🔥Chapter 2 – Gaurd your heart

10 mins:   [🔥]

ACTIVITY: HOME PROJECT DISCUSSION

Ask the children to share their completed homework with the class — the Heart Check Sheet. Discuss what they discovered through the process.

Additionally, you can sing the Theme song again to remind them the unit’s core message.

30 mins:   [🔥]

Bible Portion: 1 Samuel 15, 24

STORY TIME

The Bible describes our hearts as “deceitful above all things” in Jeremiah 17:9.

Is this true?

Spend some time sharing examples from your own life when you did the right thing for the wrong reasons. Then, ask the children to share their experiences. The more vulnerable you are, the more comfortable the children will feel opening up to you. Examples: I praised someone because I wanted them to praise me in return. I helped someone because others were watching me.

Yes, it is true! If we do not intentionally examine and guard our heart, it will deceive us. We may think we are doing the right things and that everything is fine. But God searches our hearts and knows the true intentions behind our actions. He cannot be deceived.

Let’s look at two kings of Israel. One guarded his heart, while the other did not.

King Saul — A Deceived Heart

Briefly share the story of Saul from 1 Samuel 15:1–30.

Saul thought he had done the right thing (1 Samuel 15:20), but he was completely wrong. He allowed his heart to deceive him.

God wanted to bless Saul and even establish his kingdom through his descendants. But Saul did not truly repent. Although he appeared to repent (1 Samuel 15:24–25), his words revealed that he was still concerned about what people thought of him (1 Samuel 15:30).

God could not continue to bless him as He had planned. Saul lost the kingdom God had given him (1 Samuel 15:28).

King David — A Heart That Sought God

Now, let’s compare King Saul with the next king of Israel — King David.

Let’s read a verse from a song David wrote.

Ask one of the children to read Psalm 139:23–24.

David wanted to please God and do the right things for the right reasons. Before David became king, he was a young shepherd boy. Saul did not want David to become king, so he tried to kill him. David and his men hid in caves to escape from Saul.

Share the story from 1 Samuel 24.

David had every reason and an opportunity to destroy his enemy. Even the people around him suggested that God had delivered Saul into his hands so that David could kill him.

But David was different. He sought to honour God rather than take revenge.

God had said, “Vengeance is mine.” David understood that he did not need to take revenge on Saul. He could leave the matter in God’s hands and trust Him to act justly.

David did the right thing for the right reasons, even when it did not seem to benefit him. God saw David’s heart and, in time, made him king. God also established his royal line, and Jesus, the King of kings, was born into David’s lineage. Through Jesus, God fulfilled His promise concerning David’s kingdom.

Guard Your Heart

You cannot guard your heart by yourself because it is deceitful above all things.

You need God’s help to guard your heart.

So, intentionally ask God every day to examine your heart and show you what needs to change.

Pray these words from Psalm 139:23–24:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Lead the children in a short time of prayer. Encourage them to ask God to search their hearts and help them do the right things for the right reasons.

20 mins:   [✨🔥]

Activity: Craft

• Follow the instructions in the video and help the children make the Heart-Guard craft.

• Children of all age groups will sit together for this craft session. Encourage the older children to help the younger ones.
• Conclude the session with teachers sharing personal testimonies. Share incidents when the Holy Spirit stopped you from doing something wrong or helped you choose what was right.Examples: I was about to get very angry, but God spoke to my heart and calmed me down. I found it difficult to forgive my enemy, but God spoke to me and helped me forgive.