There was a time in my life when I felt like I had lost my joy. I felt miserable. He didn’t want to do anything or be around anyone. But slowly and surely, my joy returned as I began to rest more in the Lord. My strength came back too. Nehemiah 8:10 says this: “…for the joy of the Lord is your/(my) strength.” This is a great verse for any Christian to know, whether young or old. Try this fun Sunday school Bible lesson to help your children learn this great Scripture by heart. It’s called “Popping for Joy!”

This is what you do:

This game will require some preparation, but your children will appreciate your efforts. First, you’ll want to make an index card for each word in Nehemiah 8:10. You must have a total of 11 cards. Place these cards in the correct order of the Bible verses on a pocket chart or table for easy viewing by all your children. Now prepare 11 balloons. Inside each balloon you will insert a piece of paper with the following number of points and list of words:

1. 10 points: for, joy, Lord, strength

2. 10 points: the, of, is, Nehemiah

3. 20 points: joy, la, mi, 8:10

4. 20 points: from, Lord, strength, for

5. 30 points: he, is, Nehemiah, joy

6. 30 points: joy, my, 8:10, of

7. 40 points: of, strength, for, the

8. 40 points: the, Nehemiah, is, 8:10

9. 50 points: joy, 8:10, my, Lord

10. 50 points: of, by force, it is

11. 50 points: he, he, is, my

Blow up the balloons and place them in a garbage bag. Now you are ready to play this Bible Sunday school lesson.

How to play:

Divide your class into 2 teams. Ask a child from the first team to choose a balloon. Let him pop it by sitting on it. You will put the paper inside and find out how many points you can earn for your team. You will also flip the 4 words, listed on your paper, on the Nehemiah 8:10 screen. Now you must say the verse including the missing words. If you are successful, your team will earn the points found on your balloon. If you are unsuccessful, the other team wins the points. The game goes to the next team.

Before playing this activity, you can introduce it as follows:

Everybody get up and show me your best “muscle man” or “muscle woman” pose. (Wait for children to respond.) Awesome! Look at all those big muscles. You know, there are a lot of things in this world that can make you feel really strong, like watching your muscles grow as you age. Or having a lot of money in your piggy bank or wallet can make you feel a little strong. But do you know what the Bible says is our strength? It says that “the joy of the Lord is our strength.” Today we are going to memorize this verse by playing “Popping for Joy!” But before we play, let’s say Nehemiah 8:10 several times together to get it into our hearts and minds.

At this point, you will recite the verse with the children until you feel they are ready to play the game. Have fun!