Jesus Will Return- Sunday August 29, 2021
Sunday August 29, 2021 (Vol 12, Unit 36, Session 4)
Hi there, and thanks for joining us this week. FriendshipKids exists to help families bring their children to Christ and disciple them to be maturing, lifelong, reproducing followers of Jesus Christ. We hope this blog will be a useful tool for you to use to fulfill that call on your life. This blog will review the previous Sunday’s Children’s church lesson and help your kids grow in their faith. Please feel free to use as much of it as you choose. You know your kids and are the best possible teacher for them. God has given you the power of the Holy Spirit to enable you to do more than you think possible (Eph 3:20). So, let’s have some fun and teach our kids from the scriptures.
Parent Devotional
Jesus Will Return
While he was a prisoner on the island of Patmos, the apostle John had an amazing vision of heaven. Jesus told John to write down everything he saw. John saw things that will happen when Jesus comes back to earth.
In the final chapters of the Book of Revelation, John described a vision of the new heaven and the new earth. He wrote about the beauty of the New City—the New Jerusalem. The streets will be pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the city wall will be adorned with precious stones. The city will not need the sun or the moon because God’s glory lights up the city. There will be no darkness, and nothing evil will ever come into the city. There will be no sadness, crying, or pain. Even though there will be no sun or moon, there will be no darkness because the glory of God will be its light. The Lord will reign forever and ever. What an amazing place heaven will be!
Even with John’s descriptions, we can’t imagine exactly what it will be like when Jesus returns. Use this session to emphasize what we do know, using the unit big picture question and answer: What is the hope of the church? The church looks forward to Jesus’ return when He will make all things new.
The promised return of Christ should fill believers with hope, strengthening them to persevere through the trials of this life and remain faithful to the Lord. When Christ returns, those who trust in Him will be with Him and enjoy Him forever. God will undo every bad thing caused by sin—no more death, no more pain, no more tears.
Christ’s return should also give believers a sense of urgency to share the gospel with the world. It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes! (Rom. 1:16) Jesus is coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Parent Guidance and Instructions
As we begin to explore this week’s devotional, take a moment to pray and meditate on the verse from Deuteronomy about teaching your children the scriptures. Deuteronomy 6:7 says: “You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Maybe you do not have time to sit and have an hour of Bible time all at once, or perhaps your children are too young to sit for that long. Consider the key points of the lesson and ask God to give you opportunities to speak them into the hearts of your children throughout the week. Let the Bible become a part of your day-to-day. Be blessed this week, my friends!
Each week we include songs, activity pages, the bible lesson video, memory verses, and possibly a craft or 2. We pray this will help you find ways to engage your kids spiritually. It is written in script form from the K-2nd grade lesson, so you can read directly from it or change it to suit your children. Take some time to look at and print the activity pages and the additional activities and information (found in the links at the bottom of the page) to review the lesson so you can adjust as needed. I have included the Bible and Discussion questions along with a breakdown of the Gospel in the Older Kids Activities pages and loads of activities and crafts on the Preschool Extra Activity Pages. Once you are ready, go ahead and start with these songs if you would like, or pick some of your favorite worship songs and then jump right in! Have fun! And remember, this does not need to be done in one sitting! Feel free to break it up over the week. Please contact us at the church if you have any questions or suggestions. We would love to hear from you!
Opening
“Blessings and Bummers”
Let’s get started. Tell me, what have you seen the Lord doing in your lives this week? What have your greatest blessings been? How about your biggest challenges?
Parents share your blessings and bummers, encourage the kids to do the same. The goal is for kids to see God at work in the everyday, seemingly small and mundane things. It doesn’t matter if it is something as small as getting to watch a favorite TV show or something big like a new baby sibling being born, God is active and in our midst.
Prayer
Let’s go to the Lord in prayer: Father God, Thank you. Thank you for providing for our needs. You are so good to us even though we do not deserve it! Thank you for continuing to bless us, Lord. Thank you for being patient with us. Thank you to our friends as well as our families. Most importantly, we thank you always for sending Jesus to live a perfect life and die to pay for our sins. Thank you for raising Him from the dead and promising us life with you forever if we believe in Him. Please help us be thankful for all you do for us and look to you in all that we do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
(Please add to or customize prayer time to fit your family)
Praise the Lord for hearing our prayers!
Let’s chat!
Prompt kids to discuss something special they are looking forward to, such as a birthday or special holiday.
Say • Sometimes, waiting for something exciting can feel extremely difficult. You may find yourself wishing the fun event would just arrive immediately. Can you think of any ways to pass time, so the waiting doesn’t feel so difficult? Today We’re going to talk about waiting for something super special! First, let’s do an activity to get ready.
Optional Session Starter Activity
Pick one of two options or do both; this is your party. (You can find these on page 2 of the optional activity pages attached at the bottom of the post.)
Who remembers our Big Picture Question?
Big Picture Question
Can anyone recite our big picture question and answer? [Allow responses.] Great job! What is the hope of the church? The church looks forward to Jesus’ return when He will make all things new. Just as you might do some special preparations to get ready for a special holiday or birthday party, we can do things to prepare for Jesus’ return. We’ll talk more about that after I tell you the story.
Review
We’ve been learning about John’s vision of Jesus. Jesus appeared to John in a vision and Jesus told the churches to not give up. In his vision, John saw that Jesus was the only One who was worthy to open the scroll. All people and creatures will worship Jesus. Jesus promised to come back to earth soon. Though we don’t know when, we know that Jesus will return, destroy evil, and make all things new.
Bible Lesson
In the last chapters of Revelation, John wrote about the new heavens and the new earth that Jesus showed him. John’s words help us imagine the incredible beauty and perfection of God’s renewed world. John wrote about streets made of pure gold, and walls made of gemstones! The city needed no sun or moon because God’s glory shined bright enough to light up everything. These descriptions may not be pictures of what the world will literally look like, but they help capture the idea of a perfect city that God will provide to live with His people.
Jesus will return, destroy evil, and make all things new. There will be no sadness, crying, or pain. No evil or darkness will ever come into the city. The Lord will reign forever and ever.
The promise of Jesus’ return gives believers hope in this life. Setting our minds on the perfect promises we have in the future helps us stay faithful to Jesus in the present. What is the hope of the church? The church looks forward to Jesus’ return when He will make all things new.
God hasn’t left us to wait in a broken world for no reason. We have work to do. As we love and obey Jesus and teach others to love and obey Him, our current world can begin to show hints of the perfect world to come. While we wait for Jesus to return, we share the gospel, love our neighbors, and live in ways that glorify God.
Christ Connection
Jesus promised to come back to earth soon. When Jesus returns, those who trust in Jesus will be with Him and enjoy Him forever. God will undo every bad thing caused by sin—no more death, no more pain, no more tears. Jesus is making all things new.
Bible Time!
Distribute a Bible to each kid. Help them find Revelation 21. Remind the kids that the Book of Revelation is at the end of the Bible and this passage is near the end of Revelation.
Ask the following questions. Lead the group to discuss:
· What will no longer exist in the new earth? (There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain; Rev. 21:4)
· What will give light to the city? (The glory of God gives light to the city, Rev. 21:23)
· Who did Jesus say He was? (“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end;” Rev. 22:13)
· What part of the new Jerusalem would be the most exciting for you to see? Be prepared to explain your own thoughts on this topic. Encourage the kids to think about the amazing things John describes. Remind them that we can’t know for sure if John was describing literal things, but that his descriptions show the restored world will be more wonderful that we can imagine.
· How does the hope of heaven help believers to remain faithful to the Lord? Remind kids that the promise of Jesus’ return fills believers with hope. We know how things end, so we can be sure that our faithfulness will be rewarded. Our confidence in God’s promises helps us persevere through the trials of life because we will be with God and enjoy Him forever.
· How should Christ’s return give believers a sense of urgency to share the gospel? Explain that Revelation helps us understand what will happen when Jesus returns, but it doesn’t say when those events will occur. We obey Jesus in the meantime so that the most possible people have had the opportunity to respond to the gospel.
Say • Jesus will return, destroy evil, and make all things new. Jesus promised to come back to earth soon, and He always keeps His promises.
Key Memory Verse
Read the verse together.
The kingdom of the world is full of evil, sin, and death. But Revelation 11:15 assures us that this kingdom will be made new. Jesus will reign over the new kingdom forever and ever. There will be no more death, no more pain, and no more tears. This promise of a future where everything sad or painful has been destroyed gives us hope in the middle of sad or painful circumstances. What is the hope of the church? The church looks forward to Jesus’ return when He will make all things new.
Key Verse Activity:
Instruct the kids to line up, all facing forward. Give the first kid in line a ball. The first kid will hold the ball, say the first word of the key passage, and pass the ball over his head to the second kid in line. The second kid will hold the ball, say the second word of the key passage, and pass the ball over his head to the third kid in line. Continue until the entire key passage has been recited. The ball should keep moving from the first of the line to the back of the line and back up to the first of the line (like the First and Last). Continue playing as time allows. Mix up the kids in different line order so they recite different words of the key passage.
Say • Jesus is the First and the Last. He is the Living One. One day, Jesus will return and rule over the entire world. He will destroy evil, sin, and death. Jesus will make all things new and reign for eternity.
That is all I have for this week. Let’s pray together:
God, we wait for Jesus’ return with eager hearts. We look forward with anticipation to the new Jerusalem. What a day it will be to worship You forever and ever with all creatures. Come soon, Lord Jesus! Amen.
Thanks for joining us! I hope to meet you here again next week!
Thank you to Lifeway for allowing us to publish this lesson using their Gospel Project materials.
Additional Activities and Information
