This lesson is targeted for older preschool children, age 4 and age 5 years old. It would serve well as a preschool Sunday School lesson. You could also adapted this lesson plan for other ministry settings. We also have a series of Bible lessons about God targeted for older children.
Bible Passage: Isaiah 40:18-20; 25 (Also see Ex 15:11; 1 Samuel 2:2; Psalm 86:8)
Bible Lesson Title: There is No One Like God
Target Age Group: 4-5 years old (U.S. preschool & Kindergarten)
Target Time Frame: 30 minutes
Original Teaching Context: Preschool Sunday School
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Knowing God through Isaiah 40: Lesson Five (32 minutes)
Scripture: Isaiah 40:18-20; 25 (Also see Ex 15:11; 1 Samuel 2:2; Psalm 86:8)
Exegetical Idea: No idol can compare to God; there is none like Him.
Pedagogical Idea: There is no one like God; therefore, all of our hearts and worship should be His alone.
Cognitive Aim: Preschoolers will understand that there no one who is like God and will realize He alone deserves our love and praise.
Affective Aim: Preschoolers will feel awe at the God who alone deserves our hearts.
Behavioral Aim: Praise God through song; memorize Psalm 86:8
Memory Verse: “There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like Yours” Psalm 86:8
Lesson Overview
- Kindle Curiosity (5 minutes) Description: Show the children pictures of people worshipping idols in order to help them understand what an idol is. Supplies: soft blanket, pictures of people worshipping idols (China, India, Thailand, etc.)
- God Revealed (10 minutes) Description: Read Isaiah 40:18-20, 25. Discuss the meaning of the passage. Supplies: Bible, pieces of gold (fake or real), silver (fake or real), and a small piece of wood or bark.
- Personal Pursuit (10 minutes) Description: Learn a song to help them understand that there is no one like God. Supplies: Computer, CD player, or IPOD; song Who is Like You? by Tim Neufield
- Daily Knowing (7 minutes) Description: Praise God together through prayer; Review past verses (if there is time) and memorize Psalm 86:8. Supplies: Notecards with Psalm 86:8 written on them.
1. Kindle Curiosity (5 minutes)
After welcoming the children, have them come sit with you on a soft blanket on the floor.
- Hold up the first picture of people (person) worshipping an idol(s). Ask: Do any of you know what is happening in this picture? (Give time for answers, and continue to show the pictures until they have a good idea of what idol worship looks like.)
- Point to the idols and state: These are called idols. Idols are things people worship instead of God. They can be made out of many different things and look many different ways, but people choose to worship idols in their hearts over God. They believe these idols can do things for them, so they pray to them and do things for the idols, believing them to be real and calling them gods. This is wrong, and this is sin. And idol worship does not just look like these pictures. We can all worship idols because an idol can be anything that we love more than God. (Explain all of this slowly, because it is very important and can be difficult for them to comprehend. Show them the seriousness of worshipping something else above God with your tone of voice and facial expression.)
2. God Revealed (10 minutes)
- State: Hold up your Bible and say: This is the Bible. It is God’s word. He wrote it, so we know everything in it is true (repeat this until they can say it with you). Today we will be reading Isaiah 40 verses 18, 19, 20, and 25 (show them the numbers, let them see exactly where you will be reading). Isaiah is speaking to God’s people about idols in these verses. Let’s listen closely to see what Isaiah says to God’s people about idols, and I think we can discover something awesome and wonderful about God as well! Let’s turn on our listening ears and turn off our mouths (demonstrate) so we can discover something new about God and get to know Him more!
- Read the verses emphatically, then ask: what do people make idols out of that we heard in these verses? (To help the children remember, hold up pieces of gold, silver, and wood that the children can each pass around and touch. This can be fake gold and silver pieces, but it gives the children a visual and a chance to interact with their senses, which will help them have greater understanding).
- When people made these idols out of gold, silver, and wood, they used the best of the materials they could find. If using wood, they tried to find a perfect piece of wood that was not rotting or dying. Their idols would look perfect in every way. But no matter how perfect their idols looked, they could never come close to being like God! Why? (They are not real. They cannot speak; they cannot hear.) Idols are made by humans. Do you think something made by us could have power over us or the ability to help us? (no!) Do you think something made by human hands could be as great as God, so great that we should worship it? (no!) No one made God. He always was and He always will be. He has no beginning and no end. He is unlike anything or anyone on earth. There is no one like Him!
3. Personal Pursuit (10 minutes)
The personal pursuit is going to be a little different today. The children will be learning a beautiful song about God that communicates who He is. It is called “Who is Like You?” based on Exodus 15:11.
- State: I want everyone to stand up, and we are going to do something new! We are going to learn a song that will glorify God and help us know and remember that there is no one like God. In the song, it asks the question, “Who is like You (God)?” Does anyone know the answer to that question based on what we just read about from Isaiah? (No one!). Because there is no one like God, we can always trust in His greatness and power to be high above our own. This means that even though we are weak, God is always stronger and there to help us. When we do not know what to do, God always knows and is their to guide us. Because there is no one like God, He alone deserves our hearts and our praise. With this song, we will praise God for who He is. I am going to play the song a few times, and we will listen together and then try to praise God along with the singer. (Encourage them to express their love to God through movement like dance or hand motions or swaying to the music. At this point, they will need some movement after sitting and listening so long, and it is a neat way for us to learn from them in their creative expression of praise to God.)
Who is Like You? Tim Neufield (you can find it on YouTube or buy the song on CD or through ITunes)
Who is Like You lyrics
The Lord is my strength & my song
He has become my salvation
He is my God and I will praise Him
I will lift Him up
Who is like You, majestic in holiness
Awesome in glory, working wonders
Who is like You, majestic in holiness
Awesome in glory, working wonders
In Your unfailing love
You will lead the people that You redeem
And in Your strength, You will guide them
To Your holy place
Who among the gods is like You
Who among the heavens
4. Daily Knowing (7 minutes)
- Today I would like us to pray together on our knees with our foreheads touching the ground to show how great God is and how small we are. Does anyone want to pray today? Let’s go to God together, knowing He hears and listens to our prayers. (After allowing the preschoolers to pray, praise God in your prayer for being who is He, unlike anyone, and be sure to bring up things before Him that may be going on in the preschoolers lives that need prayer).
- Review the verses you can from the past lessons (Isaiah 40:8, Psalm 23:1, and Isaiah 40:10a, Romans 11:33a) using hand motion prompts.
- Remember, it is important for us to learn God’s word because that is how we come to know Him more. Today we have learned that there is no one like God. We are going to learn this verse Psalm 86:6, “There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like Yours” to help us remember what we know is true about God. Let’s see if we can come up with some motions to help us.
- Make sure you review with them the next week or when you have encounters during the week one-on-one. Encourage them to share this verse with their parents when they pick them up so their parents will be able to help them practice at home. Provide each parent with a notecard that has Psalm 86:8 written on it*.
*If some children do not have parents who are believers, make a special effort to encourage them in every time you see them in their scripture memorization and pursuit of God.