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.