Scripture Power – Verse Two

Preparation

• Print and cut out the Armor of God illustrations. Also print the word pages and the armor labels.
• Items needed: magnets or tacky putty to attach the armor pieces to the soldier figure on the chalkboard.

Presentation

Start off by telling the children about the movie clip (found in the New Testament CES videos) called “The Whole Armor of God”:

“The Whole Armor of God” starts off showing some young soldiers from ancient times who are battle weary, hot, and tired. Some of the soldiers put down their swords and take off their armor to rest by a river. Hooded, dark figures with bows and arrows sneak up on them. There is a battle, and the soldiers who took off their protective armor are injured or killed.

Remind the children that we are fighting a spiritual battle against Satan and his temptations. When we let down our guard, and don’t keep near us the things that will protect us, we become open to the fiery darts of Satan’s temptations. The second verse of “Scripture Power” talks about the protective spiritual armor we need in order to be protected from Satan’s temptations.

Show the picture of the soldier without his armor and ask the children if he is protected from attack. Put the sword in the soldier’s right hand, and inform the children that a sword is an item that was used for defense against attack. When we are spiritually attacked we need what is called “The Sword of Truth”. Write the words “The Sword of Truth” on the board. Ask what the words would become if you erased the S. (“The Word of Truth”) Explain that the words of truth found in the scriptures help us have a defense against Satan’s attacks, because knowing truth helps us recognize Satan’s deceptions and then we are not deceived. (Give an example of a scripture truth verses a deception of Satan.)

Inform the children that the first line of the second verse is – “I’ll find the sword of truth in each scripture that I learn.”  (Put this word page on the board.)

Inform the children that the next line of the verse is – “I’ll take the shield of faith from these pages that I turn.”  Put this word page on the board, and then put the shield in the soldier’s left hand.  Explain that as we obey the words found in the scriptures, we see the good results, and we gain faith and trust in God’s words.  Our faith  in God’s word  protects us against the temptation to do something that is opposite of His word.

The next line is –  “I’ll wear each vital part of the armor of the Lord.” (Put this word page on the board.)  There is a scripture in Ephesians 6:11-17 that tells about  the armor of God and what each piece represents. Each piece can be related to the things we learn and gain from the scriptures.

• Put the helmet on the soldier, and explain that it is called the helmet of salvation. Salvation comes through Christ, so focusing our minds on Christ’s teachings (which are found in the scriptures) give us protection against unworthy thoughts.
• Put the breastplate on the soldier, and explain that it is called the breastplate of righteousness and represents our righteous choices. As we make righteous choices our spirits grow stronger, which gives us more protection against temptation.
• Put the girdle on the soldier, and explain that in old times people used to gird up their clothes when they were getting ready to get to work so that their clothes wouldn’t inhibit their movement. So we are to be girded with truth to protect our actions.
• Put the feet coverings on the soldier, and explain that the feet represent goals or objectives (where you are going in life), and we are to shod our feet with the gospel of peace to guide our lives.

 

Just as each piece of a soldier’s armor protects vital parts of his body, so does each part of the armor of the God protect our vital and important spirituality.

With the armor of God on we are prepared to fight against the temptations of Satan and win. Explain that the last line in the verse is – “and fight my daily battles, and win a great reward.” (Put this word page on the board.) What is the great reward for winning the spiritual battles of life against Satan?( Eternal Life) Encourage the children to keep their protective spiritual armor on. We do this by reading the scriptures daily and striving to do the things found in them.

Sing the verse all the way through with senior Primary. (Sing each line as you put them on the board with junior primary.)

Memorizing the Verse

Have five children come up to the front and act out the words by doing the following:

Hide the paper sword in some scriptures and have a child “find” it, and then have that child point to the scriptures and then to his/her head for the part that says “I’ll find the sword of truth in each scripture that I learn”.

Give the second child some scriptures with the shield in it. Have the child “take” the shield from the scriptures and then turn the pages of the scriptures for the part that says “I’ll take the shield of faith from these pages that I turn”.

Have the third child dress up in a few pieces of armor (look online for how to make some easy costume armor and a shield) for the sentence “I’ll wear each vital part of the armor of the Lord”.

Have the fourth child hold a play spear made out of a wrapping paper tube and a triangular cut sponge stuffed in the top opening for the tip.  Write the word “temptations”  on the tube. Put some curly red ribbon coming out of the back of the spear so it represents the fiery darts of Satan. Have the third and fourth child do a simple mock battle during the words “I’ll fight my daily battles” by having the third child block the spear with the costume shield.

After the battle, have the fifth child put a medal around the neck of the child wearing the armor to act out the words “and win a great reward.  The medal can be made with foil and cardboard with the words “eternal life” written on it. Attach a large loop of ribbon to the top of the medal so it can be hung around the child’s neck. (Or a trophy could be used for the great reward with a sign attached to it that says eternal life.)

Have the primary sing the song while the five children act out the words. Take a word page off the board and have the child or children who are acting out that part sit down. Do this each time the children sing the verse. By the time all the word pages and all the actors are removed, the children should have the verse memorized.

( Angie shared the idea on sugardoodle about taking the S off the sword of truth. She got the idea from the 2005 Primary workshop.)