AGE GROUP: elementary (ages 6-11)
TIME REQUIRED: 45 minutes
This is lesson 24 of 42 in our study on the Attributes of God called “Can you tell me what God is like?” Visit the series index to view all the lessons and get more ideas for using this curriculum in your children’s ministry.
LESSON 24: GOD IS OMNIPOTENT
- Key Verse:“‘He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.” Joshua 4:24
- Teaching Passage: Samson Looses His Strength~ Judges 16
- Supporting Texts: Joshua 4:24, Deuteronomy 3:24, Psalm 24:8
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS OMNIPOTENT written on it, key verse (Joshua 4:24) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Ask if anyone can remember the truths we’ve learned so far. Choose a few of the attributes and name the attribute for the children to respond with the definition or action, OR do the action and ask the kids to respond with the attribute about God.
- God is Almighty= He has absolute power or is all powerful
- God is the Alpha and Omega= He is the beginning and the end, the first and the last
- God is Awesome = He inspires awe and amazement
- God is Compassionate = He shows a deep concern for His people & a desire to meet their needs
- God is the Deliverer = He is the rescuer or savior
- God is Exalted = He is noble, elevated and lifted up
- God is Faithful = He is reliable, trustworthy, true to His Word & keeps His promises
- God Forgives = He grants pardon and cancels the debt of sin
- God is Glorious = He is full of glory (praise, honor & distinction)
- God is Good = morally excellent, virtuous or righteous
- God is Gracious = merciful, benevolent, kind & compassionate
- God Guides His People= He leads, accompanies, assists and gives direction/ guidance
- God Heals = make healthy & whole & free from ailments
- God is Holy = He is sinless, perfect and set apart
- God is our Hope = He is the One in whom our expectations are centered
- Jesus is Immanuel = God with Us
- God is Judge = He is the One who rules over and passes judgement on others
- God is Just = He is the One who is fair and does what is right
- God is King of kings & Lord of lords = He is The One who rules the rulers
- Jesus is the Lamb without blemish = He is the perfect sacrifice for sin
- God is Love = God has tender and caring affection for His people
- God is Majestic = God is stately, kingly, grand & raised up
- God is Merciful = God is full of compassion, pity, and undeserved grace & love for another
TEACH- GOD IS OMNIPOTENT:
Start out by asking the kids to share ‘feats of strength’…. who can do 20 push ups? who can lift their brother or sister in the air? etc. Congratulate their strength each time they share some sort of feat of strength and then ask an obvious question….like ‘its amazing that you can lift your brother in the air, but can you lift a car in the air?’ Ask kids to tell stories of the strongest people they’ve ever seen and what they’ve seen them do and then make a comment to show that even these strong men aren’t ALL powerful. Tell the kids that in order to help them understand the truth that God is OMNIPOTENTthat you’re going to look at the story of a VERY strong man in the Bible who looses his strength.
Talking about the truth God is Omnipotent should remind us of the beginning of the year when we talked about God being Almighty. Omnipotent means that God is almighty or INFINITE in power. To help us remember this truth we’re going to look at a story that reminds us that even the strongest man recorded in the Bible wasn’t omnipotent.
Talk through Judges 16 (the story of Samson & Delilah) in your own words. You might want to read parts of the text and elaborate on it. Some points to include are:
- When Samson was a baby, his parents dedicated him to God and made a promise that his hair would never be cut as a sign of this dedication. God gave Samson great strength and used him to do lots of amazing things to protect God’s people and fight for God. But, like all people, Samson grew proud of his strength and let the sin of pride enter his heart.
- Samson loved a Philistine (they were enemies of God’s people) named Delilah. The Philistines wanted to use Delilah to defeat Samson. Delilah asked for the secret of his strength. Sam lied and said if he was tied with 7 fresh bow strings he would loose his strength. She tied him up and called the Philistines and when they got there he broke the bow strings and defeated the Philistines.
- Delilah got mad at Samson for lying to her and asked again how he could loose his strength. This time he said he had to be tied up with new ropes. She tied him up, called the Philistines and when they came Samson broke the rope and defeated the Philistines.
- Delilah asked again how to get rid of his strength. This time he said his hair had to be woven into a carpet loom. Delilah did that and called the Philistines and when they arrived he broke free and defeated the Philistines.
- She asked one more time and even though he shouldn’t have, because he loved her and because he thought he was unbeatable, he told her the truth. He told her that his hair had never beeb cut and if she cut his hair he would loose his strength. She lulled him to sleep, cut off all his hair and called the Philistines. When they arrived, he tried to fight them off, but he had lost all his strength.
- The Philistines captured him, blinded him and made him into a slave.
- After some time, Samson thought about what he had done and repented of his pride and prayed for God to give him back his strength one more time. God answered his prayer and at just the right moment, Samson pushed against the pillars in the hall where the Philistines were and the building crumbled down on top of him and all the Philistine rulers who were there and they all died.
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
OMNIPOTENT = ALMIGHTY OR INFINITE IN POWER
EXPLAIN: Think back to the story of Samson with the kids in the group and talk about how Samson lost His power, but God can NEVER lose His power! God’s power is infinite… it has no beginning or ending.
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for OMNIPOTENT. A good motion might be to make a big circle with your arms and then a strong man pose
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is Omnipotent (or almighty and infinite in power). Our memory verse for the week is… “He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.” Joshua 4:24. Can you think of other things (stories in the Bible) that God has done with his power and might?” As kids give examples, talk through them and discuss how God shows His omnipotence in that story.
Read the memory verse – Joshua 4:24 a few times together
CROSS CONNECTION:
Remind the kids that in our story this morning we saw a very strong man and we saw how he got his strength from God. Talk about how because God is omnipotent He can give power to people when He wants to and He can take power away when He wants to. God has unlimited power. Ask the kids to remind you how Samson lost his power…. true it happened because his hair was cut off, but ultimately it was because he forgot that it was God who gave him the power and God who could take it away and like all sin in anyone’s life, Samson began to believe that he was in control and forgot about God. The story of Samson and the way his life was destroyed by sin reminds us of the truth that sin destroys all of our lives and that we are all sinners who have forgotten that God is God and we are not. The answer to the sin problem in our lives is the same as the answer that Samson saw. The only way we can be forgiven of our sin and life is to repent or turn away from our sin and believe that Jesus died to pay the price for our sin.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word omnipotent somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for omnipotent or the memory verse or they could illustrate the story of Samson or they could draw pictures of other ways that God has shown His power. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Thank God for the ways that He has shown His power to us through creation and pray that children in the group will come to understand His omnipotence more and more.