Lesson Learned:  God is the perfect leader.


Materials Needed:  paper, tape, glue, tissue paper or ribbon


Bible Verse:
1 Samuel 8:1-22
 1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba.3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
 4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
 6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”
 10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”


Talking Points:  A long time ago, God’s chosen people, the Israelites, wanted a king.  Even though God was their leader and king, they had stopped trusting Him and they wanted to be like the other people that they saw that had kings leading them.  This made God very sad because He wanted His people to follow Him because He knew He was the best King for them. However, God gave his people another king even though He knew that the kings would not be good to them like He was.  The people’s lives would have been so much better if they would have followed God, just like ours are better when we obey God!



Questions:  How do you think it made God feel that His people didn’t want to follow him?  Have you ever wanted something your friend had and you didn’t? What did you do about it?


Activity: Make a crown or princess hat for the child to decorate.  Cut a strip of paper out of the construction paper and tape the ends in a circle.  Cut strips of tissue paper and ribbon and glue on to top.



Prayer:  Heavenly Father, please give us hearts to obey You and let you be the King of our lives. Amen!

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