I’ve Got Work to Do! (Sunday School Lesson for Kids)
Small Group Study / Produced by partner of TOW
This lesson is part of God's Story of Work for Kids, a 12-week curriculum that teaches children to see work through God's perspective.
Main Idea: God has work for ME to do.
Opening - Actors Needed:
- Person A - a construction worker
- Person B - a business person on a laptop answering emails
- Person C - a student practicing drills for soccer
- Person D - a mom trimming plants
One after another, each actor acts out their role as the teacher explains what they're doing via the script below. For fun, exaggerate the roles.
Leader: Which of the following is an example of work?
Person A is a construction worker. He spends his day helping to build a new office building on Main Street. It takes a lot of strength to do his job.
Person B is a business executive at an advertising firm. In designing a new advertising campaign, she needs to answer many different emails between co-workers and the firm they are designing the campaign for.
Person C is a student at Easton Elementary School and on a local soccer team. He is trying to become a better player by practicing some drills.
Person D is a mom who has 3 kids who are at school right now. She loves to garden and has many different plants that she takes great care of. She grows her own tomatoes and cucumbers.
Which of these people is doing work? (Invite children to respond.) They are all doing different kinds of work. The definition of work is "effort put in to produce or accomplish something."
In the Bible, the word "work" shows up 555 times! That shows how important work is and how much it matters to God. Work is a big part of all of our lives. We see the word "work" right from the very beginning of the Bible and before humans even exist, God is working. In Genesis 2:2 it says, "And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done."
There are many different kids of work. How many can you think of? (Invite children to respond. You can start off with examples such as cleaning, studying, selling cars, doing laundry, etc.) It's not just adults that work - kids work too! Most kids go to school, work on homework, do chores, and play sports. What kind of work do you do? (Invite children to respond.)
Scripture Lesson
Read aloud or ask a child to stand and read for the group.
Genesis 1:26-30
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
Leader: Work is an important part of how God made us. Although because of sin, work can be hard sometimes, it is also incredible that God would give us a part to play in his big plan. By giving us the ability to work, we get to make a difference in the world and help restore it with God's help to what God originally designed.
It's not just adults that work. Everyone, including you, has work to do! Sitting in class and learning, helping take care of your sibling, cleaning up at the dinner table, making a card, practicing and playing with your soccer team, baking cupcakes, playing piano, writing a song - all of these things are work.
The work you do is an ability given to you by God.
Closing
Leader: God, thank you for the unique work you've given us all to do. Thank you there are so many ways that we can work just like you worked. Be with us in all our work this week. In Jesus' name, amen.
I've Got Work to Do! (Classroom Activity for Grades 2-5)
Back to Table of Contents Back to Table of ContentsThis lesson is part of God's Story of Work for Kids, a 12-week curriculum that teaches children to see work through God's perspective.
Props
- three index cards or pieces of paper per student
- my_work_inventory.pdf
- a large paper with the words "made, formed, breathed, planted, put, created, sent" scattered throughout. Around these words, write other random words to create a kind of word search
- bibles
- markers
Opening Activity: Work Charades (5 minutes)
Have each student write down an example of work on each piece of paper. Put the papers in a pile with the writing faced down. Divide the children into pairs. Have each pair draw a card and act out the work listed. The other child will guess what kind of work it is.
Review: God gave us the ability to do so many different kinds of work.
Worksheet: My Work Inventory (20 minutes)
Have students fill out how they spend their time each day on the work inventory worksheet, my_work_inventory.pdf. Have them put a star next to work they enjoy and a triangle next to work they find hard or not fun. Take some time to share - ask children to share one kind of work they enjoy and one kind of work they find difficult.
Review: The work each person does is unique and given by God - both the work that is ordinary and sometimes hard, and also the work that is special and fun.
Work in the Garden Word Search (5 minutes)
Have students open a Bible to Genesis 2:4-9. Tape up the large word search paper to the wall on one side of the room. Students will line up on the other side. Set a clock for five minutes. Each student will run, one at a time, with a marker, to circle a work-related word that can be found in Genesis 2:4-9. As one student finishes, they will pass the marker to the next student.
Share & Pray (5 minutes)
Ask if any students have any prayer requests to share. Pray for these requests and for God's presence to fill the work of each student.
I've Got Work to Do! (Take-Home Activity for Parents and Kids)
Back to Table of Contents Back to Table of ContentsThis lesson is part of God's Story of Work for Kids, a 12-week curriculum that teaches children to see work through God's perspective.
This Week's Focus: God has work for me to do.
This week we learned that work is a big part of all our days - whether we are kids or adults. The definition of work is "effort put in to produce or accomplish something." In the Bible, the word "work" shows up 555 times. This shows how important work is, how much it matters to God, and that it is a central part of our existence. Work is a big part of all our lives, and important part of the life God designed for each of us, and goes beyond just paid work.
Do This Week's Workout: How Do We Work?
The Weekly Workout is a great way you can work out the week's focus with your child. Invite the whole family into this time. God is at work.
Ask each other: What kind of work do you do? Which work do you enjoy most?
Put every family member's name into a hat and take turns pulling a name out.Pick a work task that this person normally does and do it for them this week. For example, a child might fold laundry for mom, while mom might do yard work for dad. Pick a time to meet again as a family to talk about the experience.
Or, pick and activity that one person in the family normall does alone, and work on it together as a family. It could be a household chore, a fixing project, a shopping errand, etc.
Talk about it: Go around the family circle and share the answers to these questions:
- What was fun? What was hard?
- What did you learn by doing someone else's work?
