Hey there boys and girls,
I hope you are all keeping well this week. We have come to our last Sunday school home pack as Sunday school would normally be finishing up now for the summer. We hope you have enjoyed taking part in the activities each week and have learned something new from God’s word and maybe been reminded of God’s promises and of His amazing love that He has for each one of us. We trust you have been encouraged by them.
As you know, we usually would be having our prizegiving service next Sunday and all your family would have been looking forward to seeing you all standing up on the stage at church shining your lights for Jesus through singing and other activities. And of course, not forgetting the prizes which you would have been receiving for all your hard work in Sunday school throughout the year. We are disappointed that this is not taking place this year but it will be all the more special when we can do it again soon.
However, you can still shine your light for Jesus with your family. Why don’t you sing your favourite song from Sunday school to your parents or your grandparents or even recite a memory verse that you have learned and remembered.
We want to thank you for coming to Sunday school each week and taking part with us in all the activities; in the singing, in listening so attentively to the bible lessons, in learning your memory verses and books of the bible and especially for always being so well behaved.
Everything has been so different this past while but please God, we will have some normality back again by September. We pray that you all have a good summer and that you all stay safe. God bless and take care.
Love from
The Sunday School Team 
Memory Verse Monday
This week’s verse is found in the New Testament in the book of Ephesians, chapter 6 and verse 11 
In this verse, the first thing we read is a command or an instruction and that is to put on. This is something that we have to do- put on and use it! So what do we put on? We are to put on the whole armour of God, not just some of the armour or whatever we feel like but the WHOLE armour of God. Verses 14-17 tells us what this armour is and we will learn about this in our thought for Thursday later on in the week. God’s armour is:
- The Belt of Truth
- The Breastplate of Righteousness
- Shoes of the Gospel of Peace
- The Shield of Faith
- The Helmet of Salvation
- The Sword of the Spirit
What is armour and why is it used? Armour is what soldiers wear when going into battle, they wear armour to protect themselves. In the same way, when we put on God’s armour, this is the help that God gives us to protect us.
What do we need protecting from or what battle are we in? This verse tells us that we need to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Wiles, that’s a strange word but it simply means the tricks or the schemes or the evil ways of the devil. The devil or Satan, he wants you to mess up and do things that God doesn’t want you to do, like disobeying your parent, watching that programme on TV that you know you shouldn’t watch, be jealous of that new bicycle your friend got or take that money from your Mum’s purse when she isn’t looking. It’s very hard to make the wise choice all the time but with God’s armour, we have all the protection that we need to help us to be strong and make a stand against the devil and his evil ways. A soldier would be very foolish to go to battle unprepared and we too would be very foolish not to be prepared daily to be protected from the devil’s tricks that cause us to sin.
If you haven’t trusted Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, you need to ask Jesus to forgive your sins, you need to believe that Jesus died to take the punishment for your sins. Believe in Jesus as your Saviour and when you have a relationship with Him, you can put on that armour of God each day to help you make wise decisions and follow God.
If you have trusted Jesus as your Saviour, then you can put on all God’s armour daily and then by continuous and persistent praying you will be strong in the Lord and be able to stand against the devil. Ask the Lord to help you put on the whole armour every day.
Prayer and Thank You Tuesday
Here is a prayer that you can pray to ask the Lord to help you put on each part of God’s armour every day.
Jesus, today I put on the Helmet of Salvation,
Please protect my mind from bad thoughts and help me to focus on things that are good. Please protect my eyes and keep them looking to You.
I put on the Breastplate of Righteousness
Please guard my heart, make everything that comes in or out of my heart good to You. Help my heart to be open to You and easily led by the Holy Spirit.
I put on the Belt of Truth
Please help me love truth; love to tell the truth and hear the truth. Lord, make me more like You. Let truth keep me from lies and mistakes.
I put on the Gospel Shoes of Readiness.
Everywhere I go Lord, please help me bring peace. Help me be peaceful. Guide what I do and where I go. Prepare me to tell other people about You.
I put on the Shield of Faith
Please build a strong faith in me. With faith, all things are possible. Protect me from any attacks from the enemy.
I pick up the Sword of the Spirit
Put Your word in my heart. Lead me and guide me so I am good at all I do. Let Your word change my character. Give me boldness and knowledge to love and defend others.
AMEN
Worship Wednesday 
Here are a few songs for you and your family to sing along to;
This is a song called ‘The Armour of God’ and is based around Ephesians 6: 10-17. It shows us examples of how we can put on the armour of God and why we should put it on. The chorus reminds us to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
This song is called ‘I will pray’ and we sing it in Sunday school. Listen to this song, can you say I will pray? Ephesians 6:18 tells us to pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. This song reminds us we can talk to God anytime and anywhere because God will hear us. Trust God is always near.
The B-I-B-L-E yes that’s the book for me, I stand alone on the word of God, the B-I-B-L-E. The Bible, part of the armour of God, will you read and trust God’s word to protect you?
Thought for Thursday
Maybe you have been hearing a lot about PPE this past while and you have 
wondered what PPE is. PPE is Personal Protective Equipment and this is special safety gear that some people in their jobs wear to protect themselves while at work. What about a firefighter? He/she would need to wear protective gear to prevent him/her from getting burned. Or a beekeeper? They too would have to wear protective gear to prevent him/her from getting stung. Since the outbreak of this terrible virus, you see frontline staff that work providing care for patients having to put on PPE to protect themselves from the coronavirus. When I am at work and as I put this protective gear on to give protection against this virus, I am reminded of the Armour of God which we as Christians also need to put on every day to protect ourselves from the schemes and lies of the devil and to keep us safe.
We have learned from our memory verse earlier this week to put on the whole armour of God, that you may able to stand against the wiles (schemes or the tricks or the evil ways) of the devil (Ephesians 6:11).
Let’s read and learn what this armour is and how it protects us from the devil and his schemes which try to cause us to sin:
Ephesians 6:10-18 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Whole Armour of God
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the [a]wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [b]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
The armour of God is compared to the armour of a Roman soldier. The first 
thing we read about is the Belt of Truth. By putting on the Belt of Truth, we surround ourselves with truth and Satan hates the truth. The Truth is that Jesus loves us and He is stronger than Satan. God’s Word and all God’s promises are true. Jesus said ‘I am the way, the truth and the Life’ John 14:6. We put on the Belt of Truth when we learn as much as we can of the Bible’s truths, we can do this through our quiet time or memorising verses. We also put on the Belt of Truth by always being truthful in all we do. With God’s truth surrounding us, then Satan’s lies will not cause us to fall into sin.
The next piece of God’s armour is the Breastplate of Righteousness. A 
Roman soldier wore a protective plate over his chest and stomach to protect his heart and other internal organs. Our hearts need protecting and that protection comes from righteousness. Righteousness represents us doing what God says is right. If we do what is right, Satan loses out because he always wants us to do the wrong things. The bible tells that none is righteous (Romans 3:10), we are all sinners but when you accept Jesus as your Saviour, God stops seeing you as a sinner and Jesus gives you His righteousness, He makes you right with God. By choosing right instead of wrong, you will be protecting your heart with the breastplate of righteousness. Ask God to help you do what is right.
Next piece of armour is for your feet: Feet with the Gospel of Peace. To 
survive in battle, a soldier had to be sure of his footing so good sandals were necessary. Feet fitted with sandals of peace means that no matter where we go—walking, running, jumping or hopping!—we can feel at peace because of the message of the Gospel. The Gospel is the good news about Jesus, how He died on the cross for our sins and how he loves us. We can tell others how they can have peace through knowing that Jesus died to take away their sin. We show that we are walking through life with the shoes of peace when we share God’s love with those who don’t know the Lord Jesus.
Next we have The Shield of Faith. Roman soldiers used shields to protect 
themselves from spears and arrows. We use a Shield of Faith to stop anything that comes our way that might try to make us doubt God or behave in a way that would not please God. Satan wants us to doubt God’s promises, His goodness and His power. When Satan makes you question God, use your Shield of Faith to stay safe and strong.
The next piece of armour is for your head and it is The Helmet of Salvation.
Helmets were vital to a Roman soldier in battle. No soldier goes to war without a helmet. You would never think about opposing Satan without your helmet of salvation on. Who saved us? Who gave His life so that we didn’t have to take the punishment? Yep, Jesus. He is the one that saved us from the punishment of our sin. If we accept Jesus into our lives, we are saved—we know salvation. It’s our best protection against Satan.
Finally we have our armour on but there is one more thing that we need 
with which to fight back when Satan attacks and that is The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The sword is a powerful weapon in battle and The Word of God is a powerful weapon in battle against Satan. The more verses we learn, the more defence we have against Satan when he tries to tempt us to do wrong. We must be hearers and doers of God’s Word. Each bible verse that you put into practice is a powerful weapon that God can use to attack Satan and make him run away. Satan has no weapon as effective as the Bible.
Finally a good soldier keeps in touch with his commander. He doesn’t act on his own. As good soldiers in God’s army, you and I need to be in constant touch with God in prayer. Pray that God will help you put on His armour every day and ask God for his direction and His orders to follow and that He would help you follow in them.
Fun Friday
We’d love to see your craft pictures, so send them in at info@monaghanelim.com or on Facebook.
Option 1
Make your own DIY Armour of God out of an old cardboard box, some felt and coloured paper or with whatever craft materials you have at home
Option 2 colouring page
Option 3 Wordsearch
Stop and Sit Saturday
So we have talked about the armour of God but how do we use this armour. Here are some activities for the older children to think about. These can be done over a number of weeks as part of their daily quiet time. There is a stop and sit activity for the younger children at the end.
Here are some situations for you to think about.
The Belt of Truth – how does knowing God’s truth help in situations?
- No one cares about me! FALSE – Here is the truth-God loves and cares about you! John 3:16, 1Peter 5:7
- I can’t do anything & I’m not worth anything! FALSE- Here is the truth- God loves you & created you special! You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Psalm 139:13-14, Philippians 4:13
- Nothing goes right in my life; I should just quit! FALSE- Here is the truth- God has a plan & we can trust Him! Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 46:10
- I’ll never pass this test; I should just cheat! FALSE because cheating is stealing someone else’s answers and will not help you learn. God has a better plan! Romans 8:28
The Breastplate of Righteousness
Righteousness is being right with God which we only get when we put our trust in Jesus to forgive all our sin. We don’t deserve to be forgiven but God through His amazing love for us allowed Jesus to take the punishment for our sin so that we could be made right with Him.
Think about the following situations and how the right decision (righteousness) can protect your heart.
- Jenny has been invited to stay over at a friend’s house, but their parents won’t be home part of the night. What should she do?
- John offers Mike a cheat sheet to help him on a History test. What should Mike do?
- Beth & Avery are talking bad about the new girl in their class. Rachel walks up. When she hears what they are talking about, what should she do?
- Ben and James were best friends until James really hurt Ben’s feelings. Ben got so angry at James. What should Ben do?
- Betsy has been asked to go to a movie with the popular group of kids from school, but knows her parents wouldn’t approve of the movie. What should she do?
The Gospel of Peace
Look up and read the following verses about the peace of God and how it helps us stand firm when life gets tough:
- Phillipians 4:6-7
- John 14:27
- John 16:33
- Isaiah 26:3
- 2 Thessalonians 3:16
The Shield of Faith
Extinguishing the doubts- look up each verse and match it to the right question, there may be more than one for each.
- ‘Is God really with me?’
- ‘Does God really have a plan for my life?’
- ‘Does God really hear me when I pray?’
- ‘Will God really forgive me?’
- ‘Does God really love me?’
- Jeremiah 29:11-13
- Psalm 145:18-19
- Romans 5:8
- James 4:8
- Psalm 139:16
- Proverbs 15:29
- 1 John 1: 9
- Hebrews 13:5
- Romans 8:37-39
- 2 Chronicles 7:14-15
- Acts 3:19
The Helmet of Salvation
How can the Helmet of Salvation help us against the devil. If we have salvation, we have been rescued from our sin through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Example of a wrong thought – “I messed up too bad; God won’t forgive me. I am lost again.” Truth – God promises to forgive us. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us from all unrighteousness.”
The Sword of the Spirit
Do you know any of God’s Words that can work to fight back evil?
Here are some but think about all the verses you have learned. You could keep a notebook of important verses that can help you fight off the devil when temptation comes your way.
‘Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.’ Psalm 119:11
‘So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you,’ James 4:7
For the younger children
This week we learned about the invisible armour we can use to help us everyday to win against sin. When you wake up in the morning, as a family ‘put on’ each piece of armour. Remembering what each piece is for and how it can help you through the day. Remember to pray for help, for others, to ask for forgiveness and to give thanks to God for all He has done.
Special Day Sunday
We would usually be at church on Sunday however, since this is not going to be possible for another short while, it is important to continue to worship God and be taught the Word of God at home with your family and with others through the means of technology. We all miss our church family and hopefully we will be back to worship God together again soon.
When you’re at home, make sure to pray along, read along in your Bible and sing along with the worship team. Make a joyful noise to the Lord. You can also take notes with the ‘sermon notes at home’ page included a couple of weeks ago in your Sunday school pack.
Finally, make sure to encourage your pastor. Let him know that he is doing a good job.
God loves you and His promises never fail!
Remember to keep encouraging others and shining your light for Jesus!
Also remember that by putting on the whole armour of God- you can win against sin!
Stay safe everyone and looking forward to seeing you all again really soon.
