Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (1 minute)

Welcome, everyone! Today, we will continue to learn about Daniel. This story reminds us that God answers prayer; that when we trust God, we can be courageous; and He will help us do what is right. Let’s start by praying and then singing! Dear Lord Jesus, we invite You to speak to our hearts and change our lives today as we sing, pray, and study Your Word. In Your name we pray, Amen! 

Play Video 11: (Song) Follow Jesus (3 minutes)

Be sure to preview the song so you can sing along and do the motions with the children.

Follow Jesus

SuperTruth and Discussion (1 minute)

Great singing, everyone! Have a seat. This lesson, our SuperTruth is, “God will help me stand up for what is right.” Let’s say that together.

Introduce Condensed Bible Story (1 minute)

If all children watched the Bible story video in the previous lesson, you may skip it here and go straight to the Bible Background Video.

Does anyone remember our Superbook story from last time? Yes!

What happened when Chris, Joy and Gizmo saw the bully being mean to the younger boy on the playground?

Chris didn’t want to confront the bully. Why do you think Chris hesitated to help the boy?

Now, for any children who haven’t seen our Bible story yet, we are going to watch a short version to see how Daniel stood up for what is right. For those of you who have seen the full video, watch this short version to see all the ways that Daniel was courageous!

Play Video 4: Condensed Bible Story (8 minutes)

Condensed Bible Story

Superbook takes Chris, Joy and Gizmo to Babylon to meet Daniel, who prays three times a day. When King Darius decrees that no one may worship anyone but him or face death, Daniel is thrown into the lions’ den. God protects Daniel from harm, and the king commands everyone to worship the One True God. 

Discussion (1 minute)

Daniel was an amazing man who trusted God! Who can tell me some ways that Daniel was courageous?

How did Daniel stay strong and do what was right?

Yes, Daniel prayed and followed God’s ways, and God helped him. Because of Daniel’s faith, others learned about the One True God. 

Introduce Bible Background Video (1 minute)

Now let’s watch a Bible Background Video to learn more about ancient Babylon, where Daniel lived. When Gizmo asks a question in the video, wait for him to suggest some answers, then call out the one you think is right!

Play Video 5: Bible Background (7 minutes)

Bible Background

Play Video 10B: SuperVerse Graphic 2

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

SuperVerse Graphic 2

SuperVerse Discussion (1 minute)

Our SuperVerse comes from Psalm 37:5,

Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you.

All of us go through hard times, like when a family member is sick or loses a job. The question is not whether we will go through hard times, but whether we will trust God. When we pray, He will give us His wisdom and power to do the right thing. Daniel did as our SuperVerse said. He committed everything he did to the Lord, trusted Him, and God helped him. 

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

Prayer and Send-Off (1 minute)

Let’s pray. Dear Lord, when problems come up in our lives, remind us to pray, help us to trust You, and give us Your power to stand strong. In Your name we pray, Amen! 

In our Small Groups today, we are going to talk about how God gives us His power to be courageous and to stand strong—no matter what problems we may face. Have a great time!

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

Today, we are focusing on courage. What does it means to have courage? To face a fearful, difficult or painful situation with confidence and bravery.

Now, we are going to play a game where you must have courage to win!

Have the children stand on a designated starting line at one end of your area. Select one child to be the lion who will stand at the opposite end of the room with his or her back to the children. Place a beanbag about 2 feet behind the child. While the lion’s back is turned, the children move quickly and quietly as they try to sneak up and retrieve the beanbag. When the lion says: “Hear the mighty lion R-R-ROAR!” and turns around on the word “roar,” no one can be moving—the children must stand like statues. The lion may say the sentence in a variety of ways—quickly, slowly, or with pauses between words. If the lion sees someone move even the tiniest bit, that person is sent back to the starting line. The first child to grab the beanbag is declared the winner and becomes the lion for the next round of play.

Our SuperVerse, Psalm 37:5, says:

Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you.

Why can we trust God? He is all-powerful, He sees the future, He is never wrong, He loves us.

God has a plan for our lives, and when we trust Him, He will lead us, guide us, give us courage, and provide everything we need—no matter what we go through. We can be confident because Jesus won the greatest victory—He died for our sins and rose from the dead! When we ask Him into our hearts, He comes into our lives and gives us His courage and power.

Teaching

Have the children sit on the floor in a circle, at least an arm’s length apart from each other. Ask one child preferably wearing pants or shorts to lie down in the middle.

We are going to review the Superbook story and create a web at the same time.

Hand the ball of yarn or string to one child, who must tell a favorite part of Roar! After speaking, he or she keeps hold of one end of the yarn and gently tosses the ball of yarn over the middle and above the child lying down to someone else across the circle. That child tells another portion of the story, keeps hold of some yarn, and tosses the ball of yarn over the middle to yet another child across the circle. The process of tossing the yarn and storytelling continues until everyone has had an opportunity to contribute, with the last toss of the yarn to the leader.

Look at the tangled web we have created. Our world is tangled like this web, and sometimes we get caught in the middle. Our SuperTruth is: “God will help me stand up for what is right.” Ask the children to pull tightly on their yarn as the child in the middle tries to stand up.

It’s hard to follow God’s ways when we are tangled up in the worldly web! Untangle everyone from the web as you ask: Can you tell me some examples of how the world wants to tie us down and keep us from doing what God wants us to do?

If they saw the full video last time, ask: Do you remember when Chris would not stand up to the bully in the skateboard park? What do you think held Chris back from doing anything at first? He was afraid of the bully; he didn’t want to attract attention to himself; he wanted the bully to like him; he didn’t want the bully to pick on him next.

What changed Chris’ mind? Seeing Daniel do the right thing.

Let’s say the SuperTruth together: “God will help me stand up for what is right.”

Daniel trusted God so much that he continued to pray, even after he heard about the king’s new law. Do you think he was scared?

Is it possible to be scared, yet still have courage to do the right thing? Yes.

Name some times when people might be afraid to pray today. In a restaurant, at work, at school, in front of friends.

Why? People want to be liked; they don’t want to be embarrassed or teased.

In some parts of the world today, it’s against the law to pray, read the Bible, or go to church. This is called persecution or being persecuted. Even though these Christians are in danger, many secretly get together to pray! Why do you think they would risk so much to go to a prayer meeting? They love God so much, they understand how wonderful it is to have their sins forgiven, they know that they will go to heaven someday, and they will get strength when they pray together.

We can always pray by ourselves, but listen to what Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:19–20:

“If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, My Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as My followers, I am there among them.”

If you were a persecuted Christian, what would this scripture mean to you? Read the passage again as the children think. As persecuted Christians meet to pray, study the Bible, and worship, Jesus will be with them and give them strength to face hard times.

We may not face terrible persecution, but sometimes we need courage to do the right thing—especially if everyone else is doing the wrong thing. How can we get courage? Pray, read the Bible.

It is very important to pray every day—like Daniel! This gives us spiritual “muscle” to do the right thing.

Part of our SuperVerse today says,

Trust Him, and He will help you.

God promises to help us face any situation. You may wonder ahead of time, could I be brave enough to do the right thing? But if you trust God, He will always help you do the right thing.

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Last time, we made wristbands to remind us to pray not just at mealtimes or bedtime, but throughout the day. Did any of you remember to pray like that as you went about your day?

What happened when you prayed? Allow time for children to share testimonies.

SuperVerse

Our SuperVerse today is found in Psalm 37:5:

Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you.

Distribute Bibles to the children Open your Bibles to the very middle—you probably found the book of Psalms! What is a psalm? A song; one chapter of Psalms.

Look in your Bibles and tell me how many psalms there are. 150.

The book of Psalms contains 150 songs of prayer and praise, many written by David—the same David who killed Goliath. We don’t know the songs’ melodies, but we have the words!

What does it mean to trust someone? To rely or count on someone.

Will God ever let us down? No.

He promises to hear and answer our prayers, and He always keeps His promises!

Tell the children to close their Bibles. Pass the Bible you have marked - or the verse written on paper - to the child on your left with instructions to read aloud and remember only the first word of the verse before passing it to the next child, who then reads the next word. You may adjust the number of words to read and remember depending on the number of children in your group. Continue until the entire verse is read—one word at a time. Now close the Bible or fold the paper and have the children pass it along as they each say their word(s). If they forget their word(s), they may open the Bible or paper to the passage. The next time around, speed up the process just for fun! Finally, ask the children to say the verse all together, relying on individual children to prompt the words, if needed. Repeat as time allows.

Note: Younger children may not be able to memorize the SuperVerse. They may simply repeat it several times, while older children may memorize part or all of it. Be sure all children understand its meaning.

Prayer

God loves us and wants to hear from us every day. What are some times and places that we can pray? Anytime and anywhere: at school, home, meals, bedtime.

What kinds of things does God want us to tell Him? Everything: our hopes, fears, requests for others.

Ask your helper to come up front.

God is our Father in heaven who loves us dearly and wants to spend time with us. We can talk to Him like a friend. But how would our friends feel if we talked to them like this?

Make up your own monologue or use the one below, speaking quickly with no pauses. Pretend to make a phone call:

Ring, ring! Hello, helper’s name! This is your name. How is your health—I’m fine but my roof is leaking. How is your job going—mine is great, although my boss is grouchy sometimes. How is your family—my cousin is out of work and my aunt needs a wheelchair because she has a bad back. Say, could you do me a favor; actually, I need you to do a few things for me. Can you get me a new roof, can you get my cousin a job, can you get my aunt a wheelchair, and can you tell my boss to be nicer to me. Okay, I’ve got to run. Nice to talk to you! Bye-bye! Click! As you pretend to hang up the phone, your helper looks hurt and perplexed.

Now tell me, what did I do wrong in that conversation? Didn’t listen.

Ask the helper: How did you feel when I was talking to you like that? The helper answers.

What if we talked to God like that—if we told Him what we’re thinking and gave Him a list of things to do, but we didn’t stop to listen to what He wants to say to us?

Do you think God wants to speak to us? Yes.

What are some ways He can speak to our hearts? As we pray, read the Bible, listen to Christian music, learn a lesson in Sunday school.

Would God ever tell us, “I hate you,” or “You’re ugly,” or “Go hurt that person”? No, never!

What kinds of things do you think God wants to tell us? He loves us; He has good things planned for us to do; He will help us face any problem; He will provide for us; He wants us to forgive someone or ask someone’s forgiveness.

God wants us to know that He loves us; we are precious to Him; and we should love others. Let’s take some time to pray and listen right now.

Pray: Father, we love You and we want to spend time with You. We are thankful that You always hear and answer our prayers. Please remind us to take time to listen for Your voice in our hearts. Allow a few moments of quiet listening. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

You may also ask: Did anyone hear God say something in your heart?

Dominoes Game

Today, we are going to talk about how our actions can influence other people. Do you remember the video in our last lesson about Chris at the skateboard park? What happened when he finally stood up to the bully? Other boys and girls started to support him.

When others saw his courage, they were inspired to do the right thing, too. But it took one person who was willing to go first!

Now think about how Daniel chose to follow God’s way instead of the king’s law. How did Daniel influence King Darius? He admired Daniel and was sorry that he had issued a decree about prayer. King Darius became a believer in the Living God.

Let’s see what the king told everyone in Daniel 6:25–27. Read and discuss:

Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world: “Peace and prosperity to you! I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, and He will endure forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and His rule will never end. He rescues and saves His people; He performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

To show you how just one person can affect many others, I brought some dominoes. Set up several dominoes on end and in a row, then push over the first domino. It only takes one domino to start a chain reaction—just like Chris and Daniel did in our story. In the same way, you can influence others around you by your example and your actions.

Let’s say our SuperTruth: “God will help me stand up for what is right.”

Divide the children into two or three groups; give each group a set of dominoes; and allow a few minutes for them to have fun making lines of dominoes and watching them fall.

Paper Cup Game

Divide the class into two teams—if uneven, one child may go twice to make the teams equal. Have teams sit in two lines behind the starting line. You and a helper - such as a 6th grader - will stand at the table to knock down the cups after each turn.

Let’s play a game about standing up! Stay seated until your turn, then jump up, run to the table, and place the six cups into a pyramid with three on the bottom, two on the next level, and one on top. Then shout the SuperTruth, “God will help me stand up for what is right!” Run back and tag the next child in line, who will jump up and go. Remember, you must shout: “God will help me stand up for what is right!” Stay standing after your turn, and the first team to finish with everyone standing up wins! My helper and I will knock down the cups each time.

Afterward, say: It’s hard to make the cups stand up into a pyramid when you are in a hurry! It isn’t always easy to stand up for what is right in life, either; especially if you are the only one! But God will always help us—we only need to ask Him! Let’s all shout out our SuperTruth together: “God will help me stand up for what is right.”

Bible Study

Divide the class into six small groups. Give each group a section of the Scripture Page, which has a scripture passage and questions, plus a pencil and at least one Bible. If possible, all children should have Bibles. Give the groups about 5 minutes to read their verses, discuss the questions, and jot down answers on the paper. Gather everyone and have each small group give a brief overview of their verses and their answers to the questions. Encourage further discussion about how people may react to taking a stand for what is right, as time allows

Object Lesson

Stand up to Pressure: Use an egg to demonstrate how to withstand peer pressure.

Daniel was a man of good character. Who knows what that means? He listened to God and not to those around him. He made good choices.

Do you think our character can influence those around us? Yes.

What are some examples of how we might be influenced by someone else? 

Have you ever been dared to do something—and told that if you don’t, you are a chicken or a coward? 

What would you do if someone dared you to do something dangerous, like running across a busy street or jumping into a lake when you didn’t know how to swim—that would be foolish, wouldn’t it? Yes.

What if your friends said you had to dress a certain way or change your hair if you wanted to be in the “cool” group?

That’s called “peer pressure”—and sometimes it’s hard to stand up against it.

Lay some paper towels on a table. Cover your clothes by putting on the trash bag “apron.” Pick up the egg. Do you think this egg would break if I squeezed it or set a heavy weight on it? Yes.

Why? Eggs are delicate. The shell is too thin.

If I am not careful how I handle the egg, it will break. Let’s pretend this egg is you!

Put the egg in the cardboard egg holder with the small end up. Gently place the weight on top of the small end of the egg and remove your hands. The egg should not break.

As long as we stand up to peer pressure, we stay strong and we will not break. Take the weight off the egg; remove the egg from the holder; and place it on its side. But when we bow down to peer pressure or a false god, doing something to be accepted or being in the cool group, we lose our strength. Place the weight on the egg; the egg should break after a few seconds.

When we stand up for what is right in a world filled with tests and trials, we are like Daniel. Daniel was a man of integrity. He was trustworthy, loyal and faithful. King Darius recognized Daniel’s character and saw how God protected him—and the king gave Daniel a place of great influence. God wants you to be strong and stand for what is right.

Let’s say our SuperTruth together: “God will help me stand up for what is right.”