After completing this Sunday school lesson, children will understand that faith is the key to finding courage.
TOPICS
Believing, Courage, Daniel, Faith, Protection
AS KIDS ARRIVE (10 minutes)
The Prophet Daniel (Word Puzzle) Click here
OPENING PRAYER AND PRAISE (5 minutes)
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MEMORY WORK (12 minutes)
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." James 1:2-3 NIV
Have the students look up the verse in their own Bibles. Read the verse together as a class, then discuss how facing trials can test our faith, and produce perseverance.
SCRIPTURE READING AND DISCUSSION (15 minutes)
Introduction:
Last week we learned how Daniel interpreted the handwriting on the wall for King Belshazzar, and how the king, who did not heed its warning, died that same night for not humbling himself before God. Instead of denouncing gold and silver as idols and therefore unworthy of worship, King Belshazzar continued to worship these objects, which as we learned, had disastrous results.
This week, we will focus on the next part of the story. After King Belshazzar’s death, Darius became the king. He displayed a great deal of respect and favor for Daniel; in fact, he wanted Daniel to rule the entire kingdom. Naturally, many of the king’s subjects were upset by the favor Daniel received. Moreover, many people in the kingdom were already jealous of Daniel because of his high position within the kingdom as he was only a captive from Judah. The combination of his status within the kingdom and his status as a captive was too much. Therefore, the people of King Darius’ kingdom developed a clever plan to get rid of Daniel once and for all.
Read Daniel 6:6-24 (Daniel in the Den of Lions)
Read the passage to the children as they follow along in their own Bible.
Discussion Questions:
1. How did the evil men know that Daniel would not give up praying to God? (Because of Daniel's reputation for being faithful to God.)
2. Did the king want to throw Daniel in the den of lions? (No.)
3. Then why did he?(He was bound by a written decree.)
4. How did Daniel show he had faith in God after he heard the decree? (He went home and prayed anyway.)
5. Daniel said he was saved because he was found innocent in God's eyes, innocent of what? (Being disobedient, not being faithful to God, etc.)
6. What are some situations in your life where having faith in God helps? (Allow for answers.)
CLASS EXERCISE (5 minutes)
Unseen Faith (Object Talk) Click here
ALTERNATE CLASS EXERCISE (7 minutes)
By Faith (Game)
Write each of the clues shown below on index cards. Divide the class into two teams. Following the rules of Charades, have the kids act out the situations shown below. Tell the kids that all of the answers are about events in the Bible that took great faith. (All of these examples of faith can be found in Hebrews chapter 11.)
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Noah built an ark Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice Moses parted the Red Sea |
The wall of Jericho fell down David killed the giant Goliath Daniel survived the den of lions |
ALTERNATE CLASS EXERCISE (5 minutes)
Lions' Den Rap (Song) Click here
APPLICATION (3 minutes)
So will faith save us? The Bible says we are saved by grace through faith. Daniel was one of the many great men of faith. Although he knew that disobeying a decree meant death, he would not give up his faith, even for his own life. We will never know if Daniel went into the lion's den believing he would survive. However, we do know that he prayed to God for help. Although we do not know exactly what he prayed for—he could have prayed for help to withstand the pain or to die quickly—we do know that it was because of his faith in God that he was not afraid to endure extreme pain or even death.
Daniel knew that he was in God’s care, and that God would only allow what He wanted to actually happen to him. Having faith in God means to allow Him to be in control of our lives. If we faithfully obey and give Him our praise, He will give us the courage to do whatever He wants us to do, or go wherever He wants us to go. Hopefully, he does not send us into a den of lions anytime soon.
NEXT WEEK
Select another exciting Bible based children's Sunday school lesson from Kids Sunday School Place.
CLOSING PRAYER (2 minutes)
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TAKE HOME PAGE
Give one copy to each child at the end of the class to take home. Click here for NIV or KJV [PDF]