Grade School Lesson: We continued our Road Trip series this week with lesson number four on loving Jesus verses loving “stuff”. Big Idea - Zacchaeus loved “stuff.” His life was spent collecting more and more money so he could have more and more things. After a while, he did not care about the people he collected money from, but filled his empty life with “stuff”. He most likely did not have a whole lot of friends because he was so greedy. Nobody cared about Zacchaeus. He was lonely. His emptiness may have caused him to be very eager to meet Jesus. When Jesus called him out of the crowd, Zacchaeus’ heart was touched. He felt loved and, therefore, he instantly loved Jesus. Zacchaeus made the choice to love. Things did not give Zacchaeus joy, love from and for Jesus did! That was the prize! Application - Think about your own life. Are there things in your life you put before Jesus? Toys, video games or sports? It is easy to forget about Jesus when we want more things! The world tells us the more we have the happier we will be! Do you think that is true? With more things come more problems, more worries. When you focus on Jesus, things do not seem as important. Maybe you have not made that choice to follow Jesus. When Zacchaeus made that choice to love and follow Jesus, his life changed! He did bad things, but Jesus forgave him. Zacchaeus became a new person. If you have not prayed to accept Jesus into your life, talk to one of your leaders. When we choose to love Him over loving “stuff,” we will find joy! This week the prize is choosing to love Jesus…not our “stuff!”. Memory Verse - “...the joy of the Lord makes you strong.” Nehemiah 8:10 Challenge - This week, choose 1 thing to put aside for just 15 minutes (like video games, t.v., texting). Instead of doing that thing that you love to do, spend that time putting Jesus first. You could read your bible, listen to Christian music, pray, write a letter to Jesus thanking Him for what He has given you, or even help out around the house joyfully. Remember what you did and share it with a leader next week.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 20:19:05 +0000
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