Vol. 1 Iss. 1

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INDEX: New Testament Lesson - Sent of the Father (John 5:16-47) Old Testament Lesson - The Burning Bush (Exodus 3) Character Lesson Memory Text Nature Lesson - Fire Health Lesson - Hair Coloring Page Matching Questions & Answers 1-Which came first, the chicken or the egg? 2-When will Jesus return? Learning Activities PICTURE: A single pillar, automatically tiled in the index box, represents "the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15)..

NEW TESTAMENT LESSON

Sent of the Father (John 5:16-47)

Now the Jews started saying mean things to Jesus and even looked for ways to kill Him, because He had healed a man on the Sabbath day.

But Jesus answered them, "My Father works and I work."

Then the Jews were even angrier because Jesus not only had broken the Sabbath in their minds, but He also said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Then Jesus said to them, "I tell you that the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what he sees the Father do. What the Father does, the Son also does because the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He does, and He will show Him greater works so that you may marvel. The Father judges no one but has given all judgment unto the Son that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honors not the Son honors not the Father, which has sent him. Everyone that hears my word and believes the Father has everlasting life. The time is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear my voice shall live. As the Father has life in Himself so has He given to the Son to have life in Himself and given him authority to execute judgment. All that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come out. Those that have done good will be in the resurrection of life, and those that have done evil in the resurrection of damnation. I can of mine own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge. And my judgment is just because I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father, which has sent me. John bore witness unto the truth. These things I say, that you might be saved. But I have greater a witness than John the Baptist. The works that the Father has given me to finish are the same works that I do, and they give witness that the Father has sent me. You have never heard his voice at any time, nor have you seen his shape. And you do not have His word abiding in you because you do not believe the Father has sent me. Search the scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life. And they are messages about me. But you will not follow me so that you might have life. I do not receive honor from men, but I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me, but if another person were to come in his own name, you would receive him. If you believed Moses, you would have believed Me because he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how shall you believe my words?"

PARENTS: Young children love repetition and so they will love to hear this story over and over again. We did our best to include something for all ages so where necessary, please assist your child or adjust it to make it more their level.

OLD TESTAMENT LESSON

The Burning Bush (Exodus 3)

Now Moses watched and protected the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law and the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God called Horeb.

There, God appeared to Moses in a flame of fire from the middle of a bush. And Moses looked at the bush that burned with fire but the bush did not consume. Moses said to himself that he would look closer at this great sight and find out why the bush is not burnt.

Now when the LORD saw Moses approaching, God called to him from the middle of the bush, and said, "Moses, Moses." Moses then said, "Here am I."

God then said, "Do not come any closer. Remove your shoes from your feet because the place where you are standing is holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

And the LORD said, "I have seen the affliction and difficulty of my people, which are in Egypt. And I have heard their cry about their taskmasters and know their sorrows. I am going to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and bring them to the land flowing with milk and honey. Now I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."

But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"

Then God said, "I will be with you and as a sign that I have sent you, when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will serve God upon this mountain."

And Moses said to God, "But when I go to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you' and they shall say to me, 'What is his name?' What shall I say to them?"

God said to Moses, "I AM THAT I AM." And He said, "You will tell the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you."

And God said to Moses, "And you shall say to the children of Israel, 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.' Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen the things done to you in Egypt. I have said, I will bring you out of the affliction of Egypt to the land flowing with milk and honey.' And they will listen to you. You and the elders of Israel will go to the king of Egypt, and you shall say to him, 'The LORD God of the Hebrews has met with us. And now let us go three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.' I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go - not even by a mighty hand. Then I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do. And after that he will let you go. I will give the children of Israel favor in the sight of the Egyptians so that you will not leave empty, but every woman shall borrow from her neighbor jewels of silver and gold. She shall borrow clothing as well. And you shall put them on your sons and daughters. You shall spoil the Egyptians."

CHARACTER LESSON

The people that were saying mean things to Jesus were not kind. Yet even if the person is not nice, we should never speak meanly to them.

The reason why the people treated Jesus unkind was that He did the right thing but the people were doing the wrong thing. Someone that is doing the right thing causes people who do the wrong thing to either stop doing the wrong or they try to remove the person doing the right thing. Unfortunately they chose to try to get rid of the person doing the right thing. This teaches us to choose to stop doing the wrong and to do the right because if we do not, we may actually reject God.

Jesus saying that He did nothing of Himself, teaches us that even doing the right thing requires help from God. We cannot do the right thing for the right reason by ourselves.

Jesus saying that He did what He saw the Father do, teaches us to do what Jesus did. We should always try to be like Jesus. And when we do that, people will be amazed, and then we can tell them all about Jesus.

Jesus saying that everyone that hears His word and believes the Father has everlasting life, teaches us that we should read and study our Bibles willing to do exactly as it says.

Jesus saying that He was not seeking His own will but the will of the Father, teaches us to not be selfish. We should do what our parents ask us to do if it is what God says is right. We should never say, "But I want…" when mommy or daddy asks us to help them, to be kind, or other such things that God would have us do.

When Jesus said that if you believed Moses, you would have believed Him, it taught us to read the Old Testament part of the Bible as well as the New Testament.

When Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God, it showed respect and reverence to God. We should want to dress nicely for church, not speak while in the church service, sit still, sing when it is time to sing, pray properly, and be very quite. These are small ways to show reverence to God.

When Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt", he was doubting God. He did not think he was important enough. God uses anyone He wants. He could use you. We should always be willing to be used of God.

When God told Moses that He would be with Him, He also told the apostles that He would be with His people until the end of the world. That means that we should believe He is with us right now.

NEW TESTAMENT MEMORY TEXT: John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

OLD TESTAMENT MEMORY TEXT: Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

NATURE LESSON

FIRE

Fire occurs in nature multiple ways. Without a human accidentally or on purpose being involved, lightening can strike in the middle of a forest and cause a forest fire. When this happens, many, many acres of trees are burned up, all the old leaves that piled up over the years turn to ashes, and much of the land is charred. Once the fire has completed its task, there is hardly a trace of what used to be.

A second source of fire in nature is that which is under the earth, but once in a while it comes out in the form of a volcanic eruption. Red, hot, molten lava flows down the side of a mountain that was actually a volcano. Everything in its path is wiped out. And when the lava cools off and hardens, there is no trace of what used to be there.

Sin is the same way. God says in 2 Peter 3:7, that "the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." So the sky and the land that you see now will not always be as it is. One day fire will clean it off. Now hopefully you will not be here on earth when God does this for the purpose is for the ungodly men, which are people that do not love Jesus enough to follow Him. They will be the people that wanted to do what they wanted no matter what.

Why will God burn the earth? Wherever sin had occurred, it must be destroyed because when God collects all the people that love Him to heaven, then according to the Bible in Nahum 1:9, sin will never occur again. No one will ever do anything mean or wrong ever again. In fact, Satan will not even be able to tempt such people. Now so that we are not reminded about our old life of sin throughout eternity, God will remove every reminder. To do this, He chose fire.

If God were to use water again to destroy sin, years later people would find it just as we are finding things now that happened before the time of Noah. God cannot even bury it without the risk of someone digging it up. So burning it is the best thing because it will not leave even a trace.

HEALTH LESSON

BODY PARTS: Hair

You may not think much about hair being part of your body but it is. Hair has several purposes and it is important to take care of your hair. Hair also reveals things. But the number of hairs on your head is only known by God. Matthew 10:30 says, "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

What does hair reveal? According to Leviticus 13:40 "the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he [is] bald." So one thing it reveals is baldness.

A second thing that it reveals is excitement either for good or bad. That means when you are scarred, your hair may stand up. Job 4:15 says, "Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up". Job was scared and his hair stood up.

A third thing that it reveals is wisdom of older people. Leviticus 19:32 says, "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I [am] the LORD." The hoary head is the same as gray haired. And Proverbs 16:31 says, "The hoary head [is] a crown of glory, [if] it be found in the way of righteousness." So if God declares gray haired people to be crowned with glory, we ought to then honor and respect our elders. And remember, God watches how we treat older people. Leviticus 19:32 says, "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I [am] the LORD." Do you give the elderly your chair? You should.

Now how is hair important? First, it keeps the head warm especially in cooler temperatures. Second, it keeps the sun from burning the scalp, which can lead to skin cancer. Third, it can bring glory to God. 1 Corinthians 11:15 "If a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for [her] hair is given her for a covering."

How shall you take care of your hair?

1. Wash it frequently - daily if possible. This may not require soap every day though.

2. Comb it, especially if you have long hair. Tangles will occur if not combed or brushed.

3. Let it dry naturally. Too much heat on the hair can cause damage to the hair including split ends, drying, and other such things.

4. Keep it neat. Letting your hair fall however it wants will train the hair to be disorganized and hard to manage.

5. Leave your hair the natural color. Coloring the hair will dry it out.

Exodus 3:4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here [am] I.

MATCHING

For each item in the first column, write in the letter for the description from the second column.

___ 1. Elders ___ 2. Father ___ 3. I AM ___ 4. Jethro ___ 5. Moses ___ 6. Pharaoh ___ 7. Son

A. Owner of the flock. B. The name that God said to use when asked who sent him. C. The person that was to release the children of Israel. D. The person who saw the burning bush. E. Who executes judgment? F. Who judges no one? G. Who was to be gathered before meeting with Pharaoh?

[Answers to June 2003 matching: 1=F, 2=C, 3=B, 4=G, 5=E, 6=D, 7=A]

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Question #1 - Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Answer #1 - According to Genesis 1:20-23 the Bible says, "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day." God made the animals first. To multiply, chickens lay eggs. God gave the chickens the ability to lay eggs, only after God created the chicken.

Question #2 - When will Jesus return?

Answer #2 - We are not told the exact year, but we are told about things that would happen right before Jesus returns including lots of earthquakes, sickness, and many other things. Now these things are already happening but Jesus still has not returned. And every year we hear of more earthquakes and natural disasters, more sickness, and more everything. So we know it is soon but the real reason Jesus has not returned is found in the Bible in 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Jesus is not late in returning but God is still waiting for all who will love Jesus and want to follow Him. So God is still waiting. Is He waiting for you? Do you love Jesus enough to even obey your parents all the time and not do the wrong things?

LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

1. Visit a farm with sheep. Moses watched the sheep for Jethro, and remember that while watching them, God spoke to Moses through a burning bush.

2. If you can find someone burning tree branches, logs, etc. notice that they cannot burn without being consumed unlike when God used the burning bush.

3. If you can read the Bible or have some read it to you, read Deuteronomy 18 and especially notice verses 15 and 18. These are the clearest verses in the books of Moses that refer to Jesus.

4. Since some people were mean to Jesus, and the way we treat others is like treating Jesus, write a card to someone telling them how nice they are.

5. Memorize the verses on page 3.

6. Practice showing respect to your elders by standing up and giving your chair.

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Vol. 1 Iss. 1

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