(10 minutes)
Supplies Needed: Teaching Aid resource page
Teacher Note: Have the children form a semi-circle on the story time rug. Start your story time with a few stretches to get the wiggles out. Go over your expectations for Bible Story Time (hands in their laps, feet on the floor, listen to you when it is your turn to talk, etc.). Make sure you have the Bible open on your lap while you tell the story.
Below is a Bible story that you can read word-for-word to your students.
Because God loved the Israelites and wanted to take care of them, He gave them the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are special rules and commands God wants His people to follow. God wrote the Ten Commandments on two large stone tablets and gave them to Moses so he could give them to the Israelites. Moses was glad to get the Ten Commandments from God, and he was excited to share them with the Israelites.
The Israelites should have been eagerly waiting for Moses at the bottom of the mountain, but when he got there, he found the Israelites having a big party and worshiping a statue of a cow! Whom are God’s people supposed to worship? God is the only one worthy of our worship. The Israelites were sinning by worshiping an idol.
Teacher Note: Show the Teaching Aid resource page (see resources) at this time.
Before giving Moses the Ten Commandments, God told the Israelites to wait for Moses at the bottom of the mountain. But the Bible tells us that the people got bored and didn’t want to wait for Moses anymore. So they decided to make their own pretend god out of gold. This was called an idol. An idol is anything we make more important to us than God.
Aaron turned the Israelites’ gold into a statue of a cow, and the people worshiped the golden cow instead of God. Worshiping idols is a sin, and it makes God very sad. In fact, the first two commandments God gave to Moses were about not worshiping idols.
Moses got so mad at the Israelites for worshiping an idol that he threw the Ten Commandments down and broke them. God forgave the Israelites, but He did punish them for their sin. God also gave Moses another set of the Ten Commandments.
The Bible tells us that we all break God’s commands sometimes. We all sin and mess up and need to be forgiven. But there was one person who never ever sinned, and that person was God’s Son, Jesus. When we trust and believe in Jesus, He will forgive us of our sin and help us obey God and live His way.
Bible Story Questions (for three-year-olds)