Season: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mountain
Episode 2: “Let Your Good Deeds Shine”
Today’s Bible Bite: Matthew 5:14-16

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zR4TbX5Lrg (Douglas Talks – Shine in the Darkness)

“You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:13a, NLT)

Jesus wants us to be real life examples of what it means to have a relationship with Him and to live the way that God knows is best. When we obey Him, we will look for ways to show kindness to others…always on the lookout to help someone in need. Jesus tells us that the good deeds we do for Him are one of the best ways we can be a ‘light.’ The dark can be scary and the Bible often compares the bad stuff in life to ‘darkness;’ light on the other hand, shows people a better way—the way to life with Jesus. How we live our lives should be like lights that point the way to Jesus in what can sometimes be a scary world.

Think about it...
• Jesus called us the light of the world. What does that mean?
• If we are followers of Jesus, we should live our lives to please God. How can we do that?
• The good deeds we do in life don’t earn us points with God, but will cause other people to praise God. How can my behaviour cause others to praise God?
• When we live to obey God, we will try to find ways to show His love to others. What special good deed can I do today for someone else to show that I love God?
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Prayer: Thank you, God, that I can have a relationship with Jesus who is the light of the world. Thank you, too, that when I live for Him, His light can shine in me to others. Help me to always be ready to do good deeds so that others will praise you!
~ Pastor Jane

Season: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mountain
Episode 1: “Good Salt”
Today’s Bible Bite: Matthew 5:13

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05zg_Zfs-7c (Salt of the Earth Illustration and Experiment – CPC)

“You are the salt of the earth.” (Matthew 5:13a, NLT)

During Jesus’ most well-known sermon, which today we call the ‘sermon on the mount,’ He told people how to best live; to be His followers, they needed to not just think about themselves, but should try to live the way God wanted them too. One of the first things He told those who were listening is that they were to be the ‘salt’ of the earth. What on earth did He mean by that? Well, in order to understand how we can be salt, we need to understand how salt works.

Salt flavours…God wants us to ‘flavour’ the world with His love by treating others the way we want to be treated—being kind, generous and helpful.

Salt preserves…We can help people to know how to be ‘preserved’ by sharing the truth about Jesus with them.

Salt heals…We are to help those who are hurting—we are not to hurt; we are to love those who feel unloved—we are not to hate; we need to show mercy to those who make mistakes—we are not to condemn them or refuse to forgive.

There are many good things that regular salt does—and Jesus wants everyone who wants to be His follower to find ways to be His good salt.

Think about it...
• Before refrigeration, meat was kept from spoiling by packing it in salt. How can we help others from “spoiling?”
• If you have an infection, salt can help to heal the wound. How can we help others to heal from the infection of sin?
• We all know people who can ruin a day through their nasty behaviour and people who can make us feel better because they are kind. How does being kind, ‘flavour’ the world with God’s love?
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Prayer: Thank you, God, for Jesus’ teaching that shows us how we need to think and act to be His followers. Please help us to understand all that He taught; sometimes it can be hard to understand. Help us to be good ‘salt’ for you!
~ Pastor Jane

"Heroes of the Bible” – Many of the heroes of the Bible were members of God’s chosen family, the Israelites…but not all of them. God readily accepted anyone who chose to follow Him; one foreigner who did was Ruth.
Today’s Lesson - “Ruth – A Faithful Foreigner”

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h1eoBeR4Jk&t=4s (The Bible Project – Ruth – for adults and older children)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irThVpdeSXk (Crossroad Kids – God’s Story: Ruth)
Today’s Hero – Ruth (Book of Ruth)

Chapter 1 - Ruth’s story begins with tragedy. After being married for about ten years, Ruth’s husband died. To make matters worse, so did his brother who was married to a woman named Orpah. That left Naomi (Ruth’s mother-in-law), Orpah and Ruth with no one to take care of them. “Why did they need someone to take care of them?” you may ask…because during the time that they lived, women could not work to earn money, they could not own property and they had no rights under the law. Without a man to help them, they would be homeless and forced to beg! Naomi, who had been brought to Moab by her husband, decided to return to her home country of Israel. Ruth and Orpah’s families were from Moab. Ruth decided she would go with Naomi, even though it meant that she would live in a new country and she didn’t know what the future would hold; she was determined to take care of Naomi and never leave her to fend for herself.

Chapter 2 - Once in Israel, Ruth worked hard to find food for her and Naomi. Everyday she would go out to glean in the fields to collect whatever grain she could. God was with Ruth keeping her safe because this could have been dangerous for her—she might have been mistreated. But Ruth found herself gleaning in a field that was owned by a man named Boaz. Boaz loved God and was very kind to Ruth. He even told her to stay in his fields throughout the entire harvest, directed his workers to allow Ruth to collect lots of grain and invited her to eat with his workers.

Chapter 3 – In those days, a woman who found herself widowed could be taken care of by a ‘kinsman redeemer.’ This was usually a man who was a close relative to her deceased husband. The man would marry the woman, and any children they had would be considered her deceased husband’s and they would inherit the family property. Boaz just so happened to be one of the men who could act as a kinsman redeemer for Ruth. So Naomi hatched a plan. She told Ruth to propose to Boaz! It wasn’t like a marriage proposal like today, but Boaz said, ‘Yes!’ But there was only one problem. There was actually one kinsman redeemer who was closer to the family than Boaz, so Boaz himself did a little planning of his own.

Chapter 4 – Boaz met the other possible kinsman redeemer and told him that Naomi’s family’s land was available to be redeemed; this other man wanted the land. But when Boaz told him that Ruth was a part of the deal, he changed his mind. This then cleared the way for Boaz to marry Ruth. In time, they had a little boy named Obed, who became the grandfather of the future king David! Because of Ruth’s bravery, her faithfulness to Naomi and her desire to serve God, God took care of her and she would even become one of Jesus’ ancestors!

Engage:
• Naomi, Ruth and Orpah found themselves in a very hard position with no men to look after them. What did Naomi decide was her best option?
• Naomi encouraged her daughters-in-law to return to their families in Moab, which probably would have been much easier for them. Why do you think Ruth refused?
• Ruth was brave and a very hard worker and determined to find a way to take care of Naomi and herself. How did God help her?
• When Boaz married Ruth, he was committing to take care of her, Naomi and their family’s property. Why might the other kinsman redeemer not have wanted the responsibility?
• Many in Israel would have looked down on Ruth because she was from Moab. How did God feel about Ruth? How do you know?

Theme verses:
Ruth 1:16, NLT - “But Ruth replied to Naomi, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.”
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Prayer – Dear God, thank you for helping Ruth—you helped her be loyal to Naomi, brave and introduced her to the man who would become her husband. You proved that anyone who wants to live for you is welcome in your family; you didn’t just help Ruth, but you included her in the family line of not just kings, but of the King of Kings—Jesus!
~ Pastor Jane

Season: Beatitudes
Episode 8: “Blessed are the Persecuted”
Today’s Bible Bite: Matthew 5:10 – “God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” (NLT)

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t11uUtscL8 (Douglas Talks – Blessed are the Persecuted)

“…everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12, NLT)

None of us likes it when others are mean to us, but the Bible is pretty clear that when we try to live the way God wants us to, some people won’t like it. They may make fun of us or they may call us names. They may even try to tell us that we’re wrong or bad for following God. In some countries around the world, it is actually dangerous to live for God and believe in Jesus; some Christians face the threat of imprisonment and even death if they let people know they believe in Jesus!

In the Bible this is called persecution. Persecution is nothing we should want, but Jesus has warned us that if we follow Him we should expect it. That might make us scared to follow Jesus, but God has promised to bless people who are persecuted for doing what’s right during this life; anyone who faces persecution here, is promised a reward from God—a place in heaven with Him where they will live forever. Being treated meanly is not something anyone wants, but if people treat us badly for doing what’s right, God has promised that He’s on our side. No matter how people may treat us, we know that God will help us and give us the best reward ever—eternal life with Him in heaven.

Think about it...
• Jesus warned His followers that they would be persecuted. Why might someone be mean to someone just because they believe in Jesus?
• We might be scared to tell people about Jesus because of how they will respond. Have you ever had someone tease you or make fun of you because you believe in God?
• God knows that it isn’t easy to be a Christian, but He has promised to help us. How does God help us?
• Life on earth feels like a long time, but compared to life in heaven it’s not. How would you explain what ‘eternal life’ means?
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Prayer: Thank you, God, that we can believe in Jesus, have a relationship with you and spend the rest of our lives in heaven with you. Help us not to be scared to always do what is right and to tell others about you. Help us to be kind to those who are mean to us because we are your followers.
~ Pastor Jane

Season: Beatitudes
Episode 7: “Blessed are the Peacemakers”
Today’s Bible Bite: Matthew 5:9 – “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.” (NLT)

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJX-Hks-pvk (Douglas Talks – Blessed are the Peacemakers)

“And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15, NLT)
“A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.” (Proverbs 15:1, NLT)

When it comes to being peaceful, sometimes people and God have very different ideas. People often think that to have peace no one can disagree or have a different opinion, that somehow you can’t be friendly with those who think differently from you. People also often think that to achieve peace someone needs to be made to stop whatever it is they're doing by force, that somehow people can become peaceful through the use of force and/or punishment. But God’s ideas about peace are very different.
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The Bible is very clear that God values peace and He wants His followers to be peacemakers. When someone is mean to us, we shouldn’t just retaliate—either with our words or physically. If we see someone else being mistreated, we should come to their defense. If someone who is a bully needs help, we should try to help them. God doesn’t just want us to try to force others to be kind, He wants us to be examples of what kindness looks like…which is impossible if we aren’t spreading peace in our world to all people—to our parents, our brothers and sisters, kids at school, people we work with, whoever. When people see that we care about peace more than anything, they will feel safe with us, which then will give us a chance to tell them about Jesus who enables us to be peaceful even when other people tell us we shouldn’t be.

Think about it...
• God loves ‘peacemakers.’ How can we ‘make’ peace?
• Being a ‘peacemaker’ does not mean that you don’t stand up for others. How can you be a peacemaker when you see someone being mistreated by another?
• Some people act like bullies, often because they believe that being the toughest is the way to get what you need in life. As a peacemaker, how could you help a bully?
• Sometimes people are mean to us and our first reaction is to be mean right back, but that just makes the situation worse. Why is a peaceful response better?
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Prayer: Thank you, God, that you love peace and you made a way for people to have a relationship with you by making peace with us through Jesus. It’s sometimes hard to understand how you could love us while we were still your enemies, but it’s true. Thank you! Help me to show love to others by being a peacemaker, too.
~ Pastor Jane

Season: Beatitudes
Episode 6: “Blessed are the Pure In Heart”
Today’s Bible Bite: Matthew 5:8 – “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” (NLT)

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oomib6kwOGs (Douglas Talks – Blessed are the Pure in Heart)

“Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:9, NLT)

Being ‘pure in heart’ has a lot to do with how we spend our time, because the things we spend our time on naturally have an effect on us…whether good or bad. Everyone knows that in order to know someone we need to spend time with them and the more time we spend with them, the more we will become like them. God wants us to spend time with Him, because the more we do the more we will learn about Him, and the more we learn about Him the more we will want to be like Jesus. Jesus’ actions, thoughts and feelings always pleased God because He was pure in heart—sin never spoiled His heart or mind; if we follow Jesus, He has promised to give us the Holy Spirit to help us become just like Him! When we allow the Holy Spirit to change us, Jesus promises that we will live with Him in heaven. We will see God!

Think about it...
• To be ‘pure in heart’ we need to be careful how we spend our time. What happens if we never spend any time with God?
• The Bible warns us that we should be very careful about the things we think about. Why does that matter?
• Jesus wants us to be like Him. How can we do that?
• None of us is perfect and we all make mistakes. What can we do when we hurt God by having an impure heart?
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Prayer: Thank you, God, that you have promised that those who are pure in heart will someday get to live with you. Please forgive me when I disobey you and help me to become more like Jesus, who never disappointed you.
~ Pastor Jane

"Heroes of the Bible” – When we think of the heroes of the Bible, we often think of the famous men who did great things for God; but it wasn’t just men that God used. The Bible also tells the stories of women in the Bible who are amongst its heroes. Today, our lesson is about one of these great women—Deborah!

Today’s Lesson - “Deborah – Prophet and Judge”

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxwhdb-WdgU (CartoonWorks – Judges 4-5)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7ETZBMR028 (Richard Gunther – Deborah & Barak)

Today’s Hero – Deborah (Judges 4-5)

When God helped the Israelites take over the land of Canaan, He warned them to obey Him and not worship the false gods of the nations around them. If they stayed faithful, He would help them prosper; if they disobeyed, He removed His protection from them and would allow the other nations to conquer Israel. During this time, before the nation of Israel had any kings, they had judges to lead them. Whenever another nation would make their lives difficult, the people would remember to ask God for help and He would give them a judge to rescue them. One of these judges was a lady named Deborah; not only was she the leader of the Israelites, but she was also a prophet, which meant that God would give her messages which she would share with others.

During Deborah’s life as Israel’s judge, Jabin the king of the Canaanites oppressed the Israelites and the commander of his army Sisera made life miserable for the people. One day, God gave Deborah a message for a man named Barak. He was to take 10,000 men and fight Sisera and his army. But Barak was afraid. Sisera’s army had 900 iron chariots. How could the Israelites fight against that? Barak told Deborah that he would go on one condition…she had to come with him. Deborah trusted God and told Barak she would go, but he would not get credit for winning the battle.

Well, the men fought against Sisera’s army and with God’s help they conquered the enemy. The whole enemy army was destroyed, except one man. Sisera had escaped! He ran to Heber’s encampment where he thought he would be safe, but Heber’s wife Jael had other plans. She had him hide in her tent, gave him milk to drink and after he had fallen asleep, she killed him. When Barak came chasing after Sisera, Jael showed him where Sisera’s body was…still in her tent. As a result, Jael was given credit for having defeated Sisera and the Israelites had forty years of peace with Deborah as their leader.

Engage:
• The Israelites could count on God’s help as long as they stayed loyal to Him. Why do you think they kept disobeying Him?
• When the people realized their mistakes and cried out for God’s help, He would send a judge. What was the job of a ‘judge’ during these days?
• Deborah was both a judge and a prophet and people trusted her to provide good leadership. Why did Barak refuse to obey God unless she went with him?
• Deborah warned Barak that a woman was going to get credit for winning the battle. He might have thought the woman she was referring to was herself, but who actually got the credit and why?

Theme verses:
Judges 4:4-5, NLT - “4 Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet who was judging Israel at that time. 5 She would sit under the Palm of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would go to her for judgment.”
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Prayer – Dear God, thank you for Deborah’s good leadership. Help me to be as faithful to you as she was. Help me to trust you as much as she did. Help me to be ready to serve you in whatever way you want me to.
~ Pastor Jane

Season: Beatitudes
Episode 5: “Blessed are the Merciful”
Today’s Bible Bite: Matthew 5:7 – “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” (NLT)

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFKR96ecxqQ (Douglas Talks – Blessed are the Merciful)

“Do to others as you would like them to do to you.” (Luke 6:31, NLT)

Showing mercy is when we’re kind to someone whether we think they deserve it or not, like giving someone a second chance when they mess up or not getting mad when things go wrong. We love it when people show us mercy, but sometimes we’re not so good at giving mercy. But what did Jesus say about that? He wants us to treat others the way we want to be treated. That means that if we want people to show us mercy (and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t), we need to be willing to show mercy to others. God has shown us His incredible mercy by providing a way for us to be forgiven for the bad things we do…without us being able to do anything to earn His forgiveness. We need to show that kind of mercy to others too. If we refuse, the Bible also warns us that we shouldn’t expect to be treated with mercy by God…and that’s a pretty frightening thought, because none of us is perfect and we need His mercy in our lives each and every day.

Think about it...
• Showing ‘mercy’ is about being kind just because, especially when others don’t expect us to be kind. When might we not want to show mercy?
• God tells us that showing mercy is one of the conditions for receiving mercy. How have you experienced God’s mercy?
• God shows us His mercy by forgiving us. Is it ever okay not to forgive other people?
• Forgiving someone doesn’t mean that what happened is okay. Forgiveness means not holding it over someone else. This requires us to be merciful. When has someone shown you mercy?
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Prayer: Thank you, God, for your incredible mercy. Without your mercy it would be impossible for us to know your love, forgiveness or to be part of your family. Help us to be merciful to others because we have experienced your mercy.
~ Pastor Jane

Season: Beatitudes
Episode 4: “Blessed are Those Who Want to Live the Right Way”
Today’s Bible Bite: Matthew 5:6 – “God blesses those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” (NLT)

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5JR8AHpMsg (Douglas Talks – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness)

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:33, NLT)

God promises to give us what we need if we will commit to living life according to His principles. That means loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength; that means treating others the way we want to be treated; that even means treating your enemies kindly and praying for them. God knows we have needs, but He also knows that when we don’t wait for Him to give us what we need, we tend to push people aside, stop spending time with Him, and begin looking out for only ourselves. So, Jesus flipped our ideas about how to get what we need and told us that, first, we need to look to live life in the right way—God’s way—then God will give us what we need…we’ll be satisfied.

Think about it...
• Everyone has needs. Why do we sometimes act like it’s okay to hurt others to get what we need/want?
• Jesus knew that when we just focus on ourselves, we can be selfish, mean and greedy. What does He tell us we should be hungry and thirsty for?
• Righteousness is about wanting justice for everyone…just like God. What should that look like in our lives?
• When we focus on doing things God’s way, He has promised to meet our needs. What needs do you have? Why is it better to trust God to meet your needs than trying to do it all by yourself?
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Prayer: Thank you, God, that when we work to live in a way that is pleasing to you, you promise to provide us with the things we need. Help me to trust you for this and to understand that sometimes what I think is a ‘need’ actually isn’t. You will provide what I truly need.
~ Pastor Jane

Season: Beatitudes
Episode 3: “Blessed Are the Humble”
Today’s Bible Bite: Matthew 5:5 – “God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.” (NLT)

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5-S7cBto3Q (Douglas Talks – Blessed are the meek)

“’God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ 7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” (James 4:6b-7, NLT)

Many people mistakenly think, that to feel important or to ‘get ahead,’ they need to put others down and brag about their own accomplishments. But that’s just pride—not the good kind of pride that helps us to know we are special to God, but the wrong kind of pride that makes us think we don’t need God at all. When we are humble/meek, we recognize that we aren’t any more special to God than anyone else, but that He loves us all equally. He wants to help each one of us. Unfortunately, when we let the wrong kind of pride takeover, we convince ourselves that we are better than everyone else, we don’t need God and we certainly don’t need to follow His directions. Guess who else thinks like that? The devil! So, if you don’t want to be like him, the remedy is to be like Jesus—and stay humble, trusting God’s plan for your life!

Think about it...
• To be humble/meek means that we shouldn’t try to be more important than everyone else. When we put others down to get ahead, what is at work in us?
• The Bible tells us that God ‘opposes the proud.’ What does that mean?
• We should follow Jesus’ example, not the devil’s. Why?
• Today’s beatitude says that the humble/meek will ‘inherit the earth.’ What does that mean?
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Prayer: Thank you, God, that we don’t have to be better than everyone else. You love us all equally. We don’t need to brag to feel special. And we certainly don’t want our pride to get in the way of pleasing you! Help us to be humble.
~ Pastor Jane