God’s Greatness

 

Students will learn more about the greatness and magnitude of God and how that applies to their everyday experience.

 

This Is Great! –Give your students pens and paper and ask them to write as many things they can that they think are great. Answers could obviously include everything from a favorite band or movie to family members or ice cream. Pick a few students to share what they wrote. Encourage them that those things are cool! (Some may even be really cool!)

 

Read the definition for the word “great”—“remarkable in magnitude, degree, or effectiveness; markedly superior in character or quality.” Say, “I don’t know about you, but as much as I really like (insert something here you really enjoy!), I don’t know that I would say that it’s remarkable in magnitude or markedly superior in character. God is all these things and then some. Let’s talk about why that is a big deal for you and me.”

 

Play Plumb’s “Great Is Our God.”

 

Say, “The Bible focuses a lot on the greatness of God. If you’re ever wondering who God really is, Scripture lists tons of examples that highlight His greatness!”

 

Say something like, “Most of us are trying to figure out who we really are. There are countless books on the topic. There are movies, songs, and television shows dedicated to the journey of self-discovery. Who doesn’t love filling out a personality test? We enjoy these things because they help us try to figure out the mystery of ourselves—what we like, what we are good at, and what it all means. But, I wonder what would happen if we spent a little less time on ourselves and instead tried hard to find out who God is. As always, the best place to start looking for the truth on any subject is in the Word of God. Let’s look together at some of the ways the Bible describes God’s greatness.”

Ask for volunteers to read Psalm 96:4- 5, Jeremiah 10:6, and Nehemiah 1:5

Say, “Let’s break this down into three reasons we can all remember together why God is great.” (Have students write these down).

• God made the entire universe, just by talking! Can you imagine if every time you said you wanted pizza, it appeared? That would be considered great! God did that. Except instead of pizza, He created galaxies and trees and oceans and us!

• There is only one of God! Each of us is unique, made lovingly by God as we just mentioned. But, we all have things in common. Some are good, like enjoying the same types of music. Some are not so good. For instance, we all have messed up and done wrong at some point. But God hasn’t. He is the one, the ONLY one who has never messed up—not even one time. And, He never will!

• This incredible God—who can make things exist with just His word and who has never messed up once; this God who is “remarkable in magnitude and markedly superior in character”— loves you and me. If we really stop to think about that, this truth should blow our minds! Think about how incredible and vast space is. Think about if you had never messed up once in your entire life. The only one who can lay claim to those things is actually so great that He set that greatness aside and sent His only Son so that we could be eternally connected with this greatness.

 

Say, “Trying to fathom how great God is can make your brain hurt. But here’s the thing. We live in a dark world that tries to remind us how bad we are and how messed up everything is. We should remind ourselves that although we mess up, God does not. What if every time someone made you feel discouraged, you reminded yourself that the great creator of all things loves you?”

 

Say, “God is truly great. I want us to all help remind each other of that every single day. The more we focus on God’s greatness, the less our problems really seem to matter. It’s hard to get discouraged or disappointed when we remind ourselves of the greatness of God. So let’s do that for each other and with each other!”

 

Say, “Plumb sings about several facets of God’s greatness in her song, ‘Great Is Our God’. Let’s listen to it again and really hear what she’s singing. If you feel the need to worship along with her, please feel free.” While the song is playing this time, have your students write down as many reasons as they can think of that God is truly great. This can be things He’s done for them, things He’s created, or simply His attributes.