Prepare for Songs and Psalms
A Song to Learn During TGP Unit 16
Practice this hymn with your children, and talk about what it means.
281 | “Take My Life and Let It Be,” Frances Ridley Havergal, H. A. César Malan, Lowell Mason
From The Sing! Hymnal: “This hymn of Frances Ridley Havergal is so extremely helpful to us because it does not merely say we want to follow, or obey, or surrender but breaks down this idea into each of the most challenging categories—our hands and feet and where we go, our voice and lips and every word we speak, our silver and gold and every priority we have with money, our will and heart and what we will do in our future, and finally our affections—the things and the people we love.”
Responsive Reading: Psalm 19:7–14
Read the Psalm together. Practice saying it responsively. Try memorizing one or more verses.
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Talk About the Songs and Psalms
Choose a verse from a song or psalm. Read it together and discuss these questions using the “Swedish method.”
- What do you notice about these words? What do you like? What is surprising?
- Is there anything you don’t understand? Is there anything you wonder about?
- What do these words tell you about God? What do they tell you about yourself?
- Talk to God together about what you’ve discussed. Praise Him, thank Him, and ask for His help.
Prepare for Children’s Worship
Use this guide to prepare your children for their time learning in the classroom on Sunday morning (and for the Old and New Testament readings).
Unit 16 Memory Verse | 1 Corinthians 10:31 — “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Unit 16 Big Picture Q&A | How can we glorify God? We can glorify God by loving Him and obeying Him.
Bible Story | “Daniel in the Lions’ Den,” Daniel 6. Read this story to your children from the Bible or from a storybook Bible. Prompt your children to describe the characters and events of the passage.
Christ Connection | Daniel continued to trust God, even though it meant he might be thrown into the lions’ den. Jesus was faithful to follow God’s plan, even though it meant He would die on the cross for sinners.
Introduction to the Story
As Daniel grew into an older man, God continued to show him favor as Daniel served under a new king—King Darius. Yet, Daniel’s place in the government of Babylon was a subject of jealousy. In an attempt to trap Daniel, royal officials petitioned Darius to enact a law that forbade anyone from praying to any god other than the king. Just as the officials suspected, Daniel continued praying to the one true God.
The Bible points out that Daniel prayed as an act of defiance to the new law. When Daniel was faced with the possibility of death if he prayed, he made a courageous decision. Daniel 6:10 says, “When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house. The windows in its upstairs room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” Instead of hiding his prayers, Daniel boldly walked in obedience, knowing his life would be put in danger.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus faced a similar decision with even greater consequences. Following the Last Supper, Jesus spent time with the Father in prayer. Jesus wrestled with His coming death as He asked the Father to take the cup from Him if possible. Luke describes the agony that Jesus went through in this decision by telling us that Jesus’ sweat fell like blood due to the intensity of His time with God. Jesus surrendered to the will of the Father even though it led to death. God honored the obedience of both men. He delivered Daniel from the lions’ den, and He delivered Jesus—the only person to always obey God perfectly—from the grave in victory over death.
One final detail of this story should challenge us in our walk with God: Darius was rooting for Daniel. Right before Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den, the king hoped out loud that Daniel’s God would deliver him from death. Eventually, after Daniel’s deliverance, the king declared that all people must respect Daniel’s God. This week, encourage the kids in your class to live a life that honors God, even when others around them are making different choices. May we model lives that are so honorable to God that even people who disagree with us might want us to be right about God.
Watch the Biggest Story video about the lions’ den
Prepare for Pulpit Ministry
This Week’s Text | John 9:35–41
Some Context for Adults | From the Gospel Coalition Commentary: “This is the only time prior to his resurrection that worship is offered to Jesus in the Johannine narrative. An amazing miracle, Jesus’s sixth messianic sign recorded in this Gospel, has drawn an amazing response. The account of the healing ends with Jesus’s pronouncement that he came to bring about a reversal: he came so that the blind would see, while those who claimed to see would become blind. This turns the entire narrative into an acted parable. When the Pharisees, in thick Johannine irony, ask Jesus if they are blind (as if it was not already obvious that they were the target of Jesus’s pronouncement), Jesus replies, rather matter-of-factly, that if they were to admit their spiritual blindness, there would be hope for them, but since they claim to be seeing, their guilt remains. Thus, while Jesus’s primary purpose was to bring salvation (3:17), those who rejected Jesus brought judgment upon themselves (9:39).”
COMA Questions
Context, Observation, Meaning, Application
- What do you remember from the previous story in the Gospel of John?
- What do you notice about this passage? Are there any words you don’t know?
- What do you think is the message or story of this passage?
- What do you think God wants you to think or do after reading this passage?
Pray | After you have read and discussed the passage, thank God for His Word and ask Him to apply it to your life. Ask for the specific applications you identified in your discussion.
