A Bad Idea

A heart almost as beautiful as the heart of Jesus: this is a good little craft, if you like origami. Use the 6" by 6" squares in a cool and brightly colored design. Follow this link for instructions:  http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-heart.html


Continuing in the fourth chapter of Luke, Jesus has some trouble with the hometown crowd. They revile Him, accuse Him, and finally, caught up in their mass, ignorant frenzy, they are driven to attempt His murder. These are people He grew up with: the families of His boyhood playmates, the friends and customers of Joseph and Mary.  


Jesus, the best preacher ever, had had them in the palm of His hand. They were amazed at the beauty and authority of His words. Then came the bad idea. That is how every sin begins, with one bad idea. And ideas, good or bad, tend to sweep through crowds.


A Bad Idea


When Jesus got done whooping the devil in the wilderness, he went to his hometown. It was called Nazareth. That's where Jesus grew up, in Nazareth. He went to church like He ALWAYS did. They called it synagogue back then, but let's just call it church like we say today, okay? Jesus went to church to preach. 


The people of Nazareth were so excited to have Jesus back home. Jesus was the best preacher ever. He preached from the book of Isaiah in the Bible. It was this part:

"The Spirit of the Lord is in me. This is because God chose me to tell the Good News to the poor." (Luke 4:18 ICB see link at left) 

Then Jesus said, "This is happening right here and now!" What did Jesus mean, "This is happening right here and now?" What was happening right here and now? (they have no idea) The people of Nazareth understood what Jesus meant. When He said, "God chose me" Jesus meant HE was the Messiah Isaiah was writing about!  


But then something happened. Someone in the church got an idea. It was a BAD idea! The person said, "Wait a minute! This is only Jesus. We knew him when he was a small boy. He grew up in our town. Jesus is NOBODY SPECIAL!" (they are shocked) Then a few more people started saying the same thing, "Jesus is nobody special!" Pretty soon all the people in the church got the same bad idea. They were so mad at Jesus for saying He was God's Messiah.


The people were so mad, they started pushing Jesus right out the door of the church. Then they were pushing Him all the way out of town, right to the edge of a cliff! They wanted to push Jesus off the cliff and kill Him! What do you think Jesus did then? (they don't know) Do you think He blasted them with His awesome power? (they don't know) Maybe He sent plagues to Nazareth just like God sent plagues to Egypt long ago. Remember? God sent flies, frogs, blood, death, it was just awful. Do you think Jesus did that? No, He did not do any of those things. Jesus did not even get mad at them. He just walked right through them, and there was nothing they could do about it. Jesus walked through them and went on His way.


(Choose the oldest boy) OK Garrett, you pretend to be Jesus. Stand on the edge of the step with your back to the people. Everybody else come around and try to push Garrett off the step when I say so. Garrett, try your best to walk through them, okay? Ready, set, push! (Garrett tries to stay up, but goes down in the end with a great stage fall!) If Garrett couldn't get through a small group of kids, HOW did Jesus get through a big crowd of angry grown-ups? Jesus really has awesome power, doesn't He!


And He has awesome love. Jesus grew up in Nazareth, and He knew those people, and He loved those people, and He loves all of you, too. Jesus would never hurt anyone. 


I have a reminder for you. This heart will remind you of Jesus and His awesome love. Who loves you more than anybody? (jesus) Who? (Jesus) I can't hear you! (JESUS!) Yes, He sure does.


Bow heads, close eyes, fold hands.


Dear God,
The love of Jesus is wonderful.
He loves us even when we get a bad idea, even when we do something naughty.
He doesn't get mad.
Please make our bad ideas go away.
Please give us good ideas.
Please help us be good for Jesus.
In His name we pray,
Amen.

Temptation In a Fishbowl

• What’s happening in this picture? (kitten reaching for fish in fishbowl)
• What will happen next? (kitten spilling fishbowl, getting fish, eating fish)
• Is the fish in trouble in this picture? (yes)
• Why is the fish in trouble? (fish is in danger from kitten, he will spill out or get eaten and die)
• The fish is in danger, but who is in trouble? Who is being bad? (kitten)
• What will happen to the kitten for being bad? (punishment, time-out, etc.)
• Do you know who can help the kitten be good? (they don’t know)

If this happened in a Harry Potter movie, could Harry or Ron or Hermione help? Maybe Hermione could wave her wand and say, “leviosa” and make the fishbowl float up to the ceiling where the kitten can’t reach. That would help the fish, but the kitten would still WANT to eat the fish. Hermione might be able to help the fish, but she can’t help the kitten. The kitten is still TEMPTED to be naughty.

If this happened in a Fantastic Four movie, could Thing help? Maybe Thing could clobber the kitten, and scare the kitten away. That would help the fish, but the kitten would still WANT to come back later to get the fish. Thing might be able to help the fish, but he can’t help the kitten. The kitten is still TEMPTED to be naughty.

That poor kitten! He WANTS that fish, doesn’t he? He WANTS to be naughty and catch the fish. He WANTS to be naughty and eat the fish. 

Who can help the kitten? Who can make the kitten want to be GOOD instead of naughty? When the devil TEMPTS us to be naughty, who can help US to be good? Jesus! Who? JESUS! Louder! JESUS!!!

Jesus can help us be good, because Jesus already beat the devil. Here is what happened: 

(abbreviated from Luke 4: 1-13, The Message)

The Spirit led Jesus into the wild.

For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested by the Devil.

Jesus ate nothing during those days, and he was hungry.

The Devil gave the first test saying: "Since you're God's Son, command this stone to turn into a loaf of bread."

Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy saying: "It takes more than bread to really live."

For the second test the Devil said, "Worship me and all the kingdoms of the earth are yours.”

Jesus refused, again with Deuteronomy, saying: "Worship only the Lord your God."

For the third test the Devil said, "If you are God's Son, jump off the top of the Temple. It's written, isn't it, that 'God has placed you in the care of angels to protect you'"

"Yes," said Jesus, "and it's also written, 'Don't you dare tempt the Lord your God.'"

 That completed the testing. The Devil retreated temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity.

See, Jesus beats the devil EVERY time. And when YOU feel like being naughty, Jesus can change your mind. Just ask Him. WOW! How can Jesus DO that?!

Simple, Jesus has AWESOME power, REAL power—not movie power like Thing or Harry Potter and his friends. Jesus has REAL power, and He will use it for YOU, and you, and you, and all of us! All we have to do is ask!

Here is a badge for each of you. It says POWERED BY JESUS. So when you feel like being naughty, remember to pray and ask Jesus to help you with His amazing power to be good. Let’s ask right now. Bow heads, close eyes, fold hands.

Lord, nothing is impossible for You.

We want to be good, but sometimes we feel like being naughty.

Thank you for loving us and helping us.

Please make us good. You’re the only one who can.

Amen.

A Child's Prayer

Teaching children to pray is so important. One of the best ways is to model prayer that is reverent, humble, trusting, and penitent. Use the routine of mealtimes and bedtime. When teaching kids to take their requests to God, don't set them up for disappointment. Let them know God hears every prayer, understands their prayers even better than they themselves do, and answers every prayer. As they observe our own patience in prayer, they will begin to understand the peace that comes from submission to God's perfect knowledge and perfect timing.

Sometimes I go overboard on my projects for Children's Moments, and this is one of those times. I made origami books out of pretty wrapping papers with a prayer printed inside on the tiny pages. (The wrapping paper needs to be pretty heavy to feed through the printer; start by cutting 8 1/2 x 11 sheets, then after printing, trim to 8 1/2" square.) Here is the link to the You Tube video for folding instructions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXLhjYgMZ68 


You can adapt this project to make it much simpler for your group. Try printing the verse onto photo paper and cutting into bookmarks. Or just enlarge the font enough to print on a separate sheet for each child. You can get beautiful paper in the scrapbooking section of a craft store. Or get post-it printing paper from the office supply store, so they can stick the sheet on the wall beside their beds.


Our Bible verse today says, " Ask, and it shall be given to you;" Matthew 7:7. In this verse, Jesus is telling us two things. First He says, "ask"; He is telling us to pray. Then He says, "it shall be given to you"; He is saying that God answers our prayers. "Ask, and it shall be given to you."


Here is a story about a boy who prayed:


Nick loved basketball. He started playing basketball when he was seven years old. Nick wanted to be a good basketball player like Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan is six feet, six inches tall. Nick wanted to be tall. He prayed, "Father, please make me tall, please make me grow at least six feet tall, so I can be a good basketball player." Nick trusted God to answer his prayer. So he practiced basketball. He played basketball. He listened to his basketball coaches and obeyed them. Nick got better and better at basketball. And he grew taller. By the time he was fifteen years old, Nick was five feet, nine inches tall.


Then one night in a basketball game, Nick rolled his ankle. His mom took him to the doctor the next day. The doctor said, "Nick, your ankle is not broken." That was good news. Then the doctor said, "I can see from your x-ray that you're done growing." That was not good news to Nick. Why not? (because he wanted to keep growing, at least three more inches) He was very sad that he would not be six feet tall like he had prayed. He tried not to cry, but he couldn't help it. Nick's mom asked him why he was so sad. He told her about his prayers to God asking God to make him at least six feet tall. He thought God did not answer his prayer. His mom said, "Nick, God understood your prayer and will answer it in the best way and at the best time for you." Nick was not so sure. He decided to play the rest of the season, but after that, he didn't want to play basketball anymore. Nick's coaches were very unhappy. They wanted Nick on the basketball team.


One year later, after missing a whole season of basketball, Nick changed his mind. He was still only five feet, nine inches tall, but he tried out for the basketball team. He made the team, but did not get to play much. Most of the game, he sat on the bench. Nick wanted to play more, so he worked harder, and practiced a lot, and obeyed his coaches, and Nick got better and better at basketball. After awhile, his coaches let him play more in the games. Then at last, Nick was allowed to be a starter and play almost the whole game for the rest of the season. Nick's team was so good that year, they won their basketball sectional, and their first regional basketball game. They were one of the best teams Boone Grove High School ever had.


Nick thought about how God answered his prayer to be six feet tall. God understood Nick's love for basketball. God knew that Nick didn't need to be six feet tall to be good at basketball. So He just helped Nick become good at basketball. Nick worked as hard as he could, and God did the rest. God made Nick and the other players and the coaches as good as they could be. And God gave them all a great basketball season they will never forget. Nick thanked God for his wonderful season of basketball, and Nick thanked God for a better answer to his prayer than he could ever have hoped for.


God loves you all so much. He wants to hear from you. When you pray to God, you are having a talk with God, and He loves that. You can tell God anything. There is nothing you cannot tell to God. God will hear your every prayer. And God will answer your every prayer in the best possible way for you, because He loves you.


Sometimes, we all have trouble deciding what we want to say to God when we pray. Here is a little book with a good prayer to get you started. It's called "A Child's Prayer", and since we are all God's children, it is a good prayer for all of us. So, let's bow our heads, fold our hands, and close our eyes.


Lord, Teach this little child to pray,
   and then accept my prayer.
For You can hear the words I say,
   for You are everywhere.


A little sparrow cannot fall
   unnoticed, Lord, by Thee.
And though I am so young and small,
   You do take care of me.


Teach me to do the thing that's right,
   and when I sin, forgive.
And make it still my chief delight
   to serve You while I live.
Amen.


God bless you in your ministry, and God bless the little ones you are teaching.