Lesson: What does God sound like?
Bible Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-16
Invite the children down in your best James Earl Jones voice. (Really? James Earl Jones? Darth Vader? Simba? CNN? Okay, maybe not CNN.) Tell them “This is the voice of God and I want you to meet me on the steps.”
When the children have gathered, tell them that really wasn’t the voice of God – that was just me pretending. Now THIS is really the voice of God! Then bring up and trumpet and play it as loud as possible. Don’t play any songs, just make it trumpety!
Does THAT sound like the voice of God? No, I don’t think so. But God is so amazing and the Bible tries really hard to help us understand God’s voice. But when that time comes, we will know. That may be tomorrow or it may be when your grandchildren are old and gone. But in the meantime, I want you to listen to God’s quiet voice. When you hear a bird in the morning — that’s God. When the rain is on the roof or the sun is so hot, it sizzles – that’s God. When a friend laughs with you or your folks tell you, “Come for dinner” — that’s God too.
God’s voice is so amazing and so different from anything else in the world, that you want to listen carefully. And when you choose to listen carefully, you’ll find something equally amazing. God is talking to you. And God is saying, “I love you.”
And I know that God is speaking to each on of you in God’s special way, because I know that each one of you… is a Child of God.