The Whole Armor of God (Christian Soldier)

Sunday, April 21, 2013
https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/04/the-whole-armor-of-god.html
 Put on the whole Armor of God and be a faithful soldier for God.
Includes updated visuals and links to make your own armor.

Bible Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20. Paul starts by saying to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. The Roman Empire was the main world power during Paul’s time. Who are we fighting? Satan Who can help us fight him? God Paul compares armor to what we need to fight everyday temptations.
11.  Paul said that if you put on the WHOLE armor of God, then you CAN stand up against the devil and all the problems he will put in your way.  STAND up to do the job. You can be ready to fight and can keep a better watch if you are standing and looking!
http://www.padfield.com/bible-times/roman-army/index.html
13. So, put on the whole armor so we can fight when we have to and when it’s over, we’re still standing. Think about Paul and all the soldiers that he had to deal with in his life. He had soldiers guarding him all time and it had to be on his mind. Just imagine Paul looking at them and thinking to himself…this piece protects this, and that piece does that…All the parts together help take care of the whole soldier!
14. Paul starts by saying to gird your waist with the belt of truth. Back in Paul’s time, the people wore long clothing, so if they were going to travel or do some work, they would bind the long parts of their clothes with a sash, or belt. That implies that they were ready to do tough work. We have some tough work for Jesus to do. So, put your belt on and get ready to do it! The truth is what? The Bible. Studying the Bible will hold us together like the belts did.
https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/04/the-whole-armor-of-god.html
The second part of the armor Paul talks about is the breastplate. He calls it the breastplate of righteousness. He says to make sure you have it wrapped around your waist with truth. The Roman breastplate was made from metal and had rings like scales hooked together. It protected the soldiers vital body parts. They could move easily, but still be protected from attacks like arrows, knives, spears and swords. Righteousness means honesty and justice which is exactly what God expects.
https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/04/the-whole-armor-of-god.html
15. Then he talks about the feet. Paul says to strap on your shoes with the gospel of peace. The Roman soldiers had leather shoes that had leg greaves. They could walk easily, but it was very hard to walk backwards. The shoes had hobnails (like football cleats) that were made from brass on the bottoms of their shoes. The greaves were made to fit from the knee down to the ankle.

We have peace from not worrying and knowing about Jesus. If you have shoes that are not made for the right job, you will limp along and not be able to keep up with what Jesus wants us to do.
https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/04/the-whole-armor-of-god.html
16. But most of all: Take the shield of faith with you and you will be able to put out the fiery darts of the devil. They had 2 different kinds of shields. One type was round, and the other was tall. They held the shield on their left arm and that made it easy to move it in any direction to fight off danger. Our faith in Jesus and knowledge of the scriptures will help us fight off the things that Satan sends our way and tempts us to sin. (Explain the fiery darts [FFG printable at the end of lesson for this.])
https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/04/the-whole-armor-of-god.html
17. Then Paul added to take the helmet of salvation. The soldier’s helmet was made from thick leather or brass, and it protected the head from any blows. Salvation is our protection from Satan if we use our head and study God's Word and do what He wants.
https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/04/the-whole-armor-of-god.html
Don’t forget the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The Roman soldiers used a short sword so they could fight in close contact. It was also used to push back the enemy. When you study the Bible, you have the ability to push Satan away.
https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/04/the-whole-armor-of-god.html
18. Paul reminds them to always pray and keep watch, like soldiers always do, until the end. 
https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/04/the-whole-armor-of-god.html
Persevere, which means to persist or keep on being a Christian, no matter how hard it is, because Paul reminds us that even though he is a prisoner, he keeps preaching about Jesus and he stayed faithful.
http://www.padfield.com/bible-times/roman-army/index.html
The Roman soldiers would put their shields together, like you see in the photo, and work together to fight the enemy. They could advance as a team and keep themselves safe.
And, if we as Christians work together to fight Satan, we can be a stronger force. By that, I mean, if we spend more time with our fellow church friends, attend worship like God tells us to, study the Bible and attend the extra functions that the Elders set up so we can spend time together, we can get strength together to fight Satan!
Click here to download the updated teacher's visuals.
https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/04/the-whole-armor-of-god.html
The posters/Anchor Charts have been updated again!

I updated them with a cleaner look, easier on the printer and some graphics were updated.

 Click here to download.

www.biblefunforkids.com
Visual Aid: I will set up a display of Roman soldier armor. A Roman helmet and sword, kids' outfit, and a Roman shield. And, I have visuals of each piece for the lesson. And each student will have a workbook to do as I teach this lesson.
 
When we are finished with the lesson, everyone will try on the outfit and get their picture taken. I will print it, frame it and give it to them next week.
This is a fill in the blank worksheet for each part of the armor.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3uNEVAAKowpbDd6Mm4wLThFcHc/edit?usp=sharing
You can print it in color or black & white here:
These do not have any words, just lines, for the students to fill in the armor part & description:
Click here to print in Color      Click here to print in B/W


www.biblefunforkids.com http://kidsbibledebjackson.blogspot.com/
You can print the dog tag labels also. You can purchase the dog tags at party stores, eBay or where kids party supplies are sold. I purchased these at Hobby Lobby with the 40% off coupon. You can print the labels, cut out, and then put them through a sticker maker. If you do not have a sticker maker, I would use the glue dots like you see in the first photo. Print the dog tags here.

Bible Verse: Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11 (NKJV)
www.biblefunforkids.com
File Folder Game printable after the Bible lesson.
 I made this file folder game as an effort to make something different. I haven't seen any FFG's to explain the fiery darts that Satan hurls at us so that elementary kids can understand it. This lesson usually addresses the parts of the soldier's uniform from Paul's letter, as it should, and there are a lot of ideas already online to use.
This FFG addresses the good and the bad that we have discussed in the last couple of lessons. I used words from Fruit of the Spirit and Bee Who Jesus Wants You to Bee! to discuss sin and what is good that God wants us to do. You can download the FFG here.
www.biblefunforkids.com
I also used this flannel board visual (instead of the FFG) to discuss the sins that Satan throws at us and that we fight daily. It is Betty Lukens Armor of God.
http://www.biblefunforkids.com/2016/04/armor-of-god-shield-of-faith.html
Click here to see and print this updated shield and more.
http://kidsbibledebjackson.blogspot.com/ www.biblefunforkids.com
I made these shields from poster board. It is much easier and faster to cut them 'assembly line' style. By that I mean, I cut all the rectangles for the shields, the strips for the borders, the cross shapes, etc. and assembled them. Each shield is about 20 x 14.
First, I cut the red poster board in half down the center. Then, I cut about an inch off across the top, which will be used for one of the back straps for the students arm to hold the shield.

I rounded the corners of my shields off, but you can save a lot of work if you keep them square. Next, the trimmed the corners, and cut strips of the yellow poster board.
Yellow Poster Board:  I wanted the shield divided so the kids could add something to it for the month leading up to this lesson, so this is what I did. Obviously, the pattern on the shield is unlimited! For the center cross I cut the strips 1 1/2" long. The long vertical is 13" long (point to point) and the horizontal line is 10" (point to point).
The yellow strips around the outside are about 1", and I also added inside corners to finish off the corners. Once the edges and the center cross are glued, add red glitter glue circles and let everything dry.
I will add the arm handles on the back the week of the lesson, so they are not in the way each week we add the pictures on the front. Also, the kids will add their photo the first week, but I have added the picture of Jesus in Heaven in case you'd rather use that. Click here to print the pictures for the shield.
http://kidsbibledebjackson.blogspot.com/      www.biblefunforkids.com   www.biblefunforkids.com
This is one of the bulletin boards that I do for this lesson. Click here to see the Colossal Roman Soldier Poster (McV1649) [We love it!] Updated note: This isn't printed anymore, so look on your favorite resale site like eBay or Amazon.
And the Armor of God posters with each piece of the outfit are here.
Updated note: This isn't printed anymore, so look on your favorite resale site like eBay or Amazon.
http://www.biblefunforkids.com/2016/04/armor-of-god-helmet-of-salvation.html
Click here to see and print the Helmet of Salvation.
http://www.biblefunforkids.com/2016/05/armor-of-god-sword-of-spirit.html    http://www.biblefunforkids.com/2016/04/armor-of-god-belt-of-truth.html
Click here to see the Sword of the Spirit.
Click here to see the Belt of Truth.
The photos of the Roman Soldier are either from www.Wikipedia.com or from www.Padfield.com. All photos have the link under them of the original owner. The photos from David Padfield are copyrighted and not permitted to be used without his permission. The Padfield photos are used with permission here. The photos without an owner link are my photos.
 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission.

26 comments

  1. VERY cool and so detailed!!!
    Merinda
    Pirate Girl's Education Invasion

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  2. What a terrific idea. Please share it (and any others) on my family-focused Kid Corner @ http://wp.me/p280y0-SQ . You may just get highlighted next week :-) Jennifer

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    1. Thanks so much for visiting and the invitation to share in your linky party! I appreciate it and added this and God makes the weather.

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  3. What a GREAT unit!

    Thanks for linking up to TGIF! I always enjoy seeing what you've come up with! Hope to see you linked up again tomorrow!

    Have a great day,
    Beth =)

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  4. I love a lot of your info here and resources and it is always good to see someone referencing the true armor of God Paul would have seen in his time, rather than the medieval armor. You have a lot of great creative ideas. I particularly liked your fiery darts game. Just as one point to bring out however, as a historian and my husband with a doctorate in ancient / classical history with a special emphasis on Roman history, and even works as a living history reeenactor of the 1st-3rd C. A.D., and wanted to bring to your attention that the shields were never made of hide or layers of hide, but were actually made from layers of wood, and put together often with hide glue to create the equivalent of our plywood. Plus, if they would have soaked the wood, it would have destroyed the glue and the shield. The shields were covered in linen and sometimes calfskin then painted with a milk paint. To protect them from getting wet in rain, they had leather shield covers that could go over the wood to protect them. Additionally the only flaming arrows in Paul's time was only in siege warfare from fortresses and on the siege weapons which would be covered in animals skins then drenched to protect them, but then removed the animal skins from the siege machines. The Romans did not actually shoot flaming arrows themselves, but often had Assyrian archers in their army from Lebanon and North of Damascus. In actual combat against an enemy though, they wouldn't have wasted their time trying to be precise against a soldier or even a couple soldiers, but mainly targeted flammable objects. Hope that helps. :) Keep up the great work!

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  5. How, specifically, do you play the FFG for this lesson?

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    1. I did use the FFG, because I had so much other stuff for them. But, I would use it as a review or discussion starter for how God wants us to be vs. things Satan throws at us and we have to fight him off. Good vs. bad. You could quickly toss each arrow down and have the kids tell if it is how God wants them to be, or if Satan is tempting them.

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  6. Great post! And, a great way to get kids in the scriptures! Smiles!

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  7. Thanks for all your hard work. We really appreciate your wonderful resources for kids church.

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  8. These are awesome. I use your site regularly and always impressed at the work you put into each lesson. We are doing the armor of God for VBS this year and this will be great. Thanks

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  9. Thank you so much for the useful and true-to-God's-word resources. This will make our VBS so much more interesting and informative for the kids. They will truly remember the scriptures and give God the glory. Thanks again.

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  10. Just wanted to let you know how very much you are appreciated, dear sister in Christ! The children gain so much from your amazing work. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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  11. Thank you! I came across your blog today through the Hip Homeschool blog hop. I have a free homeschool resources page, and I'm going to link your blog up there. This is so detailed and helpful for Bible lessons!

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  12. Am I correct in understanding that you would not want multiple copies of these things (FFG, etc.) printed out in quantities to give to kids to work on? So many great ideas on your site - thank you for sharing with all of us. I'd love to use these in Sunday school but don't want to infringe on any thing.

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    1. Lauren, you are permitted to print as many of anything you want/need from this website. You can send it to the church office for printing. I just ask that if someone asks for a copy to send them here. Everything on this site is created to use in class, homeschooling, camp, VBS, etc. So, print away ☺ and thanks for stopping by! And, they will love the file folder printables.

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    2. Thank you for answering this question and letting us print. I had same question if I could print some of your work and pass it on to my Sunday school students. Thank you for sharing your great work on this subject. God bless you!

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  13. I am teaching on the armour of God and found this to be very helpful.

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  14. I so appreciate this. The visuals are going to be so helpful to my class of 24 three to seven year olds tomorrow! Thank you!

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  15. Debbie I love all the lesson material. You bring the lessons to life. and you have so much material for each lesson it is easy to apply them to different age groups very easy.
    Thanks for you hard work and sharing. My daughter told me about your web sight and I will tell other people too.

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  16. Be the Glory and Honour to our GOD Almighty. As Chrstians we need to PUT on the Armor of GOD.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I appreciate it! They will be added as soon as they are approved.