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 Assistant Duration: Approximately 5 minutes			Topics: Fearing God, Pleasing God, Respect Target Audience: Grades 1-6 (Ages 6-12)
What you will do: Have the inflated balloon and pin out of sight in the back of the room. Have an assistant pop the balloon shortly after you start teaching the lesson. Start the lesson by telling the children that they will be getting firsthand 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 too? Pastor walks into the front of the class. Ask, “When you see the pastor walk into our classroom, what kind of fear do you experience?” (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.) Just as we respect and obey our pastor when we demonstrate Yare fear, we respect and obey God with this same kind of fear. We need not fear (pachad) God, but when we fear (Yare) God, we show how much we love Him out of reverence.