MIRACLES OF JESUS
OUR HEARTS MATTER

Mark 2:1-12 | Luke 5:17-26

A man who could not walk was brought to Jesus to be healed.
His 4 friends had to remove roof tiles and lower their paralysed friend through the roof as they could get to Jesus any other way.

JESUS SAW THEIR FAITH
AND TOLD THE PARALYSED MAN THAT HIS SINS WERE FORGIVEN
and then healed his body

BUT THIS ANGERED THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS
They didn’t recognise Jesus as the Son of God. So how could he forgive anyones sins.

What can we learn from today’s true Bible story?

The condition of our heart is more important to Jesus than our health.
By saying that his sins are forgiven - meant that the man was now right with the Lord. As it is sin in our hearts that seperate us from God.

Jesus sees our faith.
Jesus can read our thoughts.
Jesus heals.
Jesus forgives our sins.
Jesus is God.

THE INVITATION

Everyone is invited
but not everyone accepts

LUKE 14:16-24

Luke 14:16-24

THE INVITATION TO A BANQUET

Jesus told a parable when he was talking to Pharisees and lawyers. It's about a man who made a great supper and he invited many people, but most of them didn't come for various excuses. The man got angry and told servant to bring people who are poor, blind, or lame from the streets of the city. Even though servant invited them all, the house was not full yet. The man ordered the servant again to bring people by all means. Then Jesus said that "For I tell you that none of those who were invited will taste of my supper".

The parable explained:
The man is the God.
The invitation was to the future banquet in heaven through Jesus from God.
The Marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9)
How to accept the invite: By accepting Jesus into your HEART

Jesus is our Shepherd
and we are His sheep

Sheep need a shepherd for everything
Sheep need to be guided to find food and water
Sheep need to be protected from danger

We are Jesus Sheep
We need Him to look after us, love us and protect us

DID YOU KNOW
That Sheep only listen to THEIR shepherd’s voice
and they FOLLOW and OBEY their SHEPHERD

WATCHING FOR JESUS

Did you know that when Jesus came to earth as a baby, that was when He came to first for the first time
and after He died your us and came back to life and spent 40 days on earth He left on a cloud to Heaven
AND AN ANGEL THAT DAY TOLD HIS DISCIPLES THAT HE WOULD COME AGAIN
the same way He left

So even though we are excited about Christmas coming soon,
we should be even more excited about
HIS RETURN

When Jesus was on earth the first time, He said that NOONE know the day of His second return
MATTHEW 24:42
BUT HE TOLD US TO BE READY & TO WATCH FOR HIS RETURN

What does ready mean?
To be READY is to be RIGHT with the Lord
HOW
We must put Jesus first in our lives, we must love Him and follow His commands

CRAFT

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE

DID YOU KNOW THAT MOSES FACE ACTUALLY SHONE!!!!

EXODUS 34: 28-35

We can SHINE for Jesus
HOW
By speaking to the Lord and spending time with Him
OUR FACES WON’T SHINE LIKE MOSES
But people will know that we belong to Jesus
by our KIND words
our LOVING acts of kindness
BY OUR FRUIT ( our ACTIONS)

OBJECT TALK
LIGHT HIDDEN UNDER A BASKET (Matt 5:14-16)
You will need a candle (or a solar lamp or flashlight) and a basket
Why do we light candles?
To see
Jesus wants people to see Him through us

How do we hide it away?
By being angry, saying ugly words, but being unkind

How do we let Him shine through us?
By our actions and words (our kind and good actions)

CRAFT TIME
LET’S MAKE LANTERNS
Decorate glass jars or make paper lanterns

Forgiveness at a Fish Braai

A few days after Jesus rose from the grave
He made breakfast for some of His disciples who had
GONE FISHING

AT BREAKFAST JESUS GIVES PETER
A SECOND CHANCE!

Why do you think Peter had messed up?

SO JESUS TELLS PETER TO FEED HIS LAMBS
TO TAKE CARE OF HIS SHEEP
AND TO FEED HIS SHEEP
That means the Peter is NOT to fish for fish
But to fish for men - men with a heart for Jesus

SAVED from the flood

GENESIS 7:11 - GENESIS 8.14

Noah and his wife
Shem and his wife
Ham and his wife
Japheth and his wife

It took 7 days to enter the ARK and then the Lord closed the door! Genesis 7:16
AND THE FLOOD GATES OF THE SKY OPENED and it rained for 40 days and 40 nights

After 150 days the Lord sent a wind over the earth and the water started to drop
After 7 months - the ARK landed on a mountain - Mt Ararat
In month 10 - tree tops appeared
Forty days later Noah sent out a raven - but it just flew back and forth
Then he sent out a dove - it too went back and forward
7 days later Noah sent the dove out again - this time it brought back an olive leaf
After another 7 days he sent the dove out again, but she did not return
THE GROUND WAS DRYING

Adam & Eve
believe the cunning serpent
and DISOBEY the Lord God

Satan was a sly snake,
he made Adam & Eve think that God wasn’t fair
by telling them NOT to eat from 1 tree in the garden

THEY CHOSE TO OBEY SATAN and NOT THE LORD GOD!

This is known as THE FALL

THIS IS WHEN SIN ENTERED THE WORLD AND ALL THE BAD THINGS

Even though they rebelled against the Lord, and he sent them out the garden that He had planted, Eden

HE STILL LOVED THEM AND CARED FOR THEM
(He made clothes for them)
He did punish them:

He said that woman would suffer from more pain in child birth
Men would find work hard
and the snake would have to crawl on his belly and eat sand!

THIS IS WHEN DEATH STARTED. Noone was supposed to die before this happened

The Lord God made them leave the garden to stop them from eating from the tree of life.
An angel with a flaming sword was to guard the tree of life.

WHY? (so that they didn’t live forever in a now sinful life ….with pain, suffering etc)
SO it was another way the Lord showed His love for them

God’s Plan

In the BEGINNING God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit made everything

THIS IS CALLED CREATION

(at school and on TV you will hear about evolution,
but as Jesus believers and believers of GOD’s WORD (the Bible) we don’t believe in evolution but CREATION)

God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit
ALL made everything in heaven and earth
AND IT WAS GOOD
There was NO death!

Genesis 1.26 says -  Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.

ELIJAH GOES IN A WHIRLWIND

2 KINGS 2: 1-18

In today’s lesson you will see HOW GREAT THE GOD WE SERVE IS

He stops a wide river from running
He opens a dry path for E & E to walk across
He controls the weather
He made horses of FIRE and a chariot of FIRE
He removed Elijah from earth to heaven ALIVE

Elijah knew that the Lord was taking him home
And he asked Elisha what he could do for him before he was taken

Do you know what Elisha asked for?
What would you ask for?
Well Elisha asks for a DOUBLE portion of Elijah’s spirit
(He wanted a double blessing)

ELIJAH PUT IT IN GODS HANDS
If you see me taken - then you will have it
But if you don’t see me taken - you won’t have it

DID ELISHA SEE ELIJAH TAKEN?

DO YOU THINK ELISHA GOT THE DOUBLE BLESSING?

Can you see how GREAT our GOD is
HOW HE CAN DO ANYTHING

Jesus visits Zacchaeus

THE RESULT
ZACCHAEUS HAS A CHANGE OF HEART

ZACC IS SAVED!!!

Sing a long

TREE CLIMB BOARD GAME

Download, print and play

Jesus visits friends

MARY & MARTHA (Luke 10:38-41)

MEET 2 SISTERS MARY & MARTHA

These 2 sisters were diiferent
Mary liked to listen and learn when Jesus came to visit
Martha liked to be busy and fuss over dinner

1. What were the names of the two women Jesus came to visit? (Mary and Martha.)
2. What was Mary and Martha’s brothers name? (Lazurus)
3. Where did they live? (Bethany)
4. What was Mary doing while Jesus was visiting? (Sitting down listening to Him.)
5. What was Martha doing while Mary was listening to Jesus? (Busy preparing the meal.)
6. Did Martha want Mary to help her? (Yes.)
7. Was Mary or Martha doing the right thing at the time? (Mary.)
8. If Jesus came to your house today, would you want to be with Him, or outside playing? (Allow for discussion.)         

GAME TIME

Today we are going to play some LISTENING GAMES
Like Broken Telephone

Jesus Family
JOHN

Wait - how were they related?
Mary, Jesus mom
had a relative - Elizabeth
Elizabeth is John’s mom

JOHN WAS ABOUT 6 MONTHS OLDER THAN JESUS

JOHN’S MOM & DAD
Elizabeth (descendants of Aaron - Levites) and Zechariah (a priest)

Angel Gabriel told his mom and dad before his birth that John was to be a
NAZIRITE
(what is a nazirite?)
who else was a nazirite?
Sa _ _ _ n

John had a special gift, he was to tell people that Jesus was coming.
He worked hard telling the people about Jesus.
He lived in the wilderness
He ate honey and locusts
WE WASN’T ALLOWED TO DRINK WINE or BEER (Luke 1:15)
NO GRAPES or RAISINS

HE WAS PREPARING PEOPLE FOR JESUS

Read Matthew 3:1-6 (John the Baptist)

Discussion Questions:
1. What did John the Baptist eat for food? (Locusts and honey.)
2. What did John the Baptist come to do? (Tell people that Jesus was coming.)
3. Did many people go out to see John? (Yes.)
4. If you were living back then, how far would you walk to see John the Baptist?
5. What did the people do when they saw John the Baptist? (They confessed their sins.)
6. Why was John the Baptist special to God? (He worked hard telling people about Jesus.)

MEMORY VERSE
John 1:29

Activity Idea - MOULD ISAIAH’s WORDS (Matt 3v3)

You will need play dough - give each team plenty of play dough.
Assign each team one of the following phrases from the prophet Isaiah as he describes John the Baptist in Matthew 3:3.
"A voice of one calling in the wilderness"
"Prepare the way for the Lord"
"Make straight paths for him"
Have each team work together to form a visual depiction of their phrase with play dough.

Game idea - JUMP into the JORDAN

Many people came to the Jordan River to look for John the Baptist, but when they heard what he had to say, they did not try to jump away.
Instead, they confessed their sins and were baptized right there in the Jordan River.
This is how John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus.

YOU WILL NEED
A river (towels or mark out with tape)

Make two parallel lines about twelve feet long and two feet apart.
The space between the lines will represent the Jordan River.
Have all the children stand on one side of the river.
You will all sing, "Let's Go to the Jordan River" , and then all jump across (without running) to the other side of the river.
Anyone who cannot jump clearly across is considered in the river.
Tell them, "You found the river, come out and dry off."
Then give them a towel to pretend to dry off and have them return to their seat.
Next, move one line about a foot further away from the other line.
Sing and jump again.
Repeat this making the river wider and wider until all the children cannot jump across.

Peter has a vision

He has the same vision 3 times about unclean food
&
He is visited by 3 unclean men (Gentiles)

This showed the Jewish believers that Jesus came to save anybody,
that there were no favourites.
Anyone who fears the Lord could be saved!

God’s chosen instrument

SAUL THE PHARISEE

ACTS 9:1-33

We read about Saul, a very clever well educated man
He knew the Old Testament very well - he was a Pharisee
A Jewish Religious leader
AND HE DIDN’T LIKE THIS NEW JESUS FOLLOWING - SO HE TRIED TO STOP IT

SO JESUS - STOPPED HIM!!!

Saul was travelling from
Jerusalem to Damascus
(218 km)
when JESUS STOPPED HIM

“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

KEY VERSE Acts 9:15
“Go!
This man is my chosen instrument
to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel…..

TODAY’S ACTIVITY - Make NEW eyes (glasses) for Saul

or
play EYE spy

The BIBLE is God’s Word

King Saul

King Saul was ISRAEL’s 1st King
The Lord had warned them that human kings wouldn’t be great
Saul started off okay
He was timid and humble
He obeyed the Lord to begin with
but then started to disobey the Lord

In chapter 13
Saul did not wait for Samuel the prophet and made the sacrifice himself

In chapter 15,
the Lord told Saul to destroy the Amaleks because the Lord wanted to punish the Amaleks for their disobedience.
But Saul kept the best cattle and sheep and then claimed it was to sacrifice them the Lord

The Lord then departed from Saul in chapter 16 and in chapter 18 he starts to hunt David
as he is jealous of David and knows that the Lord is with David

In chapter 28
Saul makes a bad plan to ask a witch for help!
Saul dies shortly after this!

DON’T TAKE REVENGE

In today’s true Bible story we see that
God steps in to STOP David from sinning
and God punishes the wicked selfish man

MEET an angry DAVID
and NABAL (the rude, foolish, rich and selfish man)
and his wife, ABIGAIL (wise, cleaver and pretty)

FIND OUT WHY DAVID IS SO MAD
Read 1 SAMUEL 25:2-13

WHY DOES DAVID WANT REVENGE? v 15-16
(David had protected Nabal’s sheep and goats and men)

NOW this is where the story gets interesting
GOD STEPS IN

The Lord uses kind wise ABIGAIL
to STOP David from sinning and killing Nabal

See takes FOOD enough to feed 600 and apologies for her foolish husband and begs David to spare Nabals life

What FOOD did she load on donkeys? v18

So Abigail stopped David from sinning
BUT WHO PUNISHED NABAL? v37-38

HOW DID THIS STORY END? v 39-42

Cave Collision

DAVID GETS HIS CHANCE TO EVEN THE SCORE WITH SAUL

Saul has heard of David’s new location - EN-GEDI
So Saul chose 3000 of his best men to hunt David down.

As Saul searched for David near the
ROCKS OF WILD GOATS
Saul went into a cave to relieve himself

DAVID & HIS MEN WERE DEEPER IN THAT SAME CAVE!!!!!

This was David’s moment right?
David’s men thought so - they tried to convince him to TAKE REVENGE
BUT DAVID ONLY CUT OFF A PIECE OF SAUL’S…..
ROBE

DAVID SHOWED SAUL MERCY!!! and spared his life

David FELT BAD ran out and told Saul
then SAUL felt bad and cried
Saul said that David was a better man than himself
Saul was certain that David would succeed him and be KING

David is on the run
from King Saul

King Saul is hunting David
but the Lord is not letting Saul find David
THE LORD IS PROTECTING DAVID
&
THE LORD IS GUIDING DAVID

David gets some food, 5 loaves of bread
and GOLIATH’s sword from a priest in a place called NOD

BUT WHEN SAUL FINDS OUT ABOUT THIS
HE GOES CRAZY
AND WANTS TO PUNISH ALL 85 PRIESTS IN NOD

David is on the move

From NOD
David goes to GATH but doesn’t stay long as the King Achish’s men are unhappy that David is there
So David heads to a cave of ADULLAM where his brothers plus 400 men join him
David goes to MIZPEH in MOAB where he drops his parents off for safe keeping
A prophet tells David to return to Judah. So David goes to the forest of HERETH

SAUL HEARS ABOUT THIS WHILE SITTING UNDER A TAMARSIK TREE IN GIBEAH
(SAUL TELLS HIS MEN THAT DAVID ID TRYING TO KILL HIM!!!)

David hears that the Philistines are stealing grain from the KEILAHS
and the Lord tells David to rescue them

WHEN SAUL HEARD DAVID WAS IN THE WALLED CITY OF KEILAH
HE TAUGHT DAVID WAS TRAPPED!!
Saul told his army to besiege Keilah
So David left Keilah
1 SAMUEL 23:14

David next went to ZIPH, then HORESH,
THE MEN OF ZIPH BETRAYED DAVID’S LOCATION AND TOLD SAUL verse 21
But David moved to MOAN
Eventually Saul and David were on opposite sides of the SAME MOUNTAIN
(but an urgent message got to Saul that the Philistines were attacking Israel)
So David escapes Saul!

BEST FRIENDS MAKE A PLAN
BEST FRIENDS CARE FOR EACH OTHER

David thinks that Jonathan’s dad wants to kill him
BUT Jonathan does not think that his dad, King Saul wants to kill him

SO THEY HATCH A PLAN TO SEE IF
DAVID IS RIGHT
OR IF
JONATHAN IS RIGHT

The plan involves a BOW & 3 ARROWS and a SECRET MESSAGE

CHECK OUT THEIR PLAN

It turns out that DAVID WAS RIGHT
Sadly Saul was trying to get rid of David
David’s life was in danger
So David said goodbye to Jonathan and fled
BUT BEFORE THEY PARTED WAYS -
DAVID MADE A PROMISE TO ALWAYS LOOK AFTER JONATHAN’S FAMILY

VIDEO STORY TIME

CRAFT TIME

Hi girls and boys
Today you will see how Saul keeps trying to get rid of David.
WHY?
Saul has become so jealous of David’s success
and afraid of David
because he can see that the
Lord is with DAVID

Lets start by meeting the people in our true Bible story today

Saul wants David dead
He has tried several times to pin him to a wall with his spear!
NOW
He sees that his younger daughter MICHAL is in love with David
AND HE USES THIS TO TRY GET RID OF DAVID

SAUL MAKES A PLAN
He tells David if he wants to marry Michal he needs to kill 100 Philistines
(SECRETLY, Saul is hoping that David dies in this battle)
BUT
NOPE David kills 200
and MARRIES MICHAL

SO SAUL HAS ANOTHER PLAN
HE WILL ATTACK DAVID AT HOME

But Michal warns David of this attack
and she helps him escape through their window at night

When Sauls agents come in the morning Michal tricks them!
She says David is sick in bed
THEY TELL SAUL
SAUL DEMANDS THAT THEY BRING DAVID IN HIS BED TO HIM SO THAT HE CAN KILL HIM

BUT
when they go back to Davids house they find a
statue with goats hair in his bed!

So even though the Lord is with David
his life isn’t free of difficulties
David still has trouble and problems
But the Lord is with him and he escapes!

Hello girls and boys in today’s Bible lesson
you will hear that Jesus says people will know us by our fruit
FRUIT????

It is real easy for us to IDENTIFY a tree
simply by looking at the fruit it makes

IDENTIFY THESE 3 TREES?

Jesus said that people can be identified by their
ACTIONS

LAST WEEK WE LOOKED AT THE FRUIT that the HOLY SPIRIT grows in us

WHAT ACTIONS (FRUIT) are you known for?

QUESTIONS
1.
WHAT ARE THE 9 FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT?
2.
HOW CAN WE GET THIS FRUIT?
3.
CAN PEOPLE SEE OUR FRUIT?

ANSWERS
1.
Galatians 5.22 : Love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. gentleness and self control
2.
The minute we invite Jesus into our hearts you receive His Holy Spirit
3.
YES, if you are following Jesus these Fruit should be seen, you will be known by them

Dear Lord Jesus
Thank you for saving me by dying on the cross
I am sorry for all the bad things that I do every day
Please forgive me.
I believe in You with all my heart
and I want You to come live in my heart
In Jesus Name
Amen

Download, print, cut, colour and glue YOUR tree
that others will KNOW you by

WHERE ARE WE?
The Lord has rejected King Saul for his disobedience
Remember last week we heard that Saul didn’t follow the instruction to destroy everything
(He kept the best sheep and cows and spared the king)

THE LORD TOLD SAMUEL TO
1. FILL HIS HORN WITH OIL
2. GO TO BETHLEHEM
3. TAKE A COW TO PREFORM A SACRIFICE
4. GO TO THE HOUSE OF JESSE

The Lord said he would tell Samuel
which son to choose as the next king

When Samuel saw Eliab - he thought that this is the son the Lord would choose…

In today’s Bible story (1 Samuel 15) we see how Saul fails

WATCH THE STORY

Saul did his own thing - he did most of what the Lord asked him to do.
But also did what he wanted to do. THAT IS NOT OBEYING THE LORD
How many time do we do that!

Do you know how to LOVE JESUS?

ACTIVITY TIME

Talk to Jesus Time

In chapter 12,
Samuel warns the Israelites
to follow the Lord
with all their heart

BACKGROUND CHECK:

20 “Don’t be afraid,” Samuel reassured them. “You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship the Lord with all your heart, and don’t turn your back on him. 21 Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless! 22 The Lord will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the Lord to make you his very own people.

FOLLOW THE LORD WITH ALL YOU HEART
TURN AWAY FROM IDOLS

Let’s Play - Samuel Says

SONG TIME
Making Melodies in my heart
Making melodies in my heart
to the King of kings

God gives Saul a new heart

SAMUEL GIVES SAUL 3 SIGNS

SIGN 1
2 MEN AT RACHEL’s TOMB

SIGN 2
3 MEN WITH 3 ITEMS

SIGN 3
A BAND OF PROPHETS

When Saul left Samuel ALL THESE THINGS HAPPENED
These were signs to convince Saul that God had chosen him to be king!

When he turned his back to leave Samuel,
God gave him another heart.
And all these signs came to pass that day.

CRAFT TIME

Make your own musical flute with STRAWS

YOU WILL NEED
Straws, Scissors, tape, board
Cut straws to different lengths and tape together
Don’t put your lips on the straws