It’s Grade School Wednesday on the blog today and I am wrapping up the Armor of God Series. Today is the last piece of armor I’ll be sharing about, but next week I’ll have a review lesson to help you summarize the series for your kidmin kiddos. As always, all printable files are at the end of this post. I hope this lesson will be useful for your ministry! Enjoy!

Welcome Question

“Why is it important to read your Bible? ”

Recap from Last Week

This week, we will learn about our last piece of armor in the armor of God study! Can anyone remember what we talked about last week? It was the helmet of salvation. We talked about how cool God made our brains and that we need to protect them, physically and spiritually. We also shared how Salvation means to be rescued and that Jesus came to rescue us from sin. Satan wants us to think that salvation isn’t free or we don’t deserve it, but it’s a FREE gift from God just like our memory verse, Romans 6:23 says.

Large Group Lesson

This morning we are going to talk about the sword of the Spirit.

Ephesians 6:13-17, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”

Sword of the Spirit Intro Video: https://youtu.be/iHxp6-5lPaA

This is our last piece of armor, but actually it isn’t armor, is it? It’s a weapon! Armor is all about defense, it’s protecting you from something. Football players wear pads and helmets to protect their bodies during the game. But a sword? A sword doesn’t protect, it attacks! It’s a weapon! And what exactly is the sword of the spirit? It says it in verse 17: “the word of God”. Which is what? The Bible! God’s Word!

Our welcome question today asked, “Why is it important to read your Bible?”. Let’s go over some of your answers (review their written answers, if some didn’t get to write their answer, let them share). The Bible is an important, true book and it’s God’s actual words. We need to learn and study it, so we can learn more about Him. 2 Timothy 3: 16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”  

The Bible can do it all: teach, correct, and train so we can be ready for everything. This is our “how-to” to be a Christian. It helps us to care for others, how to love them and even tell them about Jesus.

Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The Bible is one serious weapon! I wouldn’t want to have a sword like that pointed at me. This verse says the Bible is, “living and active”. Is my Bible breathing right now? No. Does it have a heart beat? Nope. But it is as helpful and can be applied to my life today as it was when it was written. And it will be helpful and applicable 100 years from now, even thousands of years from now.

Isaiah 40:8 tell us, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Why wouldn’t we want to learn all about a book that will be around forever?! The book of Leviticus, from the Old Testament was recently found and the copy of it is over 2,000 years old. (show an image of the discovery) It was around the time Jesus was doing His ministry on earth. It’s so cool!

We need God’s word every day. In Matthew 4, Jesus is out in the desert being tempted by satan. He hadn’t eaten for 40 days or nights. That’s a really long time to go without food. Most of you are dying for something to eat after 4 hours, but 40 days!? You won’t believe how satan tempts him. Let’s read in Matthew 4:3, “And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,  but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Jesus was not going to be tempted by satan no matter how hungry He was, but pay attention to what Jesus says at the end “Man shall not live by bread alone,  but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”. Obviously we need food to survive, but Jesus is saying we need God’s word, the Bible as well. We need to read the Bible, study it, focus on it, in order to live–to live as a follower of God.

Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet  and a light to my path.” Have you ever got up in the middle of the night and it’s really dark or been outside when there are no lights on. It’s hard to see anything without a flashlight. As we go through life, the Bible is our flashlight. It shows us how to live, what we should do, and how to follow Jesus. The sword of the spirit is an important weapon for life. It helps us be fully prepared for the battle we face everyday against sin. Even if we are fully dressed in the armor of God, but we forget our sword, we’ll be running away from the fight fast! We have to know God’s word and how to use it. Let’s pray and head to small groups so we can talk more about using the sword of the spirit.

End in prayer

Small Group Questions

Take time to introduce yourself and have the kids tell their names.

1. What is our piece of armor today? The sword of the spirit
2. What is the sword of the spirit? The Word of God, the Bible
3. Why is it important to read the Bible? To grow closer to God, to learn about Him.
4. When do you read your Bible?
5. How do you feel after you read the Bible?
6. What happens when you don’t read your Bible? How do you feel? Is it easier to be tempted?
7. What are some different ways we can learn about the Bible? Reading, Bible study, family devotions.
8. How do we use what we learn about the Bible in Kids church? We take what we learn and make it a part of our life.
9. Share how you (the leader) read the Bible and apply it to your life.

The sword of the spirit (God’s Word) is an important weapon for life. It helps us be fully prepared for the battle we face everyday against sin. Even if we are fully dressed in the armor of God, but we forget our sword, we’ll be running away from the fight fast! We have to know God’s word and how to use it. (pray before Bible Challenge)

Bible Challenge

Today our verse is Hebrews 4:12a, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword…” Last week’s verse: Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“Sword” It Out: Take 10-15 plastic cups and write books of the Bible on them. Place the cups a few feet away from your group. Children will take the sword and pick up one cup and run back to the group. Read the book name and ask children to identify if it is from the Old Testament or New Testament. Create an “old” pile and “new” pile as children take turns retrieving the cups.

K-1 Ask if anyone remembers last week’s verse. Go over the new verse with the kids. Play “Sword” It Out with the kids as explained above. Explain that being familiar with our Bibles helps us to know and use scripture whenever needed. After the game, practice the memory verse together.

Draw Your Sword Game: Using plastic knives, write scriptures that talk about God’s word and include the memory verse. Children will take turns drawing a “sword” and calling out the verse to look up. Then they will race to find the verse and read it together. Depending on the amount of Bibles available, children will work alone or in pairs. (based on Look to Him and Be Radiant’s Blog) 

2-4  Ask if anyone remembers last week’s verse. Go over this week’s verse. Play the Draw Your Sword game explained above. Children will work alone or in pairs to race to look up the verses. Explain that being familiar with our Bibles helps us to know and use scripture whenever needed. After the game, have the children practice the memory verse together and take turns saying it.

Please return to large group and choose one child for small group recap.

Dismissal & Verse Cards

Pass out verse cards as children are released.

Printable Lesson & Materials

Sword of the Spirit Printable

Hebrews 4:12 Verse Cards

Thanks for letting me share,