In life, our kids will encounter scary things. It’s just a fact. As Bible teachers, Children’s Church leaders, parents, or other, it is our job to equip students with the Biblical principles that will help them to have not a spirit of fear– but a spirit of power. This object lesson is based on 2 Timothy 1:7, and is super easy.
If you want some help with this object lesson, I have a video lesson version of it, as well as printable in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. You can purchase them here!
Another good option would be to do Bible verses about fear coloring sheets or sword drills— click here to check them out!
Having a Spirit of Power
Memory verse: 2 Timothy 1:7
Materials: Candle, matches/lighter, fan, piece of paper (preferably shaped like a shield)
Object Lesson Directions
First off, light the candle. Tell students that they are the candle.
Take the fan, and fan the flame next to the candle. Tell the students to observe what happens to the flame. Then tell them, “This fan represents scary things– that could be spiders, or being somewhere when it’s dark, or starting a new school. When these scary things happen, they make us wobble. We feel less secure.”
Next, put the shield in between the fan and the candle. Continue fanning, and ask the students what is happening with the flame. Now it will be still.
Tell the students, “As Christians, we get to have God to shield us from our fears. The scary things are still there– they don’t go away– but now we don’t have to feel scared and wobbly. Because we have God, we can remain calm and secure.”
So What?
So… how do we stay calm when things are scary?
First off, ask the students for their ideas. Then you can share these action steps….
- Prayer: The first thing you can do when you are scared is to pray, and to ask God to help us with this.
- Remember what God says about us: Read 2 Timothy 1:7. Tell the students that God gave them a spirit of power– which means they get to be in charge. When they get scared, they can remember this verse, and remember that the spirit in them is bigger than whatever is going on outside.
- Read the Bible: The people in the Bible were scared too! Reading stories in the Bible about people who have been scared and have been strong anyway can help us remember that we can be scared, but be strong too.
Next, read a story from the Bible where someone is scared, but overcomes their fear anyway. The example I give in the video lesson is of Daniel and the Lion’s Den.
Another really good one is Esther– one of the things I love about the story of Esther is that she is very clearly scared throughout the story– but she is courageous anyway.
You can check out some ideas for teaching Esther over in this post.
After you read a story from the Bible, there are two main options that I would do along with this object lesson.
Option #1: Creating a Shield Craft
First option is to create a shield! Students can cut pieces of paper to create their shield, and then write memory verses on it, or decorate it with different symbols to remind them to be brave.
Option #2: Sword Drills about Fear
One of the strategies we named for overcoming fear is to see what the Bible says about fear. Sword Drills are the perfect solution to that!
You can read the full instructions about Sword Drills in this post, but basically, you write the references to different verses on pieces of paper (preferably shaped like swords) or popsicle sticks. Then, you pull them out, and students race to find the verse first.
The point of this is that they learn where things are in the Bible, plus you can read lots of Bible verses while keeping it interesting.
I usually let the first person to get to the verse read it out loud.
You can make your own Sword Drills, of course, but you could also grab the Sword Drills about Fear in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop here.
There’s my lesson about having a spirit of power! Have you ever used this object lesson? If you do, be sure to tag me on Instagram @beccasbibleclass
You can purchase that video lesson and printables for having a spirit of power by clicking here.
Annnnd you can pick up a free set of sword drills by clicking here!
Happy teaching!