Where Would You Look? (Jesus Lost in Jerusalem)

As a child, I went to church when my parents went to church, and I skipped church when my parents skipped church. My youthful mind equated church with school, and missing a Sunday was almost as good a reason to rejoice as getting a snow-day off of school. Not all kids are like that ... some love school for the opportunity to socialize,  and others for the opportunity to learn interesting lessons. That last stretches my imagination as far as it can go, because I have never met that child, but I have heard that some do exist. Or maybe I have only read about them in fiction ... hmm. Nevertheless, my boundless optimism insists, a lesson worth learning is a lesson worth teaching.


The church is a place where people look for God, a fact many congregators would do well to remember. So here you are, a lesson for both your audiences and the conclusion of the second chapter of Luke.


41 Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. 
42 When Jesus was 12 years old, they went to the feast as they always did. 
43 When the feast days were over, they went home. The boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 
44 Joseph and Mary traveled for a whole day. They thought that Jesus was with them in the group. Then they began to look for him among their family and friends, 
45 but they did not find him. So they went back to Jerusalem to look for him there.


46 After three days they found him. Jesus was sitting in the Temple with the religious teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 
47 All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and wise answers. 
48 When Jesus' parents saw him, they were amazed. 
49 Jesus asked, "Why did you have to look for me? You should have known that I must be where my Father's work is!"

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to help take care of sick people, where do you look for that person? (in a hospital) 

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to play football, where do you look for that person? (in a football field, park, backyard)

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to pet puppies and kittens, where do you look for that person? (in a pet store, animal shelter) 

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to fly airplanes, where do you look for that person? (in an airport) 

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to cook, where do you look for that person? (in the kitchen) 

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to go fishing, where do you look for that person? (at a lake or stream, on a boat) 


If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to sing hymns, where do you look for that person? (in a church)

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to preach sermons, where do you look for that person? (in a church)

If you are looking for a person, and you know that person loves to learn about God, where do you look for that person? (in a church) 


In our Bible story today, who was looking for a person? (Jesus' parents, Mary and Joseph) 


For which person were they looking? (Jesus) 


How long did they spend looking for Jesus? (three days) 


Why did it take so long? (they didn't look in the right place) 


What did Jesus love to do? (learn about God and talk about God) 


Where do people go to learn about God and talk about God? (to church) 


And that is just where Jesus' parents found Jesus. 


Our last lesson was about making Jesus number one this year. One way to make Jesus number one is to learn about Him and talk about Him and ask questions about Him. Where can we do that? (in church, at home) 


One last question: if you are looking for a piece of candy, and you know I love to give you stuff, where do you look for that candy? (believe me, they will get this answer right! Every one of them has no doubt noticed the gift box sitting untouched beside me!)


Let's close our eyes, fold our hands, and bow our heads ...


Dear God,
You made Your church full of people who love to learn about You and teach about You.  Sometimes we skip church and we're sorry when that happens. Thank you for making a place for us to learn all about You, God and about Jesus and about Your Holy Spirit. Please make us Your good students. 
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

This lesson works well with a hand puppet to help answer all the questions. It also engages children, so they'll want to answer questions, too. If you are better than I am at planning ahead, order some little plastic magnifying lenses to pass out instead of sweets. May God bless you in your ministry to His little ones.

The ONE AND ONLY THING! Simeon Sees Jesus

Kids have so many things they want to do—they can't wait to wake up each morning! 

These simple refrigerator magnets can help remind kids that seeing Jesus is the one and only thing they need on their list of goals. For each one, you need six inches of ribbon, one inch of self stick magnetic tape, and glitter glue. 

Insert the red ribbon picture into a document, add text, print and cut out to glue on top of each ribbon. Alternatively, leave off the magnet, and you've got a bookmark.  

There's a story about a girl dying from leukemia. She made a list of things she wanted to do before she died. Lots of people do that. They list things like: 
* visiting all 50 states,  
* seeing a baseball game in every major league ball park, 
* playing golf at Pebble Beach, 
* driving a 2010 Camero …  
Do any of you have something you are hoping to do someday? (responses)  
In our Bible story from Luke, chapter two, verses 25-30, we will read about Simeon. Simeon gets to do the ONE AND ONLY THING he had wanted to do all his life. Listen closely to see if you can figure out what Simeon's ONE AND ONLY THING was:  
(If you have a children's Bible, show them the picture. I use the illustrated New Testament linked at left. Focus their attention by asking, “can you all see?”)  

25A man named Simeon lived in Jerusalem. He was a good man and very religious. He was waiting for the time when God would help Israel. The Holy Spirit was in him. 
26The Holy Spirit told Simeon that he would not die before he saw the Christ promised by the Lord. 
27The Spirit led Simeon to the Temple. Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the Temple to do what the law said they must do. 
28Then Simeon took the baby in his arms and thanked God: 
29”Now, Lord, you can let me, your servant, die in peace as you said. 
30I have seen your Salvation with my own eyes.  


What was it? What was the ONE AND ONLY THING Simeon had wanted to do all his life? (responses) That's right! He wanted to see Jesus, the Christ, the one promised by God who would save all the people from their sins. When Simeon saw Jesus he said, “I have seen your Salvation with my own eyes.” Jesus was the one who was going to save the people from their sins.

Seeing that Jesus is the Savior of the world and trusting Him to save us from our sins is something much more important than visiting all 50 states or (mention one of the kids items). In fact it should be our ONE AND ONLY THING to do before we die! Because this is so important, I made a magnet to remind each of you. What is number one this year? (Jesus!)

Only Jesus can rescue us from punishment; only Jesus can give us eternal life in heaven.

Dear God, You let Simeon see Jesus, the Savior of the world—that was awesome! We all need Jesus. Thanks for sending Him to save us. Please help us to understand—only Jesus can keep us from punishment and bring us to heaven when we die. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Happy New Year to you all!

P.S. The movie was "A Walk To Remember" based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks.