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Below are the memory verses for the coming month. Each lesson will be posted as it is completed.
Below are the memory verses for the coming month. Each lesson will be posted as it is completed.
October
Sabbath, October 5th - "Say to the Israelites: 'On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts’" (Leviticus 23:24). - We're Going to See the King
Sabbath, October 12th - "Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress" (Deuteronomy 16:13). - We're Tenting Tonight
Monday, October 14th - "As far as east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12 NIV). - As Far As East is From the West
Sabbath, November 2nd - “. . . and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. It is the closing assembly; do no regular work" (Leviticus 23:36b).
Sabbath, October 5th
We're Going to See the King
Memory Verse
"Say to the Israelites: 'On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts’" (Leviticus 23:24).
Materials Needed: CEM YEA Trumpets lesson (YE2X.4); dry erase board, markers, eraser
I have a story to read to you today. Listen carefully . . .
Once there was a little boy named Joshua who led the children of Israel against a huge city, the city of Bethlehem. The Israelites sang and danced around the city for six days. On the seventh day, they carried their pianos and sang songs and then they jumped up and down and the gates of the city opened up to let the Israelites in. Then they had a party with the people of Jericho.
O.K. That story’s a mess, isn’t it!! Let’s go back and fix it.
Once there was a (little boy) man named Joshua who led the children of Israel against a huge city, the city of (Bethlehem) Jericho. The Israelites (sang and danced) marched silently around the city for six days. On the seventh day, they (carried their pianos and sang songs) marched around the city seven times and the priests blew the trumpets. (and then they jumped up and down) The people gave a mighty shout and the (gates) walls of the city (opened up) fell down flat to let the Israelites in. Then they had (a party) a great victory over the people of Jericho.
The story of Joshua and Jericho is a well-known story that points to the Feast of Trumpets and the return of Jesus Christ. Joshua is the Hebrew form of Jesus; they both mean “God is salvation.” Jericho is like all the kingdoms of this world. The children of Israel are like all of the saints/people of God. We’re walking around the kingdoms of this world and we can’t defeat them, but we do what God tells us to do and we persevere. The seventh day is the day when the falls of Jericho fell down flat. The seventh day is the Feast of Trumpet - looking forward to the day when Jesus Christ returns. The priests blew their trumpets; Jesus returns at the last trump, the trumpet call of God. The people of Jericho were defeated; all enemies of God will be defeated and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
There are some people who would like to rewrite the ending that is coming. They would like to tell you that it doesn’t matter if you follow God’s directions as you’re marching in this world. They will tell you that you can do whatever you want to do. But I think there’s a very good chance that Joshua wouldn’t have been given the victory if he hadn’t followed God’s directions to the letter. What you do matters! And when Jesus comes back, I want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But I’m only going to hear those words if I do the things that are pleasing to God, keeping His commandments and keeping His holy days.
Soon and very soon we’re going to see the King . . . .
Sabbath, October 12th
We’re Tenting Tonight
Memory Verse: “Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress” (Deuteronomy 16:13).
Materials: YE2X.6 lesson from CEM/YEA, choice cards, flip chart, markers
Sometimes it helps to understand a topic if you look at the opposite. So I have some cards here. If I say “black,” what would you say? (Usually, “White” - but you never know with these kids!!) We can work through several other pairs:
Truth - Lies
High - Low
Life - Death
This world - God’s kingdom
Lots of toys - God’s rewards
Treasures on Earth - Treasures in Heaven
Prestige, Power, Money - Putting God First
Big House - Tent
Abraham and Sarah lived their whole lives in a tent. God called Abraham to go to a place He would show him. Abraham did, but even though he had great herds and flocks and servants (Think of the fighting men who went after Lot.), Abraham never built a tent. Why?
Hebrews 11:10 says that Abraham was looking for a heavenly kingdom. Notice here that Hebrews also tells us that Isaac and Jacob also lived in tents because they’d received that same promise from God. They “acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland” (Hebrews 11:13-14). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in tents - demonstrating by their actions that they were focused on God’s kingdom.
That’s one of the lessons we learn again every year when we go to the Feast of Tabernacles. “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passin’ through.” We shouldn’t have our eyes fixed on the things around us - the treasures of this world, power, prestige, and money. We should fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Your memory verse says: “Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress” (Deuteronomy 16:13). And the Feast of Tabernacles was always a time of great celebration because God had blessed them with a great harvest; they had enough to eat again through the winter. But it should also remind us that the harvest field is white unto harvest (John 4:35) - and we have a job to do: living our lives in such a way that we are witnesses to the people around us that we love God. Just like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - living in tents - were witnesses to the people around them that they loved God.
October 14, 2024 - Atonement lesson
As Far As the East is From the West
"As far as east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12 NIV).
Materials needed: paper, pencil, bad eraser, sticky label, white out, new piece of paper, YE2X.5 lesson from CEM
Let’s say that I’m blithely writing along and oops, I make a mistake. What do I do? Well, sometimes it’s as simple as getting the eraser and fixing it. Not all mistakes in life are a transgression of God’s law (sin); so as long as you fix it and learn from it, mistakes can be a good thing. But sometimes when you make a mistake, you can’t fix it - no matter how hard you try. It’s like this paper I’m writing on. I’ve made a mistake. And I think, “Oh, I’ll just write darker on this; it’ll be fine.” Now it’s a dark mess. So I pull out my handy-dandy eraser. Uh oh. That just smeared it. How about I get a pen and mark over the top of it. That’ll fix it . . . not. Now it’s a dark, smudged, ink and pencil mess. What am I going to do with that?! If I keep messing with this, eventually the paper will tear. A hole in the paper would not be the right kind of holy! Let’s cover the error with white out.
Maybe you’re thinking I should just start over. Why can’t I just wad this paper up and throw it away? If we’re talking about paper, that’s exactly what I can do. But when we make a mess of our lives, God doesn’t just wad us up and throw us away. Neither does He snap His fingers and erase whatever it was that we did wrong. What God does do is provide a propitiation for our sins? A what? A propitiation - the proper payment. He covers our sin - kind of like the white out covers the pencil/pen mess. Do you remember that God told Noah to cover the ark with pitch? The pitch made the ark waterproof and resulted in the salvation of Noah and his entire family.
In the same way, God covers our sin with the blood of Jesus Christ. But it goes deeper than that too. It’s the legal record, the ledger, of our sins. Because of what Jesus did for each of us, God marks next to our sin debt, “paid in full.” God has covered our debt.
Jesus is the proper payment, the propitiation, for our sins. We are forgiven and our relationship with God has been restored - because that’s the other problem with our sins: they separate us from God. What an incredible gift God has given us on this Day of Atonement!! He has given Jesus to be the proper payment for our sins so that we can be reconciled to Him. No more sin. No more guilt. "As far as east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12 NIV).
We're Going to See the King
Memory Verse
"Say to the Israelites: 'On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts’" (Leviticus 23:24).
Materials Needed: CEM YEA Trumpets lesson (YE2X.4); dry erase board, markers, eraser
I have a story to read to you today. Listen carefully . . .
Once there was a little boy named Joshua who led the children of Israel against a huge city, the city of Bethlehem. The Israelites sang and danced around the city for six days. On the seventh day, they carried their pianos and sang songs and then they jumped up and down and the gates of the city opened up to let the Israelites in. Then they had a party with the people of Jericho.
O.K. That story’s a mess, isn’t it!! Let’s go back and fix it.
Once there was a (little boy) man named Joshua who led the children of Israel against a huge city, the city of (Bethlehem) Jericho. The Israelites (sang and danced) marched silently around the city for six days. On the seventh day, they (carried their pianos and sang songs) marched around the city seven times and the priests blew the trumpets. (and then they jumped up and down) The people gave a mighty shout and the (gates) walls of the city (opened up) fell down flat to let the Israelites in. Then they had (a party) a great victory over the people of Jericho.
The story of Joshua and Jericho is a well-known story that points to the Feast of Trumpets and the return of Jesus Christ. Joshua is the Hebrew form of Jesus; they both mean “God is salvation.” Jericho is like all the kingdoms of this world. The children of Israel are like all of the saints/people of God. We’re walking around the kingdoms of this world and we can’t defeat them, but we do what God tells us to do and we persevere. The seventh day is the day when the falls of Jericho fell down flat. The seventh day is the Feast of Trumpet - looking forward to the day when Jesus Christ returns. The priests blew their trumpets; Jesus returns at the last trump, the trumpet call of God. The people of Jericho were defeated; all enemies of God will be defeated and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
There are some people who would like to rewrite the ending that is coming. They would like to tell you that it doesn’t matter if you follow God’s directions as you’re marching in this world. They will tell you that you can do whatever you want to do. But I think there’s a very good chance that Joshua wouldn’t have been given the victory if he hadn’t followed God’s directions to the letter. What you do matters! And when Jesus comes back, I want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But I’m only going to hear those words if I do the things that are pleasing to God, keeping His commandments and keeping His holy days.
Soon and very soon we’re going to see the King . . . .
Sabbath, October 12th
We’re Tenting Tonight
Memory Verse: “Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress” (Deuteronomy 16:13).
Materials: YE2X.6 lesson from CEM/YEA, choice cards, flip chart, markers
Sometimes it helps to understand a topic if you look at the opposite. So I have some cards here. If I say “black,” what would you say? (Usually, “White” - but you never know with these kids!!) We can work through several other pairs:
Truth - Lies
High - Low
Life - Death
This world - God’s kingdom
Lots of toys - God’s rewards
Treasures on Earth - Treasures in Heaven
Prestige, Power, Money - Putting God First
Big House - Tent
Abraham and Sarah lived their whole lives in a tent. God called Abraham to go to a place He would show him. Abraham did, but even though he had great herds and flocks and servants (Think of the fighting men who went after Lot.), Abraham never built a tent. Why?
Hebrews 11:10 says that Abraham was looking for a heavenly kingdom. Notice here that Hebrews also tells us that Isaac and Jacob also lived in tents because they’d received that same promise from God. They “acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland” (Hebrews 11:13-14). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in tents - demonstrating by their actions that they were focused on God’s kingdom.
That’s one of the lessons we learn again every year when we go to the Feast of Tabernacles. “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passin’ through.” We shouldn’t have our eyes fixed on the things around us - the treasures of this world, power, prestige, and money. We should fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Your memory verse says: “Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress” (Deuteronomy 16:13). And the Feast of Tabernacles was always a time of great celebration because God had blessed them with a great harvest; they had enough to eat again through the winter. But it should also remind us that the harvest field is white unto harvest (John 4:35) - and we have a job to do: living our lives in such a way that we are witnesses to the people around us that we love God. Just like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - living in tents - were witnesses to the people around them that they loved God.
October 14, 2024 - Atonement lesson
As Far As the East is From the West
"As far as east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12 NIV).
Materials needed: paper, pencil, bad eraser, sticky label, white out, new piece of paper, YE2X.5 lesson from CEM
Let’s say that I’m blithely writing along and oops, I make a mistake. What do I do? Well, sometimes it’s as simple as getting the eraser and fixing it. Not all mistakes in life are a transgression of God’s law (sin); so as long as you fix it and learn from it, mistakes can be a good thing. But sometimes when you make a mistake, you can’t fix it - no matter how hard you try. It’s like this paper I’m writing on. I’ve made a mistake. And I think, “Oh, I’ll just write darker on this; it’ll be fine.” Now it’s a dark mess. So I pull out my handy-dandy eraser. Uh oh. That just smeared it. How about I get a pen and mark over the top of it. That’ll fix it . . . not. Now it’s a dark, smudged, ink and pencil mess. What am I going to do with that?! If I keep messing with this, eventually the paper will tear. A hole in the paper would not be the right kind of holy! Let’s cover the error with white out.
Maybe you’re thinking I should just start over. Why can’t I just wad this paper up and throw it away? If we’re talking about paper, that’s exactly what I can do. But when we make a mess of our lives, God doesn’t just wad us up and throw us away. Neither does He snap His fingers and erase whatever it was that we did wrong. What God does do is provide a propitiation for our sins? A what? A propitiation - the proper payment. He covers our sin - kind of like the white out covers the pencil/pen mess. Do you remember that God told Noah to cover the ark with pitch? The pitch made the ark waterproof and resulted in the salvation of Noah and his entire family.
In the same way, God covers our sin with the blood of Jesus Christ. But it goes deeper than that too. It’s the legal record, the ledger, of our sins. Because of what Jesus did for each of us, God marks next to our sin debt, “paid in full.” God has covered our debt.
Jesus is the proper payment, the propitiation, for our sins. We are forgiven and our relationship with God has been restored - because that’s the other problem with our sins: they separate us from God. What an incredible gift God has given us on this Day of Atonement!! He has given Jesus to be the proper payment for our sins so that we can be reconciled to Him. No more sin. No more guilt. "As far as east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12 NIV).