Free Bible Lesson Jeremiah: Book of Idol Worship

 Jeremiah

– Book of Idol worship

Key Point – An idol is anything we put before God!

Memory Verse – Exodus 20:3 “Do not worship any god except me.”

Skit – What we worship is obvious – Have some friends get together – (some come out with playstation equipment wrapped around his arm, someone else with a baseball glove and hat, someone else with a doll who cries when separated from the doll, lastly have a kid with a bible). Have the kid with the Bible explain that anything we put before God is an idol. The kids will be confused thinking that only things carved from stone are considered idols. An idol is anything we put before God!

Object Lesson – Have a picture of an Idol from the Bible ask the kids how many would worship this? (allow the kids time to respond) Of course we would never worship a carved out in stone or wood. Then explain that even though we don’t for the most part worship carved out idols we can have things that are more important to us than God. Like Playstation, Barbie, TV, watching movies, being with friends all these things can become modern idols. We must be careful not to let them. An idol is anything we put before God!

Object Lesson – Serving Idols separates us from God – Have two kids come up and explain that when we worship something other than God we have an Idol, that thing blocks us from having a relationship with God, we can see God we can’t talk to him because something is in the way. (During this time have one kid turn sideways to the crowd but facing the MC have the MC explain how it is easy to see this person talk to them ect.. Then take the other kid place that kid between the MC and the first kid. Explain that an Idol is anything that we place in front of God, anything that keeps us from loving Jesus.) The MC explains that anything we put before God is an Idol. If you play the playstation before you pray it is an idol, if you care more what your friends think than what God thinks they are an idol.

Puppet – Says that his Idol is elmo and barney. The MC explains that the Bible tells us we shouldn’t have idols. The puppet says that the Bible means statues, and the puppet doesn’t have any statues of elmo anywhere in his house. MC asks how many hours he watches elmo and barney? The puppet says 4 hours every day but he would watch all day if his mother would let him. The MC asks if he ever prays or reads his bible? The puppet says that he hates that stuff even though he still loves God. The MC explains that elmo and barney even though they are not statues they are idols because he loves them more than he loves God. The Puppet says that he loves God but his actions show something much different.

Bible story –  Ex. 32:1-29 The golden Calf. –

Tell the story of Israel worshiping the golden calf.

What the children of Israel were saying by worshiping the Golden Calf is the needed a God they could control. They wanted something they could see that they built that could predict what it would do and where it would move. Even though the one true God had rescued them from Egypt they didn’t fully trust God. So they did what they could do and that was trust themselves and so they built a God that would allow them to do whatever they wanted to do.

We have things in our life that we trust more than God. There are things in our lives that consume our thoughts because we think those things will make us truly happy. If we have the newest video game we will be happy or if the coolest kid in our school is our friend or if everyone thinks we have the nicest clothes.

You see idols are not always bad things often its good things that we turn into the most important thing in our life. If we have this or that or if that person likes us we will be happy. We won’t because God created us to be only truly happy when we are in a right relationship with him. God knew that the children of Israel would turn to idols just like he knows you and I would do the same thing. So he sent a rescuer to rescue us. To show us a better way to live. Because no matter how hard we try we can never be perfect we all need God’s help. So God sent us Jesus. Jesus is the only cure for a heart that wants so many other things. We will always want more and never be truly happy in life until our heart rests in Him.

We know that we can trust God with our whole life because God sent his son Jesus to give up his life for you and me. God poured out his heart and gave us Jesus so that our hearts can be filled with a true love that never leaves us love that never stops a love that can only be from God sending us Jesus. In John 3:16 it says for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him will not die but will live. Jesus wants us to live and not die. We will only truly live when our hearts treasure Jesus more than anything on earth.

Small Group Activity –

To turn to idols you have to turn your back on God. (Have three kids from the cell act out what you are describing) Have one represent God one represent other gods (idols) and the last person represent us. Have the person representing us start of worshiping God

Explain to the kids to turn to one we must turn to the other. The Bible tells that no man can serve two masters, and that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Questions –

1. What is an idol?
2. What do you love more than God?
3. Why?
4. How often do you read your Bible?
5. How often do you pray?
6. What do you spend most of your time doing? What happens when we put things before God? What can we do to keep from turning our backs on God?
7. What can you do this week to show God you love Him?