Francis Chan (Video)

An Incredible Perspective (video) 5:40

Sit in a circle and copy a pattern (tap knees, clap, snap, snap) Here is the chant: "Concentration, concentration now begins. Keep the rhythm. Keep the rhythm and the beat.” Next time on the two snaps say a name of God, an attribute of God, or a quality of God. The game moves clockwise. If an item is repeated, missed, or the pattern is broken, you’re out! 

OK, so this is a video for children, but it does a pretty good job of explaining what it HOLY means. Give it a shot! 

This video is a bit long, but it does an excellent job of explaining what HOLY means in a way that will keep the student’s attention. 

If you have a group that likes to draw, have them draw the scene in Isaiah 6. 

This illustration seeks to show the tension between god’s love and His justice. While explaining this, you want to heighten awareness of these two attributes, love and justice, showing how both are satisfied by Jesus’ death.

There once was a small kingdom suffering from the effects of a severe drought. Food was scarce and the members of the kingdom were beginning to steal from each other in order to survive.

The king knew that thievery would be the death of them all, so he issued a law saying the next person caught stealing would be taken to the center of the village, tied to a pole and publicly whipped.

The next day, sure enough, a thief was caught. Everyone turned up to see who it was and to witness the punishment.

To everyone’s shock, the thief turned out to be the king’s own mother. What was he going to do? He was a good king, and could not justly ignore the law he had made the day before. He had to be just.

But this was his mother. She was old and frail; the whipping could very well kill her. And he loved her. How could he cause her to suffer? What do you think he should do? Which should win: love or justice?

[Let your listener respond.]

Well, here’s what he does: He orders that her wrists be tied to the pole so the whipping can begin. And he calls the punisher to step forward, whip in hand.

But before he gives the order, he steps in between his mother and the punisher. He stretches his broad shoulders across her frail back and with her body completely protected underneath his own, he orders that the punishment be carried out.

As the cords of the whip fall, they fall on him, and he absorbs the full brunt of her penalty. In that act he was both just, in carrying out the penalty, and loving, by suffering it himself.

That is what Jesus did for us. We are all guilty of breaking his laws.

In Romans 3:23 we read that sin earns a penalty and God is just. The penalty must be paid.

But it’s also clear that God loves us (John 3:16-17). He wants good things for us. He doesn’t want us to be punished.

So here’s what He did. He declared us guilty and ordered that the penalty be paid. Then He came to earth, became a man and hung on a cross for us.

When Jesus was being crucified, He stepped in between us, who are guilty, and God the Father, who demanded justice. He absorbed the blows of our punishment so we wouldn’t have to.

This is a little long, but has some great visuals to help students understand the immense size of the universe. It doesn’t talk about God’s power, presence, or knowledge specifically, but it does paint the picture of an enormous universe which will require an enormous God. 

Have each student pick an item in the room. Give everyone a few seconds to think about, how is God like the object or how can you see a Biblical truth in the object. Then, allow them to tell their idea to the rest of the group. Example for a magnifying glass – God sees everything.