Impatience and the Golden Calf || Exodus 32:1–14
Sunday, October 11, 2020 — Worship@Home resources for FirstPres Hayward
As our congregation has made the decision to move to a digital online format for our Sunday Family Gathering due to COVID-19, FirstPresKids is here to provide resources that can help you create your own at-home family worship experience or supplement the one that will be streamed on Sunday mornings, 10PST from FirstPres Hayward.
NOTE: You can also go to the FPK YouTube Channel to view most (not all) of these materials on this week’s FirstPresKids YouTube Playlist.
Scriptural Focus: Though God had only just freed the Israelites a few months earlier, while waiting for Moses to come down from Mt. Sinai , they became restless and cranky— with their contributions and Aaron’s help they made a golden calf to worship —they were too impatient too wait for God and filled their lives with a false idol
Lesson Objective: to become aware of our impatience — our desire to reject our present reality — and the way we fill our lives with idolatry, our worship of false gods
Parent/Caregiver Resources:
- “The Lost Virtue of Patience” (Psychology Today article)— “The opposite of patience is, of course, impatience, which can be defined as the inability or disinclination to endure perceived imperfection. Impatience is a rejection of the present moment on the grounds that it is marred and ought to be replaced by some more ideal imagined future. It is a rejection of the way things are, a rejection of reality.”
- “Four Reasons to Cultivate Patience” (Greater Good article)
- “How to Help Your Kids Be a Little More Patient” (Greater Good article)
- “3 Ways to Teach Kids Patience” (video)
Opening or Closing Prayer: Dear God, We struggle with being patient. We are used to the distractions of our busy world. We do not like to be uncomfortable. And so when we must be patient — patient for things, for justice, for you — we get restless, anxious, bored. We do not know how to sit still. We create, build and fill our lives with golden calfs, false idols — things, yes, but also activities, behaviors, made up realities— instead of sitting in the moment you put us in. We gather our resources like the Israelites and invest them in things, places, people and ideas that are displeasing to you. God, help us to be still, to be patient, to sit in discomfort and to reject the quick “fixes” that distract us from your vision for the Children of God. Amen.
Scripture:
Videos for Kids:
Discussion Questions:
- Tell about a time it was hard to be patient.
- Why do you think it is hard to be patient?
- Why were the Israelites impatient?
- When you are impatient, what do you do? How to you behave? What do you feel? Where do you feel it in your body?
- What have you seen adults do when they are impatient?
- What are some examples of “golden calfs”/false idols that you or others fill your time with, especially when you are bored or impatient?
- Next time you feel impatient, how can you resist being like the Israelites?
Play:
- Patience Game — use this video or grab a timer and play with your family.
Make:
- On a square of yellow or other paper, write down false idols that you use to distract yourself when you are impatient. Fold it into an origami cow as a reminder of the ways you separate yourself from God.
Books: libraries are closed and you may not have time to order books, but check out the lists below and often a quick internet search will turn up a video version of many picture books. Or see below for my quick picks that you can “read” online!
