Jonah and the Big Fish Bible Lesson
- Eljoh Hartzer, MTh
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
This Jonah and the Big Fish Bible Lesson is a simple way to teach kids the story of Jonah while pulling some important teachable moments from the text. The lesson ecnourages kids to follow God's call on their lives and to be part of His Big Story. The program elements include a name game, memory verse, song, lesson, Q&A, and prayer.
This is lesson #6 in a series on the Old Testament's most epic tales:
2 - Noah's Flood
4 - Moses's Call
5 - David & Goliath
May you find space here to pause, reflect, and abide.
Icebreaker
We’re going to play the opposites game today. If the person standing in front does something, the rest of us has to do the opposite. Example: Stretch arms up / Touch the ground. Give a step to the left / Run to the right. Be quiet / Make noise.
Songs
Listen & Dance: Always With Me - Orange Kids Music 🔗
Bible-memory-verse
We've done this one before, let's see how well you can remember:
Joshua 23:14
(Make with hands: J 2 3 1 4)
“Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed.”
(Make with hands: ♥️🫵🫱🏼🫲🏾👍🙅🙈)
Every Bible-memory-verse has emojis indicating which moves to do with your hands to perform and memorise the verse. Example: Make a heart with your hands to show “Deep in your hearts”. Point to a friend to show “you know that”. Shake hands with someone to show “every promise of the Lord your God”. Give a thumbs up to show “has come true”. Cross hands in front of you to show “not a single one”. Put hands over face to show “has failed”.
Jonah and the Big Fish Bible lesson
The Bible is full of funny stories - from talking donkeys to someone whose power came from his looong hair. But one of the best stories in the Bible is still Jonah and the Big Fish.
Years after God made His promise to Abraham, He kept talking to the people. God chose special messengers and sent them to all kinds of places to tell the people His Big Story. These messengers we called: prophets. 📢 Can you repeat that? 🗣️Pro-phets.
One prophet’s name was Jonah. God chose Jonah and sent him to a place called Nineveh. Ni-ne-veh. Jona had to go tell the people there about God’s Big Story. ➡️💬
But guess what Jonah did? He went in the opposite direction! When God said “Go Left”, Jonah went Right. Jonah got into a boat and literally moved against God’s will. ⛵⬅️ And then? Who knows this story? Then a 🐋 Big Fish swallowed him whole.
Inside the deep, deep ocean and inside a fish’ tummy, Jonah realised he was wrong. He asked God for another chance. And then the fish spat him out. This time, Jonah knew he had to listen when God sent him.
Do you know how God chooses to tell His Big Story? Sometimes people dream about Jesus or they pick up a Bible on their own, but most of the time it is through other people. God sends people like me and you to tell everyone we cross paths with about Him. 📢
Questions & Answers
Q: Who else does God send like He sent Jonah?
A: Me and you!
Q: Think of one person to whom you can show Jesus’ love
A: …
Q: What did Jonah have to tell the people in Nineveh?
A: God’s Big Story - and that is? God’s Big Story is that He was close to people (in the Garden of Eden), then they turned away from Him (and chose sin). But God promised to make a plan so that people could live close to Him again (that plan was Jesus).
📖 You can read today's story at home in...The Bible book with the name Jonah.
Prayer
Let every child Pray like Jesus - Kids Sunday School Lessonpray quietly and talk to God where they are. 🙏 If possible, play soft instrumental worship music in the background.
If they struggle with the silence, read one of the following sentences out loud every 20 seconds:
Ask God how He wants to send you like He sent Jonah.
Hear from Jesus what role is yours to play in His Big Story.
Ask: Jesus, what do You see when You look at me?
Vine Creative Studio holds a collection of what I like to call 'encounter tools', resources connecting hearts with Jesus. You're welcome to try one out with my free Coloring page on the Fishes & Loaves Miracle.
P.S. If you enjoyed this lesson and would like to stay in touch, I want to invite you to join my newsletter by leaving your email below.
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