Jesus is tempted

Hi all! Today’s story is from Matthew 4. (Also touched on in Mark 1 and Luke 4)

After Jesus was baptized by John, the Holy Spirit led Him to the desert and He fasted for 40 days. (That means He didn’t eat any food. Instead of eating, He prayed and talked with God. You can imagine that after 40 days He was HUNGRY!!!)

**Side note: Do you remember what God’s helpers are called? (The angels.) Who made the angels? (God did!) So who do you think is more powerful, the angels or God? (God is!) But just like people, God lets the angels choose if they will love and obey Him. Some of them choose not to and these bad angels are called demons. Their leader is named Satan (or the devil). He wants people to NOT love God. And he thinks HE is better and more powerful than God. (But we know he’s NOT!)

So…Satan came to visit Jesus in the desert to try to trick Him and get Him to stop following God’s rules.

Matthew 4 tells us 3 different things Satan did to try to trick Jesus. First, he knew Jesus was very hungry, so he said, “Why don’t you take some of the stones around here and turn them into bread? If you’re REALLY God’s son…You could do that!”

But Jesus said, “NO! God says ‘food and bread are good for people, but God is MORE important.’ I choose God.”

Then Satan took Jesus to the top of the temple (the church) and said, “If You’re REALLY God’s son, then jump all the way down and let His angels catch you!”

But Jesus said, “NO! God says ‘You are NOT supposed to try to trick God!'”

Lastly, Satan took Jesus to a high mountain and they looked over all the kingdoms of the world. Satan said, “If You will bow down and worship ME, I will give You all of this! You can have all the kingdoms and all the people!”

But Jesus said, “NO! God says ‘worship only HIM!'”

(Every time Satan tried to trick Jesus, Jesus used God’s words to fight Him. We can use the Bible verses we know too when people try to get us to stop following God. Sometimes we can even THINK things that are untrue, like “i’m not pretty enough or good enough.” But then we can remember that the Bible says “I am fearfully and wonderfully made! And God loves me!”)

Satan tried to get Jesus to do things His own way, instead of God’s way, but Jesus remembered God’s words and followed Him.

After that, Satan left Jesus alone and God sent some of His angels to help Jesus (probably to get Him some food and take Him back home.)

 

For our craft today we made a little book.

The front says “Jesus was tempted. Matthew 4”

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Page 1: Satan said, “turn the stones to bread”

(You could use clipart from the internet, but i like child-produced art, so i let them draw stones and bread how they could).

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Page 2: Jesus said, “No! People need food, but they need God more!”IMG_1316

Page 3: Satan said, “Jump! and let the angels save you!”

(This is how we drew the temple– a box, with big columns, a triangle roof and Jesus standing at the top.)
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Page 4: Jesus said, “No! Do not try to trick God!”IMG_1318

Page 5: Satan said, “worship me and i’ll give all the kingdoms to you”

(we drew a castle)

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Page 6: Jesus said, “No! We are supposed to worship ONLY God”

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Thanks for joining us. Love to you all!

Jesus is baptized

Hi all! Today’s story is from Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, and John 1.

John was Jesus’ cousin. Do you remember how he jumped in his mommy’s tummy when he was still a growing baby when Mary came to visit? The angel told John’s parents he would lead the way for the Messiah.

John and Jesus were now grownups. John wandered all around telling everyone that the Messiah was coming! He also told them to repent of their sins (that means tell God every wrong thing they’d done, AND ask God to forgive them.) Then, he would baptize them. That means he would lower them into some water (usually a lake or river) and then bring them right back up. The going under was a way to show they were leaving their sins behind, and coming out of the water new and forgiven by God.

Going in and out of the water is NOT what made God forgive the people. It was just a sign to show others that they had asked God to forgive them.

One day, Jesus came to John and asked to be baptized.

“But Jesus!? YOU are the Messiah! You’ve never done anything wrong! I should be baptized by YOU!” (Remember Jesus is God’s son, so He’s perfect and CAN’T sin (make bad choices.))

But Jesus said, “This is the right thing to do.” Jesus wanted to be baptized by John to:

  1. Show the people He was one of them.
  2. He was also setting an example for us. When we love God and ask Him to forgive us of our sins, then He asks us to be baptized…to show everyone the decision we’ve made to follow Him. (1 Peter 3:21, Col 2:12, Acts 2:38-41, Mark 16:16)
  3. Also, Jesus was about the show people who He REALLY was.

John agreed and baptized Jesus. When Jesus came up out of the water, the Bible says, the sky opened and the spirit of God came down as a dove and landed on Jesus. Then everyone heard God say, “This is My son, who I love. I am pleased with Him.”

 

**God is 3 people in one. This is called the trinity. There is God the Father in heaven; Jesus, God’s son; and the Holy Spirit, God’s spirit. When Jesus was baptized, God showed Himself to the people in all 3 ways…with Jesus, His Spirit and in His voice. (The trinity can be confusing to think about…even for grownups. The nice thing is…we will fully never understand God and His ways…and that’s OK! HE does…and we know we can trust Him. These things might make more sense as you get bigger…but you can now know God has 3 parts…the Father, the Son and the Spirit.)

Jesus showed the people who He really was–God’s son. John told everyone THIS was the Messiah and with His baptism, Jesus showed us about dying to sin and coming up with new life with God (just like He would die on the cross and rise again.)

 

For our craft today, we started with a popsicle stick and a string about 4x the length of the popsicle stick. (In the photo below the string is tied but DON’T tie it yet.)

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Tape the string lengthwise to the popsicle stick. Then  you can draw a face on the top of the stick and add whatever kind of “clothing” you want. (We opted for triangle construction paper).  That will make your “Jesus popsicle stick on a string.”

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Next we found some cardboard and cut it to match a sheet of construction paper and glued blue construction paper to the cardboard. (You can make it any size you’d like as long is it’s bigger than the popsicle stick).

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We cut out a dove shape and cut up and glued some feathers on our dove and glued the dove onto our blue construction paper.

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Then we cut two holes big enough for “popsicle stick Jesus” to fit through. They are about 1 popsicle stick length apart. (A grownup should do this part!)

Then we ran our string through the holes and tied it together. This makes a loop through the holes so “popsicle stick Jesus” can go into the water, around the back and back out of the water.

Lastly we added our text: Jesus was baptized. “This is My son. I am pleased with him.” Luke 3:22IMG_1267

Above is our completed project. The kids had a lot of fun putting Jesus into the water and pulling Him back out.

 

**Update:

THIS VIDEO of today’s story is from Saddleback Kids.

THIS is a more in-depth version from Crossroads Kids’ Club.

Thanks for joining us again. Love to you all!

Jesus in the temple

Hi again!

This month we are learning about Jesus’ life (next 2 months will be His miracles and His teaching.)

The Bible doesn’t say much about Jesus when He was growing up, but there is one story which can be found in Luke 2.

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Every year, all the Israelites would travel to Jerusalem to the temple (the one big church for God.) They would celebrate Passover (when they remembered God leading the people out of Egypt and the angel of God PASSED OVER the houses of the people who obeyed God.)

At your church, you may go to a sunday school class while mom and dad go to “big church” or “grown up church” or the main sanctuary.

Well when Jesus was 12 years old, Mary and Joseph told Him He was big enough to go “big church” with them and celebrate the Passover.

Joseph, Mary and Jesus traveled from their home with their whole family (aunts, uncles, cousins…probably a LOT of people on this trip). So when it was time to go home, Mary and Joseph assumed Jesus was with them. (And they were probably looking after Jesus’ smaller brothers and sisters). So no one noticed that Jesus WASN’T with them.

Not long after they headed home, Mary looked around and said, “Where’s Jesus?”

They looked, but couldn’t find Him. So they went back to Jerusalem and 3 days later!!! they found Him in the temple.

Jesus was talking with the leaders and they were very impressed with how much He knew about God and how well He knew God’s heart. (We know that’s because He’s God’s son! But they didn’t know that yet.)

When Mary found Jesus she said, “What do you think you’re doing?! We;ve been so worried?!”

And Jesus answered, “Didn’t you know I would be in my Father’s house?”

Jesus called the temple His FATHER’S house. (It is God’s house and Jesus is His son.) Mary was confused and told Jesus it was time to go.

The Bible says Mary thought about all these things on the way home…about how it was Jesus’ Father’s house and how He had to be there. Jesus DID need to be in the temple listening and even teaching others about God, but He also knew the importance of obeying His mom.

The next stories about Jesus’ life are after He’s a grown up. And we’ll learn more about that tomorrow.

 

**Update:

This year we made a craft. We cut out a basic “temple” shape and also a square of a different color paper. We drew Jesus on the square and glued it to a big piece of paper. Then we cut out the temple shape and starting from the middle of the bottom, cut a letter T into the paper. This created two flaps to be doors. We then glued the temple over the square so we could open the temple doors and find Jesus.

THIS VIDEO from Saddleback kids tells today’s story.

THIS is another video posted by Teaching Kids about Jesus that tells this Bible story.

Thanks for joining us, love to you all!

 

Jesus grew!

Welcome back!

Today’s story is from Luke 2:52.

Do you know what the Bible says about Jesus when He was a kid?

 

Not much. :0)

 

After He was a baby, the Bible doesn’t say much about Jesus until He is 12 and then nothing again until He is a grownup.

I think that’s because there’s nothing too extraordinary to tell. Jesus was a regular kid, just like you! He played with His brothers and sisters. He helped His mom and wrestled with His dad. He went to school, He did His chores, He had friends. He ate dinner, learned to use the potty, and spoke silly baby gibberish until He learned how to talk.

Jesus was God’s son, but He was also a regular kid, just like you!

The Bible DOES tell us in Luke 2:52 that “Jesus grew in wisdom, in stature and in favor with God and men.”

That means Jesus learned things, He got bigger and taller, and He made good choices that made God happy and people started to respect Him. As you grow up, YOU will learn things, and YOU will get bigger and stronger, and if you listen to your mom and dad, YOU will make good choices and learn to love God.

Jesus came for a very very special reason, but He was also a regular boy!

For our craft today, we made a growing Jesus. We cut out a circle head, triangle body and some little feet and rectangle arms. We glued the head on top of the triangle and the arms on the sides and the feet on the widest part of the triangle. We folded up the triangle like a fan. Then, the kids could scrunch Him up, and stretch Him out to see Him grow. Lastly, we wrote out Luke 2:52 at the bottom.

 

 

There is also this video of a song from Steve Green. (It’s a little old school, but still a great song to help kids remember our story/verse from today)

 

**Alternate craft: This year we did a similar but new craft where we cut out Jesus’ head and body and gave him stretchy arms and legs.

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We also found THIS VIDEO from Saddleback kids.

Thanks for joining us! Love to you all!

Simeon and Anna

Hi all! Welcome to 2016!

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Merry New years too. (We were in bed at our usual times haha).

This month of january we’ll be learning about Jesus’ life. (We will study His teachings in February and His miracles in March.)

 

This story is from Luke 2.

When baby Jesus was only 8 days old, Mary and Joseph took Him to the temple (the church) so they could give God a sacrifice (like a gift for God) and they would present baby Jesus. This means they would promise to give Him to God and they would promise to teach Him all about God.

Do you remember how the angel told Mary she would have a baby? And an angel told Joseph it would all be ok? Well they weren’t the only ones God had told about baby Jesus.

At the temple was a very very old man name Simeon. God had promised Simeon that he would see the Messiah, Jesus, before he died.

When Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus to the temple, Simeon took Jesus in his arms and thanked God. “I can die happy now” he said. “I have seen the Lord.” (Because remember Jesus was Mary and Joseph’s son, but He is also GOD’s son!)

Simeon told Mary and Joseph that Jesus would be very important. Everyone’s hearts would be revealed (that means we would know who really loved God and who didn’t). Some people would love Jesus, but some people would NOT, and Jesus wouldn’t have an easy life….but He had a very VERY important life.

Mary and Joseph were surprised by everything Simeon said. But just as Simeon finished, someone else came up to see Jesus. A woman named Anna. She stayed at the temple all the time praising God and praying. She loved God so much. When she saw baby Jesus she was SO excited and she told everyone about Him!

Simeon and Anna were just two people who loved God. And because they loved and knew God so well, they KNEW baby Jesus was God’s special savior come to earth. They told EVERYONE about baby Jesus.

When we love Jesus and know how wonderful He is, sometimes we just HAVE to tell other people about Him! He is too great to keep to ourselves!

This month we will learn more about the good and hard things Jesus had to do when He lived on earth. We can pray and ask God to help us see Jesus the way Simeon and Anna did (with such excitement and worship) and we can ask God to help us tell other people about Him.

For our craft today, we made Simeon and Anna. We cut out circles for the heads and triangles for the bodies. Then we cut a white triangle for Simeon’s beard, and cut some u-shapes for their hair. Then we drew on their faces. We glued the pieces together and then glued our people on a big piece of paper.

Our text reads: Simeon and Anna waited for baby Jesus and told other about Him! Luke 2

Thanks for joining us! Love to you all!

Advent-Day 25-He is Here!

Welcome back! Today is the last day of our advent calendar. We have been learning all about God, God’s son Jesus and Jesus’ earthly family.

Today we read Luke 2 (as a whole) and talked about how Jesus came as a baby and as God’s son. We remembered the real reason Jesus came…to die on the cross in our place. Adam was the first person made and he and everyone after him sinned (disobeyed God). The punishment for disobeying God is to die forever. But, when God forgives us, we can then LIVE forever with Him.

But the only way to be forgiven by God is to believe in Jesus. (John 14:6, Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9-10). Jesus came to die so we wouldn’t have to. When God sees us, He now sees Jesus’ sacrifice (if we believe in Him.) Isn’t that a GREAT reason to celebrate?! Jesus was the last “adam” (man) to face the penalty of death for sins. But He never sinned and took our punishment anyway. (1 Cor 15:45) Sin came into the world through one man, and sin left through one man. One perfect man, God’s son, Jesus.

Merry Christmas!

Bible story: Jesus’ birth

Attribute of God: the last Adam

Craft:

Side one of our ornament today is baby Jesus. (You could make Him however you wanted. Our kids wanted to use some new glitter markers they got.)

Our text reads: Baby Jesus was born! The Messiah was here! Luke 2, John 4:25

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Side two of our ornament is a cross cut and glued onto our ornament.

Our text reads: Jesus came to die for us. The last Adam. John 3:16, 1 Cor 15:45IMG_0846

Our completed advent tree front and back. (We also talked through each ornament briefly today…telling much of the old testament on the front, and describing Jesus’ birth story through the back.)

Thanks for joining us through this month. We’ll be back in January with stories from Jesus’ life. Love to you all!

Advent-Day 24-Waiting for the Messiah

Welcome back! As we finish out our advent calendar (this lesson and tomorrow’s) we have now learned about many of the people of Jesus’ direct family line and His extended family (the Israelites). We have learned a lot of things about God and we’ve learned the story of when Jesus was born.

The Bible is separated into two parts. Everything before Jesus and everything after Jesus was born. But between the time the 1st part (old testament) stops and the 2nd part (new testament) begins, there is some empty space.

400 years passed between the last written words of the old testament and when Jesus was born.

There are no books written for those 400 years, but it doesn’t mean God wasn’t there. He was always working, and listening to His people–He still is. God’s timing is perfect. He sent Jesus just went He meant to. There are no new books of the Bible being written today, but of course we know God is still alive and working and loving us!

During that time, a bunch of different people took turns trying to take over and be in charge of the Israelites (Persians, Syrians, Greeks and Romans). When the new testament picks up, the Romans are kind of 1/2 in charge of the Israelites…they have their own leaders, but the Romans are in charge of them too.

The people were VERY ready for this new king to come! They thought an earthly king would come and get rid of the Romans (and anyone else who tried to take over). But we know Jesus really came to claim the Israelites’ hearts.

Also, some of the leaders of the church made up more and more rules. They made it very hard for the people to follow God. There were so many rules and the leaders thought they were much better than everyone else. The people felt kind of trapped! (Jesus would come help them and show them it’s not hard to love God!)

Now you know how excited the people were! They were stuck under a lot of different leaders…and they were eager for the new king.

Jesus didn’t come to be an earthly king, though…He came for their hearts. He wanted to show the people how much God loved them. And He wants US to know how much He loves us! As you remember Jesus this Christmas, think about all He is and all He has given for us. And if you believe in Jesus and what He has done for you, then ask Him to be YOUR Lord. Ask Him to take your heart too.

Bible story: the 400 “silent” years

Attribute of God: His timing is perfect

Jesus’ birth story: a much awaited Messiah

Craft:

Side one of our ornament today is a clock. We drew on the hands and numbers (but you could use number stickers and even a brad to make moving hands).

Our text reads: God waits–His timing is perfect!IMG_0722

Side two of our ornament is a heart.

Our text reads: Jesus was desired and wanted. Romans 8, Matt 2IMG_0721

Thanks for joining us again. Tomorrow is our last day and we will finish our advent tree. Love to you all!

Advent-Day 23-Prophecies

Welcome back! We are almost to the end of this months’ series where we are reviewing our old testament stories–learning about God, God’s son Jesus and Jesus’ earthly family.

 

Did you know that HUNDREDS of years before Jesus even came to earth as a baby, God was telling people about Him? God told the prophets what to tell the people…and here are some of the things they said about Jesus. (These prophets lived and died before Jesus was born..but everything they said came true!)

I found this wonderful list! someone else had posted online. It features 354  prophecies about Jesus.

We will see just a few of these: Isaiah 11 says,

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.”

Also in chapter 53: “Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Isaiah 9:6-7 says, “For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.”

Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Micha 5:2: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Malachi 3:1-3:

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.

 

We know that God is truth. He can not lie. (John 14:6, Prov 30:5). And everything God said about Jesus..all 350+ prophechies about the coming Messiah came true in Jesus.

Isn’t it wonderful to know we have a God with such a big plan? He is always true and He loves us so much! I am so glad He sent Jesus, and so glad we can celebrate His birth and life together.

 

Bible story: the prophecies about Jesus

Attribute of God: He is the Truth

Jesus’ birth story: It all came true in baby Jesus!!

Craft:

Side one of our ornament today is a Bible. We made this from several pieces of white paper glued on top of one another to form a book and then i had the kids scribble some words on and we headlined it “Bible.”

Our text reads: The Bible tells us about the Savior! Is 9:7, 53:1-12, 11:1-10

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(Sorry the pictures are sideways today??)

Side two of our ornament today is fireworks…because we are so happy every word of God came true! We made the fireworks by using oil pastels on black construction paper.

Our text reads: Every word came true! John 14:6, Prov 30:5

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Thanks for joining us. Love to you all!

 

Advent-Day 22-Worship Restored/Gifts for Jesus

Hi all! Welcome again!

This month we are learning about God, God’s son Jesus and Jesus’ birth story and earthly family.

Yesterday we talked about the Israelite’s coming back to the promised land after being in exile and fixing everything. (Found in the Bible in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah). They fixed their houses, the walls that kept the cities safe and the temple (the church.) But also, a lot of very important things that they used to worship God had been taken. They got those things back and the people listened to their leaders and decided once again, they would follow God. They started really worshipping Him again in the church.

Do you know what worship is? It’s when we show God how much we love Him! We can sing, or pray…even showing love to other people is a way to worship God.

God is worthy of our worship. 1 Chronicles 16:25 says, “For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods.” (The whole chapter is a great read about God’s worthiness).

How do YOU worship God?

 

When baby Jesus was born, some wise men from far away traveled a long time to visit baby Jesus. And they brought presents to give to Him. The Bible doesn’t say how many men came, but they did bring three gifts-gold, frankincense and myrrh. (Frankincense is a spice an myrrh is oil–both of these were usually presented to kings.) They brought baby Jesus some of the best things they had and it makes God happy when we give Him our best too!

These men came to adore Jesus and to give their gifts to the new King. We can use the things God has given us (like money, and our talents–singing, dancing, being a good friend) to worship God. He is worthy of our worship!

 

Bible story: worship returns to the temple

Attribute of God: WORTHY of our praise

Jesus’ birth story: the wise men bring gifts

Craft:

Side one of our ornament today is a temple. (You can make it as accurate or elaborate as you’d like…ours turned out rather simple today…just a gold church with “God” written on it.)

Our text reads: The people worship God. He is worthy of our praise! Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Chron 16:25IMG_0626

Side two of our ornament is some gifts for baby Jesus. We used some scraps of wrapping paper and drew bows on top. (Again, you could use the mini bows, or make them however you want).

Our text reads: The wise men brought baby Jesus gifts. Matt 2.

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Our current tree front (Bible story side) and back (Jesus’ birth story side)

 

Thanks for joining us! Love to you all!

Advent-Day 21-Ezra, Nehemiah, Zerubbabel/Wisemen

Hi all. Welcome back!

We are up to day 21 of our advent calendar, learning about God, God’s son Jesus and Jesus’ earthly family.

Today and tomorrow’s Bible stories go hand in hand. These can be found in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the old testament of the Bible. Our complete lessons for Ezra and Nehemiah can be found here and here. (Below is a shortened version of these accounts).

After King David and some kings after him, the Israelites kept on disobeying God, so He let other people come and take over the promised land and the Israelites had to go live in different places (like Esther in Persia and Daniel in Babylon). The Israelites were finally allowed to go back to the land God had given them after 70 years.

Some of the people who helped go back and start rebuild were named Ezra, Nehemiah and Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was one of the leaders of the Israelites (and a great great great great (lot of greats) grandpa to Jesus!)

When Ezra, Nehemiah and Zerubbabel got back to the promised land, it was a mess! The temple (the church) had been broken and the walls that kept the city safe were a mess! These men helped lead the Israelites to fix the walls and the temple. (We’ll learn more about this tomorrow). They helped *restore* Israel.

Some people tried to stop them from fixing everything, but God kept them safe. He is the ruler of all things and nobody can stop God’s plans!

Israel was rebuilt…the temple and the walls by the Israelites.

But what Israel (and all of us) really needed was for their HEARTS to be restored. They and we, all make bad choices and sin, but God is the Ruler of all things remember. Nothing can stop His plans…and He had a GREAT plan to save us from the consequences our sins.

When Jesus came as a little baby, He was God’s son, perfect and able to fix the people’s sinful hearts. (Eph 2:8, Col 1:20)

Now there were some wise men from a far away place who had read all the things people had said about this new baby King and they were anxious to meet Him! (Matt 2) They followed that big star in the sky until they found Him. They remembered that in Micah 5 of the Bible, it says, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rules of Judah; for out of you will come a Ruler who will be the Shepherd of my people Israel.” They followed the star to Bethlehem to meet the new Ruler, the new Shepherd.

The wise men traveled and waited a long time (just like the Israelites had to travel a long time to the promised land and then wait a long time to restore it.) They were excited to see the new King. But this King had come to restore not the land, but our hearts.

 

Bible story: Ezra, Nehemiah, Zerubbabel

Attribute of God: Ruler of all, Restorer of our hearts

Jesus’ birth story: the wise men seek Him

Craft:

For side one of our ornament today, we took a block and dipped it in red paint and made a brick wall. (This works better with a sponge..but we were out of sponges today…so we made do.)

Our text reads: Nehemiah, Ezra and Zerubbabel help restore Israel. Ezra/NehemiahIMG_0620

For side two of our ornament, we cut out some basic people shapes and opted to decorate them with tissue paper today. (You could make them look any way you like.) We added a star to the top to lead the way (you could just draw it on, or use glitter if you don’t have a star shape.)

Our text reads: The wise men seek Jesus who will restore Israel’s hearts. Matt 2, Micah 5

IMG_0621

 

Thanks for joining us today. Just a few more days to complete our advent calendar. I hope these mini lessons have helped you and your children remember all of God’s goodness to us, before Jesus and through the events of His birth.

More tomorrow! Love to you all!