he gives you, follow it. Follow God, and know that every step of the way, you can have faith in his leadership!
LARGE GROUP GAME
BLIND-FOLDED FOLLOW THE LEADER
ITEMS NEEDED:
Blindfolds, orange cones
INSTRUCTIONS:
Set up a race course using the orange cones in the room. Choose two teams of four. Blindfold three of the four team members, and have them line up behind the fourth team member, who is the leader. Each team member will reach up and put their hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them. The two teams will race from start to finish, with the leader guiding their team. The first team to completely cross the finish wins.
VARIATION:
For younger kids, use teams of two and make the race course straight.
WHAT’S THE POINT?
We don’t always know where we are going, but if we trust in God, he will lead us where we need to go.
LARGE GROUP LESSON
BOTTOM LINE:
Follow God and trust him to lead you.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will learn to follow God in faith.
KEY PASSAGE:
Exodus 14:13-31. Israelites Cross the Red Sea.
INTRO
A few years back, a writer named Jeff Kinney released the first in what has become a very popular book series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The Wimpy Kid books tell the story of a boy named Greg, who describes in great detail the struggles that come with going to school, making friends, being big brother to a devious little brother, and being the helpless victim of his older brother Roderick. The books have also been adapted into movies, and they’ve sold millions of copies around the world. I’m guessing Greg has more than a few fans in this room, doesn’t he?
The Wimpy Kid books became a hit because everyone, kids and adults, can relate to them. We’ve all struggled in our relationships with friends, classmates, and siblings. We know Greg’s pain, and somehow, hearing his stories makes us feel better about our own stories.
For the next four weeks, we’re going to challenge you to become something more than just a wimpy kid. We want you to become a godly kid, a kid driven to live your life for the Lord. It’s God’s desire that we grow from wimpy kids into godly kids, and that growth begins with a godly following.
Being a godly kid means that we need to follow God, and that’s not always easy. Even when we know where we are going, it can be hard to follow God’s direction. No one knew this better than Moses and the Israelites. After living in slavery for centuries, God sent Moses to free the Israelites and take them back to their home land. But right from the beginning. following Moses and the Lord was a difficult challenge. Shortly after leaving Egypt, they came to a dead end at the Red Sea. What’s worse, Pharaoh and his army came after them, threatening to destroy them.
That’s when God stepped in to truly lead the way.
READ EXODUS 14:13-31
MAIN POINT
In the eyes of the Israelites, they were doomed. They had a sea in front of them and the army of Egypt behind them. They were so discouraged, some of them even suggested they willingly go back to being slaves in Egypt.
Although they had been promised they would see the Promised Land, the Israelites saw no way out of their situation. So God made a way. He opened the sea to let his people pass through to the other side, walking on dry land. Not only that, God made sure the Egyptians would never hurt his people again by sweeping their army away into the sea!
When God calls us to follow, he wants us to trust him. He wants us to follow and not question how we will get where we are going. When we trust him with all our hearts, he will always make a way for us.
DRIVE IT HOME
There’s a word for the kind of trust that Moses had in God. It’s called faith. Faith is believing without seeing. It’s trusting that God will lead us on when we come to a dead end. It’s trusting that God will never leave us or let us down.
Godly following requires faith. Having faith begins when we take the time to get to know God. We can get to know God when we go to church each week and get involved in church activities. We can get to know him by spending time with him each day. We can pray, we can read the Bible by ourselves, and we can read it with our families.
Faith also grows when we follow God. The more we follow him, the more our faith grows, and the more our faith us challenged, the more it grows. God uses every step we take and every obstacle that comes our way to grow our faith.
That’s good news, because the obstacles we face rarely get smaller. God likes to give us bigger and bigger challenges. Why? Because the greater the challenge, the greater our faith will grow.
Sometimes God lets us know where we are going, like the Israelites knew they were going to the Promised Land. Sometimes God doesn’t let us know where we are going. In the end, it’s not the destination but the journey that matters. When we follow God, we grow in our faith, and growing in our faith is key to becoming a godly kid.
CLOSE WITH A SIMPLE PRAYER
Dear God,
We know you have plans for us, and we thank you for that. Guide us, and show us where you want us to go.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (K-2ND)
ICEBREAKER
Have your parents ever taken you some place you didn’t want to go that turned out to be cool? Where did they take you?
MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY
1 Chronicles 16:11
Ask the kids what they think the writer was trying to say when he wrote these words. Then ask them how this verse is connected to today’s story.
SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY
Have the kids promise following by playing Simon Says. Who can stay in the longest?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Read Exodus 14:13-31
Where was God leading the Israelites?
What problem did Moses and the Israelites have?
What did God tell Moses to do?
How did the Israelites escape the Egyptians?
How do we gain the faith we need to follow God?
SIMPLE PRAYER
Dear God,
Give us the faith we need to follow you. Help us to grow our faith every day.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (3RD-5TH)
ICEBREAKER
Have your parents ever taken you some place you didn’t want to go that turned out to be cool? Where did they take you?
MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY
1 Chronicles 16:11
Ask the kids what they think the writer was trying to say when he wrote these words. Then ask them how this verse is connected to today’s story.
SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY
Have the kids promise following by playing Simon Says. Who can stay in the longest?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Read Exodus 14:13-31
What problem did Moses and the Israelites have?
How did the Israelites escape the Egyptians?
What does it take to follow God like a godly kid?
How do we gain the faith we need to follow God?
How does our faith grow as we follow God and are tested?
SIMPLE PRAYER
Dear God,
Give us the faith we need to follow you. Help us to grow our faith every day.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
For your convenience, you can also download the entire PDF version of this Moses and the Red Sea Children's Ministry Lesson (just click the link).
Here's a video from Saddleback kids that you might find helpful to go along with your Sunday School Lesson on the Moses and the Red Sea.
Take a look at the links below for other ideas for teaching a Moses and the Red Sea Sunday School Lesson:
Parting the Red Sea - Children's Sermons from Sermons4Kids.com
God Parting the Red Sea Sunday School Lesson (Exodus 14 Crossing)
Parting the Red Sea - Kids Sunday School