David and Bathsheba

This was our last lesson in the David segment and probably the hardest for me to do. I don’t think they ever taught this story until we were in the youth group, and it was barely approached then. In small country churches, that isn’t something you broach with the kids or anyone I guess. The only story I found that was safe enough for the kids was again from Mission Arlington.

Story from Mission Arlington

David was a special man that God loved very much. God told him that he
would be king one day and God kept His promise.
David tried to follow God and do things His way. However, David made mistakes too.
One day, he met a beautiful woman named Bathsheba. He thought that she
was so pretty. David invited her to come to his palace. He should not have done
that. David did some things that were wrong and he thought no one saw him. He
forgot that God sees everything and He was sad about the things that David had
done wrong.
God sent a messenger to David. His name was Nathan. Nathan told David a
story to help him see that he had done wrong (sinned).
David knew that he had sinned against God. He told God he was sorry for all
the wrong things that he had done. God forgave him for the wrongs but David
still had to pay the consequences for the wrong things that had happened.
God loves us and wants us to do things His way. He wants us to be friends
and love others. He wants us to be kind and care for others. This week, let’s help
others and do the right thing.

As usual I changed it up a bit. The kids ask questions and have comments in the middle, like Bathsheba is a pretty name or they have a friend/cousin named Nathan. The usual.

Before we did our lesson I had the kids wad a half piece a paper into a ball and give it to me until the story was over. After the story was over we tried to cover it up with the other half. No one could get their paper ball covered. We talked about how when we make a mistake and try to cover it up it never really is covered up like our paper ball and David’s mistake.

Next we did our Bible Verse. I made it into a banner this week. The verse was Luke 1:38. We went through it together 3 times. “I am the Lord’s servant. Luke 1:38.” The fourth time the kids got to try it on their own, then we did it together again.

Then we got out Styrofoam plates  and placed a pre-cut heart on the plate. Next we put cling wrap on the plates and with markers we made a marker for every sin we could think of that we had done. When we were done. We talked about how when we ask Jesus for forgiveness, our hearts our clean. We took off the cling wrap to show our clean hearts.

By the time we cleaned up and finished exit interviews moms were there.

I made a copy of the story to send home with each mom, so that they would not wonder what exactly I was teaching their children. This is a very sensitive story and some parents may not like the idea of it being taught to preschoolers. I would rather be overly cautious then too casual about it.