January 2024
☃️January 6th - By faith Noah, being warned by God  . . . prepared an ark for the saving of his household.  - Hebrews 11:7 - A Rescue Boat

☃️January 13th - Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty! - Psalm 93:4

☃️January 20th - The rainbow is the sign of my covenant . . . between me and every living thing on earth. Genesis 9:17
 Rainbow of Promise

☃️January 27th - Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. - Proverbs 16:18

February
🧵 Sabbath, February 3rd - Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. -  Psalm 37:4 - Get Ready to Move

🪡 Sabbath, February 10th - And he (Abraham) believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. - Genesis 15:6 - What's In a Name?

🧵 Sabbath, February 17th - Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. - Psalm 37:5 - Waiting on God

🪡 Sabbath, February 24th - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. - Proverbs 3:5
 - Test of Love


March
🌷 Sabbath, March 2nd - The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  James 5:16 (NIV)

💐 Sabbath, March 9th - Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.  - Leviticus 19:11 (NIV) The Stolen Blessing

🌷 Sabbath, March 16th -  . . God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  - Hebrews 13:5 (NIV) - Heavenly Dream

💐 Sabbath, March 23rd -  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  - John 3:16 (NIV) - The Favorite Son

🌷 Sabbath, March 30th - The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
 - Proverbs 15:3 (NIV) - It's the Pits

April
⛵️ Sabbath, April 6th - "Don't let evil get the upper hand, but conquer evil by doing good.” - Romans 12:21 - Potiphar and Prison

⛵️ Sabbath, April 13th - “Don’t use your freedom as an excuse to sin. . . Serve one another in love” (Paraphrase). - Galatians 5:13 - A Serving Savior

⛵️ Sabbath, April 20th - “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth” (NIV). - Psalm 86:11 - A Passionate Prayer

⛵️ Wednesday, April 24th - “The Lord. . . said, ‘I have loved you with a love that lasts forever’” (NIrV). - Jeremiah 31:3 - A Lasting Love Story

⛵️ Sabbath, April 27th - “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” - Luke 24:5b - Alive Again!

⛵️ Tuesday, April 30th - “After his suffering and death, he appeared to them” (NIrV). - Acts 1:3 - Exciting Evidence


May
Sabbath, May 4th - “So you must go and make disciples of all nations” (NIrV). - Matthew 28:19 - Share the Story

Sabbath, May 11th - “Jesus has been given a place of honor at the right hand of God” (NIrV). - Acts 2:33 - A Happy Homecoming

Sabbath, May 18th - “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” - Psalm 111:10 - Pharaoh's Dreams

Sabbath, May 25th - “Hard times chase those who are sinful. But success is the reward of those who do right.” - Proverbs 13:21 (NIrV)

June
🦋 Sabbath, June 1st - "A true friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need." - Proverbs 17:17 (TLB) - Hungry Brothers

🦋 Sabbath, June 8th - “Continue to love each other with true brotherly love.” - Hebrews 13:1 (TLB) - Brotherly Love

🦋 Sabbath, June 15th and Pentecost, June 16th - “ . . .The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field" (Luke 10:2). A Harvest Countdown; What Are You Harvesting?

🦋 Sabbath, June 22nd - “God, you know how foolish I've been. My guilt is not hidden from you." - Psalm 69:5 (NIrV) - Discoveries

🦋 Sabbath, June 29th - "Anyone who loves God must also love his brothers and sisters." - 1 John 4:21 (NIrV) - All in the Family


July
🐈 Sabbath, July 6th - "The Lord will watch over your life no matter where you go, both now and forevermore.” - Psalm 121:8 (NIrV) - Going Places

🐈 Sabbath, July 13th - "Like a good soldier of Christ Jesus, share in the hard times with us." - 2 Timothy 2:3 (NIrV) - Like a Good Soldier

🐈 Sabbath, July 20th - "You are my hiding place. You will keep me safe from trouble.” - Psalm 32:7 (NIrV) - Baby in a Basket

🐈 Sabbath, July 27th - "My people, listen to my teaching. Pay attention to what I say" - Psalm 78:1 (NIrV). A Burning Bush

August

Sabbath, August 3rd - "The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, Let my people go.” - Exodus 5:1 (NIrV) - Let My People Go

Sabbath, August 10th - "Blessed is the one who always has respect for the Lord. But anyone who is stubborn gets into trouble.” - Proverbs 28:14 (NIrV) - Scratch and Sniff

Sabbath, August 17th - "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods.” - Exodus 18:11 (NIrV) - More Troubles

Sabbath, August 24th - "Always remember this day. .. It is a law that will last forever.” - Exodus 12:14 (NIrV) - Remember This Night

Sabbath, August 31st - "I will guide you and teach you the way you should go.” - Psalm 32:8 (NIrV) - God's Guides


September

Sabbath, September 7th - "Don't be afraid. Stand firm. You will see how the Lord will save you today." - Exodus 14:13 (NIrV) - God's Rescue

Sabbath, September 14th - “I will sing to the Lord. He has been so good to me.” - Psalm 13:6 (NIrV)

Sabbath, September 21st - "The bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven.” - John 6:33 (NIrV)

Sabbath, September 28th - "Like a shepherd, he will lead them beside springs of water.” - Isaiah 49:10 (NIrV)


Sabbath, January 6, 2024
A Rescue Boat
"By faith Noah, being warned by God... prepared an ark for the saving of his household" (Hebrews 11:7).

Materials needed: books showing an art, model of the ark from the Creation Museum, foam animals, glue, paper

Your lesson this week was about God rescuing Noah. I know your mom did your lesson with you, so I’m going to ask some questions:

1. How many animals did Moses take on the ark? Oh good! You were listening! Moses didn’t take any animals on the ark; Noah did. Noah took two of each kind of land animal and bird. That means he took bugs too.
2. Where did Noah put the whales? Noah didn’t have to take any of the whales, fish, or other sea creatures because they could swim just fine in the water during the flood.
3. How did Noah get the big door closed? He didn’t have to worry about it. God closed him in.
4. How many men and women were on the ark? Noah, his wife, Noah’s three sons, and their wives.
5. Do you know the names of Noah’s sons? Shem, Ham, and Japheth
6. How did Noah know how to build the ark? God taught him. God told him how big to make it, how to make levels in the ark, what wood to use, and how to make it waterproof.
7. Noah had to gather enough food for all of the animals. How did he do that and gather all the animals too?! The animals came to him.
8. Did Noah have to take every kind of dog in the world - German Shepherds and blue heelers, wolves and coyotes, dingos and poodles? No, Noah just had to take one kind of canine. All of the dogs in our world are descended from that one pair.
9. How many cows did Noah take? Seven pairs. Why? Because they were clean animals and good for food.
10. Why did God destroy all the human and animal life on earth? Because of the wickedness of the people. What does that make you think about your behavior? Do you think you ought to consider what you do?
11. Will God destroy the earth again with water? No. What will He use next time? Fire.
12. Why did God rescue Noah? The Bible says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah tried to live by God’s standards and obeyed what God told him to do. It’s something to think about. We certainly want to be among those that God rescues!

Sabbath, January 20th
Rainbow of Promises

Memory Verse: The rainbow is the sign of my covenant . . . between me and every living thing on earth. Genesis 9:17

Materials: CD, flashlight, prism

When you wrap a package, it doesn’t seem quite finished until you put a bow on the top. There’s something about a bow which seals the deal! We all like bows. They’re everywhere: neckties, hairbows, pins, and necklaces.

Why does a bow attract us? Perhaps it’s because bows remind us of the rainbow - the sign God Himself set in the clouds when Noah and his family came off the Ark. Our merciful God probably knew that the first time the clouds began gathering, all of Noah’s family would be afraid that it was going to happen again. After all, you can’t spend over a year on a boat without rain having a profound affect upon your emotions. Imagine how they would be tempted to run for the Ark!

But God set the rainbow, the beautiful rainbow, in the clouds so that when they would see it, they would be assured that God would not destroy the earth with water again.  And ever since, we’ve been so captured by the beauty of the rainbow.

We buy prisms so we can throw rainbows whenever we want. We buy kaleidoscopes so we can imitate the wonder of color. We encourage children to draw rainbows, and they readily oblige.

So it is no wonder that such a symbol of life and of God’s promise would be very annoying for Satan.  God has given us a beautiful sign every time it rains. It is a perpetual reminder that He is in control and that, in the end, righteousness and love and justice win. It will be a perfect world.

Do you know how a rainbow works, scientifically? When the light hits the water droplets, the light is bent (or refracted). When you bend light, the various colors bend at different angles. Red bends the most; violet bends the least. They bend in this order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Without the moisture in the air, you don’t see the rainbow.

You can use other things to get the light to refract. You can sometimes see the rainbow in butterfly wings, using a prism, or on soap bubbles. The light shining off a CD can also refract to create a rainbow.

I love how God placed the rainbow in the cloud as a promise to the earth that He would never again completely destroy the earth by flood.

But I also love how God created the rainbow using two symbols that we often associate with Him: light and water. Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12). God is light (1 John 1:5), and in Him there is no darkness at all. Jesus is also the source of living water (John 4:10, 14; John 7:37). If you believe in Jesus, the Light of the world, you will be given the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39), that living water will flow out of you.

Then the Light of God shining on you and your life will display the promises of God for all to see. You become a witness to the greatness, the majesty, the awesomeness of our God. Your life reflects God’s love and mercy. You testify to everyone around you that God is the source of life and salvation.

God’s promises are displayed for all to see in the rainbow. But God’s promises are also displayed in your life for all to see. Think about how well you allow others to see Jesus in you the next time you see a rainbow.

January 27th
Tower of Trouble

Memory Verse: Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. - Proverbs 16:18

Materials Needed: deck of cards

Have you ever built a tower of cards? How many levels could you build before it all collapsed?  Have you tried building towers out of any other materials? What works well? Doesn’t work well? What can you do to make your tower more permanent?

Why do people want towers? Sometimes they’re used to see what is coming. (But your tower has to be high enough to see over the trees!!) Sometimes they’re used to spot fires before they become blazing infernos. Sometimes the height advantage allows you to get your bearings and readjust the course of your travels.  

In Genesis 11, this tower was proposed as a way for the people to do two things: 1) get honor for themselves; and 2) keep from being scattered over the earth. Why was this a problem?

God had given specific instructions to Noah after the Flood. They were to spread out over the earth to repopulate it. They weren’t supposed to congregate in a big city. So deciding they didn’t want to be scattered over the face of the earth was in direct conflict with God’s directive.

That unwillingness to obey God had its roots in their first reason for building the tower. The people wanted to make a name for themselves. They wanted glory and honor. They wanted to put themselves and their wishes and desires before God’s commands. Their glory and honor was more important to them than giving glory and honor to God.

Do you see how this applies to you today? Your desire to give God glory and honor before anything and anyone is demonstrated in your willingness to obey God’s commands.

The people of Babel were so very foolish! It hadn’t been that many years since the Flood when all of humanity, except Noah and his family, were wiped from the face of the earth. You would think that people would be very willing to do whatever God said. But, no. As Albert Einstein said, “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.” Our sinful nature makes us stupid, infinitely stupid - so stupid that we think we can succeed in doing something God doesn’t want done. It’s like building a house of cards. There’s no way it will stand for long.

Sabbath, February 3rd
Get Ready to Move

Memory Verse: Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. -  Psalm 37:4

Materials Needed: Sequence strip from YEA resources (YE2E.10), kids tent, color tools, scissors, tape, construction paper, a set of index cards with priorities for each child/family.

Imagine God talking to you one day. That would be startling in itself. But then if God told you to move, to leave your family and your home, and go some place new, that would be very startling. And if you didn’t know where you were going, you just had to trust that God would show you, you would definitely have an opportunity to show just how much you trust God.

Would it make a difference if I told you to go somewhere or if I told you to come to where I was? The word that is typically translated “go” in Genesis 12:1 is the Hebrew halakh. It can be translated “go” or “come” or “walk.” What if God was telling Abraham “come to Me”? Isn’t that what Jesus Christ said in Matthew 11:28? “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (ESV). [Invite the kids to come sit in the tent with you.]

So when Abraham was 75 years old, he left Haran with Sarah, his wife, and his nephew Lot. They carried their possessions with them and went where God told them to go (or come).

Likely, Abraham and Sarah had a nice house in Haran. But when you move, and you have to carry whatever you’re taking, you prioritize what’s most important. And you leave the rest. That’s not surprising. That’s what most people do when they move. But do you know what Abraham and Sarah did for the rest of their lives? They lived in a tent!! That means Abraham spent 100 years living in a tent. How much stuff do you accumulate when you’re living in a tent? Not nearly as much as when you live in a house!! Why did Abraham do that? Abraham’s whole life became a living object lesson that his life is temporary, so he was keeping his eyes focused on God and the things that are most important to God. That’s why he let Lot choose the best land. Abraham knew that what he had was given to him by God. If God wanted him to have more land, He would give it to him. If God wanted Abraham to be wealthy (which he was), God would cause Abraham to succeed in whatever he did - raising livestock, growing crops, fighting battles - all of it. If God wanted him to have descendants - so many that it was like the stars in the sky, God would accomplish it. Abraham just needed to make God his first priority. So he lived in a tent the rest of his life - and trusted God.

What about you? What are the priorities in your life? What things do you want people to remember about you? Serving God? Having integrity? Doing things with excellence? Serving others? Making the world beautiful? Spending time resting and relaxing? Being with family? Being with friends? Making lots of money? What is most important to you? It’s important that you not only think about it, but that you order your life to display what’s most important to you. But because God is your Creator and Redeemer, I’d definitely recommend that you put Him first always.

Sabbath, February 10th
What’s in a Name

Memory Verse: And he (Abraham) believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. - Genesis 15:6

Materials Needed: name cards for each child, YEA book (YE2F.1)

Do you think names matter? Shakespeare pen that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Perhaps it would smell as sweet, but what if we called them manure flowers? Would you like a bouquet of manure flowers? What if we called them diamonds? Would you like a bouquet of diamonds? We attach meaning to words and to names based on our experiences.

When I was teaching, I had a couple of rough boys. There’s no way I would ever name one of my sons “Kyle.” I had a Kyle who completely ruined the name for me. But the name Kyle means “slender” or “strait (that is, “narrow” or “constricted”). The Bible tells us to find the strait way, the narrow way, because broad is the path that leads to destruction. So perhaps I need to rethink how I feel about the name Kyle.

Names meant something. God changed Abram’s name. He changed Jacob’s name. He changed Saul’s name. Why did God change those names? Each of these men were changed by their relationship with God; it only made sense that what they were called would also change.

So what about the name Isaac? Why did Abraham and Sarah name their son Isaac? It means “laugh” or “laughter.” Why did Sarah laugh when the angel told her she would have a son that time the next year? Abraham and Sarah had wanted a son for a very long time - like 25 years a long time!! Do you think it’s possible that they didn’t think God was going to keep His promise to give them a son? Perhaps she was laughing at the idea of a 90 year-old lady having a baby and chasing him around. But when they did have a son, Abraham and Sarah named him Isaac. Why? Did they want everyone to laugh at him? I suspect they named him Isaac to remind themselves that they had started to doubt God and they shouldn’t have! They might have also wanted the reminder that Isaac, as the child of promise, was bringing them so much joy (laughter) just because he was there - and sometimes you are so happy you just laugh with delight.

So . . . do you like your name? I know that for some of you, your parents were very intentional to choose names based on their meanings.

Bereckyah = God has blessed; Zevadyah = God has given; Shelevah = peaceful, tranquility; Mitkah = sweet; Luke = light-giving; Matthew = Gift of God; Peter = stone, rock; Clara = bright, famous; Abigail = my father’s joy; Noah = rest, respite; Naomi = pleasant, gentle

These are cool names with very important meanings! But like God promised Abraham and Sarah a son, God has promised to those who overcome a new name. What do you think God will name you? What do you think your name will mean?


Sabbath, February 17th
Waiting on God
Memory Verse: Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. - Psalm 37:5

Materials: stack of books, paper, egg timer

How are you at waiting? Waiting for your birthday? Waiting for someone to come to your house? Waiting for someone to get out of the bathroom? Waiting . . .  Even watching an egg timer and waiting for the sand to run out can feel like forever - especially if I tell you that you have to hold absolutely still while we watch!

Very few of us like waiting. We want to get whatever it is that we want - right now!!! I want it like . . . yesterday! And that totally makes sense if it’s something that isn’t going to be around long, like ice cream. I want the ice cream cone now, not in 20 minutes when it’s melted all over the floor.

So I have a visual for you: Let’s say that I have a task that needs to be accomplished, like moving an entire stack of books without touching them. I have this nice, handy dandy piece of paper under the books. Now, if I try to pull them on the piece of paper quickly, what happens? The force overcomes the friction and the paper comes out without the books moving. But if I very slowly pull, maintaining a slow and steady force, friction and gravity will keep the books on the paper - and I can accomplish my goal of moving the pile of books without touching them.

So how does that relate to our sabbath lesson? Well, you can tell me what happened when Abraham and Sarah tried to move too quickly! Ishmael was born - which caused a lot of unnecessary stress for everyone involved.

Another Bible example of the necessity of waiting and doing exactly what God has told you is King Saul (1 Samuel 13). Saul was told to wait for Samuel to come to present the offering to God. When Samuel was delayed, Saul didn’t wait . . . and it cost him the kingdom. Saul should never have thought that it would be okay to directly disobey instructions from God; he should have waited!

So what is your memory verse? Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. - Psalm 37:5  I guess you’re just going to have to get used to waiting.

Sabbath, February 24th
Test of Love

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. - Proverbs 3:5

Materials needed: Love Languages for kids test, pencils, YEA lesson YE2F.3

What kind of behavior do you like? More specifically, how do you like people to show you that they love you? In 1992 Gary Chapman published a book called The Five Love Languages. He explained that, to have the best relationship possible, you need to show that you love someone by treating them the way they want to be treated, that is, specifically, showing love to them in the way they want to be loved.

Since then, quizzes have been developed to help determine what the primary (and secondary) languages are for the user. Adult, teenager, and child versions are available.

So what is your primary love language? Do you prefer 1) acts of service; 2) words of affirmation; 3) gifts; 4) physical touch; or 5) quality time.

The idea is that if you prefer quality time and you don’t get quality time, and you get any of the other love languages, you are not going to feel as loved. Each of us has an idea of what being loved looks like, and when those actions are not present in our relationships, our relationship suffers. Even if the person spends time with you, but you fight the whole time, that doesn’t show love. Or if they bring you a gift and the gift is something you don’t like or don’t want, you may not even count it as a gift. And if you know that the other person knows what you like, and they choose not to love you in that manner, you kinda start to question if they really love you at all. Their attitude towards showing you love matters!

Do you think that God has a love language? Absolutely! God tells us multiple times that His love language is obedience. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15, ESV) This phrase is stated directly seven times (Deuteronomy 7:9, 10:12-13, 30:16; John 14:21; John 15:10; 1 John 5:1-5) and a myriad of other time indirectly, i.e. like when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham proved his love and commitment to God by his unquestioning obedience to God’s commandment, despite the difficulty of that obedience.

Christians like to say they love God. Well, words don’t mean anything if your actions don’t prove your words. So - do you love God? AKA do you keep God’s commandments? Do you want to keep God’s commandments, or do you look for excuses not to obey Him?

If you don’t think that you love God, because your actions say you don’t, then the question is, why not?! He has given you everything: life, a family, health, the air you breathe . . . we could sit all day naming things because God created it all.

If you think you do love God because your actions say you do, then the question is “How much do you love Him?” Do you love Him enough to do exactly what He says immediately? Do you “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”? Think about it. What you do - and your attitude about doing it - matters!

Sabbath, March 9th
The Stolen Blessing
Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.  - Leviticus 19:11 (NIV)

Materials Needed: lentils, fake fur, YEA Primary Lesson (YE2F.5)

Do you know what lentils are? Do you like lentils? (Not to be confused with lintels.) How hungry would you have to be before you’d want to eat them? Have you ever been really, really hungry? Isn’t it funny that food tastes absolutely wonderful after you’ve been fasting?! Something you wouldn’t have ever considered eating now is your favorite!

What do lentils have to do with our lesson today? Esau was so hungry that when he smelled the lentil stew that Jacob was cooking, he was ready to sell his birthright for a bowl of it! Do you know what a birthright was worth? The firstborn received a double portion as his inheritance. He was the patriarch after his father died. (Deut. 21:17) The firstborn had the responsibility of caring for his brothers and sisters (and his mother, if his father died first - Gen. 37:29-30). In the kingly line, all of the king’s children would receive a princely inheritance, but only the oldest would become the next king (2 Chronicles 21:1-3).  This really was a big deal. But Esau didn’t think so (Gen. 25:32-34, Hebrews 12:14-17), at least, not at first. At this point in his life, he didn’t see the value of the birthright; he was willing to trade it for a bowl of lentils! It wasn’t really about how hungry he was; it was about how little he thought of the birthright.

What do you think of my fake fur?  What does it have to do with our lesson today? Well, there’s a birthright - and there’s a blessing. The birthright goes to the oldest; the blessing can go to whomever the father preferred. Rebekah knew that Isaac was his father’s favorite and that he would therefore receive the greater blessing. But Jacob was Rebekah’s favorite and she wanted him to get the best blessing instead. So she decided to trick Isaac.

Esau was so angry that Jacob had tricked Isaac that Esau wanted to kill Jacob. Jacob ended up leaving home for somewhere around 20 years. There are consequences to actions.

So what do you think? Did Jacob have to trick Isaac to be blessed by God - because it was to Jacob that God reiterated the blessing He’d given to Abraham and Isaac? What about Esau? Do you feel sorry for him? Hebrews 12 says that Esau was godless. Malachi 1:1-5 says the people of Esau were wicked and that God would not bless them.

Your memory verse says, “Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.” Why? Why are these such important commandments to live by? I can think of two reasons off the top of my head: 1) Because stealing and lying and deception are behaviors that God hates. We don’t want to find ourselves being punished by God - or worse, rejected by Him (Matthew 7:23); and 2) Because regardless of the situation in which you find yourself, God is able to bless you abundantly, giving you blessings you could never have imagined, if you love Him and demonstrate that love by obeying His commandments. In short, you will have what God wants you to have. You don’t have to lie or steal or cheat to get it.  In fact, Jesus says that God knows what you need and if you seek His kingdom first, all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33).

March 16th
Heavenly Dream
Memory Verse: ". God has said, I will never leave you. I will never desert you.” — Hebrews 13:5

Materials needed: rocks, glue, felt, sharpie, YEA lesson (YE2F.6)

What can you do with rocks? They make good paperweights. Build a house. Build a fence. Build an outdoor grill. Make a rock-paved path. Make a rock garden. Landscape your house. Support a fence. Keep a car from rolling down the hill.

• What did people in the Bible do with a rock?
• Build a fortress - Psalm 18:2
• Use it as a foundation to build a house upon - Matthew 7:24
• People drank from a rock - Exodus 17:6
• Use it for shade - Isaiah 32:2
• Stumble over - 1 Peter 2:8; Isaiah 8:14
• Built a wall - Nehemiah 4:17
• Made idols - Leviticus 26:1
• Use it as a hiding place - 1 Samuel 13:6
• To build an altar - Exodus 20:25
• To kill a giant - 1 Samuel 17:49
• As a pillow - Genesis 28:18                                          

 What? Who uses a stone for a pillow? Jacob was fleeing from the anger of his brother Esau. One night he lay down and used a stone for a pillow. Jacob had a dream of a stairway reaching to heaven, with angels ascending and descending on it. God stood at the top and made Jacob several promises: God would give him the land as an inheritance; Jacob would have innumerable descendants; all nations would be blessed through Jacob and his descendants; and God would watch over Jacob, be with Jacob, never leave him, and bring Jacob back to the land. God re-affirmed his covenant (originally made with Abraham and Isaac) to Jacob - and added the promise to be with Jacob. What was Jacob’s response? He set the rock up as a pillar and anointed it. In essence, he was setting up a stone of remembrance.

Two other people set up a stone of remembrance: Joshua did when God brought the Israelites through the Jordan River on dry ground (Joshua 4:20-24) and Samuel did after God gave the Israelites victory over the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:12).

When you look at the way people used rocks, it should come as no big surprise that oftentimes when the Bible refers to a rock, it’s talking about Jesus Christ:

• He is my rock and my salvation (Psalm 62:6; Psalm 18:2; 2 Samuel 22:3);
• He is the rock that Moses struck, that provided water for the people (1 Corinthians 10:4);
• He sets me high upon a rock (my protection) (Psalm 27:5)
• He is the cornerstone (Isaiah 28:16)

It’s no wonder that we like rocks.


Sabbath, March 23rd
The Favorite Son

"God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” - John 3:16 (NIV)

Materials needed: tiny bottles of bubbles/wands, YEA lesson (YE2F.7)

Do you love going to weddings and getting the little bottles of bubbles? There’s something very aesthetically pleasing about blowing bubbles, watching them wafting on the breeze, and suddenly, inexplicably popping.

What in the world would bubbles have to do with Joseph, his coat of many colors, and his brothers?!

Joseph’s brothers were not a little unhappy that Jacob favored Joseph. They were a lot unhappy. In fact, they hated Joseph. And when Joseph had dreams which indicated, and rightly so, that someday they all would bow before him, Joseph’s brothers’ hatred spilled over into murderous intent. When they saw him coming over the hill to where they were shepherding the flocks, they were ready to get rid of him once and for all. Reuben stopped them. He suggested, instead, that they throw him into a cistern - which they did, after they stripped him of the hated coat of many colors. Their hatred was so intense that it was no big deal to treat Joseph terribly - and then calmly sit down to eat as if they’d just hadn’t had murder in their hearts.

When they saw a caravan of traders headed for Egypt, they figured they could be rid of Joseph once and for all: they would sell him as a slave. Then they’d have money and no more Joseph all at the same time. Of course, that necessitated a lie to cover up what they’d done. And they let Jacob believe that lie for twenty-two years. All for what? Because they weren’t their father’s favorite. Because of a coat of many colors. Because of a couple of dreams. Joseph’s brothers wanted what Joseph had. So they coveted his stuff and his position. They lied. They had murder in their hearts. In lying to their father, they certainly weren’t honoring him.  Breaking all those commandments!! And for what? In the end, God blessed Joseph and used him to save all of his family from the famine. So everything his brothers tried to do failed. They didn’t succeed at all.

But the question still remains. What in the world do bubbles have to do with Joseph and his brothers?  Let’s read another passage in Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Joseph’s brothers were very concerned with stuff that moths can eat, rust can wear away, and thieves can steal. They weren’t concerned with a close relationship with their father or with God. How do I know that? There’s no way they would have lied to their dad like that if they really had a close relationship, or wanted a close relationship, with him. And they couldn’t have had murder in their hearts if they really had a close relationship with God.

In the end, here’s the lesson. God is going to give you what He wants you to have. Matt 6:33 says to seek Him first and He will give everything else you need. If you belong to God, if you want to please Him first, if you really are living your life to honor Him, then all of the fine clothes and recognition from others - that’s just transitory. It’s just so many bubbles.

Sabbath, March 30th
It’s the Pits

The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. - Proverbs 15:3 (NIV)

Materials Needed: metal detector, binoculars, magnifying glasses

What if you lost something, what might you do to find it (other than go ask Mom)? You might look under things. You might ask others to help you search. You might get out binoculars - or a magnifying glass - or perhaps a dog. (Dogs can get great at finding thing, especially if they are well-trained.) Or maybe you could use a metal detector. But what if someone is trying to hide something from you on purpose? What if they are making it really hard for you to find what you have lost? Then what?

If you remember, we talked about Joseph and his brothers last week. There’s a lot here, so let’s talk about another aspect of this story today.  Do you remember that Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son? That he gave him a coat of many colors? Do you remember that Joseph had two dreams in which his brothers bowed down to him? Do you remember how his brothers reacted to all of this? They were jealous to the point of hating Joseph! Then their hatred turned murderous. They were ready to kill Joseph. Do you remember that it was Reuben who wanted to rescue Joseph from death? Do you remember what they decided to do with Joseph instead of killing him? Then what happened? What die did they decide to tell to Jacob, their father?

It looked pretty desperate for Joseph. Hated by his brothers. Sold into slavery. He was all alone - or was he? We know from the story that Joseph continued to choose to live his life in a way that honored God - and God blessed him in everything he did. (But that’s a story for another day.)

Joseph’s brothers thought what they had done was hidden, but God saw it - and God sees you when you are in trouble. He doesn’t need a magnifying glass, or binoculars, or a dog, or a metal detector to find you. God never loses track of where you are. You may think that you are all alone. You may think that evil people or discouraging events have gotten the upper hand. But God is still sovereign. He’s still in charge. And . . . if you belong to Him, you can trust Him to work everything out for your good.


Sabbath, April 6th
Potiphar and Prison

"Don't let evil get the upper hand, but conquer evil by doing good.” - Romans 12:21

Materials needed: mini bowling ball set, balls, bouncy balls, string

God set up laws in our world to make things work smoothly. Can you think of any? Gravity. Friction. Inertia. Newton’s Third Law of Motion.

Dave experienced inertia with the van recently. Also called Newton’s First Law of Motion, inertia is the tendency of an object in motion to stay in motion (or object at rest to stay at rest) until acted upon by an outside force. You might say that the deer ran afoul of Newton’s First Law of Motion - and paid for it with its life.

Also called the conservation of momentum, Newton’s First Law of Motion is why people use wrecking balls. The weight of the ball uses gravity to smash it into the building to be demolished. The wrecking ball continues in motion until it’s acted upon by another force - the building.

Another of God’s laws, Newton’s Third Law of Motion, states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. It’s one of the laws in play when you bounce a ball. What happens if you get in the way of a bouncing ball? You definitely feel the energy - with whatever force the ball was thrown, it’s going to bounce with almost the same amount of energy - right into your chin.

We depend on the consistency of God’s laws to function in our world.  For instance, friction is what keeps our cars on the pavement. Ice greatly decreases friction and we know what happens then. You walk out the front door and find yourself on the ground. Friction may have been minimized, but gravity is still hard at work.

So what does this have to do with Joseph and Potiphar? Well, it wasn’t exactly Potiphar; it was his wife. She wanted Joseph to break one of God’s laws; she wanted him to commit adultery. Joseph knew that was wrong. He knew that it was sin - the transgression of God’s law. And he wanted no part of it.

Just as there are consequences for running afoul of God’s natural laws (like inertia, friction, and gravity), there are consequences for running afoul of God’s moral laws. Joseph did the right thing; he got out of there - leaving his cloak in her hand when she tried to grab him. Although it made Potiphar’s wife mad and Joseph ended up in prison, it would have been much worse if Joseph had broken God’s law like she wanted. It’s much worse to have God angry with you.

Your memory verse says, “Don’t let evil get the upper hand, but conquer evil by doing good.” Evil is going against God’s laws; doing good is the opposite - keeping God’s laws - and that’s what we’re called to do, to obey and honor God always. You can’t run afoul of any of God’s laws without consequences.

Sabbath, April 13th
A Serving Savior

“Don’t use your freedom as an excuse to sin. . . Serve one another in love” (Paraphrase). - Galatians 5:13

Materials: Servant questions on cards

How do you feel about serving others? Is that something you naturally do? Is it something you think you should do but try to avoid? Or are you the one who is normally served?

Can you think of a time when you last served someone?

Are you the one who says, “Hey, can you get me a kleenex?” Or are you the one who goes to get the kleenex?

Do you look around for things that need to be done? Or do you focus mostly on what you want to do?

Do you like helping other people? Do you wish they’d do more for themselves? Do you prefer that people help you accomplish your goals?

When someone asks you to do something, what’s your first response? Is it “Do I have to?” Do you gladly help? Or is it somewhere in-between? Do you ever help someone grudgingly? You do it, but you don’t really want to.

During the time of Jesus, many people wore sandals. So as they walked from place to place, their feet would get dirty. It was custom for a host to have a servant wash the feet of their guests. It’s a nice way to help them feel welcomed, comfortable, and honored. So when Jesus got up after dinner and began to wash the disciples’ feet, it was shocking to the disciples! This was not something their esteemed Teacher, the Son of God, should be doing. There were lowly servants to do this sort of thing! But Jesus needed to teach His disciples (and all of us) that the greatest in the kingdom of God is the servant of all (Matthew 23:11). Paul tells us (Philippians 2:3) to consider others better than ourselves. That kind of humility doesn’t come naturally to most of us.

So how do you get to a place where you have a servant’s heart - willing to help those who need it, looking for things that need to be done, honestly serving in love? God works a change in our hearts - helping us to understand how Jesus came as a suffering servant. If He gave us this example to follow, we had better learn to submit to Him and learn to serve.

Here’s a place to start: Can you truly serve someone with gladness if you are upset at them over something? Work at fixing the relationship you have with the people around you, admit when you are wrong, apologize, and work to make it right. Give grace to those who have done something to upset you. Forgive, knowing how much you want God’s forgiveness.

And as for serving, how can you serve God if you are not willing to serve the people around you?  (Principle from 1 John 4:20). It’s something to think about as we rapidly approach Passover.

Sabbath, April 20th
A Passionate Prayer

“Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth” (NIV). - Psalm 86:11

Materials Needed: concentration cards - examples Jesus gave us, YE2D.5 (YEA lesson from CEM)

Today’s memory verse reminds us of a very important truth: we have to be taught God’s ways before we’re going to incorporate them into our daily lives. So . . . how do we learn God’s ways? Bible study, church attendance, listening to Godly conversations/discussions, fellowship with believers. All of these things are good, but if you just read your Bible, come to church, listen to the conversations (etc.), it will not turn you magically into a Christian. Someone (Billy Sunday) once said, “Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.” You have to put into practice the things that you have learned that please God, that is, obedience to His laws and following His example. (1 Peter 2:21)

O.K. So what kind of example did Jesus leave for us? If you remember from last week’s lesson, Jesus served his disciples and told them that the greatest in the kingdom is the servant of all (Matthew 23:11) So we need to be a servant - to help those who truly need help. What else?

Jesus said He is the light of the world (John 8:12 ) and He told His followers that they were to be light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16). We are to demonstrate our faith to the people around us. O.K. What else?

Jesus was baptized (Luke 3:21-22), giving us an example to follow (Acts 2:38) - an outward sign of the inward conviction that we belong to God, we have accepted His sacrifice for our sins and have confessed that He is both Lord and Savior in our lives.

Jesus preached that the Kingdom of God was coming (Matthew 4:23), and He gave His disciples the assignment to do likewise (Matthew 28:16-20).

Jesus never sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21); we are commanded to follow His example, knowing that when we fail, we have an advocate, so we repent and try again (1 John 2:1).

Jesus showed us how to love others - He healed lepers instead of avoiding them (Luke 17:11-19); He had compassion when He saw people’s suffering (Matthew 9:35–38); He welcomed those considered least - the children (Matthew 19:13-15). We need to likewise be loving and compassionate.

And when Jesus was faced with a painful death, what did He do? He prayed. He asked His Father if there was any other way. Then He accepted God’s will (Luke 22:42). We are going to face difficult things in this life (John 16:33). Jesus gave us an example of how to face them. First, we take it to God in prayer. We ask for God to show a way out - if it’s God’s will. Then we accept what God sets in front of us.

Sometimes, God provides a solution. Sometimes, we have to go through the difficult thing. But in the end, we know that God has us in His hand. Things that are very difficult are under His control - and He can use them for good, even when we can’t see the good. Our job is to obey His commandments and trust Him always.

There’s a great hymn: Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.



Wednesday, April 24th - First Day of Unleavened Bread
A Lasting Love Story (Holy Day Lesson)

“The Lord. . . said, ‘I have loved you with a love that lasts forever’” (NIrV). - Jeremiah 31:3

Materials: weights, YEA lesson YE2D.6

How does God love us? Where do you see His love? He created a lovely world that was very good! Delightful animals. Beautiful flowers. A veritable paradise garden.

God created set laws so that life would work predictably - gravity and inertia and friction.

God created food for us to eat and water to drink - so incredibly yummy and varied a diet!

God created colors and textures and smells and sounds and tastes. What an interesting world we live in - and it’s for our benefit!!

And that’s just creation! How else does God show His love for us? He helps us when we’re in trouble. He provides for our needs. He guides us and leads us. He gives us hope and a future. He invites us into fellowship with Him. And He rescues us.

Rescues us? Why do we need to be rescued? Well, you remember that paradise that God created? Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s direct commandment. What is that called? Yes, it’s called sin. When sin entered the world, so did death and pain and famine and drought and trouble of all kinds. The world that God had pronounced “very good” was now no longer that way. We inherited that sin nature from our ancestor Adam. And every time we sin, it’s another weight added to our very being.

It’s why Jesus would say to the crowds “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Jesus paid our sin debt and took our burden. That’s why we’re celebrating these holy days this week - in remembrance of what Jesus did for us! It is incredible just how much He did for us. And what does He ask us to do this week - one simple thing: eat unleavened bread every day. (Of course, that doesn’t mean any of the rest of God’s law is suspended! We are still going to honor our parents and tell the truth and respect the property of others!)

As you make it a point to eat unleavened bread this week - to obey God’s command to do so - remember the weight that Jesus took from you when He paid your sin debt. That’s the love of God.

Sabbath, April 27th
Alive Again!

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?” - Luke 24:5b

Materials: calendars and stickers for Pentecost countdown, YE2D.7 lesson (CEM lesson)

Why do we celebrate the Days of Unleavened Bread every year? Well, the primary reason is because God says to! Since God doesn’t give us busy work, there’s a reason for our celebration; we’re supposed to learn something from it. The fun thing about that is just this: what you learn each year from celebrating the Days of Unleavened Bread may be slightly different from what someone else learns. Why would that be? Because God works with each of us as individuals; we each have a personal relationship with God.

Nevertheless, here are some things you learn (or are reminded of):

• Jesus Christ suffered, not because He sinned, but to pay the penalty for each person.
• We’re not just avoiding leavening (as a picture of sin); we’re taking in/eating the unleavened bread of Jesus Christ every single day for a whole week.
• Seven days of unleavened bread pictures not only completeness, but it reminds us that God has purposed to do this for us - and He will accomplish His goal.
• The spring holy days are not just about Jesus’ death; they are also about His life.

Jesus’ death pays for our sins; Jesus’ life makes it possible for us to also have eternal life having been reconciled to the Father. (1 Corinthians 15:13-14 -  If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.)

When was Christ raised from the dead? He was in the grave for 3 days and 3 nights. We know he had to be in the tomb before the Holy Day started on Thursday. So Wednesday night, Thursday, Thursday night, Friday, Friday night, Saturday - that’s three days and three nights. Jesus would have been resurrected at the end of the Sabbath.

Do you know what was happening at that time - when Jesus came out of the tomb? The grain was cut to prepare for the wave sheaf offering! It was the very first of the firstfruits. It had to be offered at the beginning of the barley harvest - and it was the start of the countdown to Pentecost. God irrevocably tied the Passover, Jesus’ death and resurrection, to the next holy days. And then He commanded us to count.

Just as much as you were diligent to eat during the Days of Unleavened Bread, you need to be diligent to count all the way to Pentecost.


Last Day of Unleavened Bread, April 30th
Exciting Evidence

Memory Verse: “After his suffering and death, he appeared to them.”  Acts 1:3 (NIrV)

Materials Needed: magnifying glass, cardstock, push pins

What happens if I push a pin through a piece of cardstock? It leaves a hole. Even after I remove the pin, there’s still the evidence that I pushed a pin through the cardstock.

That’s what sin is like. Even once the sin is removed, it leaves the evidence behind that you sinned. If you break the law of gravity, you might end up with a broken leg. That’s the evidence that you broke a law. If you break the speed limit, you may end up with a ticket from the police - or you may end up in the ditch. Either way, you will pay a penalty for breaking the law. If you break one of God’s moral laws, you may think you’re getting away with it. You may tell a lie - and think that nobody knows. You may steal something from a store - and think that nobody will find out. You may covet what belongs to someone else - and since it’s in your heart, you think nobody will know. But God knows and there are consequences for breaking His law: your relationship with Him is damaged.

That’s not a good thing! We want a strong relationship with God. He protects us. He guides us. He provides for us. He strengthens us. He heals us. When we sin against Him, He may allow bad things to happen to us to try to get us to think about what it is we’re doing - to bring us back to Him in repentance.

Why is that? Why does God want us to obey His commandments and laws? They are for our good. Following them makes life work better!

Hopefully you have spent all week eating unleavened bread - another one of God’s commandments. Hopefully you were listening when we talked about how eating unleavened bread is symbolic of taking Jesus and His ways into our lives - instead of following the ways of the world.

Why else is it important to do what God says? Because we want to be like Jesus; we want to live forever in God’s kingdom. See, the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread aren’t just about Jesus’ crucifixion and death; they are also about His life. We celebrate these days because we see the evidence (and believe that evidence) that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. He is alive today and ever lives to make intercession for us. The evidence is as plain as the nose on your face.


Sabbath, May 4th
Share the Story

“So you must go and make disciples of all nations” (NIrV). - Matthew 28:19

Materials needed: matches, clay

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He spent the last three and half years of his life telling people about the Kingdom of God, telling them that He was the Good Shepherd, the Bread of Life, the Light of the world, and that only through Him could they receive Living Water and eternal life.

We just spent a week eating unleavened bread - why? Well, first because God tells us to. Secondly, it reminds us that we need to have Jesus in our lives. You know that phrase, “You are what you eat,” - we need to take Jesus into our lives constantly so that that’s what we show to the people around us. Why would we need to do that? Jesus’ message to the world didn’t end when He died. (We know, for instance, that Jesus spent three years instructing Paul after He was crucified.) He also gave instructions to His disciples (Disciple means learner.) to take the message to all nations. (Tradition says Thomas ended up in India and Andrew in Scotland.)  Why couldn’t they have just stayed in Jerusalem and sent letters out?

Look at what happens with these matches. If I have a match in a ball of clay here and one over there, and I light this one, will the one over there be lit? No. There’s too much distance between them. What happens if I have a whole row of matches in the clay and I light the first match? The flame spreads through the whole row.

Spreading the gospel is very much the same. People are much more impacted by face-to-face interactions. It’s hard to demonstrate the love of Jesus, to be His hands and His feet to them, if you are worlds away.

The converse is also very true! If you don’t take the opportunity to display Christ-like actions in your daily walk, people are not even going to know that you love and serve Jesus Christ. You will have missed the opportunity to spread the gospel. You see,  your actions speak so much louder than your words. Words are cheap. People can say anything. It’s the actions which make a huge impact.  Think about your actions and how they indicate your love for Jesus. It’s important if you count yourself a follower of Jesus Christ.


Sabbath, May 11th
A Happy Homecoming

“Jesus has been given a place of honor at the right hand of God” (NIrV). - Acts 2:33

Materials needed: YEA lesson (YE2D.10), balloon

What do you associate with balloons? A party? A celebration? (Begin blowing up the balloon.)

What are some of the things we might celebrate? A birthday? A retirement? A new baby? A wedding? Maybe, we could celebrate someone coming home? Why would we celebrate someone coming home? In the name there is implied the idea that they were somewhere else, but now they are back where they belong. Let’s apply this to Jesus and His life.

If you were going to describe Jesus’ life, where would you start? Would you start with his birth in Bethlehem? Would you talk about him teaching the teachers of the law in the Temple when He was 12? There’s His baptism by John in the Jordan. Or the temptation by Satan. You could talk about all of the miracles He performed when He started His ministry. Then there’s His message of the coming Kingdom of God. There’s the persecution by the religious leaders. And then His arrest, His crucifixion and death, and His resurrection.

His resurrection? What happened after He was resurrected. Your memory verse says that “Jesus has been given a place of honor at the right hand of God” (Acts 2:33). He’s back where he was before He was born as a baby. John 17:5 gives us Jesus’ prayer to the Father of restoring to Jesus the glory He had with the Father before the world began.

As much as the angels sang (or shouted) for joy when the world was created (Job 38:4) and they sang for joy when Jesus was born (Luke 2:13-14), how do you think they reacted when Jesus was resurrected and sat down at the right hand of the Father? What an incredibly happy homecoming that must have been!

But there’s more to the story. Why is Jesus seated at the right hand of God? What is one of the things He’s doing? Hebrews 7:25 says that Jesus is there to ever make intercession for us. When we sin and then repent, Jesus is our advocate to restore the relationship with the Father. And do you know what the eventual result of this is - what will happen because Jesus is always interceding for us? We will someday be adopted into the family of God - and we’ll get to go home - to the place that Jesus is preparing for us to live eternally with God.
I can imagine the angels singing for joy. But when I think of the excitement and joy of coming home, I think about Pepper. He gets so excited when we come home that he jumps straight up, repeatedly, almost to the top of our five-foot fence.

You know I’m not sure why adults tie the balloons once they are blown up. They are so much more fun to watch as they fly around the room. Most kids get so excited at watching and chasing them! But that’s just a small taste of the joy and celebration we’re going to have some day when we get to be at home with God forever. We’re going to be like Pepper - jumping in excitement. We’re going to be like that balloon - with so much joy we can’t contain it. It will be a happy homecoming.


Sabbath, May 18th
Pharaoh’s Dreams

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” - Psalm 111:10

Materials Needed: Who Am I cards?, YEA lesson (YE24.10)

If I told you some dreams, could you tell me whose dream it was?

I had a dream about a vine that had three branches. The vine budded and grew large bunches of grapes. (Pharaoh’s butler/cupbearer - Genesis 40:9-10)

I had a dream about angels ascending/descending a ladder. (Jacob - Genesis 28:12)

I had a dream warning me not to say anything to Jacob - good or bad. (Laban - Genesis 31:24)

I had a dream about a tree that grew enormously, but then a watcher said to chop it down. (Nebuchadnezzar - Daniel 4:10-14)

I had a dream that the sun, moon, and stars bowed down to me. (Joseph - Genesis 37:9)

I had a dream that my brothers and I were binding sheaves of grain in the field. My sheaf stood upright and all of their sheaves bowed down to mine. (Joseph - Genesis 37:6-7)

I had a dream that there were three cake baskets on my head and the birds were eating out of the baskets. (Pharaoh’s baker - Genesis 40:16-17)

I had a dream that seven fat cows were swallowed up by seven skinny cows. (Pharaoh - Genesis 41:1-4)

What do you think about dreams? Most of the time, our dreams are our mind’s way of processing the events in our lives (past, present, or future). But sometimes dreams are directly from God. Sometimes they are a warning - like Laban’s or Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams. But other times they are so that you will know that the event didn’t just happen. It wasn’t just chance. It was God directly, intimately involved in your life to make something happen. This was the lesson of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream: “that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men . .  .” (Daniel 4:17) because He is the Sovereign Creator!

June
Sabbath, June 1st
Hungry Brothers

"A true friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need." - Proverbs 17:17 (TLB)

I was blessed with a great older brother! He taught me how to ride a bicycle even though my pony tail kept hitting him in the face. He taught me how to skateboard. He taught me how to do spelling when he was completing his homework. He taught me how to do long division. He taught me how to shoot a gun. We built forts and climbed the barn roof. We climbed trees and threw darts. Being three years younger than he was, I was his constant shadow - and pesky little sister when he was with his friends. He had a sense of humor and loved to play jokes on people - nothing mean, just ornery. When I cut my foot, he threw me over his shoulder and carried me back to the house. When I stubbed my toe or skinned my knee, he took me to Mom and then told me I needed to eat more carrots ‘cause there was something wrong with my eyes. As older teens, we had long talks. He walked me down the aisle when Ron and I were married. And he loved playing with Jonathan when Jonathan was 10 months old. He was the best brother! I knew he was always there if I needed him. So I totally understand this proverb.

But what was Joseph’s experience? It was totally different, wasn’t it?! His brothers thought he was arrogant. His brothers were jealous of him because of the coat of many colors. And he brought a bad report about them to their father. To say they didn’t like him would be an understatement - because when they saw him coming, some of them thought, “Let’s kill him!” But, they saw a caravan of traders headed to Egypt, so they sold Joseph as a slave. That very well could have meant his death anyway, but God was with Joseph. So fast forward about 20 years. The brothers and their families are in trouble. There’s a famine. They need food. And now Joseph is in charge. What does he do? Does he get even? Long story short, he gives them the food they need - but he doesn’t tell them who he is. Remember, the last time he saw them, some of them wanted to kill him. We’ll pick up this story next week, but the point of the story is that Joseph was the brother who would save his entire family.

We all share an Older Brother - who will save us all. His name is Jesus Christ. When we enter into the covenant with God, He is our Father through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and are adopted into God’s family; Jesus becomes our Older Brother. He loves us so much that He was willing to die to save each of us. I’m extremely grateful that I had a great older brother because it helps me understand a little bit better just how wonderful that is! A brother, who, like your memory verse says, was born to help in time of need - something we all need!



Sabbath, June 8th
Brotherly Love

“Continue to love each other with true brotherly love.” - Hebrews 13:1 (TLB)

Materials needed: paper, scissors, YEA lesson (YE2G.3) - Cut out a paper chain of hearts while you’re talking with the kids.

Romans 12:10 says something very similar to your memory verse. It says, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”

How do you do that? How do you show brotherly affection, true brotherly love, to a brother who has hated you so much he wanted to kill you or actually sold you into slavery? Joseph gives us a clue. He didn’t put himself into a position where they could hurt him again, but he did save them from going hungry. He sold them food. Joseph didn’t have to do that. He was in charge of all the available food. His brothers didn’t know who he was. But we also know that Joseph feared God and tried to live his life in a way that would honor God. So he gave his brothers food. The story will pick up again next week, but here’s the lesson for this week: You have an opportunity every day to “Continue to love each other with true brotherly love.” As Joseph shows us, it doesn’t matter what that person has done to you, you answer to God. He expects you to show brotherly affection - not as one of my children read one day - brotherly affliction.

We humans are often tempted to show brotherly affliction - to get even with people for the things they’ve done to us. That’s not what God wants us to do. Rather, bit by bit, choice by choice, day by day, you keep your mind fixed on what would please God. That person is your brother and God wants you to love him.

And then (unfolding the paper chain), choice by choice, bit by bit, day by day, you will have built a habit of love, pleasing to God which glorifies Him. So “Continue to love each other with true brotherly love.” - Hebrews 13:1 (TLB)

Sabbath, June 15th: A Harvest Countdown

“ . . .The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field" (Luke 10:2).

Materials needed: drawing paper, markers

Do you know what day of the count it is? Did you know that we’ve been counting? 🤷‍♀️ Do you know why we have been counting? What are we counting to? How much longer will be count? Let’s put a big “50” in the middle of our paper. Did you know that this is the only holy day that isn’t set. Passover is the fourteenth day of the first month. Atonement is the 10th day of the seventh month. Pentecost is the only holy day that is determined by counting. So write “Count” or “counting” on your paper.

What is tomorrow? Is it Pentecost? Oh, I thought it was the Feast of Weeks. Or was it the Feast of Harvest? Did you know that this one holy day has three names? Choose one of the names and write it on your paper. I’m going to use a different color marker than I used for the 50 - and I’m going to write it perpendicular.

What do you associate with Pentecost? Two loaves? The giving of the Holy Spirit? The birthday of the Church? Why would we call it the birthday of the Church? Do you think someone will make cake to celebrate? Choose another color and write “Holy Spirit” or “two loaves” on your paper.

Why would God pour out His Spirit on the Church? What would people need the Holy Spirit for? Who can recite their memory verse? “ . . .The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field" (Luke 10:2). What kind of harvest are we talking about here? Are we talking about all of us becoming farmers and harvesting grain? No, while there’s nothing wrong with being a farmer, Jesus is really talking about spreading the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the people around us. So on your paper, write “harvest.” Then choose either “preaching,” “witnessing,” “sharing Jesus Christ,” etc. on  your paper.

What is your favorite part of Pentecost? Do you like potluck? Praising God? Seeing lots of people? On your paper write a word to express your favorite part of Pentecost. I’m going to write “Thankful to God for His gifts.”

Now you have a snapshot to help you remember what tomorrow is all about. But we’ll talk more about that tomorrow.


Pentecost, June 16th: What Are You Harvesting?

“ . . .The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field" (Luke 10:2).

Materials needed: square sheets of paper

Let’s talk about a harvest. What does the word mean? It means that you start with something and it becomes something bigger, better, or more. For instance, if you start with soil, water, and a seed, you hope that God will indeed give the increase and you’ll have a mound of tomatoes or cucumbers or whatever. Or if you have a flock of sheep, you hope that your ewes will be fruitful and give you a lamb each year.  Or if you invest money in a business, you hope that the business will be successful and you will get more money back than what you put in.

But what does a harvest of people look like? Are we talking about lots of little babies? In this particular context, Jesus is talking about God calling people to follow Him. So if God does the calling, which He does, then what do the workers do?

Romans 10:13-15 says: For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

God has decided to work through people - you and me - to share the gospel to those that He is calling to Himself. That’s a pretty amazing responsibility. But so is the reward. Daniel 12:3 says, “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

Do you want to shine like the stars forever and ever? On this day of Pentecost, this Feast of Harvest, this Feast of Weeks, I hope you are reminded that God gave His Holy Spirit to us so that we would be empowered to spread the good news of the Kingdom of God. I encourage you to let God mold you, through His Spirit, into a useful vessel for His glory. I want your feet to be beautiful.

Sabbath, June 22nd
Discoveries

Memory Verse: “God, you know how foolish I've been. My guilt is not hidden from you." - Psalm 69:5 (NIrV)

Materials: invisible ink, name, revealed by the light (From teacher’s edition YE2G.4)

What is your favorite hiding place? On top of the refrigerator (‘cause no one ever looks up!), where the pillows go on your parents’ bed (just remove the pillows first), or in the secret passageway between bedrooms (always wanted one of those!). Those might be your favorite, but your mom has the absolute best hiding place; it’s the “safe place” she puts things so she can find them again. Once things go into that safe place, they are never seen again. They have no chance of being lost because you will never find them. It’s a great hiding place. You think I’m kidding.  Ask your mom (or your grandma) if that isn’t the best hiding place ever.

We humans are strange. We think we can hide things from God. It started way back in the Garden of Eden. Did Adam and Eve really think they could hide where God couldn’t find them? What about Jonah? Did he think he could run so far that God couldn’t find him? So we think God can’t find us when we do something we shouldn’t.

Sometimes we think that God can’t see us, doesn’t see us, when we’re going through a difficult time. What do you think? Do you think Joseph thought God had forgotten him while he was languishing in prison for years? What about Jeremiah when the Jewish leaders threw him into a cistern and he sunk up to his armpits in the mud? Do you think he thought God had forgotten about him? What about Noah when it rained for 40 days and 40 nights - but the ark floated for months? Do you think he thought God had forgotten about him? Genesis 8:1 says that God remembered Noah and all the beasts and livestock that were with him on the ark. God says in Hebrews 13:5 that He will never leave us or forsake us. Psalm 139:7-10 says, “Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

Do you find that comforting? God hasn’t forgotten you. You aren’t so far from Him that He can’t help you. But, if you are sinning, there’s also nothing that you can hide from Him. He knows.

God knew What Joseph’s brothers had done. God also knew that Joseph was hiding his identity from his brothers. As Luke 8:17 says, “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.” All will be revealed.

[Show the name in lemon juice revealed by the heat of the candle. It’s the fire/light of God shining on your life that will reveal everything.]


Sabbath, June 29th
All In the Family

"Anyone who loves God must also love his brothers and sisters." - 1 John 4:21 (NIrV)

Materials: Dry erase board, marker, YEA lesson YE2G.5

Lewis Carroll invented a game in 1877 called Word Ladder or Doublets. Here’s how it works. You start with a word. Changing one letter at a time you change to a new word. For example, I might want to change the word POOR into the word RICH. Changing one letter at a time, it goes like this: POOR - CROP - CHOP - CHIP - RICH

You are allowed to change the letter order, but you can’t change more than one letter at  a time.

FOOL becomes WISE like this: FOOL - FOIL - FILE - WILE - WISE

SICK becomes WELL like this: SICK - SILK - SILL - SELL - WELL

HEAD becomes TAIL like this: HEAD - HEAL - TEAL - TELL - TALL - TAIL

HATE becomes LOVE like this: HATE - RATE - RAVE - ROVE - LOVE

It may be a little tricky to figure out the word ladder, but it’s a whole lot trickier to make it happen in real life. How do you change HATE into LOVE?

We’ve been talking for the past several weeks about Joseph. How do you think Joseph felt about his brothers? After all, they had sold him into slavery. Instead of getting revenge on them when he had the opportunity, Joseph revealed who he was and provided a place for all 70 of his family members and provided food for them to keep them from starving in the famine. Joseph showed love to his family in very concrete ways! How was he able to do that? Why do you think he didn’t hate his brothers? I suspect it had to do with his relationship with God. Here’s where your memory verse comes in. "Anyone who loves God must also love his brothers and sisters." - 1 John 4:21 (NIrV)

Someone who truly loves God will also love his family. And although 1 John 4:21 is talking about your spiritual family, there’s still an application to your physical family. It doesn’t mean you always get along. It doesn’t mean that you like what they are doing. It does mean that you will love them, to the best of your ability, as God loves them. And if you’re having trouble doing that, ask God to help you. He can give you the compassion and love you need. After all, God shows compassion and love to each one of us. We certainly have an example to emulate!

Sabbath, July 6th
Going Places

"The Lord will watch over your life no matter where you go, both now and forevermore.” - Psalm 121:8 (NIrV)

Materials Needed: coin purse, eye glasses holder, helmet, belt, padlock, medicine bottle, etc.

[Show each item to the children. Ask them what they all have in common.] Each of these things keeps something safe. The coin purse keeps you from losing your coins. Your eyes glass holder keeps you from scratching your lenses. The medicine bottle has a safety lid to keep young children out of the bottle. Each one of these things keeps you safe. But are any of them foolproof? Can you still lose a coin? Can you still scratch your glasses? Can you still hurt your head in a crash? Yes.

Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”

So when Joseph wanted his whole family to come to Egypt, to keep them safe from the famine, what do you think Jacob was thinking? He knew God had promised them the land. He might have wondered if they were walking out of God’s will if they went to Egypt. But knowing that there were still more years of famine ahead might have been a strong motivator. He undoubtedly was very eager to see the son he had thought was long dead.

Then God did something amazing. As Jacob was on the way to Egypt with the whole family and all of their possessions, God spoke to him. Genesis 46:3-4 tells us, “Then he said, 'I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes'” (Gen. 46:3–4).

This is an amazing thing! When you have a choice to make, how much would it mean to you if God appeared to you in a dream, told you where to go and then told you that He would be with you?! It would mean a lot. We trust God to lead us, to provide for us, to keep us safe, and to teach us His ways. Why does He do these things for us? Because we love Him and we demonstrate that love for Him through our obedience to His laws. Why in the world would we want to be disobedient and miss out on the blessings of God? It’s something to think about next time you have to choose whether to honor Him and obey Him - or not.

Sabbath, July 13th
Like a Good Soldier
"Like a good soldier of Christ Jesus, share in the hard times with us." - 2 Timothy 2:3 (NIrV)

Materials needed: A jar of pickles, a knife, a can opener, YE2G.7 lesson

We’ve talked a lot about Joseph and his brothers, about moving to Egypt because of the famine. But what happened next? What was the next event in the story? The Israelites were taken care of. They settled in the land of Goshen. Things were going well, right? Prosperity and security. But then, a Pharaoh came to power who didn’t know Joseph. (Exodus 1:8) How did that happen?! Joseph was renowned throughout Egypt. How in the world? Well, time has a way of erasing memory. . . and God had told Abraham in Genesis 15:13, "Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.” As powerful and important as Joseph was, it wasn’t enough to last forever. And eventually, the people exchanged their freedoms for security from the state. And then, the country of Egypt decided these foreigners were a potential risk, because no matter how much they were oppressed, God blessed them and they multiplied. Eventually, Pharaoh decided to murder the baby boys of the enslaved people.

This was bad. Pharaoh told the midwives to let the baby girls live. But if it was a baby boy, the midwives were commanded to kill them as they were born. But Exodus 1:17 records that the midwives feared God and did not do as Pharaoh commanded. Exodus doesn’t tell us all the details. But can you imagine coming before the Pharaoh and having to come up with some explanation as to why there are baby boys all over the land of Goshen? The midwives had decided to obey God over obedience to the ungodly commands of the king.

That brings us to our memory verse today: "Like a good soldier of Christ Jesus, share in the hard times with us." - 2 Timothy 2:3 (NIrV)

We’re fighting a battle - every day - against the ungodly society around us. They say that it’s okay if boys decide that they are girls - or if they decide they are cats. The ungodly society says that marriage doesn’t have to be one man and one woman for life. The ungodly society says that lying is ok, if it’s for the good of the people. The ungodly society says that all of God’s laws are harsh rules that we have evolved past; we don’t need them any more. We just need to do what feels good to us. And if you happen to disagree with their view, then you are persecuted and, in some cases, prosecuted.

I propose that we stand, like the midwives of Egypt, for what is right because we fear God more than we fear the state. And we may not be able to do much, but we do what we can. And what we can do together is more than what we can do as just an individual.

I have a jar of pickles. Would you open it? It’s pretty tough, isn’t it? What if we work on it together? You hold the jar and you turn the lid. Working together we can accomplish more than we can alone. That’s what 2 Timothy 2:3 is saying. But it’s more than working together - it’s knowing whose army you are in, who you are fighting for, and then standing for what is Godly, regardless of the persecution that you may experience.

The Israelites in Egypt were in trouble. And the weird thing about being in slavery, you can’t really free yourself. You’re stuck. What was their only recourse - the only thing they could do?  They cried out to God for help (Exodus 2:23-25). It wasn’t just one person, or ten people. It was the entire nation of Israel crying out to God.

In a similar way, we do what we can to live Godly lives, but we know that our only hope is the return of Jesus Christ. And so we need to be fervently praying, individually and collectively, “Thy Kingdom come.”

Sabbath, July 20th
Baby In a Basket

"You are my hiding place. You will keep me safe from trouble.” - Psalm 32:7 (NIrV)

Materials Needed: basket, stuffed lion, rainbow, fire, “As for me and my house” plaque

If I showed you a basket, what Bible character would that make you think of? (Jochebed? Moses? Paul? The spies of Jericho?) If I showed you a stuffed lion, what Bible character would that make you think of? (Daniel? saints of God? Samson?) What if I showed you a rainbow? What Bible character would that bring to mind? (Noah? Shem, Ham and Japheth?) What if I showed you fire? Who would you think of then? (Hananiah, Azariah, and Meshael?) What about the statement “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” - what Bible character comes to mind then?

Do you know what all of these Bible characters had in common? They all trusted God. Think about it! Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land. At the end of his life, he warned the people that they have to quit waffling back and forth between paganism and serving God. But Joshua and his house trusted God and served Him! (Joshua 24:15) Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego (otherwise known as Hannah,  Azariah, and Meshael) were going to be thrown into the fiery furnace if they didn’t worship Nebuchadnezzar’s golden idol. I love what they told him! “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king, But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18). They trusted God even if it meant they died! Noah trusted God enough to build a boat, working on it for 100 years, in spite of the ridicule of his neighbors. Even after the flood, I would imagine he had to trust God every time it started to rain. Daniel trusted God enough to refuse to bow to the evil decree specifically designed to entrap him. He just quietly, steadfastly continued to pray to God, trusting God for the outcome. (Daniel 6:22) Jochedbed also trusted God! Here’s a tiny baby that you love very much. She put him in a basket in the Nile! What do you think the normal expectation would have been?! But she trusted God with her tiny baby boy! (Exodus 2:3)

Jesus said that we would have trouble in this world (John 16:33). How we respond to the trouble says a lot about the kind of trust we have in God. And our trust, faith, belief is vitally important. Without faith it is impossible to please God! What kind of faith do we need? We must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

Does that mean that God will eliminate trouble from our lives? No! It does mean that He is with us and He determines the outcome. In fact, some people may experience trouble their entire lives, but this life isn’t the end of the story. This is just temporary; we’re looking for God’s kingdom where there is no more pain or sorrow or death. We have a great cloud of witnesses who encourage us to keep fighting the good fight. Trust God who is your hiding place.

Sabbath, July 27th
A Burning Bush

"My people, listen to my teaching. Pay attention to what I say" - Psalm 78:1 (NIrV).

Materials: box of markers, unusual tool

[Display tool to the children.] Have you ever seen a tool like this? Have any idea what it might do? Have any idea how to make it work? Have any idea if it might be dangerous? What is always the best choice when using a new tool? Yes! Read the owner’s instruction manual first! Do you know anyone who just starts using a new tool without reading the owner’s manual? Sometimes that works out ok, especially if you have some experience with a similar tool. But sometimes using a completely unfamiliar tool can result in you getting really hurt. And then there are people who know how to use the tool safely, but they choose to not operate it in a safe manner.

Having an owner’s manual is like having the Bible; it teaches you the way that life will work the best. After all, the Bible was inspired by the One who created us; you would totally expect Him to know hour our “operating system” functions most effectively!

But some people complain about all the “Thou shalt not’s” found in God’s commandments. So let’s talk about that for a moment. I have a box of markers. I tell you to choose one, but I say, “Thou shalt not choose a brown marker.” What does that mean? It means you can choose any other color. When God expresses the commandment in the negative, He’s giving you a commandment in the least restrictive form: You can’t do this, but everything else is ok. So putting other gods before the One true God, worshipping idols, taking God’s name in vain, murdering, committing adultery, stealing, lying, coveting - those are the things you cannot do. Wow! There’s a whole world of things left that you can do. And the two things that God puts in the positive form are very important to our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being: Keep the Sabbath and Honor your Parents.

So why do we have such a hard time being obedient to God? Do you remember when Moses was in the wilderness, shepherding sheep? Do you remember what he saw that he couldn’t believe - he had to get a closer look? It was a bush that was burning - but the amazing thing was that it wasn’t burned up. How would that happen? It was God.

When Moses walked up to the Burning Bush and God told him to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground, we learn something else. Moses needed to learn how to treat God as holy. The apostle Paul tells us (Romans 7:12) that the law is holy and righteous and good. I suspect that God is working with us - trying to teach us how to treat His law as holy. Why is it so important? 1) Because the law is a reflection of the character of God. When we keep the law, we are glorifying God in our actions and 2) because keeping the law is for our good. We enjoy life a whole lot more when we are obedient to God’s law.

So what does God need to do to get your attention - so that you will treat His law as holy? I suspect it’s not going to be a burning bush.


Sabbath, August 3rd
Let My People Go

"The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, Let my people go.” - Exodus 5:1 (NIrV)

Materials Needed: dry erase board, markers, YE2G.10 lesson

Have you ever played “Simon Says”? Simon says - stand up. Simon says - jump on one foot. Simon says - wave at your brother. Wave at your mom. Oops. Gotcha.

I never liked playing Simon Says. It’s a stupid game: kids are trying to be obedient and cooperative - and the person in charge is trying their hardest to trick everyone into failing. At least that’s how it always felt to me. I know that some would say that it’s an exercise in listening - and it’s important to listen carefully. Still!

Parents are always telling us to do things. Clean your room. Put your toys away. Take a shower. Go outside. Don’t be so loud. Wash your hands. I would imagine you can think of a few more. Which one is your favorite? Go read for an hour? Which one is your least favorite? Go pull weeds in the garden for an hour?

Why do your parents tell you to do things? Are they trying to ruin all your fun? Is it just a real-life version of “Simon Says”? No. Parents are not interested in aggravating you or trying to trick you into failing. Most of the time, the things they tell you to do are for your good. They’re trying to keep you safe or teach you how to live in this world with the least amount of pain.

How does this relate to our relationship with God? God has a lot of commands - things that He tells us to do too. And, like our parents, He tells us these things for our good. Can you name some of His commandments? Every one of them is for our good. So why is it that we don’t always obey?

Pharaoh didn’t obey for several reasons. 1) He didn’t believe in God. That’s the root of the whole problem. If he had believed that God is the only God, Pharaoh’s belief would have translated into obedience. 2) Obedience was going to cost him something. Pharaoh’s economy and building projects relied heavily on the slave labor. He wasn’t willing to let that go easily. 3) He didn’t want to submit his will to God’s will. Why? Because 4) Pharaoh didn’t have a relationship with God.

What about us? Let’s apply Pharaoh’s reasons to our obedience to our parents. 1) We do believe that they are our parents. They have the right to tell us what to do. Check. 2) Obedience costs us something - we have to stop what we’re doing or do something we don’t necessarily want to do. Uh oh. 3) We don’t like to submit our will to our parents. Oops. 4) But we don’t like being in conflict with our parents. The relationship is important to us. So we tend to obey - even if it’s not exactly something we want to do.

What about our obedience to God? First, if we truly believe that God is God, then our belief will translate into obedience. Do we believe that He has the authority and right to tell us what to do? Secondly, are we willing to surrender whatever it will cost us in order to obey? Third, are we willing to submit our will to God’s will? It all comes down to relationship. Do we have a relationship with Him that we want to preserve?

It’s all about relationship. We like God’s protection and provision. We like His promises. We see how God’s way makes life work well. And because of our relationship with Him, God even helps us make the right choices - the leading of the Holy Spirit. But we have to want to obey. Do you want to obey?


Sabbath, August 10th
Scratch and Sniff
 "Blessed is the one who always has respect for the Lord. But anyone who is stubborn gets into trouble.” - Proverbs 28:14 (NIrV)

Materials Needed: rod, water, frogs, dust, fly swatter, YEA lesson YE2H.1

I have a fly swatter, a bottle of water, some origami frogs, some dust, and a rod. What do these have to do with your Sabbath school lesson today? Do they have anything to do with Moses and Pharaoh and Egypt? When Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh to tell him that the LORD said to “Let my people go,” what was Pharaoh’s response? No!! God had sent Moses with the knowledge that God would perform miracles to make it quite plain that He was God and that Pharaoh would do what God wanted. Putting them in order:

Moses’ staff (also called the Rod of God) turned into a snake. Not one of the plagues, but a definite sign. Pharaoh’s magicians could also turn their staffs into snakes, but Moses’ snake ate theirs! and then turned back into a staff.

The water turned to blood - in the Nile, in the ditches, in the containers. Everywhere there was water, it turned to blood. Yuck!

Then there were frogs - everywhere. In the houses, under foot, even in their kneading troughs!! And, the magicians could duplicate this one as well. But why in the world would you want more frogs! Yuck! But then when God relented when Pharaoh promised to let the Israelites go. God killed the frogs; there were heaping, stinking piles of dead frogs everywhere! Yuck!

Then there were gnats or lice - depending on  your Bible translation. Oh my! Yikes! Flying, biting bugs. The magicians couldn’t duplicate this plague. But it still didn’t matter to Pharaoh.

The fourth plague was the plague of flies - pesky, irritating flies. In Australia, the blow flies get so bad in the springtime that many sheep ranchers will schedule the lambing season in the end of winter so that the lambs can grow some. Otherwise the flies will get into the nostrils of the lambs and the lambs suffocate. If it’s this bad normally, think of how bad it would have been in Egypt when there are flies everywhere - well, everywhere but in the land of Goshen where God’s people lived. God made a distinction so that Pharaoh would know that all of these plagues were done by God; they weren’t just time and chance or “bad luck.”

Your memory verse says: "Blessed is the one who always has respect for the Lord. But anyone who is stubborn gets into trouble.” - Proverbs 28:14 (NIrV)

So what do you think you would do if God asked you to do something? What if He asked you to go to church every Sabbath? Would you obey joyfully? What if He asked you to always tell the truth? What if He asked you to show love to someone who didn’t treat you well? How willing are you to be obedient to everything that God commands? I suspect that, even as we are very quick to criticize Pharaoh for his attitude towards God’s will, we might find ourselves guilty of the same thing. It’s something to think about. . . and we’ll continue talking about this next week.

Sabbath, August 17th
More Troubles

"Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods.” - Exodus 18:11 (NIrV)

Materials: Memory Cards, Plagues activity sheets (https://donutsanddevos.com/the-plagues-of-egypt-printable-kids-resources-ep-054/), YEA lesson YE2H.2

If you remember, last week we talked about the first four of the ten plagues that God sent on Egypt when Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go. Each time the plague came, Pharaoh said he’d let the people go. When the plague was over, Pharaoh reneged. It was a hardening of his heart. [The Bible says that Pharaoh hardened his heart (Exodus 7:13; 7:14; 7:22; Exodus 8:15; Exodus 8:19; Exodus 8:32; Exodus 9:7; Exodus 9:34; Exodus 9:35; Exodus 13:15; it also says that God hardened his heart (Exodus 7:3; 9:12; 10:1; 10:20; 10:27)]

Can you put the plagues in order? 1) water to blood, 2) frogs, 3) gnats/lice, 4) flies. Then what happened? Plague five was on the Egyptian livestock. Exodus 9:6 says that all the Egyptian livestock died. What happened to the Israelite livestock? Not one died. Then plague six was a plague of boils on man and beast. The boils were so bad on the Egyptians that the magicians couldn’t even stand before Pharaoh.

Next plague seven was a plague of hail - hail so big that anything out in the field would be killed. We have had some big hail, but to have hail that would kill a person!?! That’s pretty scary. There’s an interesting piece of the story here: Pharaoh called for Moses during the hail storm. That means somebody had to go get him. He walked into Pharaoh’s throne room - through the horrific hail and lightning storm. Then when Pharaoh relented and said the people could go, Moses told him the hail would stop when he got to the edge of the city. People would have been watching Moses walk - unharmed - through the hail storm! Anything else that was outside was killed. The trees were all broken down. The crops were beaten flat. But Moses was unharmed. But Pharaoh changed his mind again.

Plague eight was a plague of locust - a plague so large that there was not left one green leaf anywhere in Egypt. Now this is interesting. First we have a plague on livestock. All the Egyptian livestock died. They must have gotten some new livestock from the Israelites, just in time for them to break out in boils. Then any animal they left in the field would have been killed by the hail. And any plants that were still left after the hail would have been completely wiped out by the locusts. The Egyptians were getting an undeniable education that God is the Only God!

If this were not bad enough, the ninth plague was three days of darkness. The darkness was so dark it could be felt. Have you ever been deep inside a cave where there is absolutely no light? It can be incredibly scary. It’s a dangerous world we live in; we need our sight!!

Remember that every one of these plagues demonstrated that the Egyptian gods were not truly gods. Any false god is completely unable to save - and the Egyptian gods were no exception. Our God, on the other hand, is mighty and powerful, and He’s also completely good and loving. But don’t think that because God is good and loving that you will escape His judgment and punishment if you decide to rebel against Him like Pharaoh did. When God tells you to do something, you’d better obey.

Sabbath, August 24th
Remember This Night
"Always remember this day. .. It is a law that will last forever.” - Exodus 12:14 (NIrV)

Materials Needed: string, plague chart, YE2H.3 lesson (YEA/CEM)

Why might I tie a string around your finger? It’s supposed to help you remember something. Do you think it would work? Why or why not?  What might be a better way to help you remember something? When Ron was taking the steering column apart, he took a picture to help him remember how to put it all back together. When I have things that have to be done, I write them down so I don’t forget. Sometimes people pin notes to their clothes. Sometimes they put their car keys with something important - and sometimes that doesn’t work either. We are so good at forgetting what it is we want to remember. Case in point: How many times have I said to myself, “I’m going to put this some place safe” and then promptly forget where I put it. Oh, it’s safe - but I have no idea where . .  .

God knows that we forget. So He gives us the Holy Days to help us remember. And that’s what your lesson was about today: the death of the firstborn in Egypt. So what is it that we’re supposed to remember that this event teaches us?

• We are slaves to sin - unable to free ourselves from bondage.
• God is the only One who can rescue us.
• God rescues us at very great cost: the death of his Son. The blood on the doorpost was a sign to the Death Angel to pass over that house, protecting the inhabitants.
• The unleavened bread reminds us that they left Egypt in a hurry.  We aren’t gradually rescued from slavery to sin; God does it when we ask.
• The unleavened bread also reminds us that we can’t continue our former way of life. We need to take Jesus and His ways completely into our lives. We learn a completely new way to live.

But the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread are not the only reminders that God gives us. You are living one right now, today. What is it? It’s the Sabbath. What does the Sabbath reminds us?

• God is Creator of everything. (Exodus 20:11, NIV: For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.)

• God is our Redeemer. (Deuteronomy 5:15, NIV: Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.)

• There is a future coming when we will have complete rest - rest from our carnal nature, rest from pain and death and sin and sorrow (Hebrews 4:9: There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.)

The Sabbath is a weekly reminder of what God has prepared for us. Why do you think we need a reminder every week? Is it because we’re so good at forgetting? Is it because we need the encouragement every single week because of the trouble and evil around us? I don’t know, but I do know that the weekly Sabbath is a much better reminder than tying a string around my finger.

Sabbath, August 31st
God’s Guides
"I will guide you and teach you the way you should go.” - Psalm 32:8 (NIrV)

Materials: YE2H.4 (YEA curriculum from CEM)

What would you do if I told you to move from right here to the other end of the room? Would you go directly there? Would you run? Would you dance? Would you stop by the table for a cookie? There are so many options if I tell you to go from here to there.

But this is just a small room in comparison to life. What if God said, “Just do it. Just live.” And He didn’t give us any directions. Without any guidelines, we almost certainly would do it wrong. Wrong?! What do I mean wrong? Well, there are rules for living life. There are people who think that there aren’t any rules - that Christians just make up rules to ruin everyone’s fun. But let’s think about this for a minute.

Do you have any rules in your house? Name one. Put the cap back on the toothpaste. Don’t leave the front door wide open. Close the shower curtain while you’re taking a shower. Do your homework. Why are you directed to do all of those things? Because they make life work better. Leaving the cap off the toothpaste causes it to dry out - and brushing your teeth is important to keeping them healthy. Leaving the front door open means that you make either the a/c or the furnace work harder to get the inside temperature to where you’re comfortable. You close the shower curtain so that water doesn’t get all over the floor. Otherwise you could slip and fall and break something! Or the water could get into the floorboard and start rotting it out. That’s never a good thing! And why do you have to do your homework? It’s not because your mom doesn’t have anything else better to do than grade your homework!! Believe me!! It’s so that you will learn what you need to know. The rules of the house are to help you grow up with wisdom so that life works better for you.

And that’s why God gives His laws too! God’s laws give us direction in which way to go.

It was very interesting when they first came out of Egypt, though. How did God lead them? He led them with a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. He was literally right there with them all the time in a very visual way! Do you ever wish God was with you all the time? Well, guess what: God may not be a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire with you, but is with you. He has promised to never leave you or forsake those who love Him and follow His ways.  You just need to seek Him to find out how He wants you to cross this “room” called Life. A good place to start is by reading your Bible - and then doing what God says to do in it.

September

Sabbath, September 7th
God's Rescue

"Don't be afraid. Stand firm. You will see how the Lord will save you today." - Exodus 14:13 (NIrV)

Materials needed: YE2H.5 lesson (CEM’s YEA books)

When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, the economy of Egypt was in shambles! Their grain crop was gone; their herds and flocks were gone; their firstborn children were dead. God had done everything He told Pharaoh He would do. So why in the world Pharaoh would decide to chase after the Israelites and recapture them is almost beyond comprehension - although, of course, he was watching his labor force walking away and God hardened his heart.

So the Israelites found themselves, just days out of Egypt, caught between Pharaoh’s army rapidly approaching on one side and the Red Sea on the other. Incidentally, those folks who think the water was only 2 foot deep - aka the Sea of Reeds - are unbelievable! They would certainly have waded through water of that depth of avoid Pharaoh’s army. In fact, the water that they faced likely looked similar to one of our Great Lakes - wave action and deep. The Israelites knew they were in trouble.

But what did Moses tell them? (Here’s your memory verse!) Moses, at God’s direction, stretched out his rod over the Red Sea. A strong east wind blew all night, piling up the water into walls and drying out the sea bed so the Israelites could walk across on dry ground. Once the Israelites were across, the pillar of fire moved so Pharaoh’s army could move into the Red Sea which crashed back over the top of them and drowned them all. Not one of them remained (Exodus 14:28).

But God doesn’t do things like today, does He? I want to tell you three quick stories:

When I was little, we lived in Casper, WY - you know, where it snows in October and mostly stays on the ground until late April. The main streets get enough traffic and treatment that you’ll see the payment at times, but the side streets stay pretty snow-covered. Mom would put chains on the tires when the roads got bad and, because it’s a pain to take them off again, she would drive to work on the side streets. One day she was hurrying to work and came to an intersection. A pickup was coming crosswise towards her - sliding. Mom could see there was no way he could stop and she was already in the intersection; there was going to be a collision. She said a quick prayer and closed her eyes, anticipating the impact. When she opened her eyes, they were both through the intersection with no impact. Mom is convinced that God worked that miracle. But a skeptic might say that she just hadn’t accurately assessed the situation.

The second story comes from when I was a senior in high school working at a steak house across town. I was driving home late after closing one night - it was probably close to midnight. Close to our house, I had to cross two sets of railroad tracks. I would drive over the first one, curve to the left, and drive over the second one. I was driving along, singing out loud, thinking about the calculus assignment I still needed to complete. I crossed over the first set of railroad tracks, made the curve and started over the second set. Something caught my eye in the rearview mirror. It was a train!! And then I realized that I had been hearing the train whistle blowing furiously. I have no idea how I wasn’t flattened by that train. Where it was and the speed it was traveling, I surely must have just missed impact crossing that first set of tracks! But someone might say that I was just mistaken.

Several years ago, Mom and Dad were driving up the Blue Ridge Parkway. They stopped to do some sightseeing at a waterfall. As they were climbing the steps up the steep path, they heard someone calling for help. Dad raced on ahead. Mom continued after him as quickly as she could. She lost her balance. She was falling backward with no hope of catching her balance to keep from falling. She said it was as if two hands caught her and set her back up on her feet. There was no way she did that.

Does God always protect you when you’re driving too fast on snowy streets? Does He always protect  you from getting smashed by a train when you’re not paying attention? Does He always catch you and put you back on your feet? No. There are times when bad things happen to God’s people. But there are also times when God rescues us - because He loves us and because He gets the glory. Don’t take your relationship with God lightly! He can do great things to rescue you in this world.