LESSON 13: GOD ALWAYS WAS AND ALWAYS WILL BE

Dig In to the Bible

  • Read: John 1:1-18; Revelation 22

  • In This Passage: John writes that “the Word” (which is Jesus) has always existed and came to earth to live among us. In his vision of heaven, John talks about how Jesus is the beginning and the end. God always was and always will be, because God is forever.

  • Bible Point: God is forever.

  • Summary Verse: “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him” (1 John 4:9).

 

Dig Deeper

  • You’ll Be Teaching: God is forever. Eternity is hard for kids to grasp. While we’ve tried to make some concrete comparisons, ultimately eternity is beyond what we as humans can fully understand. Embrace that! Help kids appreciate that their lack of full understanding shows how big and amazing God is—he’s beyond what we can understand.

  • Think About: Why does it matter to you that God is forever?

 

Dig In to Prayer

  • Ecclesiastes 3:11 says God has “planted eternity in the human heart.” Pray for kids’ hearts to be captivated by the idea of forever.

 

Quick Tip

  • God may be forever, but your time with kids isn’t. You have precious few moments with your kids; make sure you’re using them intentionally. Dig In helps you do this; every activity helps kids make discoveries about the point. Don’t skip the discussion in each block—a game without connection to the point isn’t a beneficial use of your time.

LESSON 13: Opening Music Videos!

Lesson 13: Step # 2
Core Bible Discovery

Supplies: Bibles, paper, markers or crayons, scissors, tape (optional)

Lesson 13: Step #3 Talk about it with your family!

Bonus FUN!

CRAFT[20 min]

Super Spinners

Supplies

  • card stock

  • scissors

  • washable markers*

  • toothpicks

  • cookie cutters

  • round plastic lids

Easy Prep

  • Make a sample craft to show kids.

 

Make Super Spinners

            Show kids the sample craft you made. Set out the supplies to share, and have kids follow these directions to make Super Spinners.

  • Cut a circle out of card stock—any size you want. (Younger kids can trace cookie cutters and lids to make their shapes, then decorate them without cutting them out. When kids have finished decorating, you or older kids can help cut out their shapes as needed.)

  • Decorate it with markers.

  • Poke a toothpick through the center, and try spinning it like a top.

  • Make additional tops, trying various changes to see what works best to make a top that spins the longest.

  • Here are some things you can change: size of the circle, height that the circle sits on the toothpick, cutting different shapes, poking the toothpick off center, breaking the toothpick so it’s shorter, poking extra holes, or any other ideas you have!

 

 
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Talk About It

           • What did you find worked best to get a top that spun the longest?

            • What would it take to make a top that could spin forever?

            We made some impressive tops here, but none of them can spin forever. Some barely spun at all, and others spun longer, but it would be impossible for us to use these supplies to make a top that spins forever. We can’t make anything that lasts forever! That’s why it’s so amazing that God is forever. Unlike our tops, he’ll never stop spinning!

         

 

HIGH-ENERGY GAME[10 min]

Never-Ending Noodle Tag

Supplies

  • 2 pool noodles

  • upbeat music (optional)

  • music player (optional)

Tip

  • If you used the Music Video block, consider repeating the songs from today’s lesson during the game. You can find the downloadable album here.

 

Kids Play Noodle Tag

            Say: Today we’re talking about how God is forever, and a quick game of Never-Ending Noodle Tag will give us a taste of forever!

  • Choose one child to be the “Freezer” and another to be the “Unfreezer.” Give each of those kids a pool noodle. It’s best to assign both of these roles to older kids.

  • If kids are touched with the Freezer noodle, they’ll freeze and stay frozen until the Unfreezer noodle touches them. The goal is to remain unfrozen at all times.

  • Two rules: 1) No tossing noodles, and 2) the Freezer and Unfreezer can’t touch each other with noodles.

  • If you’ve chosen to play music, start it now.

  • To keep the game interesting, now and then adjust the rules by requiring kids to walk backward, take baby steps, or move by hopping.

  • When you want the game to end, stop the music, collect the noodles, and have kids sit.

 

Talk About It

            This game was going to go on forever because even if everyone else was frozen, the Unfreezer wasn’t and could unfreeze everyone else!

            • Explain whether you’d want to play this game forever.

            • What questions do you have about God going on forever? Don’t feel like you have to answer the questions that surface. Just giving kids a safe place to ask is great!

            Playing a game forever will eventually get boring. But God is forever, and life with him won’t ever be boring.

            God has known and loved you forever. And because God has invited us to join him in heaven through Jesus, we can be with him forever, too.