Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (1 minute)

Hello everyone and welcome! How many of you like to follow rules?

Today, we are going to learn about some very important rules that God gave us to guide and protect us. We will watch a new Superbook story today called “The Ten Commandments.” Let’s watch our video and see what’s going on with Chris, Joy and Gizmo.

Play Video 2: Chris and Joy’s Dilemma (4 minutes)

Chris and Joy's Dilemma

Chris ignores the camp rules and gets trapped in a cave with Joy and Gizmo.

SuperTruth and Discussion (2 minutes)

Why did Chris think he didn’t need to follow the rules?

Was it right for Chris to change the way the sign was pointing?

Do you think Chris thought about the bad things that might happen?

Today’s SuperTruth says, “I will love God.” This is the best decision that we can ever make! When we love God and put Him first, our lives are filled with God’s favor and protection!

Now, let’s watch the rest of today’s Superbook video to see what happens!

Play Video 3: Bible Story and Resolution (18 minutes)

Bible Story and Resolution

Superbook takes them to meet the Israelites, who are freed from slavery in Egypt and on their way through the desert to the Promised Land. While Moses meets with God on the mountain, the Israelites endanger themselves by doing whatever they please—until Moses returns with the Ten Commandments. Back in the cave, Chris’ new appreciation for rules helps create a happy ending.

Play Video 10A: SuperVerse Graphic 1

Graphic loops 2.5 minutes without audio; turn off after children repeat verse.

SuperVerse Graphic 1

SuperVerse Discussion (1 minute)

Now, let’s say our SuperVerse, Deuteronomy 6:5, together.

“So love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.”

God is worthy of all of our praise and worship. We must give Him our whole selves; inside, outside, and with all of our might.

Children will have more time to learn the SuperVerse in Small Group.

Prayer and Send-Off (1 minute)

Let’s pray together. Dear God, thank You for giving us rules to guide and protect us. Help us to love You with all of our heart, soul and strength! In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Do you remember in the video when God provided manna from the sky for the Israelites to eat?

When we go to Small Group, we are going to play a game about that. Are you ready?

Teachers take children to Small Group classes for Grades 1–3 and 4–6. If the combined group is small, all children may stay together for Small Group time.

Game

Welcome! Bring out the umbrellas. Who can guess what an umbrella might have to do with today’s story?

Do you remember what God provided from the sky in the video today? Manna.

Place the two umbrellas—opened and upside-down—on two different sides of the room. Divide the class into two teams and have each team stand in a circle about 8–10 feet away from their team’s umbrella. Give each child a small cup filled with the popcorn.

This popcorn represents manna. You are all going to throw your manna into your team’s umbrella—but you can only throw one piece at a time! The team that collects the most manna in their umbrella is the winner. On your mark, get set, GO!

After the game, say: The next time it rains and you get your umbrella, remember the manna that God provided and that He will provide for you, too! Our SuperTruth says, “I will love God.” 

God knows that we can’t keep all of His laws in our own strength—so He provides His Holy Spirit to help us in our lives each day. When we have Jesus in our hearts, we have His wisdom to know what to do, and we have His strength to do the right thing. We show God and others that we love Him by serving Him and obeying His commandments with all that is within us! Our SuperVerse today, Deuteronomy 6:5, says,

“So love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength."

OPTIONAL DISCUSSION FOR GRADES 4–6

Manna in Hebrew actually means, “What is it?” Read Exodus 16:4a: 

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you.”

Each morning God sent manna from the sky like rain. Manna lay on the grass like dew and the Israelites gathered it for their families. God had specific rules for the gathering of the manna. The Israelites were only to gather enough for their family’s needs for that day and could not save any for the next day, or it would spoil! Why do you think God made this rule? 

He did it to test them and to see if they would obey His instructions. See Exodus 16:4. God also wanted the Israelites to trust and look to Him for all of their needs. The only exception to God’s rule was that they could not gather manna on the Sabbath, which was to be kept holy, according to the fourth commandment. Instead, the people were to gather twice as much on the sixth day and keep the extra manna overnight. The manna for the seventh day was not spoiled! God provided manna and meat to eat for 40 years in the wilderness!

Let’s list a few things on the board that God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness.

Write the children’s answers on the board:

• Manna and quail to eat.
• Water to drink.
• A cloud to guide them and protect them from the sun during the day.
• A pillar of fire to direct them and keep them warm during the night.
• Moses as their leader.
• The Ten Commandments to guide their thoughts and actions.
• Forgiveness when they sinned and worshipped the idol.
• New stone tablets when the first set was broken.

Teaching

Chris really got his friends into a bad situation. He didn’t think the rules were important enough to follow, and he thought they took away all the fun he had planned. Have you ever chosen to not obey a rule you thought was not needed?

Why do you think God created the Ten Commandments?

Which commandment do you think is most important?

Someone asked Jesus this question. Read Matthew 22:36–40:

“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

There are ten commandments, but we are going to divide them into two sections, as Jesus did—commandments about loving God and commandments about loving others. Today, we will concentrate on the first four, which all focus on our relationship with God. That’s why our SuperTruth today is: “I will love God.”

Hand out materials for children to make their own Commandments Wheels. Display the model wheel you made before class. Demonstrate how to cut and fasten them so they spin.

God gave us His laws for our own good. When we follow God’s laws, we live under His protection and blessing. God places His Holy Spirit inside of us to help us obey His commandments. We should not look at these commandments as a burden, but as a wonderful way to obey and serve the Lord. So, how do we love God?

Read Deuteronomy 6:5:

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.”

This means that we are to love God with our heart, our words, our thoughts and actions—our entire being, with all the strength we have! God is worthy of our complete devotion, attention and service.

Let’s read together the first four commandments on the wall poster. What do most of them begin by saying? “You must not.”

Today, we are going to focus on the first four commandments, but we will think of ways to say the commandments in a positive way.

Have the children turn their Commandments Wheels to the corresponding number as you discuss what each commandment means. Ask the children to think of ways to state it in a positive way. Below are examples of the first four commandments stated in a positive way with a brief discussion following.

1.  Worship God alone.

Read Leviticus 20:26:

“You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be My very own.”

God is the Creator—the one true God. God is holy and is above all things in heaven and on Earth. We are His and His alone, made in His image. He alone is worthy of our praise and worship!

2.  Focus on godly things.

God deserves our undivided attention. We create idols when we place things above Him and allow them to steal our attention away from God. Read 1 John 2:15–16:

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

Even good things in this world can become idols if we place their importance above God.

3.  Use God’s name for prayer and praise.

God is Holy and His name is to be honored and respected. We are never to use His name carelessly and treat it with disrespect. God has a stern warning for all who do! Read Exodus 20:7: 

The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse His name.

In another Bible version it tells us to not take God’s name in vain. In the Hebrew language, the word vain in this verse basically means “to empty out.” When we misuse God’s name, we empty out of it the glory, power and majesty of His wonderful and powerful name!

4.  Set apart the Lord’s day for worship and prayer.

Read Exodus 20:11:

For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day He rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

God created the heavens and Earth and then stopped to admire His magnificent handiwork! The fourth commandment sets apart a day to honor God, our Creator. This is a day to worship Him and appreciate His glorious work! It is a day to rest from our labors and “busy-ness” and to allow God to refresh and strengthen us.

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Our challenge for these three lessons is to memorize the Ten Commandments, so let’s start by learning the first four before our next lesson. Take your Ten Commandments Wheels home today as a reminder to work on this. I will give you a chance to say the first four commandments by heart the next time we meet.

SuperVerse

Say the verse together, looking at the board.

“So love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.”

Deuteronomy 6:5.

Our SuperVerse tells us how to love God. He is the one true God, worthy of all of our affection and devotion. We are made up of body, soul and spirit. Each part is to be given to God in worship and service. The heart represents the inner person, spirit, and understanding. The soul is the will and personality. The strength or might represents our body’s energies and actions. Loving God is not just saying we love Him, but giving God our undivided attention with our whole self.

Let’s stand in a circle! Have you ever played a game where you take turns spinning an arrow? Well, I am a human game spinner—and whoever I point to should say one word of our SuperVerse!

Stand in the middle of the circle, turn around, then suddenly point at a child who should immediately say the first word in the verse. As you keep turning as fast or slow as you like keep pointing quickly to various children, who should immediately say the next word, until the verse is finished. For the first few words, pick children who know the verse and aren’t shy. They can look at the board if they forget a word. Repeat as time allows, allowing children to be “spinners.” Praise them each time the verse has been completed correctly. Close by asking everyone to recite the verse together from memory.

Prayer

God provided Moses with two faithful partners as he led the Israelites. Aaron was his spokesperson and the high priest. Joshua was his servant and assistant. Joshua led the Israelites after Moses’ death. These men provided encouragement and strength to Moses in difficult times. Chris and Joy are good friends in the Superbook adventures. God desires all of us to have Christian friends to encourage and help us along our walk with Him. When we have the same priority to love and serve God, we can strengthen one another.

Option 1: Have children form groups of three and pray for one another, that they will keep God first in their lives.

Option 2: Have the children remain together as a class as you lead them in the prayer below.

Prayer: Father God, thank You for choosing us to be Your children! We praise You for being the one true, all-powerful God who provides us with all we need! You deserve all—not part—of our worship and service. Help us to always put You first and not allow other things in this world to steal our attention and devotion to You! Your name is holy and we never want to misuse it. Thank You for meeting with us here in class as we honor You. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Interview Skit

You will need five children to help with this activity. Select an older child or a sixth grade helper to be a reporter who will interview four different characters from the Bible story. Give the “Reporter” the microphone, the Reporter nametag, and the interview questions so he or she can look over the questions. Ask for four volunteers to be the characters being interviewed. Give each the appropriate nametag. Place four chairs up front in a row, facing the audience. Place the reporter’s chair up front but off to the side so he or she can face all the characters. Encourage the children to answer from the character’s perspective—not their own. Prompt the children as necessary if they cannot answer quickly, so the activity doesn’t drag. After each character has been interviewed, if time permits, allow the other children to pose their own questions to the characters.

Write a Rap—Part 1

Challenge the children to have some fun creating a rap or song similar to the rap songs of Gizmo and Ranger Granger. The rap must consist of lyrics about the first four commandments about loving God, or about Moses or the Israelites. Allow the children to work with a partner or in small groups. End the lesson with the rap performances as time allows.

Sample:

God said: DO show Me much love.

Don’t—put any idols above Me.

DO—speak My name with respect.

The Sabbath is a day I made to be kept.

Commandments Game

Do you remember our SuperTruth for today? I want you to shout it out after I count to four. I will count to four because we are talking about the first four commandments! One, two, three, four! “I will love God.”

Have the children say the first four commandments together, using the Commandment Wheels or poster. Divide the children into two teams and have each team form a line at one end of the room. Place a set of shuffled commandment slips by each team in a pile on the floor. Place two rolls of painter’s tape at a wall opposite the teams. Have sixth grade helpers or other assistants ready to help children tear off pieces of tape. The object of the game is for each team to assemble the first four commandments in order, either taping them to the wall or placing them on the floor.

Tell the children that they may look at their Commandment Wheels or the poster to help assemble the commandments. Start the race. The first player on each team selects a slip of paper, walks quickly to the wall, and tapes the slip to the wall - or places it on the floor — approximately where he or she thinks it belongs. That player then walks quickly back to the line and the next player takes a turn. As more slips of paper are used, players will need to move the slips around to correctly form each commandment. Be prepared to help any children who do not read well or who have special needs. The first team to assemble all the commandments in order wins the game.

The completed commandments should read:

1. You must not have any other god but Me.
2. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind.
3. You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
4. Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

Wow, that was a fun race. You all did so well! The first four commandments are all about loving and honoring God. Let's say our SuperVerse, Deuteronomy 6:5, together:

“So love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.”