Armor of God-Shield of Faith

5/1/2024

In Ephesians 6: 10-17, Paul tells the Ephesians that to be ready against Satan, we must put on the full armor of God. The fourth piece of armor is the shield of faith. When soldiers went into battle, they carried a shield. The soldiers used the shield to defend themselves against the weapons of their enemy.

One of greatest weapons Satan uses against is the weapon of lying. He lied to Eve in the garden. He even lied and tried to tempt Jesus in the desert! He tells us lies like, "You will never be good enough for God. You should just give up." OR "It's okay to do one or two little sins. It won't hurt you." He even tries to convince people that God isn't real!

We can block the lies with our faith in God. When we believe what God says we can defend ourselves from the devil's lies.

Today, we are going to remember a story in the Old Testament about David. While all the other men in Israel's army believed the lie that they were too small and powerless to defend themselves, David's faith gave him the courage to step up and fight a giant. He knew the battle belonged to God and trusted that God would take care of him-no matter what his brothers, fellow Israelites, or Goliath said!

Key Themes:
1. God wants to have faith in him!
2. I need to use the shield of faith to guard myself from the devil's lies.
3. Faith protects the Christian life the same way a shield protects a soldier's body.

Memory Verse

Ephesians 6:11 ESV
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

Songs

1,2,3 The Devil's After Me
Books of the New Testament
Be Careful Little Eyes
This Little Light of Mine
There is a Flag that Flies in the Castle of My Heart
I'm in the Lord's Army
My God is So Big
I Am A C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N
Saint's Medley

Story

Begin Class with Songs, Games, Table Activity, or Sharing Time

Open Class in Prayer

Introducing the Story Ideas
1. Dodgeball with Shields
Supplies: soft dodge balls, toy shields
Allow the kids to play a round of dodgeball. Then, give them something like a small shied as they play. Discuss if the shield was helpful. If yes, then why?

2. Mustard Seed
Supplies: Mustard seeds
Give each child a mustard seed. Let them hold it and look at how tiny it is. SAY: A mustard seed is a super, tiny seed. Jesus said that if we have as much faith as a mustard seed, we will have enough faith to move mountains. You see, our faith does not require us to be big. God is big enough, and if we believe God is who he says he is, and will do what he says he will do, we have all we need to face anything! David understood this! He was little guy but had the courage to face a giant!

3. Paper Shields
Supplies: Large cardboard cut out shields or purchase from Oriental Trading, stencils, stickers, metallic circle stickers, markers, etc.
Note: For kids to have enough time to make their shields look nice, this is a great way to begin class and then have them put them away and use them as your final activity as well. You may want to have a Bible verse or the words "Shield of Faith" printed for the kids to glue on if they are too young to write.

Story: Paul told the Ephesians that the shield of faith would protect them from the flaming arrows of the enemy! While the other pieces of the armor were used for each individual part of the body, a shield protects you completely. The Roman shield that probably inspired Paul's writing was made of wood covered with metal, and was large enough to protect their entire body from the enemy. It was also strong enough that it could also be used like a weapon to hit an enemy if needed.

David didn't use a physical shield when he went into battle against Goliath. He knew his protection came from the Lord. Like David, we need to grab our shields of faith and have the courage to take on the evil one! God promises he is right there next to us in battle--he will never leave us or forsake us!

SHOW the story of David and Goliath or read 1 Samuel 17:1-58 in the Bible.

EMPHASIZE that: