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Another week has passed since we last caught up! How was your first full week back at school?
This week in Sunday School we are talking about commandment # 9, only one more week left and we'll be done this short series. Its been interesting to re-visit God's commands over the last few weeks and I hope that you've been learning something too - God wants us to live safe and healthy lives and His commands help us to stay safe. Before we jump into today's lesson lets begin with a few songs. Everybody up, let's see if we can add some actions to these songs. SUNDAY SCHOOL WORSHIPMusic Video: To God Be The Glory from DIG IN on Vimeo.
Great singing! We can almost hear you from where we are!
Today we're going to be learning a bit about God's command not to lie. It’s always best for us to tell the truth, and it helps us to have the best friendships when we don't lie to one another. In our Bible story today, we’ll read about some people who shared all their things with their friends. But they had two friends who told a lie about what they were sharing. Sharing is a great thing to do! It makes friends closer. One thing that doesn’t bring friends closer is lying. God says we shouldn’t lie because it’s what’s best for us! Sometimes lying can be pretty easy. Maybe you think you could get away with lying and no one would know. That’s what happens in our video today.
Can you guys think about a time you were tempted to lie because you didn’t think anyone would notice. What did you do?
What are reasons people sometimes want to lie? What could being truthful cost us? Why is it worth the cost? Dylan wanted to move the ball and lie about it so he could win the Mini Masters Tournament. In the end, he decided to be honest even though it meant losing the tournament. That was a big cost to him, but the consequences of lying to win would have been worse for him. He would’ve felt guilty about it for a long time, and he might even have been caught and gotten in trouble. Telling the truth is always the best thing to do, even if it doesn't always feel right. GaMES
Where is it?
Supplies: a small toy that can fit easily in a kids’ hands. Directions:
If everyone who had the toy didn’t tell the truth, or if people said that they had the toy when they didnt, it wouldn’t be a very fun game. What do you think might have happened in our game if everyone had lied about having the toy? Maybe whomever was in the middle would have gotten frustrated or angry, no one else would’ve gotten to be in the center, or the game wouldn’t have been fair. If we lie when we play a game, our friends might not want to play with us anymore. When we lie, it hurts our friends. We want to be truthful kids, even when we aren’t playing a game, so we shouldn’t lie. It just makes things more fun for everyone!
It can be hard to remember that we don’t lie, but when we practice telling the truth over and over, it helps keep us from lying.
Let’s practice telling the truth with a game. We’ll tell the truth by being honest if we’re tagged. Directions:
In our game we tried to get to the other side without getting tagged. If we did get tagged, we might’ve thought about lying and saying we didn’t get tagged. But we shouldn’t lie, if we did, the game wouldn’t be as much fun. Lots of games that we play are that way. Can you guys think about another game where you have to tell the truth? We have lots of chances to practice telling the truth. The more we practice, the easier it is to remember that we don’t lie. BIBLE STORY
So we’ve been learning about God’s Commandments. Let’s find out what today’s actually says, it's found in Exodus 20:16..
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
That’s a fancy way of saying we don’t lie.
What are some of the negative things that can happen when we lie? Lying can really mess things up! That’s why we shouldn’t lie. Let’s see what happened after a couple in the Bible lied. Shortly after Jesus died, he came back to life, and then went to heaven, the church started to grow. And all the church members were sharing what they had! It was a really great community. No one told people they had to sell things in order to share with this community, but a lot of people did. One married couple, Ananias and Sapphira, sold some land they had. We don’t know exactly what it sold for, but let’s say it sold for $50,000. Now remember, no one told them they had to sell that land or that they had to give all the money from the sale to the church. But they decided to give some of the money to church, and here’s where the lie comes in. Acts 5:2 says; "and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet." Have you guys ever told a lie? What kind of mess did you make? Lying makes a mess. Eventually the truth comes out, and we’re left with a mess for everyone, that’s why God’s best plan for us is that we don’t lie. Let’s see what happened next, in Acts 5:5-6 it says; "When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him." Why do you think Ananias died? Now, we don't want you to be scared. We don’t really know why Ananias died. The Bible doesn’t say God made Ananias die. If you tell a lie, it doesn’t mean you will die - but you will face consequences. You’ll hurt relationships with other people. You’ll be less trustworthy. You’ll live in a state of worry about being caught out, trying to remember all the lies you’ve already told. So we follow God’s Commandment, and we don’t lie. Ananias’ wife, Sapphira, hadn’t come with him when he brought the money, but she did come later. Acts 5:7-10 says "After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you[a] sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband." Sapphira didn’t know the truth had already come out. She tried to cover up the truth, too, but she couldn’t do it. And like her husband, she died. Ananias and Sapphira had no reason to lie about their offering. Giving some of the money from the sale of their property would’ve still been a generous gift. They hadn’t done anything wrong by keeping some of the money. But they were trying to make themselves look more generous than they really were, so they lied. And that was wrong. Can you guys think of other reasons other people lie? Maybe you’ve been hiding a truth because you did do something wrong and you’re trying to hide it. Maybe you’re hiding a truth because, like Ananias and Sapphira, you want to seem more impressive. Whatever the reason we want to lie, we just shouldn’t lie, lying only hurts ourselves and others. This commandment is probably one everyone has broken at some point. God’s way says we don’t lie, but I bet most of us have. Here’s the great news: It’s not too late for you to reveal the truth. Prayer Time
Let's pray together...
Dear God, Thank you that you’ve given us good guidelines. Thank you that you tell us not to lie because you know the truth is always best. Help us to always tell the truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen. CRAFT / COLOURING
Click on the image below to print off this colouring sheet.
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