Ephesians 6:13-17
Rich Lanning
February 9, 2025
Gather
- Bible
- bike helmet
- slips of paper with the verses about salvation (see bullet points below) printed on them
Introduction
Activity: have one person wear a bike helmet and another go without. Act out the two bike riding and crash into each other causing both to fall on their heads. Depending on how dramatic your family is, pretend the helmetless person gets a big gash on their head or a concussion.
Ask: How did the helmet help _________________? Does _______________________ wish he’d been wearing one?
Background
Today we’re going to talk about how a special helmet helps protect us in our fight against the enemy.
Ask: Who is our enemy? [Satan] What does this enemy want? What does he try to do? [answers may vary]
John 8:44 says that Satan is a liar. Last week we talked about how he lied to Adam and Eve and how he lies to us trying to discourage us from believing what is true about God. Today we’re going to look at another way he lies to us, and the protection we have from him.
Looking into the Scripture passage
Read: Ephesians 6:13-16
Ask: What kind of helmet did God give us?
Define salvation for the kids: the act of saving someone or something from harm or danger.
Have you ever had to be saved from something?
Discuss example situations personal to your family.
Ask: If God has given us the helmet of salvation, what have we been saved from? A bike wreck? [No, of course not! Children may answer from sin, from death, from hell, etc…]
Read: Romans 6:23a and Romans 1:18a
These verses tell us what happens to sinful people.
Ask: Are you a sinful person? What will happen because of your sin if you are not rescued/saved? [if necessary, discuss what it means to be a sinner]
But God has rescued us! Let’s read these verses to see how (print or write the verses on slips of paper or mark them in your Bible if you don’t want to spend the time for the kids to look them up,)
- John 3:16
- Romans 5:8-9
- 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Our salvation is Jesus who died in our place to give us eternal life in place of the punishment we deserve from God! Isn’t that good news!
Apply the passage
Activity 1
One of the lies that Satan tries to tell us is that we have to be good enough to earn our salvation or to keep it once we have received it.
Make a helmet (draw or print. Here’s a paper printable from Teachers Pay Teachers for $1.99)
Write out Ephesians 2:8-9 somewhere on your helmet.
Activity 2
1 Thessalonians 5:8 says that our helmet is “the hope of salvation.”
On a white board or piece of paper, make a list of things that your kids are hoping for.
Discuss:
- On a scale of one to ten, how confident are you that each of these things will happen?
- How confident can we be that God will save us?
- How many of God’s promises will come true?
- What has God promised to everyone who believes in Jesus?
- Even if we can’t see it now, can we believe it?
Here’s a promise to think about right now.
My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. (John 10:27-29)
Memorize
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17
Practice the verse
Learn “Helmets and Swords” with the hand motions from Seeds Scripture Songs (see link below).
OR
Write out the verse on a white board or piece of paper. Cut out a small picture of a helmet. Use the helmet to cover up different words as you repeat the memory verse multiple times, until you can say every word without looking.
Extra Stuff
Digging Deeper (for parents and older kids)
Read the final three chapters of the Bible, Revelation 20-22.
List everything you see in these chapters about the hope of your salvation.
Songs to Sing
“Helmets and Swords” (Seeds Scripture Songs)
“Christ Our Hope in Life and Death” (Getty)
Books to read (these can be borrowed from the Kidstuff table in the church foyer)
The Story of God Our Savior by Kenneth Padgett and Shay Gregorie
