4. Mouth for Speaking
God gave me a mouth to Speak to him.
“Mouth for Speaking” Unit: Getting a Sense of God
LESSON PURPOSE: God gave me a mouth to speak to God.
EDUCATIONAL FRAMEWORK: Heart for God
MATERIALS:
Think Before You Speak poster
SONG IDEAS:
Sunny Side of Life
PICTURE BOOKS:
“My Mouth is a Volcano” by Julia Cook
“Words and Your Heart” by Kate Jane Neal
SCRIPTURE:
“You must use your whole being for the sake of others… your ears, your nose, your mouth, your limbs.” -Rev. Moon
“Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.” -Psalm 141:3
AS CHILDREN ARRIVE: Choose 1:
Word Sort: Have children sort words or pictures into “Happy” words and “Sad” words. Words/short phrases that are positive like “Way to go!” “I love your drawing” and negative words like “I don’t like you” or “That’s ugly”
Big Mouth Frog Activity: You will need printouts, pencils, and crayons. Have the children write something nice inside the frog’s mouth. After they color it, they will fold their paper so the inside of the mouth is hidden.
INTRODUCE the Lesson (Engage)
WELCOME: SONG, PRAYER, TP Greeting
REVIEW & TRANSITION:
Good morning, boys and girls! Last week, we learned about our ears and how we can practice listening to God. Did anyone try meditating? What was your experience like? (Allow for responses.)
ATTENTION GRABBER:
*For this section, you will need 2 tubes of toothpaste, 2 paper plates, and 2 spoons (and lots of napkins).
Power of Words object lesson - Choose 2 children to play this game. Give each child a tube of toothpaste and a paper plate. When you say “Go”, they will have 10 seconds to try to squeeze out as much toothpaste onto the plate as they can. After 10 seconds, stop them and give each child a spoon. Then, explain that now they have 10 seconds to try to put as much of the toothpaste back into the tubes.
Ask the children, “How hard was it to get the toothpaste out of the tubes?” (They will say it was pretty easy.)
Ask the children, “How hard was it to put the toothpaste back into the tubes?” (They will say it was hard or impossible.)
Ask the children, “How are words and toothpaste alike?” (Allow for responses.)
INTRO: Today’s lesson is going to be about the power of words and how we can use our mouths to speak to God.
ACTIVITY: choose 1 or more:
VIDEO:
READ ALOUD STORY:
“My Mouth is a Volcano” by Julia Cook
“Words and Your Heart” by Kate Jane Neal
TEACH the Lesson (Explain/Explore)
*TEACHING POINT 1: God gave me a mouth to say good things
INTERACTIVE LESSON: Use this Power Point with Lesson
God made our mouths. The mouth is the most important way we can express how we feel and what we believe. But the mouth also has the most potential to get us into trouble. When we say hurtful things about people, God becomes sad. When we tell lies, God is disappointed.
Words are powerful. God gave us the ability to speak so that we can lift each other up! God is happy when we share kind words to our friends and family, like when we give a compliment. We can also use our mouths to talk to and praise God, our Heavenly Parent! How joyful God must feel when we talk to him and share about our day with him, as we do with our parents? Or when we tell God something that was really cool, like we would with our friend. Or when we sing praises to Him! God wants us to use our mouths to get to know him. When we call to God- He will respond to us.
ACTIVITY:
Before you speak, THINK!
T - is it True?
H - is it Helpful?
I - is it Inspiring?
N - is it Necessary?
K - is it Kind?
*TEACHING POINT 2: Different ways I can speak to God
INTERACTIVE LESSON:
God wants to hear from you! There are many different ways we can talk to God. One way is not better than the other. It depends on how it makes you feel and how comfortable you are to practice it every day.
Prayer - Praying is probably the most direct way to talk to God. Imagine calling God on a cell phone! That’s what prayer is like. Some people find it hard to pray because they don’t know what to say. Actually, you can say anything in your prayers! Think of God as your best friend whom you share everything with. God wants to hear about everything going on in your life. Prayers can be long or short. You can pray at any time of the day -- morning, afternoon, or night. Prayer is powerful and God loves to listen to your prayers.
Songs - Some people feel God through music more than prayer or meditation. Song lyrics can sometimes inspire or uplift the spirit, which can make us feel like God is close or He is sending us a message. Next time you sing a song, listen to the lyrics and see how it might be a message God wants to share with us or something we might want to say to God.
Writing in a journal - Writing is a powerful way to communicate. Writing down your thoughts in a journal is a great way to reflect about your relationship with God. Some people don’t like talking out loud--that’s when writing is helpful. Also, feel free to draw or decorate your journal. It might inspire you to use it more often!
Share with your parents - God blessed each of us with amazing parents. Just like God, our parents always want to know what’s happening in our lives. It’s important to have open conversations with them to grow and deepen our relationship. Share about your day, ask questions that are on your mind, and spend time having fun as a family! If you invest in your relationship with your parents, God can work through them to speak to you.
Discussion:
Words are powerful. What kinds of words can we use to uplift others?
What are ways we can practice speaking to God?
Besides just speaking and listening to our friends and family, why is it important to speak to and listen to God?
APPLY the Lesson Evaluate
GROUP ACTIVITIES: Choose 1 or 2:
Journaling: You can make your own simple notebooks or buy some for cheap. Allow children to decorate the cover. On the first page, give them a prompt to write about. (Ideas for writing: “This week I was most inspired by….” or “I feel God’s presence most when…”)
Using Scrabble tiles or Bananagram pieces, let the children come up with “nice words”. You can assist them with spelling. Give them 3-5 minutes, then have each child share their words.
SNACK IDEA:
Apples- slices cut into “smiles”
Mini marshmallows- they look like teeth!
Grape juice- watch your tongue change color
CONCLUDE the Lesson
CONCLUSION:
Our mouths, our ears, our eyes, our hands… our bodies are made by God! Let’s use our mouth to uplift others and to talk to God, our Heavenly Parent! Not only do we hear God’s message through others, but we should remember God also delivers messages through us. We are God’s children and loved very much. Let’s use our mouths in a way that can honor God.
PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Parent, this week we want to use our mouths to uplift others with positive words. Everyone deserves to hear something nice, so please speak through us to make others happy. Also, we want to talk to you more. Please inspire us this week to sing, write, or share about our feelings for You. Amen. Aju!
