Prep: Mark you bible with verses used in lesson: Matthew 11:28-30; Matthew 22:37; Jer. 29:11. Supplies needed: Child's army clothes (tee-shirt, boots, camouflage jacket, etc.). Child's backpack (camouflage is ideal), with bottles of water, maps, first aid kit, and some other things inside (teddy bear, ball, etc.). Make sure its not too heavy for a preschool child. You can use the army paper dolls instead of pages 2a and 2b if you would like. See Craft Page for pictures and directions. Print the free printable bible story pictures. Choose black and white pictures and color them to save on printing cost. Make copies of the b&w pictures to use as children's coloring pages for your class. (See copyright information). 1bw, 1color, 2a color, 2b color, 3bw, 3color, 4bw, 4color, 5bw, 5color, 6bw, 6color, 7bw, 7color, 8bw, 8color, 9bw, 9color, 10bw, 10color.

The numbers in parentheses tell you what Story Page to hold up while you are telling the story. (You don't need to read the words on the actual story pages. They are for use as posters or coloring pages). Only read words that are not in parentheses for the lesson. The words in parentheses tell you what actions you do.

Intro: (1) This is Paul. (Point to Paul). He was a preacher. He taught the lessons of the Bible to all the people. This is Timothy. (Point to Timothy). Timothy was Paul's helper. Paul loved Timothy like a son. Paul knew that Timothy wanted to teach people too. But Timothy was still young, so Paul told Timothy some important things to guide him. During the next few lessons, you will learn some of the important things that Paul told Timothy. Paul knew that loving God was the most important thing. We learn this from our Bibles, in the book of Matthew. The leaders of the church asked Jesus the question, "What is the most important command?" Here is what Jesus said: (Read Matthew 22:37).

So how do we love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength? The first thing we can do to show we love God is to give him our heart, and let him be our leader. (2) Paul told Timothy how to love God by giving him an example. He used the example of a soldier obeying his leader to show us how to love God. I'll explain: (3) Soldiers in the army have a commander. The commander is their leader who guides them. (Point to commander). The commander tells the soldiers where to go and how to get there. He does the hard job. He has to have a plan. The soldiers have the easy job, they just follow their leader. (Point to soldier). Its the same in God's army. God is our great commander! He loves to lead us and guide us! And, he has a great plan for each of us! Here's what he promises us: (Read Jer. 29:11). Isn't that great? We don't have to have it all figured out. (Shake head no). God has the great plan! We have the easy job. (4) Our job is just to follow him. When we ask him to be our leader, he helps us come to know his heart. And, he helps us want to do what is right. He also helps us do all the good things he has planned for us to do! The child in this picture is thinking, "I wonder what great things God has planned for me?"

But what if a soldier in God's army doesn't let God lead him? (Have child with loaded backpack come to you). What if he tries to do everything himself? Then he would need to take a lot of things with him. His load would be too heavy and it would weigh him down. He wouldn't be able to walk very fast. (Ask for a child who wants to come up to help you. Ask the child if its o.k. to place backpack on him/her). (Child's name), can you show us how hard it is to walk with the heavy backpack. (Have child walk back and forth across the front of the room for a while). When we carry a heavy load, we get tired quickly. But in God's army, we don't have to carry a heavy load! Here's the promise Jesus gives us: (Read Matt. 11:28-30). Jesus makes our load light! We don't have to be weighed down with worry because we can rely on him. (Open child's backpack and take out some water bottles). We don't have to be weighed down with confusion because we know our leader will tell us the best way to go. (Take out the more things). We don't have to be weighed down with fear because Jesus is with us! (Take out more things). We feel joyful, knowing we don't have to go all by ourselves. Its much more fun to walk with Jesus because we know he is our best friend! And we know he will be with us the whole way! I sure like letting Jesus carry my heavy load! (Child's name), show us how easy it is to run with a light backpack. (Have child run across the front of the room). And off he/she goes! Look how fast he/she can go now! Thank you, (Child's name) for helping us with the lesson today.You did a great job!

You might be thinking, "How do I know that God is the kind of commander that I want to lead me?" (5) Well, In some armies the commander is mean. The soldiers would be very afraid if they do something wrong. The rules are strict, and if you make a mistake, you are punished. But, in God's army, we don't have to be afraid. (Shake head no). (6) Jesus already took the punishment for us when he died on the cross! (7) So when we go to God and tell him we are sorry, he forgives us! And, he treats us with gentleness. He knows we are just people. He gives us another chance to do better next time. He is a kind commander, so we don't have to be afraid.

You might be thinking, "How can I know if I can trust my commander?" Sometimes a soldier has to do some scary things. He might have to go into a dark forest all by himself. But his commander tells him how to go and what to do. If he doesn't trust his commander, he might be afraid. But, in God's army we can trust our commander completely! We know that God has the very best plan for us! And, when we trust God, its not scary to do what he asks. (Shake head no). (8) We know God will help us when we call out to him. And, we don't have to do the scary things all by ourselves. God stays with us the whole way!

Maybe you are thinking about joining God's army, but you are thinking, "What if I mess up? Will I get kicked out of God's army?" No. Do you know why? Because we have an ad-vo-cate! That's a big word. An advocate is someone who is on our side, who cares for us; Its someone who is cheering for us. Can anybody tell me who our advocate is? (Let children answer). Jesus is our advocate! Here's what our Bible tells us: (Read Job 16:19-21). Jesus cares about us so much that he wants us to be a great soldier in God's army! He does anything he can to help us. He speaks gently to God about us, and asks God to help us. (9). He supports us and helps us grow up to be a strong soldier! I'm so glad that Jesus is our advocate! Let's have snack and then we can talk more about how we can give our hearts to God and let him be our leader.

CIRCLE TIME: (What does this mean for me?)

One of the things Paul taught Timothy was to always have a good conscience. Can anybody tell me what our conscience is? (Let children answer). Yes. (10) It is that nagging feeling when we do something wrong. We all have a conscience. It tells when we did something that we should not do. It makes us feel guilty and makes us want to hide. We want to do what is right, but sometimes we don't do what we should. (Shake head no). But, we all want a clear conscience. Nobody likes feeling guilty! How can we get rid of the guilt? Well, in Bible Times the people had to kill an animal to show that they were sorry for their sins. And, God accepted that as payment for their sins. (6 again) Well, we don't have to do that anymore. Does anybody know why? (Let children answer). Yes. Jesus took the punishment for our sins. He died on the cross. He took the punishment that we deserve. He died to pay for our sins once for all time, so that God would forgive us.

Now, when you ask Jesus to be your leader, and believe that he died on the cross to take the punishment for your sins, and ask him to forgive you, he does! And, he changes your heart. Then you are his child, and he is your God. You are a child of God. Instead of doing things the way YOU want to, you ask God what HE wants you to do. You pray to him often and pour out your heart to him. Its a wonderful adventure! He teaches and guides you. (9 again). And, he gives you everything you need to grow and be strong in faith!

This is how we can be in God's army: We believe that Jesus is God's Son, and that he died for our sins. (7 again) We tell God we're sorry for our sins, and ask him to forgive us. (5 again) We ask Jesus to be our leader, and that we want to follow him from now on!

And, did you know that its great to be in God's army? That's because God is such a loving and kind commander! He is the one who made us; and he loves us so much! He lets us be called his children and receive all the great things he has in store for us! Then he rewards us for following him! Just like a soldier gets medals for the good things he does while he is in the army. Let's pray now. (Pray a general prayer, then ask if any children want to pray also and let them take turns praying). Then ask if anyone is ready to ask God to be their leader, and ask them to come with you. I think its a good idea to pray with those children individually, but ask the Lord's guidance on this).

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