Mystery question: How can I hear from God?
Need to Know: I hear from God when I spend time with Him!
Bible Story: Cornelius & Peter, Act 10
Memory verse: But without faith (cover eyes) no one (shake head) can please God. (Point up) We must believe (hand over heart) that God is real (nod head) and that He rewards everyone (hands out in front) who searches for Him. (Point up) Hebrews 11:6
Preparation: (Hanger Tennis game)
Please have the following ready for after the lesson:
- Wire hanger
- Knee high stocking
- Tape
- Paper to roll in the shape of a ball
Lesson:
Welcome back to our MYSTERY MANNER series everybody, I hope you are having fun in our series… YAY! Oh, my word (ecstatic) I’m sure you are as excited as I am for this week’s MYSTERY with cousins Stevie and Parker!
Before we get into our great mystery today, let’s get up! Shakeup! And get ready for praise and worship.
Story time:
Did you realize that when we spend time listening, we hear things we may have never heard before? Have you ever wondered if you could hear from God if you listened? Today we are going to find out our answer to this mystery question.
How can I hear from God?
So get set! Ready? Let’s catch up with Stevie and Parker. HERE WE GO!
Parker walked into one of the rooms in the mansion and looked around. “This is the last room in the house, it’s GOT to be in here”. Stevie ran into the room after Parker, completely out of breath, gasping for air “Why…are…we…RUNNING…around…an…old…abandoned…mansion?”
Parker continued to look around the room, ignoring the fact that Stevie was out of breath.
“Well Stevie, we are here to look for a feather pen, DUH! That smudge in Great Grandpa Pif-Paf’s Bible came from the ink of a feather pen. So we need to find one somewhere in the house. I just wished we had checked the bedroom BEFORE going up into that creepy attic”. After a while Stevie finally had his breath back, still in great disbelief about this whole mystery. He claims that the mystery is a complete waste of their time. “Every so-called a clue, we find just takes us further down a trail to nowhere”. Parker, however, still refused to give up on solving the mystery. It was fun (well for Parker at least) and he found it very interesting and exciting to find the questions he had about God.
“You can believe that all you want, Stevie, but I KNOW this mystery is real. Great Grandpa Pif-Paf wouldn’t have left that smudge in THE Bible if it wasn’t real”. Stevie rolled his eyes at Parker still not believing that the mystery could be real. “I’ll play along with this little mystery game, but when this so-called clue turns out to be nothing, don’t be upset because I, your OLDER and WISER cousin, tried to warn you”. Parker finally got the feather pen, he held it up and showed Stevie, “would you believe that the clue is real if I found the feather pen?”
Stevie still did not believe that the mystery could be true. “Psshh…what? NO, because I don’t believe that this mystery is real, remember? However, as someone who does science experiments in my spare time, I would like to investigate the chemical properties of the ink”. Parker did not understand what Stevie had just said, he gave the feather pen to Stevie to perform his investigation.
Stevie sets his detective bag on the ground and starts taking things out of it to investigate the feather pen- magnifying glass, bottle, and a scanner. Meanwhile, Parker notices the journal on the bookshelf, he picks it up, sits on the floor, and starts reading it.
Looking at the feather pen, “man this is a remarkable scientific advancement. To go from this feather pen to the pens we have today is quite amazing, Buuuut I have to say that there aren’t any clues on this, Parker. Looks like YOU were WRONG”. Parker continued reading from the journal feeling sure that he will find the next clue in the journal. “Where did you get that Parker?”
Parker stood up and tells Stevie that it was on the shelf beside the feather pen. “I just thought it might be interesting, so I started reading it. Turns out, its Great Grandpa Pif-Paf’s journal. He has all kinds of notes in here about what he’s learned from God and what God has told him. Stevie grabs the journal from Parker, most of the loose papers fell from the journal. Parker was upset at the fact that Stevie had grabbed the journal from him. “Oh great! Now look what you did! We’ll never find where all those papers go!”
“Not that it even matters! When were you planning on telling me that you found this? Were you just going to hide it from me forever?” Parker tried to get Stevie to simmer down. He was also shocked at Stevie’s anger, because he doesn’t believe that the mystery could be true. “Woah now, Stevie! I was just looking at it while you investigating the feather pen! I wasn’t keeping a secret from you!
Stevie didn’t’ calm down at all, he still believes that Parker was trying to keep it a secret. “ I bet you found something in this journal that says that this mystery is totally made up! And you don’t want to tell me because then you would have to admit that you were wrong to believe all of these clues really meant something!”
Parker in a very calmed state, picks up the loose papers, confused about Stevie’s sudden outburst. “What’s wrong with you today Stevie. “I’m sorry, I was under the impression that we were working as a TEAM. The fact that you found something and didn’t tell me just makes me think that you don’t want me around at all”. Parker was shocked and couldn’t understand why Stevie is upset about the journal, because he is the one who does not believe that this mystery could be TRUE. “Stevie, you’ve been wanting to quit on me in solving this mystery from day one. If you’re SOOOOO upset about this, then why don’t you just quit?”
Stevie got very upset at what Parker said and he stomped off, accidentally leaving his detective bag behind.
“I can’t believe Stevie! I hope he finds his way out of this mansion. Now I can solve the next clue in peace and quiet!” Parker flipped through the journal in search of the next clue. “Let me think…we just figured out that what the Bible says, God says from 2 Peter chapter 1. Maybe there’s a journal entry about that Bible story!” Parker found the story he was looking for and it looked like there could be a clue. In the clue, Parker had found there were some numbers and blanks. Confused on how he would solve it, Parker looked through the clue again to see if there is any way to actually solve the puzzle. Disappointed in himself Parker mumbled “I wish Stevie was here he would know how to solve this puzzle”
Parker was sad and frustrated and felt like giving up with solving the puzzle. After all they are the only two who can solve this mystery, because they are the only ones that know about it.
Stevie entered the room to grab his detective bag and notices Parker talking to himself, he stood there for a while and watched as Parker was talking to himself. “Wow Parker, I knew that you had a crazy imagination, but I never thought I would find you talking to yourself”. Parker turned toward Stevie and apologized for how he reacted. “I’ve realized that I need your help to solve this mystery, we are a TEAM, and TEAMWORK makes DREAMWORK!”
Stevie felt bad because he left, and agreed to continue with helping Parker solve the mystery.
“I’ve seen those before Parker. It’s a type of cryptogram. Spies use these to send messages. You see, there’s a letter associated with each number on the puzzle. Once you figure out the pattern, you can decode the message. There’s already one done for us”. Parker wrapped his arms around Stevie and gave him a tight hug, “I knew you’d know what to do!” Stevie figured out what the pattern was, each number is tied to where it is in the alphabet. So A would be number 1 and B number 2, C would be number 3 and so on. They both started to fill in the blanks in the journal.
“The clue says: Acts Ten! It must be talking about the book of Acts in the Bible!”
Stevie reached for the Bible in his detective bag, “good thing I had this in my bag that we found in Great Grandpa Pif-Paf’s room, why would he lead us there”
LET’S FIND OUT!
Stevie
“Wow. I’ve never heard of someone actually hearing God’s voice. I wonder what He talks to them about”
Parker
“I think it would be cool to hear God’s voice.
Stevie
“I just don’t think it’s possible”
Parker
“Well, Grandpa Pif-Paf obviously heard God’s voice. We have his journal right here where he wrote down all the things he learned”
Stevie
“How would you know it was GOD’S voice talking to him?”
Parker opens the journal and shows it to Stevie, ‘Grandpa Pif-Paf must have heard from God by spending time with Him, kind of like how we would hear from Grandpa Pif-Paf when we spent time with him. He used to tell us stories while we all sat around his chair in the basement”.
Stevie
That was my favorite way to spend time with him when we were little”
Parker
Hey, Stevie if we found a clue by seeing where Grandpa Pif-Paf spent time with God, then maybe we will find the next clue, where we spent TIME with HIM!
Stevie was very excited to hear this, “Parker that’s it! Come on, follow me! I can remember my way down to the basement”
To be continued…
Phew…guys! I really thought that Stevie would not come back to help solve the mystery with Parker. I am happy that Stevie and Parker were able to work together again and figured out how we can hear from God.
Activity:
- What was Cornelius doing when the angel spoke to him? (Praying)
- What kind of news did Peter tall Cornelius’ family and friends (Good)
- True or false: Both Cornelius AND Peter spent time with God praying. (True)
- What is a way you can spend time with God? (Pray, read Bible, come to church)
- When you spend time with God, will you hear what God wants you to do! (Yes) Have you ever read a story from the Bible and learned something that God wants you to do? (Allow time for sharing)
Reading our Bible and praying are two great ways we can spend time with God! When we spend time with God, we can hear from Him! That’s what we need to know today.
REPEAT THE FOLLOWING:
I HEAR (cup hand around ear)
FROM GOD (point up)
WHEN I SPEND TIM (point to watch)
WITH HIM! (Point up)
REPEAT MEMORY VERSE; but without faith (cover eyes) no one (shake head) can please God. (Point up) We must believe (hand over heart) that God is real (nod head) and that He rewards everyone (hands out in front) who searches for Him. (Point up) Hebrews 11:6
Let’s spend some time with God right now by praying.
Prayer:
Father God, thank you for speaking to us through the Bible and when we pray. Thank you for loving us enough to listen to our prayers and speak to us. Help us to listen and do everything that you tell us to do! Inn Jesus name, Amen!
Game time
Take the hanger and pull the bottom so it makes diamond shape. Cover it with the knee high stocking. Wrap tape around the top rounded part. Roll up the paper into balls and use the hanger rackets to hit the balls.
HAVE FUN!
