Nature Window: Forecasting the Weather
Do you ever hear mommy and daddy say to each other, "What's the weather going to be tomorrow?" "Let me check the weather forecast to find out!" Then they check the weather app on their phone and it tells them if it's going to be sunny, cold, rainy, windy, etc. But sometimes, the weather doesn't happen just like the weather app says it's going to happen. In fact, if you looked closely at the weather app, you would see that even the forecasters don't say for sure what will happen. They say, "There's a good chance of rain tomorrow," OR, "We will likely have sunny skies." That's because we cannot for sure predict the weather of tomorrow. Thankfully, weather technology is getting better and better, so that we can at least have an idea of the weather to make plans.
Before weather technology, people still tried to predict the weather. They studied patterns in the sky and in how animals responded to figure out what the weather would be tomorrow. Some of their methods were pretty good at predicting the weather. Others were not.
One way that has been shown by science to be fairly accurate, is actually found in the Bible. Jesus says in Matthew 16:2,3, "When you see the sunset, you know what the weather will be. If the sky is red, then you say we will have good weather. And in the morning if the sky is dark and red, then you say that it will be a rainy day. You see these signs in the sky, and you know what they mean. In the same way, you see the things that are happening now. But you don’t know their meaning." Jesus explains that God has also given us other signs, so we can know that Jesus is coming soon. Our Bible story today is about a strange dream that tells world history leading up to the second coming of Jesus.
Check out this animated video to learn more about the amazing satellites scientists use to help them predict the weather.
Memory Mastery: The Godhead
This quarter we are learning more about the Godhead. During our time, we will unpack a little of the mystery of God to help the children understand some important principles. At the end of our questions and answers, you will find a poem about the Godhead that I want the children to memorize.
Who is God?
Did God really make everything? What was there before Him?
Reference: Acts 17:24-28
Do you like to be alone all by yourself? Neither does God.
In fact, did you know God has his own family?
References: 1 John 5:7; Mark 1:9-11
Can we see God?
References: 1 John 4:12; John 6:46; Hebrews 4:14; John 15:26; John 14:7-9
Here is a poem I wrote to help us remember each person of the Godhead. Let's say it and do our hand motions.
(This poem is the actual memory mastery project we will memorize as a class.)
Mission Trip: Secondary School in Libreville, Gabon
This quarter the world church is raising money to build a secondary school in Libreville, Gabon. Please set aside coins all quarter long to donate to the world mission project.
Bible Story: Nebuchadnezzar's Strange Dream
Reference: Daniel 2
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon woke up from a strange dream. The dream bothered him so much that he determined to know what it meant. He called in all the wise men of Babylon. "Tell me my dream, and tell me what it means," he demanded. The wise men answered the king, "Please tell us your dream, and then we will tell you what it means. Only the gods can tell you both." The king got very angry at them. He knew they were going to tell him a lie. He told the commander of his guard, Arioch, to kill all the wise men. Yikes!
When commander Arioch told Daniel the news, Daniel went to King Nebuchadnezzar and said, "I need a little time, but I will tell you what your dream is and what it means." Daniel called his friends together - Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. "Let's pray and ask God to tell us about the king's dream." That night, God showed Daniel in his dreams what the king's dream was and what it meant.
Daniel hurried to the King of Babylon. "King Nebuchadnezzar, there is a God in heaven who knows all things. He gave you your dream, and He has told me what it is. God has shown you what will happen in the future."
Daniel went on to explain, "In your dream, you saw a great statue, with a golden head, a silver chest, a bronze belly and thighs, iron legs, and feet that are mixed with iron and clay. Then you saw a great stone crash into the feet of the statue. The statue broke into tiny pieces and blew away. The stone that was left became a big mountain that filled the whole earth." "Yes," said the king, "that was my dream!"
Daniel continued explaining. "God is showing you the future. You, king Nebuchadnezzar, and your kingdom of Babylon are the head of gold. After your kingdom, another kingdom will take over that is not as great as yours. That's the silver kingdom. Then, there will be another kingdom even less great. That's the belly and thighs of bronze. Finally, there will come fourth kingdom so strong and cruel, like iron, that will rule. That kingdom will eventually break up into smaller kingdoms that will never be fully united again. During the time of the divided iron kingdom, God will set up His own kingdom. God's kingdom is the rock. His kingdom will last forever!"
King Nebuchadnezzar responded, "Surely, Daniel, your God is the God above all other Gods, for no other gods are able to tell the dream and the interpretation!" The king made Daniel head of all the wise men in Babylon. And at Daniel's request, the king appointed his friends - Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah - as leaders in the land.
Our prayer verse is Amos 3:7, which says, "Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets." Daniel was now one of God's prophets. God would give him dreams and visions, too, about the future, so he could understand and write them down for us living today. He wrote down his life experiences and the visions God gave him in a book that is a part of our Bible. If you read the book of Daniel carefully, God will show you, too, what has happened in world history and what is still to come.
Everything that God showed king Nebuchadnezzar came to pass. First there was Babylon, that golden kingdom. Then there was the silver kingdom of Medo-Persia. Then the bronze kingdom of Greece came. Finally, the iron kingdom of Rome was indeed strong and cruel. Rome was not conquered by another kingdom, just like the king's dream said. Instead, Rome was invaded by different tribes that broke the kingdom up into smaller pieces that make up Europe today. We are living during the time of the feet. The only part of the dream left to happen is for the great rock to come. That great rock in Nebuchadnezzar's dream is the second coming of Jesus Christ!
Dear Father God, I know Jesus is coming back very very soon. Help me read my Bible and understand books like Daniel, so I can be ready. In Jesus' Name, Amen
Use 4 blocks, some paper pieces, and 2 rocks, a smaller and a bigger, to retell the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. The blocks will be the 4 parts of the statue with the paper pieces representing the feet. Then the small rock knocks them all down and grows into the bigger rock.