PSALM 23
Lesson 5: “He leads me besides still waters”
List of the items needed to do the lessons as written.
This list does not include the items needed for the review games.
Lesson 4
- 3 sheep puppets
- (optional) video of Jesus speaking Matthew 6 (example: Jesus of Nazareth”)
- if you do OPTION B:
- Overhead pictures or computer slide show with…
- For fear-examples: fire, shark, scary movie, etc
- For Friction-examples: peer pressure situations
- For pests-examples: temptations from Satan, from the world, from an evil heart.
- For food-examples: pictures of keeping up with the Jones…commercials.
- offering lesson: any type of clock, large calendar
Note: Because of the poetry of Psalm 23 in the King James Version, the scriptures used will be in the KJV.
Lesson 5
“He leadeth besides the still waters”
Objective…to be spiritually satisfied…Living Waters
Lesson 5
>BRING UP WORSHIP LEADERS
>WELCOME
It is so good to see all of God’s sheep here this morning. You by now should understand what it means to be a sheep…any ideas? (Allow ideas) Remember I talked last week about sheep having an order…a pecking order although they’re not chickens (birds.) Usually in every flock there is at least one older, wiser, smarter ewe (female sheep) that all the others will (well most of the time) follow.
A man who lived thousands of years ago, I will call him the Apostle Paul (have you heard of him?) He said, ’if it will help follow my example, follow the way I live because I follow Jesus’ example. And this way we will both succeed.’
This morning I would like to offer this same advice to you…follow me…a sheep who leads other sheep and who follows THE SHEPHERD.
The Shepherd leads us:
The Holy Spirit helps us/aids us in following and understanding His leading
The Bible gives us a map to guide us in being everything the Shepherd wants for us.
The Church helps us by example, by teaching, by leading us in God’s example.
Let's stand and pray this morning…
>PRAYER
>WORSHIP
>TALENT TIME
>OFFERING
LESSON 4 ‘TIME: GROWING AND REAPING’
[Obtain any type of clock…and/or calendar]
The fourth lesson on TIME… When is the Right Time for… ‘REAPING’
The law of nature is…If we sow in good ground, the weather is right, and we feed it something grows.
Remember this verse from Galatians 6:7, “whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap”. (NKJV)
When we sow, God uses our seed, our gift (what everit is) to do His work…to grow His Kingdom, to grow people physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This time when the seed grows is not the reaping time, it is
the growing season!
Those that do the planting (the sowing) may not know (or be involved in) the growing season. The growing season is different (for different things that you might plant) according to what is planted.
Some things grow fast…like radishes…plant the seed and in less then a month you’re eating radishes.
Some things grow slower…plant an apple seed and it will be a few years before your eating apples.
When we give our money, talents, gifts, and whatever to the Lord… (The SEEDS)
Remember that HE made the law of sowing, growing and reaping. A that law means the seeds must go through these three times. Sowing, growing, and reaping!
And that HE will bless us at the Right Time with the fruit or harvest…the reaping time.
God’s law of harvest says 'I will reap…if I sow…with the right heart and the right attitude'.
When I reap is up to God…we don’t want to become discouraged because we may not see the Harvest in a few days, weeks, months, etc. because of the length/duration of the 'growing season.'
Ecclesiastes 3:1 ‘To every thing there is a season, and a TIME to every purpose under the heaven’ (KJV)
Know this as TRUTH…when we sow into God's soil…it GROWS…then God, in His right TIME, in the right SEASON…gives us a Harvest.
Let’s pray for our offering this morning thanking God for His Harvest. It’s good to always thank God for the Harvest…the blessings He has given and will give during the ‘REAPING’ time.
Collect the offering.
>ANNOUNCEMENTS
>REVIEW
(6-8 girls)1. In last weeks lesson, who was bragging to who? {Sheep to the neighbor
sheep}
(9-12 girls)2. When we fret and worry what are we telling God? {That He can’t take
care of us}
(6-8 boys)3. No fear, know the ______(2 words)? {Good Shepherd}
(9-12 boys)4. Last week we said the sheep (and us) need to not have fear in four areas.
Name one area? {Free from all fear, Free from friction with others
Of it’s own kind, Free from pests, Free from the driving force to look
And find food}
>REVIEW GAME ‘JELLO EATING CONTEST’
Prepare ‘Jell-O jiggles’ using cookie cutters in a shape with the theme “No Fear” (example big dog/wolf). Put equal amount on each players plate. Hands behind the back, race to be the first to eat all their jiggles.
AWARD prizes...how about a box of Jell-O!
(Have puppeteers get ready)
>LESSON
Well boys and girls that sure was a fun review game! About this time every Sunday morning what usually happens? Yes we usually get a little visit by 3 very unique sheep…I wonder what’s keeping them…
>PUPPETS
All 3 sheep enter….have one of the sheep carrying a parasol or wearing an umbrella hat, one sheep with dark glasses and a bandana tied around head and the last sheep carrying a fan (the kind the ladies have in their purse that spreads out for quick relief)
Sheep #1 “Whew, it sure is sunny and hot today. Don’t you think?”
Sheep #2 “That’s an under statement…it’s down right”
Sheep #3 (butting in) “HOT!”
Sheep #2 “Yes…it is!”
Sheep #3 “This fan isn’t helping me very much. I wouldn’t mind a little cool breeze coming off those
mountains over there….hmmm…that sounds delicious.”
Sheep #2 “Yes…that does sound good. If I stay perfectly still I can almost feel it.”
Sheep #3 “Let me try that…(pause, make face, pause)...nope! I don’t feel anything but hot and
sweaty.”
Sheep #1 “You know what I’m thinking of? No of course you don’t (answering herself). I’m thinking
of a nice clear blue mountain lake.”
Sheep #2 “Yes…we could jump in…swim around…”
Sheep #1 “ A cool clear mountain lake where I could get a deep cold refreshing drink.”
Sheep #3 “Yeah, I see what you mean…we could get one of those drinks that you feel the cold going
right down your throat. Yeah…that would be so g-o-o-o-o-d! Burr, I’m almost
getting cold right now!”
Sheep #1 “Hey we could swim in it too.”
Sheep #2 “A cool drink sure would be good right now…it would really help my attitude and patience
with hanging around with you two.”
All exit
Have you ever had a drink like that? [Put in a personal example or modify mine]
(My example) My wife is very sensitive, I’m not so sensitive when it comes to drinking cold things. However, my wife is! She tells me she can actually feel the cold (or hot) as it goes right down her throat all the way into her stomach.
>OBJECT LESSON
[Prepare the following: a Bottle of water room temperature, a bottle of water that has been in the freezer and is partially frozen, 2 blind folds, 2 small glasses. Have the bottles out of sight]
I need two volunteers this morning, who feel sensitive about hot and cold (select two-blindfold them). I want to see what those sheep were talking about. Get the warm bottle while talking about how cold it is…open it…pour into a glass. Have one volunteer drink it, then ask them…
Well, did you feel the cold go all the way down? No/Yes (Play off the answer)
[Keep blind folds on both players]
Open frozen bottle…pour into glass. Have second volunteer drink it, then ask…
Well, did you feel the cold go all the way down? No/Yes
Remove blind folds and have the volunteers return to their seats. (According to the answer you got from the volunteers you can work with or modify the next statement.)
Those sheep sure were smart. It looks like to me that if our minds believe-either by actual true signals from our throat/stomach OR just the thought planted that the water is cold and refreshing…
Our minds can become satisfied.
Our minds can cause us to feel…here’s a word I’ve been using a lot lately…CONTENT.
In this case (another word) COOL.
>SCRIPTURE VERSE (On overhead)
“He leadeth me beside the still waters” Psalm 23:2bKJV
Repeat a couple of times. Then cover certain words…repeat…cover…etc, until all are covered. (Youknow the drill.)
{If you want repeat memorization game like last week. Or just ask if anyone knows the verse we just repeated. I like to award with a small treat} [Note: one of the goals I set is for all to remember the entire Psalm 23 by the end of these lessons]
Now I want to talk about real sheep for a minute (not us sheep but the real ones.)
All animals and for sure sheep need moisture, need water. Sheep get water in three main ways.
[If you can find pictures put on overhead or software presentation as you work through this segment]
1>By dew on the grass in the morning. When they are munching, they are also absorbing the moisture.
2>Spring’s, streams, and mountain lakes. Cool clear springs and streams fed from clean pure melting snow, not wild rough or rapid streams that would scare the sheep, but gentle, clean flowing streams and lakes.
3>Deep wells, Moses drew water from a deep well. Rachael drew water from a deep well and watered Jacobs camels. Jesus knew of these wells and growing up as a boy had seen many women go to the wells to draw water for their families and their livestock.
>BIBLE LESSON John 4:4-15 NLT
One day Jesus and his friends were on a little walk-about. As usual, Jesus was doing something out of the ordinary. Instead of walking around an area of the country that was forbidden for any Jew to enter, he was taking them right into it. His friends would have spoken to him about going that way but they had been with him for a while now and knew that it wouldn’t make any difference. Jesus you see always seem to be following some other directions.
About noon, they arrived outside of a town and Jesus sat down next to a well. You know what a well is, don’t you? It’s the place everyone went to get the water they needed for their house, their animals, and well for everything. Jesus sent some of his fellow travelers into town to get some food. They were all hungry from the morning walk. While they were gone, a woman of the town came out to get water from the well. You all have seen the pictures of a woman carrying a large pot of some sort on their head. (Youcould have pictures for overhead/computer.) As she was coming to the well, she noticed the man sitting on the well rim. (Yes, a picture would be good here.)
Remember I said that any good Jewish person would never enter this area of the country. There is more still…any good Jewish man or woman would never speak, yes never talk to anyone from this area of the country. If they ran into someone from this country at the mall or the store they would just act like they didn’t exist…that they were not there.
Jesus did the unthinkable he spoke to her. “Please give me a drink.” Wow, was she surprised…can you just see her spin around, looking all around to see whom he was talking to. She turned to Jesus, it had to be him she thought. “Sir, you are a Jew and I’m from you know where, why are you asking me for a drink?”
Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
She looked around again. What’s he saying he doesn’t even have a rope or a bucket. “Sir, she said, how you going to do that this well is very deep.” AND LISTEN TO THIS…” Where would you get this living water?”
Jesus answered her, “People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water” (pointing to the well). “But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
Can you imagine what was going through her mind. Never would she be thirsty, never have to come to the well again. Good thoughts, huh?
“Please sir,” the woman said, “give me some of that water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again!”
Never thirsty again! Interesting thought, huh. Can any of you drink something that would make you never have to drink again? Of course not…so…what did this woman understand that we this morning need to understand? In light of the story…listen to our verse this way…
The Good Shepherd leads his sheep to the quiet, peaceful, clean, and refreshing living water!
Here’s another thought. You may not understand this now but I want to put it into your brains. Maybe someday in your future you will remember and thirst no more!
Everyone, sometime in his or her life, searches for PURPOSE. Seeks to know why they exist. What’s it all about? Thirsty souls, thirsty lives can only be satisfied when they drink of the
LIVING WATER…of the GOOD SHEPHERD!
“to drink” means to swallow some liquid. Remember our volunteers swallowing the water.
“to drink” of the LIVING WATER means to take in, to accept, to believe that the water the Good Shepherd gives you will fully quench your spiritual life, will satisfy your seeking for purpose. Will answer the questions of who and why.
I talked about 3 ways the sheep get water…
Here are 3 ways WE sheep can drink of the LIVING WATER.
1>Dew…the dew is on the grass in the morning.
Point: We rise early each day to drink in God’s Word. Every morning before I start the day I read and think on God’s Word…it is refreshing!
2>Springs and streams…snow fed waters flowing down from the mountains.
Point: When we gather together with sheep who believe like we do either in church or
wherever and we sing, praise, and worship our Father. The Holy Spirit pours out refreshing life giving anointing. Oh, what an awesome feeling, LIVING WATER straight from the mountain top.
3>Deep wells…in a desert place, maybe a dark and dangerous place someone has dug down and found water.
Point: Even when we seem to be led into a place that appears to be deep, dark, dangerous and somewhat disagreeable. We know that our Shepherd is with us. Then digging deep into our heart, we can find the LIVING WATER.
(You’re thinking) What’s digging deep into our heart? Praying, really earnestly, seeking and communicating with our Good Shepherd. He breaks forth the ground, the dirt that separates us, and LIVING WATER gushes into our full being. He is there with us! He is at work in the situation! Amen!
>CLOSING
Thirsty? “He leadeth me besides the still waters” Psalm 23:2b
Jesus says drink of me. Believe in me. Accept me as your Shepherd and I will give you LIVING WATER.
Now I know that you may be to young to understand this thirsty, not satisfied stuff. However, someday in your future when you need to remember…the Holy Spirit will bring it fresh into your mind. Just at the right time when you desperately need to drink of the LIVING WATER…to drink of JESUS.
>PRAYER/ALTAR TIME
He leadeth me beside the still waters
Psalm 23:2b
Psalm 23
Lesson: 5