This Week at AWANA - May 4 Edition

This week we come to the end of our trek through the redemptive history of the Bible. We are coming to the end of the 7 Cs with our discussion of the Consummation of all things.

‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away’ (Revelation 21:1).

In the beginning, God created a perfect world. It was a beautiful place—full of life, without death, disease, pain or suffering. Adam’s disobedience changed all that. When he ate the fruit God had told him not to eat, sin and death entered the world (Romans 5:12). This corruption changed the world so much that what we see today is only a reflection of the world that was. As we have stated, Adam’s sin led to the catastrophe of Noah’s day, the confusion at Babel and the death of Christ on the Cross.

Is there an end in sight?

Death has been around almost as long as humans have. Sometimes it might seem as if it’s always been a part of God’s creation. Romans 8 tells us that the whole of creation is suffering because of Adam’s sin. It might appear that there is no end to the suffering brought about by this act of disobedience. Of course, none of us can say that we have not also disobeyed God in our own lives (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:10), so all of us in a sense share in the blame for what we see around us.

God, however, in His great mercy, has promised not to leave His creation in its sinful state. He has promised to do away with the corruption Adam brought into the world. He offers us this salvation through His Son. Also, He has promised to remove, in the future, the Curse He placed on His creation (Revelation 22:3)!

He will make a new heaven and a new earth one day—one which we can’t even begin to imagine (2 Peter 3:13). In this new place there will be no death, no crying, no pain (Revelation 21:4). Nobody will be sad.

As those who have repented and believed in what Jesus did for us on the Cross, we can look forward to this new heaven and earth, knowing we will enjoy God forever in a wonderful place. The corruption that was introduced in the Garden of Eden will be taken away by God, giving us, once again, a perfect place to live!

This Week at AWANA - April 13 Edition

Since we do not have AWANA next week, this week's lesson will the culmination of all we have been talking about for the past few months. This is the week we will emphasize the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The emphasis in Counsel time will be how all the events we talked about from the Old Testament point to Christ.

• The death of the animals to clothe Adam and Eve after their sin.
• The ark that saved Noah and his family.
• The promise to Abraham.
• The passover in Egypt where the blood of the lamb spread on the doorpost caused the Angel to pass over the home sparing the first born son.
• The deliverance of Israel from Egypt.
• The judges delivering Israel from the hands of foreign oppressors.
• The kings of Israel and Judah pointed to a future perfect righteous King of Kings.
• The prophecies pointing ahead to the work of the Messiah.

All these were written to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah. Now we have all of it plus the record of Jesus's life, death, and resurrection in the Bible. What will we do with it?

Jesus Died on the Cross ...

...for a reason
God wants a close relationship with man, John 3:16
Our sin separates us from God, Isa. 59:2
Justice requires that our sins be paid for, Rom. 6:23
God provided a sacrifice to pay for our sins, 1 John 4:10

...voluntarily
Jesus had the choice, Matt. 26:53, 54
He was sinless, 1 Pet. 2:22
Jesus had the power, John 19:11
Jesus had the will, Matt. 26:39
Pleased not himself, Rom 15:3
He loved us, Eph 5:2

...for you
You have nothing to offer that isn't God's already, Luke 17:10
The Father wants a close relationship, so He paid your cost, John 3:16
So that you could choose to be close to Him, James 4:8
This relationship is voluntary, Mark 16:16

Discussion point:
The Jews had to make many specific sacrifices to God. Jesus serves as our sacrifice. Do we still sacrifice for him? (Read: Romans 12:1-2, Philippians 2:7, Hebrews 13:15, Psalm 51:17)

Illustrative Story: to make this an object lesson, give one student a dollar bill. Make out a fake restaurant tab.

Say we all went out to a restaurant to eat. We all eat until we're stuffed but Tom eats nothing. Then the waiter delivers the bill. We're broke. Only "Tom" has any money. Who will pay the bill? Tom's the only one with money. Who should pay the bill? We should. But we can't. If Tom pays, is that fair? No. Is it merciful of him? Yes!

Jesus paid our bill for us. We could never have enough to pay for our sins. Should we be grateful? Yes! How do we show our gratitude? Jesus said, "if you love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15

Here is a great lesson from Answers in Genesis to use during Handbook time to reemphasize the lesson.

This Week at AWANA - April 06 Edition

With only two AWANA nights before Easter, this week we are discussing the captivity of the Israelites due to their idolatry and disobedience as well as the prophecies of God's judgment of Israel, restoration of Israel, and the work of the Messiah.

We are going to focus again on the promises of God and how He always keep His promises.

We will focus this week on the book of Isaiah and show the fulfillment of several of the prophecies in Isaiah during the life, death, and resurrection of Christ next week.

Here are the Scriptures we will use this week:

Promise	Fulfillment
Isaiah 7:14	Matthew 1:23
Isaiah 9:6-7	Matthew 2:2
Isaiah 11:10-11	Matthew 1:6, 16
Isaiah 53:5-6	Matthew 27:50

This Week at AWANA - March 30 Edition

This week we move from the united kingdom of Israel during the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon to the divided kingdom as described in 1 Kings 12 through 2 Kings 17. From 2 Kings 17 to the end of the book in chapter 25, the invasion, captivity, and exile of the northern tribes is described as well as the events leading up to the captivity and exile of Judah in the south.

1 and 2 Kings covers the reigns of 39 kings from the united and divided kingdoms. The measure of success or downfall for a king was his loyalty to the covenant with God. Of the Northern kings, 0 of the 19 kings followed the Lord. Of the Southern kings, 8 of the 20 kings followed the Lord. The kings were Asa, Jehosophat, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah.

God's compassion is again on display. As kings are disloyal to God, He raises up prophets like Elijah and Elisha to accomplish His purpose.

Hezekiah, Joash, and Josiah would be great examples to talk about during Handbook time.

This Week at AWANA - March 23 Edition

We have progressively been moving through the chronological history of the Bible. This week we come to the portion of the Old Testament where we discuss the move from Judges and a theocracy to a monarchy. We will discuss the selection of Saul to be king and the reasons behind it, the selection of David and the life he lived, as well as the life and lessons of Solomon...and all that in 20 minutes!

Obviously it will be a generic overview but the idea I want to emphasize as always is obedience. We will discuss Samuel, the last judge and the one who anoints the first two kings of Israel, Saul, Israel's first king, and David, Israel's most important king. Our key verse for the night will be 1 Samuel 15:22 - "To obey is better than sacrifice".

We will look at how the king of Israel was expected to be loyal to the covenant. 1 Samuel 15 shows Saul's disobedience to the covenant and 2 Samuel 7 shows David's obedience. Even as a king after God's heart, David's life demonstrates the need for another King who will come in purity and absolute loyalty to the Lord. That king of course is Jesus Christ.

Activities for Cubbies

1. Sing this song to the tune of “M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E”

What are we to do when God says special words to us

L-I-S-T-E-N, Listen to the Lord

Listen now, (Listen now)

Listen well (Listen well)

God will tell us what to do (Yeah, yeah, yeah)

So, listen when you hear his voice and obey His word

L-I-S-T-E-N, Listen to the Lord.

2. This is a great lesson to make crowns and speak about the King of Kings.

3. A great object lesson for looking on the inside instead of the outside is the rock called a Geode. It looks like an ordinary rock on the surface. However, if a person cuts it open, you can see beautiful crystals inside. Share again how God looks at our inside not what we look like on the outside.

Activities for Sparks and T&Ts

Israel's First King

A great object lesson for looking on the inside instead of the outside is the rock called a Geode. It looks like an ordinary rock on the surface. However, if a person cuts it open, you can see beautiful crystals inside. Share again how God looks at our inside not what we look like on the outside.

King Solomon and the Temple

Helping Children Learn the Books of the Bible

Are you looking for a way to help your AWANA clubbers memorize the books of the Bible?

Periodically during Counsel Time a song has been played that lists all the books of the Bible in a catchy tune that kids like.

Here is that song: Bible Book Bop

Windows Media Player is required to play the song.

This Week at AWANA - March 16 Edition

The goal this year is to give a summary of truths from the Old Testament leading to the birth death and resurrection of Jesus during the week we celebrate Easter. See the outline here.

This week we have the arduous task of covering Joshua and Judges. There is so much in both of these books we could spend a year studying only these two amazing books of the Bible!

Joshua's name literally means "The Lord will save". In Greek, the name is equivalent to "Jesus". This book records the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 to give his offspring the land. This promise is fulfilled and written of in Joshua 21:43-45:

⁴³ So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. ⁴⁴ The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. ⁴⁵ Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

The journey into the Promised Land can be broken down into four areas:

• Cross the Jordan (1:1-5:12)
• Take the Land (5:13-12:24)
• Divide the Land (13-21)
• Serve the Lord (22-24)

The book ends with Joshua saying (Joshua 24:15):

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Unfortunately we see in the next book of the Bible, Judges, that the people do not follow Joshua's command.

In Judges, God used judges (military leaders) to deliver His people out from the judgment of their sin. A key theme throughout Judges is disobedience results in judgment. A perfect verse to highlight the state of the people is Judges 17:6:

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

The whole book can be summarized in Judges 2:10-19.

The people follow a pattern of relapse into sin, ruin, repentance, restoration, and ruin.

Activities and Crafts for March 16

Joshua and Jericho:

This is a fun story to act out. March around a cardboard wall (or wall of boxes) then knock them down after the 7th time!! (if boxes aren’t available, use a sheet and down the sheet after the 7th time around)

Make trumpets from paper tubes.

Judges:

Play a game that mimics Israel’s behavior. Have the children pretend to fight each other with swords made out of construction paper. Then have them run from their enemies. Next have them kneel and cry out to God. Then have someone pretend to be the judge sent by God. Have the children follow and do whatever the judge does.

Samson:

Cook spaghetti (or thin pasta) and place in a zipper bag. Give each child a piece of construction paper. Let them draw 2 faces of Samson on the paper—before and after. Glue spaghetti on each head to represent Samson. (Note: Rice or yarn may be substituted)

This Week at AWANA - March 9 Edition

This week we come to the end of the life of Moses and a transition in leadership for the Israelites. After 40 long years of wandering in the desert and the death of all the adults at the time of the exploration in Canaan from Numbers 13-14, God prepares Joshua to take over for Moses upon his death to lead the Israelites into the land of promise in fulfillment of what God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 12.

The Scripture passages we will use this week are from Deuteronomy 31, Deuteronomy 34, and Joshua 1.

The main ideas of the lesson will be:

• God keeps His promises.
• God cared for His chosen people throughout their wandering in the desert.
• We must choose everyday whether we will obey and be blessed or disobey and suffer the consequences.

Here is a lesson related to the death of Moses with coloring pages, questions about the lesson, and more.

Here is a lesson about Joshua being chosen to lead the Israelites from the same source.