13 July 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Junita

Asst 1 : Kasey

Asst 2 : Adeline

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Lily Bun (Asst. Santi)

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches : Lusiana (Asst. Theresia)

I AM The Bread of Life

1. HOOK: Bread!

• Show some pictures of bread — roll, toast, sandwich, loaf, baguette, pita — and demonstrate accompanying actions.
  [you can pick/choose the types of bread depends on age of kids]
  [teachers/assistants hv to be well versed with the actions and mirror it for the kids to follow]
• Roll: curl up in a ball
  Toast: jump up and down (like a toast popping up from the toaster)
  Loaf: get into groups of 5 or more
  Baguette: stand up stretching from tips of fingers to toes
  Sandwich: get into groups of 3
  Pita: lie flat on the floor
• After running through the actions, flash the pictures random and get kids to do the correct actions. Those who don’t get it right have to sit down. Go faster and faster until you have a winner (or 2). Make it fun and exciting.

2. LESSON: John 6

• Jesus told people about God’s love. He did so many miracles. He healed the sick. He also fed the hungry people. Once, He fed 5,000 men with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish!
• Everybody ate very full. They were very excited about Jesus. So the next day, they looked for Him so they could see more miracles (and probably get more bread to eat).
• Jesus told them there was something more important that just thinking about food (and toys and things that we buy with money).
• Yes, we need to eat to live. But we should not spend our whole life working hard for food and things that will be used up. We should work for food that lasts forever.
• What kind of bread doesn’t spoil or mold or go bad? What bread will last forever?
• The bread of life! Jesus said, “I AM the BREAD of LIFE”. Jesus is the bread of God that came down from heaven to give life to the world! (John 6:33)

    A. When we have Jesus, we have true life

• Back in Bible times, bread was the most important part of the meal. So when Jesus said He was the Bread of Life, He meant that He was the most important thing a person needs to live.
• John 6:35 Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
• When we are hungry for food, we can eat bread. But there’s a deeper hunger in all of us — a hunger for meaning, for peace, for love. This hunger for real LIFE — the life God gives — cannot be filled with things (hold up some items, toys, money etc.) The Bible says that only Jesus can satisfy that type of hunger. We need Jesus to receive the true, wonderful, true LIFE that God has for us.

    B. Jesus’ body was broken for us

• John 6:51 “This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
• Jesus became the Bread of Life for us by the sacrifice of His body on the cross. Every time we take Communion, we remember Jesus’ finished work on the cross — His body broken for us so that we can have His life.
• Who is Jesus? Jesus is God’s Son!
  What did Jesus do for you and for me? He died for you and for me.
  How did He die? He died on a cross.
  Why did He die? He died so that we could be His friends.
  Is He still dead? NO! He rose from the dead 3 days later so that we can have life!

     C. Our work is to believe in Jesus

• How do we work for this bread of life? Jesus said, “The work of God is that youbelieve in Me.” (John 6:40)
• John 6:40 “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son andbelieves in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
• Who is Jesus? Jesus is God’s Son!
  What did Jesus do for you and for me? He died for you and for me.
  How did He die? He died on a cross.
  Why did He die? He died so that we could be His friends.
  Is He still dead? NO! He rose from the dead 3 days later so that we can have life!
• Believe. That’s all! Can you believe in Jesus? Will you believe in Jesus?
  Pray: God, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus. Thank you for making a way for us to have life with you forever.

     Summary:

• Jesus is the Bread of Life — when we have Jesus, we have true life!
• Jesus’ body was broken for us
• Our work is to believe in Jesus

3. ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS

• Song: (tune of “B-I-N-G-O”)
  J-E-S-U-S, J-E-S-U-S, J-E-S-U-S, He died for you and me!
  He is Bread of Life, He is Bread of Life,He is Bread of Life, He died for you and me!

• Memory Verse activity: John 6:35 Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

6 July 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Susan

Asst 1 : Tasya

Asst 2 : Felicia

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Susi Tjio (Asst. Fenny)

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches : Swanky

I AM the Good Shepherd

1. INTRO: Say my name

• Have the kids line up outside the class. Dress up as shepherds if you can.
• Call them one-by-one by name before letting them enter the class.(You can pass out the name tags and take attendance then)
• Once they are seated, say: “Do you know that the Shepherd will open the gate to the sheep pen for his sheep? He will call them by name, and they will listen to His voice. Today, we are all sheep, and we learn about how our Good Shepherd takes good care of all of us.”

2. REVISION

• Psalm 23 (NIV) with actions/flashcardsActions

3. HOOK: Who am I?

• Prepare a short quiz. Choose 3-4 animals or cartoon character or famous personalities and describe them with some clues. You can put clues on ppt slides or, for younger children, hide some soft toys in a bag and pull it out when they guess the answer.
  E.g. I have white wool. I like to eat grass. <Sheep>I am a rodent. I have big black ears. I am quite famous on TV. <Mickey Mouse>

4. LESSON (John 10:1-18)

• When Jesus came to earth, He gave us a picture of who the Father was. When we see Jesus, we see God.
• Jesus also gave us several clues so that we can know more about Him and know who He is.
• One of the clues He used to describe Himself was: “I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD”
• Read out John 10:1-18 (for older kids)

A. I AM the Good Shepherd

• Jesus was making a declaration. It was “I AM”. Not “I may be” or “I could be” or “I should be”. Not “I was” or “I will be”. He’s telling the people who He really is. Now. Today. Every day.
• “I AM” is a also a claim to God’s divinity. God calls Himself the “I AM”. When He spoke to Moses at the burning bush, He said, “I AM the I AM”. Jesus was declaring that He was God Himself.
• Jesus is God. Yesterday. Today. Forever.

B. I am THE Good Shepherd

• Jesus is not like any other good shepherds out there. He’s the ONLY Good Shepherd. Just like He’s not like any other god, but THE ONLY God.

C. I am the GOOD Shepherd

• Jesus is good. Even when things go wrong or bad things happen, we can always trust that our God is good and has good plans for us.

D. I am the Good SHEPHERD

What does a shepherd do?

• A shepherd’s job is a very lowly one but also very important.
• In Psalm 23, we learn of how the shepherd provides all the sheep’s needs — water, green pastures, oil, rest, safety etc

In John 10, Jesus tells us that he:

a. Lays down His life for the sheep

• The hired hand will run for his life and forget about the sheep if he sees a wolf coming
• The Good Shepherd cares for the sheep and is willing to die for His sheep
• Jesus repeats this several times to emphasise that He is the Saviour who will die for all of us — His sheep.

b. Knows his sheep and calls them by name

• Jesus knows us. He cares for us. He leads us.
• We know His voice. We can follow Him.
• He knows us intimately just as the relationship between God and Jesus … SO CLOSE!
• And no one can take us away from Him. “No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:28)

c. Came to give us life

• The thieves and robbers climbs into the sheep pen without going through the door; they come to steal, kill and destroy.
• But the Good Shepherd comes to give us all abundant life! (John 10:10)
• The Good Shepherd comes to give us all eternal life! (John 10:28)

JESUS IS THE GOOD SHEPHERD. He lays down His life for us. He knows us intimately. He came to give us eternal and abundant life!

5. Suggested activities

• Memory Verse activity: John 10:11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
  
• Baa Baa Song

29 June 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Dewi

Asst 1 : Awan

Asst 2 : Jemimah

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Agus Rianto (Asst. Miguel)

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches : Lusiana (Asst. Theresia)

Elisha Review

1. REVIEW

>> emphasise the Christ-lesson they can learn from each miracle

These past 2 months, we’ve been looking at Prophet Elisha and the many miracles God performed through him:

I. Widow’s Oil: The oil multiplied, filled many empty jars and paid the family’s debt

>> Jesus paid my debt of sin

II. Bad water: The water was bad and the land was not productive, but God healed the water

>> God’s word, read under the New Covenant, washes us clean and makes us fruitful.

III. Shunammite’s Son: Raised from the dead

>> Jesus defeated death on the cross

IV. Naaman: Healed from leprosy

>> Jesus’ death washes us clean

V. Axhead: Elisha threw in a stick, and the axhead floated

>> Jesus’ death on the cross gives us a new nature

Arameans: God opened the servant’s eyes to see the Chariots and horsemen of fire

VI. >> God is working even when we cannot see

2. QUIZ

Some examples:

• Jigsaw: Print out the pictures, and cut into 2/3/4 parts. Get kids to fix together and then review the miracles
• Matching: Print out pictures, miracle (e.g. Arameans, Axhead), and Christ lessonsand get kids to match them together; or put pix up on screen and kids take turns to name the miracle and Christ lessons.
• Quiz: Prepare 2-3 questions per lesson.e.g. Elisha was the servant of another prophet. What was his name? Elijah.
• Divide kids into 2 groups and get them to take turns answering. Have a mix of easy and more challenging questions. Include some Christ lesson questions too. To make it more interesting, you can have a tic-tac-toe board and each team gets to put their X or O on the board when they answer correctly. 3-in-a-row wins. Then round 2.
• End by going through the pictures and Christ lessons again.

Resource : TNCC, Malaysia

22 June 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Javelyn

Asst 1 : Laila

Asst 2 : Susan

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Sianty & Andy

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches : Yungcien (Asst. Dedy)

Elisha & the Arameans 

1. HOOK

• Optical illusion quiz

• Show a black silhouette of a soldier with a red cross in the middle of the soldier and ask the kids to stare at the red cross for 30 seconds then look at a white wall/screen.
• They should see a yellow, glowing image of the same soldier.
• Explain: Sometimes we see the physical all the time. But we don’t realise that in every circumstances and situation, God is working, even when we can’t see it. So don’t look at the darkness. Look at Jesus (e.g. red cross in this case)!

• Optional: Do the same with the Jesus pix (focus on the 4 dots on the nose bridge)

2. STORY: Elisha & the Arameans (2 Kings 6:8-22)

• Tell the story of Elisha & the Arameans (2 Kings 6:8-22)
• The king of Aram was at war with God’s people in Israel. Each time the Arameans set up a place to attack, God would tell Elisha who would then tell the King of Israel. They would go a different way and avoid trouble.
• After many times of avoiding an attack, the king of Aram decided that someone in his army was telling his secrets to the king of Israel. “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
• His army told him that no one in the army was sharing secrets. They explained that Elisha was telling the king of Israel what was going on. They knew that he was a man from God.
• When the king heard this, he sent out a large group of army soldiers to find him. They found him in the city of Dothan. The king sent a large group of soldiers, horses and chariots to get Elisha. They traveled by night and totally surrounded the city!
• The next morning, Elisha’s helper woke up and looked out the window. He was shocked and scared. He saw soldiers everywhere. He ran to Elisha to tell him the news. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?”
• Elisha encouraged his helper. “Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
• Elisha prayed. “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.”
• When the helper looked out the window again, he saw an amazing site. He saw horses and chariots of fire from God behind all the soldiers. Suddenly, the army started moving toward Elisha’s home.
• Elisha prayed to God for help. He asked God to make them blind. “Strike this army with blindness.” Instantly, the WHOLE army was blind! Can you imagine that?
• All the soldiers were confused and afraid. Elisha boldly walked up to them and explained that they were in the wrong town.
• Then he did a very brave thing. He asked them to follow him! They were being led by the person they came to capture! They had no idea who they were following.
• Elisha led them to Samaria. He led the whole army into the hand of the King of Israel’s army. Then, Elisha prayed and asked God to remove the blindness. Suddenly, the men could see. When they looked around, they saw that they had been tricked and now THEY were surrounded by soldiers.
• The king of Israel asked Elisha if they should kill them. Believe it or not, Elisha told them instead to be kind to the soldiers. “Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.”
• After they ate, they returned home. Because of this kindness, the king of Aram did not fight God’s people for a very long time.

3. LESSON

• Source: Mission Arlington & TNCC, Malaysia

A. “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.”

• Elisha’s helper saw the armies and was afraid. Elisha had to ask God to open his eyes to see the unseen — God’s armies of horses and chariots of fire!
• Similarly, we should not focus too much on the natural — what we can see/touch/taste/hear/feel etc. The natural circumstances may be difficult or depressing, but in the spiritual, God is working for us … even if we can’t see it yet!
• Always remember: God is fighting for us even when we cannot see. He lives in us (where we cannot see) and He is greater than any problem or scary things out there! (2 Cor 5:7)
• 1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

B. God comes to our rescue

• We now know that we have a powerful God who comes to our aid when we are in need.
• But there was a time in Jesus’ life when He had soldiers around Him. They came to arrest Him even though He had done nothing wrong. Instead of calling down angels to help Him, Jesus was quiet because He knew there was a reason for this.
• The mean people nailed Jesus to a cross because they thought that He was not God’s Son. They jeered at Him and insulted Him, saying, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” Jesus could. But He didn’t.
• Jesus really WAS God’s Son. He chose to die on the cross to pay the price for all the wrong things that WE have done. Jesus took all our sin on Himself and died to make a way for us to go to Heaven.
• If we believe in Jesus and ask Him to come into our heart, He will clean out all the dirt of our sin and make us pure and clean. He will stay in our heart forever so we don’t have to be afraid anymore!
• If you would like to invite Jesus into your heart, pray with me now.

C. “Set food and water before them.” (Psalm 23:5)

• The Aramean soldiers were trapped and surrounded by their enemies, the Israelites. They should have been killed. But Elisha told the king to show mercy and feed them well before letting them return to the King of Aram.
• The Psalmist tells us that God prepares a table for us in the midst of our enemies. When we are faced in impossible situations, God’s favour will be shown to us, even by our enemies!
• How was this possible? Because once, while we were God’s enemies, He gave His life for us!
  Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

• Memory Verse: 1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

15 June 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Junita

Asst 1 : Kasey

Asst 2 : Adeline

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Iwan & Shevica

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches :  Savitri (Asst. Miguel)

Elisha & the Floating Axhead

1. HOOK

• Prepare a pail of water and some “IRON” household items (e.g. cutlery, coins etc).  Let the children drop them in the water. Then ask them if they can now make them FLOAT to the top of the water so, that you can get them out.
• Then toss a small stick in the water and ask them if they think that the STICK can make those heavy “IRON” items float to the top.  They may think it’s crazy. But in the Bible, we find a story where God’s prophet, Elisha, made an axe head float!

2. STORY: Elisha & the Floating Axhead (2 Kings 6:1-7)

• Tell the story of Elisha & the Floating Axhead (2 Kings 6:1-7); use props if necessary
• Some men were building a new home as Elisha stood by. As they chopped down trees, one builder lost grip of his axe, and the axe head flew into the Jordan River…seemingly lost forever. The axe head was borrowed and it was very valuable, as most iron tools were in those days. When Elisha was informed where the axe head fell, he took a stick (part of a tree), and threw it in the river. To everyone’s amazement the axe head came to the surface and floated. They recovered the axe head!

3. LESSON

A. Our Heavenly Father Cares (1 Peter 5:7)

• A missing axe head. Why would the God of heaven and earth bother about something as insignificant as a missing axe head? But our Heavenly Father cares about us. And He cares about the things that matter to us.
• The axe head was borrowed and expensive — the man who was using it probably could not repay it (else he would have his own axe). And God used Elisha to show His love and care by performing a miracle of making a heavy axe head float to the surface of the water!
• God cares for us. He cares for what matters to us. Just like the prophet called to Elisha for help, we can call to God for help in every little thing in our life!

B. Our Heavenly Father Loves us and Saves us

• This story is truly amazing for many reasons, but especially for the picture of redemption that it shows us. Just like that axe head, we are very valuable to our Lord Jesus Christ. We are precious to Him and He loves us very much.
• The axe head was caught in the unclean waters of the Jordan, caught in the depths of the muddy bottom as its weight and density caused it to sink deeper and deeper … seemingly lost forever. And just like that, we were lost in this world, our sin causing us to sink deeper and deeper into the miry mud from which we could not pull ourselves out. We needed someone to search for us, find us, and pull us out!
• Jesus came looking for us, searched for us, and sought to save that which was lost. As Elisha threw the tree into the Jordan, so did the cross of Christ save us, that tree on Calvary.
• Everyone knows iron does not float, but when Elisha threw the tree into the water, the iron took on a new nature. Its old nature caused it to sink, but its new nature caused it to rise and to float above the depths below it. We have a new nature through Jesus Christ because of the work of the cross and His great love for us. Just like that iron axe head became buoyant and was set free from its old nature, so do we become spiritually buoyant as we are lifted by Jesus Christ to our new identity.
• Jesus’ death on the cross gave us new life and new nature.
• Memory Verse: Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Source: The cross and the axe head & TNCC, Malaysia

4. ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS

• Father’s Day: Do a Father’s Day craft or write a note to our earthly Daddy who also cares and loves us very much.
  (If a kid doesn’t have an earthly Daddy, get them to write a note to their Heavenly Daddy instead; assure them of their Heavenly Father’s love for them)
  Close in prayer (and thank God for all the fathers)

8 June 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Susan

Asst 1 : Tasya

Asst 2 : Felicia

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Lily Bun (Asst. Santi)

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches : Lusiana (Asst. Theresia)

Elisha & Naaman

1. STORY: Elisha & Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-19)

You may choose to use a video, or have it interactive, with a kid acting as Naaman. Can put some powder on his skin to depict leprosy and use a blanket to depict River Jordan etc.

Example of the story from the little girl’s point of view:

• Hi! I want to tell you what happened to a friend of mine very long ago.
• I lived with some special people and I helped them in their house. They were very kind to me.
• My boss, Naaman, was a very important man. He took care of the soldiers for the king. One day, he began to get very bad skin sores called leprosy. He was very upset and did not know what to do. No one had ever been cured of this disease.
• I spoke up and told him that in my country there was a man of God named Elisha, who could cure his problem. He was so excited. He packed his clothes and hurried off to visit the man.
• When he got to Elisha’s door, a helper came instead of Elisha. He told Naaman to dip 7 times in the Jordan River and he would be clean.
• Naaman was upset. He was disappointed that Elisha did not come to the door. He went away mad.
• On the way, some of Naaman’s friends talked to him and asked him to go to the Jordan river. They stopped and Naaman dipped in the water 7 times. (Count to 7)
• When Naaman came up out of the water, he was clean! Naaman was well! God cured his sickness!
• Naaman saw that God was the only real God. He believed in God that day and only followed Him.

2. LESSON

• God can do the same thing in our lives. You and I may not have leprosy like Naaman did. But we all had a dreaded disease once. In fact, it was fatal. This dreaded disease is called Sin, and it leads to death! God made a way to help us clean out all the dirty sin that we have in our life — Jesus came as a man, died in our place and rose from the dead to pay the price for our sin.
• It took faith for Naaman to go dip in the river — a very basic and humbling act — and be healed. If we want to be healed from sin, we just need to have faith in Jesus — it’s that simple!
• We don’t have to wash in a river — Jesus’ blood washed us clean (1 John 1:7; Rev 1:5)
• Naaman dipped in the river Jordan 7 times. 7 is the number of perfection. Jesus’ work on the cross was perfect and complete!
• Leprosy makes the skin white as snow in a BAD way (Exo 4:6; 2 Kings 5:27). When Jesus washed us clean, we become white as snow in a GOOD way! “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. (Isaiah 1:18)
• We can also learn from our lesson how to help others know about God. The little girl spoke up and told her friends about God and how to find Him. We can do the same thing!

3. ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS

• Memory Verse: 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

• Sing this song to the tune of “Mulberry Bush.”

Seven baths did Naaman take, Naaman take, Naaman take,
Seven baths did Naaman take, count them all right now.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven!

Seven baths and Naaman’s well, Naaman’s well, Naaman’s well
Seven baths and Naaman’s well count them all right now.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven!

Thanks to God who made him well, made him well, made him well,
Thanks to God who made him well, All-le-lu-ia!
Resource: Mission Arlington

1 June 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Carrie

Asst 1 : Laila

Asst 2 : Junita

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Susi Tjio (Asst. Fenny)

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches : Swanky

Elisha & the Shunammite Woman’s Son

1. HOOK: Sharing dreams

• Get the children to share their dreams. Share how one of your wishes/dreams came true.
• What is your dream? What is something you want very much to happen?
  • Become a famous football player/ singer /artist /musician etc
  • Go to Disneyland/Universal Studios or some country you always wanted to visit
  • Become a doctor/fireman/etc when you grow up
• Today we hear a story about a woman who waited so long for her dream to come true. Although she gave up, her dream came true.

2. STORY: Elisha & the Shunammite Woman’s Son (2 Kings 4:8-36)

• Remember how we heard Elisha helped a widow and her two sons as they had a debt they couldn’t pay? Today we hear how Elisha helped a rich woman.
• One day Elisha went to the town of Shunem. A rich woman invited him to come to her home for a meal. After that, whenever Elisha passed that way, he would stop by her house. The woman knew that Elisha was God’ prophet and persuaded her husband to build a small room for Elisha so that he could stay there whenever he came to that town. When Elisha came to Shunem, he went up to this upper room to rest. He thought about the woman and asked his servant, Gehazi, “What can we do for her?”
• Gehazi replied, “She doesn’t have a son, and her husband is an old man.”
• God told Elisha that he would give the woman a son.  Later Elisha told the woman, “Next year at this time you will be holding a son in your arms!” “No, my lord!” she cried. “Don’t lie to me.” She wanted a son so long and had already given up hope and she didn’t want to be disappointed again.
• Have you felt like the woman- that you waited so long for your dream to come true, got so disappointed that it didn’t happen. You even told other people not to mention about it so you won’t feel so disappointed?
• But the woman soon became pregnant and she had a son the following year, just as Elisha had said.
• One day when her child was older, he went out to help his father in the field. Suddenly he cried out, “My head! My head hurts!” (We are not told what happened to him). Maybe he was bitten by a snake. So, one of the servants took him home and his mother held him on her lap. But around noontime he died. She laid him on Elisha’s bed and went to find Elisha.
• When she came to Elisha, she fell to the ground before him and caught hold of his feet. Gehazi began to push her away, but Elisha said, “Leave her alone. She is deeply troubled, but the Lord has not told me what it is.” Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? And didn’t I say, ‘Don’t lie to me’?” Then Elisha found out that her son died.
• She asked Elisha to return to her home with her. When Elisha arrived at her house, he went in to his room alone, shut the door behind him and prayed to the Lord. Then Elisha laid down on the child’s body, placing his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on the child’s eyes, and his hands on the child’s hands. As he stretched out on him, the child’s body began to grow warm again! (When a person is dead, his body will turn cold. When the boy became warm, it showed that life was returning to his body) The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes!
• When the woman came in and saw her son alive, she fell at Elisha’s feet, overwhelmed with gratitude. Then she took her son in her arms and carried him downstairs.

3. LESSON

A. God gives us our dreams

• God gave the woman a son although she had already gave up on hoping for one. For many years, she couldn’t have any children so the woman didn’t want to hope anymore. She was afraid she would be disappointed for another time. However, God knew that she wanted a son and he gave her a son.
• Although her son died and even when things looked so bad, God kept his promise that she will have a son. He raised her son from the dead.
• If we have been waiting for a long time for our dreams/hopes to come true, remember that God knows the plans he has for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11). Nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:38) and He is a father who gives good gifts to his children.
• There may be times God does not give us what we want — He gives us something even better!!

B. We have God’s great power

• The raising of the woman’s son is one of the most amazing miracles which happened during Elisha’s ministry. It reminds us of the greatest miracle that happened when God raised Jesus from the dead.
• It is so amazing that we (those of us who have received Jesus as our Saviour) have Jesus’ life and power. In Ephesians 1:19 we are reminded of God’s incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength  God exerted when he raised Christ from the dead.
• When we look at ourselves today, remember that we are no ordinary people. We have Jesus’ life, we have his power, the power that raised Jesus from the dead.

4. ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS

• Ask if any of the children want to accept Jesus as their personal saviour and if any, pray together with them.
• Get your children to act out the story of Elisha and the Shunammite woman.

Resource: TNCC, Malaysia