Opening

• If you were the only one who believed in God in the whole world, what would you do? Would you keep believing in God?
• Remind the children that they are blessed to have others that believe with them.

Bible Story

• Uzziah was king of Judah. This meant that he was the big boss of the entire country! The king made all the rules and everyone had to obey him. At first, Uzziah followed God and did what was right, but after he became powerful, Uzziah became proud. He decided that he didn’t have to obey God’s rules and chose to go into God’s holy temple to burn incense. (This was a job God had given to the priests and only priests were to do it.)

• Azariah the priest, along with 80 other priests, went to tell King Uzziah that what he was doing was wrong. It took courage for them to do this because the king had the power to order anyone who angered him to be put to death.

• King Uzziah did get very angry. As he was raging at the priest, leprosy (a horrible skin disease) broke out on his skin. God had sent leprosy. King Uzziah had to live alone for the rest of his life because he had leprosy; he could no longer be around other people or go into any part of the temple to worship God.

• It’s important to remember that it is God’s job to judge (Romans 14:9-11, 1 Corinthians 4:5), while it is our job to encourage others to do right (1 Thessalonians 5:10-15).

• Galatians 6:1 explains that when we correct another person, we are to
  do it gently. This means that if we are confronting wrongdoing, we need to speak quietly and politely. For example, if your friend suggests that you not allow your little brother or sister to play with you, you could say, “Let’s remember to be kind. The Bible says we are to treat others as we want to be treated ourselves.” That would be much better than yelling, “You’re being mean!”

• Confronting wrong can also be easier if we support each other in standing up for what is right like the priests did. If another child points out that someone is doing something wrong, you can support them by simply saying, “I agree with you; it’s important to follow God’s rules.”

• At times, there may be other children who make fun of you for choosing to follow Jesus and doing what is right. These are the times that you can remember that Jesus had people hurt Him too. He helps us feel joyful when things are hard by giving us His Holy Spirit.

Questions

1. What did King Uzziah do that was wrong?
2. Who was courageous enough to tell the king that he was sinning?
3. Did God support them when they confronted the king for doing wrong?
4. When might you have to confront someone who is doing something
   wrong?
5. What is the best way to confront wrongdoing?