2022 Theme: “Doing Life with Jesus”
Week 15: Jesus Died…But It’s Not the End of the Story!
Weekly Bible Bite: Luke 23-24

Video lesson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL8R158Ujp4 (Saddleback Kids – The Story of Easter: Jesus’ Sacrifice)

This week we will celebrate Easter, beginning with Good Friday—the day we remember that Jesus died for us. What is good about that?! Of course, Jesus dying is very sad and would have even been scary for Jesus’ friends, but for us it means that we can someday go to heaven…so for us it is very good!

2022 Theme: “Doing Life with Jesus”
Week 8: Jesus & The Sabbath
Weekly Bible Bite: Mark 2:23-3:6

Video lesson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YNtynWHCHM (The Chosen – scene concerning Jesus and the Sabbath)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3m2MMhikl8 (Superkids Bible Story – Jesus Heals a Man with a Withered Hand)

One of God’s ten commandments instructed people that they were to treat the Sabbath day as holy and not do regular kinds of work. The Sabbath was the seventh day of creation when God rested, which for the Jewish people was from sundown on Friday night to sundown on Saturday. On the Sabbath they would not work and would instead go to the synagogue or temple in Jerusalem to worship God. Many Christian churches treat Sunday as the Sabbath—a time to go to church, to worship God and to spend time learning from the Bible with others.

The Pharisees in Jesus’ day insisted that ‘doing no regular work’ meant no work at all, not even if it meant doing good; but Jesus had a different view of what kinds of work were not permitted. In fact, Jesus got into trouble with the Pharisees because he did do work which they thought he shouldn’t…like healing people. Being both man and God, Jesus knew what the commandment to honour the Sabbath meant; he showed people that it was meant to help people, not be something that made people’s lives difficult.

A number of times Jesus healed on the Sabbath. He showed us that it was good to do good on the Sabbath. When his hungry disciples were walking through a grain field, he showed us that the Sabbath’s rule about doing no work was not intended to prevent people from enjoying a meal, but was rather to be treated as an opportunity to take a rest from work and to focus on spending time with God. After all, the Sabbath was a gift from God to help people; it was not just another rule to follow.

Family goal:
What is a good thing your family can do to honour the Sabbath? ____________________
[Be sure to pick a measurable goal involving a task so that children will know when they have completed it.]

Weekly verses:
Mark 2:27, NLT – “Jesus said, ‘The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.’”

Family activities:
• Colour the picture of Jesus and the man whose hand was healed.
• Create a hand-wreathe of some of the good things you could do.
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Prayer:
Thank you, God that you gave us the gift of the Sabbath, so we could take a break from regular work and focus on doing life with you. Help me to find times throughout my week, to spend time with you and to do good to others.

2022 Theme: “Doing Life with Jesus”
Week 7: Counter Culture

Weekly Bible Bite: Matthew 8:1-4; Luke 17:11-19

Video lesson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL8DThllZAY (The Chosen – scene with Jesus and the leper)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzZUDRrKgI8 (Saddleback Kids – The Thankful Leper)

In Jesus’ day, much like our own, some people were not treated very well, including women, children, tax collectors and people with contagious diseases like leprosy. Today we know that leprosy is not as highly contagious as was once thought and we now have effective treatments for anyone who is diagnosed with leprosy.

That wasn’t the case in Jesus’ day. Being diagnosed as a leper was like a death sentence. You often had to leave your family and live with other lepers. You had to stay a certain distance away from people at all times, often not even being permitted to visit a town. You also had to warn people not to get too close by making them aware you had the disease, either by ringing a bell or yelling, “Unclean. Unclean.”

Can you imagine having to go through life never being able to have dinner with your family ever again, to get or give hugs, and perpetually feeling dirty? You might feel like God hated you…why else would someone be cursed with such an awful disease? However, God didn’t hate people who had leprosy…in fact, Jesus healed people who were lepers and was not afraid to be near them. Everyone thought that if you got leprosy, it was because you had done something terrible and God was punishing you. But Jesus showed us that type of thinking was wrong. He loved all people, even those who were sick with leprosy!

Family goal:
Can you think of someone who others don’t treat well? Choose one way to show them that you care and that God loves them. ____________________
[Be sure to pick a measurable goal involving a task so that children will know when they have completed it.]

Weekly verses:
Galatians 6:3, NLT – “3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.”

Family activities:
• Colour the picture of the leper who Jesus healed.
• Make some ‘get well’ cards to deliver. Deliver them to friends, family members, the hospital or a senior’s care home, for those who aren’t well.
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Prayer:
Thank you, God that no one is unloved by you. Help us to care for people the way that you do and not worry about what others will think. Help us to help others feel your love for them.

2022 Theme: “Doing Life with Jesus”
Week 6: Rejection
Weekly Bible Bite: Luke 4:16-30

Video lesson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B3C7ITMMqA (The Gospel Project – Jesus Teaches in Nazareth)

It is never easy to have others not believe us and even reject us. Jesus understands. When he told the people from his hometown that he was the Messiah—God’s promised Rescuer, they didn’t just not believe him…they tried to kill him by pushing him off of a cliff! Yikes!

Jesus could have gotten angry and demanded that they believe him, but that isn’t what he did. When it became clear that they weren’t interested in what he had to say, he simply left town and travelled to the next town to share the same truth that those in his hometown refused. And many people did believe.

For Jesus, having people accept him was not nearly as important as obeying God. Whether people accepted or rejected his message, he continued to share it. His message? God had made good on his promise to send the Messiah…and Jesus was that promised One.

Family goal:
As families, sometimes we don’t have a problem with rejection, but we still fall short of being supportive. What is one way you can support each other this week? ____________________
[Be sure to pick a measurable goal involving a task so that children will know when they have completed it.]

Weekly verses:
Isaiah 53:3, NLT – “He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.”

Family activities:
• Colour the picture of Jesus with others from his hometown.
• As a family, make a list of ways to respond to others when they are mean to you…instead of just getting mad and being mean back.
• Make a scroll by writing this week’s verse (or any other verse that you like) on it and take turns reading it to one another.
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Prayer:
Thank you, God that we can be certain that Jesus understands what we’re going through, even when others are mean to us. Help us never to retaliate, but always ask you to help us respond as Jesus would—focused on doing what is right, no matter what.