Leader Guide

Teaching

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were three young Hebrew men who were captured and brought to serve the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. Babylon was not a godly nation and their ways were not God’s ways. The king’s command to worship the gold statue was not the first time that these men had been pressured to do something they disagreed with. Earlier in their lives they would not eat the food that the king provided to them. God blessed them, and they were healthier than the other servants of the king.

In our story today, these three Hebrew men chose to obey God again rather than follow the crowd. They refused to worship the king’s gold statue that was 9 feet wide and 90 feet tall! They knew that one of the Ten Commandments says not to worship any false gods. They made the choice to obey the One True God under extreme pressure from an angry king, despite facing a painful, sure death in the fiery furnace as their punishment for their disobedience. 

Have you ever felt pressure to do something you knew was wrong in God’s eyes?

Yes, we all have—and still do! As followers of Jesus, we, at times, feel pressure from others to disobey God’s commandments. Hold up the balloon with the face drawn on it. Imagine this is one of us. We are determined to obey God even when others don’t. Place the balloon on the table. Now, here come two friends. Choose two volunteers—preferably a boy and a girl—to kneel behind the table, facing the children, with the balloon in front of them. These two friends begin to persuade us, trying to influence us. They apply pressure to do something with them that we know is wrong. Have the two children begin to softly blow the balloon. We begin to be swayed and move a little, and when the pressure becomes too much for us, what happens? Have children blow with more force until the balloon moves and falls off the table. Oh no! The pressure moved us from obedience to disobedience.

So then, is the situation hopeless? How can we stand up for God and obey Him even when others don’t? Place the balloon back on the table. Choose two different volunteers to kneel behind the table. Hold the Shield Pattern in your hand but hidden by your body as much as possible, with the text or front of the shield facing the children in the audience. Here is the same situation with one difference. This time we are not standing on our own strength; this time we have started our day by spending time with God through Bible study and prayer. Let’s see what happens when our friends begin to apply pressure. Have the volunteers begin to blow softly, and at that instant, place the shield between the balloon and the volunteers to block the air pressure. The volunteers continue to blow but the balloon doesn’t move. What happened this time—did we give in and fall down? Were we influenced to disobey? NO!

The pressure did not affect us; we stood firm!

What do you think happened here?

Yes, the shield blocked the pressure. Hold up the shield so all can see. You can see this shield, but it represents the invisible spiritual weapons that God gives to all of His children. God provides this shield to protect us. Let’s list four of the weapons that God provides to stand firm in our battle to obey even when others don’t:     

Note: These verses are discussed further in the Additional Activity, “Bible Study: Weapons to Obey.”

1. New Life in Christ: Jesus died on the cross and rose again so that when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, our sins are forgiven and we have a brand-new life in Him. The Bible says we have died with Him, and we live a new life of faith. See Galatians 2:20.

2. Holy Spirit: God has given us His Holy Spirit to live inside us and to fill us with power, love, and self-discipline. See 2 Timothy 1:7. We are not limited by our own strength in a time of weakness.

3. Armor: God has given us His invisible spiritual armor and weapons to protect us and to enable us to stand firm in battle. See Ephesians 6:13–17.

4. Prayer: God has given us prayer to ask for His help and guidance and to praise Him for His answer to our situations. See Ephesians 6:18.

Is it easy to obey God when everyone else is doing the opposite? Certainly not—especially if we are taken by surprise! But we can prepare ourselves for temptation and equip ourselves to fight the battle—and win, with God’s help! He has not asked us to go into the battle empty handed. When we bring God’s weapons to battle, we are more than conquerors in any situation. As difficult as it was for the Hebrew men to stand up to the king, they were ordinary people like we are. When we use the weapons God provides us, ordinary people become extraordinary!  

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Hold up the sample Holophone craft you made and show how the Memory Card slides up and down, revealing questions in the front window of the phone, and the answers plus corresponding scripture references in the back window. Give a Holophone pattern to each child, along with scissors and tape. Help them cut out the pattern; fold and tape the phone; then insert the Memory Card with the questions on Side 1 showing through the phone’s front window.

Our challenge for these three lessons is to learn about other people in the Bible who had to risk everything to obey God. First, ask yourselves the questions on Memory Card Side A in the front of your Holophones without peeking at the answers on the back. Don’t be tempted to cheat like Chris was! After you make an honest guess, look at the answer in the window of the back of the Holophone. Take these home and learn all the questions and answers on Memory Card 1. Choose one of the answers and look up the Scripture about that person in your Bible at home. Next time, I’ll ask you to share how that person risked everything to obey God, and what happened. Most important, I want each of you to pray about ways that God would want you to stand up for Him!