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 40:9-10; 12
Bible Lesson Title: Our God is Mighty
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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Lesson Three: Our God is Mighty (Time: 37 minutes)
Scripture: Isaiah40:9-10; 12
Exegetical Idea: The Israelites can depend on the glorious, mighty God and Him alone for their deliverance.
Pedagogical Idea: God is mighty and His power is unlimited for us today just as it was when Isaiah wrote this book.
Cognitive Aim: Preschoolers will know God is mighty and His power is unlimited.
Affective Aim: Preschoolers will feel wonder and awe towards our mighty God.
Behavioral Aim: Preschoolers will memorize Isaiah 40:10a.
Memory Verse: Isaiah 40:10a: “Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might…” (NASB)
Lesson Overview
1. Kindle Curiosity (5 minutes) Description: Have a discussion about the strongest person preschoolers know of to introduce them to the lesson’s topic; Supplies: Soft blanket, Bible
2. God Revealed (10 minutes) Description: Preschoolers will hear Isaiah 40:12 and learn of God’s might in creation; Supplies: Pictures of the ocean, the sky, sand, and mountains; bucket of water, measuring cup, balance).
3. Personal Pursuit (10 minutes) Description: Make the connection to their lives by sharing what knowing God in His might has revealed in your life, make a mountain; Supplies: Any materials you might be able to use to make a mountain, such as balled up paper, cardboard boxes, or blocks.
4. Daily Knowing (10 minutes) Description: Review memory verses, learn Isaiah 10:a; Supplies: Notecards, paper, markers
1. Kindle Curiosity (5 minutes)
Gather the children around you on the floor. Have a soft blanket for them to sit on.
- Ask: Who is the strongest person you know? (Give time for answers and discuss them. If preschoolers talk about superheroes, emphasize the fact that superheroes are just pretend. We want to make a distinction between God and fictional characters so they understand God is real and not the same as Superman or Santa Clause.)
- State: Today we will continue to know God through Isaiah 40. We will learn today that God is stronger and more mighty than anybody that we just talked about. There is nothing He cannot do because of His power and might. Remember that this is the Bible (hold up your Bible). God wrote it, so we know that everything in it is true. God is not pretend like superheroes; He is real! Today we are going to come to know Him more through learning of His might.
2. God Revealed (15 minutes)
State: We will be reading Isaiah 40 verse 12 (show them the numbers; let them see exactly where you will be reading). Isaiah is going to ask some questions to help the people hearing him understand how mighty God is. Let’s turn on our listening ears and turn off our mouths so we can hear about God’s power and might! Everyone gather close so you can listen really well!
- You will be using props and hand motions as you read, so look for the directions in parentheses. Read softly and emphatically: “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand (hold up your hands as if holding water), and marked off the heavens by the span (point to the sky)? And calculated the dust of the earth with three fingers (hold up your thumb and two fingers), and weighed the mountains in a balance (have a balance nearby to hold up in order to show them what that indicates)?” (NASB)
- State: This first verse is showing us the mighty things God did as the Creator of the world. (Hold up a picture of an ocean). All of the water in all of the oceans God can measure in His hands! How big do you think God’s hands must be? (Give time for response.) Let’s see how much water we can hold in our hands. (Allow children to scoop a handful of water out of a bucket and pour it into a measuring cup). Compared to our mighty God, we can hold little water in our own hands!
- State: Let’s go outside to view something only our mighty God could have made! (If you cannot go outside, have a picture of the sky). Let’s hold hands and look straight up at the sky! It goes on forever and ever. But to God, the heavens are only as big as His hand! Let’s pray together now to our mighty God! (Pray first in praise and awe to God, and then invite the children to join you).
- Go back to the classroom, sit down on the blanket, and show a picture of sand stretched out for miles. State: God can measure all of the dust on the earth with just three fingers (as you hold something with your thumb and two fingers, Matthew Henry’s commentary). How big do you think His fingers must have been? (Give time for response.)
- (Show a picture of mountains.) State: God can weigh mountains as if on a balance. (Show the balance again) Mountains are small compared to Him!
- Say: There is no one who is as powerful and mighty as our God! There is nothing He cannot do.
3. Personal Pursuit (10 minutes)
Have the preschoolers transition into a time of making a mountain out of balled up brown paper or cardboard boxes. If you have neither of these, they can just use blocks. State: Now we need to make a big mountain because Isaiah tells us something very important we will need to shout out from the top of a mountain!
- As they are building, make the connection between Isaiah 40:12 and our lives.
- State: When you think about how mighty God is in the way He perfectly created everything in this world (the oceans, sky, dust of the earth, the mountains), things that are huge to us but fit in His hands, how does this make you feel? (Give time for response).
- Tell your own thoughts on what this knowledge of God’s might means to you (we can depend on Him completely for strength, for our safety and protection, for doing what seems impossible, etc.)
- State: When we see these things God has created, it should make us say “Wow. What a mighty God we have!” Can we say that together? “Wow. What a mighty God we have!”
- As they are finishing their mountain, state: Now in Isaiah 40 verses 9 and 10, Isaiah says this, “Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, lift up your voices mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’ Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might, with His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him and His recompense before Him.”
- Ask: Can we pretend to stand tall on this mountain and shout out to everyone, “Behold, the Lord God will come with might”? Let’s do it together! (Do this several times with the children. It will help them learn this verse!)
4. Daily Knowing (7 minutes)
- Review Isaiah 40:8 and Psalm 23:1 with the children using hand motion prompts.
- Guess what? You have already practiced learning our verse for this week through shouting on the mountaintop! Remember, it is important for us to learn God’s word because that is how we come to know Him more. Today we have come to know God as our mighty God. Let’s see if we need to come up with some motions for Isaiah 40:10, “Behold, the Lord God will come with might…” 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 Isaiah 40:10a written on it*.
- If time allows, let each child draw a picture of something that reminds them of God’s might. You can also sing songs about God’s might such as Our God is so Big.
*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.
Need More Preschool Ideas? Check out the My God is So Big Preschool Song. You can also browse our growing list of Coloring Pages for Sunday School.