Week Three – God Worshipping
SUMMARY: Students understand that worshipping God is about celebrating who God is, what God has done and is doing, and what God has created. It is literally about standing in awe and wonder of knowledge of him and his promises. Students see this worship as a way of life.
GOING DEEPER
Glorifying and praising God is a joyful duty of being an image-bearer. In fact, Christ says that if we don’t praise God, the rocks themselves will cry out. And they do! Upon seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, Hendrik Von loon exclaimed: “I came an atheist – I leave a believer.” Praising God is not an option – or an elective or “frill.”
God loves every part of this world. Our God is a God who loves diversity, complexity, and creativity. When we look at the world around us, the plants, rocks, animals, sea creatures, insects, the skies and beyond, and especially people and their intelligence and capabilities… we can’t help but be awestruck.
God obviously takes delight in chickadees, giraffes and northern lights, but also wants us to delight in Creation. That’s one of the reasons why we teach – to draw attention to God’s creation and its wonder and weirdness. Albert Einstein once said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is.”
God gave us this world to enjoy, to play in, to explore. We worship God when we enjoy the delicate complexity of a butterfly wing and a tiny seed pod, or the immense awe of a sharp-edged mountain ridge, and a towering thundercloud. We also realize, when we see this beauty, how much God loves us. Together, in community, we join in worship of our God.
BIBLICAL REFERENCES
Could be used for devotions or memory work.
“And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
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- This passage not only tells us something about what worship is (bearing fruit, being strengthened by God’s glorious might, joyfully give thanks) it also gives us the reason why (we have been rescued)!
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
Other Passages to Ponder:
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Psalm 68:3 (many of the Psalms are worship poems)
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Colossians 3:11 (Christ is all!)
SONGS
You can use these as part of your morning devotions or to play in the background during work.
ACTIVITIES
Ideas that you can connect to the learning that is happening or encourage in your student’s free time.
- Discuss, “What is Worship?” – Discussion starter
- List the miracles in your life
- Write a Psalm
- Try a Listening Prayer
- Create a mural – What images draw you to God?
- Ask someone older to teach you a hymn
- Start an online prayer group with friends
- Plan & lead a class/family devotions
- “Attend” an online church service
- Memorize a Psalm of Praise
- Create a daily prayer journal
- Write a song/poem based on a nature walk
- Paint a depiction of a song
- Joshua & Crossing the Jordan lesson plan (a number of reinforcement activities – check out “Find 12 Stones”)
- Read a whole book of the Bible in one sitting
- Create, collect & publish inspiring quotes/Bible verses
DIGITAL RESOURCES
Digital books, devotion ideas, online resources, blog articles, etc.
Student Focused:
- A Collection of Worship Songs – Youtube (Div 1-4)
- Kids Worship Songs – Youtube channel (Div 1-2)
- Skit Guys (My God is so Big) – Video (Div 1-3)
- Adventures in Odyssey – Website (Div 1-3)
- A Life of Worship – Youtube (Div 4)
- What is Worship – Youtube (Div 3,4)
- Why Do We Worship – Youtube (Div 3,4)
Teacher/Parent Focused:
- Humble as a Child – Blog
- Defining Worship – Youtube
- The Purpose of Worship – Lessons & Quizzes
- Tips for Teaching Kids About Worship – Video Interview
- Because I Love You, Max Lucado – Book Reading
- Ligonier Ministries – Teaching Resources unlocked
- BibleProject – Bible reading tool/resource
FORMATIONAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES (FLEX)
These are experiences that connect our learning/work to real people/problems (to go beyond our normal classroom walls). These are authentic opportunities for students to practice living the Kingdom story.
Send your pastor and/or worship leaders an email of gratitude for their work during this challenging time. Older students can connect with their church leaders to see if there are ways they can use some of their skills to help their “online church” (e.g., tech skills, worship, setting up a youth Bible study online, joining prayer groups, writing a Psalm of praise to be shared during a service, creating a Youtube channel of children’s messages for kids at your church to watch, etc).
REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS/SENTENCE STARTERS
It is said that we don’t learn from doing, but from reflecting on what we do. Give students time and space to reflect on their experiences and learning this week.
- How can we worship God without singing or praying?
- What did you learn about God this week?
- Why should we worship God?
- Who is somebody you know that lives a life of worship?
- When was a time when you found it difficult to worship God?
- Where is your favourite place to be in wonder of God?
TEACHING FOR TRANSFORMATION (TFT)
RESOURCES FOR PARENTS & STUDENTS – Provided by Prairie Centre for Christian Education
