YEA Lesson Library

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Tell when the Feast of Trumpets is celebrated.

2. Give a reason for celebrating the Feast of Trumpets.

3. Explain what we believe may happen on the Feast of Trumpets.

4. State that this day is a celebration.

Topics & Themes

Celebration
Feast of Trumpets
Holy Days, Feast of Trumpets
King of kings

Materials Needed

Bible, YEA Students' and Teacher's books, attendance and memory verse charts, stars, songbook, CD and player, puppet, pre-assembled paper plate horns (see Preparation), decorating items: stickers, stamps, foam cut-outs, sequins, faux jewels, crayons, markers, colored pencils, review questions on slips of paper, bowl, noisemakers

Preparation

Prior to class, make a horn for each student. Construction: Put two paper plates together. Cut out a curved ram's horn. The mouth end will be about an inch across. Use the outside curve of the plate for one edge of the horn. Cut the inside curve of the horn so that the horn tapers out. Tape a noise-maker mouthpiece to the mouth end. Staple the two paper plates together. Have students decorate horns during class.

How to Teach This Lesson

Open the class with prayer.
Decorate Horns: As students assemble for class, have each decorate a horn. As they are finishing, pull out your puppet.

Puppet: Hey, children, what are you making? (Wait for answers. Compliment horns. Have the puppet tell the students what the puppet likes about their decorating efforts.)

Puppet: Why are you decorating horns today? Are we going to be making a lot of noise in here today? (Be sure to act very excited about the idea of making noise. Wait for students' answers.)

Teacher: We’re talking about the Feast of Trumpets today.

Puppet: I once had a feast of crumpets. You know, they make the best crumpets in England. They are best with jelly. . .

Teacher: (interrupt the puppet) No, we're not talking about food today.

Puppet: That's too bad. I love crumpets. (Hang head, act sad.)

Teacher: We’re talking about the Feast of Trumpets. Does anyone know what God told His people to do on the Feast of Trumpets?

Puppet: Does this have something to do with their memory verse?

Teacher: That's right. Who can tell me their memory verse for today?(Have each child try to say the verse. Tell them that everyone will say it again at the end of the class.)

Puppet: If we're supposed to celebrate today with trumpet blasts, let's blast away!!!

Teacher: That's a good idea. Children, take your trumpets and let's blow them. (Let them blow for about a minute - any longer and you'll have lost them completely.)

Puppet: What a blast!!! Let's do it again.

Teacher: No, let's finish talking about why we blow the trumpets, then we can do it again. Children, put your trumpet down in front of you.

Teacher: What was the trumpet blast used for?

Puppet: Calling the people.

Teacher: Right. Different calls on the trumpet meant different things to the people. Can you think of some uses for the trumpet calls, children? (Wait for answers and write their ideas on the board.) Sometimes a trumpet call meant it was time to attack the enemy. Sometimes it meant it was time to move the camp. Sometimes it meant it was time to come to assemble before God.

Puppet: Did it ever mean time to eat crumpets?

Teacher: It might have sounded when it was time to eat, but I'm not sure they had crumpets. But that is not the most important time when the trumpet sounds.

Puppet: What could be more important than eating? After all, this is a feast day, right?

Teacher: What do you think, children? (Wait for their answers.) The most important trumpet call will be when Jesus comes back. He will come with the trumpet call of God. Let's read 1Thessalonians 4:16-17. (Read it out loud, or have a student do it.)

Puppet: The time when Jesus comes back! Wow! No wonder we're celebrating the Feast of Trumpets. That's very important to each of us!!

Teacher: (To children) What are you looking forward to when Jesus comes back? (Write answers on the board.)

Puppet: All of those things are definitely things to celebrate! Is it time to blow our trumpets again?

Teacher: You bet! Let's blow! (Let them blow for a minute.) Now let's sing a song of praise to God. (Then follow by asking the review questions.)

Review Questions

(Write these questions on separate pieces of paper, fold, and place in a bowl. Let each student draw a question, read it, and answer it. If their answer is correct, let the other students blow their trumpets. If their answer is wrong, gently redirect so they can answer correctly. This keeps the other students thinking about whether the answer is right or wrong, lets them blow their trumpets, and celebrates the right answers.)

1. What is the name of the first holy day in the fall feasts?

2. What did God tell the people to do on the Feast of Trumpets?

3. What does Leviticus 23:24 say?

4. What things did a trumpet call sound for?

5. What is the most important trumpet call you can think of?

6. Who sounds the trumpet when Jesus Christ comes back?

7. What is one good thing that will happen when Jesus comes back?

8. How often do we celebrate the Feast of Trumpets?

Teacher-Directed Activity

Decorating Paper Horns
Using markers, crayons, or colored pencils, direct the children to decorate the horns (see Preparation). You may also want to have faux jewels, stickers, foam decorating shapes, sequins, etc. available for decorating. You'll use the horns during the lesson.

REACH Activity

1. Sword Drill. Do a sword drill with the daily devotionals. Depending on how many children are involved, you can either have them compete against each other to see who can get to the scripture first or you can have a child time himself (or herself) and try to better his time each successive scripture.

2. Board Game. Create a Who’s Who Game based on the holy day lessons in this book. Make a board game. Set up rules like: Draw a person card. Tell who the person is and which lesson and holy day he is associated with. (You will have to keep a small notebook of notes for each person so you can check to see if the answer is correct or not.) If you are correct, roll the dice and advance. If you are incorrect, roll the dice and go that many places backwards. From Lesson One: King Josiah; Lesson Two: Cyrus and Ezra; Lesson Three: Firstfruits. Lesson Four: Angel with the Seventh Trumpet. Add people to the game for each lesson.

3. Concentration Game. Continue constructing a concentration game of God’s Holy Days. For this lesson, create four cards: Feast of Trumpets, Return of Jesus, King of kings, Soon and Very Soon. Plan to add four more cards to go with the next lesson.

4. Sing: From The Group Songbook: “I Will Celebrate” on page 49, “We Will Glorify” on page 1, “King of Kings” on page 43;
From The CEM Hymnal, “Victory in Jesus” on page 188, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” on page 181, “Joy to the World” on page 40, “Christ is Coming” on page 29, “Come Thou, Almighty King” on page 3, “Crown Him With Many Crowns” on page 9.

5. Holy Day Cards. Google “Wordle - WordArt.” With your parent’s help (or older sibling), think of 10-15 words that are associated with the Feast of Trumpets. Create some word art using this site. Download and save the result. Using your parent’s help, use the computer to paste it into a card. Print cards for people in your church family (near or far away) to wish them a blessed Feast of Trumpets. Give the cards to them at church or send them in time for the holy day.

6. Military Calls. Look up the different trumpet calls used by the military. Write down what you find in your Bible notebook. (Wikipedia has 30 listed.) This week incorporate one of the calls into your family life. It could be “Mess Call,” “Call to Quarters,” “Reveille,” or “School Call.” Learn how to play it on the piano or trumpet, if possible, or just sing it.

7. Trumpets Scriptures. Find three times when trumpets are mentioned in the Bible. Write them down in your Bible notebook. Be sure to note whether the trumpets are shofar (ram’s horns) or silver trumpets.

8. Make a banner. On it write an announcement about Jesus Christ’s return. It could be “Announcing the Return of Jesus Christ” or “The Soon-Coming King” or “The Feast of Trumpets Celebrating the Return of Jesus.” Decorate your banner with pictures or drawings of trumpets. Plan it out on scrap paper first. Then use your neatest handwriting and bright color tools (markers, crayons, tempera paint) on your banner. When it’s finished, be sure to take it to church to display.

9. Jesus’ Return Verses. Find three scriptures which talk about the return of Jesus Christ. Write them down in your Bible notebook. Make a list of as many things as you can think of that will change once Jesus returns. Then write an essay comparing what life is like today to what life will be like when Jesus returns. Finish your essay by praising God that Jesus will return.

10. Make a survey. Ask your family (and church family) what one thing they are most excited about connected with the return of Jesus. Tabulate your answers. Make a graph showing the responses you received. Decide whether it’s better to make a bar graph, a pie chart, or a pictograph. Plan it out on a scrap piece of paper. Use your neatest handwriting and favorite color tools to create a poster or a flyer that you will display at church.

11. Newspaper article. Because we love Jesus and we see all of the bad things going on in our world, we look forward to the day when Jesus Christ returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. But Jesus is coming back as the conquering King. That means there will be people who will be fighting against Him, as ridiculous as that sounds! What we see as a great day will not be a great day for these people; Jesus will be victorious! Do a side-by-side newspaper coverage of Jesus’ return from these two perspectives - the ones who want Him to return and those who don’t. Remember to cover the who, what, when, where, and why of the story. Share with your family.

12. Plan a Meal. Brainstorm with your family a special meal for the Feast of Trumpets. Plan what to eat, when, what groceries will need to be purchased, and who will make each item. Help set the table and clean up afterwards.

13. If You Knew. If you knew for sure that Jesus would be coming back on the Feast of Trumpets this year, what would you do? Would you work harder in school? Would you make sure your room was clean? Would you stop brushing your teeth? Would you be more diligent to tell others about Jesus Christ? What is really important to do? Talk about this with your family. Write down the things that are really important to be doing. Then talk about why we still brush our teeth every day and clean our room and work hard in school. What do these activities say about who we are? After discussing this with your family, write about it in your Bible notebook.

14. Trumpets. Research the different kinds of trumpets that there are. Write a report, complete with illustrations of the different kinds of trumpets. Be sure to include a bibliography. File it under Holy Days in your Bible notebook.

15. Memory Verse Work. Find an outline of a trumpet. Print it. Then write your memory verse around the outside edge of the trumpet. Use a bright gold to color the trumpet. Go over your letters with a permanent black marker. Display where you can see your work every day until you have your memory verse memorized.

16. My Favorite. What is your favorite part of the Feast of Trumpets? Is it the people you go to church with? Is it spending time with your family? Is it the special meal you eat? Write down what you really enjoy about the Feast of Trumpets. Then take some time to make a thank you note to someone who made the holy day extra special for you this year.

Song

"Jesus Loves Even Me" is on page 8 of Kids Classics Collection. Note especially the words to the second verse: "Oh, if there's only one song I can sing, when in His beauty I see the great King ..”

Closing Prayer

Lead the students in prayer thanking God for giving us a day to celebrate the time when Jesus will come back to this earth, righting the things that are wrong and setting up His Kingdom.