Series: The Faith Hall of Fame

Lesson 2 – By Faith

LESSON OVERVIEW

Key Point: ] Faith is taking God as His word, even if you can’t see, touch or feel it.

Bible Story: Enoch.

Hebrews 11:3-7

Challenge Verse: Hebrews 11:1—“Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” (HCSB)

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ITEMS NEEDED

Each class needs the following:

Signs that say that say, Creation, Abel, Enoch, and Noah.

Memory Verse Card for Hebrews 11:1—size 3 3/4″ x 2 5/8″

Race Photo Frame from weekly memory verses.

A donut for each child in your class.

Signs that say Walked Close with God, A Person who Pleased God, and Never Died

BEFORE CLASS

– Pray for each student by name.

AS STUDENTS ARRIVE

l Greet each student by name as they enter.

– Give each student an attendance sticker for the attendance chart, and feel free to add guest names to the chart. This will give them a sense of belonging.

– Get to know any guests and help them fill out a guest form.

– Be sure to smile—Your smile and attitude sets the atmosphere as students enter.

OPENING ACTIVITY

Control Tool

Anytime you say, “By faith” students should shout back, “Live for Jesus!”

Leader: By faith—Kids: Live for Jesus!

Have a competition to see if the girls or the boys can be louder.

Ask the students–Who remembers what we talked about last week? (Last week was Race Day and we talked about that winning in life isn’t about being the fastest or the strongest. Those who win in life fully follow Jesus.)

Play a couple of Race Games,

You can use some of the favorite races from last week or some of the new suggestions below:

– Who can hop the fastest using both feet from one side of the room to the other.

– Who can hop on one foot the fastest from one side of the room to the other.

– Who can say “Red Leather, Yellow Leather” three times the fastest.

– Who can say their first, middle and last names five times the fastest.

SAY: Last week we learned that in a race, you run the fastest to win, but in life it’s not the fastest or the strongest that wins, but the person who fully follows Jesus.

BIBLE LESSON

Read last week’s Challenge Verse (Hebrews 12:1).

Ask the students–Who remembers what the “cloud of witnesses” refers to?

SAY: There is a cloud of witnesses, or a great number of people, who have lived faithfully for God in the past. In fact the whole previous chapter of Hebrews (chapter 11) talks about some of these faithful people. This chapter has been called the Faith Hall of Fame. These people weren’t perfect, but they lived a life of faith. These people are cheering you on to keep living for Jesus.

SAY: Today we are going to start taking a look at some of these faithful people. Last week we already mentioned one of them: King David. This week, we’re going to look at another, but first I want to give you a Bible Story Quiz:

Choose 4 volunteers—Give them the signs that say Creation, Abel, Enoch, and Noah.

Ask the students–Who can tell me something about creation?

Ask the students–Who can tell me something about Abel? (Hint: His brother’s name was Cain.)

Ask the students–Who can tell me something about Noah?

Ask the students–Now who can tell me something about Enoch? (Many people don’t know anything about Enoch, but we’re going to learn about him today.)

Let all your volunteers have a seat except for the Enoch volunteer.

Tell your kids to get ready for a Bible drill.

Get ready… Hebrews 11:3-7…Go!

Read Hebrews 11:3-7 from your Bible

Tell your students that every time they hear the phrase “by faith,” they are to run and touch two walls and sit back down as fast as they can without tripping, running over anyone or picking anybody’s nose.

Control Tool

Leader: By faith—Kids: Live for Jesus!

SAY: All these things happened because of FAITH. In fact this chapter is often called Faith Hall of Fame because it talks about twenty different people who lived “by faith.”

Ask the students–What did these verses tell you about Enoch? (He never died; God just took him up to heaven; He was known as a person who pleased God.)

SAY: Enoch is only mentioned in a couple of places in the Bible. Listen to his story out of the book of Genesis. Raise your hand every time you hear a new name and then raise both hands if you hear a name of someone about whom you already know something.

(NOTE: If you read this story from your lesson book, be sure to tell your kids that this story comes from the Bible.)

Genesis 5:21-28a

When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him. When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech. After the birth of Lamech, Methuselah lived another 782 years, and he had other sons and daughters. Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died. When Lamech was 182 years old, he because the father of a son. Lamech named his son Noah…(HCSB)

SAY: Enoch was Noah’s great-grandfather and Enoch’s son, Methuselah lived 969 years, the longest anyone has ever lived as far as we know.

CHALLENGE VERSE

Three-Signs Illustration

Choose 3 volunteers— Give them the signs that say Walked Close with God, A Person who Pleased God, and Never Died.

KEY: Enoch walked close to God. The Bible says that He was a person who pleased God and that he never died. God just took him on to heaven.

Ask your A Person who Pleased God and Never Died volunteers to have a seat but to keep the signs on until the end of class.

SAY: (Referring to your one remaining volunteer…) The sign says, “Walked Close with God.”

Ask the students–How can a person walk close with God? (Take answers.)

SAY: He can live by faith.

Ask the students–What is faith? What does it mean to have faith? (Take answers.)

SAY: Let’s take a look at today’s Challenge Verse.

Tell your kids to get ready for a Bible drill.

Get ready… Hebrews 11:1…Go!

SAY: You could say that faith is taking God at His Word. It’s trusting God, even though you might not be able to see, touch or feel or even fully understand it.

Finger Illustration

Have your kids hold up one finger and to gently blow on it.

Ask the students–Can you see the air you are blowing? (No, but you know it’s real. You can’t see the wind but you can see what it does. You can’t see God but you can see what he does too—i.e., creation, what He does in someone’s life, etc.). By faith you know He is there.

Airplane Illustration

Have your kids stand up and hold out both arms like an airplane.(NOTE: There is also an airplane on our Challenge Verse for today.)

SAY: Fly to this side of the room if you have ever flown in an airplane.

SAY: Most people who fly don’t understand everything about what makes a plane fly, but it doesn’t stop them from trust it. By faith you get on board anyway. You may not always understand everything that God does or allows to happen in your life either, but it shouldn’t stop you from trusting him. You can ALWAYS trust God and live a life of faith.

Control Tool

Leader: By faith—Kids: Live for Jesus!

Donut Illustration

Hold up a donut.

Ask the students–How do you know that this donut is real? (You can see it, touch it, smell it, and taste it.)

Ask the students–But how do you know that God is real?

SAY: You can’t see Him or touch Him, but by faith, you know He is real.

SNACK ACTIVITY

Give each of your students a donut but tell them not to eat it yet—just to hold it.

SAY: Something that is real can be gripped or held onto. You know your donut is real. By faith we hold onto the unseen promises of God. We trust them and know they are true.

Have your students REPEAT the challenge verse after you.

PRAY and thank God for your snack and for allowing us to following Him by faith.

As you eat, ASK:

Ask the students–What is hope?

SAY: Many times we say we hope for something but we’re not sure we’ll get it. It’s kind of like hoping that you’ll get something specific for your birthday.

Ask the students–What are some gifts that you have wanted in the past? Did you get them? Can you think of one that you “hoped” for but didn’t get?

SAY: You think you might get a certain gift, but you’re not sure. That’s NOT the kind of hope that the Bible is talking about. “Hope” in the Bible is talking about something that you are certain will happen. You are sure about it.)

Have your students REPEAT the challenge verse after you, but have them say it either with donut in their mouths or talking like they have donuts in their mouths.

Ask the students–A big bite of a donut can hinder you from talking and last week we talked about some things that can hinder a person from following God. What are some things that can hinder a person from fully following Christ?

Who remembers from last week….

Control Tool

Leader: Ready, Set, Go—Kids: Run the Race for Jesus!

Today’s Control Tool

Leader: By faith—Kids: Live for Jesus!

CRAFT ACTIVITY

Ask the students–Where did you put the racing flags you got last week? What were they suppose to remind you of? (That you are in a race in life and to live for Jesus every day.)

SAY: Last week was Race Day and today we are going to make Racing Refrigerator Magnets in which you can put your memory verse each week for the rest of these special lessons.

Make the Magnets and insert today’s Challenge Verse.

SAY: The Bible compares the Christian life to a race. In running races, you try to be the fastest. That’s how you win. But in life you win by following Jesus. “Winning” the Christian life isn’t about being the strongest or the fastest, but about faithfully living for God. That’s what Enoch did.

PRAYER TIME & WRAP-UP

Call up the volunteer who has the A Person who Pleased God sign on.

SAY: Enoch was a person who pleased God. Next week we are going to talk about how you can be a person who pleases God. We’re calling it Super Sunday and everyone who is in Sunday School will also get a pair of Super Glasses that will help you to see something that isn’t really there.

Call up the volunteer who has the Never Died sign on.

Ask the students–How can a person never die?

SAY: There are only two people in the Bible who never died: Enoch and Elijah. They both walked close with God and one day He took them on home. But later in the Bible, we find a verse that says, “…it is appointed for people to die once and after that comes judgment.”

SAY: This means that each of us will someday die and afterwards we will be judged by the choices we made and whether or not we ever gave our lives to Jesus.

SAY: But for someone who knows God, we don’t have to be scared of death, because we know that we will be in heaven with Jesus. If you ever have any questions about heaven or how you can know for sure that you would go to heaven, please let me know. God wants everyone to be sure that they have “life” after death.

Ask your students if they have anything they would like to pray for and list their requests below:

List Prayer Requests Here

Be sure to pray specifically for each request above.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

– Try to come for the next 4 weeks so you don’t miss any of the fun that we’ll be having during this special series.

– Next week is Super Sunday and everyone who is here will get a pair of Super Glasses that will help you to see something that isn’t really there.

– Encourage your kids to use today’s craft to post each week’s new Bible verse on their refrigerator.

EXTRA TIME

Use any extra time to help your students memorize the verse for today.

Follow Jesus

"Jesus must become greater…" John 3:30

Series: The Faith Hall of Fame