Kids in Ministry Intl

Hearing Gods Voice

Lesson 1 Natural World vs. Spirit World

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Kids in Ministry Intl

Hearing Gods Voice

Natural World vs. Spirit World

Leaders Sermon Overview #1
Our ultimate goal in this two part series called the School of the Holy Spirit is to not only teach children about the gifts of the Spirit as detailed in 1 Corinthians 12-14, but to have them operating in the gifts while they are still young. So to lay a solid biblical foundation demonstrating we as people have another side to our livesa spirit sidewe must go all the way back to the garden of Eden and learn exactly how man was made. Understanding that man was created as a spirit-being is basic for teaching children how to listen to their spirits, which is where the Holy Spirit communicates with us. From birth, children learn about the world around them through the use of their five physical senses. They are completely unaware they have a spirit (or rather they are a spirit) unless they are taught. They need to learn at an early age there is another world or dimension in this life which is just as real as the world we can see with our eyes. We have taken our time in this lesson to clearly explain the differences between the natural world were familiar with, and the spiritual world, and to also introduce terms which will be used frequently throughout this curriculum. But the truth is children can be drawn into the Spirit realm and be functioning at an amazing prophetic level with little to none of the teachings in this book, if this is the only goal. Though they may be intellectually ignorant of the spirit world, they function in it quite naturally. But our purpose is to help them intellectually understand, as much as possible, how fearfully and wonderfully we are made in His image and to give them powerful experiences of hearing and responding to the voice of God. We want them to know how to hear Gods voice on purpose and not by accident! For this reason these lessons are laced with numerous examples.

Children can be functioning at an amazing prophetic level with little to none of the teachings in this book, if that is the only goal.
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Hearing Gods Voice

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24
(King James Version)

Power Verse

Power Verse Discussion

Makesurethechildrenunderstandthefollowingwordsandinformation:
God is a Spirit: The eternal, invisible, all-knowing, all-powerful, heavenly Creator, without a body of flesh and blood like people have. Worship: The love, honor, reverence, respect, and devotion we show to God in every area of our lives, not just at church. In spirit: From our hearts, or the deepest part of our emotions. In Truth: Being honest in our display of love, and not doing it for show, or to win favor with God. Who said it? Jesus Who was He speaking to? The Samaritan woman getting water at the well

Advance Preparation
Introduction: Props: 1. An astronaunt, either a toy or photographs from an encyclopedia, 2. A realistic looking baby doll, or a real baby, keeping the doll handy in case the baby cries and you have to give it back to its mother, 3. A large balloon. Visual Lesson #1 Props: 1. A realistic looking baby doll, or real baby, keeping the doll handy in case the baby cries and you have to give it back to its mother. Visual Lesson #2 Props: 1. Take a clear sheet of plastic, 18 inches by 24 inches long (46 centimeters by 61 centimeters). With a black marker draw the outline of a man. This represents the invisible God. 2. Rubber ears, such as a clown may wear, 3. Comical eye glasses such as those found at a party store. Visual Lesson #3 Props: 1. A model or picture of a human heart, (To add some real excitement to your class, ask your local butcher for the heart of a cow, sheep, or hog.) 2. Rubber ears such as a clown may wear, 3. A small cloth ghost made from a white square cloth (see instructions on page 186).
(Underlined objects are provided in the Visual Kit for this curriculum available through Kids in Ministry International. See page 188.)

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Hearing Gods Voice

Sermon #1:

Natural World vs. Spirit World

Introduction
Props: 1. An astronaut, either a toy or photographs from an encyclopedia, 2. A realistic looking baby doll, or a real baby, keeping the doll handy in case the baby cries and you have to give it back to its mother, 3. A large balloon. How many of you can see my astronaut? (Hold up the toy astronaut or picture. Most of the children will raise their hands.) No, you cant! (Drop the toy behind your back, then hold it out again.) Lets try this again. How many of you can see my astronaut? (Children will raise their hands again.) No, you cant! (Drop the toy behind your back, then hold it out again.) Lets try this one more time. How many of you can see my astronaut? (Bythis time some of the children will begin to catch on.) You cant really see the astronaut himself. All you can see is the suit the astronaut is wearing. The REAL astronaut is down on the inside of this suit! Astronauts go into outer space to do their work. But theres no oxygen or other things the astronaut needs to help him live safely. So he wears this suit to live and function in outer space. Thats just like you and me. When God made us, He gave us a suit so we could live and function well on planet earth. We call this suit our body. If we did not have bodies of flesh and blood, we could not live on this earth the way God wanted us to. He gave us bodies which can see, smell, hear, taste, and touch the world around us. We call this world the natural world. (Hold the baby doll in your arms like you would a real baby and point to it as you talk.) The minute babies are born they 18 begin learning about the natural world around them. They immediately begin to use their five physical senses to learn how to operate in this world. But the real baby, or person, cannot be seen with our natural eyes. The real person is down on the inside of this little body. The body is just the house the real person lives in. How do we know this is true? Lets go all the way back to the Garden of Eden and think about how God created people. First, He took the dust of the earth and molded man. But man just laid there on the ground until God bent down and breathed into him. As soon as God did so, man became a living soul! (Lay the doll down, pick up the balloon, and blow one big, giant breath into it until it inflates.) It was when God breathed into him, man came to life. What actually happened when God breathed into him? (Allow for response.) God put some of Himself inside of man! The Bible tells us God is a Spirit (John 4:24). The Hebrew word for Spirit is breath. So when God breathed into man, and put His breath into man, He actually put His own Spirit inside of man, and man was made in the image of God. Man became a spirit being living in a body of flesh in the same way an astronaut lives inside his suit.

Kids in Ministry Intl

Hearing Gods Voice

Sermon #1:

Natural World vs. Spirit World

Visual Lesson #1
Props: 1. A realistic looking baby doll, or real baby, keeping the doll handy in case the baby cries and you have to give it back to its mother. The world we live in is a wonderful place with trees, mountains, rivers, oceans, flowers, animals, and other awesome things we can see and experience all around us. We call it the natural world. From the time a little baby is born he begins learning about this natural world around him. (Hold the baby doll in your arms, again, like it is a real baby.) The first thing that happens after his birth is he begins to see things. (Hold up the eyes or point to the dolls eyes.) He sees his mommys face. He sees the crib. He sees the light in his room. He sees his bottle. He sees the dog! (Be lighthearted with this dialog.) Then he begins to smell things (hold up the nose or point to the dolls nose)mommys perfume, his baby food, his dirty diapers, and the dog! This baby goes on to hearing things (hold up the ears or point to the dolls ears) mommys voice, daddys voice, the TV, cars, airplanes, andthe dog! But that isnt the end. He begins to touch everything in sight. (Hold up the fingers, or the dolls hand.) Have you ever noticed when some-one is holding a baby, the first thing the baby does is reach for the persons glasses or hair? If its a woman, the baby will reach for her shiny earrings! Baby will grab everything! He wants to feel it all with his fingers. Then he goes on to grab his food, and thenthe dog! Finally, the baby begins to learn about his world through tasting. (Hold up the mouth or point to the dolls mouth.) What is the first thing a baby does when he picks something up? (Allow for response.) He sticks it in his mouth immediately! Why does he do that? Because thats the way he learns about his world. First hes in the milk zone for a long time. But soon he goes on to applesauce, mashed potatoes, creamed spinach. Then he moves on to other things like T-bone steak, andthe dogs tail! Anything he can get his hands on goes straight into his mouth. Thats the way he learns about his worldthrough his five physical sensessight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. Thats the way we all learned about the world around us. Did you know a person learns more in the first three years of his life than he does all the rest of his life put together? BUT...all of these senses only help him in this natural world. It does nothing to prepare him to live and function in the spirit world. No matter how smart we areno matter how much we learn in schoolnone of this information will help us in the other world. As Christians, we must learn to live in two different worldsthe natural world and the spirit world. 19

Kids in Ministry Intl

Hearing Gods Voice

Sermon #1:

Natural World vs. Spirit World

Visual Lesson #2
Props: 1. Take a clear sheet of plastic, ideally 18 inches by 24 inches (.46 meters by .61 meters) long. With a black marker draw the outline of a man. This represents the invisible God. 2. Rubber ears, such as a clown may wear, 3. Comical eye glasses, such as found at a party store. When we say God is a Spirit, what do we mean? (Allow for response.) We cannot see God with our natural eyes. (Hold up the clear plastic outline of a man.) Hes invisible. We cannot hear Him with our natural ears. We cannot touch Him with our hands. We cannot interact with Him using any of our five physical senses! Scientists cannot put God in a test tube and analyze Him, can they? But Hes very real! God exists in what we call the spirit world. Even though we cant interact with it with our five physical senses, the spirit world is just as real as the world we can see. Who else lives in the spirit world? (Allow for response.) Jesus, the Holy Spirit, angels, demon spirits, and the devil all exist in the invisible spirit world. Even people who have already died still exist in the spirit world because spirits never die. Only our physical bodies die. Whether a person is a Christian or not, their spirits will live forever, either in heaven or hell. However, they do not continue to live on earth, in spite of what some religions might try to tell us. This leads us to another questionwhere is the spirit world? (Allow for response.) Its everywhere! Its all around us on this earth. If God were to open our eyes right now to be able to see into the spirit world, we would see this room is full of angels! We would also be able to see demon spirits who are always trying to pull us away from the Lord. But we each have an angel watching over us (Matthew 18:10) all the days of our lives. Finally, where else does the spirit world exist? (Allow for response.) In heaven and in hell! We can see we actually live in two worlds. We live in the natural world you can see, touch, hear, taste, and smell with our physical bodies. But because we are made in Gods image and are spirits, we also live in the spirit world. (Hold up the invisible plastic man outline.). Weve learned to get along pretty well in the natural world. Thats the easy part because we do it twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, and have for all of our lives. But to find out we are also spirits means we need to learn how to function in the spirit world, too! We learn to function as Christians as we walk close to God. We have to learn a new way to see and hear. (Hold up the comical eyes and rubber ears placing them over your stomach.) We learn to see with our spirit eyes and hear with our spirit ears instead of our natural eyes and ears! The Holy Spirit is constantly trying to show us and tell us things, and we must learn how to listen to Him!

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Sermon #1:

Natural World vs. Spirit World

Visual Lesson #3
Props: 1. A model or picture of a human heart. (To add some real excitement to your class, ask your local butcher for the heart of a cow, sheep, or hog.) 2. Rubber ears such as a clown may wear, 3. A small cloth ghost made from a white square cloth (see instructions on page 186). We might wonder what it is we are talking about when we refer to our spirit. The Holy Spirit has another name in the Bible. Sometimes He is called the Holy Ghost. Weve all heard about ghosts at one time or another. (Hold up the cloth ghost.) They always seem to represent something spooky and evil. Ghost is a name weve all heard to identify some being in the unseen world. The Bible speaks often about our hearts when it is referring to our spirits. (Hold up the heart you have chosen. Allow the children to touch it, hold it, and discuss what a heart does for our bodies.) But when the Bible talks about our heart, it is not talking about the organ pumping blood through your body. Many times it is talking about our deepest feelings and emotions such as the scripture which says, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6:21). Just as this natural heart sits in a very central location in our bodies (point to your chest), so our spirit man, or our heart, seems to be located somewhere in the center of the deepest part of our insides. (Place your hand over your tummy area.) Everyone, put your hand over your tummy. Repeat after me, This is where my spirit is. (Allow for response. Repeat 2 or 3 times.) Why do we believe this? Because Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit as living water flowing out of the belly of the person who believes in Him (John 7:38). Theres another scripture which talks about the hurtful words of a gossiper going down into the innermost parts of the belly, or where our deepest emotions and thoughts are. Hurtful words go past our minds and go straight into our spiritual heart (Proverbs 26:22). This is one reason why, when someone really hurts your feelings badly, it can feel like a big knot in your stomach. It hurts your spiritual heart. If this is where our spirits are located, (pat your stomach) then when God, or the Holy Spirit, talks to us, it will be in our hearts, or our innermost parts, that we will hear His voice. (Hold the rubber ears over your stomach.) Since He is a Spirit Himself, He is going to communicate with our spirits. We may not hear any words (cup your hands behind your ears) like we think of when we talk to each other, but on the inside we will just know things. He will put a thought in our hearts. His voice is not like a human voice we hear with the ears on our head (hold the rubber ears over your real ears, then back over your stomach), but we hear His voice with the ears of our heart. In fact many times there will be thoughts bombarding our minds (thump your temples with your forefingers), but if we listen to our hearts, we will hear His quiet voice. 21

Kids in Ministry Intl

Hearing Gods Voice

Sermon #1:

Natural World vs. Spirit World

Gehazis Eyes Are Opened

(Based on 2 Kings 6:8-23) Actors: Props: Gehazi: Gehazi (pronounced Guh-hay-zeye), Elisha, the prophet, the King of Syria, a Syrian soldier A Bible costume for Bible characters, and a chair center stage facing the audience. (Enters and slouches down into the chair like he is tired.) What does that make now? About the tenth trip I have made to the King of Israel on behalf of my master, Elisha. (Lays head back and sighs.) Thats a long way to run! Im exhausted. (Suddenly sits up, leans forearms on knees and chuckles.) But what a blast working for a prophet! I get in on all the action, man! I dont know how Elijah does it, but he just seems to have this on-going conversation with God all the time! (Stands up, faces the audience and talks to them, very agitated.) You wouldnt believe whats been going on around Israel these days! The King of Syria is out to get us! Hes got his army lurking out in the mountains just waiting for some unsuspecting Israeli city to let their guard down so they can capture them! (Stops and grins.) But before they can go ahead with their plans, God tells Elijah right where theyre planning to attack, and Elisha sends me to tell the King of Israel! Thenvoila! Their plans are foiled again! (Throws his head back and laughs.) Man, when are they going to learn? (Exits laughing.) King of Syria:(Enters angrily, pacing back and forth, his soldier following closely behind.) I dont get it! I just dont get it! How are they doing it?! How are those Israelis always finding out where it is were planning to ambush them? Theres a leak in security! Thats it! One of our soldiers is a snitch! (Stops abruptly, and the soldier accidently plows into his back. The King turns and scowls at him.) Soldier: King: (Clumsily trying to brush off the Kings clothes.) Oh, Im sorry, sir! I didnt mean to... Quiet, fool! Answer my question! Which one of our soldiers is spying for Israel? Thats the only explanation for whats been going on! Its your job to find out who it is, and then heads are going to roll! (Throws a fist through the air as though punching an invisible foe.) Nobody is spying for Israel, sir. (Plops into the chair angrily.) What do you mean? That has to be it! Its that prophet Israel has living there, sir!

Drama/Puppetry

Soldier: King: Soldier: 22

Kids in Ministry Intl

King: Soldier: Gehazi:

Prophet? What prophet?

Hearing Gods Voice

His name is Elisha, and he hears from God, sir! He even knows what you say in the privacy of your bedroom. (The soldier and the King freeze in place momentarily.) (Darts out onto the stage suddenly, unseen by the King and soldier and loudly whispers to the audience with one hand cupped over his mouth.) Thats not true! God only tells him whats necessary for him to know. (Shakes his head and exits quickly.) (They unfreeze and continue talking.) If thats the case, then were going to get him! Well put an end to this nonsense now! I want you to gather all of our soldiers and every horse and chariot we own, and were heading for the city where that prophet is! Well show him! Well sneak in tonight while everyones asleep. (King and the soldier go stomping off stage.) (Frantically enters wringing his hands and looking all around.) Oh, great! Hes done it this time. Theyve come here to Dothan! I got out of bed this morning and looked out the window andoh, my goodnessthe entire town is surrounded by Syrians soldiers! Why didnt God tell Elisha about this one? Were gonna die! Were all going to die! (Saunters in with a yawn.) Good morning, Gehazi. Wheres my coffee? Coffee? (His voice squeaks.) Coffee???? How can you be thinking of coffee at a time like this??? (Rubbing his eyes from sleep.) A time like what? What do you mean a time like this? Hasnt God told you anything? (His voice is at a fever pitch now.) Havent you looked outside your window this morning?? Were by a zillion Syrian soldiers including horses and chariots!! Thats what I mean by a time like this!!!! (Slides into the chair with another yawn.) Oh, that. (Pulling his hair and nearly screaming.) Oh, that??? All youve got to say is, Oh, that? Were dead meat, Elisha! Its over! Were kapoot! Toast! History, baby!!!! (Slowly drops his head back, looks to heaven calmly.) Lord, show him! Open his eyes so he can see whats really out there! (Points to an imaginary window.) Go look, Gehazi. Theres more of us than there is of them. (Sarcastically points to himself, and then Elisha.) One, two! Go look out the window! (Runs to the imaginary window.) What? (Gasps!) What is...whyoh, my goodness. (Giggles in relief.) Oh, wow! Look at that! (Stands up straight, cockily.) Ha! I knew it! We had nothing to worry about! (Then rubs his eyes, squints and looks again to be sure, then talks to himself.) No, this is not my imagination! They are really there. I can hardly believe what Im seeing. I told you. Theres nothing to worry about. Those are angels, Gehazi, with horses and chariots of fire. They exist in Gods worldthe spirit world! Its more real than this natural world that we can see with our eyes! And as you can see, theres significantly more of them than there is of our enemies. Were covered! (Giggles and dances a little jig.) Your coffee is coming right up, Sir!

King:

Gehazi:

Elisha: Gehazi: Elisha: Gehazi: surrounded

Elisha: Gehazi: Elisha:

Gehazi: Elisha: Gehazi:

Elisha:

Gehazi: (Both exit.)

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Hearing Gods Voice

Natural World vs. Spirit World

Review Questions #1
Review questions are a very valuable teaching tool. They not only show us how well the children have learned, but they show us how well we have taught them. We never deliberately use trick questions. We try to make our questions simple and clear. Its okay to give them hintshelp them review and reinforce what they heard earlier. Make this review exciting and fun. Reward the children for their answer, right or wrong. They are anxious to please us, and we want them to get the right answers. Review questions should not be designed so only your brightest students will get them. Using these questions at the beginning of the next weeks lesson God Has a Still, Small Voice is a great way to refresh their memory as to what you discussed and is a great launching pad to begin a new concept. (Make sure you read about this section in How to Effectively Use This Curriculum.)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 24

What does an astronaut wear to be able to survive in outer space? A space suit What do we have to have to live on earth? A physical body When God breathed into man, what did He put into him? A spirit We live in a body, but the real us is a what? A spirit Name our five physical senses. Taste, touch, sight, sound, smell How does a baby learn about the world around him? Through his five senses Is it possible to use our five senses to learn about the spirit world? No Finish this scripture: God is a _______. Spirit Who all lives in the spirit world? God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, angels, devil, demons, people who have already died. Where is the spirit world? All around us Since God is a spirit, when He speaks to us, what part of us will He usually speak to? Our spirit Our physical heart pumps blood through our body. What else do we call a heart? Our spirit Our physical hearts are in our chest. Where is our spiritual heart located? Deep inside our belly What scripture do we base that on? Out of our innermost being shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:38) How do we hear Gods voice? With our spiritual hearts or our spiritual ears

Kids in Ministry Intl

Hearing Gods Voice

Natural World vs. Spirit World

Sword Drill #1
Encouraging children to bring their Bibles to church gives value and importance to the Bible in your childrens ministry. To reinforce this, you may want to include a time of fun competition where a set of six to ten children compete to see who can find certain scriptures the fastest. The one who finds the most the quickest wins. This game helps the children become familiar with the books of the Bible and gives them a greater reason to bring their Bibles to church. Many times children will also practice at home so they are better prepared when they come to service. This inspires them to use their Bibles at home. We have included a list of scriptures with each lesson to reinforce the concepts in the lessonscriptures you would otherwise not have time to read. The following scriptures are taken from the New King James version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Romans 8:14 Proverbs 20:27 John 3:6 1 Peter 3:4 2 Corinthians 4:16 Romans 8:16

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (KJV) But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. 25

8.

9. 10.

John 7:38 Job 32:8