Go here for more guidance on engaging in this year's Light a Candle with Children.
Story Preparation: Find a place in your home to worship with the story.
Sing: “Be Still and Know that I Am God”
Be Still and Know I am God, Be Still and Know I am God, Be Still and Know I am God.
Center Your Mind and Body
Share the Story: The Ark and a Tent for God Young Children and Worship by Sonja Stewart and Jerome Berryman
Exodus 25:1-40:38
The desert is a strange and wild place. At night it is very cold, but in the day, it is burning hot. There is almost no water at all…The desert is always changing. The wind comes. It shapes and mold the desert so it is never the same.
God led the people through the water to freedom and gave them the Ten Best Ways to Live. Now the people of God were on the way to the Promised Land, the land God promised to give them. The people of God loved the Ten Best Ways to Live so much that they wanted to carry them with them. But they needed a way to come close to something so precious. So, God told them how.
First, they made a special box, an Ark, to carry the Ten Best Ways to Live.
It was covered with gold, and on the top were two golden angels. And inside they put the Ten Best Ways to Live.
But now they needed a way to get ready to come close to the Ark.
So, they made an altar where they could burn incense which made a wonderful smell and smoke. Now the priest could go through the sweet-smelling incense and smoke to the Ark and be close to God. But this still wasn’t enough to come close to something so precious.
So, they made a special table called the Table of Shewbread. It was covered with gold, and every Sabbath day they put twelve loaves of unleavened bread on it. On the other side they put the gold candlestick with seven burning lights called the Menorah. Now the priest could walk between the Table of Shewbread and the Menorah through the sweeting-smelling incense and smoke to the Ark and be close to God. But this still wasn’t enough to get ready.
So, they made a tent, called a Tabernacle, the tent for God, was a special veil that divided the inside room from the outside room. They called the inside room the Holy of Holies. And that is where they kept the Ark. And now the priest could walk into the tent, between the Table of Shewbread and the Menorah, through the sweet-smelling incense and smoke, through the curtain, in the Holy of Holies to the Ark, and be close to God.
Outside of the tent for God, the people made sacrifices, at the great Altar of Burnt Offering.
Here they gave the very best of their animals to God. A great bowl of water, called the Laver was placed in front of the tent so the priests could wash their hands and feet before they went inside the tent, between the Table of Shewbread and the Menorah, through the sweet-smelling incense and smoke, through the curtain, into the Holy of Holies to the Ark, and be close to God.
They covered the tent for God with beautiful cloths.
And finally on the outside they put one that was rough and wooly, so when people passed by in the desert, they would just pass on by. This was still not enough.
They couldn’t just leave all this sitting out in the desert, so they put a linen fence around it.
Now they had a special place…and a special way to come near to God. It was a tent for God.
So whenever the people of God moved in the desert, they could take down the fence and the tent and everything in it and carry it with them. The Ark with the Ten Best Ways to Live led the way.
Wonder:
I wonder what is the most important part of this story?
I wonder where you are in this story?
I wonder how this story helps us listen to children?
Response:
If you would like to make something that shows how this story feels to you. You may use any art materials that are available to you.
Read Scripture: Exodus 40:1-9
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