4-25-21

Good morning, wanted to let you know that this will be our last online Sunday School lesson since the children are now meeting in person every Sunday morning. We’ve enjoyed having you join us and pray that you will join us in person soon. God is so good!

God’s word is so timely and needed in each of our lives. Lessons on various topics are endless giving us all an opportunity for a lifetime of learning. 

Today’s topic,

Loyal Ruth - Loyalty is about remaining at somebody's side through everything, and Ruth is a perfect example of this.

Through Ruth’s loyalty to her mother-in-law she is blessed to learn and come to love God. Find out how God rewards her for her loyalty.

The Story of Ruth and Naomi

God wants to take care of us too! He wants to meet all our needs, all we need to do is love Him, listen and obey.

God Bless YOU!

4-18-21

NOW HAVING IN PERSON CHILDREN’S CHURCH!  JOIN US!

Topic: Being Courageous

Bible Truth: I can trust God to help me be strong and courageous.

Joshua was a great leader, but he had to follow Moses. That must have been hard!  God called Joshua and encouraged him to be strong and courageous. Joshua stepped up and led God's people to conquer the promised land. 

Joshua 1:9                                                                                                                                                                                     “Be strong and of good courage, do not be afraid, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go”

Joshua 1:1-18 BIBLE LESSON:

4-14-21

We will be studying various character traits in the next few weeks, we pray your children will enjoy the lesson.

Topic: Patience

Patience is learning to wait. In today’s lesson we will learn how Simeon and Anna waited to meet Jesus and allow God to fulfill His promises.

Simeon and Anna are key figures to remind us that sometimes we have to wait in order to see God’s plans be fulfilled. However, it is always worth that wait, and rich blessings will come to those who trust and have faith in the Lord. We can joyfully hope in Jesus and trust that God’s plans will come to be.

BIBLE LESSON: Luke 2:22-40

4-4-21

THE GOOD NEWS OF EASTER /  THE EMPTY TOMB

The Easter Story

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'" John 14:6
After Jesus died on the cross, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for His body. Joseph was one of Jesus' secret followers. He was usually afraid of the Jews, but on this day he was bold enough and strong in his love for Jesus that he volunteered to take care of his body. He and Nicodemus wrapped Him in strips of linens with spices, in accordance to Jewish burial customs. Then they placed Him in a new tomb. After this, Pilate gave an order to make the tomb secure, and to have it guarded. He was afraid the disciples would deceive the people by removing the body and claiming Jesus had been raised from the dead. This is where our story today begins.

Matthew 28:1-10

APPLICATION

The Bible says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you." (1 Peter 1:3-4)

The resurrection of Jesus is the center of the Easter story. Jesus bore our sins and so died on a cross, but He rose from the dead! His resurrection gives us life. We are powerless in our sin, but if we have faith in Jesus, and believe in His resurrection, we become new creations. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)

3-28-21

THE GOOD NEWS OF EASTER/THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY OF JESUS/ PALM SUNDAY

After completing this Easter Sunday school lesson, the children will discover that Jesus deserves our worship and praise because of who He is and what He came to earth to do for us.

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Hosanna in the highest heaven.” Matthew 21:9

Every year the Jewish people celebrate Passover to remember the time God protected them from death during the tenth plague on Egypt. After that plague, the Pharaoh of Egypt freed all the Israelites from slavery. One year, as the people came to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast, they heard that their special King was also coming, so they all went out to the road to praise Him. How do you think they reacted when their King arrived?

The Triumphal Entry   Palm Sunday

Or Found in Matthew 21:1-11 (The Triumphal Entry)

APPLICATION

Jesus performed many miracles. The news about how He healed many, and His remarkable teachings spread quickly. The people believed Jesus was the Christ, the one who would rise to power and free the people from the hardships placed on them by the Romans. So they shouted praises of joy when they saw Him. Little did they know the reason Jesus came to earth was to free the people not from the Romans, but from their sins. Jesus offered the gift of everlasting life.

That gift is for everyone who hears the Word of God and welcomes Jesus into their hearts. Now that calls for shouts of praise. Hosanna! Save us Now!

GOOD FRIDAY

This coming Friday, March 26 is, “Good Friday.” Here you will discover that Jesus loves us so much, He willingly died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. When we respond to God's call to repent and ask Jesus to forgive our sins, He washes us clean so we may have eternal life with Him in Heaven.

After Judas betrayed Jesus by kissing Him on the cheek, the chief priests, officers, and elders who were there had Jesus arrested. The next day they asked Jesus, "Are You the Son of God?" Jesus replied, "You are right in saying that I am." Upon hearing that, they took Jesus to Pilate to be sentenced for the crimes of not paying taxes and blasphemy. Pilate questioned Jesus, but did not find any reasons for the charges and tried to set Him free. However, the people insisted all the more. They began to yell, "Crucify Him" over and over. Our story today starts at the time they led Jesus away to the place He would be hung on a cross to die. It was a Friday.

GOOD FRIDAY - THE CRUCIFIXION  

APPLICATION

All of us do things that are wrong from time to time. All of us have sinned. No matter how large or small the sin, it separates us from God, and all sin leads to death. However, as we learned today, God loves us so much, He sent His only Son to save us. Jesus did not sin; instead, He died on the cross in our place, so we could have everlasting life and be with Him in Heaven. When we choose Jesus as our Lord, and with repentance ask Him to forgive our sins, He will. This is a wonderful and exciting message of Easter.

Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins, but He rose from the grave on Sunday morning and conquered death once and for all. Because Jesus rose from the grave, He can give us new life as well.

Next week, Easter Sunday!

JOIN US! NEXT SUNDAY, MARCH 28, FOR CHILDREN'S CHURCH!

3-21-21

Zechariah the Prophet

Parents, Thank you for joining us during our studies on the Major and Minor Prophets. The children needed more assistance for these studies but what a blessing for them to see God use prophets to teach us what He desires for all of us. We believe that because of God’s love for us He will continue to speak to us in many ways. Through His Word, through prayer, through prophetic words and in other ways. We need to have an open heart and mind to hear, understand and obey what He is telling us. We pray you have enjoyed learning more about God’s prophets and the message and lessons they brought to us all so that we can be strong christians for God. We will end our studies on the prophets with Zechariah.

Zechariah His name means "Whom Jehovah Remembers"

Zechariah had visions. Many of Zechariah's visions were about the coming Messiah which was Christ and about the church. His message included that the church should know that God is in control of everything, build the temple, stop sinning, God would get rid of the idols and that God can and will take care of us.

Zechariah 1:3   "...Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of Hosts…"

Lesson:

Song : Not by Might 

When God’s people stopped rebuilding God’s temple, God sent prophets to give His people a message. Zechariah (ZEK uh RIGH uh) was one of the prophets who told the people what God said.

God said, “Come back to Me, and I will come back to you.” God wanted His people to remember Him and put Him first. “Do not be like your parents and grandparents and great-grandparents,” God said. “I sent prophets to tell them to stop disobeying Me, but they did not listen.”

 One night, God gave Zechariah more messages for His people. The messages came in eight visions—like dreams, but Zechariah was awake. Each vision was a new message that said what God was going to do.

 Zechariah saw a man on a red horse. The man rode his horse around the earth. He looked to see what was happening. Everything was quiet. God said He was going to punish His people’s enemies, and the people would finish building God’s temple. 

Then Zechariah saw four horns. God’s people had four enemies. Zechariah saw four men. The men would win against the enemies. Then Zechariah saw a man with a rope. He used the rope to measure things. The man tried to measure the city of Jerusalem, but it was too big. Then Zechariah saw Joshua the priest. Then he saw a golden lampstand and then a flying scroll. Then Zechariah saw a woman in a basket. Then he saw four chariots. What strange visions! Everything Zechariah saw in the visions was a special message from God. God told Zechariah, “Make gold and silver crowns. Put them on Joshua the priest.” Joshua looked like a king, but he was not the special king God planned. God said that the true special king would come one day and bring peace. There would be no more fighting. “Be happy and shout for joy! Your King is coming,” God said. “He is a good King. He is riding on a donkey.” Christ Connection: Zechariah saw that God was going to help His people and give them a special king. Jesus is the King who came humbly on a donkey, just like Zechariah said. God kept His promise to send Jesus. We can trust in Jesus to forgive our sins.

3-14-21

Zephaniah

Zephaniah 3:17 describes God's justice and love. The Lord your God is in your midst a mighty one who will save he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love;  he will exult over you with loud singing.

Zephaniah also warns Israel and the surrounding nations that the day of the Lord is near. God will judge the nations with a burning fire as He purifies them from sin, evil and violence. They worshiped other Gods and didn’t listen to God’s prophets so they had to suffer for not being obedient.

Zephaniah, Prophet to Judah 

When young Josiah was king of Judah, God gave a message to a prophet named Zephaniah (ZEF uh NIGH uh). God’s message was about something that would happen in the future. A day is coming called “the Day of the Lord.” On that day, God is going to punish people for their sin. “I will destroy everything on earth,” God said. “I will remove all people from the earth.” Zephaniah told God’s message to the people of Judah. 

Zephaniah told the people what an awful day the Day of the Lord will be: a day of wrath, a day of trouble, a day of destruction, a day of darkness, a day of clouds and blackness. The Lord will show His anger because everyone has sinned against Him. 

What were people to do? This was terrible news! “Come together before it is too late,” 

Zephaniah said. “Change your ways. Turn to God and obey Him. Be humble. Maybe you will be safe from God’s anger.” 

Zephaniah told the people something that could give them hope. He said that when all these terrible punishments happen because of sin, God will keep safe the people who trust in Him. God promised restoration; He will fix everything, making it like new. “People who are kind and gentle, who are humble, will be safe. They will trust in My name,” God said. “I will make them holy and give them peace.” The day when God makes things right will be such a happy day for His people. God’s people will be glad. “Sing and be happy! Shout for joy!” Zephaniah said. “The Lord will be with you, and you won’t need to worry about anything bad happening.” “God will be with you,” Zephaniah said. “He will save you and show you how much He loves you.” 

We have this great hope and  promise that God is and will be with us because He loves us!

3-7-21

Habakkuk

Habakkuk is an unusual name that means "embrace." Habakkuk wrote his small, three-chapter book. The book of Habakkuk is written with God and Habakkuk speaking to each other. Habakkuk would ask a question or wonder out loud at something and God would answer. He felt comfortable speaking to the LORD God and asking questions. The Babylonians had no respect for authority and did what they wanted to do, but, still, God used this cruel nation of Babylon to discipline His children, the nation of Judah.

God told Habakkuk to be patient and wait on Him to deal with His people in a just manner. God said there would be many "woes" brought on Judah for serving false gods and not serving Him.

Habakkuk trembled and was afraid of the things that God said would happen to His people because of their wickedness and disobedience, but Habakkuk also believed and trusted in God. He said that the LORD was his strength.

God is also our strength when we trust on Him, and wait on Him to do what needs to be done no matter what we are going through. We do need to rest in Him. This happens when,

We are honest with God.

We remember that God is a God of mercy.

We trust that God will help us through hard times.

We choose joy!

2-28-21

Dear Parents,

Some of this material may be a little difficult to understand for some of the children but with your help, I think they can pretty much understand who Micah is and what God assigned him to do.

Micah the Prophet

Micah, was called out of his home to prophesy to Israel and Judah. Micah dealt with the problem of the people who worshipped idols and how God’s people were being treated badly.

His prophecies was about how God would judge his people’s sins, how he wanted to restore people, and He wanted people to repent.

Micah 6:8 is probably the most familiar verse of the book. Micah says: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

God will forgive us, have mercy on us, and restore us. He also desires that we know when people are not treated right and that we have compassion for them and be there for them. We will always need Christians to demonstrate mercy to the weak and oppressed.

2-21-21
Jonah and the Whale

We continue our study of how God often told people how to live through the teachings of prophets. God gave a message to tell others. Today’s lesson is on Jonah.It was important for prophets to follow God’s directions. Jonah, however ran away and tried to hide from God.
Jonah was not only slow to obey, he went in the other direction and ended up inside a fish but Jonah does repent inside the fish. Even though Jonah did the opposite of what God told him, when he repented God gave him a second chance.
When the people of Nineveh heard Jonah preach, they repented. They too got a second chance to make things right with God.
Repentance means to be sorry for what you did wrong and turn away from it and do the opposite.
Remember, God forgives sin and fills our hearts with new life when we repent.

There are a lot of crafts or worksheets online for this particular Prophet.

2-14-21
JOEL REPENT AND BE MADE RIGHT WITH GOD

In our Bible lesson today we are going to hear about locusts in the Book of Joel. In the Bible God’s true words are written for us to read. He promises punishment for all who sin but He also gives us a chance to turn from our sin (repent) and turn back to God.
God showed His mercy to the Israelites by sending His prophets with His warnings to repent or face the consequences of sin. Sadly, the Israelites did not listen to God’s warnings and they faced His punishment.
Joel was one of the prophets God sent to His people living in the southern kingdom called Judah. The people in Judah were sinning against God. He sent locusts that destroyed all the crops the people were growing for food. God also sent a drought and the water dried up in the land. It was so dry fires burned up the pastures that animals used to be able to eat green grass. The locusts, drought and fire were consequences to the sin of God’s people.
Joel told the people to mourn (be sad) for their sinfulness. Put on sackcloth (uncomfortable clothes) fast (a time of focusing completely on the Lord) and cry out to the Lord. Joel said, “Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing-grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God.” Joel 2:14
Joel told the Israelites that things were bad but it was not too late to repent and turn back to God. He told them that things were bad now but there is a day called the Day of the Lord which will be even worse. This would be a time when God would punish all people who choose to not believe in the Lord Jesus and live sinful lives.
Joel ended God’s warnings with God’s promises to restore the land of the Israelites and they would be kept safe because they turned to Him and believed Him. He will forgive all their sins and bless them.

Today you and I have God’s Word so we can know how to live a life that pleases Him. The people in Joel’s day did not have the New Testament because they were still waiting for God’s promised Savior to come. We have the Old and New Testament because God’s promised Savior Jesus has come into the world. He walked on this earth teaching people to turn from sin and to live a life that pleases God. He performed miracles that showed God’s power. Then, one day just as God had planned for His Son, cruel men nailed Jesus to the cross where He was punished for my sins and yours. He died and was placed in a tomb. Three days later God raised Jesus from the dead!
Jesus loved us so much that He didn’t want us to be separated from God’s presence forever and ever. He died and took the punishment we deserved upon Himself so we could have forgiveness if we believe in Him.

2-7-21

MINOR PROPHETS

(As listed in the Bible)

Obadiah

Joel

Jonah

Amos

Hosea

Micah

Zephaniah

Nahum

Habakkuk

Haggai

Zechariah

Malachi

Although their books in the bible were shorter than the major prophets they were just as powerful and needed.

Their purpose was to speak for God to men, to speak God’s words, predict the future, and to deal with false prophets.

The first prophet we will study is Obadiah. Obadiah reminds us that in the end God will judge those who are against Israel. He does not forget His children.

LESSON:

1-31-21

THE PROPHETS
This week’s lesson completes the introduction to the major prophets. Hopefully the children understood who a prophet is  and what a prophet does.

Review 

Prophets  were people chosen by God to speak his message.These were men who listened to the voice of God and were faithful to tell the word of God to those who needed to hear it, even if it meant that people wouldn’t listen or accept them.

Prophets talk to us through God’s Word, the Bible. Other prophets we didn’t cover but are in the Bible are listed below. There are also more prophets not listed.

Major Prophet doesn't mean that the prophet was more important than one of the Minor Prophets. It just means that the book in the Bible that they wrote was longer!

Major Prophets

  •  Isaiah

• Jeremiah

• Ezekiel

• Daniel

Minor Prophets

  •     Hosea

• Joel

• Amos

• Obadiah

• Jonah

• Micah

• Nahum

• Habakkuk

• Zephaniah

• Haggai

• Zechariah

• Malachi

We will study these prophets as well.

God has taught us through the prophets. God continues to provide words through his prophets that aren’t in bible too.

1-24-21

DANIEL

The forth major prophet is Daniel.  Daniel had the gift of interpreting dreams. We see this when he interprets Nebuchadnezzar dream.

DANIEL  2:1-38

King Nebuchadnezzar’s had a dream that troubled him. He ordered all the wise men in Babylon to be killed unless they could reveal the dream and its meaning.

Daniel and his friends went to God in prayer and God showed him what the dream  meant. He was able to to tell him what God was saying through the dream.Daniel tells the king what he dreamed.   Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a large statue.  The statue was an enormous, dazzling and awesome in appearance.  The statue was made up of different metals.  The head was pure gold, chest and arms were silver, belly and thighs were bronze, the legs were iron and the feet were part clay and part iron.
As the king watched this awesome statue a rock that was not cut or mined with human hands flew through the air and smashed the feet of the statue causing the whole thing to fall smashing into small pieces that were unrecognizable.

Daniel interprets the dream about the statue: 

The head is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. (Verses 37-38.)

The remainder of the statue indicate future kingdoms that will be weaker than Babylon:

• Chest and arms - Medo-Persia

• Belly and thighs - Greece

• Legs - Rome

• Feet/toes - future kingdoms

Daniel explains the rock that was not cut by human hands in verses 44-45.
This refers to a future event when the Lord Jesus reigns for a 1000 years.  Those who have put their faith in Jesus as the Savior who died on the cross for sins, was buried and rose again will live with Jesus as He is King over all the earth.  This kingdom will never be destroyed.
When Nebuchadnezzar heard Daniel tell him his dream and explain it with such accuracy he got on the ground and lay stretched out on his face before Daniel.

Application: Daniel did exactly what he should have done. He went to God. When we are in a situation that seems impossible, you can be glad cause God is in control. This is also a good time to show just how mighty God is. God says, “My power is strongest when you are weak.” II Corinthians 12:9

1-17-21

The Prophet Ezekiel

Hi, everyone! I’m Ezekiel. I was an Israelite living in Babylon after God punished us by letting the Babylonians conquer us and take us back to their country.

One day, while I was living in Babylon, I began to feel a lot of wind blowing toward me. It was very strong. And there was a huge cloud over my head with lightning in it and fire. Inside the fire were four angels. These angels had four faces, one on each side of their head. One face was a regular human face, but they also had a lion face and an eagle face and a bull face. And they had six wings each, with eyes totally covering their wings. The four angels were carrying a throne above their heads. God was on the throne. He looked like a man, but from His stomach up, He looked like glowing metal, and from His stomach down, He looked like only fire. I don’t know if that’s how God looks all the time, but that’s how He looked then. How would all of you like to see God?Do you think you would be scared?

Well, I can tell you that I was scared, seeing those angels and God. I simply fell down on the ground and bowed before God. Then God said, “Ezekiel, I’m going to make you a prophet. I want you to go preach to the Israelites living in Babylon and tell them to believe in Me and do the right things that I want them to do. I am making you like a guard on top of the castle. When the guard sees an enemy coming, he’s supposed to warn the rest of the people.

Now, I want you to warn the Israelites. Tell them that if they don’t believe in Me and do the right things that I want them to do, then I will punish them again. “If you don’t warn them, you will be guilty of doing something wrong too, because I told you to warn them and you didn’t. But if you do warn them, and they still won’t believe in Me and do the right things, then only they will be guilty. You will have done the right thing by warning them.”

So, from then on, I was a prophet. Whatever God told me to do, I did. And I tried to warn the people of Israel to start believing in God again and to do the right things that God wanted them to do. Some people believed me and started believing in God, but other people didn’t. At least, I had done what I was supposed to do and warned them, right?

God has a purpose for all of our lives. We just need to obey when we hear His voice and seek, follow, and walk after God with all our heart, mind, body, soul, and spirit.

Review Questions:

What did God tell Ezekiel to do? (To warn people to believe in God and do the right things that He wanted them to do.) What would happen if Ezekiel didn’t warn people to believe in God? (Ezekiel would get in trouble for not warning people as God said.) Do you think God wants us to tell other people to believe in God too? (Yes.)

So, let’s do our best to tell as many people as possible about God so that they can believe in Him too and go to Heaven when they die.

Primary and Intermediate:

1-10-21

“God Wants to Use You”

Jeremiah 1:4-10  Last week we studied the prophet Isaiah.        

Today we are studying Jeremiah one of the 4 major Prophets and the youngest. (Approximately 17 years old.) Let’s explore how God will use you if you just say, “Yes!”

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 

Jeremiah 1:4-5 “Wow, God had a job for Jeremiah before he was even born! Did you know God had a job for you picked out before you were born? He knows what your life will be like before anyone else knows!” 

God understands everything about you and He created You for something incredible. Jeremiah was nervous about hearing these words from God. He wondered how he would be able to do anything special or important, since he was just a child:

Then the Lord put out His hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” -Jeremiah 1:9-10 This is a beautiful promise. 

God is working through our lives. Whatever we do, His hand is behind it. Perhaps God has a plan for children to be rocket scientists, or Olympians, or presidents, or housekeepers or bakers. You may not know what His plans are for  you. You might not understand how He is working in your life. But you don’t have to wait and wonder. You can work every day, at any age, to serve Him. God has given us love and grace, and promises to be with us to do His work, whatever that might be. 

1-3-21

We will be introducing the children to the some of the prophets that God used in various ways.

Bible Lesson

One of the 4 major prophets is Isaiah. 

God used Isaiah to remind His people that someday He was going to send a Messiah. Isaiah writings in the Bible did much to remind God's people then and now that God is powerful and worthy of our love and devotion.

Prophets Told About God’s Son Isa. 7:14; 9:2-7; Micah 5:2 

A long time before Jesus’ birth, God told His people He would send His Son. God used

individuals, known as prophets in the Old Testament, to tell people Jesus would be born. Prophets were similar to today’s preachers. They helped people know about God and how God wanted them to live. 

Prophets would tell people what God told them to say. One of those prophets was a man named Isaiah. God told Isaiah, “She will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14). He also told Isaiah that He would send His Son to help the people (Isa. 9:2-7). God used another prophet named Micah. Micah told the people Jesus would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). 

For a very long time, people waited for God to send His promised Son. They waited, and they waited. Finally, at just the right moment and in just the right place, Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph. God sent His Son just as the prophets said.