THE ARMOUR OF GOD

LESSON SIX - THE SHOES OF PEACE

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 we need to put on the shoes of peace

GOALS

To teach the children that:

• We need to walk the walk...practice what you preach.
• We need to be prepared at all times to spread the gospel.
• When we walk the walk we stand firm against the devil and he can't push us around.
• We need to stand firm when we spread the gospel.

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

The damsel in distress is caught by the evil one once again. The knight in shining armour is wearing high heels. He tries to save her while wearing high heels, but trips up along the way, falling flat on his face. The king can intervene and explain to the knight that he needs the right kind of shoes. Having the right shoes is important. The king can bring out an assortment of shoes such as snow boots, cleats, hiking boots, fireman boots, water shoes, etc. Take time to explain that having the right kind of shoes can save your life. A knight needs shoes that are good for long marches. If he has the wrong shoes he can get blisters or he might tire out and give up. Give the knight a good pair of shoes and send him on his way to save the damsel.

Explain that the Bible talks about having your feet covered with the shoes of peace.

CARMEN SONG

Carmen song about the shoes is done as a puppet song. You can include dancing shoes in the puppet song.

OBJECT LESSONS-SKITS

The cook comes out to tell the king about the wonderful dinner he is going to prepare. He describes the great foods, the lavish deserts, the fancy table settings, etc. Then he goes off to prepare. While the king is waiting the knight comes out reading the paper.

The knight in shining armour is reading the paper. (The paper should have a mock headline glued onto the front page that announces that there are going to be free gifts distributed to all who want one after class) The knight tries to decide if he should tell the damsel about the good news. He talks about how wonderful it is to get a free gift. He tries to rationalize that if she wants to know about the free gift she can read the paper for herself. He finally is convinced (by the kids) that it would be the right thing to do to share the good news. This can then be tied into sharing the good news of the gospel with others. The king begins to call for his dinner. He is so anxious to taste the wonderful food the cook told him about. The cook comes out and explains to the king that he didn't bother to cook the meal. He thought just talking about it was enough. This can lead to a discussion about walking the walk and talking the talk. Both are important. Yes, it is important to tell the good news, but it is equally important to live the good news.

MEMORY VERSE

Over the next eight weeks we will be memorizing Ephesians 6:10-18 This week we will be focusing on verse 16 and reviewing verses 10-15. 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.

BIBLE MESSAGE

The court jester comes out to entertain the king with a story. He tells the story of Paul who served God with not only his words as he preached the gospel but also with his actions as he was beaten for the sake of the gospel etc.

GAMES/ POD GROUPS

Shoe relay. You will need a pair of very large shoes for each pod group. The pods will race against one another to put on the shoes, run across the room and back and hand the shoes to the next contestant. The first team to have all of it's members complete the race win.

OBJECT LESSON/ ALTER CALL

You will need a what would Jesus do bracelet or poster. Talk about what this phrase means. Explain to the kids that we need to walk the walk. Our lives need to demonstrate our love for Christ. We need to live so that others can see that we are Christians.

Hang a large banner with the letters WWJD on it on the wall. As a sign of commitment have the kids spend time in prayer asking God to help them walk the walk and then have them sign the poster as a covenant before God to walk as Jesus would.

Copyright 1998, Sheryl Coats