Leader Guide
Game
- Four pieces of cardboard or poster board. You may substitute two hula hoops for two poster boards to represent cisterns
- Painter's tape or masking tape
- Two twelve-foot ropes or strings
- Bible or Superbook Bible app
Lay out the game area as shown in the illustration, marking the location of two “cisterns” and two places for “solid ground.” Leave enough space between the poster boards to be challenging yet possible.
Optional Play: you may prefer to divide the class in half and use one “cistern” and one “solid ground,” playing as one team against the clock. Play again and try to beat the previous time.
On the Ropes! Play a game about being saved.
Who remembers our SuperTruth today? “I will praise God for saving me.”
In Large Group, you were asked how many men the king sent with an Ethiopian named Ebed-melech to rescue Jeremiah. What is the answer? Thirty.
Time was running out; Jeremiah could have died, but God saved him! (See Jeremiah 1:8.)
Chances are that none of us will be thrown into a cistern or well, yet God is able to rescue us out of any situation—no matter how deep!
Read Psalm 40:2a:
God is our solid ground. When our feet are firmly planted on His Word, we can overcome anything—and help rescue others! Let’s play a game about rescuing each other from trouble! Pretend that two of these rectangles are deep cisterns or pits, and the other two rectangles are the solid ground. You will take turns tossing a rope to rescue your teammates in trouble, just like Ebed-melech and the guards rescued Jeremiah!
Divide the class into two equal teams, and have each team line up behind their “cistern.” Choose one child from each team to be the first “rescuer,” who stands with a rope on the “solid ground” across from the team’s cistern. One player on each team steps into the cistern and must keep both feet in the rectangle until he or she can catch the rope and be rescued. Each rescuer should hold one end of the rope and quickly toss the other end as many times as necessary until the player in the cistern can grab it. The rescuer then drops the rope and quickly sits down behind the solid ground. The rescued child runs to the solid ground with the rope to become the new rescuer and then throws the rope to the next teammate in the cistern. Both teams play simultaneously. If a player steps off a rectangle, play stops for that team until the player is back on again. The first team to rescue all of its players wins!
Conclusion: Read Jeremiah 1:19:
God was with Jeremiah; even so, he faced strong opposition to his message. God is with us, too; yet, we may also experience difficult times and even persecution for our faith. God is more than able to save us in all circumstances. When He saves us, we are truly saved! That’s why we praise God for His love, mercy, power, and strength!
