LESSON OVERVIEW FOR ADULTS
In Exodus 35:4–36:8, God calls on the people of Israel to bring offerings and skilled craftsmanship so that the tabernacle and its furnishings could be built in a way that honors Him. The passage showcases how people of all talents were asked to contribute. Whether through generous giving or expert handiwork, their contributions helped to create something holy and beautiful for God’s presence.
This lesson reminds us that doing our best in whatever task we have, even small ones, is a way to honor God. For preschoolers, “doing our best” can mean sharing toys, helping with simple chores, or coloring carefully. It’s about offering our very best with a joyful heart, just like the Israelites did when building the tabernacle.
2. OPENING ACTIVITY 10:15–10:30 | Disciple Toolbox
Items Needed
- Toolbox Craft (Print on Cardstock)*
- Crayons
- Glue
Give each child a toolbox craft to color and glue together. Explain to them today’s story talks about how the Israelites built a tabernacle to honor God using their gifts. Explain we all have different gifts and we want to always do our best with them.
*Adapted from: Etsy Craft
BIBLE VERSE GAME 10:30–10:40 | Robot Memory Verse
Items Needed
- Memory Verse Poster
- Robot
- Music (Do Everything: Seven Curtis Chapman)
Tape poster to the wall. Play music and pass the robot around. When the music stops, the robot tells them a voice to use to say the memory verse (or just have each of them do it using their best Robot Voice and Robot moves). Help children repeat the verse together using different voices:
- Robot voice – choppy and mechanical
- Giant voice – very deep and slow
- Tiny fairy voice – whisper-soft and magical
- Monster voice – silly and growly
Colossians 3:17a (ICB): “Everything you say and everything you do should all be done for Jesus.”
4. SONG 10:40–10:50
BIBLE STORY 10:50–11:00
Where is this found in the Bible? Exodus
Is this in the Old Testament or New Testament? Old Testament
God gave the people a big job. They were to build a special place called the tabernacle where He could be worshipped. Moses told them what God said: bring gifts and help build! Some brought shiny gold, colorful cloth, or animal skins. Others were good at sewing or building and worked very hard. Everyone had a job, and they all did their very best.
Object Lesson: Bring simple building toys (like LEGO or blocks). Let each child add one piece. Explain how, just like in the story, when everyone helps and does their best, something beautiful is made.
Theological Questions:
- Who gave the people their special skills? (God)
- Why did God want the people to work together? (To build a place to worship Him)
Life Application Questions:
- What is one way you can help at church or at home?
- What do you like to do that can make someone smile?
Prayer:
Dear God, help us to use our hands and hearts to do our best for You. Thank You for giving us special ways to help others. Amen.
BIBLE STORY ACTIVITY 11:00–11:15 | STICKY HELPERS POSTER
Items Needed
- Sticky notes
- Markers or Crayons
- Poster board
Let kids draw or write (with help) something they can do to help others on post-it notes. Stick on the poster board to make a “help wall.” Talk about how helping others is one way we do our best for God.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE: Exodus 35:4–36:8 (KJV)
4 And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying,
5 Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and brass,
6 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,
7 And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,
8 And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,
9 And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.
10 And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the Lord hath commanded;
11 The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets,
12 The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering,
13 The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread,
14 The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light,
15 And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle,
16 The altar of burnt offering, with his brasen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,
17 The hangings of the court, his pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court,
18 The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords,
19 The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office.
20 And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
21 And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments.
22 And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the Lord.
23 And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers’ skins, brought them.
24 Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the Lord’s offering: and every man, with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service, brought it.
25 And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen.
26 And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair.
27 And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate;
28 And spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.
29 The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.
30 And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
31 And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;
32 And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
33 And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work.
34 And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
35 Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work.
36 Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded.
2 And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it:
3 And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning.
4 And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made;
5 And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make.
6 And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.
7 For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.
8 And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them.
9 The length of one curtain was twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: the curtains were all of one size.
10 And he coupled the five curtains one unto another: and the other five curtains he coupled one unto another.
11 And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling: likewise he made in the uttermost side of another curtain, in the coupling of the second.
12 Fifty loops made he in one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain which was in the coupling of the second: the loops held one curtain to another.
13 And he made fifty taches of gold, and coupled the curtains one unto another with the taches: so it became one tabernacle.
14 And he made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains he made them.
15 The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the breadth of one curtain: the eleven curtains were of one size.
16 And he coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves.
17 And he made fifty loops upon the uttermost edge of the curtain in the coupling, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.
18 And he made fifty taches of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be one.
19 And he made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers’ skins above that.
20 And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing up.
21 The length of a board was ten cubits, and the breadth of a board one cubit and a half.
22 One board had two tenons, equally distant one from another: thus did he make for all the boards of the tabernacle.
23 And he made boards for the tabernacle; twenty boards for the south side southward:
24 And forty sockets of silver he made under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.
25 And for the other side of the tabernacle, which is toward the north corner, he made twenty boards,
26 And their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.
27 And for the sides of the tabernacle westward he made six boards.
28 And two boards made he for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides.
29 And they were coupled beneath, and coupled together at the head thereof, to one ring: thus he did to both of them in both the corners.
30 And there were eight boards; and their sockets were sixteen sockets of silver, under every board two sockets.
31 And he made bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,
32 And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the sides westward.
33 And he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from the one end to the other.
34 And he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.
35 And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.
36 And he made thereunto four pillars of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold: their hooks were of gold; and he cast for them four sockets of silver.
37 And he made an hanging for the tabernacle door of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of needlework;
38 And the five pillars of it with their hooks: and he overlaid their chapiters and their fillets with gold: but their five sockets were of brass.
OPTIONAL: COLORING PAGE
PARENT TAKE HOME SHEET
Today’s Key Takeaway: Do Your Best
What I learned today:
Today I learned that God gave people special skills to build a place for worship. They shared what they had and worked hard. I can do my best too, just like them!
Questions to ask me:
Theological:
- Who gave the people their skills? (God)
- What did God want the people to build? (The tabernacle)
- Who told the people what to do? (Moses)
- Why did the people give their best? (To obey God)
- Where can we worship God now? (Church and anywhere!)
Life Application:
- What is something you are good at? (Answers will vary)
- How can you help someone today? (Answers will vary)
- What does it mean to do your best? (Try hard and be kind)
- What is one thing you can give to God? (Time, help, love, etc.)
- How can you show love to God this week? (Helping, praying, listening)