Vol. 1 Iss. 1

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INDEX: New Testament Lesson - Jesus Cleanses the Temple the First Time (John 2:13-25) Old Testament Lesson - Joseph's Brothers Seek Corn (Genesis 42) Character Lesson Memory Text Nature Lesson - My Sheep Hear My Voice Health Lesson - Body Parts: Eyes Coloring Page Matching Atbash Unscramble 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

Jesus Cleanses the Temple the First Time (John 2:13-25)

Now the Jews celebrated special days called feast days. One of them called Passover was soon to be celebrated. This feast required the people to go to Jerusalem to celebrate it. So Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

When He arrived, He found in the temple people that sold oxen and sheep and doves. He found people called changers of money sitting exchanging the regular money for the special temple money. In doing this, they would not give the people much of the special temple money but kept a lot for themselves. They were cheaters. All of this was not reverent for in the house of God.

After Jesus had made a scourge of small cords by taking several strands of rope and tying them together at one end, Jesus drove all of them out of the temple. He drove out the sheep and the oxen. He poured out the changers' money and overthrew the tables. And Jesus said to them that sold doves, “Take these things away from here. Do not make my Father's house a house of merchandise!”

Now Jesus’ disciples remembered that it was written in the Bible, “The zeal of His house has eaten me up” meaning that the love of the house of God was so important to Him that if anyone would treat it wrongly, He would be angry.

But the Jews answered Jesus and said to Him, “What sign can be shown to us that you may do these things?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”

Then the Jews said, “Forty and six years it took to build this temple. Will you build it in three days?”

But Jesus was not speaking of the house of God but rather of the temple of his body. His body, like ours, is a temple and is to be treated carefully and reverently. So Jesus was telling them, the only sign they will see is that they will kill Jesus and in three days He will come back to life.

Now when Jesus rose from the dead years after this happened in the temple, His disciples remembered that he had said this to the Jews, and they believed the scriptures, which is our Bible.

While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover, many people believed in Jesus, especially when they saw the miracles, which He did. But Jesus did not like this type of belief because He knew all men. He knew why they believed in Him.

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

Joseph Sees Benjamin (Genesis 43)

And the famine continued to get worse. And when they had eaten up all the corn, which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again and buy us a little food.” But Judah spoke to him saying, “The man in Egypt said, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. But if you will not send him, we will not go down.”

Israel asked, “Why did you have to tell the man that you had yet another brother?” They said, “The man asked us directly about our family by saying, ‘Is your father yet alive? Do you have another brother?’ And so we told him. Do you think we could have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’” So Judah said to Israel, “Send the lad with me. I will be surety for him. If I do not bring him back to you alive, then let me bear the blame forever.”

Their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, do this. Take the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and take it to the man as a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds. And take double the amount of money to make up for the possible mistake from the last time. Take your brother and go. God Almighty give you mercy in dealing with the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin.“

And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, “Bring these men home, slay an animal, and make the meal for these men shall dine with me at noon.” And the man did as Joseph said. The man brought the men into Joseph's house. And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's house. They said to one another, “It is because of the money that was found in our sacks the first time, that is why we are brought here so that he may harm us, make us bondmen, and take our donkeys.

So as they came near Joseph’s house and saw the person in charge called a steward, they talked to him. They said, “When we came the first time to buy food, upon returning home, we opened our sacks and found our money in the sacks. So we brought that money and more money to buy even more food.” The steward said, “Peace be to you. Do not fear. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money. And he brought Simeon, who was in prison, to them. And the steward then brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water. They then washed their feet, and the steward took care of their donkeys. And so the brothers made the present that they brought ready for Joseph at noon, for they heard that they would be eating with him.

When Joseph came home, they brought him the present, which was in their hand into the house, and bowed down to him. Joseph asked them if everything was well with them and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spoke of? Is he still alive? And they answered, “Our father is in good health. He is still alive.” And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance, which is to bow and rise several times.

Then Joseph saw his brother Benjamin, which was Joseph’s mother's son. He said, “Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me about?” And Joseph said, “God be gracious to you, my son.”

Joseph then quickly left the room because he could not hold back the tears of joy in seeing his brother and wanted to weep in private. Joseph entered into his bedroom and wept.

After Joseph washed his face, he went back to the dining room. He was now able to keep from crying. He then said, “Put the bread on the table.” So Joseph ate at one table. His brothers ate at another table. And the Egyptians that were in the room also ate at yet another table. This is because the Egyptians were not to eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

And Joseph’s brothers sat in oldest to youngest order. The brothers were quite surprised and told each other this. And Joseph gave out the food and gave Benjamin five times as much as everyone else. And the brothers drank and were merry with Joseph.

CHARACTER LESSON

Jesus going to Jerusalem for the Passover feast shows that He did exactly what the Bible told Him to do, giving us an example to live our lives exactly as the Bible says we should.

Those that sold animals and exchanged the everyday type money for the special temple coins showed little reverence towards God’s house and even towards God. We ought to be especially reverent whenever in church by not talking when we are to keep quiet, by not making noise, and by listening to whoever is speaking.

Jesus’ reaction to the exchangers was because of His love for God’s house. We should have so much love for God’s holy things that it would make us feel very sad to see someone else not being reverent.

The Jewish leaders who questioned Jesus’ actions and were looking for a sign of authority did not realize that anyone that recognizes someone doing something wrong has the authority to either stop it or tell someone else who can stop it.

When the disciples remembered at the time of Jesus’ resurrection what Jesus said about destroying His body and in three days it would be raised, reveals the good memory that the disciples had. They could remember something important from three years earlier. We should pay attention more so that we can remember things even if it does not appear to be so important at the moment.

Now many of the people that believed on Jesus did not believe for a good reason. They just wanted to be healed. They were selfish. And Jesus was not impressed by these people and knew that healing was all that they were after. This teaches us that we need to be careful of wanting to have lots of friends just to have friends. It is better to have a few really close friends that really care about you instead of having everyone call you their friend when they really are not. They would be interested in only what you have to share with them.

Israel questioned Judah on why he told the Egyptian leader that Judah had a brother. Judah’s response was that the Egyptian leader asked a direct question and he simply answered it directly. This teaches us to answer questions directly, especially to parents. Everything should be told and only the truth should be stated.

The fact that the brothers were taking two portions of money back to Egypt, one to buy more food and the other to return the money mistakenly given back to them, showed honesty. When we find things that are not our own, we ought to return it to its rightful owner.

When the brothers had the first opportunity to tell someone about the extra money, they told about it right away. When something needs to be said, we too should tell the right people right away, especially to parents.

When Joseph asked the brothers if everything was well with them and their family he showed kindness and consideration. We ought to be thinking about others in this way as well, especially if we know that things were not OK recently.

NEW TESTAMENT MEMORY TEXT: John 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise

OLD TESTAMENT MEMORY TEXT: Genesis 43:17 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.

NATURE LESSON

MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE

When Jesus visited the temple in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, He found people selling animals and exchanging money. One animal that was sold was sheep.

Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave [them] me, is greater than all; and no [man] is able to pluck [them] out of my Father's hand” (John 10:27-29).

Jesus knows which people are truly His disciples. They are the ones that hear His voice. Today, we may not hear Jesus with our ears, but He speaks to us from the Bible for the Bible is full of His words. To hear is not simply to listen to a good story, but it means also to do the right thing and not do the wrong thing. To do the wrong thing is to be like a sheep for Satan. And you do not want to be Satan’s sheep. He has nothing good to offer.

Hearing Satan’s voice is usually through what you feel or do not feel. Has your mommy or daddy asked you to do something and you do not feel like doing it? If you tell your mommy or daddy that you do not feel like doing it and do not do it, then you are hearing Satan’s voice. But if you say, “I will do it.” Now you are listening to Jesus’ voice especially since the Bible says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right” (Ephesians 6:1).

For Jesus to “know you” means that you talk to Him in prayer. It means that when you do things, you ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?”

To follow Jesus is to do that which is right even though you did not know it was the right thing to do earlier in your life. Every day we learn new things. Even grown-ups who try to do what God wants them to do realize they may not be doing what God wants them to do. This is called ignorance. They did not know exactly what God wanted, and God knows this and says, “That is OK, but now that you know better, please do it.”

Earlier it was stated that Satan has nothing good to offer. All he wants you to do is think of how much fun it would be to disobey. What he purposely forgets to tell you is all the trouble you will be in when mommy or daddy finds out. And what else Satan does not tell you is how sad Jesus is when you are disobeying.

Jesus, though, offers good things. In obeying, Jesus promise you that you will one day live forever. He also promises you that no one will be able to pull you away from Him. Choose whose sheep you want to be, but choose wisely.

HEALTH LESSON

BODY PARTS: EYES

Joseph wept with joy when he saw his brothers. Tears flowed from his eyes. In this lesson, we will investigate the eye.

The eye is made up of six main parts: cornea, iris, pupil, lens, retina, and optic nerve.

CORNEA: The outer section, which is clear as glass and lays over the entire eye, is the part of the eye that is used in two main purposes. First, it helps to shield the rest of the eye from germs, dust, and other harmful matter. It also acts like a window that controls the amount of light that enters into the eye as well as the focus or concentration of the light.

IRIS: It is the colored part of the eye. People have brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes, and other colors. What they really have is a color of the iris. It controls the light levels in the eye as it is received through the cornea.

PUPIL: It is the center of the eye and appears as a black circle. It changes size to control the amount of light that enters into the eye from the iris.

LENS: It is not seen by looking at someone but is located inside the eye. It takes the light from the pupil and focuses the light inside the eye. The focus is sent to the retina.

RETINA: It is very thin layer in the inner part of the eye. It is responsible for capturing the light rays that enter the eye from the lens and creates a film like a camera. This light is then passed onto the optic nerve by impulses, similar to tapping.

OPTIC NERVE: Takes the impulses and sends them to the brain where the brain is told what you are looking at therefore allowing you to see.

CARING FOR YOUR EYES: Eyes are not to be touched. Although there is a protective cornea on the eye, it is meant to protect from very minor things like dust. So never place anything in the eye.

Even though the eye parts can control the focus and amount of light entering into the eyes, the eyes cannot block out all light. So it is important never to look at things that are very bright because it can damage the eye in a temporary way or permanently. Never look directly into the sun especially when it is high in the sky.

SPIRITUAL APPLICATION: Luke 11:34 “The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when [thine eye] is evil, thy body also [is] full of darkness.” As the eye sees objects, it ultimately determines the direction to move; it ultimately controls the actions; and it is the most informative method for sending signals to the brain.

We should also realize that as we look at good things, it will cause good things to be done by us. As we look at bad things, it will cause bad things to be done by us. So be very careful what you watch, read, and look at.

Genesis 43:33-34 “And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another. And he took [and sent] messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.”

MATCHING

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

___ 1. Cords ___ 2. House ___ 3. A Little Food ___ 4. Messes ___ 5. Nuts ___ 6. Oxen ___ 7. Temple

A. What did Jesus use to drive out the money changers and sellers? B. What did Joseph and his brothers eat? C. What did Joseph’s brothers bring to Egypt as one of the presents? D. What did Joseph’s brothers go to Egypt to buy? E. What was being sold that made Jesus angry? F. Where did Jesus drive out the moneychangers and sellers from? G. Where did Joseph and his brothers eat?

[Answers to December 2002 matching: 1=E, 2=F, 3=D, 4=G, 5=B, 6=C, 7=A]

ATBASH

Each letter represents a different letter to make a real word. Replace the letter consistently in each word to reveal the verse being quoted. (Hint - the verse is from the cover story.)

G V K	I G Z K	A V R W	R M J H	R M G R
__ __ __	__ __ __ __	__ __ __ __	__ __ __ __	__ __ __ __
.
.
I W O K	K W T J I,	R G Y J	R M J I J	R M Z V N I
__ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __
.
.
M J V E J;	H G Y J	V W R	H B	C G R M J F' I
__ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __	__ __ __	__ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __
.
.
M W A I J	G V	M W A I J	W C
__ __ __ __ __	__ __	__ __ __ __ __	__ __
.
.
H J F E M G V K Z I J.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

[Answers to December 2002 cryptic: Each letter in the puzzle stood the place of a real letter: A=T, B=H, C=E, D=N, E=J, F=O, G=S, H=P, I=C, J=M, K=A, L=D, M=F, N=I, O=L, P=R, Q=K, R=W, S=V, T=Y, U=G. The verse was: Genesis 42:25 "Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way"]

UNSCRAMBLE

Rearrange the letters in the following words to reveal the Bible word. (Hint - the words are from the verses in the cover story.)

A B E I J M N N	R A E O P S S V	E D D I K N R
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __
.
.
E E L M P T	S S S E E M	S A C E G H N R
__ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
.
.
A D E H S W	Y D E O R S T	A D E R S T W
__ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __
.
.
A E I R S	A B D E E E R V	G I I N S T T
__ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __	__ __ __ __ __ __ __

[Answers to December 2002 unscramble: Row 1- CORN, MARRIAGE, BRETHREN; Row 2 - WINE, MISCHEIF, GOVERNOR; Row 3 - ROUGHLY, MIRACLES, SERVANTS; Row 4 - BELIEVED, MONEY, WATER.]

LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

1. Go to church and listen to see how quiet it is in church. If there is much noise, remember that Jesus is not pleased.

2. Memorize the verses on page 3.

3. Look into someone’s eyes and see if you can see the pupil, which is the black circle in the center, and the iris, which is the color part of the eye. Remember, the light that enters into the eye controls the body in its actions and thoughts.

4. Look at as many people’s eyes as possible and notice how many different colors you can see. Remember that God is the one that makes all of us. And He likes variety.

5. When you sit down to eat a meal, think about what it must have been like for Joseph to eat a meal with his brothers after many years of not seeing them.

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Vol. 1 Iss. 1

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