#18 on my list, Put together 30 new Sunday school lessons (#4)

Lesson #4

Topic: Asking God for His help

Scriptures: 1 Kings 17:17-24

Synopsis: This is the account of the widow of Zarephath. The prophet Elijah has just declared to King Ahab that it will not rain. Elijah was fed by the ravens and lived near a small brook, for a time, until the Lord told Elijah to go to Zarephath where there was a woman who would be able to continue to feed him. She did, even though she only had a small amount of meal and oil to feed herself and her son. In fact when Elijah told her to make her the meal, she was preparing to make the last one for them and then they were to die. Well after the meal was made the oil and meal didn't run out, by itself I think this could be a lesson in ho the Lord blesses giving. However, my particular lesson last week was about the second part of the story. Time has passed and the widows son gets sick and ends up dying. The widow gets mad at God, and Elijah has to be the one to take the boy aside and asks the Lord to revive him. The Lord restores the boys health, but it's only at the end of the chapter that the widow praises God for restoring health to her son. Which brings me to what the Lord revealed to me.

What the Lord revealed to me: The Lord takes such good care of the widow, and of us. He sent her a messenger to provide her with a message of hope, he provided food for her when she was in danger of loosing all the food that she had, and he performed a miracle and revived her son from death. However, what struck me about this story is that even in the first part of it, the widow has no sense of gratitude or thankfulness to God for how he has taken care of her. Only when her son is brought back to life does she become thankful to God, and for his provision. That made me think about myself, and us as a society in general. Does God have to take away those things, and people, that mean the most to us in order to get us to express our gratitude toward him? It seems like more and more that may have to be the case, and it really should not be the case when it comes to Christians. We should always have a spirit of thankfulness, even when things look their bleakest I do believe that there is something worth finding to be thankful for. We connot see the end of the things and circumstances that God places in our life, but they are all a means of bringing us closer to him. He should not have to bring us to the ends of ourselves in order to get our attention, nor do I think it is something that he desires to do, but I believe that He will do it if it will bring us closer to him, and get our hearts right so that we can stay in communion with Him.

#18 on my list, Put together 30 new Sunday school lessons (#3)

Lesson #3

Topic: Observing the commands of Jesus

Scriptures: Acts 10:1-29; 34-35; 48

Synopsis: This is the story of Cornelius and Peter, and when the Lord tells Peter that all "things" made by him are clean, picturing the opening up of the Gospel to the Gentiles. At this time in history Jews and Gentiles did not mix with eachother, for they were considered "unclean", it was just not something that happened. But the Lord sent Peter a vision and message commanding him to kill one of the animals that He had previously said were not lawful for the Jews to eat. This included pork, fish with scales, and other animals. Peter wouldn't do it at first, but it wasn't unitl some visitors, that Cornelius had sent, arrived that Peter understood what the Lord was trying to show him.

What the Lord revealed to me: Peter didn't want to associate with Gentiles, but he had to in order to bring the Gospel to them, for the Salvation of Jesus Christ is open to enerybody. Sometimes there are people that I don't want to approach either. Sometimes it's simply based on the way they look (whether wealthy or not). Sometimes it's just because I get nervous about their reaction. But it's not for me to decide who needs to hear the gospel, it's only my job to tell those who may not know about Jesus. You can't tell by the way someone looks what is going on inside their heart or their lives, and they may truly be searching for spiritual answers, like Cornelius was. What I learned was that appearances are not everything and to break down those prejudices so I can try and tell more people about the salvation the Jesus offers.

#18 on my list, Put together 30 new Sunday school lessons (#2)

Lesson #2

Topic: Relying on Jesus power. It's Amazing how the Lord has things designed since in the upcoming month, May, my church has decided that the focus of the month will be 'Looking beyond ourselves to the Power of Jesus Christ'. So to have that be the topic for last weeks lesson was pretty astounding.

Scriptures: Acts 3:1-4:31 (Peter and John heal a crippled man, after Jesus ascended into heaven, and they had to rely on the His power in order to do it)

Synopsis: By relying on Jesus' power in our lives all things are possible.

What the Lord revealed to me: One of my girls asked me this question on Sunday, and I was so happy that she did. The question that she asked was this, "What if the man that was healed still had some of the disease in him, after Peter healed him?" First, I thought that maybe she was trying to be difficult with her question. However, the second thought I had was 'What an opportunity for a object lesson'. So, knowing that this girl is saved, I asked her if "when Jesus saved her did he only offer her salvation halfway?" Her answer was of course no. Then to reiterate my point I asked, "Is Jesus ever going to take away your salvation?". Again the answer was no. So then I said, "When Jesus used his power to heal someone, and when he uses his power to save us it is done complete and right the first time. Nothing is missed and noting is done half way." I mean even when Jesus healed the blind man in Mark 8:24 (where he saw men as trees), Jesus knew that wasn't acceptable and set out to make sure that the man was restored to his whole self. Which is what he wants for us all, to be whole.

Matthew 28:18, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

#18 on my list, Put together 30 new Sunday school lessons (#1)

This one has taken me a while to decide how I'd like to write these particular entries. I have a tendancy to get on a soapbox, and lecturing is not something that I'd like to do with these entries. Not to mention that these lessons contain only what the Lord has showed me, and there are many times that he uses the same pieces of scripture to show people different lessons in life, and in their walk with him. Also because I want to protect my girls anonymity as they are all well under age. So what I've decided to do is to just simply give the title of the lesson that I prepared, the scriptures that I prepared it from, a brief synopsis of the lesson, and one thing that the Lord showed me while preparing the lesson. Because if I re-wrote my whole lesson it would take me another week, and I just don't have that kind of time.

Lesson #1

Topic: Showing our love through our service
This particularly concerns showing our love for Christ through our service to other (family, friends, our church). Which goes with my churches theme for this month, which is, Looking beyond ourselves to the needs of our family.

Scriptures: John 13:1-17, 34-35 & Luke 22:1-2, 7-13 (The story of Jesus serving the disciples as he washes their feet at the Passover supper, prior to his crucifiction)

Synopsis: By serving one another and giving of our time selflessly, we (Christians) are able to show others the same love that Christ showed to us.

What the Lord revealed to me: Even though we may have "important" responsibilities, if we can't, or choose not to, sacrifice our own time to serve someone who is in need, then the service and effort that Christ gave to us is in vain. For it states clearly in his second commandment that we are to "love our neighbor as ourself". And this is found in all 4 of the gospels. So I think it would be kinda important, right?

Mark 12:30,31
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.