Sailing Toward the Light - A Bible Lesson about God's Shining Light

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Lighthouses have long been a symbol of God’s guiding light and how He provides safety for us. This Bible lesson, using a tea light in the dark, will help kids better understand how to find and follow the light of God.

Materials

– Battery operated tea-light (or a lighter if your church allows it)

Preparation

If you have the technology, you can set up your laptop or notebook and let the kids watch the best lighthouse montage on YouTube (which unfortunately is not American but is extremely captivating) at 3 minutes in length. It contains some really huge waves hitting lighthouses, which symbolize God taking on our troubles and standing firm for us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7RSryuJAwE

Lesson

What does a lighthouse do? It guides ships and keeps ships from crashing.

Most people do not understand how crucial lighthouses were to the safety of people traveling before we had electricity. Think of it: There were no cars, let alone car headlights. There were not street lamps. People went to bed early and didn’t not keep lamps lit in their houses. Or if they did, the light was so small that it would not have reached a couple miles off the coast.

Ships did not have headlights and spotlights as they do now. You could not keep a lantern lit on deck what with the driving winds and sometimes rain or snow.

Ships proceeded at night in utter darkness except for whitecaps on the waves. Lighthouses were imbedded into the side of cliffs or steeped on top of cliffs. They shed the only light in a great darkness. If not for them, sea captains would have had no knowledge of where danger was.

Lighthouses prevented shipwrecks on shoals. They prevented ships from entering shallows. They told crews that their vessels was where their sea maps said they were.

Lighthouses have long been a symbol of the Father, Son or Holy Spirit in Christianity. How are lighthouses like God? They guide us and show us where we need to go, like God does.

What does the light in a lighthouse symbolize? God’s voice or the presence of God to tell you what to do next.

How is the strength of a lighthouse like God? When storms come, the lighthouse takes the hit and protects us.

Have you ever felt that God really protected you? Maybe kept you from getting in a car accident or kept bad people from hurting you? Let them discuss.

Lighthouses can teach us important things about God’s nature when we think of the light beaming from a lighthouse. It’s a little like God’s voice.

Why do I say that? Here are some reasons.

Turn out the lights in the classroom so it is dark as possible. Have your assistant take the tea-light, move quietly to some dark corner of the room.

Just like the beam in the lighthouse can seem far-off to those on a ship, God’s voice can seem far off to us. We definitely can hear it, if we are listening closely and paying attention.

Have your assistant turn the tea-light on. If the kids don’t notice it at first, say to look for it.

Have the assistant cover the light, then remove her hand, then cover it, etc. so it appears to be flashing.

Lighthouse lights often flash to get attention. Sometimes God’s voice is very bright and clear. Other times it is not. Isaiah 55:6 says, “Seek the LORD while He may be found.” In other words, God’s voice can seem to “flash” or be loud at times”¦.sometimes it is easy to hear Him. Follow his voice in those times.

While you are speaking, have your assistant move to another corner, then flash the light until the students can find it and see it.

The Bible says with the Fall of Man, “the world took on darkness,” meaning some sad times and disappointments and tragedies and things that can seem scary. What did Jesus mean when He said, “I am the light of the world?” That He will show us the way to go and take our fears away.

Where is the light now? Let them find it.

Sometimes life takes on surprising turns. We need to always keep our eyes on the light of Christ, so that when life takes a turn, we can see his will.

Someday we will no longer need lighthouses to guide ships. The Bible says that in heaven, the light of God is so bright that there is not even a shadow under a bed. For now, we have to look hard for the light of God – listen for his voice which is as soft as that tea-light is dim. But then the day will come when”¦

Turn on the lights of the room”¦

When Jesus will return and everything will be bright forever.

Let’s celebrate the shining, guiding light of God and how He promises to remove all darkness someday.

You might also be interested in these Bible lesson ideas!