The Ten Plagues and the Passover

Children’s Chapel

September 10, 2017

Bible Reference: Exodus 

Theme: The Ten Plagues and the Passover

·        Welcome: Welcome all and ask if we have any new friends. Introduce new friends.

·         Church Practice and Liturgical Calendar:

We continue in the liturgical season of Ordinary Time. The cloth on our Children’s Chapel altar is green today which is the color we use during Ordinary Time.  Who would like to move the arrow on our liturgical calendar? (Allow one child to come up to the calendar to move the arrow forward one week.) The arrow is now pointing to the fourteenth green square.  You will also notice that in big church the altar frontal, church dressings, and clergy stoles are green. (Light altar candles.) We light these candles to remind us that Christ is the light of the world. We also remember that God is always with us, that Jesus lives in our hearts and that we are inspired by the power of the Holy Spirit. Before we begin our Bible lesson today, let us pray the collect or prayer of the week.

·        Children’s Collect for September 10th:

Let Us Pray:

    Heavenly Father, let us trust you with all of our hearts and let us not

    rely on our own strength. Strengthen us in your love and grace that we

    may be your light and love in the world through Jesus Christ our Lord,

    who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and

    for ever, Amen.

·         Introduction: Over the last several Sundays we have read from the Old Testament book of Exodus about Moses who was saved from the river Nile as a baby, grew up in the palace of the Egyptian Pharaoh, and who was asked by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt away from the hardships that they had endured under the Egyptian king.  We remember that Moses was afraid and nervous about God’s request that he be a leader of the Israelites. But God assured Moses that he would always be with him to be his strength and voice in leading the Israelites away from Egypt. In today’s Bible story we will continue to hear about Moses and what happened when he went to speak to the Egyptian Pharaoh about letting the Israelites go.

·        Bible Story: Read Aloud: The Jesus Storybook Bible p. 86-91

With Children in grades 1-5, have several children volunteers read aloud to the others.

·         Bible Reference: Exodus 

·       Response: In the Bible story we just listened to, Moses did as God asked and went to Pharaoh to demand that the Israelites be set free. But the Egyptian king did not listen to Moses. So God sent many plagues or warnings to Pharaoh to try and change his mind. The Pharaoh was very stubborn and would not listen to Moses. Ten plagues were sent to warn the Egyptian king. that brought terrible things to the land of Egypt.  Let’s review what they were (Hold up “Plague” picture cards allowing one child to come up to hold each one.) Even after all of these plagues, the Egyptian Pharaoh would not obey God’s command to let the Israelites go, so God sent an even stronger warning. Moses told Pharaoh that if he did not listen to God, the Pharaoh’s son would die. Still the king did not listen. So God said that the oldest son of each Egyptian family would die as he came over the land of Egypt. He told the Israelites that they would be kept safe if they would place the blood of a lamb on their doors showing God that they trusted him. God would then pass over their homes and their oldest sons would not die. After this final warning, Moses was able to lead the Israelites out of Egypt during the night. Moses and the Israelites could not have been able to leave Egypt by their own might. They were too weak. But they trusted in God and through his strength, they were led to freedom.  

God does the same for each of us too. God loves each of us so much that he sent his Son Jesus to live as a human on the earth. Jesus showed us each how to love one another and how to love and trust God with our whole hearts. Jesus also died upon the cross so that we could all be free. In all that we do, God wants to do it with us. There will be some things that may be a little easy to do in our lives and there will be some things that are really very difficult. We can rejoice that God is our strength in all that we do no matter if it is easy or hard.

·     Closing Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of your presence with us always in all that we do. Strengthen us in hope and peace as we trust in you that we be a source of your love in the world. In your holy name. Amen   Response Activity will be provided