THE ARMOUR OF GOD

LESSON FOUR - THE SHIELD OF FAITH

Theme: Prepare yourself for the spiritual battles of life, putting on the whole armour of God

The Set: Medieval times. Turn the puppet stage into a castle. Obtain a suit of armour if possible or make one.

WEEKLY THEMES

1. The battle zone: we face many spiritual battles in life, we must be prepared. V.10-12
2. Belt of truth: The belt was the first thing a soldier put on. It was very important because it gathered together his tunic and insured that he could march without restriction. Truth of heart is the foundation of your spiritual armour. Sincerity in your relationship with Christ is crucial. This relationship is based on doctrinal truth. Truth of heart holds things together like a belt holds a soldier's tunic together.
3. Helmet of salvation: The helmet safeguards your mind with the hope of salvation. We must be cautious what we fill our minds with. It is our saving help from the power of sin. (mind your mind video by Carman)
4. Shield of faith: Your faith can see you through...avoid the devil's darts of doubt. It was a very large shield that protected the whole body.
5. Breast plate of righteousness: Guard your heart with righteousness. To neglect what we know to be righteous action is to leave a gaping hole in our armour.
6. Shoes of peace: Walk the walk. The soldiers shoes were designed for long hard marches. The shoes give us the ability to stand firm against the devil. The shoes are also for the readiness to spread the gospel.
7. Sword of the spirit: God's word is our weapon. It is our weapon to cut through defences and prick peoples conscience. It also helps us to avoid temptation.
8. Radically saved and ready for battle on our knees (It's War by Carman)

CHARACTERS NEEDED

A knight in shining armour, a court jester, a beautiful damsel, king, kings cook, and the enemy, etc. Bobo the puppet and a town crier puppet are also needed.

This week: we will discover that the shield of faith helps see us through difficult times and avoid the devil's fiery darts.

GOALS

To teach the children that:

• Faith is complete trust and reliance on God to give victory.
• Faith acts as a shield that will extinguish all the flaming arrows of the devil.
• Even small children can have BIG faith.
• Faith will see us through difficult times.

PRAYER

Encourage the children to find a place of prayer to prepare their hearts for God's message. This a great time to model the importance of prayer by gathering the leaders together to pray for the service. Remember that prayer is vital to our ministry. Open the service in a group prayer.

RULES

It is very important to review the rules on a weekly basis. It is also good to remind them of the reasons for the rules occasionally too. We need to pay closer attention to enforcement of rules as a controlled environment fosters a better learning environment. Pod leaders should pay special attention to monitoring their children's behaviour.

1. No Walk: This includes fingers, feet, hands, and heads.
2. No Talk:
3. Have fun: a good attitude is imperative.

WORSHIP

Worship is a very special part of our relationship with Christ, not only for adults but also for children. They need to experience that same intimacy with Christ. Encourage them to demonstrate their love for Christ through their worship.

Theme song: God's got an army marching through this land.

OPENING

Introduce the theme and the characters, the knight, the damsel, the enemy, the king, and the cook in the King's Court. The court jester doesn't respond right away when he is called out to be introduced.

SKITS

This week the Knight in shining armour is stolen by the enemy. He should struggle and make a big fuss to resist the devil, but doesn't have his shield with him so he can't resist the devil's darts. The damsel then decides that she must save the poor knight. She worries about being so small and not having enough faith, but prays and believes she can save him. She takes the shield of faith and charges in and saves the knight. The damsel can explain to the kids what faith is and that it doesn't matter what size you are when it comes to faith. Even kids can have big faith.

CARMEN SONG

Carmen song about the shield of faith done as a puppet song.

OBJECT LESSONS

The cook has a very special treat inside a box. He tells the kids all about the treat and asks them if they believe him. He can talk about how faith is believing in something you cannot see. Call one volunteer up to peek in the box. Ask the child several questions about what he saw. Now ask the kids again how many believe there is really a treat in the box. In the Bible times some people got to see Jesus. We now believe based on their testimony. Some day we will all get to see Jesus face to face, just as at the end of class we will all get to share in this treat.

MEMORY VERSE

Over the next eight weeks we will be memorizing Ephesians 6:10-18 This week we will be focusing on verses 14b and reviewing verses 10-14a. The town crier comes out with a royal decree again that all citizens of the Celebration kingdom must learn the verse. The new portion is posted on the castle wall and the knight in shining armour attempts to teach it to the children showing off his armour as he does. Once you have practiced it several times allow two volunteers who can say the verse come up. Allow them to shoot a toy bow and arrow at a target to win a prize if they hit the target.

GAMES/ POD GROUPS

Each pod group will need a laundry basket and a stack of newspaper. Place each pod group in a different corner with their supplies. The object of the game is for them to act as a shield around their basket to keep newspaper out while trying to throw newspaper wads into the other team's baskets. The team with the least amount of newspaper in their basket wins. After the game gather together in pod groups and discuss what a shield is and why faith is represented as a shield in Ephesians 6.

BIBLE MESSAGE

The court jester comes out to entertain the king with a story. He tells the story of Moses going to Pharaoh to ask that God's people be set free and about their escape at the Red Sea. Emphasize the faith needed by Moses to trust God to set them free and see them through the Red Sea. Make sure to mention Moses' lack of speaking ability and feeling of inability. Faith saw Moses through difficult times.

PUPPET SKIT

OBJECT LESSON/ ALTER CALL

The knight in shining armour can do this object lesson. You will need a pad lock and a key to open it. Patient faith is the key to unlocking all of God's promises. God has made many promises to us; to care for us, provide for us, heal us, etc. To unlock all of God's promises we need to have faith. We not only need to believe in God whom we cannot see, but we need to believe that he will be true to his promises.

Copyright 1998, Sheryl Coats