Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (1 minute)

Welcome everyone! Today is the second lesson of our Superbook story, “Noah and the Ark.” I would like two people who were here last time to tell me something about the story of Noah. 

Very good! Now let’s praise and worship God for being the only real, living God. He gives us the power to live a life pleasing to Him! Let’s sing and do the motions to All Creatures of Our God and King.

Play Video 11: (Song) All Creatures of Our God and King (3 minutes)

Be sure to preview the song so you can sing along and do the motions with the children. They may clap and do freestyle movements during the animation sections.

SuperTruth and Discussion (2 minutes)

Our SuperTruth today says: “I will live my life to please the Lord.” God gave us a free will. That means He allows us to make our own choices and decisions. We can choose to live our lives based on what pleases us at the moment, or we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us choose what pleases God. When we do this, we will enjoy God’s favor and blessing in our lives. So let’s say our SuperTruth together—as loudly as we can: “I will live my life to please the Lord!”

Introduce Condensed Bible Story (1 minute)

If all children watched the Bible story video in the previous lesson, you may skip it here and go straight to the Bible Background Video.

Why did Chris want to skip school in our video last time? To go to the skateboard park and try out for the Skateboard Maniacs.

Was that a wise choice for Chris—would God be pleased with that decision? No; the leader, Pearce, and the gang were rebellious and lived a reckless and violent lifestyle.  

For the children who haven’t seen our Bible story yet, we are going to watch a short version of “Noah and the Ark.” Notice how Noah lived a life pleasing to God, and how God rewarded Noah and his family. If you have already seen the full video, watch to see what type of birds Noah released out of the ark’s window.

Play Video 4: Condensed Bible Story Video (9 minutes)

Superbook takes Chris, Joy and Gizmo back in time to meet Noah—the only righteous person in an evil world. He obeys God by building a huge boat on dry land, even though there is no sign of rain. Noah, his family, and Earth’s animals are all saved from the worldwide flood. The children learn that in troubled times, God will care for those who trust Him.

Discussion (1 minute)

Do you think Noah ever struggled with faith on those long, dreary days when he was cooped up in the ark with all of those animals?

Introduce Bible Background Video (1 minute)

Now let's watch our Bible Background Video and learn more about what the world was like in Noah's day. When Gizmo asks a question in the video, wait for him to suggest some answers, then call out the one you think is right!

Play Video 5: Bible Background Video (8 minutes)

Play Video 10B: SuperVerse Graphic 2 (2.5 minutes)

Graphic loops 2.5 minutes without audio; turn off or freeze video after children repeat verse.

SuperVerse Discussion (1 minute)

Let’s say our SuperVerse together. Hebrews 11:6:

But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that He rewards everyone who searches for Him.

Point to a chair. Raise your hand if you can see that chair.

Does it take faith to believe it is really there?

Why not? We can see it.

Would it take a lot of faith to sit on it?

Why not? We have seen people sit in it.

Now let’s think about God! Can we see Him with our physical eyes?

So how do we know He is real? We know in our hearts, by faith.

Can we hear God speak with our physical ears?

So how do we know what He is telling us to do? We hear His Word in our hearts, by faith.

Since we can’t physically see or hear God, is it always easy to obey what He says?

Why did Noah obey God, even though he couldn’t see Him? He had faith.

When we have faith in our hearts, we know God is real and that He is always here with us! Our SuperVerse reminds us that we must believe by faith that God is real and that He rewards us.     

Children will have more time to learn the SuperVerse in Small Group. 

Prayer and Send-Off (1 minute)

Let’s pray: Dear God, we praise You that You are alive and You are with us now. Help us to hear Your voice in our hearts so that we can obey You and live a life pleasing to You by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Let’s go to our Small Groups, where you will walk out your faith to please God! That sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Let’s go see what that is all about! 

Teachers take children to Small Group classes for Grades 1–3 and 4–6. If the combined group is small, all children may stay together for Small Group time.

Game

Noah lived his life in faith and obedience to God even when the people of the world were incredibly evil. He believed in God, and God was pleased with Noah’s obedience and His walk of faith.

Today we will play a game that represents living our lives to please God. What does our SuperVerse say we must have to please God? Faith.

Yes, without faith no one can please God!

Divide the children into two equal teams. If teams are uneven, one player may play twice or a leader may play.

Have each team divide in half again. One half of each team will stand at one mark and the other half of each team at the other mark. Hold a plate on top of your head with one hand, then place a “Faith” balloon on top of the plate. Continue holding the plate but do not touch the balloon. Walk from one mark to another, demonstrating how the balloon must stay on the plate as you travel.

This balloon represents faith. You must have it as you walk! This area between the two marks represents our life as we walk it out day by day. Each player receives ten points for completing the walk. However, you lose one point each time you lose faith. That happens when the balloon falls off the plate. You must place the balloon on the plate again and continue your walk again from that spot. When you get to the other mark, hand the plate and balloon to the next player on your team. They will walk back to the other mark. The first team to finish gets five bonus points! The team with the most points wins.

Hand a plate and a “faith” balloon to one player on each team. Begin the game and have your assistants keep score. Be prepared to help younger children or those with special needs.

Wow, that was a challenging game! Was it difficult to walk without being able to see your faith?

We know that we need faith to please God; let’s find out what else is needed to live a life that pleases God.

Teaching

Let’s read what the Bible tells us about Noah. Read Genesis 6:5–9 (cev):

The Lord saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil. He was very sorry that He had made them, and He said, “I’ll destroy every living creature on earth! I’ll wipe out people, animals, birds, and reptiles. I’m sorry I ever made them.” But the Lord was pleased with Noah, and this is the story about him. Noah was the only person who lived right and obeyed God.

Noah lived right and obeyed God—and God was pleased! So let’s discuss how we can live right and please God, too. Our SuperVerse says we can’t please God without what? Faith!

Good! First we must believe God is real and that comes only by faith. The next step of faith is to believe in His Son, Jesus, who died on the cross so we can be forgiven for our sins and be pleasing or upright in God’s eyes. This is the only way God provided for us to have a relationship with Him!

Read Romans 3:22:

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

There are many examples in the Bible of people who disobeyed God and attempted to please God or come to Him in their own way. This was not pleasing or acceptable to Him! There is no other way to please God but through Jesus. Think of it like this; Jesus is our foundation to building a life that pleases God.

Hold up a block and place it on the table or floor. The foundation is the first level of a building. What happens if you build on a crooked foundation?

The foundation must be level, true and accurate, or the whole building may be crooked and collapse. In our Christian faith walk, Jesus must be in place so our lives can be upright, accurate and true to be acceptable and please God.

Read 1 Corinthians 3:11 (cev):

Because Christ is the only foundation.

Every good work we do must be built on our foundation of faith in Jesus Christ, so we can be pleasing to God. Our good works are not the foundation itself—Jesus is the foundation—but we do good works in thanksgiving for all He has done for us. Stack other blocks on top as you talk.

The next step in living our lives to please God is to follow Jesus’ example. Choose a volunteer, have them face you and imitate or mirror motions that you do.

Just like volunteer's name imitated my movements, we must imitate Christ’s life of love and obedience on Earth. Jesus lived a blameless life on Earth that pleased God. He became the perfect sacrifice to pay the price for our sins. Jesus paid the price; He set us free so we can live a life pleasing to God! 

Read Ephesians 5:1–2:

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

Optional: read 1 John 2:6:

Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

Tell children that you would like to end the teaching about living to please God with a prayer that the Apostle Paul prayed for other believers. Have them close their eyes and pray silently as you read Colossians 1:9–10:

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

It is time now for our Discipleship Challenge where we will grow by learning God’s promises! 

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Give a Rainbow Promises Pattern to any children not present for the first lesson on Noah, and explain how to make it at home. Allow children who learned the first promise from last lesson’s challenge to share with the class what the promise is, and what it means to them. Challenge everyone to learn the second promise and think about what the scripture means in their lives. They will be given a chance to share that promise during the next lesson.   

SuperVerse

Our SuperVerse today is Hebrews 11:6:

But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that He rewards everyone who searches for Him.

Today, our lesson is about living a life that is pleasing to the Lord. As we know, faith is required by all of us; we must believe God is real. Think about this; would it be wise to live trying to please someone we weren’t sure was real? 

God wants us to believe in Him by faith, and to trust that He has the power and the desire to reward us with His presence for searching and finding Him!    

Divide the children into two teams: boys versus girls if possible, and have each team sit together. To begin, have the children slowly read the SuperVerse from the board twice 

We are going to play a quick little game. Turn around with your backs to the board and close your eyes. This game is like faith, because faith believes something exists even when it cannot be seen. I will begin to read the SuperVerse from the board and stop. You will quickly shout out the next word of the verse. The team that does this first receives a point.

Have children face away from the board and close their eyes. Read the SuperVerse slowly and stop at different words, then see which team shouts the next word correctly. Record points on the board after each turn. Pay close attention to which team shouted the word first, especially if the first answer was incorrect. In that case, allow the other team one chance to correctly answer.

After children become familiar with the game, you may add to the challenge by telling them to shout the next two or three words of the verse each time. The team with the most points wins. 

Great job everyone! We please God when we have faith in Him! By faith, we believe that God is real even though we don’t see Him. God is pleased with those who have faith in Him and obey His word!  

Prayer

Have the children find places to sit where they can think and pray alone.

Have you ever had doubts that God was real? Have you ever heard someone say God did not exist? Believing in God takes faith because we cannot see Him with our eyes. Most believers have had doubts at some time in their lives because doubt is all around us. Noah kept his faith in God even though the entire world around him didn’t honor the Lord! When we choose to listen to God rather than to the world, God will reward us!

Read Colossians 2:6–7:

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

We want our faith to grow strong! The truth is that God is real. When we believe that truth and live to please the Lord—no matter what others may do—our faith will grow stronger, and God will bless us. Let’s take some time right now to pray silently.

Have them be truthful as they pray, sharing any doubts or struggles they may be facing. Have them ask God to reveal truth to them to strengthen their faith.

Close in prayer: Dear God, thank You for being real, for hearing our prayers, and for answering us when we pray. I ask You to reveal Yourself in a special way to each child today. Please strengthen their faith, and help them to turn to You in times of doubt or struggle. Thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to die for us so we can live a new life that is pleasing to You. In His name we pray, Amen.

Faith Game

Noah lived his life to please God. His story took place in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. God never changes—He still wants us to live for Him! In the New Testament, Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2:4b:

Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.

This is the kind of life that pleases God—to serve God from the heart, out of love and obedience, not out of guilt or trying to impress others. Our purpose or our aim is to please the Lord, even when the world tries to get us to turn our backs on Him. 

Divide the children into two teams. Have the teams make two lines behind the mark. Give the first player on each team two balls. Each player will quickly toss the first ball into the container representing “Pleasing God”—which they should be able to do easily. Two assistants should record one point for each team. 

Now, that looked fun but I have another challenge for you. The Apostle Paul also wrote this in 2 Corinthians 5:7:

For we live by believing and not by seeing.

Living by believing and not seeing is called what? Faith.

Before the players toss the second ball, have assistants hold up towels about an inch in front of the players’ faces so they cannot see the box. Each child then tosses the ball as best they can toward the box. The assistants should immediately lower the towels so the players can see if their ball goes in. If it does, they score a point. The players then quickly retrieve their two balls, give them to the next player, then move to the back of the line. The team with the most points wins.

You may play the game again, with the additional challenge of having each player try to bounce the balls into the box—the first time seeing the box, and the second time with an assistant holding the towel in front of their face.

Conclusion: Was it fun aiming to please God in our game?

Was it more of a challenge to play without seeing?  

Yes, it would be much easier to live for God if we could see Him with our natural eyes, but God calls us to live by faith!

Optional: read John 20:29:

Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen Me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing Me.”

Object Lesson

We have learned that without faith no one can please God. Faith is essential. Faith gives us spiritual eyes to see that God is real, even when we cannot see Him with our human or natural eyes. The Bible tells us there is a type of faith that is more pleasing to God—one that is alive and active!  

Have the volunteers read James 2:14–17:

¹⁴ What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? ¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

Do you see the difference?

Faith is more than just believing God is real. People with faith that is active and alive show that God is real by the way they live. Can you see why that type of faith is pleasing to God? The active, alive faith overflows from the heart, glorifies God, and shows His love to others. It shows that God is real and active in the world!

Hold the paper ball high in air. Let’s say that this paper ball represents the first type of faith. This type of faith says, “I believe God is real” but doesn’t do anything to demonstrate that faith. 

Drop paper ball to ground. Would you say that this faith is alive and will attract people to God?  

Hold up the bouncy ball in the air, drop it, and let it bounce as you speak. This ball represents the kind of faith that pleases God. Can you see a difference? 

This faith is in motion; it is not just saying God is real, but showing our faith to others by the way we live! 

Active faith moves and flows with the leading of God’s Holy Spirit. Active faith looks different in different situations. Can you think of some ways we can show our faith? 

Active faith can be shown by things like giving, submitting, helping, obeying, listening, and sharing. Another powerful way to show active faith in God is by praying for others. How do you think praying shows your faith? 

Praying for someone shows that we trust God is alive, He hears us, and He will answer our prayers.  

Now, here is one very important thing to understand about works and doing good deeds to show our faith. No amount of good deeds or actions can earn eternal life for us. The Bible is clear that eternal life is a free gift—given to us by Jesus—not something we can ever earn!    

Read Ephesians 2:8–9:

God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Because we have this wonderful free gift, we want to say thank You to God by the way we live!

Hold up both balls, one in each hand, then drop the balls at the same time. Now, which faith do you want to have? 

Let’s shout the SuperTruth together to show we are alive: “I will live my life to please the Lord!”

Maze

Our lesson is about living to please God. Our SuperVerse tells us that God rewards those who search for Him. Searching for God means to set our minds and hearts toward finding Him in a deeper way. God wants us to know He is with us every moment of every day, in everything we do. 

Read Proverbs 3:5–6:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.

Trusting in the Lord is putting your faith in Him even though at times we may have doubt, fears, or a lack of understanding. Seeking His will and direction in our life is pleasing to God! Did you know that God wants us to find Him? Yes, God provided a way!

Jesus says in John 14:6:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.” 

God doesn’t hide from us; He doesn’t list difficult, confusing steps in the Bible that we must complete to find Him. No, God provides one way and that way is through His Son. Jesus! Jesus tells us that if we know Him, we also know God, the Father.

Hand out a pencil and Maze Search Pattern to each child. Have them complete the search for God. 

Conclusion: When we look for God with faith in our hearts, we find that He is with us everywhere we go, every moment of every day.

Bible Study

Let’s say our SuperVerse together. Hebrews 11:6: 

“But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that He rewards everyone who searches for Him.”

We have talked a lot about living by faith to please God. In this activity, let’s dig deeper into what it really means to seek God and discover how He rewards us.   

We do not seek or search for God as if He is lost. God is omnipresent—which means He is everywhere all at the same time. He is always with us, so there must be a deeper meaning to seeking or searching for Him. Let’s start digging!   

Have children look up the verses and discuss the questions below. 

1. Jeremiah 29:11–14a:

¹¹ “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ¹²In those days when you pray, I will listen. ¹³ If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” says the Lord.

• God has good plans for each of us; knowing that wonderful promise, how can we please God regarding those plans? Follow them, obey, conform to them. 
• What are two promises we discover in verses 12–13? God listens to our prayers; if we look, we will find Him.
• In verse 13, how must we search or look for God? Wholeheartedly. All our energy and desire.
• What do you think that means; what would be involved?   

2. 1 Chronicles 28:9a:

“And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve Him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek Him, you will find Him."

• What do you think it means to acknowledge God? Recognize He is real and true; honor Him.
• That sounds a lot like our SuperVerse! Acknowledging God means including Him and seeking His input and direction in whatever you do because He is real, He created you, He loves you, and He knows what is best for your life!
• What is the promise if we seek and serve Him with all that is in us? He will be found.

3. Genesis 5:23–24:

Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him. 

4. Hebrews 11:5:

It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.” For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God.

• What was Enoch’s relationship with God? Close.
• What is remarkable about Enoch and his relationship with God? The length of time—365 years—that he walked with and served God. He had a reputation of a good man who pleased God. 
• Enoch was one of two people mentioned in the Bible who were taken to heaven by God without dying; do you know who the other man was? Elijah. See 2 Kings 2:11.
• Enoch pleased God; that means Enoch had what—by what was he taken up to heaven? Faith.

Conclusion: Seeking or searching is not the same as looking for something that is lost. God is not lost—He promises to never leave us. But, we can know Him in a deeper way. Seeking and searching for God means to draw close to and to pursue God with everything in you. It means to focus on God and seek a closer relationship with Him. God does not hide from us; He reveals Himself to those who search for Him. 

What is the best reward for searching or seeking something?

It is to find what you were searching for! Our reward for searching and drawing near to God is finding God in a deeper way. God rewards us with Himself! All blessings are contained in Him; there is total joy in God’s presence. Enoch walked faithfully with God and God was very pleased; so much so that God took him from Earth to be with Him in heaven! Can you imagine a close walk with God for 365 years? Can you imagine how much Enoch learned of God in that time, while seeking Him? Nothing in the world can compare to an intimate relationship with the Lord. Keep searching and God will reward you, over and over!