The Strongest Thing in The World

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7 NIV

 

Praying child.

      One of the first lessons that we learn after we begin to talk is to pray. Mr. Gladstone, one of the greatest men of all time, lived to be almost ninety years old, and he said that he had never gone to bed at night without kneeling down and praying that little prayer that his mother had taught him when he was a baby:

"Now I lay me down to sleep, 

I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to keep; 

If I should die before I wake, 

I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to take."

       When we pray we talk to God. Where is God? Some one says, "God is in heaven." Yes, but He is here too. God is everywhere. He is in this room, and He is in your home, and along the street, and just everywhere. But some boy or girl says to me, ''How do I know that He is here? I cannot see Him." No, of course you cannot see Him. There are plenty of things that you are not able to see. You cannot see the wind that rattles the shutters and pulls up your kite. You cannot see the electricity that makes the cars go along the streets. God is a Spirit, and a spirit cannot be seen. When you pray, you need not be afraid that He will not hear, for He is always here by us when we speak. He is so close to us that He can hear the softest whispered-prayer that we ever utter.

       If I were to ask every boy in this house to tell me what is the strongest thing in the whole world, probably each boy would tell me something different. One boy would say that an elephant is the strongest. Another would tell me that it is one of the big engines that haul those long trains of loaded cars across the Virginia mountains, and another boy might say that the mightiest thing in the whole world is one of those great battle-ships out there in Hampton Roads.

       But there is something that is mightier than any of these. It is prayer.

       If the big front door of this church were locked and you were to try to come in you could not open it. You might push and pull and get all your friends to help you, but you would not be able to move it. Just then a little girl comes down the street and says, " I can open that door." You say to her, "What, you open that door? You haven't half as much strength as I have, and we all of us together cannot open it." But the little girl takes a small piece of steel about as large as one of her fingers and puts it in the lock and gives it a little turn, and the door is open. That tiny key in the little girl's hand has done more than all of you together.

       Prayer is the little key that unlocks the treasure house, where God keeps the good things that He has for those who love Him.

       Those who have that key and use it receive wonderful things from God. Long ago in the land of Israel there was a great drought. There had been no rain for several years, and there was no water to drink. The Prophet Elijah went up to the top of a hill and prayed to God to send some rain. Then he sent his servant to see if there were any clouds in the sky. The servant came back and said that there was not one. But Elijah kept on praying, and after he had prayed seven times the servant came and told him that there was a cloud coming up, and very soon the rain began to fall.

       That prayer of Elijah's had done more than all the power of the king could do. It had brought the rain. This is a key that every boy and girl can have and use if they will.

       I know a man who came home late one night, and when he tried to open the door he found that he had lost the key. He tried to get into the house, but everything was fastened tight and he had to go back to the hotel for the night.

       There are many people who cannot get into the treasure house of God's heart. They have lost the key. They have forgotten to pray. Whatever you do be sure not to lose the key. S. N. Hutchinson

Prayers That God Does Not Answer

"You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." James 4:3 ESV

       God does not always give us what we ask in our prayers. If He did, it would not be well for us.

       There was a young man in prison in New York a year or two ago for committing a great crime. I met an old man who had known that young man all his life. He said, "The trouble with that boy was that his father spoiled him. He gave him everything that he wanted. If the father had been a little wiser, the boy would not have been ruined."

       Your fathers and mothers do not give you everything that you ask for. If they did, it would be a bad thing for you. And God deals in the same way with us. If He were to grant us everything that we ask, it would harm instead of help us.

       Very often we ask Him to do something for us that we ought to do for ourselves. 

       When I was in school once in a while one of the boys would come to a problem that was very hard. After looking at it for a moment he would take it to his teacher and ask him to work it for him. The teacher would say to him, ''Now, my boy, it is not going to do you any good if I work this problem. You go back and see if you can solve it yourself."

       That boy had been sent to school that his mind might grow strong by working hard problems and doing hard things. So his teacher did not do what he asked, but made him work it for himself. He wanted his teacher to do something for him that he ought to have done for himself.

       If you ever pray to God asking Him to do something for you and He does not do it, ask yourself if it is not a problem that He wants you to work for yourself. We ought never to trouble God with things that we can do for ourselves.

       Then sometimes boys and girls pray for clear weather. They are going on an excursion, perhaps, the next day, and they are afraid that it will rain, so they ask God to give them a clear, bright day. The next morning when they wake up the first sound that they hear is the rain coming down on the roof. They are disappointed, and they think that God has not heard their prayer. But God has a very large family to take care of, and He has to think about all His people. Out in the country there are thousands of farmers who have planted their fields and they are praying for rain to come and make the crops grow. If God were to answer your prayer and send sunshine every day there would be no rain and the farmers would have no fruit or grain, and there would be nothing to eat. God has to think of all His children, and if He sends you rain when you ask for sunshine, just think of all the blessings that the rain brings to the earth, the grain, and the fruit and the flowers.

       I read once in a book of a parson who was asked by the people to pray to God for rain. Before he prayed, he thought he would find out what day would be the most convenient for the people to have it rain. Well, the women did not want it to rain on Monday, for that was wash-day, and Tuesday the market people wanted clear weather. Wednesday the farmers were going to cut their hay and Thursday they were planning to gather it in; Friday and Saturday it was something else, and of course the other ministers did not want it to rain Sunday. There was no day that suited everyone. So the parson went and asked the Lord to send the rain whenever He thought best, and that is the way He sends it.

       Sometimes we are very selfish in our prayers. There was a boy who wanted a quarter very much to buy something that he needed, and he had no way of getting it, so he prayed that he might find a quarter. That seems like a harmless prayer, but it isn't so harmless as we think. If he were to find a quarter some one else would have first to lose it.

       He was asking God to take the money out of the pocket of someone else, and put it into his. We must be sure that our prayers, if they were granted, do not make someone else suffer. If they do, God may not answer them.

       We will all pray many times when God does not answer, and the reason is not that He does not hear us, but that we are asking for something that is not right, or is not best. Hutchinson

Unanswered Prayers.

How To Be Wise

"You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me..." John 5:39

       You have all seen the building with the name ''Library " across the front. Perhaps the first time you saw that name you asked some one what a library is. You were told that a library is a collection of books. The Bible is a library. There are sixty-six books in it, and they are books of many different kinds. Some are history and some are biography; there are books of poetry and the letters of great men. You can find them all in this wonderful collection, which we call the Bible.

       Some boy or girl says, " I have tried to read the Bible, and I cannot understand it, and I do not care to read anything that I cannot understand." But that is just because you have not looked in the right place in the Bible.

       If you were to go to the City Library to get a book to read, you would not go to the room where the grown-up people get their books. You would go into the children's room where they have children's books, and you would ask for something that you can understand. The Bible is like that library. There are books there for men and women, and there are books for children. When you go into a library you do not take up the first book you come to and try to read that. If you do, of course you get one that you cannot understand. You ask some one who knows to tell you what to read. That is what you ought to do when you read your Bible. Ask your father or mother or teacher to show you where to find a book in the Bible that will interest you. Ask for the story of Joseph, or Samuel, or David, or Esther, or the child Jesus. If you will do this you will find that there is no other library in the whole world that has so many splendid stories in it for children as the Bible.

       There are parts of the Bible that every boy and girl ought to know by heart. We all ought to be able to repeat by heart the Twenty-third Psalm, and the One Hundred and Third, the first part of the fifth chapter of Matthew, and Paul's chapter on love, the thirteenth of First Corinthians.

       There are two things we should remember about the Bible. It was given to us to show us where to go. David once said, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a guide unto my path." Did you ever go walking in the country, where there are no bright streetlights? You tried to walk in the path but you could not see where you were going. First you bumped into a tree, and next stumbled into the gutter, till you said to yourself, "I must have a light." So you went back and lighted a lantern and started

out again. Now you have no trouble, for the lantern makes the path light for you. That is what David meant when he spoke of the Bible as a light for our feet. It shows us plainly where to go, and the reason boys and girls run into difficulties, and stumble and fall so often is because they have not taken the Light for their feet.

       But there is still something else about this Bible. Paul said to Timothy, "From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation." That means that the Bible will change our lives and make them like the life of Jesus.

       Dr. Moffat, the great missionary to Africa, told the story of a shepherd boy who had become a Christian. He had been a very bad boy, but he learned to read the New Testament, and it made him gentle and kind and thoughtful of others.

       One day he came to Dr. Moffat in great trouble, telling him that his big dog had found a piece of the New Testament and had eaten it. Dr. Moffat told him that it did not make any difference, that he would give him another Testament. But that did not seem to make the boy feel any better. "It is the dog that I care about," he said.

       "Oh," said the missionary, "if your dog can crunch a big bone in his teeth, it will not hurt him to eat a little piece of paper."

       ''That isn't it," said the boy. "I was once a bad boy. If I had an enemy I hated him, and everything in me wanted to kill him. Then you gave me the Bible, and I read about Jesus, and I began to love my enemies, and now my big dog has got the Bible in him, and he will be loving the lions and letting them help themselves to the sheep."

       That boy thought that because the Bible had changed him it would change his dog too.

       It will not change dogs, but it will make boys and girls every day more like Jesus. Hutchinson

Giving

"As every man wisheth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:7 (GNV)

       The Native Americans of this country have a very pretty legend about the leaves and the birds.

They say that long, long ago when the Great Spirit was busy making the earth beautiful, that everywhere he stepped, there the trees and the plants and the flowers began to grow at once. The leaves of the trees were very happy and sang songs all the day. But one morning the wind came along and told the leaves that very soon they would fall from the trees to the ground and would wither and die and be forgotten.

       This made the leaves very sad and they forgot for a little to sing. But by and by, when they thought how happy it made the old tree to hear them, they began to sing again and forgot all about what the wind had said.

       But sure enough one day in the Fall it became very cold. The wind blew and the leaves began to loosen their hold on the tree, and to fall to the ground. The tree had to give them up one by one till there was not a single leaf left on the sad old tree.

       As they lay there, the Great Spirit came walking along that way. He saw the beautiful, many colored leaves on the ground, and thought to himself, "What a pity to let those lovely things go to waste.'' So he determined to make them live again. He gave to each leaf a pair of wings and taught them to fly, and they became the birds. The red oak leaves became the robin-redbreasts, and the yellow willow leaves became the yellow birds, and the brown leaves became the sparrows and the swallows. What a flock of them there were! And they flew off up into the trees again. The trees had had to give them up, but they got them all back, and they were so much more beautiful than they were before.

loaves and fishes

       Now let me tell you what this legend teaches. It means that no one ever gives up anything for God that He does not give him back something ever so much better and more beautiful.

       Once while Jesus was here, there was a great host of very hungry people out in the wilderness who had had nothing to eat all day. There were no stores where they could buy, and they were too far away to go home. 

       Jesus called the disciples and asked them to feed the people, but the disciples had nothing to give them. Then the Lord commanded them to go and see what they could find in the crowd. After a little they came back and told Him that there was a small boy there who had five biscuits and two small fish. The little boy's mother had given him some lunch that morning when he came away from home, and he had not eaten it yet. And that was all that they could find in that crowd of thousands of people. 

       Jesus called the lad to Him and asked if he would give Him his lunch. The little boy didn't want to at first. He was hungry himself, but the children all loved Jesus and so he gave it to Him. And then what do you think that Jesus did? He took that little boy's basket of lunch and He made it more and more till there was enough to feed all those thousands of hungry people. When they had all had enough, He called the little boy to Him and gave him back what was left. There were twelve big baskets full. There was so much that he couldn't carry it all. He had to ask some of his friends to come and help him. He had given the Lord a little, and the Lord had given him more than he could carry.

       When he went home that night and showed his mother all that Jesus had given him, I am sure that he was very glad that he had been willing to give up something for Jesus. Just think what that boy would have missed and what those thousands of people would have missed if he had been selfish and unwilling to let Jesus use what he had.

       A good man once said, ''I have lived many years and have had many experiences. There has been much joy in my life and there has been a little sadness with it too. But I have never made a single sacrifice for God which He has not repaid many times."

       Jesus never forgets a sacrifice that has been made for Him. He remembers and gives back to the boy or girl who has made it something far better than that which has been given up. Hutchison

Unsuspecting Mice and Men

Share The Scriptures: Jeremiah 5:26 and Job 18:8-10
Object Used: An ordinary mouse trap. 

 

Teach The Lesson: My dear young friends: You may think that possibly there was a time when wicked men did not desire to destroy others, as is so often the case in this day; but hundreds of years ago, God said, "Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people. They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. They set deadly traps to catch people." Jeremiah 5:26 NET Bible

       I suppose you have all seen traps. There are a great many different kinds. Some are very dangerous, and yet you cannot see the danger until you are caught, or until you see some other person who has been caught in the trap. Now here is a trap. (show mouse trap) I suppose that you have all seen such traps as this, and possibly have them in your own homes, to catch the little mice which destroy your food, and often times do great injury.

       Now, this trap does not look dangerous to the unsuspecting mouse. The little wire, which is to be drawn up by a strong spring to choke the mouse to death, is concealed, and he does not know that there is a wire there at all. He simply smells the piece of cheese. This tempts his appetite, and, as he is fond of cheese, he desires to obtain it, and so he attempts to crawl in through this small hole to get the cheese, but the moment he nibbles at the cheese, it disturbs the little catch which holds the spring, and when it is too late to escape, the little mouse finds that he has been caught. Then he does not think of the cheese, but struggles to get loose and escape out of the trap. But all of his struggles are in vain, and after a few moments he is choked to death. Then the man, or the housewife comes, takes the little mouse out of the trap, and with the same piece of cheese the trap is again set for another unsuspecting mouse. So people go on, day after day, catching one mouse after another, with the same trap and with the same bait.

"Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are
 my refuge." Psalm 31:4 (NIV).
Graphic by Christian Clip Art Review.

       Now, there are traps which evil people set for boys and girls, and men and women. Such as magazines illustrating naked people or books about treating others like toys instead of human beings with feelings and dignity; we call these bad publications pornography. To the innocent, the unthinking and the unsuspecting child these things may not appear very dangerous, but they are very deadly in their effects, and they result in the destruction and misery of thousands upon thousands of people every year. There are also the places of business where men and women go to see such things in person and to purchase the services of those who are equally desperate and addicted. Places which are made attractive only to catch people, to rob them of their money, and of their self-control, and of their reason, and of their homes, and of all good things that God has set aside for our families, sometimes these bad people cause others to loose even more than things and families but also their faith in God as well. Our faith is very precious dear children; it is more valuable than any amount of money or things we could possibly collect.

       Then there is the theater that shows x-rated films, the kind that even older children are not allowed to see. Good mother's and father's never take children to these movies because these show scenes of things that condition people to think in wrong ways. These kinds of movies deaden the moral sense, pollute the mind and lead people away from the ministry of Jesus. These films are made to rob the individual  person of virtue, and of integrity, and of faith in God.

       Then there liquids, foods and drugs which are dangerous for young people and for older people too. Things like --- tobacco, and cigars, and beer. When we use these things in just a small amount as some responsible big people do, they will not hurt us. But when we are very young, we can not determine this for ourselves and even a very small amount of alcohol or smoking can hurt a child. This is why it is illegal for little folks to smoke or drink. Sometimes even big people can not control how much of these things they should take into their bodies and these mistakes lead to killing others while they are driving and to abusing their family members. How many people they hurt and sometimes kill, all in the name of fun.

       People who sell things like alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs set traps which are meant to take our money. In each of these products exist a chemical that can possibly rob each of us of health and strength if we are not careful about using them correctly. No small, young boy or girl who uses tobacco (cigarettes) in any form can ever be strong like the children who do not use tobacco. Some children begin smoking cigarettes, and then go on to smoke cigars, and then follow with drinking alcohol, and so on. Step by step, they go on down the road of many addictions. Grown up people called this "substance abuse."

       Those boys or girls who have gone fishing on a calm, beautiful summer day, and have looked down through the water, have often seen the fish as they gathered around the hook, and then watched them as they nibbled at the bait. First they come up very shyly, and barely touch the bait with their nose. Then they come again, and possibly just bite a small trifle -- barely taste of it. Then, again and again they nibble at the hook, until finally they open their mouth's wide to get a large bite only to discover that they have swallowed the hook. Then it doesn't matter how much they flounder about, and struggle to get away, it is too late, it is impossible for them to escape. They are pulled into the boat or upon the bank, and a few hours later are on the stove, being cooked for some hungry fisherman.

       Just so evil people and/or Satan are always looking for those whom they can tempt with things that other people seem to enjoy freely without anything bad happening to them. And step by step they sometimes convince very young children to do the things that their parents warn them against. These people seem to think that in their individual case, the results will be very different, but the results are almost always exactly the same. Addiction to drugs and alcohol is a common problem with many grown up people and even more deadly for a little child.

       You will notice that this mouse trap has four different places where mice can be caught, and is it not strange that when one mouse enters on this side, and is caught, and is lying there dead, that another live mouse should come along, and see the same trap and desire the same thing, and walk right in to the same danger, and the same sure death? You would think that when he saw that the other mouse had been caught, and had lost his life, that he would turn away. But instead of that, he smells the cheese, walks right into the trap, and is caught, and within a few moments is as dead as his neighbor. 

       So we can see others who have been hurt by abusing drugs, alcohol, tobacco and sex; these abuses have paved the way for their destruction, going on step by step. We see people all around us who have squandered all their money and lost all their friends, and been forsaken by their own parents, their wives, and their children; who have become outcasts, and for whom no one longer has any respect. We see these things daily, and yet some of us still go on in the same way, beginning our own addictive pleasures going, step by step, until we end up hopelessly lost and sometimes dead. These people are like the little mice that get tempted by the scent of the cheese and wish to eat. Do not be like the foolish mouse, which sees its dead companion in the trap, and then walks up unthinkingly and pokes his head into the same inevitable death and destruction; but remember that there is evil in a world where the enemies of God wait to destroy you, just the same as many have been destroyed before you.

       In the book of Job it says, "A rope is hidden for him on the ground and a trap for him lies on the path." (18:10) "and in the 8th verse of the same book and chapter it says, "For he has been thrown into a net by his feet and he wanders into a mesh." Satan  and those people who follow him have laid traps and snares all along your path through life. We will need to be very, very cautious not to believe that we are not capable of falling into traps like others.

       Remember this text for this morning, which says, "Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people. They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. They set deadly traps to catch people." Jeremiah 5:26 (original text, Pastor Sylvanus Stall D. D.)

Questions for Discussion Afterwards:

1. What does God say about our own weaknesses?
2. What is a trap? Describe the traps set for mice and fish. 
3. What are some of the traps set by evil people and/or Satan?
4. Can we avoid traps with God's help? 
5. How will God help us to avoid traps?
6. How can we know the difference between drugs that help people and drugs that hurt people?
7. What does God say about respecting your body?
8. How does God expect us to respect someone else's body?
9. What does it mean to be 'addicted'?

Extend The Lesson by Showing This Film:

"Kiwi tastes a golden nugget. It's delicious." Script, direction, animation: Andreas Hykade
Animation, artwork: Angela Steffen, Music, sound design: Heiko Maile, Postproduction: Ralf Bohde
Production management: Bianca Just, Funding: FFA Berlin, Production:Thomas Meyer-Hermann,
Studio FILM BILDER 2014

Truthful In Deed

Share The Scriptures:

• "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much." Luke 16: 10
• "Walk in truth." 3 John 4
• "Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith ; who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews. 12: 1, 2.

Give the Children's Bible Message: These two verses from Hebrews are a part of one of Saint Paul's sermons to the Hebrews; but I think there is quite enough in these alone for a whole sermon to little children. He first says, " Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us." You know how impossible it would be to swim with heavy boots on, or pull a sled with a great load of lead on it, and how soon you would pull off the boots, or cut the lead loose ; and just so when we are trying to live as Christ would have us, there are always old sinful habits, which are very heavy, and will drag us back from the right path, unless we constantly fight against them. Ask yourself today what are the sins that most easily beset you. We are all tempted to sin, but not all by the same things. One child may be tempted to be selfish, and this is his besetting sin. Another may be vain, pleased when any one notices her. Another sin, by which almost all are tempted is anger ; and so I might tell you of very many ; but you must look into your own heart, little reader, and find there by what you are most easily beset, and then look unto Jesus, for power and grace to conquer and resist whatever temptations assail you. He has said. Ask, and ye shall receive.

 Video by www.apostleshipofprayer.org 

The video above is about the vineyard owner's two sons. The first seems agreeable to his father but does not help him. The second must fight the temptation to disobey his father and ultimately does as he is expected. So which of the two sons has been truthful in deed and therefore faithful to his father?

Questions for Discussion After The Lesson:

1. What is it to be faithful?
2. Should we be faithful in all things?
3. To what must we be faithful?
4. Should we always act the truth?
5. Is not this as important as to speak truly?
6. Do you always act truly?

Extend The Lesson by Sharing a Poem:

True in word, and true in deed,

In the little as the much,

Seeking right and duty ever,

Christ the Lord approveth such.

To thy God, and to thy duty,

Thou must ever faithful be;

To thyself, and to thy brother,

Though he oft prove false to thee. 

Close The Lesson in Prayer: Help me dear Lord to resist temptations as you did, lead me by your example and grant me strength to endure hardships until I come to live with you in Heaven. Amen

Jesus Love, So That We May Know How to Love

       "Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out‚ the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, Don't cry." Then he went up and touched the bier (movable frame for corpses) they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country."  Luke 7:11

• "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love" 1 John 4:8
• "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" 1 John 4: 11

Teach The Lesson: Here, in this beautiful story, we have a glimpse of the loving, tender heart of Jesus, for when He saw this mother in misery "He had compassion on her." No doubt her friends felt very sorry for her too, and had tried in every way, by kind and soothing words, to comfort her; but they certainly could not bring her son back to life.  Only Jesus can see how deep our sorrow is; and although He may not always answer our prayers in the way we desire, He is ultimately the only one capable of restoring life to our loved ones. No matter how often those we love best are taken away or the things that we feel we need are removed from our environment, God is still watching over us.
       It is true also that parents often take away from their little children what they know that they will be better without, still they are the same loving, sympathizing guardians as is Jesus for those who depend upon Him. When Jesus raised the widow's son, He was showing us through this miracle just how much He was willing to do for those that need His comfort.

Questions for Discussion After The Lesson:

1. Who made us?
2. Does He take care of us?
3. Why should we love Him?
4. Can we love Him too well?
5. What does the Bible say about love?
6. How can we show that we love God?
7. Who else do you love? Why
8. How can you show that you love them?

"Music video by Bill & Gloria Gaither performing
Jesus Loves Me (feat. The Barrett Sisters)"

Extend The Lesson by Sharing a Poem:

I must love my heavenly Father

Who hath made and keeps us all;

I must love the blessed Savior,

For He loved the children small.

And earthly friends I have to love,

My father and my mother,--

My sisters, brothers, playmates too,

We all must love each other.

Close the Lesson With a Prayer: Dear loving Savior you are so loving and compassionate, you raised the widow's son from death. I know that I can always trust you with my troubles. Help me to learn to be thankful for the things I learn because of your guidance and care in my hour of need. Amen.

Coloring Pages About Love:

• 2 Corinthians 5:17 Coloring Page - "The butterfly inside a heart is symbolic for the love of God's transforming power. Because He loves us so much, he makes us new through our Resurrections. The butterfly during it's life cycle changes from one type of insect into another. This is why I have included the butterfly inside of the heart - to suggest that we are made new creations in Christ." kathy grimm
• Color the guardians of children - Matthew 10:10 The love of the LORD is so powerful that He assigns his holy angles to guard over the innocent souls of children in Heavenly Spaces.
• "Above all be loving..." - Patterns of love are tied together in harmony with God's great plan!

Jesus Tenderly Watches His Flock

Share The Scripture: "HE shall feed His flock like a shepherd : He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom. Isaiah 40:11."

"There is but one, who gave up His life so that we would have a door to eternal life - if we chose to enter. Gentle, reflective. A beautiful voice and beautiful lyrics. JESUS is The Good Shepherd, He knows His sheep, and His sheep know Him. "The Good Shepherd" by Fernando Ortega"

Teach The Lesson: In olden times, the shepherds were very different from the men whom you often see now, driving the poor sheep so cruelly, for they were never intrusted with the care of the flocks, unless they had been proved to be faithful, kind men, who spent their whole time and strength in tenderly watching the sheep, guarding them from wolves, leading them to green pastures, and even carrying any poor weak little lamb, who was unable to walk. And this, dear little ones, is a beautiful picture of our Savior, for He is a most tender Shepherd, always gently leading (not driving) His flock by the best way, ready to keep them from all danger, and even carrying the little lambs in His loving arms ; where He will keep them safely, if they will only trust Him, until He leads them to that beautiful Garden which His Father is preparing for them. If you have never before given yourself to Jesus, go to Him to-day, and ask to be made one of His little lambs ; then no matter how rough the path through this world, your Shepherd will always go before, gently leading and helping you in all trials and sorrows.

Close With a Prayer: O Lord God, my heavenly Father, I thank you for the precious promise you have sent me through your scriptures and for all the forgiveness you have given me. Increase my love for yourself, and grant that I may always stay close to you.  For Jesus' sake. Amen.

Coloring Pages of Sheep:

• The Greek Agnus Dei - symbol of Jesus as The Lamb of God
• Day of Pentecost - lambs as members of the church
• David, as a shepherd boy coloring page... - God used events in David's life to teach us how Earthly kings should act, care for their subjects and also how they should repent from their sins.
• Jesus in the carpenter's shop coloring page - a little lamb is the pet of infant Jesus, this lamb is the church
• "I know my sheep..." coloring page - Jesus as shepherd
• Color David Playing the Harp in The Fields - Kind David is often portrayed as a shepherd, a keeper of God's flock, a challenging coloring project for older students
• Shepherds Keep Watch - guarding flocks, coloring page used at Christmas time
• Caring For A Lost Lamb - coloring page of Moses as a shepherd guarding members of God's church

Be Kind One To Another

Share The Scriptures:

• "Be ye kind one to another." Ephesians . 4:32
• "Be kindly affectioned one to another." Romans 12:10
• "Bear ye oneanother's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6: 2

Teach The Lesson: No doubt you have often heard and read these words, but have you ever tried to obey them? Perhaps you scarcely ever think of pleasing others, but are always doing just what will please yourself, but this is not living as Jesus would have us live.
        Or you may think that you are too young to help others with their problems? But no one on earth can truly say they can do nothing; and although not everyone has the same opportunities or responsibilities. We all have some ability to help resolve hardships and sooth the burdens of others. We will be expected to explain ourselves before God concerning our handling of these hardships/burdens someday.
       Do you remember the beautiful parable in the Bible of the ten talents? Our Lord reproached the servant who had not improved his one talent. Just so it is with you; very young and weak, you may be, and not able to do much, but there is usually something small you can and ought to do for others.
        Even a kind word to one in pain, a little classmate helped in a difficult lesson, or a baby brother or sister amused while mother rests, is a help to another that will not be forgotten by Jesus who has said, that a cup of cold water, given in His name, shall not lose its reward. Pray earnestly today that God will make you more like Jesus, who pleased not Himself alone, but went about doing good for those who needed Him desperately.

This video was made by teaching staff at the Willow Canyon Elementary School

Questions for Discussion After The Lesson:

1. Who should you be kind to?
2. Does the Bible command this?
3. Should you be kind to everyone?
4. Is God kind to everyone?
5. Is God kind to the wicked?
6. Is God kind to the poor?

Extend the Lesson by Sharing a Poem:

Be ye kind to one another,

Little sister, little brother;

To the darling baby small,

To the youthful playmates all.

Be ye kind to one another;

To thy father and thy mother,

To each creature, great or small,

Be ye kind to one and all.

Close The Lesson With a Prayer: Almighty God, my heavenly Father, I thank you for your loving care and for having given me so many blessings to enjoy, but above all, I thank you that Jesus came to die, that I might have eternal life. For His dear sake, forgive all my sins, and help me through your Holy Spirit to grow in Jesus' likeness, Striving always to go about doing good. Bless all whom I love and make them to know and love you. Be with me, O God, this day, and all the days of my life, through Jesus Christ, my Savior. Amen.

Even the Winds And Sea Obey Him

Share the Scripture: "When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing!" He said to them, ‚"Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, "What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" Matthew 8:23"

Do you have some unanswered questions about
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Teach The Lesson: As you read these verses, you can imagine the lovely lake of Gennesaret lying peacefully among the hills, when the disciples, little thinking of the dangers they would meet, entered their small fishing boat; and Jesus, who was with them, being very tired after teaching the people all day, lay down to sleep. Soon the wind began to blow, and such a furious tempest arose that the disciples, who were frightened, awoke Jesus, saying, "Don't you think we may die?" How this distrust must have grieved Jesus' loving, tender heart! But how gentle Jesus was when he corrected them, and how willing he was to teach them! Just so now, even the weakest little frightened child that goes to Jesus, feeling sure that God will hear every child, is soothed, and helped to pass through the danger unharmed.

Questions for Discussion After The Lesson:

1. How bad did the storm get before the disciples woke Jesus from His sleep?
2. How did Jesus respond to his disciples during the storm?
3. What did Jesus do during the storm that people normally do not do? Why?
4. Even though storms frighten us at times, what do you think God would like us to remember about the storms in our lives?

Close The Lesson With a Prayer: O Lord, you know us to be in the middle of so many dangers, and that we are too weak to help ourselves, be with us always in our times of need, just as you were with your disciples, granting us such strength and protection as we need in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Against Quarreling and Fighting

"When a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." Proverbs 16:7 

Let dogs delight to bark and bite,

For God hath made them so:

Let bears and lions growl and fight,

For 'tis their nature, too.

But, children, you should never let

Such angry passions rise:

Your little hands were never made

To tear each other's eyes.

Let love through all your actions run,

And all your words be mild:

Live like the blessed Virgin's Son,

That sweet and lovely child.

His soul was gentle as a lamb;

And as His stature grew,

He grew in favour both with man,

And God His Father, too.

Now, Lord of all, He reign above;

And from His heavenly throne

He sees what children dwell in love,

And marks them for His own.

by Isaac Watts.

Eternal Father Strong to Save

Poem by Daisy Rinehart

I’m tired of sailing my little boat

Far inside of the harbor bar;

I want to be out where the big ships float –

Out on the deep, where the great ones are!

And should my frail craft prove too slight

For storms that sweep those wide seas o’er,

Better to go down in the stirring fight

Than drowse to death by the sheltered

shore!

More Versions of The Hymn:

• This lovely piece by Katherine Jenkins

The Littlest Star

The Littlest Star

" I cannot do much," said a little star,

" To make the dark world bright!

My silvery beams cannot struggle far

Through the folding gloom of night!

But I'm only part of God's great plan.

And I'll cheerfully do the best that I can."

A child went merrily forth to play,

But a thought, like a silver thread,

Kept winding in and out all day

Through the happy golden head;

Mother said, " Darling, do all you can!

For you are a part of God's great plan."

She knew no more than the glancing star,

Nor the cloud, with its chalice full.

How, why, and for what the strange things were,

She was only a child at school;

But she thought, " It is part of God's great plan

That even I should do all that I can."

So she helped a younger child along,

Where the road was rough to the feet,

And she sang from her heart a little song.

That we all thought passing sweet.

And her father, a weary, toil-worn man,

Said, "I too, will do the best that I can."

Our best! ah! children the best of us,

Must hide our faces away.

When the Lord of the vineyard comes to look

At our task at the close of day !

But for strength from above, tis the Master's plan,

We'll pray and we'll do the best that we can.

God In The Thunder Storm

There Is A Cloud from Elevation Worship.

"The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters" Psalms 29:3 KJV

God In The Thunder Storm
by Hannah Flagg Gould

When peals the thunder long and loud, 

The Lord is speaking from the cloud.

Whilst they who know him not, may fear,

His children love his voice to hear.

And though it sound in noise and storm,

His love but takes the varied form;

To give them purer vital breath,

"The God of glory thundereth."

When lightnings flash from out the sky,

It is the Lord who passeth by, 

With brightness from his holy throne,

In gleamings on his raiment shown.

His splendor may the sinner awe;

But they who know and love his law,

Recall his Word of life, that saith

"The God of glory thundereth."

At last, when scenes of life shall end,

And Christ arrayed in power descend;

His voice will rend the silent tomb;

His lightnings every eye relume!

His friends, in that august review,

Will shine with joy his friends anew;

While, with the keys of life and death,

"The God of glory thundereth."

The Lad With The Loaves and Fishes

The Lad With The Loaves and Fishes
by Hannah Flagg Gould

When by Christ the throng were led

Up the lonely mountain's side,

Where the multitude were fed,

Who the wondrous food supplied?

Those five loaves and fishes two,

Which for thousands were to do-

Who the loaves and fishes brought

Whence the miracle was wrought?

Wife, nor maid, nor mother then

Might the rural feast prepare;

Not the young, nor white-haired men

Should provide the timely fare.

But a little Christian boy

For the work did Christ employ,

Pleased, his host of friends among,

To distinguish one so young.

Still doth Jesus love to count

Young disciples, fair and true,

Like the lad upon the mount

Where his early friends he drew.

Every little gift or deed

He can bless, like planted seed,

Or the barley-loaves of old,

To increase a thousand fold.

Though your gift be but a mite

Spared to send his word afar,

It may prove a ray of light

Spread and brightened to a star!

This the star of morn may be

O'er some land beyond the sea,

Opening up the shining way

Of the peaceful gospel day.

Little friends of Jesus, aim,

While your life is in the flower,

With his spirit, in his name,

To commend his love and power.

Emulate the Hebrew lad,

Who, imparting what he had,

Saw the wonders Christ could do,

And the moral left to you.

Love

" We love Him because He first loved us." John 4:19 KJV

Love one another. From The Christian Clip Art Review.

     If I were to ask one of you why it is that you love your father and mother, you wouldn't be able to tell me at first. There are so very many reasons why you love them that it is hard to talk about it. The greatest reason why you love them is because they first loved you. When you were very small and couldn't care for yourself, they loved you and did everything for you. They watched around you by day and by night, and gave you the good things that you needed, and taught you to do right. So you love them because they first loved you.

       That is the reason we love Jesus Christ. Because He first loved us. He gave us not only every good thing that we have but also He gave Himself for us.

       Long ago in the city of Lynchburg there was an Orphans' Home, and there was a boy who lived there about whom I am going to tell you. This boy had only one leg, and he is one of the finest little heroes I ever heard of.

       Many years ago they had a fire in the Orphanage and its buildings were all burned. This one-legged boy was then about fourteen years old. In the second story of one of the buildings there were some little girls when the fire started. In the confusion of trying to save the other children these little ones were forgotten. It was not long before the entire building was in flames. Then this little lame boy remembered them. He made up his mind that he would save them if he could. He found an old ladder and, after a hard struggle, set it up against the building, and dragged himself up on the roof of the porch. He broke a window and went in and carried out, one by one, five little girls. He put them out on the roof and told them to stand there till he could get down the ladder. One of them went back into the building and they never saw her again. The boy slid down the ladder and stood on a little pile of rocks at the bottom, and told them to jump, one at a time, and he would catch them. Then he braced himself the best he could. You know it is easy to plant your feet and brace yourself when you have two legs to stand on. But this little fellow had but one, and when those children jumped, he broke their fall; but each time a child dropped down into his arms he was knocked down flat on the rocks, and when the last one had jumped, the back of his head was battered and bleeding, where he had fallen on the sharp stones. When they found him he was unconscious, but he had saved the little girls.

       Don't you think that those children, as they grow older, must love the memory of that young hero? They love him because he first loved them and was willing to risk his life for them.

       That is what Jesus did. He loved us and gave Himself for us. Satan came to destroy us, as the wolf comes to destroy the sheep. Jesus was the good shepherd and came to fight against Satan, and save us. But He lost His life. That is why we love Him, He loved us and gave Himself for us. S. N. Hutchinson

"Oh The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" 

sung by Audrey Assad