John’s Vision of Jesus - Sunday August 8, 2021
Sunday August 8, 2021 (Vol 12, Unit 36, Session 1)
Hi there, and thanks for joining us this week. We hope this blog will be a useful tool for you to 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 – Children of God
John’s Vision of Jesus
The apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation from the island of Patmos. Patmos was a small Greek island where the Roman emperor often exiled prisoners. John was likely sent to Patmos as a prisoner, arrested for preaching the gospel.
With this session, introduce kids to the Book of Revelation—the last book of the Bible. Other Bible books tell us about things that happened in the past, but Revelation tells about things that will happen in the future. A glimpse of the future kingdom of God gives believers hope and encourages them to remain faithful to Christ.
In Revelation 1, Jesus appeared to John in a vision to tell about the end of time. John was on the island of Patmos when he heard a voice telling him to write what he saw. John turned and, in a vision, saw Jesus: He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash wrapped around His chest. His head and hair were as white as snow, and His eyes were like a fiery flame. Because the Book of Revelation is highly symbolic, avoid dwelling on the physical description of Jesus. Jesus’ appearance to John reveals what Jesus is like: worthy of all honor, powerful, and victorious.
John saw Jesus walking among seven lamp stands, symbols for seven churches. Explain to the boys and girls you teach that lamp stands are used to bring light into dark places. That is the purpose of the church—to bring the light of the gospel into a dark world.
When John saw Jesus, he fell at Jesus’ feet. Jesus reached down and put His hand on John. He said, “Don’t be afraid” (Rev. 1:17). Jesus explained that He is the First and the Last, the Living One. While Jesus was on earth, He defeated sin and death by dying on the cross and coming back to life. Now Jesus is lifted up in glory and honor. We can look forward to a future with Him forever.
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 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 movies that they have watched multiple times.
Say • Have you ever seen a movie and felt scared or nervous about how it would end? The next time you watch it, you might be less nervous since you know how it ends. Today we will begin learning about how God told John about the end of time. We know how God’s story will end, so we don’t need to feel nervous along the way.
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.)
Let’s take a look at our new Big Picture Question…
Big Picture Question
Every time we meet together, we like to think about a big picture question to help us understand how each story we study fits into God’s bigger story. Over the next several weeks, we will be thinking about this question: What is the hope of the church?
Hmm, that is a great question. What is our hope? What keeps us going when life gets hard? The church looks forward to Jesus’ return when He will make all things new.
Review
In our last unit, we learned about the ways Paul finished his life strong, never stopping in the mission to spread the gospel. We also talked about how God wants us to love one another: with our actions not just our words. Living on mission and loving others are possible when we trust God and focus on the hope we have for the future—Jesus’ return to earth.
Bible Lesson
Jesus appeared to John in a vision and instructed John to write down everything he saw. This is how John wrote the Book of Revelation. Many parts of the Bible tell us about things that happened in the past. The Book of Revelation also tells us what will happen in the future at the end of this age. Knowing how our part in God’s story will end gives believers hope. John’s vision was filled with symbolism; symbols are like pictures that carry deeper meaning.
For example, when Jesus said He is the First and the Last, it didn’t mean Jesus was the first and last person in a line. Jesus was helping us understand that He is God the Son, eternal with no beginning and no end. He reaches all the way back to before the beginning and all the way forward forever and ever.
John saw seven lamp stands that represented the seven churches. Jesus likely used lamp stands in the vision because lamps bring light into darkness. That is the church’s job. The church takes the light of the gospel to the dark world. We each can play a part in the mission of sharing the light with the dark world.
John fell at Jesus’ feet. Jesus told John not to be afraid. It might have been scary to see Jesus full of fire, sounding like a waterfall, and having a sword coming out of His mouth. But Jesus loved John. Jesus appeared to tell John about the hope we have in a future with Jesus forever.
Christ Connection
Jesus showed Himself to John and explained that He is the First and the Last, the Living One. While Jesus was on earth, He defeated sin and death by dying on the cross and coming back to life. Now Jesus is lifted up in glory and honor forever and ever.
Bible Time!
Distribute a Bible to each kid. Help them find Revelation 1. Explain that Revelation is the last book in the Bible. Remind the kids that the chapter number is the large bold number and the verse numbers are smaller. Invite kids to take turns reading one verse at a time until your whole group has read through all or part of Revelation 1 aloud together.
Ask the following questions. Lead the group to discuss:
· What happened to John while he was exiled to the island of Patmos? (John had a vision from Jesus, Rev. 1:1)
· What did John see seven of in his vision? (Seven golden lampstands for the seven churches, Rev. 1:11-12)
· What did John do when he saw Jesus? (John fell at Jesus’ feet, Rev. 1:17)
· How is a church like a lampstand? Help the kids remember that Jesus described the church as light. Explain that, just as a lamp brings light to a dark room, the church brings the gospel to a sinful world. The Bible often uses darkness to help us imagine sin. Sin prevents us from seeing clearly or choosing the correct path. The church is one of God’s tools to help us see the gospel and make wise choices.
· Why is it important that Jesus is the First and the Last? Explain that Jesus is eternal. His title “the First and the Last” helps us understand that Jesus has always existed—before anything else—and will exist forever into the future. He is God the Son, and He is worthy of all praise and honor.
· Why do you think Jesus appeared to John and told him to write down his vision? Jesus’ vision to John would give the church hope for a future with Jesus forever. By communicating about all the things to come, even the scary or difficult times the church would face, Jesus gave us the ability to look forward to His return. Even when things may feel hopeless, we still have hope, because we know how this age will end.
Say • Jesus appeared to John in a vision. This vision helps give the church hope for a future with Jesus.
Key Memory Verse
Read the verse together.
Leader • Our key passage tells us that Jesus will return and reign over the world. Jesus will reign over the new heavens and the new earth forever and ever. We can look forward to Jesus’ return with hope and certainty!
Key Verse Activity:
Before the session, write each word of the key passage on the back of each puzzle piece. Be sure to put the puzzle together first, so you write the words in the correct order. Instruct the kids to mix up the puzzle and put it back together. Encourage them to recite the key passage aloud together. To make a competition, use two puzzles and let two teams work against each other to put the key passage puzzle together first.
Say • This key passage helps us look forward to the future of heaven with hope and anticipation. As believers, we can wait for Jesus to return so that we can live with Him forever and ever.
That is all I have for this week. Let’s pray together:
God, thank You for sharing the vision of Your future kingdom of heaven with John. Thank You for the Book of Revelation that reveals Your honor, power, and victory. 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.s.
Additional Activities and Information
