Crazy looking hat that can be flipped inside out - knit ski hats work well
Begin Council Time by doing some sword drills with Scripture on God’s character –
Give kids clue that all verses are from OT
Exodus 34:6
Psalm 145:9
Isaiah 14:27
Tell children to keep their Bibles open to Isaiah
Council Time Talk -
I applaud those of you who created great hats for tonight! I brought a very special hat tonight and perhaps you’ll think it doesn’t look particularly amazing, but it is! First, unlike other hats, this one must be worn inside out because it is an opposite hat.
When I put it on, I do the opposite of what I usually do or think the opposite of what I usually think. So let’s try this out
(put hat on) I think I’ll stand up (sit down). [take off hat]
Oh! Why did I do that? (Because it’s an OPPOSITE hat!)
Thanks! (Put hat back on) And let me be the first to say goodbye. I hope you have a terrible time at AWANA this morning.
(take off hat – scratch head - wow, I AM confused!). I said goodbye, not hello! What else was wrong in what I said? (morning, terrible time)
I did this to make you laugh, but most times I don’t like to be so confused.
People can be confused even without an opposite hat, right? One way lots of people are confused is about God. People have all kinds of ideas of who God is. Maybe you know some kids your age who will say they don’t believe in God at all. Do any of you know kids who say that? There are many adults who don’t believe in God. That’s one way people are confused about God.
Here’s another way people are confused about God. Many people today think they can just make up what God is like. If they don’t want God to be a particular way – say they don’t want God to care if we sin or not - then they just will believe in a God who doesn’t care about sin. Most of the time when people make up who God is, they want a God who is always kind and never tells them they have done things wrong. Kind of like a big teddy bear.
Have you heard kids talk about God? What do they say?
(ask kids for what they have heard).
Long ago, God’s people the Jews were confused about God too. Even though God had been with them and cared for them, and given them the bible, they still began to wonder if God still cared for them. They began to wonder - Did he exist at all? Could he help them? And so God sent a prophet named Isaiah to tell them the truth about God and help them not be afraid.
So let’s get out our Bibles
Let’s think about this, and I am very serious about this danger of confused thinking about God, so maybe I’ll just put the opposite hat away.
(SCENARIO #1 – is God real?)
One BIG fear the Jews had in Isaiah’s time was that God was not real – that there was no God. That is a big problem. How would you feel if you believed there was no God at all? God didn’t want His people to wonder if He was real or not. So look in
Isaiah 45:21b-22
What does God want us to know?
(SCENARIO #2 – Has God forgotten me?)
Or what if I believed that God existed, but He had forgotten all about me?
How would you feel if you believed that? (if a child answers well, have him/her come up and put the opposite hat on him/her). Now let’s look up the words God gave Isaiah to help the Jews when they believed God had forgotten them. Isaiah 49:14-15
Have verse and have child with hat on read it and turn hat right-side out.
Now you’re thinking right! What does God want us to know?
(SCENARIO #3 – Is God powerful enough to help me?)
Let’s think about another way people are confused about God. Some people believe that God is real and cares about us, but he really isn’t powerful enough to really help us. What if I believed that when I needed help, God would let me down?
(again have a child come up and wear the hat) – then let’s think – do we know God is powerful? (Almighty – Isaiah 46:11b OR Isaiah 41:10)
What does God want us to know?
and have child turn hat right-side out.
(SCENARIO #4 – God is there to do what I want?)
Some people think God is like a genie in a lamp. He’s there to grant me my wishes. To help me make lots of money, or get a job, or to get a good grade on a test. Some of the Jews were angry that God didn’t do what they wanted him to do. Maybe you feel that way sometimes. If I think God is like that, is He really God? No. That makes me in charge, not God.
Sovereign – Is. 46:9-10 – What does God want us to know?
God has the right to do with creation whatever He wants. God has the wisdom to plan whatever He wants. God has the power to make whatever He wants to happen
Maybe you sometimes think the same things about God, and just like the Jews –
• is God real?
• Does God care?
• Can God really help me?
God doesn’t want you to be confused. He wants you to know who he really is and to trust Him. That’s why God gave us the Bible – so we can know who He really is.
And since I don’t want to be confused any more, I think I’m going to get rid of this “opposite” hat and just stick to what God has told me!
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