pharisees

Don’t try to fight God!

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi all! Welcome back! Today’s story is from Acts 5:17-42.

Today we made puppets to help tell the story. We used two paint stir sticks and 4 pieces of construction paper. I started by taping two of the pieces together and tracing a head, then the kids cut through both pieces to essentially make two heads. We decorated them (one to look old, one to look younger). Then we glued them back to back on the paint stick.

The older side we labeled Gamaliel and the younger side we labeled Peter.

Then we again taped two pieces of construction paper together and cut out the shape of three heads together. We added googly eyes on (one side is angry, one is happy.)

The happy side is the crowd and the angry side is the angry leaders.

 

And here is the story:

The high priest and all his friends, were very jealous because Jesus’ disciples were teaching about Jesus and the people loved it! (THEY wanted to be the most important people). So they put the disciples in jail. But that night an angel of God opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go back to the temple,” he said, “and tell the people all about Jesus and what He has done.”

So in the morning, they went to the temple and began to teach the people.

When the leaders got up, they asked the jail captain to send for the disciples, but the guards found out they weren’t there. So they went back and reported, “We found the jail perfectly locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, there was no one inside.”

Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” With that, the leaders went and brought the disciples…(but they did it nicely so the people wouldn’t get mad and try to stop them.)

“We told you Not to teach in Jesus’ name,” the high priest said. “But you have told everyone in Jerusalem all about Jesus and now they are all going to think it’s OUR fault Jesus died.”

Peter and the other disciples said: “We have to obey God more than people! He wants us to tell EVERYONE about Jesus! God raised Jesus from the dead…the same Jesus you killed on the cross. God made Him Prince and Savior and He brings us back to God and forgives our sins.We have seen these things, and have been given God’s Holy Spirit, which He gives to everyone who obeys Him.”

When they heard this, the leaders were VERY angry and wanted to kill them.  BUT a Pharisee named Gamaliel, who was honored by all the people (everyone thought he was really great!), stood up in the court and said: “Men of Israel, think carefully what you plan to do to these guys. You know sometimes people say they are somebody important and it all comes to nothing. When these people who pretend to be important get killed or run away, their followers leave too. So, with these men, I think we should leave them alone! Let them go! If they are just pretending to know God, or pretending that Jesus was someone really important…no one will care and they will all soon go away. But if Jesus really IS God’s son and they are telling the truth, you will not be able to stop them; you will just be fighting against God.”

They all thought that was a good idea. So they called the disciples in and beat them up! and then ordered them not to talk about Jesus anymore, and let them go.

And do you know how the disciples felt? They were happy! They were SO glad to tell people about Jesus and they were even happy when they got hurt for Jesus because they loved Him so much. Every day in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and telling everyone the good news that Jesus is the Messiah, God’s son.

 

In this story you can see not all the Pharisees were bad. Gamaliel was very wise and he knew it wasn’t good to make trouble. If Peter and the other disciples were making it all up, then eventually the stories would stop and people wouldn’t care. BUT, if they said was true, then trying to stop them would be like trying to stop God (and is that EVER going to happen???)

Peter and the disciples KNEW they had to obey God. Even when the people in charge said “NO.” It can be hard to do the right thing when other people are being mean to you. God will always help us obey Him if we ask. The disciples knew obeying God was more important than obeying the leaders…even if meant they would be hurt. It’s more important to do the right thing on God’s side, than the popular thing on peoples’ side. Gamaliel knew that too. He said “You don’t want to fight against God!” Be on God’s side. Obey Him. Tell others about Him and trust Him to help you make the right choices.

 

Thanks for joining us today. Love to you all!

For God So Loved…

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

As we begin our Easter lessons tomorrow, I wanted to finish up the teachings of Jesus with this one.

This can be found in John 3:1-17.

There was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus, who came to Jesus one night and said, “Rabbi (which means teacher), we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. No one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not doing it.”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

Does that seem like a silly thing to say? What do you think that means?

“How can someone be born again when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “A mommy can’t have the same baby two times?!”

Jesus answered, “No one can enter heaven unless they are born of the Spirit. People have people babies, but the Spirit of God helps you be born into a life with God!”

“How can that be?” Nicodemus asked.

The Jesus got a little frustrated that even the Pharisees-the leaders of the Israelites didn’t really understand God!

He said, “The Son of Man (Jesus) must be lifted up (meaning He would die for our sins), so everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

“For God SO loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not die forever but have eternal life. God did not send his Me into the world to punish everyone for their sins, but to save everyone!”

 

God loved us so much, He sent His perfect son Jesus to die in our place…because we are NOT perfect. Heaven with God is only for PERFECT things…so Jesus said “I will die in their place. They are supposed to die forever for their bad choices, but I will die and You (God) can see them as perfect instead.” If we believe this then we will have forever life with God.

 

For our craft today we cut out a blue circle (the world) and added any kind of green shapes we wanted (to make the land). We added a big heart and the words to John 3:16.

IMG_2900

This  is a cute song version posted from The Rizers.

This version is from Hillsong Kids.

Thanks for joining us again. 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!

The blind will see…

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi all! This month we are learning about the miracles Jesus did. A miracle is something that shouldn’t be able to happen, but God makes it happen, because God can do ANYTHING!

 

Today’s story is from John 9.

One day as Jesus went along, He saw a man who had been blind his whole life. He was asking people for money because he couldn’t see to work.

Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Teacher, did this man or his parents do something bad that God made him blind?”

“No, neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

After saying this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and put it on the man’s eyes.

(We used play-doh to illustrate this part)

“Go,” He told him, “wash off your eyes.” And when the man washed off his eyes, then he could see!

All the people in the town said “Isn’t this the same blind man who used to sit and beg for money?”

Some said “Yes! It’s him!”

Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

But he insisted, “I am the man! And now I can see!”

“How were your eyes opened?” they asked.

He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see!”

“Where is Jesus?” they asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said.

They brought him to the Pharisees who were not happy that Jesus had healed the man on the sabbath (the day of rest). “He must be a sinner, someone who disobeys God’s rules!”

But others asked, “How can a sinner do such amazing things?!” So they were divided.

They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. They even asked them if this really was their blind boy! They had a LOT of questions for the mom dad and man who had been healed and he said, “All I know is, I was blind but now I see! We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the Godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. This HAS to be the work of God.”

But some of the Pharisees didn’t want to believe it. They called the man a sinner and told him to leave the city!

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in Me?”

Then the man said, “Yes, Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

Jesus said, “I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

When Jesus was talking about blindness this time, He wasn’t talking about their eyes. He was talking about their hearts. He was saying He came to show God to everyone. Some people would open the eyes of their heart and love God and some people would stay “blind” and not see the real God.

The Pharisees didn’t really want to see God. They wanted to follow the rules and get all the trophies for being the best at following rules. But they didn’t see Jesus. They didn’t really see that what God wants even more than for us to follow the rules, is that He wants us to LOVE Him and LOVE others. That is how we REALLY obey God.

The Pharisees were supposed to know what the Bible says better than anyone. But they didn’t really do what God wanted, so He called them “blind.” And the man who could now see believed in Jesus and so he could see with his eyes AND his heart.

Here is a video posted by SabbathSchool.

This video features Celtic Women singing “Amazing Grace.”

And this video is a kid’s version of “Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord” posted by GodsKidsWorship.

Thanks for joining us. Love to you all!

 

A paralytic man healed

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi all!

Today’s story can be found in Matt 9, Mark 2, and Luke 5 of the Bible.

This is one of the miracles Jesus did. A miracle is something that shouldn’t be able to happen, but God makes it happen, because God can do anything!

Jesus was very popular by now and one evening, He was teaching in a house and lots of sick people were coming to listen and so He could make them better.

IMG_1964

There was one man who couldn’t walk at all. His friends brought him on a bed…and tried to get in the house. “Excuse us…excuse me…can we get him to Jesus please? Excuse us!”

“There’s no room. You’ll never fit!”

IMG_1965

So the man’s friends came up with a new idea. They climbed up to the roof and lowered the man’s bed down into Jesus. What a surprise that must have been?!

IMG_1967

Do you know what Jesus said? He said, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Sins? They had come so their friend could walk again!

Some Pharisees were there too. If you remember, the Pharisees were some leaders in the church and they thought they were SOOOOO much better than everyone else…but they actually weren’t very good at loving people like they were supposed to. They knew LOTS ABOUT God, but they didn’t really love Him.

So they were thinking, “Sins? Only God can forgive sins (the bad things we do). Does this guy think He’s God?”

IMG_1969

Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that I have the power to forgive sins!” Then He said to the man, “Ok, get up, take your bed and go home.”

Right away, the man got up and he could walk! He was praising God all the way home!

IMG_1968

The friends KNEW Jesus could help the man, but they just thought He would heal his legs. Jesus really came to earth though to save our hearts. He can do ANYTHING (since He’s God’s son), so He could heal the man’s legs. But, MORE importantly, He could forgive any bad choices the man had ever made.

 

We found this video posted by RodTheNey. (The characters are a bit funky looking, but it does tell the story well.)

There is also this video posted by Sabbath School that emphasizes helping one another.

Thanks for joining us today. Love to you all!

 

Jesus ruffles feathers

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi all!

Today’s story is a combination of things, we’ll focus on John 6/7 and 10/11 today.

IMG_1611.jpg

Many people LOVED Jesus. They all wanted to hear Him teach. They knew He could do AMAZING things and that He LOVED people. People believed in Him and followed Him.

 

But not everybody. Some people were NOT happy about Jesus. Remember the pharisees? They were the teachers who thought they were SOOOOO perfect…but even though they knew every.word. in the Bible…they didn’t REALLY know God’s love. They didn’t OBEY God’s word by loving other people. So Jesus often told them they were going to be in trouble if they didn’t start obeying God. Well they didn’t want to be told they were WRONG?! They were always looking for ways to trick Jesus into saying something bad…but they never quite could.

Also, everyone called Jesus the KING (they thought He would a “real” king like sit ohm a throne and be the leader of Israel.) But Jesus came to be king of our HEARTS. He wants to be the most important thing in our lives. But the kings and leaders then were scared. So many people LIKED Jesus it would be easy for Him to become king. So they were also scared of Him.

Jesus said He was God’s son. Some people believed Him,. but some people did not and were angry that He would say He could be God’s son. Jesus said, “God sent me and you can see by the things I do that I am His son. But you choose not to believe.” A couple of times, they tried to put Jesus in jail. But He always got away…it wasn’t time for that yet.

Finally, the Pharisees and others with “hard” hearts were so ready to kill Jesus that Jesus stayed and lived quietly with His disciples for a while. (Then will come the stories of Easter, which we will do closer to Easter time.)

Lots of people loved Jesus, but He didn’t have a very easy life. He traveled and taught all the time and lots of people were always trying to trick Him or capture Him. When people didn’t have God’s love in their hearts, Jesus loved them anyway. When people were mean to Him, He was not mean back. He told them again and again about God’s love.

In John 16, Jesus was talking to His disciples and He said, “You know I have had a lot of trouble and loneliness. But I’m never really alone because God is with me. People will not always be nice to you either, especially if you love Me.” People who don’t believe God and accept His love can have very sad hearts and might be mean to people who love God. “In this world, you WILL have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.”

When we face hard things or when people are mean to us, especially if it’s because we love God, we can remember that HE is God. He is in control. He loves us more than anything and that He is on our side.

Thanks for joining us. Love to you all!

Jesus anointed

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hey all. Our story today is form Luke 7:36-50.

Remember the pharisees? They were the most religious people. They knew all the words in the Bible (but they weren’t very good at OBEYING GOD, but still they thought they were better than everyone else because they knew SO MUCH.)

One of the pharisees invited Jesus (and some others) to his house for dinner, and Jesus went.

While they were there a woman came. Everyone there knew she didn’t usually make good choices so they were all surprised to see her. But she was SOOO excited to see Jesus! She brought smelly good perfume and put it on Jesus’ feet. Back then people wore sandals all the time so their feet were pretty dirty…but she didn’t care. She was so excited to see Jesus, she even started crying! And she dried her tears with her hair and kissed his feet!

The pharisee said, “Why do you let her do this?! If you knew what a bad person she is, you wouldn’t let her touch you!”

But Jesus said, “Since I got here, you haven’t poured perfume on Me, or kissed Me, or cried over your happiness to be with Me. But SHE has. Her love for Me is great. And because she loves Me, I will forgive her sins. Your sins are forgiven, you may go in peace.”

All the people were confused by this. Only God can forgive people for their sins…who IS this guy???

Jesus was showing them that loving Him is much more important than knowing all the right things. When we love God, we are happy to learn more about Him. We want to be WITH Him, and worship Him. Just knowing ABOUT God, is not the same as KNOWING God. You can know God better by praying and talking to Him.

 

For our craft today we traced our feet on construction paper and then drew tears on the feet. We put on some lipstick and kissed the feet and then we sprayed some “perfume” on the feet.

Our text reads: Luke 7-Jesus forgave the woman who loved Him. She anointed Him with perfume, tears and kisses.

IMG_1442IMG_1443IMG_1447IMG_1449

Thanks for joining us, love to you all!

Jesus calls Matthew

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hello again! Today’s story can be found in Matthew 9: 9-12 and Luke 5: 27-31.

 

1ee34586e0848d7e2a2c26d19facb4ea.jpg

Jesus was just starting to teach the people and do some pretty amazing miracles. More people were hearing about Him and choosing to follow Him.

One day, He was walking past the tax booth and saw a tax collector named Matthew. Most people didn’t like the tax collectors. Many times they tried to take more than they were supposed to and they weren’t nice about it. They were not thought of as “nice guys.”

*The best way I could describe this to my kids is the sheriff in Robin Hood. He takes everyone’s money and he’s a jerk about it. Everyone is kind of afraid of him.

But Jesus stopped and asked the man to follow Him and he did! Matthew was so excited that Jesus would notice him that he had a big dinner for Jesus and all his friends. The Bible says Matthew’s friends weren’t the best kind of people either…but Jesus was happy to have dinner with them.

The pharisees  were the most religious guys who tried to follow every single law perfectly and thought they were SO much better than everyone else. (But they didn’t really love like God wanted them to. They would say they followed the law, but God’s most important law is to love God and love others and they weren’t very good at that part.) They were amazed that Jesus would EAT with “these people”?

“What are you doing?!” they asked.

Jesus said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, sick people do. These people have sick hearts and they need Me…they need God. I came to love and save EVERYONE, ANYONE who will believe in Me.”

Isn’t it wonderful to know that no matter what Jesus will love us?

We can also be sure to love those around us…even people who don’t always make great choices. Maybe ESPECIALLY we should love and take care of the people who don’t make very good choices…because it is those people who need God the most.

Thanks for joining us. Love to you all!