Elijah Under the Juniper Tree

1 Kings 19:1-8

July 19, 2015

The kids will understand:

· The account of Elijah and his flight from Jezebel.

· That God was with Elijah in victory and discouragement.

· That life is full of highs and lows and God is with us through them all.

Skit

Supplies:

2 actors

running outfit

running shoes

iPod

headphones

microphone (doesn’t have to work)

You’ll need one actor to be the runner, Ron Moore, and one to be the interviewer, Will Askew. Will Askew holds the microphone while talking to the class and trying to pin down the jogger, Ron Moore, for an interview. Ron is wearing running clothes, iPod and headphones.

Will: Hello, this is the last interview in my series called “Why People Run.” I’ll be talking to Ron Moore (pauses, scratches head inquisitively), which incidentally sounds like run more. I wonder if he did that on purpose? Anyway … (Ron runs by in front of Will. Will holds out microphone, shouts) RON … yes, Ron … (Ron runs out of room).

Will: (a bit frazzled) Yes, well, we’ll try again here in a minute. We’ve been talking about why people run. Sometimes they’re scared … (Ron runs through again and circles around.) YES, Ron … I would like to talk … (Ron whizzes by again and goes out the door.)

Will: (clearly shaken, clears throat) Yes, well apparently Ron didn’t hear us. We’ll try once more. Some people run because they’re afraid, they fear something like a bear or a dog chasing them. Some people run because they … (Ron runs in again and Will blocks him. The two almost fall in a heap on the floor.) EXCUSE me, Ron!

Ron: (surprised, stops but continues to jog in place, shouts) WHAT… what did you say?

Will: (shouts) I’m Will Askew and I want to talk to you. Can you take your headphones off?

Ron: (removes headphones) Oh sorry, I couldn’t hear you. I didn’t mean to give you the “run around.” (laughs heartily)

Will: Yes, well I’m doing a series on why people run. Do you run because you’re afraid or are you running from your problems?

Ron: (jogging in place, checks pulse) Oh no, not at all. I never run from my problems; that never solves anything. I run because it’s good for my heart. I also run because I can get some time alone with God. I pray and listen to praise music!

Will: Well then, that’s interesting. You run to get alone with God. (turns to audience) How cool is that!

Ron: Oh yeah. (checks pulse again, still jogging) Sorry, I have to keep my heart rate up!

Will: So, you said you don’t run from your problems. What advice can you give the kids here?

Ron: Never run from a problem. Yep, that’s my advice. Instead, run to God! I hate to run out on you, but I gotta finish my prayer time. (puts on headphones) See ya kids! (runs out of room)

Will: There you have it. Ron shared with us a very good reason to run—not from your problems but run straight to God! This is Will Askew signing out! I’ll see you another day!

Object Lesson

Supplies:

small wind-up toy figure

small table

You’ll need a small wind-up toy. If you don’t have one, a spinning top will also work.

Have any of you ever played with one of these? Wind up the toy and watch it walk across the table until it stops. Well, I guess it ran out of energy there. It needs wound up again. Wind it up and let it walk again.

This wind-up toy reminds me of our Bible story today. Wind up the toy and let it walk again as you speak. Elijah accomplished some amazing things for God! Did you know that one time he prayed for God to send a drought and God answered his prayer and stopped the rain for three years? Another time he prayed and God sent fire from heaven to show some idol worshippers that God was the only one true God! The toy should be stopped, but if it isn’t, just pause a moment and wait.

But then, guess what? Just like this toy, Elijah ran out of energy. He got discouraged and wanted to quit. Wind up the toy and let it walk again. But God wasn’t done with him yet!

Bible Account

Supplies:

actor (Elijah)

actor (servant boy)

chair

gray blanket/sheet

water bottle

plate

pita bread

poster board

marker

Bible garb

artificial tree

Before class make a cue card that says, “Run to God … NOT from Problems!” Place an artificial tree at the front of the room. To create a rock, cover a chair with a gray blanket and put it several feet behind the tree. (You could also use a large landscape rock that is used to cover meters.)

Elijah is sitting cross-legged under the tree with a plate of bread and some water next to him. He shares his account of the story. His servant is in the background crouched behind the rock. Elijah acts like he doesn’t realize the servant is there, since Elijah left the servant behind. The servant stands up from behind the rock and holds up the cue card for the class to shout out what is on the card at the proper times.

Elijah: (shakes head, takes a bite of bread and then a swig of water) Ahhh, now that’s refreshing. (wipes mouth with sleeve) Boy, what’s up with Queen Jezebel? Whoa, she really got upset with me!

I mean, I just called fire down from heaven to show her that Jehovah-God was the only REAL God and, man oh man … she goes berserk! Well sure, I had a few thousand of her priests killed, but is that a good reason to kill me?

Okay, maybe it is! You know, one time God caused me to run so fast that I beat Ahab’s chariot to his palace in Jezreel. I ran faster than his horses! God sure can set your feet on fire! I was smokin’! I asked God to end the 3-year drought … and then it poured cats and dogs! I thought for sure King Ahab and Queen Jezebel would serve Jehovah-God then! (sarcastic) But NOOOOO! How stubborn!

She sends dudes to hunt me down and kill me. (shakes head) I mean, where’s the love? I am sooooo done with ol’ Jez and Ahab. I mean, enough already! What’s a guy got to do to prove a point! God is the only God … duh … not Baal! (takes a bite of bread and swig of water)

So I got discouraged. (holds hand up in air) I mean I’m on top of the world one minute calling fire down from heaven, then rain down from heaven, then (drop hand to ground) I’m all discouraged and running for my life from that woman!