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Leader Guide

Teaching

Copy the My Time Wheel Pattern in color or in black and white, one per child, plus extras. You may wish to cut out the pieces before class for younger children or those with special needs.

Make a model of the craft and display it as a sample for the children as they make their own.

For the Optional Object Lesson, make one copy of each Figure Pattern, then cut out and assemble them.

Elijah had to rebuild God’s altar because it had been neglected and torn down. How sad that the Lord’s very own people no longer loved and worshiped Him alone. Elijah challenged the Israelites to choose which God they would love and follow. Would they choose the one true God—the Lord, who is alive and who made the entire world? Or would they follow Baal, an idol that people made out of wood, metal or stone? 

Optional: Read 1 Kings 16:32–33:

First Ahab built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria. … He did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him.

Why wasn’t God pleased with King Ahab?

Ahab had built a temple to a false god. That is why Elijah spoke God’s words of judgment, stopping the rain and causing a drought. What happens when there is a drought? Plants can’t grow; animals may die; people are hungry and thirsty.

When God stopped the rain, the king was so angry at Elijah, he wanted to kill him!

Hundreds of years earlier, God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Do you think God set His people free so they could worship idols?

God wants His people to worship and serve Him alone.

Our SuperVerse for today is what God told His people after He brought them out of slavery. Let’s say it together. Deuteronomy 6:4–5:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord> is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

Sadly, the people wandered away from God. That’s why Elijah told the people they must make a choice! 

Read 1 Kings 18:21:

Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.

How sad that the people would not speak up and say they would follow God! Why not? Perhaps they believed Baal was a true god, or they were afraid of being killed by the king, or they felt pressure to go along with the crowd.

Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a showdown, and he let them go first. They prayed, pleaded and danced for hours, but Baal did not respond. Why not? He was not really a god; he was handmade by people!

When it was Elijah’s turn, he prayed to the one true God. God answered quickly and powerfully by sending fire to burn up the wood, the sacrifice, and even the altar stones—although everything was totally drenched with water! 

Read 1 Kings 18:39:

And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord — He is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”

Were the people silent, now?

No; the people realized that the Lord is the one true God, and they bowed down to worship Him. God wants us to worship Him with all of our heart, soul and strength.

Now, is an idol only a man-made figure or statue like Baal was?

No, idols can be many things in our lives, today. Can you name some things that might be an idol in our lives?

Yes, it could be an activity like sports, music, or maybe a club or an organization. It could be spending all of your free time watching TV or playing video games like Chris; or too much time on a computer, tablet or phone. When we think something or someone is more important than God, it can be like an idol to us and keep us from loving God as we should. We need to be careful to keep balance in our lives and never replace our devotion to God with other things—even though those things may be good! And that is what our Discipleship Challenge is all about!

OPTIONAL OBJECT LESSON FOR GRADES 4–6

See preparation instructions here.

With both hands, hold up Figure 1 in such a way to conceal that it has two sections. Point to the text on the figure as you present the lesson.

Let’s say this figure represents us. Listed on it are ways we can show our love for God. We can use:

  • Words—to talk about God and His Word. We can sing songs of praise and worship. We can say kind things and encourage others.
  • Strength/effort—in actions using the talents and abilities that God has given us to serve Him and others.
  • Time—for God, to study His Word and pray. We can give our time to help others, too.
  • Possessions—our money or things that we own for God’s use and to benefit others.

These are all good things we can do to show our love for God; yet does that mean we love God as our SuperVerse says—with all of our heart, soul and strength?

Flip Figure 1 open to reveal Figure 2.

We can only see what is on the outside of people, but God looks on the inside, where no one else can see. In the Bible, Jesus condemned the religious leaders who appeared to be pure and holy on the outside, but were unclean and full of sin on the inside. See Matthew 23:27–28. God can see our minds and hearts, which include:

  • The motives or reasons we do things. Is it for our own glory or His?
  • How much we desire to draw closer to Him and know Him better.  
  • The truth and purity of our heart.
  • Our love. Is it shared with or divided by other things, or do we love Him with our whole hearts?
  • Our submission and surrender to His will vs. our own wills.

This is all of us: the inside and the outside. God has not changed. What He desired back in Old Testament times, He still desires from all of His children—including us! God is still the one and only true God, the maker of heaven and Earth, the Creator of all living creatures, especially us! Doesn’t He deserve all of each one of us? Let’s say our SuperTruth now: “There is only one God.” 

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Give each child a My Time Wheel pattern, a brass roundhead paper fastener, scissors, and a pencil. Have children cut out and assemble the pieces, then put their names on the back. Display the model you made before class and assist the children as necessary to complete their craft. Then use it to illustrate what you say:

This is called a My Time Wheel. Can you guess why? To show how we use most of our time each day.

Let’s start with school. You need to spend a lot of time learning, studying and reading. So, adjust your Time Wheels so you have lots of time for school. Chores are important, too. Adjust your Time Wheel to give yourself enough time to do them. And we have to sleep, right? Give yourself lots of time to sleep. And we all want to have a little fun, right? So adjust your Time Wheel for that. Oh, no—what got squeezed out? God.

Our relationship with God is the most important thing in our lives. Yet it’s easy to let other things crowd Him out of our lives! God is the foundation of our Time Wheels—that’s because time belongs to Him, and we belong to Him! We want to spend time with Him every day—worshipping Him, reading our Bibles, praying, and listening to His voice in our hearts. So let’s start over on our Time Wheels. First, let’s give God lots of room in our lives. Now let’s adjust everything else around Him! 

Our challenge for these three lessons is to use our My Time Wheels as a reminder to put God first in our lives. Each day, ask Him how to use your time, then listen for His answer in your hearts. Next time we meet, I’ll ask you what happened when you put Him first!