good shepherd

David the Shepherd

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi all…today’s lesson is a variance on David the shepherd. Today’s lesson is more focused whereas last year’s lesson was more broad. (Found HERE.)

Do you remember what David was doing before God said he would be the new king? He was taking care of the sheep! That’s called being a shepherd. What kinds of things do you think a shepherd has to do? (Feed the sheep, get them water, keep them safe, show them where to go, keep them healthy.) The shepherd loves his sheep.

When David got bigger, he was like a shepherd to the people of Israel. He became king and he took care of the people just like he took care of the sheep! He kept them safe, fighting in battles, and he made sure they had food and water. He led the people to God and he obeyed God which helped remind the people to obey God too! (2 Samuel 5:2, 1 Chronicles 11:2, Ezekiel 34:11-23, Psalm 78:70-72)

David would get married and have a baby boy. And that boy would grow up and have a boy and he would have a boy and on and on for 14 times, until another baby boy was born–Jesus. Jesus is like a shepherd too. He leads us to God and He keeps us safe. David wrote a lot of songs and in those songs, David called God “our Shepherd” a lot. (Psalm 23:1-3, 28:9, 95:7, 79:13, 100:3)

He takes care of us…and even more important than making sure we have the THINGS we need, He takes care of our hearts. Jesus doesn’t just take care of us, He loves us, just like a shepherd loves his sheep. (Isaiah 40:11, 53:6, Micah 7:4, Jeremiah 31:10)

Sometimes if a wolf or other scary animal would come and try to eat one of the sheep, the shepherd would fight the animal–even if he died..he would try to fight to save his sheep. Do you remember Jesus died for us? Sin (anything that disobeys God) wants to have our hearts…which keeps us away from God forever…but Jesus, the Good Shepherd, fought and died to save us. (Isaiah 53:6, John 10:11). But He didn’t stay dead–because unlike a regular shepherd, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is stronger than sin and death. Not EVEN dying can keep Jesus away from us or away from loving us.

God gave His people in Israel a good shepherd, David to lead them and protect them. But later He would give ALL of us Jesus, the Good Shepherd (the best shepherd of all) to love us, protect us, and save our hearts.

 

For today’s craft, we cut out a sheep’s head and then glued some fluffy cotton balls to make a sheep.

 

Thanks again for joining us. Love to you all!

The Lost Sheep

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi all! Welcome! This month we are learning about the things Jesus taught. Today’s story is another parable (a story meant to teach us something).

The verses for today’s lesson can be found in the Bible in Luke 15:1-7 and John 10:1-16.

One day the Pharisees and some other people who didn’t like Jesus were complaining about Him eating with sinners and bad people, so Jesus told them a story.

A lot of people back then took care of sheep, so everyone who heard this story would know that a shepherd works hard to take care of his sheep. He gives them food and water and protects them from coyotes or wolves…even if he gets hurt or dies while fighting them off. A good shepherd loves his sheep and knows them all.

“Once there was a shepherd who had a hundred sheep whom He loved and he lost one of them. He left the ninety-nine other sheep in the open country and went after the lost sheep until he found it! And when he found it, he joyfully put it on his shoulders and took the little sheep home. Then he called his friends and neighbors together and said, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who asks God to forgive them, than over ninety-nine people who do not need to repent.”

Jesus also said in the book of John, “A good shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought his sheep out, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as my Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Jesus was saying that He takes care of us and is even willing to die for us (and He did! on the cross for our sins!) He knows us by name and if we are really His, we will know Him and listen to Him. And how do we know what Jesus says? How do we know His voice? By praying and reading His words to us from the Bible! He gave us the Bible as His voice.

Jesus then told the Pharisees and others, “I have other sheep that are not with me yet. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” Jesus was saying there are more people who need to learn about Him! And when they learn and accept Jesus into THEIR hearts, it’s like one big family, and He promises to take care of all of us! We can help tell others and bring them to God!

Jesus is our good shepherd. He takes care of us, He keeps our hearts safe from Satan who tries to keep us away from God. He provides what we need and He loves us and knows us by name. He even died to save us from being apart from God forever! He leads us and tells us what we should do in the Bible. We can listen to His words, follow Him and trust Him. He IS a good, good shepherd.

For our craft today we made little sheep out of paper plates. We used a black circle of construction paper and two u-shaped pieces of black construction paper; some googly eyes, a pom pom nose and cotton balls.

Our text reads: Jesus the good shepherd, Luke 15, John 10

This is a video of the Parable of the Lost sheep posted by Sabbath School.

This video is called the Baa Baa song posted by Sibling Harmony.

Thanks for joining us! Love to you all!