This story is called "Day 226: Cleansing His Fathers House" from 365 Read-Aloud Bedtime Bible Stories by Daniel Partner.
Showing posts with label John 2:13-22. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John 2:13-22. Show all posts
Thursday, November 12, 2020
Bible Stories: Cleansing His Father's House
This story is called "Day 226: Cleansing His Fathers House" from 365 Read-Aloud Bedtime Bible Stories by Daniel Partner.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
October 11: Jesus Restores God's Place
Read "Jesus Restores God's Place," part 16 of The Big Picture Story Bible.
For this lesson we focus on how God did not go back on his promises to Abraham after the Old Testament.
Review God's promises to Abraham: 1. Abraham's family would become a great nation, 2. God would give His people a special place, and 3. God will bring His blessings to other people on the earth.
Ask kiddos if Abraham's family became a great nation {Yes! In fact, their country, Israel, is still a country today! They've had lots of struggles due to their disobedience (sometimes even getting their "country" privilege taken away {When Jesus was born, the area was ruled by the Roman Empire}, but they were, and still are, a great nation.}
Ask students if God gave His people a special place {Yes! He gave them the land of Israel, and even though it was overtaken many times by many other rulers, it was still there waiting for them to obey and make better choices.}
Before Jesus came, God's special place was a land called Israel. Abraham's descendants lived there and God's word was followed for many years in this place. At the end of the Old Testament, however, we read a lot about disobedience. Solomon, and those after him, did not make good choices for God, and they were punished by losing their land. In some wars they were kicked off it, in other wars they were held as slaves, when Jesus came along they had to pay heavy taxes to Caesar Augustus, who was the ruler of the Roman Empire, a huge kingdom that had overtaken Israel. Jesus came to change that.
A lot of people thought that Jesus would come as a superhero, ready to fight the Romans and take back the land that the Israelites felt was theirs. God had another plan, though. Many people were surprised- and didn't believe- that God's Forever King came to earth as a baby. As Jesus grew up and preached His message, a lot of people didn't understand. They were still pretending to obey God, but making bad choices and sinning in secret. And sometimes it wasn't even a secret. The day Jesus went into the temple and saw people selling sacrifices for much more money than they should have, he went berserk!
He told His followers, and the people standing nearby, that the stone temple wasn't God's special place anymore. Instead, HE was God's special place. That sounds crazy, right? How can a person be a place!?
Many people were confused, so Jesus explained it like this: His body was now God's Holy Temple, and instead of people sacrificing animals to get the blood they needed to pay for their sins, Jesus would use HIS blood. Of course He hadn't died on the cross yet, so nobody knew what He was talking about.
Jesus told everyone that HE was the new place people should go to to worship. Instead of visiting a temple, we can pray through Jesus. Instead of a temple being so important, from now on the church is anyone who gets together to glorify God. Our bodies are kind of like a temple, too. Jesus is in our hearts and it's our job to keep our temple clean. Not just healthy-clean and physically-clean, but spiritually-clean as well.
For our activity, I chose one student to trace on bulletin board paper. We then took turns writing inside the body outline ways that we can take care of our bodies to worship Jesus. Ideas include eating healthy, not getting tattoos or piercings, not saying bad words or having mean thoughts in our heads, smiling instead of frowning, etc. I really had the kiddos think hard before they added to our word collage, and I think it gave them a better idea of how we can worship God when we're not necessarily at church or praying. I also didn't sway them one way or another (like over the tattoos, since some kids said they didn't see it as sinful), I let them go with what they felt comfortable saying.
For this lesson we focus on how God did not go back on his promises to Abraham after the Old Testament.
Review God's promises to Abraham: 1. Abraham's family would become a great nation, 2. God would give His people a special place, and 3. God will bring His blessings to other people on the earth.
Ask kiddos if Abraham's family became a great nation {Yes! In fact, their country, Israel, is still a country today! They've had lots of struggles due to their disobedience (sometimes even getting their "country" privilege taken away {When Jesus was born, the area was ruled by the Roman Empire}, but they were, and still are, a great nation.}
Ask students if God gave His people a special place {Yes! He gave them the land of Israel, and even though it was overtaken many times by many other rulers, it was still there waiting for them to obey and make better choices.}
Before Jesus came, God's special place was a land called Israel. Abraham's descendants lived there and God's word was followed for many years in this place. At the end of the Old Testament, however, we read a lot about disobedience. Solomon, and those after him, did not make good choices for God, and they were punished by losing their land. In some wars they were kicked off it, in other wars they were held as slaves, when Jesus came along they had to pay heavy taxes to Caesar Augustus, who was the ruler of the Roman Empire, a huge kingdom that had overtaken Israel. Jesus came to change that.
A lot of people thought that Jesus would come as a superhero, ready to fight the Romans and take back the land that the Israelites felt was theirs. God had another plan, though. Many people were surprised- and didn't believe- that God's Forever King came to earth as a baby. As Jesus grew up and preached His message, a lot of people didn't understand. They were still pretending to obey God, but making bad choices and sinning in secret. And sometimes it wasn't even a secret. The day Jesus went into the temple and saw people selling sacrifices for much more money than they should have, he went berserk!
He told His followers, and the people standing nearby, that the stone temple wasn't God's special place anymore. Instead, HE was God's special place. That sounds crazy, right? How can a person be a place!?
Many people were confused, so Jesus explained it like this: His body was now God's Holy Temple, and instead of people sacrificing animals to get the blood they needed to pay for their sins, Jesus would use HIS blood. Of course He hadn't died on the cross yet, so nobody knew what He was talking about.
Jesus told everyone that HE was the new place people should go to to worship. Instead of visiting a temple, we can pray through Jesus. Instead of a temple being so important, from now on the church is anyone who gets together to glorify God. Our bodies are kind of like a temple, too. Jesus is in our hearts and it's our job to keep our temple clean. Not just healthy-clean and physically-clean, but spiritually-clean as well.
For our activity, I chose one student to trace on bulletin board paper. We then took turns writing inside the body outline ways that we can take care of our bodies to worship Jesus. Ideas include eating healthy, not getting tattoos or piercings, not saying bad words or having mean thoughts in our heads, smiling instead of frowning, etc. I really had the kiddos think hard before they added to our word collage, and I think it gave them a better idea of how we can worship God when we're not necessarily at church or praying. I also didn't sway them one way or another (like over the tattoos, since some kids said they didn't see it as sinful), I let them go with what they felt comfortable saying.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Week 7: Feb 16
Our theme for February is "Jesus Shows Us How to Love"
Week 7- Jesus Cleaned the Temple: How Do We Clean Up? (John 2:13-22)
Sorry! I couldn't resist. I saw this on Pinterest ages ago and now every time I think of this story in John 2 I can't help but picture Jesus doing this...
Anyway, this week's lesson is following the theme of Jesus showing us how to love. Sometimes He does this by loving us sweetly, and sometimes he uses a tough-love approach.
For this lesson, I have a small spritzer bottle (courtesy of oriental trading) for each of my kiddos. I'll start off by telling them this story:
Jesus and his friends went to the big city of Jerusalem for Passover. While He was walking around the temple, He saw some things He didn't like! In the temple area there were merchants selling the cattle, sheep, and doves for people to buy for their sacrifices. He also saw them exchanging foreign money. Jesus was very upset! The temple was supposed to be a holy place, like our church is today. With all of those people acting like it was a marketplace, they certainly weren't treating it holy.
The rules back then were a bit different in the temple than they are in our churches today. Remember how in the Old Testament people sacrificed animals? Well, until Jesus was crucified and resurrected that was still one way we communicated with God. People were coming from all over to the temple for Passover and had to purchase animals to sacrificed.
The problem was that the merchants- those set up in the temple area- were selling the animals for much more money than they should have, because they were greedy. Jesus thought they were basically stealing, since they were taking more money than they should. They also took more money than they should when they were exchanging the visitors' money for what was allowed in the temple.
What does 'holy' mean? Why was the Temple holy?
What part of our church do you think is most holy? (The sanctuary)
How can we keep our sanctuary holy? (By not bringing in food or drink, don't spill things or leave papers or other messes, don't run around, don't jump on the altar/stage area, etc.)
Jesus is really upset. What do you think He might do?
Let's see, Verse 15. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased the merchants out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers' coins over the floor, and turned over their tables.
Wow! I did not see that coming! Did you?
Then, He went over to the people who sold the doves. He said, "Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!"
Why do you think it made Jesus so upset to see people treat the Temple in an unholy way?
Do you think it was a good thing for Jesus to do?
Did it work?
Usually, we can ask our friends nicely to not bring snacks into the sanctuary, and we can remind our family members to pick up everything off the benches before they leave, but Jesus didn't ask nicely. Jesus told them to leave. Why do you think He did that?
While Jesus was clearing the temple, his disciples remembered in the Old Testament, in the book of Psalms, 69:9 it says something like, "Passion for God's house will consume me." Jesus' friends realized that this was a really big deal. Jesus went on to prove that it wasn't the building itself that was important, though, He says, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up!" Jesus was no longer talking about the temple He was clearing, He meant His own body.
We need to make sure we clean up not just our church, but our lives, too. That can be kind of confusing. I mean that on one hand, it is very important to keep our church well-maintained. We try to dress nice and not leave messes because we are in God's house and it is a holy place. We are being respectful by keeping it clean. On the other hand, Jesus is also saying we need to make sure our lives are clean.
If Jesus is in your heart, do you want Him to have a clean, holy place in there, or a dirty, stinky one? We can keep our hearts clean by studying our Bible to learn more, praying and talking to Jesus often, being nice to others, and many other things. Or we can keep our hearts dirty by not thinking about God except during church time, by being mean to others and being disrespectful.
To end this lesson, I will write each student's name on a spritzer bottle and let them decorate it with Jesus-themed stickers. Each bottle will have a 1/2 water, 1/2 vinegar mixture so that each student can help clean our church tables. I will have lots of rags (cut into fourths) provided, as well as a few bottles of just water for the smaller children.
The kids had a GREAT time decorating their bottles and helping clean God's house! (They cleaned their spot at the tables before eating snack.)
Week 7- Jesus Cleaned the Temple: How Do We Clean Up? (John 2:13-22)
Sorry! I couldn't resist. I saw this on Pinterest ages ago and now every time I think of this story in John 2 I can't help but picture Jesus doing this...
Anyway, this week's lesson is following the theme of Jesus showing us how to love. Sometimes He does this by loving us sweetly, and sometimes he uses a tough-love approach.
For this lesson, I have a small spritzer bottle (courtesy of oriental trading) for each of my kiddos. I'll start off by telling them this story:
Jesus and his friends went to the big city of Jerusalem for Passover. While He was walking around the temple, He saw some things He didn't like! In the temple area there were merchants selling the cattle, sheep, and doves for people to buy for their sacrifices. He also saw them exchanging foreign money. Jesus was very upset! The temple was supposed to be a holy place, like our church is today. With all of those people acting like it was a marketplace, they certainly weren't treating it holy.
The rules back then were a bit different in the temple than they are in our churches today. Remember how in the Old Testament people sacrificed animals? Well, until Jesus was crucified and resurrected that was still one way we communicated with God. People were coming from all over to the temple for Passover and had to purchase animals to sacrificed.
The problem was that the merchants- those set up in the temple area- were selling the animals for much more money than they should have, because they were greedy. Jesus thought they were basically stealing, since they were taking more money than they should. They also took more money than they should when they were exchanging the visitors' money for what was allowed in the temple.
What does 'holy' mean? Why was the Temple holy?
What part of our church do you think is most holy? (The sanctuary)
How can we keep our sanctuary holy? (By not bringing in food or drink, don't spill things or leave papers or other messes, don't run around, don't jump on the altar/stage area, etc.)
Jesus is really upset. What do you think He might do?
Let's see, Verse 15. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased the merchants out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers' coins over the floor, and turned over their tables.
Wow! I did not see that coming! Did you?
Then, He went over to the people who sold the doves. He said, "Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!"
Why do you think it made Jesus so upset to see people treat the Temple in an unholy way?
Do you think it was a good thing for Jesus to do?
Did it work?
Usually, we can ask our friends nicely to not bring snacks into the sanctuary, and we can remind our family members to pick up everything off the benches before they leave, but Jesus didn't ask nicely. Jesus told them to leave. Why do you think He did that?
While Jesus was clearing the temple, his disciples remembered in the Old Testament, in the book of Psalms, 69:9 it says something like, "Passion for God's house will consume me." Jesus' friends realized that this was a really big deal. Jesus went on to prove that it wasn't the building itself that was important, though, He says, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up!" Jesus was no longer talking about the temple He was clearing, He meant His own body.
We need to make sure we clean up not just our church, but our lives, too. That can be kind of confusing. I mean that on one hand, it is very important to keep our church well-maintained. We try to dress nice and not leave messes because we are in God's house and it is a holy place. We are being respectful by keeping it clean. On the other hand, Jesus is also saying we need to make sure our lives are clean.
If Jesus is in your heart, do you want Him to have a clean, holy place in there, or a dirty, stinky one? We can keep our hearts clean by studying our Bible to learn more, praying and talking to Jesus often, being nice to others, and many other things. Or we can keep our hearts dirty by not thinking about God except during church time, by being mean to others and being disrespectful.
To end this lesson, I will write each student's name on a spritzer bottle and let them decorate it with Jesus-themed stickers. Each bottle will have a 1/2 water, 1/2 vinegar mixture so that each student can help clean our church tables. I will have lots of rags (cut into fourths) provided, as well as a few bottles of just water for the smaller children.
The kids had a GREAT time decorating their bottles and helping clean God's house! (They cleaned their spot at the tables before eating snack.)
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