Sunday School Review
Jesus Enters Jerusalem as King
April, 10 2022
As the climax of Jesus’ ministry approached, He entered Jerusalem as King during the last week of His life. On Sunday, Jesus arrived in Jerusalem as the promised King which the Old Testament looked forward to. Throughout the week, Jesus demonstrated His authority as the rightful King as He confronted the hypocritical religious leaders. However, the people and the religious leaders rejected Jesus as King. The religious leaders rejected Jesus as king and were punished as result. Today we must recognize Christ is king by responding to Him with repentance and faith.
Ages 3–5
Lesson Questions
1. What did the people say to Jesus when He entered Jerusalem on a colt? “Hosanna to the Son of David.”
2. Why did Jesus drive out the people in the temple who were changing money, buying, and selling? The merchants were stealing from others and not worshipping God properly.
3. What did Jesus teach the chief priests and elders using the parables? The leaders and people of Israel were not obedient to God.
4. Why did Jesus condemn the leaders of the Jewish people? The leaders did good things in front of people, but their thoughts were wicked and not pleasing to God.
Ages 6–11
Lesson Questions
1. Who did the multitude say that Jesus was? They said that Jesus was the promised King of Israel.
2. When Jesus rode on the donkey’s colt, what Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled? Jesus was fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 and Daniel 9:25.
3. What did Jesus do when He got to Jerusalem? Jesus demonstrated His unique authority by rebuking the religious leaders for making the Lord’s house a robber’s den instead of a house of prayer.
4. Where did Jesus’ unique authority come from? Jesus’ authority came from God the Father.
5. What did Jesus teach the chief priests and elders by using parables? He taught them that they were being disobedient to God. They were rejecting God’s authority.
6. How did Jesus back up His authority from Scripture? Jesus used Exodus 3:6 to demonstrate that the resurrection is an Old Testament truth.
7. What did Jesus say that the leaders of the Jewish people were doing wrong? The leaders were being hypocrites. They did good things in front of the people, but their thoughts were wicked and not pleasing to God because they rejected Jesus as King.
8. How did Jesus respond to the Jewish people’s rejection of Him? Jesus condemned them for rejecting Him.
Pauls Letters to the Church Leaders
April, 03 2022
Dear Parents,
As the early church expanded outside Jerusalem, new churches were planted in various cities. Each church needed godly leaders to help it grow and stay true to the gospel. Paul understood this need, which is why he wrote letters to some of the leaders in the church. Two of these leaders were Timothy and Titus. Timothy was Paul’s friend. He had traveled with Paul and helped him. Now Timothy was a leader at the church in Ephesus.
Titus was a Gentile believer. He had traveled with Paul too. Now Titus was on the island of Crete to help train more church leaders. Paul wrote to give Timothy and Titus advice, and he gave instructions for all the church leaders.
Paul warned Timothy and Titus that being a leader was difficult at times, but God had chosen them to be leaders. Their role as leaders put them in a position to serve God. Paul hoped that recognizing this would help them persevere and live in a way that pleased Christ.
As you share with your kids this week, help them see the value in God’s gift of church leaders. Look for ways to support your leaders so that your kids value them, love them, and respect them. Consider ways your family can encourage your leaders.
At the same time, emphasize that God is at work in your kids and that they too might be leaders in the church one day—perhaps one day soon. Help your kids see that being a leader is a great privilege to help point others to the gospel.
Finally, be sure that your kids understand that church leaders do not lead on their own. All church leaders follow the leadership of Jesus, who was a servant-leader to us. He gave His life so that we could be forgiven of our sin.
Paul wrote to give Timothy and Titus advice and to help all church leaders know how to lead God’s people. Church leaders help believers know what is true, and they serve the church by following the example of Jesus, who served us by dying on the cross for our sins.
Loving One Another
March, 20 2022
Like his first letter, Peter’s second letter was written to believers in the early church who had experienced persecution and suffering. At this time, Peter was in a Roman prison. He was aware that his death was imminent. (See 2 Pet. 1:13-15.) Besides the outside threats to their faith, these believers were also confronted with false teachers within the church who tried to lead them away from the true gospel.
Paul warned against false teachers. In the opening chapter of his letter, Paul’s exhortation to live like Jesus gives believers a measure for making sure they are following the truth. The best defense against false teachers is a dedication to a knowledge of the truth. As you prepare to teach from 2 Peter 1, consider these two questions: How do we live like Jesus? Why do we live like Jesus?
First, God’s people live like Jesus through the power of Jesus (2 Pet. 1:3-4) and through personal application (2 Pet. 1:5-7). Not only is the Christian life marked by faith in Christ, it is characterized by goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. These come from knowing Jesus, who calls us to Himself.
Second, God’s people live like Jesus to confirm their calling. (2 Pet. 1:8-11) If we claim to have faith but do not live like Jesus, we have forgotten what Jesus has done for us. Because God has credited to us Jesus’ righteousness, we strive to live in loving obedience to Him to show those around us that Jesus has truly changed our lives.
Soon after writing this letter, Peter was killed in Rome as Jesus had predicted. (John 21:18-19) Help your kids grasp that Jesus lived a perfect life and died the death we deserve for our sin. When we trust in Jesus, God forgives our sins and changes our hearts. Jesus calls and empowers His followers to live like Him.
Jesus lived a perfect life and died the death we deserve for our sin. When we trust in Jesus, God forgives our sins and changes our hearts. Jesus calls and empowers His followers to live like Him.
The Church Was Divided
March, 13 2022
Memory Verse
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
Lesson
Paul helped start the church in Corinth, a city in southern Greece, during his second missionary journey. Corinth was known for its wickedness. If any city needed a church, this was it. Paul remained in Corinth for about 18 months and then continued traveling to share the gospel and plant more churches.
Six years later, Paul received word from Chloe, a believer in Corinth, that the church there was struggling. The church was fractured and openly engaging in various sins. Some believers were even denying the resurrection! This news surely troubled Paul, so he sat down to write a letter to the church.
One of the first issues Paul addressed was the church’s division. Even if he could help resolve the other issues, a divided church would never be healthy and impact the city the way it needed to. According to Chloe’s report, several factions had formed in the church. Some claimed to follow Paul. Others Apollos. Others Peter. And some even claimed to follow Jesus, which wasn’t as good as it sounded. This group was most likely simply trying to sound more spiritual than the others.
Paul told the Corinthian believers that they should not be divided; they should all be one because of their shared faith in Jesus. Jesus isn’t divided, and He alone died on the cross for them. Paul’s message was clear: the gospel does not divide believers, it unites them.
Paul told believers in the Corinthian church to come together because of the gospel of Jesus. He reminded them that Jesus saves sinners. Because of Jesus and what He has done, believers can humbly come together as one body.
We all—our kids included—are experts in finding ways to divide ourselves. Sin and selfishness divide, but Jesus and the gospel unite. God designed the church to show what true unity among a beautifully diverse people looks like. This week, pray that the message Paul shared with the Corinthian believers takes root in your heart and in the hearts of your kids. Pray that God would break down the barriers we create and bring your kids together as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Family Discussion Questions
Why is it important for Christians to be united?
Whom should Christians follow? Why?
Paul Confronted Peter
March, 06 2022
Dear Parents,
Peter—one of Jesus’ original disciples—had grown up in a culture where the Jews believed that God only cared about them, not the Gentiles or non-Jews.
Most of the Jews looked down on the Gentiles and refused to even associate with them because Jews believed Gentiles were unclean; Gentiles didn’t live the right way to please God. Any Jew who did associate with Gentiles did so at the risk of being ridiculed by his own people.
After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, God shared with Peter that He loved not only the Jews, but the Gentiles as well. (Acts 10:9-16) Peter took to heart this message from God and began associating with Gentiles, even eating with Gentile believers. That is, until some Jewish believers came around. When he was among Jews, Peter did not eat with the Gentiles and even told them they were supposed to follow certain Jewish laws. But he knew that was not true! Peter also led Barnabas, known for encouraging believers and bringing them together, into acting the same way.
When the apostle Paul learned about this, he confronted Peter in person. Paul reminded Peter that they both knew that God accepts people not based on how they live but by faith. (Rom. 3:21-22) Peter’s actions contradicted that core gospel message.
Paul shared this story with the believers in Galatia (a major province of Rome in modern Turkey) to remind them—and us—of the same truth. Salvation is not based on ethnicity or external obedience to the law. Salvation comes from faith in Jesus Christ, a faith that is freely available to people of every tongue, tribe, and nation.
Peter was wrong to separate himself from the Gentiles. The gospel is for everyone, and we should show love to everyone. Paul reminded Peter that only Jesus can save people from sin. God accepts people who have faith in Jesus, not people who try to earn salvation on their own.
As you talk to your kids this week, encourage them not to wonder if they have what it takes to be saved. Salvation is found in Jesus. Remind them that because God loves all people, we—in Jesus—can love all people too.
Pauls 3rd Journey
February 27, 2022
Paul’s third missionary journey was unlike his first two because he didn’t set out to plant churches. Instead, his mission was to encourage and strengthen existing churches. Paul wrote letters to the churches, but he knew some guidance was best given in person.
Paul’s journey began when he traveled to the city of Corinth. To make a living, Paul was a tent maker. Paul became friends with two other tent makers in Corinth: a man named Aquila and his wife, Priscilla. In his business dealings, Paul was able to share the gospel with many people. The church in Corinth grew.
Paul took Aquila and Priscilla with him to Ephesus. Ephesus was a thriving city in the Roman Empire. Aquila and Priscilla stayed in Ephesus while Paul traveled to other churches and encouraged the believers. While Paul traveled, Aquila and Priscilla interacted with a Jewish believer named Apollos. Apollos was a leader in the early church, and Aquila and Priscilla helped him better understand about Jesus and the Scriptures. Apollos went on to greatly help other believers by showing through Scripture that Jesus is the Messiah.
The Holy Spirit led Paul to go to Jerusalem. This wasn’t an easy call to obey. The Spirit revealed to Paul that imprisonment and suffering awaited in Jerusalem. (See Acts 20:23.) Hadn’t Paul done enough? He had spent years preaching the gospel, and many people believed. Wasn’t now a good time for Paul to retire comfortably on a beach somewhere?
Emphasize to kids that Paul did not cling to his own life. He used every opportunity to tell people the good news about Jesus and to help the church. God helped Paul preach with courage even when he was in danger. Paul was dedicated to Jesus, who called him to do the work of sharing the gospel. Paul boarded the ship to Jerusalem, uncertain of the future but certain of the goodness and grace of the Lord Jesus.
Paul Preached in Europe
February 20, 2022
I hope you find true accounts of Paul’s missionary journeys encouraging and empowering. In today’s Bible story, Paul and Silas traveled to Thessalonica and began preaching in the synagogue about Jesus. Some became believers, but others wanted to attack them. Paul and Silas escaped and went to Berea. The Jews in Berea studied the Scriptures to make sure Paul was telling the truth. Many of them believed! But when the Jews in Thessalonica heard what was happening in Berea, they hurried there and caused trouble. So Paul and Silas went to Athens.
The city of Athens was a cultural center. People in Athens loved to hear about and study the latest ideas. Paul spoke with the Jews and the philosophers in the city. Athens was also full of idols to every kind of god. There was even an altar to an unknown god.
Paul began preaching, telling the people that they worshiped a god they did not know. But people can know the Lord God! The one true God made the world and everything in it! God was not like their idols. “We ought not to think that God is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man,” Paul said. Paul told the people that God wanted them to turn away from their sins. Then Paul told them about Jesus and how He was raised from the dead. Some people made fun of Paul, but others believed.
From Athens, Paul went to Corinth. He tried to persuade the Jews in the synagogue that Jesus is the Christ, but they would not listen. Paul spoke to the Gentiles, and many of them believed and were baptized. God continued working through Paul.
The men of Athens worshiped many false gods. Paul explained to them God’s plan of salvation. He said that only God should be worshiped. Paul talked about Jesus and the resurrection. People can know God because Jesus took the punishment for sin that separates people from God. Only the Lord—the one true God—deserves our worship.
Pauls’ Second Missionary Journey
February 13, 2022
Sunday’s Bible story focused on Paul’s second missionary journey that he took to follow up with churches he had planted on his first journey. Paul wanted to see how the new believers were doing. Paul and his companion Silas traveled through Syria and Cilicia, encouraging believers and strengthening churches. The numbers of believers in the churches increased daily.
One night, while Paul and Silas were in Troas, the Lord called Paul to go to Macedonia and preach the gospel to the people. So Paul and Silas obeyed. They sailed to Macedonia, staying in the city of Philippi for several days.
Two major events happened while Paul was in Macedonia. First, a woman named Lydia became a believer. God opened Lydia’s heart to the good news of the gospel. She believed and was baptized. Then she invited Paul and Silas to stay at her house.
Then, Paul and Silas were thrown into prison after Paul commanded a fortune-telling spirit to come out of a slave girl. Late at night, an earthquake rocked the prison, flung open the doors, and shucked off the shackles. The prisoners could have jumped up and escaped, but they stayed where they were. The jailer asked Paul and Silas how to be saved. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,” they said. The man believed and was baptized.
Lydia, the jailer, and many others were saved because they believed in Jesus. Jesus offers us salvation as a gift. He did all the work to save us by dying on the cross. We do not need to earn salvation; we can just receive it by repenting and trusting in Jesus.
Paul’s First Journey
February 06, 2022
Jesus’ followers preached the gospel in Jerusalem, and the good news spread to places like Judea and Samaria. More and more people believed, and new churches began as both Jews and Gentiles began to follow Jesus. Barnabas went to Antioch—a city about 300 miles north of Jerusalem—where he brought Paul to help teach the believers. The church in Antioch grew. It was in Antioch that the disciples first became known as Christians. (See Acts 11:26.)
The Holy Spirit told the believers at the church in Antioch to send out Paul and Barnabas to preach the gospel. The church obeyed, and Paul and Barnabas traveled to several cities and all over the island of Cyprus, telling both Jews and Gentiles about Jesus.
Consider Paul—once a devoted persecutor of Christians—now a Christian missionary, devoted to obeying God’s call to go and tell others the good news about Jesus. This was Paul’s first missionary journey, and it wasn’t easy. Paul and Barnabas faced rejection in every place that they traveled. Some of the people believed, but some of them were angry. Many people rejected the truth about Jesus. In some places, the Jews made plans to kill Paul.
In no place did Paul and Barnabas soften their message or abandon their mission. In Lystra, Paul healed a man, and when the witnesses to this miracle began to worship Paul and Barnabas, the two men emphatically gave credit to the one true God. When Paul’s enemies attacked him and left him for dead, Paul continued on. Paul and Barnabas shared the gospel in Derbe (DUHR bih), and many people believed.
The Holy Spirit sent Paul and Barnabas to tell Jews and Gentiles about Jesus. If Paul had not taken the gospel to the Gentiles, many of us would probably not be believers today. God uses people to tell others about Jesus so that people all over the world can be saved from their sin by trusting in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Paul and Barnabas faced many people who rejected the good news about Jesus. But God had a plan for Paul to share the gospel with Gentiles, no matter what troubles Paul faced. Many believed in Jesus. The church grew and the gospel was shared so that people all over the world could be saved from their sin by trusting in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
The Ethiopian Official
January 30, 2022
The believers in the early church faced intense persecution. After Stephen was killed, Jesus’ followers at the church in Jerusalem scattered; however, they did not stop talking about Jesus. They continued to share the good news. One man, Philip, took the gospel to Samaria. The crowds there listened and believed, and they had great joy.
In today’s Bible story, Philip was instructed by an angel of the Lord to go to a certain road in the desert. Philip obeyed. The Spirit led Philip to a chariot, where an Ethiopian official was reading the Scriptures from the prophet Isaiah. The Ethiopian man did not understand what he was reading, so Philip explained it to him.
The man was reading from the prophet Isaiah: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter … In his humiliation justice was denied him … For his life is taken from the earth” (Acts 8:32-33). The official wondered if Isaiah was speaking about himself or another person. Philip told the official that Isaiah’s words weren’t about Isaiah; they were about the Messiah—Jesus! The official believed in Jesus and was baptized.
Guide your kids to consider the role of the Holy Spirit in this interaction between Philip and the Ethiopian official. Who was responsible for Philip’s going to the desert? Who helped Philip explain the Scriptures? Who changed the heart of the official so he would believe?
The Ethiopian official knew what the Old Testament prophets said, but he did not understand that they spoke about Jesus. The Holy Spirit led Philip to help the official understand the good news about Jesus: Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead, just like the Old Testament prophets said.
After his interaction with the Ethiopian official, Philip continued sharing the gospel in all the towns on his way to the town of Caesarea.
In our mission of making disciples, believers must be willing instruments to be used in the hands of the Lord. Philip didn’t go into the desert today with a strategy for converting another man; the Holy Spirit led Philip, and he obeyed. As believers, we can be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and willing to follow His lead. He will go with us.
Peter Visited Cornelius
January 23, 2022