New Testament

Giving Generously

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Hello again!

As part of our month of June “Living a Godly life” series, today we’ll be learning about giving generously. Our verses are 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, James 2:14-17 and 1 John 3:16.

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(*Not my child, just a stock photo i found…but isn’t she precious?!)

The Bible tells us that it is important to give generously. That means to give a lot and with a happy heart.

The best example of giving is when God gave up His son Jesus to die for us. Jesus came to earth to die for us and to serve us, He gave us everything He had and God loves to take care of us and give us everything we need.

These verses also tell us that it’s important to not just WANT to give, but to actually do it. If you see somebody who needs food, or clothes, or a hug…and you can help them, then you should! It doesn’t help anyone to say “i hope you find some food! I hope you get some clothes.” YOU can be the one to help. When you help, you serve them and love them like God does.

It doesn’t matter how little you have. God says in the Bible that if someone has a LOT of money and someone a little, if they both give all they have, then He is happy with both of them! Whatever God has given you, if you share it the best you can, then God will be happy and you will be sharing His love. Whatever talents or special abilities God has given you, if you share those with others with a happy heart, you will be giving generously. And God LOVES a cheerful giver.

You can help people in need, but you can also help people in your family. You can give your mom a hug, or your brother the last cookie. What are some ways YOU think you can give?

There was no craft today. Instead, we took some muffins to the people working on our new house, and dropped off some things for the local women’s shelter as they had just advertised some needs in the local paper. We talked about giving those items to mommies and kids who needed them, but didn’t have any money for them.

**The most important thing to remember when teaching kids about generous giving (as with most values and Biblical teachings) is that YOU as the parent have to be a living example. If you donate one time when your kid is a preschooler, but are stingy with your giving the rest of the time, it will not stick with them. A constant example of generosity speaks much louder than any small Bible lesson. So, let’s all try to be good stewards of what God has shared with us, and set the example for our kids.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Please share in the comments below!

Next time, we’ll start on the fruits of the spirit. Love to you all.

What is love?

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Hello again! Today we’re talking about love. The Bible says God is love. It also says that God loved us so much that He gave up His only son, Jesus, to die for us.

Our study today comes from 1 Corinthians 13.

It tells us that love is the most important thing. But what is love? These verses tell us that love is kind and patient. When you love someone you don’t try to sound better than them, and you are not rude. Real love doesn’t remember the bad choices people make, but forgives them. Love is not happy when bad things happen, but it protects and keeps safe. Love trusts and hopes and never gives up.

Do you know anybody who loves you like that? Maybe your mom or dad or grandparents? They are patient and use nice words, they keep you safe and never give up on you.

God is love too.

These verses also say that if even we could talk in a bunch of languages or use really big words to tell people about Jesus, but we don’t do it in love, then it’s just a bunch of noise. Even if we know everything in the whole world, it means nothing if we don’t love.

There are lots of things people do, but the only one that matters is love. How can you show love? How can you show love to your mom? What can you do to show your dad you love him? How can you love your brother/sister? How can we love people we just met?

For our craft, we cut out hearts and glued heart type things to them. Then I asked my kids what “love is” and let them answer. (It took *some* examples, but they caught on.) Here are our finished products.

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Here are links to two videos we found cute and helpful to reinforce these verses.

And https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=36p-y8VyNJg

Next time we’ll be learning about generous giving.

Love to you all.

The Body of Christ

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Welcome to June! This month we’ll be studying the teachings of the new testament (romans-jude), essentially “living a Godly life.”

Our first lesson comes from passages in 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Peter 4, and Romans 12.

The Body of Christ:

Your body has many different parts. You have eyes, ears, a nose, a belly, feet, a tummy, a heart, some hair, a mouth and more! All of the parts of your body do different things! Can your eyes touch things like your fingers? Can your belly hear?  Can your feet smell your supper? No no, of course not! God made each part of your body with a special talent (a special thing it was made to do!)

The Bible tells us that all the people who love Jesus Christ work together to serve Him and love others, just like the different parts of a body! Sometimes we are all called “the body of Christ” and God has given each of us some special ways in which we can serve Him and others.

Maybe you are the hands. You can use your hands to give food to people who don’t have any food. Maybe your mommy is a mouth. She loves to sing about God. Maybe your daddy is a heart…he is always caring for other people. Maybe you know some “feet”…or people who are willing to GO to faraway places and tell people about Jesus.

It doesn’t matter what part you are, or how you serve God. The Bible says every part is important. And that means every person who loves God is important and has an important job to do. If God has given you the ability to paint pretty pictures, then do that for Him! If God has made you really good at listening to other people, then listen to them when they are sad. That will help them feel better.

God made you just the way He wanted you to be. And He says you are important. It doesn’t matter how little or how big you are, God wants you to use the things you are good at to worship Him and to love others, everyone works together.

For our craft, we drew a body (you could trace your own child if you had a big enough piece of paper. Hobby Lobby sells paper rolls for $5 that are great for that kind of project, or you could tape a few pieces together, then have your child lie down on the paper while you trace their outline.)

Then we talked about the different parts of our bodies and how we could use them to serve God and others.

Here are our results (lots of pictures today)

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I’d love to see what your creations looked like. Feel free to share in the comments. Next time we’ll be talking about acting in love.

Love to you all!

Revelation

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Hi all!

Today we will be briefly touching on the book of Revelation (the last book in the Bible). Then in June, we will be studying all about living a Godly life (mostly the teachings of the new testament). I think in the future i may add more studies to this and expand it a bit, but this is an introductory lesson.

So John, one of Jesus’ disciples had spent his life serving God and telling others about Him. But, like Paul and Peter, the leaders weren’t happy that John was telling people about Jesus and they sent him away to a lonely island.

While he was there, he had a vision (a dream, a revelation). God showed him the end of everything. John saw Jesus and he looked shiny and bright and an angel told John to write everything down so we could read it and know what God wanted us to know about when He comes back for us.

Some of the things in this book can be confusing, but thats ok. God is in control and He will help us understand when the time comes..

Back before there was any sin, just after God created the earth and everything in it, there were some bad angels. One of them, Satan, was the leader and he lied to Adam and Eve and talked them into making bad choices and sinning. Ever since then, he has been called the “prince of the world” (But don’t worry, he’s NO MATCH for God!)

Satan and his helpers like to make trouble and get people to do bad things. They are so happy when people sin and are separated from God. But Jesus showed John that in the end, Satan and every form of sin and evil and bad things would be thrown away and gone forever.

Jesus also said, He is coming back to earth! To be with us! And He will make a NEW earth, a perfect earth! With no sadness or sickness or loneliness or ouchies. It will be a perfect place for those who love Jesus and the Bible says we get to spend FOREVER together!

The Bible describes this new earth as a wonderful place. It will be beautiful! (What kinds of things do YOU think will be there? What are some of the prettiest and best things you can think of?)

John asked when this would happen? When would Jesus come back and when would sad things be gone? But Jesus said “Only God knows. But He wants you to be ready for when He does come.” John wrote down some of the ways we will know it’s getting closer, but God wants us to love Him and to love others until Jesus comes back.

We just discussed what heaven/the new earth might look like. You could have your child draw a picture or cut out pictures from a magazine to show what it would be like.

I’d love to see your comments about this study and what your children might say about heaven! Feel free to share below. Love to you all.

Eutychus Saved

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This story is from Acts 20:7-12.

Paul was traveling around telling everyone about Jesus. One day he was at a house talking to everyone there. The people were having communion (where we remember Jesus dying for us and living again). He planned to leave for a new city the next day so he stayed and talked really late. It was past bedtime, the sky was dark, the moon was out.

A young man named Eutychus was sitting in an open window upstairs listening to Paul. God’s word is not just for grown-ups…He loves when kids and teenagers listen to what He has to say. But poor Eutychus, he started to get very sleepy and fell out the window! He died from falling too far, but Paul wasn’t mad he fell asleep…he rushed down, laid on him, hugged him and by God’s power Eutychus was ok! Paul said “don’t worry! He’s alive!” The people took him home and were so happy he was ok.

Just as the people sat around and celebrated Jesus dying and living again, they celebrated this young man being able to live again by God’s power.

For our craft, we cut out the center of a paper to be our window. Then we drew sleepy Eutychus and taped a pipe cleaner to his back to the window so he could fall back out of the window and be lifted up again.

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We’ll have more stories in a few days. Love to you all.

Acts 18-Loving those that serve

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Our story today is presented a bit differently than what we’ve been covering. It comes from Acts 18 and is about Paul and some of his friends. For this story, I drew and added to our picture as the story was told. Here is our finished product: image

Paul (centered) was busy telling everyone about Jesus. Some people didn’t like that, but some people were happy and wanted to help. Two of those people were Aquila and his wife, Priscilla.

In our house, Daddy has to work make money so we can buy things like a house to live in and food to eat. Paul’s friends let him stay at THEIR house and shared their food with him so he could spend his time telling people about Jesus. They also met a man named Apollos, who loved God, but didn’t know the whole story of Jesus. So, Aquila and Priscilla brought him to their house and taught him everything they knew.

Some people tell their friends about Jesus at school or while they go to work. You can tell people about Jesus right where you live and play, just like Aquila and Priscilla did with Apollos.

Other people spend their time serving God and telling others about him…like Pastors or missionaries (who go to far away places to serve God). (If you support any missionaries, this is a good time to tell your kids about them..where they live and what they do.) Each week we give money to our church to help God’s house and to help the Pastor(s) be able to spend their time serving God. We also send money every month to the people we know who are missionaries around the world. This helps them be able to live and have a house and food.

Sometimes, God wants us to tell people about Him. Sometimes, He wants us to serve Him right where we are; and SOMETIMES, He wants us to help OTHER people who are serving Him.

The Bible tells us that everyone who loves God is in a family…and that we can all work together like all the parts of your body work together. Some people work far away, some work right here. Some people are like the mouth who tell people about Jesus and some people are the hands…giving and making things. There are LOTS of ways to serve God and to help other people who are serving Him. The Bible also tells us one way is not more important than another way. What are some ways YOU can help serve God? What are some ways you can be a helper to OTHER people who are serving God?

We are wrapping up in Acts–2 more stories, then we’ll focus on John’s vision, then we’ll be ready for June’s lessons. Thanks everyone. Love to you all!

Paul and Silas in Jail

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Hello again! Our story today comes from Acts 16.

Paul and Silas were going around telling everyone about Jesus, and helping people who were sick. Some of the people didn’t like that, so they put Paul and Silas in jail and hooked chains on their arms and legs and said the guard had to keep VERY good watch over them. If they escaped, the guard would be in BIG trouble.

That night, Paul and Silas were singing songs to God. Even when things seemed hard and yucky, they trusted God and told the other people in jail about Him. About midnight (the middle of the night), an earthquake came and shook the whole place. The floors and walls shook. The chains that were keeping Paul and Silas in place fell off and the gates busted open. BUT…they stayed. The guard was VERY worried and said “oh no! The gates are open! The prisoners are gone! I will be in SO much trouble!”

But Paul said “Don’t worry! We are all right here!” The guard immediately asked them what he must do to be saved.

Paul answered “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

The guard took Paul and Silas back to his house and everyone there believed in Jesus that night.

Paul and Silas obeyed and stayed in the jail even when they could have escaped. That showed that they trusted God and that they cared for the guard. God loves everybody and wants everybody to know about Him and His son, Jesus. Paul and Silas could have run away and saved themselves, but instead they stayed and saved the guard and his whole family.

For our craft, we drew Paul, Silas and the guard and made a chain link. We drew the jail and the earthquake.

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We also found this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y24Ak7DJZFg

We’ll continue in Acts next time. Love to you all!

Peter Saved From Jail

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Today’s story is from Acts 12.

Peter had been telling all the people about Jesus and the leaders put him in jail. They put a LOT of guards around him and then locked the door. After Peter went to bed that night, he was woken up by an angel.

The angel said “Peter, get up!” Peter thought he was dreaming, but he got up and followed the angel. The chains on his hands and feet fell off, the doors opened, no one stopped them and they walked right out of that jail! The gates opened for them and then when they got into the street, the angel left him and Peter suddenly knew it was NOT a dream! God had sent a real angel and he was really free!

He went to a house where he knew some  other believers were and knocked on the door. The servant there was SO excited to see Peter that she ran back into the house to tell everyone and didn’t even let Peter in! Ha! They let him in and then he told them ALL what had happened.

The next day the guards were all VERY confused and the leaders were very angry that they let Peter get away.

Sometimes, even when we follow God, sad things happen to us. BUT, we can trust that God is always in control and that NOTHING is too scary or too hard for God. There is nothing impossible when God is on your side.

For our craft, we drew Peter and the angel and made gates from pipe cleaners.

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More from Acts soon. Love to you all!

Peter Visits Cornelius

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Hello again!

The story today can be found in Acts 10.

There was a guard in  who loved God, named Cornelius. He was not Jewish, but he loved and God and God was pleased with him. God told him one day to send for Peter, so he sent his servants to find Peter and bring him to his house.

The next day, Peter went up to his roof to pray and he had a vision (like a dream). He was a giant blanket come down from heaven and it had all kinds of animals on it. A voice said “Peter, get up and eat” but Peter said “No! I only eat the food God told us we can eat! This food is dirty”

But the voice replied, “Do not say anything is dirty if God made it!”

He saw this three times and then Peter sat there confused…trying to figure out what the dream meant.

Then the servants came and asked for Peter. God told Peter not to be afraid and to go with the servants…so he did.

When they got to Cornelius’ house, Peter told him (everyone he had invited–it was a LOT of people) all about Jesus. And THEN Peter understood…Jesus dying on the cross wasn’t just for God’s people…it was for ALL people. God made ALL people and He loves EVERYONE!

Everyone there believed in Jesus and the Jewish people were amazed that God would give His gifts to even these people!

We can remember that God made everyone and He loves everyone and He wants EVERYONE to know Him!

(You can be any color, any height, any disability, even any bad choice! and God will STILL love you and He STILL wants you to know Him!)

Galatians 3:26-29 says:  “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

And Romans 2:9-11 says “There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.”

For this story, we acted it out with my kids’ toys. I had two toys be Peter and Cornelius and i took a small blanket with some of their plastic animals so we could act out the story.

Then we cut out pictures from magazines of all different kinds of people and made a page to remind us that God loves EVERYONE!

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We will continue in Acts next time. Love to you all!

Saul Follows Jesus

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Our story today is from Acts 9.

In our last Bible story we learned about Saul. He was one of the leaders and he did NOT like Jesus or His followers. He was even happy when Stephen was killed for telling people about Jesus.

One day, Saul was on his way to Damascus to capture more of Jesus’ followers and put them in jail. As he was waking, all of a sudden a very bright light shone down and said “Saul! Why are you hurting me?!”

Saul said “who is this!?”

The voice answered, “It is Jesus! The one you are being mean to! Now get up and go to the city.”

So Saul stood up, but he realized he couldn’t see anything! Scales, almost like a fishes scales, we’re covering his eyes! So some of the men traveling with him helped him up and took him to the city.

When they got there, God sent one of His helpers to Saul. He put his hands on Saul and the scales fell off his eyes and he was able to see! Immediately God filled him with His Holy Spirit and Saul (who also got a new name, Paul), began to learn from the disciples and then he too told everybody about Jesus!

All the people were amazed that this guy who once HATED Jesus was now telling everybody about Him!

God can change anyone’s heart and He has big plans for us if we will let Him use us. Isn’t it wonderful to know that even the people who make the worst choices can still be loved by God?

The next few stories will be about Peter and Paul’s various missions.

For our craft we traced a bowl to be Saul’s head and then we put some tissue paper scales over his eyes.

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Thanks for reading, love to you all.