Sunday School, Greenwich CT

Stanwich Rocks 1st and 2nd grade Teaching Team

Saul Disobeyed God, Sun. Oct. 4

From I Samuel 15, we learned that Saul had been the king of God's people for many years. God had been patient with Saul when he disobeyed. Now Saul didn't want to obey God at all anymore. He wanted to do everything his own way instead of God's way. Samuel told Saul, "God will help you win a battle against the enemy. But God says that after the battle, you must get rid of everything that belongs to the enemy." God had good reasons for his directions and He expected Saul to obey. But Saul did not obey. Saul had his soldiers bring some of the best stuff from the enemy home with him. God and Samuel were very upset. When Samuel went to see Saul, Saul said, "I have done what God told me." When Samuel said, "No you didn't," Saul made excuses and blamed his soldiers. King Saul had a lot of excuses to say when he did something wrong. God decided that Saul couldn't be king anymore. Our memory verse, from Psalm 119:60, "I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands," can help us remember to obey God and not make excuses. When it's really tough to do the right thing, we can ask Jesus to help us, because He promises always to be there.
Stanwich Rocks 1st and 2nd grade Teaching Team

God Chooses a King, Sun. Sep 27

Remember Samuel? He grew up, serving Eli the Priest. The Bible says Samuel grew up learning all about God, knowing God and serving Him. Samuel listened to God and became wise. Now he is grown up and he became a judge over the people. God's people looked around them and they decided they wanted a king like the other countries. Samuel talked to God and God said that He (God) was their king. A king who would have a palace and sit on a throne would make the people pay a lot of money and make them become his servants. God said the people would be unhappy with a king and that it would not be best for them. Samuel talked to God's people and they still whined and begged for a king. God decided to give them what they asked for. God told Samuel to choose Saul, a man who was a head taller than everyone else, as king. Samuel anointed Saul as king. (That means Saul poured oil on Saul's head.) Samuel had an important job and he chose to follow God and obey Him. Our Bible verse comes from Joshua 24:15, "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." We talked about some of the ways that we can choose to follow God. We can ask God for help to make the best choices. The absolute best choice is to believe in Jesus and follow Him. Some questions for you: What important job did God give to Samuel? What did the people ask for? Why didn't God want to give them what they asked for? Who did God choose to be the first king of His people?

Stanwich Rocks 1st and 2nd grade Teaching Team

Samuel Listens to God and Becomes Wise, Sun. Sep.20

Hannah had prayed and asked God for a son. She had told God that she would teach her son all about God and that her son would serve Him. God answered Hannah's prayers with Baby Samuel. Samuel went as a young boy to the Temple to serve God. He worked hard and learned a lot from Eli, the priest (like a pastor). One night Samuel woke up 3 times because someone was calling his name. It was not Eli!. Eli helped Samuel understand that God was talking to him. Samuel listened to God. As Samuel grew he listened more and more to God and obeyed Him and God made Samuel very wise. This part of our story comes from 1 Samuel chapters 2 and 3. Our Bible memory verse, Proverbs 19:20 "Listen to advice and accept instruction and in the end you will be wise," tells us that we can become wise too. We can listen to God by reading the Bible, praying and obeying our parents and the grown-ups who are responsible for us. Some questions for you: Who was Samuel's mother? Where did Samuel grow up? Who taught Samuel about God when he was a little boy?

Stanwich Rocks 1st and 2nd grade Teaching Team

God Helped Hannah, Sunday Sep.13th

Hannah lived a long, long time ago, long before Jesus was born. Hannah was married to Elkanah but she was sad because she had no children. Back then sometimes men had 2 wives. Elkanah had a second wife named Peninnah. Peninnah had lots of children and she teased Hannah. That made Hannah feel even worse. One day Hannah was at the temple (like church for us) and she was very sad and praying, telling God how sad she was and how much she wanted a baby. She told God that she would tell her baby all about God and raise him to always be God's friend. Eli, the priest (like a pastor) heard her and didn't understand that Hannah was praying When she explained to Eli that she was sad and praying to God, Eli comforted her and said God would give her what she asked for. Guess what! Hannah DID have a baby. She had baby Samuel who grew up to serve God as a priest! You can read this story in your own Bible in 1 Samuel chapter 1. Our memory verse, Psalm 86:17 "You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me," reminds us that just like God helped Hannah, He promises to help us and comfort us, too.
Some questions for you: Who was sad in our Bible story from 1 Samuel? Why was she sad? When she was sad, what did she do? What did God do for her?


Stanwich Rocks 1st and 2nd grade Teaching Team

Paul and Silas Tell Prisoners and the Jailer about Jesus, June 7

Our Bible story is from Acts 16. Paul and Silas were arrested and put into prison because they believed in Jesus. At night, Paul and Silas were singing praises to God and telling the other prisoners about Jesus. There was an earthquake and their chains fell off and the doors of the prison all opened. The jailer, the man in charge of the prison, came and was so afraid and distressed because he thought all of the prisoners had escaped and he would be in big trouble. But Paul and Silas said, "Don't be upset. We are all here, none of the prisoners have left." The jailer was amazed and wanted to know all about Jesus so Paul and Silas went home with the jailer and told him and his family about how much God loved them and the wonderful life possible if they believe in Jesus too. The jailer and all of his family were baptized and became Jesus' forever friends that day. We talked about 2 verses in the Bible, I Thessalonians 5:18 says "give thanks in all circumstances," which is what Paul and Silas did when they were chained in prison! Also, God wants us to tell others about His love for us and His son Jesus, as Matthew 28:19 says, "go and make disciples of all nations."

Stanwich Rocks 1st and 2nd grade Teaching Team

Phillip Tells Ethiopian Man Good News, Sun. May 24

From Acts 8 we learned about Phillip obeying God and running out in the desert to catch up with a chariot. A man from Ethiopia was reading the book of Isaiah and he told Phillip that he did not understand it. Phillip told him that Isaiah predicted all those things that would happen to Jesus over 700 years before he was born. Phillip helped the Ethiopian to understand how much God loves us and that Jesus willingly took the punishment for the wrong things that we do. There they were, riding along in the desert, surrounded by sand but they came to some water. There Phillip baptized the Ethiopian man. We guessed that when that man got home he probably told everyone all about Jesus and the wonderful life they could have if they knew Jesus as their friend.

Stanwich Rocks 1st and 2nd grade Teaching Team