Children's Sunday School Object Lessons

What Type of Fear?
by Theresa S.
Children lean that to fear God means to respect Him, not to be terrified of Him

Materials: Balloon inflated with air Pin Pastor or other respected individual Duration: Approximately 5 minutes			Topics: Fearing God, Pleasing God, Respect Target Age: Grades 1 2 3 4 5 6
What you will do: Have the inflated balloon and pin out of sight in the back of the room. Have one teacher pop the balloon as you start teaching the lesson. Start the lesson by telling the children that they will be getting first hand examples of two Hebrew words, Pachad and Yare. Tell them that they will have to pay close attention and be very quiet in order to... (Balloon pops now) Ask, “What type of fear was that?” (Pachad) After the balloon is popped, go back to teaching lesson… Say, "That certainly startled me! Did it scare you do? Pastor walks into the front of the class. Ask, “When you see pastor walk in our classroom, what kind of fear do you have?” (Yare) Ask, “If Pastor asks you to put the chairs up quickly, would you obey him?” Ask, “Why would you obey him?” (Because you have a Yare fear or respect for him.) We should obey God out of our respect and reverence for Him.