Paul

When God lets us choose…

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Hello again! Today’s lesson comes from Romans 14. (Also covered in 1 Corinthians 8, 10, and Colossians 2)

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Do you remember last time we talked about worshipping God with our whole lives? Some of the things God tells us to do He is very clear about. Can you think of anything God says NOT to do? (Lie, steal, murder). Can you think of anything God says TO do? (Love one another, tell others about Him, pray and talk to Him).

But sometimes God lets us choose. He doesn’t tell us what kind of job to get when we’re a grown up, or what kinds of games to play. He doesn’t say we can only wear certain colors…He lets us choose those things.

Do you know sometimes grown ups in church fuss over what kind of songs to sing to God or what they should wear to church? And in Paul’s day lots of people fought over what kind of food was ok to eat. But Paul reminded the people of Rome to not argue about things like that. He said, “Loving God is not a matter of what you eat or drink, it’s about being right with God, and having peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, anyone who serves Jesus in this way makes God happy. So let’s try to do things that help everyone get along and know God better. All food is ok to eat, but it is better not to eat or drink (or to do anything else) that will cause your friend to make a choice they think is bad….then they will be sinning against God. If it bothers your friend, try not to do it. If you know your friend doesn’t like something and you do it anyway…that’s not very loving.” He also said some things you can talk to God about and He will help you know if it’s a good choice or bad choice for you. (You can and SHOULD always read the Bible to see what God has to say).

So sometimes God is very clear about what He wants. But sometimes He gives us choices. Before we make a choice we should always

  1. Read God’s word (the Bible) and pray to see what God has to say about it (this can be hard because sometimes our friends don’t make choices that God wants them to. But we can make good choices even if our friends don’t. God will always help you make the right choice if you ask for help!)
  2. Make sure it won’t cause anyone else to make a bad choice
  3. Make sure it’s a choice that shows God love and helps others
  4. If a friend makes a different choice that still shows God love and helps others, then we don’t need to fuss about. (If your friend is making choices that make God sad or hurt other people, then you can help remind them how to make good choices or find a grown up to help).

We can make good choices if we think about loving God and loving others.

 

Thanks for joining us again. Love to you all!

Worship through love

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Welcome back! Today’s lesson is from Romans 12.

Have you ever heard the word “worship?”

Worship means to show honor or love for something. We worship God. We want to show that He is the greatest and that we love Him and will obey Him. We give Him our hearts, our time, our things, we make our choices based on what He tells us.

Some people think worship means singing to God…and that’s ONE way to worship God (and it’s a wonderful way!) but it’s not the only way!

In Paul’s letter to the Romans he tells them LOTS of ways to worship God. He said we can worship God with our whole bodies…with everything we do. Every day we can worship God.

Here are some of the way we show God we love Him, respect Him and think He’s the best!

Everyday, Paul says, you can choose to not think you’re better than anyone else. Remember everyone who loves God has things they are good at and everyone can help others know God. So don’t think you’re better than anyone else…everyone just needs to do the best job they can loving God and loving other people.

Then he says, stay away from bad things and always stay near what is good. Take care of other people. Be excited about God! Be joyful (kind of like happy) because you know God loves you and has great plans for you! Be patient and trust in God when hard or sad things happen. Always, always pray and talk to God. Share everything you have with anyone who needs it.

You can also worship by being nice to people even when they aren’t nice to you. Be happy for your friends when they are happy, but if they are sad, be sad with them. Don’t fight or fuss with each other, try to get along. And don’t only hang out with people like you. Anyone can be your friend.

And one more time he reminds us to not be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. That means if someone is being mean, you don’t be mean back, love them!

Loving God by singing, dancing, and praying are great ways to worship Him. But it is also worship when we love others, share with them and are nice even when people aren’t nice to us. That’s worship too!

How do YOU like to worship God?

 

Isn’t it great that all the ways Paul shows us to worship God are things KIDS can do too!? Yay!

 

For today’s craft we took a piece of construction paper and painted some lines from the center. Then when it dried, we cut out and glued on a heart and our text reads: We worship God by loving others. Romans 12

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This song by Casting Crowns relates to today’s lesson.

Thanks for joining us again, love to you all!

Nothing can separate us!

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Hi again, this lesson is from Romans 8:37-39. Our lesson from last year can be found HERE.

Do you know how much God loves you? Do you know what would make God STOP loving you? Will He love you for a day? A year?

The Bible says that NOTHING can separate us from God’s love. Nothing high or low, no bad guys or even death. Not even our bad choices. God loves us. HE LOVES YOU! You can always trust in His love.

We made a book today to help us remember how BIG and FOREVER God’s love is.

 

(Illustrations include: Title page, dead man, happy man, Angel, yucky demon, clock, arrow to the future, a king, up, down, ALL, a broken circle, a heart)

 

My kids love making these little books to help learn a story or memorize a verse. I hope yours will as well. Thanks for joining us, love to you all!

From Adam to Jesus

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Hi all! Today’s lesson is from Romans 5.

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This is another part from Paul’s letter to the Romans.

The first people God ever made were named Adam and Eve…and they disobeyed God. They sinned. That’s when death entered the world and they couldn’t stay with God anymore. Adam started it all, but everyone sins, just like Adam did. But Paul reminds us that even though sin started with one person, forgiveness comes from one person too! Do you know who that is? It’s Jesus!

Our sin keeps us from God, but Jesus’ sacrifice (dying in our place) brings us back to God. He took our punishment (death). But He didn’t stay dead! God raised Him back to life! That’s what He does with us too! We should have to die for our sins, but because of Jesus, He forgives us and gives us eternal (forever) life with Him.

Paul said if someone was about to kill your best friend, you would stop them! But if someone was trying to kill a bad guy, would you stop them? Jesus did. Jesus didn’t die for us because we are good, He died for us even though we are bad and sin.

Verse 8 says, “God demonstrated (showed) His love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

Sin came from one man (Adam) and is forgiven by one man (Jesus). God loves us even when we sin, and Jesus chose to die for us and forgives us, THAT is true love.

 

We did a craft today, but I don’t really like how it turned out…you win some, you lose some. The important thing is that our children hear the words of God.

Some of these New Testament stories may even be a bit advanced for their understanding. We try and pray for wisdom in how to teach these things to our kids, but sometimes Biblical concepts may still go over their heads. It’s not in vain though. Continual reading and learning of God’s word is a wonderful (and essential) habit to teach our kids. And you never know when they WILL understand these concepts so it’s never too early to teach them! Laying a strong foundation that you can build and build as they grow is never in vain. (Isaiah 55:8-11,  Proverbs 22:6, Deut 11:18-21, Romans 10:17)

 

Thanks for for joining us again, love to you all!

All have sinned…

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Hi all, today’s lesson is from the first 4 chapters of Romans.

Paul wrote a lot of letters. He wrote some while he was traveling and some while he was in jail. One of the letters he wrote was to the people of a big city called Rome. These people were called Romans and the book of the Bible named after his letter to them is also called Romans.

Paul starts this letter by talking to the Jewish people. If you remember a long long time ago a man named Abraham believed God and obeyed Him. And even though Abraham and his wife didn’t have any kids, they believed God when He said Abraham would be the father of many many countries and many people. God chose Abraham and Abraham loved God right back. God did give Abraham a son and his family became God’s people. Abraham had a son named Isaac and Isaac had a son named Jacob and Jacob had 12 sons who became the leaders of the 12 tribes (big family groups) of Israel. (The people of one tribe, Judah became known as Jews.)

Paul wanted the people to know that God had chosen the people of Israel to give His laws to and He made a promise to always be with them. They would sacrifice (kill) special kinds of animals when they sinned and God would forgive them. BUT Jesus came and sacrificed HIMSELF and from then on, anyone who believes in Jesus would be right with God and forgiven for their sins (bad choices against God).

The Jewish people didn’t always like hearing that God was for EVERYONE. They thought they were special! God’s chosen people, remember?? But Paul said, ANYONE who believes and obeys God is like one of Abraham’s children. God didn’t choose Abraham and his family because of the great things they did, but because they believed. So anyone who believes like Abraham and obeys God will also be forgiven and be one of God’s people.

Paul said “all people have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” No one is perfect… We all sin (make bad choices) and that sin keeps us from God. Have you seen the movie Brave? Merida shoots her bow and arrows at the target. When we try to follow God we are like the arrow, but sometimes we miss the bullseye (the middle of the target). When we mess up and sin, we fall short and miss what God wants us to do. That also means we miss out on God. Our sin keeps us from God, BUT Jesus gave us something we don’t deserve. He died for us so when we believe in Him, when God sees us, He sees us as right on target. Righteous….right with Him. Paul said there’s nothing we can do to EARN God’s love or to EARN a place in heaven. God loved us enough to give His son in our place. And not just the Israelites, but ALL people because EVERYONE sins and needs the gift Jesus gave us when He died on the cross and took the consequences for our sin.

 

For our craft today we made targets out of paper plates and construction paper. We folded our red piece of paper in half and drew three rings on it like this.

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We cut out each ring and glued the smallest and biggest onto our plate. Then we cut out and glued on an arrow and wrote the paraphrase of our verse:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but are made right with God for free, as a gracious gift, because of Jesus’ sacrifice.” Romans 3:23-25image

 

Thanks for joining us, love to you all!

Paul’s Shipwreck

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Welcome back, today’s story is from Acts 27/28 and our lesson on this story from last year can be found HERE.

So Paul had been put in jail AGAIN for teaching about Jesus. The leaders decided he and some other prisoners would go to Rome to go to the judge who would decide what to do with them.

It was not an easy trip. They were in the boat a lot longer than they were supposed to be because there were storms. When they were ready to keep going, Paul warned them, “This is not going to be a good trip. It will be really dangerous and we might even die!” But the guard didn’t listen to Paul, instead he followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship and they decided to keep going.

Before very long, a huge storm came, like a hurricane. The ship was caught by the storm and it rocked the boat so hard they had to hold the boat together with ropes! They had to throw all the stuff off the boat because it started sinking and everyone was afraid they would die.

Paul stood up and said: “You should have listened to me! But don’t be scared, because no one is going to die; but the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of God stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You will go to the judge; and God Will protect the lives of all who sail with you.’ So be brave and trust, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.”

They got closer and closer to an island and some of the guards tried to escape in special life boats, but Paul said to the soldiers, “Unless you stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.”

Then the soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the guard wanted to save Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and swim to land. The rest were to get there by riding on planks of wood or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely, just like God said.

When they got to land the people there helped take care of them and Paul was able to teach them about Jesus and do some pretty cool things. He was bit by a snake and didn’t die and he helped some sick people get better. (God gave him that power so he could show everyone GOD’S power and that God is real and can do ANYTHING!)

Even though the ship crashing and being put in jail were sad and scary things, God had a plan! He used Paul to teach the guards and people on the island about Him. Sometimes when sad or scary things happen to us, we can remember that God is in control and that He loves us no matter what and that He has a plan. We should always trust God, even when we don’t know what will happen next, just like Paul did.

We made little boats today with flags that read “Trust in God, Acts 27”

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Thanks for joining us, love to you all!

Growing Together

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Hi all, today’s story comes from Acts 18.

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Paul was traveling all around teaching people about Jesus and next he went to a city called Corinth. There he met a man named Aquila and his wife Priscilla. They were tent makers and so was Paul so he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath (church day) he talked in the synagogue (like a church) teaching everyone about Jesus.

His friends Silas and Timothy had been teaching other places but they came to help and then Paul stopped working on tents and spent all his time preaching, telling everyone Jesus was the Messiah. Some of the Jews (God’s chosen people) didn’t like hearing that God loves EVERYONE and that He sent Jesus to die for EVERYONE! They thought it should only be for them! So they kicked Paul out of the synagogue.

But God told Paul to stay and keep teaching and lots of people came to know about Jesus.

Paul stayed on in Corinth a long time then he left and took a boat to Syria; Priscilla and Aquila went with him. Paul kept traveling, but Priscilla and Aquila stayed in a place called Ephesus.

There they met a Jew named Apollos. He knew a lot of the Bible and loved teaching people about God. But he hadn’t learned a lot about Jesus yet. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him teach, they invited him to their house and taught him even more about Jesus and God’s plan to save everyone.

Apollos then began going around and helping OTHER people know more about Jesus and he traveled a long way and was very good at teaching and helping people know God.

I think this is a fun story because Silas and Timothy helped Paul so he could teach Priscilla and Aquila, they taught Apollos and he taught lots of other people!

In a book of the Bible called 2 Peter (written by Peter, Jesus’ disciple and friend), he says “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The Bible talks a lot about growing. You can grow older, bigger, and stronger. You can also get to know people more and grow a friendship. The Bible tells us to grow in how much we know about God. We can also grow in how much we trust Him and how much we worship Him and serve Him (the things we do to show other people His love.)

Paul wrote a letter to the people of Colossia. In Colossians 3:16 he says, “Let God’s words live in your heart, teach and admonish (that means help each other when you make bad choices) one another with all wisdom, and sing psalms and songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

It’s important to grow in how much we know God and how we serve Him…but we can’t do it alone. We need parents, teachers, pastors, worship leaders…anyone who knows God can help someone else know Him better. Even you! Even though you may be small now, you can still help tell other people the things you know about God! Just like Apollos still had things to learn, you probably do too! (And let’s be honest, adults do too!) But you can help sing songs to God and tell other people about Jesus. We can all help each other grow just like Paul, Silas, Timothy, Aquila, Priscilla and Apollos did!

Paul and Silas in Jail

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Welcome back! Today’s story is from Acts 16. HERE is our lesson from last year.

If you remember from last week, Peter was put in jail for teaching about Jesus, but God saved him by sending an angel to help.

But Paul and his friend Silas were also put in jail for teaching about Jesus. They were chained to the wall and a guard watched over them. But that didn’t stop them from loving God! In the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a big earthquake that the walls and floors of the prison were shaking!  All the jail doors flew open, and everyone’s chains fell off. The guard woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he was SOOOO upset because he thought the prisoners had escaped and he would be in BIG trouble! But Paul shouted, “Don’t worry! We are all here!”

The guard fell shaking before Paul and Silas. He had heard them praying and singing to God before and he asked them, “What do I have to do to be saved by your God?”

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” They taught him and his family all about God. He was so happy, he invited them to dinner at his house and he helped clean them up. (They had been beat up some by the leaders before they were put in jail and jail was a very dirty place back then.)

Paul and Silas trusted God and did not get angry when they were put in jail, but instead they praised God! They still loved God and told people about Him. Then, when they had a chance to escape, they didn’t. They stayed. They did the right thing.

The Bible says that people will know we are God’s children (His followers) by the choices we make and the love we show others. Paul and Silas showed love to the people in jail and even the guard and they did the right thing. The guard and his whole family came to know and love Jesus because Paul and Silas trusted God and showed His love. We can do that too! We can show God’s love, praise Him no matter what and make good choices and then other people might come to know God too because of our example!

 

For our craft today we made chains. We drew lines on a piece of paper like this:

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(Makes two big strips and 6 small strips) we cut those out and looped them together with tape. The big strips are the handcuff part on the end and the small loops are the middle chain links.

 

Our text reads: Paul and Silas in jail, Acts 16

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Thanks for for joining us! Love to you all!

Lydia believes in Jesus

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HI all! Welcome back! Today’s story is from Acts 16.

Paul and his friends were traveling around telling people about Jesus. One day they decided to pray by a river. Some ladies were there and Paul began talking to them. One of the women was name Lydia. She sold fancy purple fabric and she loved God.

She didn’t know about Jesus yet though and when she heard Paul tech about Jesus, she believed right away! She loved God and knew Him and the Bible so well that right away she knew Jesus had to be the Savior the Bible talked about. She got baptized in the river and then invited the disciples into her home for dinner, sharing God’s love.

 

For our craft today we drew crosses and then glued all kinds of purple fabric inside. Our text reads: Lydia believes in Jesus.

 

Thanks for joining us again! Love to you all!

God changes Saul’s heart

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Hi all! Welcome back! Today’s story is from Acts 9. (You can read our lesson/see our craft from last year HERE.)

 

If you remember from our last story about Stephen, when all the people were throwing rocks at Stephen to kill him (because he was teaching about Jesus), they all put down their coats by a man named Saul who was happy to see Stephen die.

Saul wanted to kill all of Jesus’ disciples. He went to the high priest and got permission to go to a city called Damascus where he could find any of Jesus’ followers and take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he traveled to Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you being mean to me and my people?”

“Who are you?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting (being mean to),” He replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and then you will be told what to do.”

The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone?! What was going on!? Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him into Damascus. For three days he was blind (couldn’t see), and did not eat or drink anything.

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. (This is not the same Ananias who tried to lie to God. Do you have any friends that have the same name? Well sometimes people in the Bible had the same name too. So this is a different Ananias.)

God said to him, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

God told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man named Saul…he is praying. In a dream he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

“Lord!” Ananias answered, “I have heard lots of bad things about this man and all the terrible things he has done to Your people in Jerusalem. Now he has come here with permission from the chief priests to arrest anyone who calls on your name!”

But God said to Ananias, “Go! I have chosen this man to tell EVERYONE about me…to the Israelites and even people who are not Israelites (gentiles).”

Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. He put his hands on Saul, and said, “Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”  Immediately, Saul could see again. He got up and was baptized, then he ate some food.
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. He started to preach in the churches that Jesus is the Son of God. All the people who heard him were SO surprised and said, “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.

Whoa.

Isn’t this the same guy who was being SO mean in Jerusalem to those who love Jesus? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners?” They couldn’t believe it! Saul confused everyone living in Damascus by teaching and proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

Soon the people in Damascus who didn’t like Jesus started to plan to kill Saul. (Isn’t it funny that Saul used to kill people who loved Jesus and now he was about to be killed for loving Jesus!?) But some of his friends helped him escape the city and he went back to Jerusalem.

The disciples there were all afraid of him, and didn’t believe that he really had a changed heart. But one them, named Barnabas, took Saul and brought him to the disciples. He told them how Saul had seen God and that Jesus had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had taught without any fear in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and began teaching in the name of Jesus. And he even got a new name, Paul.

Then the church grew and grew and lots of people came to know Jesus.

 

Isn’t it AMAZING that God can take someone so set against Him and change their heart? There is no one that God does not love and no one that God can not reach. If you can think of the grumpiest, grouchiest, worst person you know…remember that God loves even them and He wants them to know Him! And because God can do anything…He can change their heart. Why don’t you pray for that person right now that God would help change their heart.

God used Saul…an average person who didn’t even like Him. He changed Saul’s heart and used Saul to tell SO SO many people about Him and to share His love with other people. God’s love changes an angry heart to a loving heart.

 

For our craft today we started with a brown piece of construction paper and drew a basic man shape like this one:IMG_3521

Then we took 1/2 piece of black and 1/2 piece of white paper and folded them in half. (I tape them together when i need my kids to cut out two papers at once). Then I drew a heart and they cut it out.

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Next we cut a box out of the middle of the man’s tummy. To do this, we folded him in half and cut out a 1/2 box (big enough to fit the heart from step 2).

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Then we opened the paper up and turned it over the back. On the back we taped a string in between the two hearts and taped the string top and bottom to the man (as pictured below).

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(Above: Being silly)

Then we drew on a face and wrote on the white side of our heart “God changed Saul’s heart! Acts 9”

(You can now spin the heart from the black side to the white side as you remember that God can change an angry, sad heart to a heart full of His love.)

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This is a cute video version of the story posted by Teaching Kids About Jesus.

Thanks for joining us today. Love to you all.