Wednesday Night Lesson - God is Powerful

I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of our class last night. Sorry about that...you'll just have to try and plow your way through my outline below!

I think the class had fun, but I hope they learned from it too! We had our 3 regular wound up boys, plus 3 other rambuntcious kids. I haven't always taught classes with the boys in majority, so it is definitely an adjustment for me! Knowing that I would be the only teacher last night, with 7- 10 kids, mostly boys, I did gear my lesson that way on purpose! :)

To give you a hint of the fun we had, here is the list of supplies I brought to class:

• 10 Potatoes
• 30 Straws
• 10 newspaper sheets
• 10 small dishes of baking soda
• 10 small cups of vinegar
• 10 trays
• 4 funnels
• 3 books
• 2 yardsticks
• 10 paper cups
• 10 red balloons
• 1 rope
• 1 bucket of water
• 20 paper towels
• 1 pitcher of water
• 10 oranges
• 1 thing of red food coloring

Here is what we did:

God Is Powerful

1) How strong are YOU?
What is power? Sometimes it's known as strength....someone who is very strong is very powerful.

• Strong Straw (give each kid a potatoe and two straws. have them try and stab the potatoe with the first straw. It should be hard to do/straw is wimpy. Have them cover the top of the straw with their finger and then stab the potatoe again. Because the air is sealed in the straw, it makes the straw stronger and punctures right into the potatoe! Air is powerful)
• Strong Paper (Have each kid see how many times they can fold a single sheet of newspaper. It should be about 7 times....and then the paper is too thick and we are too weak to fold it any more. We might think we're strong, but not as strong as God!)

2) What things are powerful?

What are some things you know today that are powerful? How about natural things? Wind, water, fire, volcanoes, etc

• Volcanoes (by making a mixture of baking soda and vinegar, you will get a volcanic eruption. We colored our vinegar red, and put it in our paper cups, letting it overflow into our trays. Volcanoes are powerful)
• Isaiah 40:18-26 "To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to?...Lift your eyes to the heavens: who created all these?..." God is powerful. In fact, we think volcanoes are powerful....God MADE the volcanoes! He is the most powerful of all.
• Job 9:4, Jer 32:17, 1 Ch 29:11

3) What are some powerful things that God has done?

• Calmed a storm. (Pour water in each kids tray, and encourage them to blow "waves" in it with their 3rd straw. Read Mark 4:35-41. God powerfully stopped the wind and waves!)
• Raised the dead. (For this experiment, we set up the 3 books....two in one stack, the 3rd 30inches away from it. We laid two yardsticks from one stack to the other, making a sloping V shape -high stack to low. We taped two funnels together and set them at the bottom of the V. They rolled UP! Just like the funnels did backwards of what is normal, so God powerfully raised Jesus from the dead. Acts 2:23)

4) God is Powerful. He can do the impossible.

• Impossible tasks. (For this demonstration, each kid grabbed a paper cup and stood near a blank wall. I asked them to do four things.... 1. Pat your cup and rub your stomach at the same time 2. Hop up and down while whistling into your cup 3. Say "Toy Boat" 3 times as you tap your cup 4. Stand with left foot and left shoulder up against the wall, lift your right foot without falling over. If done correctly, the last task is impossible.)
• Philp. 4:13

5) God has a powerful enemy too.

God is powerful. But God has an enemy too. His name is Satan or the Devil. He is powerful too, but not as powerful as God. Because God made us, and if we love God, the Devil hates us too. We need God's strength and power to protect us.

• Balloon Race. (Line up and throw uninflated balloons. See whose went the farthest. Now, blow up the balloons and let go. See whose shot the farthest. We are like the first balloon, without God. We try and do great things and be important and achieve so much. God wants to fill us up with Himself. When we let Him, we can go farther, faster, and have an amazing life, letting God's power work in us.)
• Dry Paper. (Stuff a dry paper towel into the bottom of your paper cup. Make sure it doesn't fall out when you turn it over. Now, hold your cup over the bucket of water. Plunge your cup, straight down into the water, hold it a second, and take it out. The paper will still be dry! The air pressure protected the paper. God is like that air. He protects us from harm. We might not be able to see Him, but that doesn't mean He doesn't exsist. He is always there, ready to be our defender. He is powerful.)
• Tug of War. (Take the rope out. Have a tug of war game, reminding the kids that there is a battle going on between God and the Devil. God will win. But the devil wants you to loose. Ephesians 6:10-18, 2 Cor 10:4)

6) Eat oranges as snack