ANIMAL!

SAFARI

Take a Wild Adventure

Through the Bible

LARGE GROUP LESSON

ANIMAL SAFARI: LION

BOTTOM LINE:

If we let pride get the best of us, we will fall.

OBJECTIVE:

Kids will learn why we should stay humble before God.

KEY PASSAGE:

Judges 16:4-22, Samson & Delilah

INTRO

Today we’re beginning a fun new series, a safari-themed series that will take us through the wilds of nature to learn some great lessons about ourselves and our God. Our

safari begins with one of the wildest animals of all, the king of beasts. Lions have been a fascination throughout time. We love lions because they are fierce, dangerous, and beautiful.

Lions, especially male lions, are unmistakable with their flowing manes that crown their heads. But an interesting fact about lions is that the male, as fierce as he looks, does not often do the hunting. It is the lionesses who stalk and kill most of the prey for their families.

Does anyone know what a family group of lions is called? It’s called a pride. A pride usually includes one alpha male who’s in charge, several lionesses, and their cubs. For a lion, pride means family. The pride gives the lion its best chance to survive and thrive

in the wild.

Humans have pride too, but for us, pride is a very different thing. Pride can give us con-

fidence in ourselves. Pride can make us feel good. But pride can also be dangerous. When we let pride take over, it can cause us to lose sight of God and things that are important.

SPEED MEMORY

ITEMS NEEDED:

Memory game

INSTRUCTIONS:

Choose two players for this game. Set out all of the cards face down on a

table. Let each player have 60 seconds to make as many matches as they can.

The person who can make the most matches in the allotted time is the

winner.

WHAT’S THE POINT?

God does not remember our sins once he’s forgiven them. They are

forgotten!

ELEPHANT

ANIMAL!

SAFARI

Take a Wild Adventure

Through the Bible

LARGE GROUP LESSON

ANIMAL SAFARI: LION

BOTTOM LINE:

If we let pride get the best of us, we will fall.

OBJECTIVE:

Kids will learn why we should stay humble before God.

KEY PASSAGE:

Judges 16:4-22, Samson & Delilah

INTRO

Today we’re beginning a fun new series, a safari-themed series that will take us through the wilds of nature to learn some great lessons about ourselves and our God. Our

safari begins with one of the wildest animals of all, the king of beasts. Lions have been a fascination throughout time. We love lions because they are fierce, dangerous, and beautiful.

Lions, especially male lions, are unmistakable with their flowing manes that crown their heads. But an interesting fact about lions is that the male, as fierce as he looks, does not often do the hunting. It is the lionesses who stalk and kill most of the prey for their families.

Does anyone know what a family group of lions is called? It’s called a pride. A pride usually includes one alpha male who’s in charge, several lionesses, and their cubs. For a lion, pride means family. The pride gives the lion its best chance to survive and thrive

in the wild.

Humans have pride too, but for us, pride is a very different thing. Pride can give us con-

fidence in ourselves. Pride can make us feel good. But pride can also be dangerous. When we let pride take over, it can cause us to lose sight of God and things that are important.

INTRO

What’s the largest animal walking the face of the Earth today?

If you know your animals – or if you know today’s theme and just put two and

two together – you know it’s the elephant. Elephant are the biggest creatures

living on land today. They are powerful animals with great strength. They are

unique creatures who use their trunks for everything from feeding to cleaning to

clearing obstacles out of their path.

Elephants are social creatures who live and travel in groups. They work together

to care for their young, to find food, and to stay on guard from predators. They

are very smart animals. As a matter of fact, elephants have a reputation for good

memory. As the old saying goes: an elephant never forgets.

In many ways, having a memory like an elephant would be a blessing. You’d

never for- get to study for a test. Then again, you’d probably never need to

study because you’d never forget anything you heard or read in class.

But who here today doesn’t have some things they’d rather forget? Who doesn’t

have embarrassing moments they want to erase? Who hasn’t made poor

decisions and or had selfish moments they wish they could leave in the past?

We’re not blessed with a perfect memory, but we’re not able to control what we

do and do not remember either. But today, we’re going to discover that God

has a very unique ability when it comes to memory.

ELEPHANT

ANIMAL!

SAFARI

Take a Wild Adventure

Through the Bible

LARGE GROUP LESSON

ANIMAL SAFARI: LION

BOTTOM LINE:

If we let pride get the best of us, we will fall.

OBJECTIVE:

Kids will learn why we should stay humble before God.

KEY PASSAGE:

Judges 16:4-22, Samson & Delilah

INTRO

Today we’re beginning a fun new series, a safari-themed series that will take us through the wilds of nature to learn some great lessons about ourselves and our God. Our

safari begins with one of the wildest animals of all, the king of beasts. Lions have been a fascination throughout time. We love lions because they are fierce, dangerous, and beautiful.

Lions, especially male lions, are unmistakable with their flowing manes that crown their heads. But an interesting fact about lions is that the male, as fierce as he looks, does not often do the hunting. It is the lionesses who stalk and kill most of the prey for their families.

Does anyone know what a family group of lions is called? It’s called a pride. A pride usually includes one alpha male who’s in charge, several lionesses, and their cubs. For a lion, pride means family. The pride gives the lion its best chance to survive and thrive

in the wild.

Humans have pride too, but for us, pride is a very different thing. Pride can give us con-

fidence in ourselves. Pride can make us feel good. But pride can also be dangerous. When we let pride take over, it can cause us to lose sight of God and things that are important.

MAIN POINT

The woman brought before Jesus was a sinful person, a person who had made

many mistakes in her life. But when Jesus was asked to condemn her sins, he

wrote in the dirt. Some people say that he wrote the sins of the men and women

in the crowd, the things her accusers had done. If that’s true, we can certainly

understand why they dropped their stones and walked away.

But what happened next? Jesus forgave the woman. Not only did he forgive, he

forgot. Scripture tells us that as far as the east is from the west, that is how far he

removes our sins from memory. If you travel north, you will eventually reach the

North Pole and start going south, but if you travel east, you will never ever end

up going west. When God forgives he forgets. He forgets forever.

DRIVE IT HOME

It would be nice if we would never ever sin or make a foolish choice again. As

long as we live here on Earth, we are vulnerable. We will continue to make

mistakes. Thank God that those mistakes do not have to be held against us. If we

believe in Jesus, he will erase them.

Being forgiven by God means we can forgive ourselves. We can let go of our

mistakes, knowing that God has forgiven us, and we can commit ourselves to

doing better. We do not need to beat ourselves over the back to punish

ourselves for what we did. Jesus has already taken our punishment upon himself.

ELEPHANT

ANIMAL!

SAFARI

Take a Wild Adventure

Through the Bible

LARGE GROUP LESSON

ANIMAL SAFARI: LION

BOTTOM LINE:

If we let pride get the best of us, we will fall.

OBJECTIVE:

Kids will learn why we should stay humble before God.

KEY PASSAGE:

Judges 16:4-22, Samson & Delilah

INTRO

Today we’re beginning a fun new series, a safari-themed series that will take us through the wilds of nature to learn some great lessons about ourselves and our God. Our

safari begins with one of the wildest animals of all, the king of beasts. Lions have been a fascination throughout time. We love lions because they are fierce, dangerous, and beautiful.

Lions, especially male lions, are unmistakable with their flowing manes that crown their heads. But an interesting fact about lions is that the male, as fierce as he looks, does not often do the hunting. It is the lionesses who stalk and kill most of the prey for their families.

Does anyone know what a family group of lions is called? It’s called a pride. A pride usually includes one alpha male who’s in charge, several lionesses, and their cubs. For a lion, pride means family. The pride gives the lion its best chance to survive and thrive

in the wild.

Humans have pride too, but for us, pride is a very different thing. Pride can give us con-

fidence in ourselves. Pride can make us feel good. But pride can also be dangerous. When we let pride take over, it can cause us to lose sight of God and things that are important.

Being forgiven by God means we can forgive ourselves. We can let

go of our mistakes, knowing that God has forgiven us, and we can

commit ourselves to doing better. We do not need to beat ourselves

over the back to punish ourselves for what we did. Jesus has already

taken our punishment upon himself.

Being forgiven also means that God does not see us as sinners. He

sees us as his children, bought with the blood of Jesus. He sees

potential in our lives to do great things. God wants to use us to share

the gospel with others. He wants to use us to teach other people that

he can forgive and forget their sins. God wants his people to be

people he can use to bring forgiveness to the whole world.

We are all imperfect. We all mess up. But just because we mess up

doesn’t mean we have to give up. Ask Jesus to come into your heart.

Ask him to forgive your sins. Jesus will forgive and forget, and he will

give you a new life so you can share his forgiveness with others.

CLOSE WITH A SIMPLE PRAYER

Dear God,

Thank you for sending Jesus to die for us. Thank you for promising to

forgive us our sins and wipe our slate clean if we put our faith in you.

In Jesus’ name, Amen

ELEPHANT