Lesson Title: God Forgives David
Bible Reference: 2 Samuel 12:1–7; Psalm 51:1-12
Target Age Group: Preschool
Learning Context: Children’s Church
Target Time Frame: 1 ½ hour
Gospel Connection: David was a very good king but he was not immune to sin. Whenever David sinned whenever he saw Bathsheba and wanted her as his own. He sinned again whenever he put the events into place that led to Uriah’s death. The good news is that David repented and God forgave him. Today, preschoolers will learn that God will always forgive them as long as they repent, using a simplified version of this story.
Learning Aim: God Forgives Us When We Say We’re Sorry
Materials Needed:
- Pretend Food
- Construction Paper
- Crayons
- Colorful Bandaids
- Scissors
- Scarves or Musical Instruments for Praising God
You say the Italicized words. Non-italicized words are directions.
Bible Story
Open your Bible to 2 Samuel 12:1-7.
You will need 11 pieces of pretend food. 10 for David and 1 for Uriah.
Say, David was the King of Israel. He was a very rich man. He had lots of food, land, servants, and gold. He had everything that he needed.
Put 10 pieces of food on one side of the table and 1 on the other.
There was a man who lived in David’s kingdom named Uriah. Uriah was not a rich man but he had just want he needed. This pile of food belongs to David and this pile belongs to Uriah. Who has the most food? Let the kids answer. That’s right, David has the most food because he was the king. David should have been happy with what he had but he wasn’t. He took Uriah’s food because he wanted it. David stole from Uriah.
Move the food from Uriah’s side the David’s.
David should not have stolen from Uriah. What do you think happened next? Let the kids answer. David had to ask God to forgive him. God forgave David. God loved David just like he loves you. It was wrong for David to take what belonged to Uriah, but it is good to know that God will always forgive us as long as we ask.
Stolen Toys Game
Place 10-20 small items (You can use the pretend food from the Bible story) on the table. Have everyone close their eyes while you ‘steal’ one item from the table. Whenever they open their eyes have them try to guess what it missing. Put the item back and play a few rounds so that everyone has a chance to take something.
Say, This is a fun game but in real life how do you feel whenever someone takes something from you? It makes me sad whenever someone takes something from me. God wants you to be happy with what have. He does not want you to take things that don’t belong to you.
God Forgives Craft
Say, The good news is that whenever we do make mistakes God is willing to forgive us. If you make a mistake then you need to ask God to forgive you. God forgave David and he will forgive you too!
Cut a large heart out of construction paper for each child. Write God forgives on the heart and let them color it then add a few colorful band aids to the picture. Talk about how God can make everything better again no matter what mistakes they make.
Food Race
Have each child spread out and sit on a chair around the room. Put a pile of fake food (or other small items) in the middle of the room. The kids will race to the middle of the room pick up one food item and then take it back and set it on their chair. They may only take one piece of food at a time. Whoever has the most at the end of the game is the winner. Keep the game going until there is no more food left. Proclaim a winner and praise them for doing a good job. Then ask the following questions.
How did it make you feel whenever you didn’t win?
Were you tempted to take food from someone else’s pile?
Is it right to take something that doesn’t belong to you?
Say, Whenever you don’t get your way you may be tempted to take what isn’t yours. But it is wrong to take what isn’t yours.
Praise God
Turn on music, give each child a colorful scarf or musical instrument and praise God together.
Say, The good news is that whenever we make a mistake God will forgive us and make everything ok again. Just like God forgave David, he will forgive us whenever we ask Him to.
Closing the Lesson
Say, Tell me about a time whenever you made a mistake. What did you do to make it right? Did you ask God to forgive you? You should always try to do what is right, but whenever you do make a mistake ask God to forgive you. He loves you very much and he will forgive you!
Let the kids share their answers and then close in prayer.