We need food, rest and care. God gives us life, and he does not depend on us to keep him alive.
Print the lesson picture
Use the full-colour picture to teach, or revisit the lesson together with the colour-in page.
Get ready
Have beside you: a Bible open at Acts 17, a cup and a pillow. Show the lesson picture on screen or paper, or describe the bread, water jug and fruit while pointing to your own cup.
Read Acts 17:22–31. The picture helps name our needs; the Bible tells us why God is different from us.
Open the Bible together
Bible background
Paul was speaking in Athens, where people worshipped many idols. He told them about the God who made the world. God is not kept alive by gifts that people bring him. He gives us our life and everything we need. We can thank and serve him because he is worthy, rather than because he needs our help to survive. Jesus, the Son, truly became human and experienced hunger and tiredness; this does not mean God depends on creation for his divine life.
Open your Bible at Acts 17:25. Show your child where you are reading and read the complete verse aloud. Listen again to these words:
“since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.”
Explain in your own words:
“We need food and water. We need rest and care. God gives us life. He does not need us to feed him or keep him alive. We depend on him.”
Look at the picture together
- Find the bread and fruit. “Who needs food—you and I, or God to keep himself alive?” Explain that people need food.
- Find the jug. Point also to your cup. “We need something to drink. God gives us life and the things that sustain it.”
- Find the open book. Point to your Bible. “Here we learn about the giver. We can thank him for what he gives.”
Things we need
Place the cup and pillow within easy reach. Invite your child to choose one, or point while you lift it. Ask, “What do we use this for?” Help with drinking or resting.
Say, “I need rest. You need rest. God does not need us to put him to bed.” With the cup, say, “We need water. God does not need us to give him a drink so that he can live.” Use the other object if the comparison is helpful.
Ask, “Who gives us life?” Return to the open Bible and answer, “God does.” A child ready to explain can name one way we depend on him. Finish by thanking God for someone who cares for your child.
Paul also calls his hearers to turn to God and tells them that God raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 17:30–31). The God who gives life calls us to trust and obey the risen Jesus. Our gifts cannot buy his acceptance.
The optional colour-in page can become another moment of thanks: find one pictured gift and thank God as your child colours it.
Pray together
Pray while your child listens, inviting a word or their own short prayer if they wish.
“God, thank you for giving us life, food, water and rest. Thank you for the people who care for us. Help us to turn to you and trust Jesus. Amen.”
Remember during the day
At a meal or rest time, name the need being met: “We need this good gift. Thank you, God, for caring for us.”
Notice the connection: Hold up the cup and ask, “Do we need water to live? Does God need us to keep him alive?” A child may point to themselves as you supply the words. Listen for the difference between our need and God’s generosity.
Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.