Mark
(**denotes very visual devotion)
Mark 2:9 - Healing
**Mark 2:9 - A Hole in the Roof (YEA lesson)
Mark 2:27 - The Sabbath (Holy Day Lesson - The Sabbath)
**Mark 2:27 - A Very Special Day (Holy Day Lesson - The Sabbath)
**Mark 4:11 - Growing Pains (YEA lesson)
**Mark 4:24 - Pay Attention to What You Hear
Mark 4:40 - When You're Afraid
**Mark 5:36b - A Father's Faith (YEA lesson)
**Mark 6:31 - The Golden Rule (YEA lesson)
Mark 7:8 - Our Rules or God's?
**Mark 9:24 - Floating Paperclips - Trusting God
**Mark 10:14 - Bring Them To Me
**Mark 10:52 - Believing is Seeing (YEA lesson)
***Mark 11:17 - Come to God's House
Mark 13:36 - While You Were Sleeping
Mark 13:26 - Praise God Anyway
***Mark 14:13 - God's Got It Sorted
**Mark 16:15 - Proclaim the Gospel
Healing
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Rise, take up your bed and walk”? Mark 2:9
How great is our God? When you think of the amazing things that He can do, what comes to mind? What kind of power does He have?
One day when Jesus was at home in Capernaum, he was teaching. There were so many people listening to him that the house was crowded full. Four men wanted to bring a paralytic to Jesus to heal, but they couldn't get close to Him because of the number of people gathered around Jesus. So they hoisted the paralytic up onto the roof. They dug through the roof and lowered the paralytic on his mat right in front of Jesus.
Now, Mark is known for his brevity. He doesn’t give us lots of details. But can you imagine what this would have been like? Perhaps the roof was a thatch roof with branches, straw, reed, or palm leaves. It could possibly been a roof with branches covered with sod. It could have had rough shingles. Either way, it would have been full of leaves, dirt, insects, perhaps a mouse or two. These four men are digging through this roof to make an opening large enough to lower the paralytic through on his mat. Can you imagine the debris (leaves, dirt, insects) falling on the people in the home? I can imagine they weren’t feeling too charitable towards these guys. And I imagine the owner wasn’t either!
But Jesus’ reaction is so different. He doesn’t rebuke them for disturbing his teaching. He doesn’t chide them for messing up the house. He doesn’t seem upset at them at all. In fact, He sees their faith. What faith? They have to have really believed that Jesus could heal their friend. If you only think Jesus can do it, you don’t go to all the work to hoist a friend up on a roof, dig through the roof, and lower him in front of Jesus. If you think there’s a good possibility that maybe Jesus can do something, you might wait for Jesus to come out of the house; He’s got to come out some time!! But, these men truly believed that Jesus could heal him. And they cared enough about their friend to want it to happen now. Jesus saw their faith . . . so He healed their friend. Right? Well, not immediately.
Jesus told the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Can you imagine the reaction of the four friends? They might have been thinking, “Wait a minute! That’s not what we came for. We wanted him to walk.” The reaction of the scribes was very negative! They thought in their hearts that Jesus was blaspheming because only God can forgive sins. If Jesus is forgiving this man’s sins, then Jesus is claiming to be God. The scribes were not happy with Jesus’ statement. And Jesus knew it. So He said to the paralytic: Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Rise, take up your bed and walk”? Mark 2:9
Think about this for a minute. Which is easier to say: your sins are forgiven or take up your bed and walk? We may be thinking that it’s a whole lot easier to forgive someone of their sins. You just say, “O.K. I forgive you” and you’re done. But you actually have to change something, to heal something, to fix something in order for the paralytic to walk again. But Jesus simply said, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’?”
It causes us to stop and think, doesn’t it? What is involved in forgiving sins? It’s more than just saying the words, isn’t it? Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. That’s a lot more than just saying words. The forgiveness of sins requires a blood sacrifice, specifically, Jesus’ blood sacrifice on our behalf. Yet, Isaiah 53:5 says that by Jesus stripes, the suffering He endured as He was being crucified, we are healed. Our physical healing and our spiritual healing is possible because of our Messiah’s death and resurrection.
Jesus also made it quite plain, to anyone who heard Him that day, that He had the authority to forgive sin. He was, in fact, telling them all that He was, and is, God - God, the Son and the Son of God.
The paralytic was healed that day. Jesus told him to pick up his bed and go home. The crowd was amazed, saying that they’d never seen anything like it. They were amazed the man was walking. Did they miss the significance of what Jesus had said? Did they not realize that he’d forgiven the man’s sins - that he was clean before God? Maybe not - because, after all, we can’t really see anything when a person’s sins are forgiven.
At any rate, I’m so very glad those four men had the faith to dig through the roof. I’m glad this event is recorded for us to read and to consider. Think about it: what if Jesus had healed the man so he could walk and yet he carried his sin debt. He would have died, eventually. But if Jesus had forgiven his sins and left him a paralytic, he would have been assured of eternal life in God’s kingdom. Which do you think is more important to God? It’s a poignant reminder to us that we don’t see things the way God does.
Something to think about, isn’t it?
**A Hole in the Roof
“I the Messiah, have the authority on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2:9 TLB).
Materials needed: ping pong balls, cups, https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/ (Book Two, Lesson 8)
Have you ever played any Minute-to-Win-It games? There’s putting a cookie on your forehead and trying to get it in your mouth without using your hands. There’s the defying gravity game: you get three balloons and you have to keep all three of them in the air for 60 seconds. There’s bottle to bottle: one 2-L bottle is filled with Lucky Charms (or something) and you have to get all of it into another 2-L bottle in a minute. There’s using chopsticks to balance metal nuts on top of each other. I found one website that gives instructions for over 200 of these games.
One game that I really like is bouncing ping pong balls into a cup. You have a minute. The person who bounces the most into their cup wins. It involves trying something - and if it doesn’t work, you modify your behavior and try something else. You also have to stay calm - because getting too excited messes with your focus and your ability to succeed. It’s cool when you get a ball in the cup. It’s also very nice to win. But it’s just a game.
If you can take this principle, however, and apply it to other areas of your life, you have something very worthwhile. Take, for example, the friends of the paralytic who took him to Jesus to be healed. When they got close to the house where Jesus was, they couldn’t get inside because there were too many people. (The first ball missed the cup.) They couldn’t even get close to a window. (The second ball missed the cup.) Pretty soon, one of them had the idea of taking their paralytic friend up on the roof. That was a good idea because it got them closer to Jesus, but it still wasn’t close enough. (Another ball missed.) Still they were unwilling to give up! They wanted to get their friend to Jesus so that Jesus could heal him. What did they do? They dug through the roof. That was one step closer (almost like the ball bounced off the lip of the cup). Then they lowered their friend down in front of Jesus. Yea! They had arrived. But this wasn’t the goal. The goal was for Jesus to heal their friend. Did Jesus heal him? Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven.” The scribes and religious leaders were outraged! Who was Jesus that He thought He could forgive sins? they thought. Jesus said, “Which is easier: to say to a paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” (Mark 2:9-11) This was better than getting the ball into the cup!! Not only was the man healed so that he could walk again, his sins were forgiven. What an incredible reward for his perseverance and the perseverance of his friends!
It’s a good thing for all of us to remember. A Minute-To-Win-It game is not very important. But our perseverance to follow God, to keep searching for the right way to live, to stay the course even when it’s difficult - that will be rewarded!
The Sabbath
"And he said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27
I remember reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Farmer Boy when I was little. One of the chapters dealt with sabbath observance. The children were required to sit on a bench, study the Bible, sit still all day. They couldn’t play; they couldn’t talk. They were just supposed to sit quietly, reverently until the sun set. But they’d been given a new sled just before sabbath began the night before. So the boys excised themselves to go to the outhouse, pulled the sled to the top of the hill, and accidentally slid down the hill backwards past the window of the house. They quickly put the sled away and slid back into their place on the bench. When the Sabbath was over, their father took the boys to the shed and whipped them. They had broken the Sabbath commandment and had to be punished.
This, to me, is exactly what Christ was speaking of: they’d made the children conduct themselves as if they were made for the Sabbath. The day was no longer, if it indeed ever had been, a day to eagerly anticipate and enjoy. It was a day to dread.
God doesn’t want us to view the precious and holy Sabbath as a day to be dreaded, to be gotten through, to be endured. It is a day of rest, a memorial of Creation, and a day which reminds us of who gives us eternal rest. It points to our Redeemer. So while there is definitely a prohibition against working on the Sabbath and doing your own pleasure with no thought for God, the Sabbath day itself is to be pleasurable for each of God’s people!
I wouldn’t cook an elaborate meal on the Sabbath, but I might make something special. I wouldn’t give the kids a haircut on the Sabbath, but I will take extra time braiding my daughter’s hair before church. I wouldn’t pick a gallon of strawberries before breakfast, but I might pick a handful to eat with breakfast.
The Sabbath is to be a delight to each of us. If we, God’s people, don’t view the Sabbath as something special, something to be anticipated, something to look forward to all week long, how in the world are we going to convince the people around us that we have something they need? Why would they want to be part of a joyless religion, a duty-filled drudgery? A burden-filled Sabbath is an offense to our God on so many levels and is a travesty for His people.
Do you enjoy the Sabbath? Do you look forward to it each week? Do you call it a delight? Is the Sabbath for you, or do you think you were made for the Sabbath?
** A Very Special Day
The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (ASV). Mark 2:27
Materials needed: lesson #8 from Primaries book (https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/); Sabbath statement cards, Yes/No signs
The students should have read their lesson about the Sabbath prior to coming to class. So we’re going to have a small competition/quiz. I will make the statement. Each student needs to decide whether they agree or disagree. When I say “go,” they’ll put up their “yes” sign or their “no” sign. Each right answer gets them a token. The person with the most tokens at the end gets to choose a reward first.
Here are the statements:
God made the world in seven days.
God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh day.
The Sabbath was started by the Jews.
The Sabbath was started by God at Creation.
Jesus healed many people on the Sabbath.
Jesus went to church on the Sabbath.
Jesus went to synagogue on the Sabbath; he was Jewish. There were no churches at that time.
The Sabbath was created for God.
The Sabbath was created for man.
It’s okay to work on the Sabbath as long as you go to church.
It’s good to help people on the Sabbath.
You should prepare for the Sabbath on Friday so you don’t have to work on Sabbath.
There are 6 days to work. The Sabbath is a day of rest.
We should enjoy the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is a gift from God to us.
You should come to church on Sabbath, if you can.
Keeping the Sabbath holy is one of the Ten Commandments.
Keeping the Sabbath holy is the fourth commandment.
The Sabbath begins when the sun comes up.
The Sabbath begins when the sun goes down Friday night.
Keeping the Sabbath is one way we show God we love Him.
God doesn’t really care which day we rest on - as long as we rest one day a week.
The Sabbath should be a solemn day that is no fun.
The Sabbath is the best day of the week.
Note: if you want the cards already formatted to print on cardstock, let me know. I can send you a pdf.
**Growing Pains
Memory Verse: The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. Mark 4:11(NIV)
Materials Needed: cups, soil, seeds, water, light, extension cord, cup with lid
I planted cucumbers in one spot in my garden three times this summer. None of them came up. Lots of weeds came up, but there were no cucumber plants. Another spot in my garden, I planted cucumbers and they are thriving! I don’t know what I will do with all of the cucumbers!
There are lots of factors which go into successful gardening. Matthew 13 talks about sowing seed. The first batch of seeds were scattered along the path and the birds came and ate the seeds! I understand what that’s like! The deer and rabbits are eating my strawberry plants!! There haven’t been strawberries since May - and they’re still eating the plants. There’s no way I’m going to get any fruit - kind of like the birds eating the seeds which fell along the path.
The next batch of seeds was thrown in rocky soil. The plants started to grow, but they didn’t have any root - and they weren’t able to survive. The third batch of seeds started to grow, but the thorns grew up around them and choked them out. I understand this too. If I don’t keep the weeds out of my garden, what I really want to grow has to struggle for nutrients and water and sunlight. I won’t get much fruit. But the seeds that fell on the good soil produced a lot! Some returned 30, some 60, some 100 times what was sown.
Jesus was giving a parable which explains what happens with God’s word (the seed). Sometimes Satan snatches the word before it can take root - like the birds eating the seed along the path. Sometimes trouble comes to a person who has heard the word of God; they don’t continue in the Way because they don’t believe. The word didn’t take root! The third group of people are those who are distracted by things that they have or don’t have. They put more emphasis on things than on the relationship with God. The fourth category are those who hear God’s word and it takes root in their lives so they will produce fruit.
So look at my seeds. What if I put seeds in a cup - all by themselves? Will they do anything? No! O.K. What if I put soil in a cup, plant the seeds, and then put the lid on tightly so none of the soil will fall out? Will the seeds thrive? No. They need air. O.K. What if I put soil in a cup, plant a seed, and set it on the window sill, will the seed produce fruit? NO! It needs water! O.K. What if I put soil, seed, and water in a cup, will the seed grow tall and vibrant? No, it needs light!
As a Christian who loves God and should be producing fruit out of love and reverence for God, you are like that cup of soil. God has gifted you with a seed - the word of God. Are you going to seek God and His power through the Holy Spirit to breathe new life into you? Are you going to embrace the living water to lead you into all truth? Are you going to seek the Light and flourish before Him?
Growing isn’t easy. That’s why they are called growing pains. Oh but the fruit that you might just be able to produce for the King - that’s worth all of the effort!!
**Pay Attention to What You Hear
Pay attention to what you hear: . . . Mark 4:24
Materials: ear muffs, ear plugs, whistles, bells, alarms, good/bad books
Why should you pay attention to what you hear?
* It could be harmful.
Protect yourself from loud noises that can damage your ear drum. Use ear protection whenever you’re going to encounter loud noises. The alarm clock and Mom’s voice do NOT fall into this category.
Protect yourself from ungodly sounds, noises, messages which can
damage you emotionally and spiritually. Carefully consider what you watch on tv, what music you listen to, what friends you choose to be around, people who habitually swear and take God’s name in vain . . .
Protect yourself from liars and mischief-makers by carefully considering and verifying what someone tells you. You can’t always believe what other people say. If you believe a false report, you can ruin a friendship. You can find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time. You could find yourself out of God’s will.
It could be very important to your life and prosperity.
Listen to the warnings that people give you (but check them out thoroughly). If you don’t believe the road is out ahead, you can find yourself in the crick without a paddle.
Listen to fire alarms, alarm clocks, and oven timers. Those sounds are there for your good.
*Whether you hear to avoid something bad or to get a blessing, it’s not enough to just hear! The wise person acts on what he has heard! Think about it! If the alarm goes off, it’s a sound that means you need to do something - like get out of bed. If you hear a tornado siren going off, you should take cover. If you hear God’s word telling you to act in a certain way, you must adjust your actions accordingly.
To recap: Choose carefully what you listen to - eschew the harmful and choose the good. Once you’ve determined which it is, do something about it. Don’t be foolish; pay attention to what you hear.
When You’re Afraid
He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Mark 4:40
Do you know that some people ride rollercoasters on purpose so they can be scared? They like the feeling of being so terrified that they might die that they scream at the top of their lungs! And, if they’ve ridden the roller coaster so many times that the scariness is wearing off, they raise their hands into the air. It’s like telling their brains that they aren’t holding onto anything. They could, just possibly, die. But, 99.9999% of the time, the roller coaster works like it’s supposed to, and no one dies.
Some people drive their cars really fast, or bungee jump off cliffs, or sky dive, or go rock climbing for the same reason. It’s almost as if they are sitting next to themselves and they want to scare their brains - the brains which know that what they’re doing is very dangerous and they could actually die. But, for one reason or another, they think that nothing will happen to them.
Sometimes when there’s a really scary thing, we play games with our brains. We make up rules to convince ourselves that there’s really no danger, even though our brains know there really is. When I was 12 years old, I decided I didn’t want to share a room with my sister anymore. So one day, when I got home from school, I moved all of my stuff to the basement. When Mom got home, I had a bed made up downstairs and all my clothes were moved. Mom agreed I could sleep downstairs, but I don’t think she thought I’d last too long. Since we lived in Wyoming, there weren’t many spiders (at least compared to Missouri), but there were still spiders. I knew we had spiders because we had spider webs. But I really wanted to sleep downstairs, so first I tried sleeping with the covers over my head. I couldn’t breathe. So eventually I made up a rule for the spiders. As long as my body was covered up, they weren’t allowed to crawl on my face. I don’t know how I managed to convince my brain that the spiders could actually hear those rules, understand those rules, and actually abide by those rules - especially since I don’t ever remember speaking those rules out loud.
I think about that now and just shake my head. And I shake my head over the people who do very dangerous things because they like the adrenaline rush. We don’t need to add more danger to our lives because the reality is that we live in a very dangerous world. There are unexpected things, things over which we have no control, which can injure or even kill us. They’re all around us.
That’s what the disciples of Jesus were experiencing. When it was evening, they’d gotten into the boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. A terrible storm blew up. Jesus was sleeping in the stern of the boat, and the disciples were more and more afraid that they were going to die. They didn’t know what else to do: they woke up Jesus. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Now think about this for a minute! At least four of these men were fishermen. They knew the power of the storm. They knew what a storm could do to the boat, and they had a healthy respect for the water. They knew they could die - at least under normal circumstances. But Jesus, the One who was, and is, the Son of God was with them. The winds and the waves were under His authority. The winds and the waves had to obey Him. Nothing was going to happen that He didn’t allow to happen.
Sometimes I think about the storms in my life. Those storms are the scary things that happen - the scary things that I wasn’t expecting and that I have no control over. God is still in control and nothing will happen that He doesn’t allow.
Having said that, I’m not planning to go rock climbing. I’m not planning to bungee jump off a cliff. And I don’t need the adrenaline rush of a roller coaster. There are too many truly scary things without intentionally adding a few scary things to my life. I’m not going to intentionally do dangerous things either. I don’t play with poisonous snakes. I don’t drive my car too fast. Some people say that God will protect you from getting hurt. I don’t believe that God will protect you from getting hurt if you are intentionally trying to get hurt.
But when scary things happen in my life, I try to remember that God is in control. He has promised to never leave me or to forsake me. He has promised never to give me more than I can bear. And I know that He loves me - He calls me His treasured possession!
Believing these promises is part of having faith in God. That faith in God helps to keep me from being terrified when the storms of life come. And you know what? Having faith in God is much more rational than believing the spiders will obey your rules just because you want to sleep in the basement.
So what do you do when you are afraid?
**A Father’s Faith
“Be not afraid, only believe” Mark 5:36b
Materials Needed: ziplock bag, water, sharp pencil, https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/ (Book Two, Lesson 10); https://buggyandbuddy.com/science-activities-for-kids-baggie-and-pencil-magic-science-invitation-saturday/
If I had a ziplock bag full of water, do you believe that I could push a sharp pencil into the bag without spilling water all over the floor? How many of you think I would likely end up very wet? How about pushing the pencil out the other side of the bag? Do you think I could push the same pencil out the other side of the bag - without getting wet? Do you think I could push another sharp pencil into the bag without the water gushing out everywhere? Hmm. What do you believe? How does it change your behavior? Are you going to calmly sit in front of me while I do this? Or are you going to back away? How confident are you that I can push this pencil through the bag full of water without you getting soaked?
This is just a fun science demonstration which relies on the laws of nature: the ziplock is made of polymers - which just happen to be very flexible. They grab the pencil as it goes in, keeping the water from flowing out. Once you know that these things are behaving just the way God created them to, you might be much more willing to sit right in front of me.
But what about life and death? What about people who are really, really sick? What do you believe will happen to them? There was a man named Jairus - a synagogue ruler. His daughter was very ill. He had heard about Jesus. He knew that Jesus had been healing people. He pleaded with Jesus to come heal his daughter. As they were going, messengers came to tell the father that his daughter was dead and that he shouldn’t bother Jesus anymore.
What did Jesus tell him? “Be not afraid, only believe.” (Mark 5:36b) How difficult do you think this might have been for Jairus? This was his precious daughter. People told him she was dead - the very thing he was so afraid would happen! When they got to the house, Jesus put everyone out but the girl’s parents and his disciples. Then he told the twelve year-old to get up. She got up and began to walk around. Mark tells us that “they were utterly astounded.”
Would you have believed Jesus when he said she was only sleeping? Or would you have laughed at him like all of the rest of the people did?
Jesus may not answer your prayers exactly when or how you want them to be answered. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask! Jesus IS real and He IS good. He has promised great things in His kingdom for those who belong to Him. THAT you can believe!! And it should change how you live your life!
**The Golden Rule
Do to others as you want them to do to you. Luke 6:31 (NIrV)
Materials needed: variety assortment of things that kids are probably not interested in (dog treat, textbook, computer cable, etc.) https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/ (Book Three, Lesson 1)
Do you know what the Golden Rule is - the way that most people recite it? Do unto others and you would have them do unto you. Although Jesus didn’t call it the Golden Rule, He said it, so we know it’s true and a very good way to live. But what exactly does it mean?
So from my dog Pepper’s perspective, it might go like this: I like dog treats. Woof, woof. That’s what I want to be given. Woof, woof. So I should give dog treats to everyone I like. Woof, woof. Do you like dog treats?
Or how about the cat. Is she just following the Golden Rule when she proudly brings me a dead mouse? She likes dead mice. She’s obviously very proud of her kill. Isn’t she just treating me the way she wants to be treated?
What about Ron? He really likes spicy hot things. So should he give hot pepper flakes to everyone? Does everyone like hot pepper flakes?
What about strawberry jam? I like strawberry jam, so I should give everyone at church strawberry jam, right? That’s doing to them as I would want done to me. But I know there’s one person in our church family who doesn’t like strawberry jam. She doesn’t like strawberries.
We are all different, with all different likes and dislikes. So saying that I should give stuff to other people because I like it completely disregards the fact that they might not like it. So the Golden Rule isn’t about the individual things. It’s about the attitude and behavior you have toward others.
Do you like to be treated with kindness? Yes. Do you want people to give you grace and mercy when you make a mistake? Yes. Do you want people to support you and help you when you need it? Yes. Do you want people to say bad things about you? Or break your things? Or try to hurt you? No. You don’t want those kinds of actions and attitudes directed towards you. So don’t do those kinds of things to other people.
Think about what other people would like and appreciate. That’s what you want them to do for you, right?
So, now do you get it? Who wants a dog treat? Or a cookie?
Our Rules or God’s?
You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men. Mark 7:8
I have played a few card games in my life: Canasta, 500, Cribbage, Spades, Hearts, Spoons, Golf, Kings in the Corner, War with Your Neighbor, and Solitaire in numerous varieties. I don’t mind learning a new game, but I like knowing what the rules are going in. There have been a few times when the rules were explained as we went along - and that’s no fun. Imagine playing hearts for the first time and leading the queen of spades, only to find your opponents chortling with glee because you’ve just eaten the queen. There are times when you might want to play a few practice hands that don’t count because sometimes it’s easier to understand the rules as you see the game unfold, but that’s a totally different thing. Still, it at least makes sense to know the basic rules going in.
So imagine playing a game where the rules change at the whim of the rule maker. I think there are games like that - the wild card and certain values are determined by the dealer before he starts the hand. But once the cards are dealt, even in that game, the dealer can’t change the rules in the middle of the hand. Imagine the frustration of the players if the rules were changed in the middle of the game. What if, in Monopoly, you had built up your kingdom, you had Boardwalk and Parkway with hotels on each and you had several other monopolies. You look like you’re well on the way to creaming everyone else. Then someone says, “We’ve been playing for two hours, so now it’s time to play that when you land on your own property, you have to pay everyone else the rental.” In a democratic gesture, everyone votes for the new measure (over your protests) and you suddenly find yourself losing big time! You know that’s not what the game directions say, that’s not what the game inventor intended, and, frankly, it’s not fair. You played by the rules; you should be winning the game. But some people want to win at all costs - some will cheat, some will lie, some will try to change the rules of the game. Their goal is to come out the victor over everyone else. It’s not much fun to “play” with those kind of people.
Did you know that some people approach the law of God in the same way? Here are the ground rules for the game of life: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). All need a Savior. There is only One Savior, Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). He is the only Way to Eternal Life (John 14:6). Salvation and Eternal Life are free gifts from God when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Lord of your life. There is nothing you can do to earn salvation; it is a free gift. Once you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have entered into a covenant with Him. He will be your God; you will be part of His people. As your God and King, He gets to make the rules by which you live your life - as subjects of the King of the Universe (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Here’s where it gets kind of tricky for people. They like being saved from the penalty of sin, which is death. Some argue that there are many ways to the kingdom of heaven - you don’t have to have a relationship with Jesus. Others argue that since your goal is salvation, once you’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior, you’re home free; you don’t have to be concerned about observing any of God’s laws. Still others argue that when Jesus died, He did away with a lot of the old rules (called commandments or laws) - like keeping the Sabbath, or eating unclean foods, or keeping the holy days of God. But Jesus kept the rules of don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, don’t bear false witness, don’t covet, honor your father and your mother - and these other rules as well. Shouldn’t you?!
God’s laws are a reflection of His character, of who He is. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Similarly, God’s laws are still in effect (Romans 3:31). They don’t save you, but they are evidence that you are saved. When you keep God’s laws, you show that you have a relationship with God, that you belong to Him and that He is your Savior from sin and death.
Too many people over the centuries have tried to change the rules - because they don’t want to submit to God, they think His laws are too difficult, or they just want to improve upon His commandments. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day came into conflict with Jesus over this very thing. They had a whole set of laws which were based on their traditions which could be traced back to the law of God, but which had basically changed the law to fit their agenda, their goals, their priorities. Following their tradition had taken them away from following God. Jesus told them, “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8).
Think about that for a minute. Here’s a game that you’re playing, and you want to win. Only you think the rules are different than what the inventor of the game says they are! That means, if you keep playing using your rules, you’re never going to win. You’re going to lose. The Pharisees didn’t like being told that they were ignoring God’s law in favor of their own. The implication of Jesus’ words was that they were not going to be in God’s kingdom. They were going to lose.
Once again, observing God’s laws don’t earn salvation. Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, keeping God’s laws is evidence that you have been saved. These laws change how you live and shape you into the image of Christ.
Those are the rules of the game. And unlike Monopoly, the game players don’t have the option of democratically voting a change of the rules. We play by God’s rules.
Floating Paperclip - Trust in God
. . . I believe; help my unbelief! Mark 9:24
Materials: paperclips, clear bowl of water, towel (Float the clips on the surface of the water. You can’t place a clip on the surface with just the clip. You have to make a helping clip by bending a paper clip into an L. Then you can gently place the clip on the surface of the water without breaking the surface tension - most of the time.)
The Bible records some pretty amazing events where people had to trust God!
Do you remember how Daniel trusted God? When he was thrown into the lions’ den, God shut the mouths of the hungry lions so they wouldn’t eat him. (Daniel 6)
Do you remember how Noah trusted God? When God told Noah to build an ark, that there was going to be a flood, Noah spent many years building that ark. He collected all the food and the animals to go onto the ark. (Genesis 6-7)
Do you remember how David trusted God? He faced the giant Goliath with a sling and a stone! (1 Samuel 17)
Do you remember how Abraham trusted God? When God told him to go to a place God would show him, Abraham left his home and his father’s house, and obeyed God. (Genesis 12)
There was another time when someone had to trust God. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, Peter called out to him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” (Matthew 14:28) Jesus told Peter to come and Peter stepped out of the boat. He trusted Jesus - at least at the beginning,
There’s one other story I want to remind you of. There was a man whose son had an unclean spirit (Mark 9). The man took his son to Jesus for healing because the evil spirit would not allow the boy to speak, caused him to go into convulsions, and would throw him into the fire or the water, trying to kill him. Jesus told the father that all things are possible for one who believes. I love what the father said back to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Sometimes we encounter things in our lives that we know we can’t do on our own. But we know God can do mighty and powerful things. We know He is able to save us. We know He controls the winds and the waves. We know He is our Healer. We need to trust Him. And even if we trust, but we’re still afraid, we can be like this father who said, “I believe; help my unbelief.”
There’s one other thing to consider when you’re trusting God. Do you remember how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego trusted God? They refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzer’s golden idol. They believed God could save them, but even if God didn’t, they were still going to do the right thing. (Daniel 3) You have to trust that, even if God doesn’t work things out like you think he should, even if you sink, you still have to obey Him. You still have to do what you know pleases your God, even if it means you have to go through something very difficult.
resource: https://biblelessonstuff.com/object-lesson-on-faith-walk-on-water/
(**denotes very visual devotion)
Mark 2:9 - Healing
**Mark 2:9 - A Hole in the Roof (YEA lesson)
Mark 2:27 - The Sabbath (Holy Day Lesson - The Sabbath)
**Mark 2:27 - A Very Special Day (Holy Day Lesson - The Sabbath)
**Mark 4:11 - Growing Pains (YEA lesson)
**Mark 4:24 - Pay Attention to What You Hear
Mark 4:40 - When You're Afraid
**Mark 5:36b - A Father's Faith (YEA lesson)
**Mark 6:31 - The Golden Rule (YEA lesson)
Mark 7:8 - Our Rules or God's?
**Mark 9:24 - Floating Paperclips - Trusting God
**Mark 10:14 - Bring Them To Me
**Mark 10:52 - Believing is Seeing (YEA lesson)
***Mark 11:17 - Come to God's House
Mark 13:36 - While You Were Sleeping
Mark 13:26 - Praise God Anyway
***Mark 14:13 - God's Got It Sorted
**Mark 16:15 - Proclaim the Gospel
Healing
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Rise, take up your bed and walk”? Mark 2:9
How great is our God? When you think of the amazing things that He can do, what comes to mind? What kind of power does He have?
One day when Jesus was at home in Capernaum, he was teaching. There were so many people listening to him that the house was crowded full. Four men wanted to bring a paralytic to Jesus to heal, but they couldn't get close to Him because of the number of people gathered around Jesus. So they hoisted the paralytic up onto the roof. They dug through the roof and lowered the paralytic on his mat right in front of Jesus.
Now, Mark is known for his brevity. He doesn’t give us lots of details. But can you imagine what this would have been like? Perhaps the roof was a thatch roof with branches, straw, reed, or palm leaves. It could possibly been a roof with branches covered with sod. It could have had rough shingles. Either way, it would have been full of leaves, dirt, insects, perhaps a mouse or two. These four men are digging through this roof to make an opening large enough to lower the paralytic through on his mat. Can you imagine the debris (leaves, dirt, insects) falling on the people in the home? I can imagine they weren’t feeling too charitable towards these guys. And I imagine the owner wasn’t either!
But Jesus’ reaction is so different. He doesn’t rebuke them for disturbing his teaching. He doesn’t chide them for messing up the house. He doesn’t seem upset at them at all. In fact, He sees their faith. What faith? They have to have really believed that Jesus could heal their friend. If you only think Jesus can do it, you don’t go to all the work to hoist a friend up on a roof, dig through the roof, and lower him in front of Jesus. If you think there’s a good possibility that maybe Jesus can do something, you might wait for Jesus to come out of the house; He’s got to come out some time!! But, these men truly believed that Jesus could heal him. And they cared enough about their friend to want it to happen now. Jesus saw their faith . . . so He healed their friend. Right? Well, not immediately.
Jesus told the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Can you imagine the reaction of the four friends? They might have been thinking, “Wait a minute! That’s not what we came for. We wanted him to walk.” The reaction of the scribes was very negative! They thought in their hearts that Jesus was blaspheming because only God can forgive sins. If Jesus is forgiving this man’s sins, then Jesus is claiming to be God. The scribes were not happy with Jesus’ statement. And Jesus knew it. So He said to the paralytic: Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Rise, take up your bed and walk”? Mark 2:9
Think about this for a minute. Which is easier to say: your sins are forgiven or take up your bed and walk? We may be thinking that it’s a whole lot easier to forgive someone of their sins. You just say, “O.K. I forgive you” and you’re done. But you actually have to change something, to heal something, to fix something in order for the paralytic to walk again. But Jesus simply said, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’?”
It causes us to stop and think, doesn’t it? What is involved in forgiving sins? It’s more than just saying the words, isn’t it? Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. That’s a lot more than just saying words. The forgiveness of sins requires a blood sacrifice, specifically, Jesus’ blood sacrifice on our behalf. Yet, Isaiah 53:5 says that by Jesus stripes, the suffering He endured as He was being crucified, we are healed. Our physical healing and our spiritual healing is possible because of our Messiah’s death and resurrection.
Jesus also made it quite plain, to anyone who heard Him that day, that He had the authority to forgive sin. He was, in fact, telling them all that He was, and is, God - God, the Son and the Son of God.
The paralytic was healed that day. Jesus told him to pick up his bed and go home. The crowd was amazed, saying that they’d never seen anything like it. They were amazed the man was walking. Did they miss the significance of what Jesus had said? Did they not realize that he’d forgiven the man’s sins - that he was clean before God? Maybe not - because, after all, we can’t really see anything when a person’s sins are forgiven.
At any rate, I’m so very glad those four men had the faith to dig through the roof. I’m glad this event is recorded for us to read and to consider. Think about it: what if Jesus had healed the man so he could walk and yet he carried his sin debt. He would have died, eventually. But if Jesus had forgiven his sins and left him a paralytic, he would have been assured of eternal life in God’s kingdom. Which do you think is more important to God? It’s a poignant reminder to us that we don’t see things the way God does.
Something to think about, isn’t it?
**A Hole in the Roof
“I the Messiah, have the authority on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2:9 TLB).
Materials needed: ping pong balls, cups, https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/ (Book Two, Lesson 8)
Have you ever played any Minute-to-Win-It games? There’s putting a cookie on your forehead and trying to get it in your mouth without using your hands. There’s the defying gravity game: you get three balloons and you have to keep all three of them in the air for 60 seconds. There’s bottle to bottle: one 2-L bottle is filled with Lucky Charms (or something) and you have to get all of it into another 2-L bottle in a minute. There’s using chopsticks to balance metal nuts on top of each other. I found one website that gives instructions for over 200 of these games.
One game that I really like is bouncing ping pong balls into a cup. You have a minute. The person who bounces the most into their cup wins. It involves trying something - and if it doesn’t work, you modify your behavior and try something else. You also have to stay calm - because getting too excited messes with your focus and your ability to succeed. It’s cool when you get a ball in the cup. It’s also very nice to win. But it’s just a game.
If you can take this principle, however, and apply it to other areas of your life, you have something very worthwhile. Take, for example, the friends of the paralytic who took him to Jesus to be healed. When they got close to the house where Jesus was, they couldn’t get inside because there were too many people. (The first ball missed the cup.) They couldn’t even get close to a window. (The second ball missed the cup.) Pretty soon, one of them had the idea of taking their paralytic friend up on the roof. That was a good idea because it got them closer to Jesus, but it still wasn’t close enough. (Another ball missed.) Still they were unwilling to give up! They wanted to get their friend to Jesus so that Jesus could heal him. What did they do? They dug through the roof. That was one step closer (almost like the ball bounced off the lip of the cup). Then they lowered their friend down in front of Jesus. Yea! They had arrived. But this wasn’t the goal. The goal was for Jesus to heal their friend. Did Jesus heal him? Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven.” The scribes and religious leaders were outraged! Who was Jesus that He thought He could forgive sins? they thought. Jesus said, “Which is easier: to say to a paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” (Mark 2:9-11) This was better than getting the ball into the cup!! Not only was the man healed so that he could walk again, his sins were forgiven. What an incredible reward for his perseverance and the perseverance of his friends!
It’s a good thing for all of us to remember. A Minute-To-Win-It game is not very important. But our perseverance to follow God, to keep searching for the right way to live, to stay the course even when it’s difficult - that will be rewarded!
The Sabbath
"And he said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27
I remember reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Farmer Boy when I was little. One of the chapters dealt with sabbath observance. The children were required to sit on a bench, study the Bible, sit still all day. They couldn’t play; they couldn’t talk. They were just supposed to sit quietly, reverently until the sun set. But they’d been given a new sled just before sabbath began the night before. So the boys excised themselves to go to the outhouse, pulled the sled to the top of the hill, and accidentally slid down the hill backwards past the window of the house. They quickly put the sled away and slid back into their place on the bench. When the Sabbath was over, their father took the boys to the shed and whipped them. They had broken the Sabbath commandment and had to be punished.
This, to me, is exactly what Christ was speaking of: they’d made the children conduct themselves as if they were made for the Sabbath. The day was no longer, if it indeed ever had been, a day to eagerly anticipate and enjoy. It was a day to dread.
God doesn’t want us to view the precious and holy Sabbath as a day to be dreaded, to be gotten through, to be endured. It is a day of rest, a memorial of Creation, and a day which reminds us of who gives us eternal rest. It points to our Redeemer. So while there is definitely a prohibition against working on the Sabbath and doing your own pleasure with no thought for God, the Sabbath day itself is to be pleasurable for each of God’s people!
I wouldn’t cook an elaborate meal on the Sabbath, but I might make something special. I wouldn’t give the kids a haircut on the Sabbath, but I will take extra time braiding my daughter’s hair before church. I wouldn’t pick a gallon of strawberries before breakfast, but I might pick a handful to eat with breakfast.
The Sabbath is to be a delight to each of us. If we, God’s people, don’t view the Sabbath as something special, something to be anticipated, something to look forward to all week long, how in the world are we going to convince the people around us that we have something they need? Why would they want to be part of a joyless religion, a duty-filled drudgery? A burden-filled Sabbath is an offense to our God on so many levels and is a travesty for His people.
Do you enjoy the Sabbath? Do you look forward to it each week? Do you call it a delight? Is the Sabbath for you, or do you think you were made for the Sabbath?
** A Very Special Day
The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (ASV). Mark 2:27
Materials needed: lesson #8 from Primaries book (https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/); Sabbath statement cards, Yes/No signs
The students should have read their lesson about the Sabbath prior to coming to class. So we’re going to have a small competition/quiz. I will make the statement. Each student needs to decide whether they agree or disagree. When I say “go,” they’ll put up their “yes” sign or their “no” sign. Each right answer gets them a token. The person with the most tokens at the end gets to choose a reward first.
Here are the statements:
God made the world in seven days.
God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh day.
The Sabbath was started by the Jews.
The Sabbath was started by God at Creation.
Jesus healed many people on the Sabbath.
Jesus went to church on the Sabbath.
Jesus went to synagogue on the Sabbath; he was Jewish. There were no churches at that time.
The Sabbath was created for God.
The Sabbath was created for man.
It’s okay to work on the Sabbath as long as you go to church.
It’s good to help people on the Sabbath.
You should prepare for the Sabbath on Friday so you don’t have to work on Sabbath.
There are 6 days to work. The Sabbath is a day of rest.
We should enjoy the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is a gift from God to us.
You should come to church on Sabbath, if you can.
Keeping the Sabbath holy is one of the Ten Commandments.
Keeping the Sabbath holy is the fourth commandment.
The Sabbath begins when the sun comes up.
The Sabbath begins when the sun goes down Friday night.
Keeping the Sabbath is one way we show God we love Him.
God doesn’t really care which day we rest on - as long as we rest one day a week.
The Sabbath should be a solemn day that is no fun.
The Sabbath is the best day of the week.
Note: if you want the cards already formatted to print on cardstock, let me know. I can send you a pdf.
**Growing Pains
Memory Verse: The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. Mark 4:11(NIV)
Materials Needed: cups, soil, seeds, water, light, extension cord, cup with lid
I planted cucumbers in one spot in my garden three times this summer. None of them came up. Lots of weeds came up, but there were no cucumber plants. Another spot in my garden, I planted cucumbers and they are thriving! I don’t know what I will do with all of the cucumbers!
There are lots of factors which go into successful gardening. Matthew 13 talks about sowing seed. The first batch of seeds were scattered along the path and the birds came and ate the seeds! I understand what that’s like! The deer and rabbits are eating my strawberry plants!! There haven’t been strawberries since May - and they’re still eating the plants. There’s no way I’m going to get any fruit - kind of like the birds eating the seeds which fell along the path.
The next batch of seeds was thrown in rocky soil. The plants started to grow, but they didn’t have any root - and they weren’t able to survive. The third batch of seeds started to grow, but the thorns grew up around them and choked them out. I understand this too. If I don’t keep the weeds out of my garden, what I really want to grow has to struggle for nutrients and water and sunlight. I won’t get much fruit. But the seeds that fell on the good soil produced a lot! Some returned 30, some 60, some 100 times what was sown.
Jesus was giving a parable which explains what happens with God’s word (the seed). Sometimes Satan snatches the word before it can take root - like the birds eating the seed along the path. Sometimes trouble comes to a person who has heard the word of God; they don’t continue in the Way because they don’t believe. The word didn’t take root! The third group of people are those who are distracted by things that they have or don’t have. They put more emphasis on things than on the relationship with God. The fourth category are those who hear God’s word and it takes root in their lives so they will produce fruit.
So look at my seeds. What if I put seeds in a cup - all by themselves? Will they do anything? No! O.K. What if I put soil in a cup, plant the seeds, and then put the lid on tightly so none of the soil will fall out? Will the seeds thrive? No. They need air. O.K. What if I put soil in a cup, plant a seed, and set it on the window sill, will the seed produce fruit? NO! It needs water! O.K. What if I put soil, seed, and water in a cup, will the seed grow tall and vibrant? No, it needs light!
As a Christian who loves God and should be producing fruit out of love and reverence for God, you are like that cup of soil. God has gifted you with a seed - the word of God. Are you going to seek God and His power through the Holy Spirit to breathe new life into you? Are you going to embrace the living water to lead you into all truth? Are you going to seek the Light and flourish before Him?
Growing isn’t easy. That’s why they are called growing pains. Oh but the fruit that you might just be able to produce for the King - that’s worth all of the effort!!
**Pay Attention to What You Hear
Pay attention to what you hear: . . . Mark 4:24
Materials: ear muffs, ear plugs, whistles, bells, alarms, good/bad books
Why should you pay attention to what you hear?
* It could be harmful.
Protect yourself from loud noises that can damage your ear drum. Use ear protection whenever you’re going to encounter loud noises. The alarm clock and Mom’s voice do NOT fall into this category.
Protect yourself from ungodly sounds, noises, messages which can
damage you emotionally and spiritually. Carefully consider what you watch on tv, what music you listen to, what friends you choose to be around, people who habitually swear and take God’s name in vain . . .
Protect yourself from liars and mischief-makers by carefully considering and verifying what someone tells you. You can’t always believe what other people say. If you believe a false report, you can ruin a friendship. You can find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time. You could find yourself out of God’s will.
It could be very important to your life and prosperity.
Listen to the warnings that people give you (but check them out thoroughly). If you don’t believe the road is out ahead, you can find yourself in the crick without a paddle.
Listen to fire alarms, alarm clocks, and oven timers. Those sounds are there for your good.
*Whether you hear to avoid something bad or to get a blessing, it’s not enough to just hear! The wise person acts on what he has heard! Think about it! If the alarm goes off, it’s a sound that means you need to do something - like get out of bed. If you hear a tornado siren going off, you should take cover. If you hear God’s word telling you to act in a certain way, you must adjust your actions accordingly.
To recap: Choose carefully what you listen to - eschew the harmful and choose the good. Once you’ve determined which it is, do something about it. Don’t be foolish; pay attention to what you hear.
When You’re Afraid
He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Mark 4:40
Do you know that some people ride rollercoasters on purpose so they can be scared? They like the feeling of being so terrified that they might die that they scream at the top of their lungs! And, if they’ve ridden the roller coaster so many times that the scariness is wearing off, they raise their hands into the air. It’s like telling their brains that they aren’t holding onto anything. They could, just possibly, die. But, 99.9999% of the time, the roller coaster works like it’s supposed to, and no one dies.
Some people drive their cars really fast, or bungee jump off cliffs, or sky dive, or go rock climbing for the same reason. It’s almost as if they are sitting next to themselves and they want to scare their brains - the brains which know that what they’re doing is very dangerous and they could actually die. But, for one reason or another, they think that nothing will happen to them.
Sometimes when there’s a really scary thing, we play games with our brains. We make up rules to convince ourselves that there’s really no danger, even though our brains know there really is. When I was 12 years old, I decided I didn’t want to share a room with my sister anymore. So one day, when I got home from school, I moved all of my stuff to the basement. When Mom got home, I had a bed made up downstairs and all my clothes were moved. Mom agreed I could sleep downstairs, but I don’t think she thought I’d last too long. Since we lived in Wyoming, there weren’t many spiders (at least compared to Missouri), but there were still spiders. I knew we had spiders because we had spider webs. But I really wanted to sleep downstairs, so first I tried sleeping with the covers over my head. I couldn’t breathe. So eventually I made up a rule for the spiders. As long as my body was covered up, they weren’t allowed to crawl on my face. I don’t know how I managed to convince my brain that the spiders could actually hear those rules, understand those rules, and actually abide by those rules - especially since I don’t ever remember speaking those rules out loud.
I think about that now and just shake my head. And I shake my head over the people who do very dangerous things because they like the adrenaline rush. We don’t need to add more danger to our lives because the reality is that we live in a very dangerous world. There are unexpected things, things over which we have no control, which can injure or even kill us. They’re all around us.
That’s what the disciples of Jesus were experiencing. When it was evening, they’d gotten into the boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. A terrible storm blew up. Jesus was sleeping in the stern of the boat, and the disciples were more and more afraid that they were going to die. They didn’t know what else to do: they woke up Jesus. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Now think about this for a minute! At least four of these men were fishermen. They knew the power of the storm. They knew what a storm could do to the boat, and they had a healthy respect for the water. They knew they could die - at least under normal circumstances. But Jesus, the One who was, and is, the Son of God was with them. The winds and the waves were under His authority. The winds and the waves had to obey Him. Nothing was going to happen that He didn’t allow to happen.
Sometimes I think about the storms in my life. Those storms are the scary things that happen - the scary things that I wasn’t expecting and that I have no control over. God is still in control and nothing will happen that He doesn’t allow.
Having said that, I’m not planning to go rock climbing. I’m not planning to bungee jump off a cliff. And I don’t need the adrenaline rush of a roller coaster. There are too many truly scary things without intentionally adding a few scary things to my life. I’m not going to intentionally do dangerous things either. I don’t play with poisonous snakes. I don’t drive my car too fast. Some people say that God will protect you from getting hurt. I don’t believe that God will protect you from getting hurt if you are intentionally trying to get hurt.
But when scary things happen in my life, I try to remember that God is in control. He has promised to never leave me or to forsake me. He has promised never to give me more than I can bear. And I know that He loves me - He calls me His treasured possession!
Believing these promises is part of having faith in God. That faith in God helps to keep me from being terrified when the storms of life come. And you know what? Having faith in God is much more rational than believing the spiders will obey your rules just because you want to sleep in the basement.
So what do you do when you are afraid?
**A Father’s Faith
“Be not afraid, only believe” Mark 5:36b
Materials Needed: ziplock bag, water, sharp pencil, https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/ (Book Two, Lesson 10); https://buggyandbuddy.com/science-activities-for-kids-baggie-and-pencil-magic-science-invitation-saturday/
If I had a ziplock bag full of water, do you believe that I could push a sharp pencil into the bag without spilling water all over the floor? How many of you think I would likely end up very wet? How about pushing the pencil out the other side of the bag? Do you think I could push the same pencil out the other side of the bag - without getting wet? Do you think I could push another sharp pencil into the bag without the water gushing out everywhere? Hmm. What do you believe? How does it change your behavior? Are you going to calmly sit in front of me while I do this? Or are you going to back away? How confident are you that I can push this pencil through the bag full of water without you getting soaked?
This is just a fun science demonstration which relies on the laws of nature: the ziplock is made of polymers - which just happen to be very flexible. They grab the pencil as it goes in, keeping the water from flowing out. Once you know that these things are behaving just the way God created them to, you might be much more willing to sit right in front of me.
But what about life and death? What about people who are really, really sick? What do you believe will happen to them? There was a man named Jairus - a synagogue ruler. His daughter was very ill. He had heard about Jesus. He knew that Jesus had been healing people. He pleaded with Jesus to come heal his daughter. As they were going, messengers came to tell the father that his daughter was dead and that he shouldn’t bother Jesus anymore.
What did Jesus tell him? “Be not afraid, only believe.” (Mark 5:36b) How difficult do you think this might have been for Jairus? This was his precious daughter. People told him she was dead - the very thing he was so afraid would happen! When they got to the house, Jesus put everyone out but the girl’s parents and his disciples. Then he told the twelve year-old to get up. She got up and began to walk around. Mark tells us that “they were utterly astounded.”
Would you have believed Jesus when he said she was only sleeping? Or would you have laughed at him like all of the rest of the people did?
Jesus may not answer your prayers exactly when or how you want them to be answered. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask! Jesus IS real and He IS good. He has promised great things in His kingdom for those who belong to Him. THAT you can believe!! And it should change how you live your life!
**The Golden Rule
Do to others as you want them to do to you. Luke 6:31 (NIrV)
Materials needed: variety assortment of things that kids are probably not interested in (dog treat, textbook, computer cable, etc.) https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/ (Book Three, Lesson 1)
Do you know what the Golden Rule is - the way that most people recite it? Do unto others and you would have them do unto you. Although Jesus didn’t call it the Golden Rule, He said it, so we know it’s true and a very good way to live. But what exactly does it mean?
So from my dog Pepper’s perspective, it might go like this: I like dog treats. Woof, woof. That’s what I want to be given. Woof, woof. So I should give dog treats to everyone I like. Woof, woof. Do you like dog treats?
Or how about the cat. Is she just following the Golden Rule when she proudly brings me a dead mouse? She likes dead mice. She’s obviously very proud of her kill. Isn’t she just treating me the way she wants to be treated?
What about Ron? He really likes spicy hot things. So should he give hot pepper flakes to everyone? Does everyone like hot pepper flakes?
What about strawberry jam? I like strawberry jam, so I should give everyone at church strawberry jam, right? That’s doing to them as I would want done to me. But I know there’s one person in our church family who doesn’t like strawberry jam. She doesn’t like strawberries.
We are all different, with all different likes and dislikes. So saying that I should give stuff to other people because I like it completely disregards the fact that they might not like it. So the Golden Rule isn’t about the individual things. It’s about the attitude and behavior you have toward others.
Do you like to be treated with kindness? Yes. Do you want people to give you grace and mercy when you make a mistake? Yes. Do you want people to support you and help you when you need it? Yes. Do you want people to say bad things about you? Or break your things? Or try to hurt you? No. You don’t want those kinds of actions and attitudes directed towards you. So don’t do those kinds of things to other people.
Think about what other people would like and appreciate. That’s what you want them to do for you, right?
So, now do you get it? Who wants a dog treat? Or a cookie?
Our Rules or God’s?
You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men. Mark 7:8
I have played a few card games in my life: Canasta, 500, Cribbage, Spades, Hearts, Spoons, Golf, Kings in the Corner, War with Your Neighbor, and Solitaire in numerous varieties. I don’t mind learning a new game, but I like knowing what the rules are going in. There have been a few times when the rules were explained as we went along - and that’s no fun. Imagine playing hearts for the first time and leading the queen of spades, only to find your opponents chortling with glee because you’ve just eaten the queen. There are times when you might want to play a few practice hands that don’t count because sometimes it’s easier to understand the rules as you see the game unfold, but that’s a totally different thing. Still, it at least makes sense to know the basic rules going in.
So imagine playing a game where the rules change at the whim of the rule maker. I think there are games like that - the wild card and certain values are determined by the dealer before he starts the hand. But once the cards are dealt, even in that game, the dealer can’t change the rules in the middle of the hand. Imagine the frustration of the players if the rules were changed in the middle of the game. What if, in Monopoly, you had built up your kingdom, you had Boardwalk and Parkway with hotels on each and you had several other monopolies. You look like you’re well on the way to creaming everyone else. Then someone says, “We’ve been playing for two hours, so now it’s time to play that when you land on your own property, you have to pay everyone else the rental.” In a democratic gesture, everyone votes for the new measure (over your protests) and you suddenly find yourself losing big time! You know that’s not what the game directions say, that’s not what the game inventor intended, and, frankly, it’s not fair. You played by the rules; you should be winning the game. But some people want to win at all costs - some will cheat, some will lie, some will try to change the rules of the game. Their goal is to come out the victor over everyone else. It’s not much fun to “play” with those kind of people.
Did you know that some people approach the law of God in the same way? Here are the ground rules for the game of life: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). All need a Savior. There is only One Savior, Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). He is the only Way to Eternal Life (John 14:6). Salvation and Eternal Life are free gifts from God when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Lord of your life. There is nothing you can do to earn salvation; it is a free gift. Once you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have entered into a covenant with Him. He will be your God; you will be part of His people. As your God and King, He gets to make the rules by which you live your life - as subjects of the King of the Universe (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Here’s where it gets kind of tricky for people. They like being saved from the penalty of sin, which is death. Some argue that there are many ways to the kingdom of heaven - you don’t have to have a relationship with Jesus. Others argue that since your goal is salvation, once you’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior, you’re home free; you don’t have to be concerned about observing any of God’s laws. Still others argue that when Jesus died, He did away with a lot of the old rules (called commandments or laws) - like keeping the Sabbath, or eating unclean foods, or keeping the holy days of God. But Jesus kept the rules of don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, don’t bear false witness, don’t covet, honor your father and your mother - and these other rules as well. Shouldn’t you?!
God’s laws are a reflection of His character, of who He is. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Similarly, God’s laws are still in effect (Romans 3:31). They don’t save you, but they are evidence that you are saved. When you keep God’s laws, you show that you have a relationship with God, that you belong to Him and that He is your Savior from sin and death.
Too many people over the centuries have tried to change the rules - because they don’t want to submit to God, they think His laws are too difficult, or they just want to improve upon His commandments. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day came into conflict with Jesus over this very thing. They had a whole set of laws which were based on their traditions which could be traced back to the law of God, but which had basically changed the law to fit their agenda, their goals, their priorities. Following their tradition had taken them away from following God. Jesus told them, “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8).
Think about that for a minute. Here’s a game that you’re playing, and you want to win. Only you think the rules are different than what the inventor of the game says they are! That means, if you keep playing using your rules, you’re never going to win. You’re going to lose. The Pharisees didn’t like being told that they were ignoring God’s law in favor of their own. The implication of Jesus’ words was that they were not going to be in God’s kingdom. They were going to lose.
Once again, observing God’s laws don’t earn salvation. Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, keeping God’s laws is evidence that you have been saved. These laws change how you live and shape you into the image of Christ.
Those are the rules of the game. And unlike Monopoly, the game players don’t have the option of democratically voting a change of the rules. We play by God’s rules.
Floating Paperclip - Trust in God
. . . I believe; help my unbelief! Mark 9:24
Materials: paperclips, clear bowl of water, towel (Float the clips on the surface of the water. You can’t place a clip on the surface with just the clip. You have to make a helping clip by bending a paper clip into an L. Then you can gently place the clip on the surface of the water without breaking the surface tension - most of the time.)
The Bible records some pretty amazing events where people had to trust God!
Do you remember how Daniel trusted God? When he was thrown into the lions’ den, God shut the mouths of the hungry lions so they wouldn’t eat him. (Daniel 6)
Do you remember how Noah trusted God? When God told Noah to build an ark, that there was going to be a flood, Noah spent many years building that ark. He collected all the food and the animals to go onto the ark. (Genesis 6-7)
Do you remember how David trusted God? He faced the giant Goliath with a sling and a stone! (1 Samuel 17)
Do you remember how Abraham trusted God? When God told him to go to a place God would show him, Abraham left his home and his father’s house, and obeyed God. (Genesis 12)
There was another time when someone had to trust God. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, Peter called out to him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” (Matthew 14:28) Jesus told Peter to come and Peter stepped out of the boat. He trusted Jesus - at least at the beginning,
There’s one other story I want to remind you of. There was a man whose son had an unclean spirit (Mark 9). The man took his son to Jesus for healing because the evil spirit would not allow the boy to speak, caused him to go into convulsions, and would throw him into the fire or the water, trying to kill him. Jesus told the father that all things are possible for one who believes. I love what the father said back to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Sometimes we encounter things in our lives that we know we can’t do on our own. But we know God can do mighty and powerful things. We know He is able to save us. We know He controls the winds and the waves. We know He is our Healer. We need to trust Him. And even if we trust, but we’re still afraid, we can be like this father who said, “I believe; help my unbelief.”
There’s one other thing to consider when you’re trusting God. Do you remember how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego trusted God? They refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzer’s golden idol. They believed God could save them, but even if God didn’t, they were still going to do the right thing. (Daniel 3) You have to trust that, even if God doesn’t work things out like you think he should, even if you sink, you still have to obey Him. You still have to do what you know pleases your God, even if it means you have to go through something very difficult.
resource: https://biblelessonstuff.com/object-lesson-on-faith-walk-on-water/
**Bring Them To Me
Let the little children come to me. Don’t keep them away (NIrV). Mark 10:14
Materials needed: lesson #8 from Primaries book (https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/); Perspective Poster, cards (Divide the poster into two sides: Man’s Perspective - Jesus’ Perspective; Create a set of cards - characteristics of children)
WC Fields used to say, “Get away from me, kid; you bother me.” Although most adults wouldn’t say that out loud to a child, some adults really don’t like kids. Why? (These are the characteristics printed on the cards, one on each.) Have the children figure out which column each card will fit into.
Loud
Insistent on their own way
Lack of manners
Need care
Make mistakes
Tells it like they see it
Persistent
Open to teaching
Intensely curious
Recognizes authority
Each of these characteristics will lend support to a person’s perspective that they’d rather not be around kids or support to Jesus’ perspective that you must become like a little child if you want to be in His kingdom. Curiously, there are a couple of characteristics that will fit into both categories.
It’s very important for children to understand that God values them for those characteristics. When the disciples didn’t want the children to bother Jesus, Jesus pointed out just how valuable those characteristics are to Him!
It’s a good reminder to all of us to 1) see the value of children and 2) see the value of the characteristics that are pleasing to God.
Note: After the children put the cards into the columns, I pointed out how what other people might see as a negative can be turned into a positive because of the willingness to be taught, to recognize authority, to be persistent, etc.
Sabbath, August 12th
Believing is Seeing
“Go. . .your faith has healed you” (NIrV). - Mark 10:52
Materials Needed: turkey feather (or similar object found outside), bell/noise maker, https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/ (Book Three, Lesson 5)
Do you know what I saw this week? (Holding up turkey feather) No, I didn’t see a turkey; I saw a turkey feather. This is evidence that what? Likely a turkey walked across the field. I suppose a child or a coyote could have dropped it there, but the most plausible explanation is that a turkey flapped its wings and a feather dropped.
Evidence. Have you ever heard this definition? The substance (confidence or assurance) of things hoped for, the evidence (proof or conviction) of things not seen. This is the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1. This turkey feather is the evidence of a thing not seen - a turkey - because turkey feathers come from turkeys. I have faith, or I believe, that a turkey walked across my field.
O.K. So close your eyes. (Ring bell, then hide it again.) What did you hear? Did you see the bell? No, but your ears heard the evidence that I just had a bell in my hand and I rang it. You believe, based on the evidence you heard, that I had a bell. So sometimes your faith can be based on what you hear - like a bell - not just on what you see - like a feather.
One day a blind man, Bartimaeus, was sitting by the roadside outside of Jericho. When Jesus and his disciples were leaving, Bartimaeus heard the commotion and, learning who it was, he called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” People told him to be quiet, but he called out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me.”
This is remarkable! The name, “Son of David,” is a Messianic term. Bartimaeus was acknowledging that Jesus was the Savior! How did he have this faith?! He couldn’t see! But he had heard what Jesus had been doing.
But the story gets even more interesting. Jesus didn’t go to Bartimaeus. He called Bartimaeus to come to him. Bartimaeus jumped up and left his cloak. Likely his most valuable possession was left alongside the road in his desire to get to Jesus. He had enough faith to believe that what Jesus could do was more valuable than anything he had.
But then, Jesus asks Bartimaeus a very strange question: What do you want me to do for you? It seems obvious to us that Bartimaeus would want to be healed, to regain his sight! But Jesus wanted Bartimaeus to express, out loud, exactly what he wanted. It’s a good reminder for us. When we want God’s blessing, we need to express it very precisely.
Blind Bartimaeus taught us a lot in those six verses: recognize who Jesus is, believe in Him, value Him more than anything you have, and be precise is your requests. Isn’t that cool?!
***Come to God’s House
My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. Mark 11:17 (NIV)
Materials needed: noise makers: whistles, drums, tambourines, pots/pans with wooden spoons, harmonicas, etc; https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/ (Book Two, Lesson 7)
So what would happen if you gathered all the children at church and gave them noise makers? Even before they had directions, they’d start making noise! But suppose you told them that they have permission to make noise as long as your hand is up. Then when you put your hand down, they must stop. You’d likely have a few who would make lots of noise - so much noise that a couple of the children would put their hands over their ears. And making noise is a lot of fun, so you likely would have a little trouble regaining enough quiet so they could hear you!
Ok. But what’s the point? What does making noise have to do with Sabbath observance? Children are smart. You’re likely to get answers like: My parents don’t want me to make noise on Sabbath morning; this is not what we should do at church; it was too loud. The reality is that even though our lives may be noisy the rest of the week, the sabbath is special. We are to rest from all the noise and busyness and chaos. Church is a place where we come to honor God and to worship. It is a place to show respect to God. But it’s not just children who have to be told this.
Jesus dealt with people disrespecting God’s house when He was in Jerusalem. Those people had big noise makers - like birds and sheep and goats. Animals and birds not only make noise, they make a mess - and they smell. In addition to the animals, there were money changers. So there was the clank of coins in addition to all of the rest of the bedlam. It was not a quiet, peaceful, worshipful place. And Jesus - God’s Son - was not pleased.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be doing anything that would displease Jesus. It’s a good thing to remember when we’re at church. Think about it! What do you think is inappropriate?
While You Were Sleeping
Lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. Mark 13:36
Sometimes kids don’t want to go to bed. Perhaps they think they’re going to miss something important. While it is true that some parents wait to eat ice cream until after the kids are in bed, more often parents stay up a little later to have important conversations with each other, or to pay bills and do laundry, or just to have a little piece of quiet! But kids don’t know that. They are sure that Mom and Dad are waiting until they go to bed. Then the parents will have FUN!
But I’m pretty sure that’s not why Jesus told his disciples to stay awake. . . . lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” (Mark 13:36-27). In fact, Jesus wasn’t advocating staying awake all the time, never going to sleep. God designed our bodies to recharge during sleep. Studies have shown that kids grow when they’re asleep. While you’re sleeping, your brain processes everything that happened during the day and files it away, or sometimes it spends all night working out an algebra problem you were stuck on when you went to bed, or sometimes it reviews all of the stuff you were supposed to remember for tomorrow’s big test. Researchers have found that it’s much more important to get a good night’s sleep than it is to spend all night cramming for tomorrow’s test. But still, Jesus did tell his disciples to stay awake. So what’s He talking about?
When you’re asleep, you don’t know what’s going on around you. You are completely unaware of what is happening. You’re unconscious. You’re asleep. The family dog could be chewing up your homework. Your older brother could be reorganizing your stuff. Your parents could bring clean clothes into your room. You just don’t know because you’re asleep. It’s such a good analogy for Jesus to use because everyone has experienced waking up in the morning to find something has happened while they were sleeping. Sometimes it’s a big snowstorm. Sometimes you wake up to find out that your mom had the baby in the night. There are sometimes great things that have happened - but you didn’t know because you were asleep.
But for those things, it doesn’t really matter. So what if it snowed while you were sleeping. You can’t go sledding until the sun comes up anyway. If you try to sled at night, you’re likely to run headfirst into a tree.
What really does matter is being awake when Jesus comes back. But I’m still not talking about sleeping. Not really. I’m talking about being aware. Pay attention to the events going on around you. But more importantly, pay attention to yourself. Are you aware of what you’re doing in your daily life? Are you aware of the choices you are making? Are they good choices? And more importantly, are they Godly choices?
We are so busy, and there are so many things that grab our attention during the day. (And no, I’m not saying that we should have less school or less homework.) We can become distracted by the things around us and forget that our most important job is to glorify God in everything we think, everything we say, and everything we do. We can become so preoccupied with what we’re going to do tomorrow, or what someone just said to us, or what happened last week, that we turn on the autopilot and just kind of let our day happen. We aren’t really paying attention to what’s going on around us and we’re certainly not making thoughtful choices about our words and our actions. We’re just moving through our day, reacting to things - almost like we’re sleep-walking.
That’s what Jesus is talking about. When we take the name of Jesus Christ - when we call ourself a Christian - we are representing Him in every one of our thoughts and words and actions. We bring dishonor to Him when we thoughtlessly say something to our brother or sister. We bring dishonor to God when we just don’t think, when we’re careless about what we do or say around other people. Stay awake! Be aware of what you’re doing or saying. Make good choices. No, make Godly choices! God has given you a job to do - to bring glory and honor to Him, and to share the gospel with the people around you (with your words and with how you live your life). Be aware of what you’re doing. Stay awake. Don’t fall asleep on the job. You don’t want to find out that Jesus Christ has returned while you were sleeping, and you’re not ready.
Praise God Anyway
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Mark 14:26
One summer, my brother, sister, and I went to the Vacation Bible School done by the non-denominational church that my grandparents attended. I really liked the young lady who did the music, Jecca. So when she talked about praising God no matter what’s going on in your life, I listened. Jecca had painted a big sign on their barn, “Praise God anyway,” to remind herself that no matter what was happening in her life, her first priority was to praise God. That idea has rattled around in my mind for almost forty years now, and in my mind, I can still see Jecca teaching us songs and encouraging us to praise God.
Perhaps that theme, of praising God no matter what, is one of the reasons I like Facing the Giants so much. Coach Taylor told his team, “If we win, we praise Him. If we lose, we praise Him.” No matter what would happen in their football season, they had determined to praise God.
So we come to the night that Jesus met with his disciples in the upper room. He’d shared the bread and wine with them. He’d washed their feet. He told Judas Iscariot that what he was about to do, he should do quickly. And then, knowing what was coming - the beating, the travesty of justice, the abandonment, the crucifixion and agonizing death - Jesus got ready to go with his disciples out to the Mount of Olives. Jesus was going to pray to His Father. It was a sobering night, a dreadful night. But here’s how Mark records it: And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives (Mark 14:26). Even knowing what was coming, Jesus was praising God anyway.
It makes you think, doesn’t it? I can think of so many psalms which talk about praising God. “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD” (Psalm 150:6). “Praise the Eternal with a psalm” (Psalm 81). “Praise ye the LORD, O, praise ye the LORD. Praise from the heavens and praise in the heights” (Psalm 148:1). But you know, I can think of nowhere that we’re commanded to praise God only when things are going well, or when we are happy, or when we feel like it. We’re told to sing and make music in our hearts to God (Ephesians 5:19). We’re told to speak to one another in hymns and psalms and spiritual songs (Col 3:16). We are told to praise God . . . period.
We’re given examples of when people did sing praises to God: two of my favorites are King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20) and Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16:16-40). Jehoshaphat sent out the singers first and God fought the battle against Ammon and Moab. When Paul and Silas began to sing and praise God, an earthquake loosed every prisoners’ chains and the jail doors flew open. The jailer and his entire household were baptized that night. But, just like in Facing the Giants, there are stories of praise even when things didn’t go the way people wanted them to. When the Titanic was sinking, those left on board gathered together and sang “Abide With Me.” Even though they were going to drown, they chose to praise God anyway!
When Jonathan was born, I sang “Come, Thou Fount of every blessing; tune my heart to sing Thy praise.” When Christopher broke His jaw in 2006, I sang “Be not dismayed at what e’re betide; God will take care of you.” When we were visiting my grandmother’s ranch that June, I was singing “For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” When we took Ken to his first Feast of Tabernacles in 1997, we stood around the piano one evening and I taught the family “As the Deer.” The night before the Last Great Day in 1991, the whole family walked out through the ponderosa pines at Lake Tahoe to the tennis courts. We lay down and looked at the stars. Almost simultaneously, we started singing “How Great Thou Art.” I can remember so many times in my life when a song was running through my head, both encouraging me and reminding me to praise God from Whom all blessings flow.
Music is a great blessing! It’s a wonderful tool for praising God - whether things are going well or whether you’re experiencing some storms of life. So take a moment. Think about your favorite hymn or Christian song. Which one comes to mind right now? Perhaps it’s the one that God has given you right now to help you praise Him - because of what’s happening in your life, for both the good and the bad.
I’m so encouraged by Mark’s reminder that as Jesus walked into the most difficult day of His life, He sang a hymn of praise to God. Can we but do likewise?
**God’s Got It Sorted
Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, Mark 14:13
Materials needed: various small puzzles
Do you like figuring out puzzles? A couple of people who live with me really like jigsaw puzzles. Another couple of them are really good at finger puzzles, the Rubik’s cubs, or sudokus. I know a couple who works out the newspaper crossword nearly every day. As I was thinking about this, I thought about all of the puzzles that we have in our lives: figuring out what’s wrong with the car, figuring out how to train the cat not to jump over the gate at 1:45 a.m. so that she can sleep on somebody’s bed, figuring out how to pack boxes to maximize the space, or puzzles which involve figuring out the best way to fight your enemy. The last one came to mind because of a Narnia movie. Edmund and Peter were involved in a couple of situations which involved some problem-solving, and Edmund assured Peter, “I’ve got it sorted.”
I like that phrase. “I’ve got it sorted.” In other words, “I’ve got it figured out. I’ve waded into the chaos, figured out what went where, and put everything in its place.”
Only. . . . do we really ever have it sorted . . . truly? Maybe doing a jigsaw, getting a car working, fixing the plumbing, but there are many times in our lives when we need things to come together and it’s just not in our power to make sure that happens.
It makes me think about the night that Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples. They had asked him where they were going to keep the Passover. This is the account in Mark 14:13-16: And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 14and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 16And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
Have you ever wondered about this passage? How did Jesus know that the disciples would meet a man, carrying a jar of water? He wasn’t just standing there, waiting for them to show up; jars of water are heavy. How did the master of the house know to have the upper room furnished? And if Jesus knew that the upper room was furnished and ready for them, why didn’t He just tell His disciples to go there? Why did they have to meet the man with the jar of water and follow him?
It’s curious, isn’t it? It’s a puzzle I’m not going to figure out any time soon. But it does illuminate the fact that there are things in my life that need to happen which are out of my control, but they are not out of God’s control. He’s sovereign. He’s in charge. He can make happen what needs to happen. I just need to trust Him because He’s got it all sorted.
**Proclaim the Gospel
. . . proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Mark 16:15
Materials: big magnet, paperclips, candles, matches
Demonstration: Touch a paperclip to a magnet. Then touch another paperclip to the end of the first paperclip. What happens? The magnetism travels through the first paperclip and attracts the second paperclip to the magnet - through the first paperclip. So something that wasn’t magnetic becomes magnetic - as long as it’s touching the magnet. How many paperclips can be put in the line of paperclips held only by the next closer paperclip?
I love how God gives us physical experiences to help us understand the spiritual reality. There’s a couple of very interesting principles at work here.
First, just as the second paperclip was attracted by the magnetism of the first paperclip as long as the first paperclip is still touching the magnet, so people can be attracted to Jesus Christ as long as we stay connected to Jesus. In other words, we allow others to see Jesus in us - and if we are truly allowing the light of God to shine in our lives, it can be very attractive to them.
An interesting thing happens as you play with the paperclips and the magnet. Eventually, the second paperclip flips over and makes its own connection straight to the magnet. You can’t get it to re-connect only to the first paperclip. The attraction to the magnet is too strong. In a similar way, we don’t want people to continue to be connected to Jesus through us. We want them to have their own connection to Jesus.
Second demonstration: Light a candle. I only have one match. But I can use that candle to light another candle. In the same way, if I share the gospel (the good news) of Jesus Christ to the people around me (shining my light), then they too may be attracted to God’s truth and begin to shine the truth to the people around them.
There’s a saying: you may be the only Bible anyone ever reads. That’s because there are people out there who never read their Bible. So you may be the magnet or the light which attracts them to Jesus. Or if you’re not connected or not on fire, you can miss that opportunity for someone to come to know Jesus. You can have an impact, for good or for bad, on every person you meet. And you never know who is watching what you do and what you say. So it’s an important thing to remember when you are out with your friends or out with your mom - you can attract others to God, if you allow God to work through you.
Secondly, if you have more than one paperclip attached to the magnet, you can pick up a longer line of paperclips. When we work together as a church body, we have a greater chance of reaching more people with the love of God. You may be really good at listening. Your sister may be very loving. Your brother may be very kind and gentle. People see different characteristic traits in our church family that draw them to fellowship and be drawn closer to Jesus Christ.
So as a church family, we not only have a greater impact on the people around us, we also have a greater impact - as a church body - on the rest of the church body. The more people there are, the more we are tied together. And the Bible affirms this observation in Ecclesiastes 4:12, “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” Or if you bring three candles together, the fire that they make can shine light farther than just one candle can by itself.
Jesus told His disciples (and by extension, all of us) to preach the gospel to the whole creation. In addition to our words, our actions can also be very attractive to others. Our actions shine God’s light because they are seen. And, when we come together as a church body we are more effective, more attractive, and shine more light than each of us alone, by ourselves. Jesus gave us a job to do. Let’s preach the gospel faithfully and efficiently as God leads us.
. . . proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Mark 16:15
Let the little children come to me. Don’t keep them away (NIrV). Mark 10:14
Materials needed: lesson #8 from Primaries book (https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/); Perspective Poster, cards (Divide the poster into two sides: Man’s Perspective - Jesus’ Perspective; Create a set of cards - characteristics of children)
WC Fields used to say, “Get away from me, kid; you bother me.” Although most adults wouldn’t say that out loud to a child, some adults really don’t like kids. Why? (These are the characteristics printed on the cards, one on each.) Have the children figure out which column each card will fit into.
Loud
Insistent on their own way
Lack of manners
Need care
Make mistakes
Tells it like they see it
Persistent
Open to teaching
Intensely curious
Recognizes authority
Each of these characteristics will lend support to a person’s perspective that they’d rather not be around kids or support to Jesus’ perspective that you must become like a little child if you want to be in His kingdom. Curiously, there are a couple of characteristics that will fit into both categories.
It’s very important for children to understand that God values them for those characteristics. When the disciples didn’t want the children to bother Jesus, Jesus pointed out just how valuable those characteristics are to Him!
It’s a good reminder to all of us to 1) see the value of children and 2) see the value of the characteristics that are pleasing to God.
Note: After the children put the cards into the columns, I pointed out how what other people might see as a negative can be turned into a positive because of the willingness to be taught, to recognize authority, to be persistent, etc.
Sabbath, August 12th
Believing is Seeing
“Go. . .your faith has healed you” (NIrV). - Mark 10:52
Materials Needed: turkey feather (or similar object found outside), bell/noise maker, https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/ (Book Three, Lesson 5)
Do you know what I saw this week? (Holding up turkey feather) No, I didn’t see a turkey; I saw a turkey feather. This is evidence that what? Likely a turkey walked across the field. I suppose a child or a coyote could have dropped it there, but the most plausible explanation is that a turkey flapped its wings and a feather dropped.
Evidence. Have you ever heard this definition? The substance (confidence or assurance) of things hoped for, the evidence (proof or conviction) of things not seen. This is the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1. This turkey feather is the evidence of a thing not seen - a turkey - because turkey feathers come from turkeys. I have faith, or I believe, that a turkey walked across my field.
O.K. So close your eyes. (Ring bell, then hide it again.) What did you hear? Did you see the bell? No, but your ears heard the evidence that I just had a bell in my hand and I rang it. You believe, based on the evidence you heard, that I had a bell. So sometimes your faith can be based on what you hear - like a bell - not just on what you see - like a feather.
One day a blind man, Bartimaeus, was sitting by the roadside outside of Jericho. When Jesus and his disciples were leaving, Bartimaeus heard the commotion and, learning who it was, he called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” People told him to be quiet, but he called out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me.”
This is remarkable! The name, “Son of David,” is a Messianic term. Bartimaeus was acknowledging that Jesus was the Savior! How did he have this faith?! He couldn’t see! But he had heard what Jesus had been doing.
But the story gets even more interesting. Jesus didn’t go to Bartimaeus. He called Bartimaeus to come to him. Bartimaeus jumped up and left his cloak. Likely his most valuable possession was left alongside the road in his desire to get to Jesus. He had enough faith to believe that what Jesus could do was more valuable than anything he had.
But then, Jesus asks Bartimaeus a very strange question: What do you want me to do for you? It seems obvious to us that Bartimaeus would want to be healed, to regain his sight! But Jesus wanted Bartimaeus to express, out loud, exactly what he wanted. It’s a good reminder for us. When we want God’s blessing, we need to express it very precisely.
Blind Bartimaeus taught us a lot in those six verses: recognize who Jesus is, believe in Him, value Him more than anything you have, and be precise is your requests. Isn’t that cool?!
***Come to God’s House
My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. Mark 11:17 (NIV)
Materials needed: noise makers: whistles, drums, tambourines, pots/pans with wooden spoons, harmonicas, etc; https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/ (Book Two, Lesson 7)
So what would happen if you gathered all the children at church and gave them noise makers? Even before they had directions, they’d start making noise! But suppose you told them that they have permission to make noise as long as your hand is up. Then when you put your hand down, they must stop. You’d likely have a few who would make lots of noise - so much noise that a couple of the children would put their hands over their ears. And making noise is a lot of fun, so you likely would have a little trouble regaining enough quiet so they could hear you!
Ok. But what’s the point? What does making noise have to do with Sabbath observance? Children are smart. You’re likely to get answers like: My parents don’t want me to make noise on Sabbath morning; this is not what we should do at church; it was too loud. The reality is that even though our lives may be noisy the rest of the week, the sabbath is special. We are to rest from all the noise and busyness and chaos. Church is a place where we come to honor God and to worship. It is a place to show respect to God. But it’s not just children who have to be told this.
Jesus dealt with people disrespecting God’s house when He was in Jerusalem. Those people had big noise makers - like birds and sheep and goats. Animals and birds not only make noise, they make a mess - and they smell. In addition to the animals, there were money changers. So there was the clank of coins in addition to all of the rest of the bedlam. It was not a quiet, peaceful, worshipful place. And Jesus - God’s Son - was not pleased.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be doing anything that would displease Jesus. It’s a good thing to remember when we’re at church. Think about it! What do you think is inappropriate?
While You Were Sleeping
Lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. Mark 13:36
Sometimes kids don’t want to go to bed. Perhaps they think they’re going to miss something important. While it is true that some parents wait to eat ice cream until after the kids are in bed, more often parents stay up a little later to have important conversations with each other, or to pay bills and do laundry, or just to have a little piece of quiet! But kids don’t know that. They are sure that Mom and Dad are waiting until they go to bed. Then the parents will have FUN!
But I’m pretty sure that’s not why Jesus told his disciples to stay awake. . . . lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” (Mark 13:36-27). In fact, Jesus wasn’t advocating staying awake all the time, never going to sleep. God designed our bodies to recharge during sleep. Studies have shown that kids grow when they’re asleep. While you’re sleeping, your brain processes everything that happened during the day and files it away, or sometimes it spends all night working out an algebra problem you were stuck on when you went to bed, or sometimes it reviews all of the stuff you were supposed to remember for tomorrow’s big test. Researchers have found that it’s much more important to get a good night’s sleep than it is to spend all night cramming for tomorrow’s test. But still, Jesus did tell his disciples to stay awake. So what’s He talking about?
When you’re asleep, you don’t know what’s going on around you. You are completely unaware of what is happening. You’re unconscious. You’re asleep. The family dog could be chewing up your homework. Your older brother could be reorganizing your stuff. Your parents could bring clean clothes into your room. You just don’t know because you’re asleep. It’s such a good analogy for Jesus to use because everyone has experienced waking up in the morning to find something has happened while they were sleeping. Sometimes it’s a big snowstorm. Sometimes you wake up to find out that your mom had the baby in the night. There are sometimes great things that have happened - but you didn’t know because you were asleep.
But for those things, it doesn’t really matter. So what if it snowed while you were sleeping. You can’t go sledding until the sun comes up anyway. If you try to sled at night, you’re likely to run headfirst into a tree.
What really does matter is being awake when Jesus comes back. But I’m still not talking about sleeping. Not really. I’m talking about being aware. Pay attention to the events going on around you. But more importantly, pay attention to yourself. Are you aware of what you’re doing in your daily life? Are you aware of the choices you are making? Are they good choices? And more importantly, are they Godly choices?
We are so busy, and there are so many things that grab our attention during the day. (And no, I’m not saying that we should have less school or less homework.) We can become distracted by the things around us and forget that our most important job is to glorify God in everything we think, everything we say, and everything we do. We can become so preoccupied with what we’re going to do tomorrow, or what someone just said to us, or what happened last week, that we turn on the autopilot and just kind of let our day happen. We aren’t really paying attention to what’s going on around us and we’re certainly not making thoughtful choices about our words and our actions. We’re just moving through our day, reacting to things - almost like we’re sleep-walking.
That’s what Jesus is talking about. When we take the name of Jesus Christ - when we call ourself a Christian - we are representing Him in every one of our thoughts and words and actions. We bring dishonor to Him when we thoughtlessly say something to our brother or sister. We bring dishonor to God when we just don’t think, when we’re careless about what we do or say around other people. Stay awake! Be aware of what you’re doing or saying. Make good choices. No, make Godly choices! God has given you a job to do - to bring glory and honor to Him, and to share the gospel with the people around you (with your words and with how you live your life). Be aware of what you’re doing. Stay awake. Don’t fall asleep on the job. You don’t want to find out that Jesus Christ has returned while you were sleeping, and you’re not ready.
Praise God Anyway
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Mark 14:26
One summer, my brother, sister, and I went to the Vacation Bible School done by the non-denominational church that my grandparents attended. I really liked the young lady who did the music, Jecca. So when she talked about praising God no matter what’s going on in your life, I listened. Jecca had painted a big sign on their barn, “Praise God anyway,” to remind herself that no matter what was happening in her life, her first priority was to praise God. That idea has rattled around in my mind for almost forty years now, and in my mind, I can still see Jecca teaching us songs and encouraging us to praise God.
Perhaps that theme, of praising God no matter what, is one of the reasons I like Facing the Giants so much. Coach Taylor told his team, “If we win, we praise Him. If we lose, we praise Him.” No matter what would happen in their football season, they had determined to praise God.
So we come to the night that Jesus met with his disciples in the upper room. He’d shared the bread and wine with them. He’d washed their feet. He told Judas Iscariot that what he was about to do, he should do quickly. And then, knowing what was coming - the beating, the travesty of justice, the abandonment, the crucifixion and agonizing death - Jesus got ready to go with his disciples out to the Mount of Olives. Jesus was going to pray to His Father. It was a sobering night, a dreadful night. But here’s how Mark records it: And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives (Mark 14:26). Even knowing what was coming, Jesus was praising God anyway.
It makes you think, doesn’t it? I can think of so many psalms which talk about praising God. “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD” (Psalm 150:6). “Praise the Eternal with a psalm” (Psalm 81). “Praise ye the LORD, O, praise ye the LORD. Praise from the heavens and praise in the heights” (Psalm 148:1). But you know, I can think of nowhere that we’re commanded to praise God only when things are going well, or when we are happy, or when we feel like it. We’re told to sing and make music in our hearts to God (Ephesians 5:19). We’re told to speak to one another in hymns and psalms and spiritual songs (Col 3:16). We are told to praise God . . . period.
We’re given examples of when people did sing praises to God: two of my favorites are King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20) and Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16:16-40). Jehoshaphat sent out the singers first and God fought the battle against Ammon and Moab. When Paul and Silas began to sing and praise God, an earthquake loosed every prisoners’ chains and the jail doors flew open. The jailer and his entire household were baptized that night. But, just like in Facing the Giants, there are stories of praise even when things didn’t go the way people wanted them to. When the Titanic was sinking, those left on board gathered together and sang “Abide With Me.” Even though they were going to drown, they chose to praise God anyway!
When Jonathan was born, I sang “Come, Thou Fount of every blessing; tune my heart to sing Thy praise.” When Christopher broke His jaw in 2006, I sang “Be not dismayed at what e’re betide; God will take care of you.” When we were visiting my grandmother’s ranch that June, I was singing “For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” When we took Ken to his first Feast of Tabernacles in 1997, we stood around the piano one evening and I taught the family “As the Deer.” The night before the Last Great Day in 1991, the whole family walked out through the ponderosa pines at Lake Tahoe to the tennis courts. We lay down and looked at the stars. Almost simultaneously, we started singing “How Great Thou Art.” I can remember so many times in my life when a song was running through my head, both encouraging me and reminding me to praise God from Whom all blessings flow.
Music is a great blessing! It’s a wonderful tool for praising God - whether things are going well or whether you’re experiencing some storms of life. So take a moment. Think about your favorite hymn or Christian song. Which one comes to mind right now? Perhaps it’s the one that God has given you right now to help you praise Him - because of what’s happening in your life, for both the good and the bad.
I’m so encouraged by Mark’s reminder that as Jesus walked into the most difficult day of His life, He sang a hymn of praise to God. Can we but do likewise?
**God’s Got It Sorted
Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, Mark 14:13
Materials needed: various small puzzles
Do you like figuring out puzzles? A couple of people who live with me really like jigsaw puzzles. Another couple of them are really good at finger puzzles, the Rubik’s cubs, or sudokus. I know a couple who works out the newspaper crossword nearly every day. As I was thinking about this, I thought about all of the puzzles that we have in our lives: figuring out what’s wrong with the car, figuring out how to train the cat not to jump over the gate at 1:45 a.m. so that she can sleep on somebody’s bed, figuring out how to pack boxes to maximize the space, or puzzles which involve figuring out the best way to fight your enemy. The last one came to mind because of a Narnia movie. Edmund and Peter were involved in a couple of situations which involved some problem-solving, and Edmund assured Peter, “I’ve got it sorted.”
I like that phrase. “I’ve got it sorted.” In other words, “I’ve got it figured out. I’ve waded into the chaos, figured out what went where, and put everything in its place.”
Only. . . . do we really ever have it sorted . . . truly? Maybe doing a jigsaw, getting a car working, fixing the plumbing, but there are many times in our lives when we need things to come together and it’s just not in our power to make sure that happens.
It makes me think about the night that Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples. They had asked him where they were going to keep the Passover. This is the account in Mark 14:13-16: And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 14and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 16And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
Have you ever wondered about this passage? How did Jesus know that the disciples would meet a man, carrying a jar of water? He wasn’t just standing there, waiting for them to show up; jars of water are heavy. How did the master of the house know to have the upper room furnished? And if Jesus knew that the upper room was furnished and ready for them, why didn’t He just tell His disciples to go there? Why did they have to meet the man with the jar of water and follow him?
It’s curious, isn’t it? It’s a puzzle I’m not going to figure out any time soon. But it does illuminate the fact that there are things in my life that need to happen which are out of my control, but they are not out of God’s control. He’s sovereign. He’s in charge. He can make happen what needs to happen. I just need to trust Him because He’s got it all sorted.
**Proclaim the Gospel
. . . proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Mark 16:15
Materials: big magnet, paperclips, candles, matches
Demonstration: Touch a paperclip to a magnet. Then touch another paperclip to the end of the first paperclip. What happens? The magnetism travels through the first paperclip and attracts the second paperclip to the magnet - through the first paperclip. So something that wasn’t magnetic becomes magnetic - as long as it’s touching the magnet. How many paperclips can be put in the line of paperclips held only by the next closer paperclip?
I love how God gives us physical experiences to help us understand the spiritual reality. There’s a couple of very interesting principles at work here.
First, just as the second paperclip was attracted by the magnetism of the first paperclip as long as the first paperclip is still touching the magnet, so people can be attracted to Jesus Christ as long as we stay connected to Jesus. In other words, we allow others to see Jesus in us - and if we are truly allowing the light of God to shine in our lives, it can be very attractive to them.
An interesting thing happens as you play with the paperclips and the magnet. Eventually, the second paperclip flips over and makes its own connection straight to the magnet. You can’t get it to re-connect only to the first paperclip. The attraction to the magnet is too strong. In a similar way, we don’t want people to continue to be connected to Jesus through us. We want them to have their own connection to Jesus.
Second demonstration: Light a candle. I only have one match. But I can use that candle to light another candle. In the same way, if I share the gospel (the good news) of Jesus Christ to the people around me (shining my light), then they too may be attracted to God’s truth and begin to shine the truth to the people around them.
There’s a saying: you may be the only Bible anyone ever reads. That’s because there are people out there who never read their Bible. So you may be the magnet or the light which attracts them to Jesus. Or if you’re not connected or not on fire, you can miss that opportunity for someone to come to know Jesus. You can have an impact, for good or for bad, on every person you meet. And you never know who is watching what you do and what you say. So it’s an important thing to remember when you are out with your friends or out with your mom - you can attract others to God, if you allow God to work through you.
Secondly, if you have more than one paperclip attached to the magnet, you can pick up a longer line of paperclips. When we work together as a church body, we have a greater chance of reaching more people with the love of God. You may be really good at listening. Your sister may be very loving. Your brother may be very kind and gentle. People see different characteristic traits in our church family that draw them to fellowship and be drawn closer to Jesus Christ.
So as a church family, we not only have a greater impact on the people around us, we also have a greater impact - as a church body - on the rest of the church body. The more people there are, the more we are tied together. And the Bible affirms this observation in Ecclesiastes 4:12, “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” Or if you bring three candles together, the fire that they make can shine light farther than just one candle can by itself.
Jesus told His disciples (and by extension, all of us) to preach the gospel to the whole creation. In addition to our words, our actions can also be very attractive to others. Our actions shine God’s light because they are seen. And, when we come together as a church body we are more effective, more attractive, and shine more light than each of us alone, by ourselves. Jesus gave us a job to do. Let’s preach the gospel faithfully and efficiently as God leads us.
. . . proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Mark 16:15