Nehemiah

---

4th/5th Grade – Nov 18

Old School  Lesson 12

Nehemiah Bible Verse I feel sad because the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Please send me back to Judah, so that I can rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried. (Nehemiah 2:3 and 5 )

Teacher Enrichment This is the twelfth lesson in the Old School: Lessons from the Old Testament series which examines many well-known stories from the Old Testament. Each week will explore how God is revealed through the events and characters of a Bible story. This series will build a base of Old Testament Bible knowledge for children. Floods and earthquakes; Hunger; Oppression; War. We hear of these every day in the news. Some days the suffering hits closer to home: a child with cancer, the death of a loved one, homelessness, gun violence. How do we react? We may feel sad and angry, but then move on in our day. Maybe we pray. At times we may even act. Nehemiah did all of these and more. When Nehemiah heard his hometown of Jerusalem was destroyed and the Israelites living there were suffering, he wept. And then he fervently prayed to God for help and for guidance. And then he acted, even though that action put his life in danger. In the end, Nehemiah inspired many others to act and the walls of Jerusalem are re-built. Nehemiah saw a need and filled it. In this lesson children will learn that God wants us to help people in need. They will begin to understand how to recognize need and will explore ways they, even as children, can help. Children will learn that even when they are unable to physically help, they can always pray. As you prepare for this lesson, consider what “walls of help” you are building.

Before Class Begins  Place the Sign In sheet and a pen where parents can see it upon arrival.  Place the Joy & Concern cards, Time & Talent cards and pens where students can see them upon arrival.  Check that you have supplies for this lesson: - Arrival Activity, Nehemiah activity sheet – 1 per child - Paper blocks - Rolled socks - Prayer bricks – at least 1 per child  Place an arrival activity at each place on the table.

Welcome SUPPLIES: Sign In sheet, Joy & Concern cards, Time & Talent cards, Attendance chart, stickers, pens, Nehemiah activity sheet, pencils, markers  Greet each child individually as they arrive. Introduce yourself by name.  Help children find or add their name on the attendance chart. Provide each child  

  

with a sticker to place in today’s column on the attendance chart. Encourage children to complete a Joy or Concern card if they have a particular joy or concern they would like to express. Collect completed Joy & Concern cards. Encourage children to complete a Time or Talent offering card if they gave their time to God or used their talents to serve God or others during the previous week. Children should keep their own completed Time and Talent cards. If children bring monetary offering, they should keep it with them. Direct children to complete Nehemiah activity sheet. Encourage conversation among the children and with you! Get to know the children in your classroom by asking about their week including school, activities and families. Introduce new children to each other and encourage friendships.

Children’s Worship Old School  Lesson 12

SUPPLIES: Sign In sheet, Joy & Concern cards, Time & Talent cards  The Children’s Worship Leader will direct your class to come to Ruth Hall at 9:20 or      

11:05. Bring the Sign In sheet and completed Joy & Concern cards to Ruth Hall. Hand the Joy & Concern cards to the Children’s Worship leader as you arrive. Have children bring their completed Time & Talent cards and any monetary offering. If additional children arrive while in Ruth Hall, have parents complete the Sign In sheet and remind parents that pickup is in Room 105. Encourage children to participate in Children’s Worship and provide re-direction if necessary. Assist the Children’s Worship leader as needed. At the conclusion of Children’s Worship, have children line up and return to Room 110.

The Lesson SUPPLIES: Paper blocks, rolled socks, Prayer bricks  Have the children remain in Ruth Hall. The initial activity will be combined with

2nd/3rd grade.  The Children’s Worship leader will lead the Ruth Hall activity. SAY: Today we learned about Nehemiah re-building the walls of Jerusalem. The walls of the city protected the people, but they were broken down and destroyed. Nehemiah was saddened and saw a need to help the people of Jerusalem. Today we are going to see how well you are able to build a wall to help those in need. These teddy bears need some protection.  Divide the children into either two or four teams depending on the size of the

class. No more than 7-8 children per team.  Assign one team to build a wall to protect the bears using the paper blocks and one team to try to “destroy” the wall using the rolled socks.  The wall should be built along the line of blue tape (marked on the floor) and the throwers must remain behind the line of masking tape.  Throwers can only throw socks at the wall, not the builders. Old School  Lesson 12

 Give the teams 3 minutes to see how high and wide they can build their wall.  Allow teams to switch roles and play again.

When the activity is complete, return to the classroom. ASK: How did it feel when you were the team building the wall? (Worried about the bears; frustrated when wall was knocked down) ASK: How did it feel when you were able to get the wall up pretty high? (Good; happy I was able to protect the bears) ASK: It feels good when we are able to help someone in need. Today we were only protecting and helping some stuffed bears. But sometimes we hear other stories about people in need. It may be in the news or it could be about a family member or friend. When you hear about people in need, how does it make you feel? (Sad, upset, angry, worried, I want to help) SAY: I’m going to read some stories and we will think about ways we could help these people in need. What “walls of help” can we build? Read each scenario below and ask children to think of ways they can help these people. Discussion Guide  A city is destroyed by a flood or earthquake and people have nowhere to live. - Donate money; volunteer to go and help (for adults)  Your friend lost his dog. - Help him search; make/hang up signs; cheer him up  Children in another country don’t have enough food to eat or clean water to drink. - Donate money; volunteer to go and help (for adults)  Your neighbor had to go to the hospital because he or she is sick. - Visit them; make them a meal; help with yardwork/take care of pet while they are gone; make them a get well card  People in another country do not know about God because there is no one to tell them. - Donate to programs that teach about God; become a missionary (for adults)

Old School  Lesson 12

After reading the scenarios above, ask children to add specific examples of people in need and ways they have personally helped. If you have an example from your own life, share it with the children. SAY: When we hear about people in need, sometimes we can help with our actions, but not always. We might be able to send money or donations, but we aren’t always able to physically help in person. And sometimes even when we help, there are rolled socks being thrown that knock our “walls of help” right back down. We can cheer up our neighbor or help with their house, but we might not be able to make them well. We can help one city with a flood, but that doesn’t stop other hurricanes from happening. Just like it felt frustrating when the rolled socks hit our walls today, it can feel frustrating when we aren’t able to help someone completely. SAY: When that happens, we must remember no matter what the situation, we can ALWAYS pray. When Nehemiah heard about Jerusalem, the very first thing he did was to pray. When we are unable to help with our own actions, we can pray to God to send the help that is needed. SAY: Today we are going to build a prayer wall. Each of you will fill out a brick with a person or situation in need. Whatever you write down, you are committing to praying for that person or situation and asking God to help them. We will hang these bricks in Ruth Hall and create our own “prayer wall of help.”  Have children move from the carpet to seats at the table.  Give each child a prayer brick.  Direct children to write down someone who needs help or a situation that needs

the help of others. Have children write their own name at the bottom.  If extra time remains, encourage children to add a picture to their brick.  Children may complete more than one prayer brick. If time permits, have children bring their prayer bricks into Ruth Hall to hang on the wall. The Children’s Worship leader will be there to assist.

Old School  Lesson 12

Closing  Lead the children in a closing prayer. You may say your own prayer, ask one of the

children to say a prayer or use the one below. God, We want to be like Nehemiah and help others when we see them in need. Please hear our prayers and help the people in our prayer wall of help. Amen  If time remains before parents arrive, encourage children to return to their Nehemiah activity sheet if they did not complete it. Also encourage conversation between children and with you. This is another opportunity to build relationships with the children in your classroom.

Old School  Lesson 12

Prayer Brick

Old School  Lesson 12