Category Archives: Bible Lessons For Children

Stories, Tracts And Lessons For Children.

 

THE AMAZING CAMEL

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THE AMAZING CAMEL

Hi Children! I would like to talk about Camels which are found mainly in deserts around the world. There are two main types of Camel.
The Arabian camel has one hump and is known as a dromedary.

The other type is the Asian camel which has two humps on its back.

There are about two million camels in the world and every single one is owned by someone!
Isn’t that amazing!
They are also known as the ships of the desert because they have very wide feet which prevents them from sinking into the sand. They have very strong legs which allow them to carry heavy loads and they can grow over 2.5 metres tall and weigh up to 680 kilogrammes.
Another incredible thing is their eyes. They have three eyelids and two rows of thick eyelashes to protect their eyes from the desert sand that blows around.
They are also able to close their nostrils and lips to keep out the dust. Isn’t that amazing!
Most people think that the humps they have are for storing water when on long trips in the desert. But what they actually store is fatty tissue, because this reduces the need for protection in the rest of the body and allows them to survive in very hot climates. They also have very good ears.
The amount of water they drink is astonishing – a thirsty camel can drink up to 140 litres in minutes!
Camels have unbelievable stamina and endurance. They can walk 160 kilometres between drinks of water and having any food. No other creature in the world can do so much without refuelling.
They also have oval shaped blood cells – (if you don’t understand what this means, ask your Parents or Teacher and they will explain it to you) no other mammal on earth has blood like this. The oval shape allows blood to circulate more freely even when it is very thick from lack of water.
When food is scarce the camel lives off the fat of its hump, which slowly reduces in size and may even begin to flop over as the fat is used up.
The Camel is also known for its patience, tolerance and endurance which are all qualities we, as humans should have for one another.

These incredible facts about the Camel goes to show what a wonderful God we have. He created the Camel with all these amazing features because He wants us to know that He cares for us.
He blesses us with so many wonderful things each and every day of our lives and all He wants in return is for us to love Him and give our lives to Him.

There are two more things that a Camel does every single day that not many people take notice of.
1. The Camel kneels at the close of day to have its load lifted off for the night.
2. It kneels again in the morning to receive its load for the day ahead.

We too, should kneel at night before we go to bed and give thanks for all His mercies received throughout the day.
We too, should kneel in the morning to receive His loving guidance for what lies ahead of us each day.

We serve a loving God who cares for us so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins, that we might be made whole and that we might live lives that are pleasing to Him.

Do you know the Saviour?

If you would like to invite Jesus into your heart, here is a prayer you could use:

Dear God,
I need you. I am humbly calling out to you.
I’m tired of doing things my way.
Help me to start doing things Your way.
Please forgive me for my sins and all the things I have done wrong.
I invite You into my life to be my Lord and to be my Saviour.
Fill the emptiness in me with Your Holy Spirit and make me whole.
Lord, help me to trust You, help me to love You,
Help me to live for You,
And help me to understand Your Grace, Your Mercy and Your Love.
Thank You, Lord.
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen.

IF ONLY I COULD JUST TOUCH HIS CLOTHES!

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IF ONLY I COULD JUST TOUCH HIS CLOTHES!

Hi Children!

There is a wonderful story in the Bible which tells of a woman who had been very sick for 12 years. Yes 12 years! Can you imagine being ill for so long? I can’t. She had been to so many doctors for help, but sadly none of them could heal her.

What made things worse was that she had no money left to pay for anymore visits to the Doctor.
Then one day she heard that Jesus was passing through her village and she said to herself:
If only I could see Him. If only I could just touch His clothes, I would be healed.

She made up her mind to go to where Jesus was, so she got dressed and joined the crowd, but found that it was almost impossible to get close enough because of all the people who were following Jesus.
But she was determined to touch Him, so she pressed forward and just managed to touch His clothes by stretching her hand forward between the crowds.

Then an amazing thing happened! As she touched His clothes, she was healed! Her sickness left her immediately. The Bible tells us that Jesus knew He had been touched and turned around and asked:

Who touched me?

The disciples were astonished that Jesus would ask such a question because there were so many people crowded around Jesus that any number of people could have touched Him.
But Jesus knew that there was something special about the person who had just touched His clothes, and asked who it was.

When the woman heard Jesus ask this question, she was afraid and fell down on her knees and told Him it was her.
Jesus then said to her:

Your faith has healed you.
Go in peace.
You are healed.

Isn’t that an amazing story?
Remember children, all these stories in the Bible are there to teach us what we must do if we are to put our trust in Jesus.
What this woman did, we must do if we are to invite Jesus into our lives.
She knew that if she came to Jesus, He would heal her, so should we.

We may not be very ill, but we do have sins that separate us from Jesus and we need to ask forgiveness for them and invite Jesus into our lives.
We need to live for Jesus day after day and we do this by inviting Him into our lives and asking Him to live with us.
We need to get to know Jesus, and we do this by reading the Bible every day and praying for help in understanding what we read.

We need to understand that no-one else can do this for us.
Just like the woman who got up and went to Jesus in faith, believing that He would heal her, we must do the same.

Jesus tells us to:
Come to Him and He will heal us and He will make us whole.
Jesus loves us and wants us to love Him!
We can only be a whole person if we love Jesus, because without Him we are empty.
If you would like to read this story for yourself, open your Bible to the Gospel of Mark Chapter 5 and read from verse 25 to verse 34.
If you don’t understand something, ask your Mother and Father to help you.

Until next time!
Remember the rainbow!
It is always in front of you!

THE GOSPEL RAILWAY

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THE GOSPEL RAILWAY

The gospel train is coming,
I hear it just at hand,
I hear the wheels moving,
And rumbling through the land.
Get on board, children,
Get on board, children,
There’s room for many more.
The Gospel train is at hand,
be in time, be in time:
Crowds at the station stand, with tickets in their hands,
To start their journey to the Promised Land.
Be in time, be in time.
The Gospel train is at hand,
Be in time, be in time!
Behold your station is there,
JESUS has paid your fare;
Let’s all bow our heads in prayer:
Be in time, be in time!

Hi Children! this is the story of the Gospel Railway and it has five parts:

  1. The Station.
  2. The Booking Office.
  3. The Timetable.
  4. The Conductor.
  5. The Terminal.

YOUR GOSPEL RAILWAY JOURNEY

It is called the Gospel Railway, because it is the story of a JOURNEY each and every person must take if they want to be with Jesus and live with Him.

THE STATION

This is the place we all must come to if we want to get on the Gospel Railway.
This is where your JOURNEY begins. It speaks of the Cross on which Jesus died for our sins.
Every person must come to this Station to begin their JOURNEY.

THE BOOKING OFFICE

Before you can start your JOURNEY, you must have a ticket, and you get this from the Booking Office.
This office has a door which must be opened so you can go in and collect your ticket. Jesus tells us in the Bible that He is the Door and that if you go in, He will welcome you. See John 10:9

THE TIMETABLE

This tells you what time of the day your JOURNEY will begin.
The Bible tells us not to delay getting our ticket to be with Jesus. You must collect it NOW! See 2 Corinthians 6:2

THE CONDUCTOR

The Conductor loves children and you will be safe in His hands.
You can read about how much Jesus loves children by looking at this verse in the Bible. See Luke 18:16

THE TERMINAL

This is the place where your JOURNEY ends.
These verses tell you all about this wonderful DESTINATION.
See John 14:2-3

JONAH AND THE WHALE

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JONAH AND THE WHALE

This is the story of a man called Jonah who was told by God to go to a place called Nineveh and tell the people that God loves them and that He wants them to repent of their sins. Nineveh was a very big city and many thousands of people lived there. It has been said that Nineveh was great in numbers and great in sins. (Jonah 1:1-2) But Jonah did not listen to God, he did not want to go and preach to the people. He was afraid of them! So, he ran away! He decided to hide from God and got onto a sailing boat that was heading toward Spain.  See Jonah 1:3

On the way there, a storm came up. Huge waves tossed the boat up and down and very strong winds blew across the water, so much so that the fishermen were afraid for their lives! Some of the sailors sensed that God was punishing someone on board. They soon found out who it was, because Jonah admitted that he was running away from God. The sailors then threw Jonah overboard into the cold, icy water and left him whilst they carried on with their journey. (Jonah 1:8-15) In the meantime, God had prepared a giant fish to swallow Jonah and he sat inside the fish’s belly for three days and three nights!

Can you imagine that! Jonah 1:17

All Jonah could do was pray! He prayed so hard that God would save him. Finally, the fish spat Jonah out of its mouth onto the shore and Jonah was saved from a terrible death! Jonah 2:10

After that Jonah obeyed God and went into the City of Nineveh and began to preach to the people, telling them that they had to repent. They had to ask God to forgive them for the many sins they had. The Bible tells us that the people changed their ways immediately and began to worship God. They begged God to forgive them, which He did!
Isn’t that amazing? God was very pleased.
Read Chapter 3
The story does not end there, because we are told that even though God was pleased, Jonah was not! He believed that the people of Nineveh should be punished.  But God showed His love for all people and the story of Jonah ends with these words from God:

Nineveh has more than 120,000 people who, because of their great sins and disobedience, do not know their right hand from their left hand. Should I not be concerned about that great city? Jonah 4:11

This is a lesson for all of us. God loves us and wants us to obey Him. He wants to save us. In Jonah 3 we are told that God came to Jonah a second time telling him to go and preach to the people. Just think about that – God gave Jonah a second chance!

  • How many times do you think God has been calling you to give your life to Jesus?
  • How many times have you felt the need to invite Jesus into your heart?
  • Don’t delay.
  • Don’t put it off.
  • Do it now!
  • You may never have another chance.

If you would like to invite Jesus into your heart, here is a prayer you could use:

Dear God,
I need you. I am humbly calling out to you.
I’m tired of doing things my way.
Help me to start doing things Your way.
I invite You into my life to be my Lord and be my Saviour.
Fill the emptiness in me with Your Holy Spirit and make me whole.
Lord, help me to trust You, help me to love You,
Help me to live for You, and help me to understand Your grace, Your mercy and Your love.
Thank you, Lord.
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen.
I prayed this prayer many years ago when I asked the Lord Jesus to come into my heart. You can too!

THE RIVER STOPPED FLOWING!

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THE RIVER
STOPPED FLOWING!

This is the story of Joshua leading his people across the River Jordan. The picture shows the Priests holding the Ark of the Lord in the middle with all the people crossing alongside. Notice how the water is being held back. What an amazing sight!

The story begins with God telling Joshua to tell the Priests to take the Ark of the Lord to the edge of the water. Joshua then tells all the people to follow the Ark. As soon as the feet of the Priests touched the water, the river stopped flowing! The priests then walked to the centre of the river and stopped and all the people crossed over. Joshua then told one man from each tribe of people to go back and pick up 12 stones and bring them back so they could build an altar as a memorial to God. When this had been done, Joshua told the Priests to bring the Ark to dry land and as soon as this was done, the River Jordan began to flow again. There are some very important lessons to learn from this story and here they are:

  1. The River Jordan is the biggest river in Israel and it is mentioned many times in the Bible.
  2. The Ark of the Lord was a very precious Gold covered box, because it symbolized the presence of God. Inside the box were; two tablets of stone, on which were written the 10 Commandments and some other sacred items. It had two carrying poles; one either side so that it could be carried from place to place, reminding the people that God was with them. It also showed that the people of Israel had no fixed dwelling place.

Also, notice that the Priests held the Ark in the middle of the river, whilst the people walked by to show them that it was God holding the water back and that He was with them

  1. When the Ark was in front, it led the people into the water.
  2. When the Ark was by their side, it protected the people from the water.
    This is a lesson for us. We should keep the Lord Jesus by our side no matter what happens.
  3. The usual place for the Ark was at the centre of their camp, showing us that Jesus should be at the centre of our lives.
  4. Did you know that Joshua is a picture of Jesus? He led his people, just as Jesus leads us.
  5. If God is to be our God, we must not be afraid, we must learn to trust Him.
  6. When they arrived at a place called Gilgal, Joshua told the people to take the stones they had collected and build a memorial to remind them of the love and power of God.

If you have read this story and would like to know more about it, open your Bibles to the Book of Joshua and read Chapters 3 and 4. If you don’t understand some of it, ask your Mom or Dad or your Teacher to help you.

If you would like to accept Jesus as your Saviour pray this prayer:

Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I know that you sent Jesus to be my Saviour, and that He died on the Cross to take the punishment for my sins.  I know that Jesus rose from the dead and is coming back someday. Please forgive me for all my sins, and come into my life and change me. Please guide me in my life and help me to follow you for the rest of my life. Thank you for saving me and taking me to heaven when I die.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

If you need any help, contact me. I prayed this prayer many years ago when I decided to invite Jesus into my life. You can too!

THE STORY OF JOSEPH

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THE STORY OF JOSEPH

The first book of the Bible is Genesis and in Chapter 37 you can begin to read the story of Joseph. He was one of twelve sons and his Father’s name was Jacob. To show everyone that Joseph was special, his Father gave him a fabulous coat to wear. It had long sleeves and was made of fine material woven in all the colours of the rainbow.

All of Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him. In fact none of them had any kind words to say about him.

One night Joseph had a dream in which he dreamt that he would, one day be in charge of all his brothers. Joseph wondered about this dream for a long time. Perhaps God had chosen him to become a leader. One day Joseph went to see what his brothers were doing and when they saw him coming, they plotted to harm him. They grabbed hold of him, pulled the special coat off and threw him into a well.

A short time later some traders passed by on their camels and the brothers decided to sell Joseph as a slave. So they pulled him out of the well and sold him! They then dipped the coat of many colours in some blood to show their Father that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.

The Father mourned for Joseph for a long time. In the meantime, the traders had sold Joseph as a slave to a man called Potipher who had a very important job as the captain of the guards in the King’s Palace. Joseph worked very hard at all he did and was soon trusted and put in charge of the whole house.
One day there was a big problem and Joseph was unfairly accused of doing something he did not do and was put in prison. But God knew Joseph’s heart and soon the prison guard began to trust Joseph and put him in charge of all the other prisoners.

During this time, Joseph was asked if he could explain the meaning of dreams two important men had because they could not understand them. One man was a steward and the other was the chief baker. Joseph asked God to help and was soon able to tell both men what their dreams meant.

  • In the first one the King would give the steward his job back.
  • The second one meant that the chief baker would soon die.
  • Both dreams came true!

Two years later the King himself had a disturbing dream and asked if Joseph could tell him the meaning of it. Joseph asked God for guidance and then told the King that God was telling him to prepare for seven years of plenty food followed by seven years of terrible famine!

The King put Joseph in charge at once to make sure that Egypt did not starve.
God was with Joseph every day and showed him what to do. In fact, there was so much food that people came from miles around to stock up and this included his brothers, the very ones who had sold him into slavery.

They did not recognize Joseph and bowed down to him when asking for food. This story has a wonderful ending and you can read all about it if you turn to the Book of Genesis and read from Chapter 37 through to 45.

What we learn from this is that we are all able to help others, even if we don’t like them. We should share the wonderful blessings God has given us.
Jesus loves us and wants us to love others, and to share the good news of what He has done for us.

If you don’t know Jesus and would like to invite Him into your heart, ask Him to change you from the inside out!
There is nothing better than knowing that your sins are forgiven and that you will one day be with Jesus in Heaven.

Here is a prayer for you to use.

If you need help, contact me. I prayed this prayer many years ago when I invited Jesus into my life. You can do the same!

THE BABY IN A BASKET

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THE BABY IN A BASKET

This is an amazing story of a baby found floating in the river in a small basket. You can read all about it in the Bible if you turn to the second book of the Old Testament called Exodus and read Chapters 1-2.

At the time this tiny baby was found, the King of Egypt was frightened that the Hebrew people were becoming stronger and stronger and that if there was a time of trouble, they would join forces with those who wanted to overthrow Pharaoh the king, so he ordered that all male children should be killed. What a terrible thing to do! The midwives who helped deliver the babies, honoured God and did not obey the king and let them live. One Hebrew woman, named Jochebed gave birth to a lovely son and she kept him hidden at home for about three months until she could hide him no longer.

She made a small floating basket and placed him carefully in it and gently pushed it into the River Nile. Jochebed and her daughter Miriam watched as the tiny basket floated away towards the banks covered with reeds, and they held their breath when they saw the Pharaoh’s daughter and her servants coming down to swim.

What would happen now? They asked each other!

To their surprise, the king’s daughter looked inside the little basket and saw the tiny baby who had started to cry and she felt sorry for it.

Miriam then stepped forward and asked if she could find a Hebrew nurse to look after the baby. The king’s daughter said yes! Find a nurse and I will pay her for looking after it. Miriam rushed to find her Mother and told her the good news.

She told her that her baby had been saved and that she would be paid to care for him! Isn’t that amazing?

This is a lesson for all of us to learn – if we have committed our lives to Jesus, He will look after us and nothing happens unless He allows it to happen. The story goes on to tell us that Pharaoh’s daughter loved the baby so much that she brought him up as her own son and she even named him Moses, which means:

I drew him out of the water.

You can read about this in Exodus 2:10.

The Bible also tells us that Amram, Moses’ Father and his Mother, Jochebed, had three children who were very famous people and who truly loved and obeyed God. See Numbers 26:59. They were:

  1. Moses – who became one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known.
  2. Aaron – who became Israel’s first high priest.
  3. Miriam, the gifted poetess and musician, who was intimately associated with her two brothers in the history of Israel.

What an amazing family who God has blessed throughout the ages.

If you do not know Jesus and would like to invite Him into your heart, you can use this prayer to ask Him into your life.

The Bible tells us that: If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved Romans 10:9

God so loved the world that He gave His one and only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life
John 3:16

THE BIBLE – AND CHILDREN

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THE BIBLE

The Bible is God’s message to every one of us. Even though it looks like one big book, it really is a collection of lots of books. In fact, it has 66 books! These books were written by different people at different times over a period of many years. Some of these people were fishermen, some were doctors, some were tax collectors and others looked after sheep and cattle.
What we learn from this is that God used lots of different people to bring us the Bible to read and study.

Did you know the word BIBLE means books?

The Bible is divided into two sections; the first section is called the Old Testament and the second is called the New Testament.
The Old Testament section has 39 books in which God gives us the Law, History, Poetry and Prophecy. Ask your teacher to explain the meaning of these words.
The New Testament section has 27 books in which God tells us about Jesus.
In it we can read about how much God loves us and why He wants us to obey Him.

There are so many stories in the Old Testament that tell us of people who did not want to listen to God and who did not want to obey Him, and as a result many of the stories end with great sadness.

Lots of people ask this question: Why should we obey God?

Well, the answer is:

we should obey God because He made us and because He loves us so much.

Think of having a tiny puppy. We want it to obey us when we tell it to do something. We want it to love us just as we love it. Why? Because we know what is best for the puppy.
We know that if we don’t teach it what to do and how to behave, it will grow up not knowing right from wrong and it will probably be very disobedient!

Did you know that there are lots of dog owners who take their puppies to obedience classes?
These are classes where an expert in dogs, teaches you and your puppy how to be obedient.
Isn’t that amazing!
The Bible tells us that God wants us to be obedient.
The Bible also tells us that we must learn to love Jesus.

How do I do that? This is a question all boys and girls ask.

  • The 1st step is to tell God that you want to get to know Jesus.
  • The 2nd step is to ask God to forgive you for all the wrong things you have done and all the wrong thoughts you have had and to tell Him that you are very sorry.
  • The 3rd step is to ask The Lord Jesus to come into your heart and to stay with you.
  • The 4th step is to start reading your Bible every day.
    If you don’t understand some of the words, then ask your Mom and Dad or Teacher to help you.
  • The 5th step is to learn to pray as often as you can.
    Remember you are talking to Jesus, and that He loves you very much.

If you follow all 5 of these steps, you will find out that God is real and that He loves you very much and that He wants you to trust and obey Him.

Sadly, there are people all around us who don’t have Jesus in their hearts.
They don’t even want to know about Him.

We see and hear of people who do not know Jesus as their Saviour.
We read about people fighting and hating one another.

  • How can this be right?
  • Is this what God wants us to do?
  • Is this how God wants us to behave?
  • The answer is NO!

The Bible tells us that we are to love one another.
But we cannot truly love one another until Jesus comes into our hearts and teaches us HOW to love.

Some say that we must learn to love ourselves before we can love other people.

THIS IS NOT TRUE!

True love comes only from knowing Jesus, and the only way we can know Jesus is to invite Him into our hearts.

When we do this, we will discover just what the love of Jesus really means.

THE A B C OF SALVATION

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One of the first things we learn when we go to school is our ABC’s. Yes, that’s right, the ALPHABET! There are 26 letters in the ALPHABET and did you know that no-one in the world can make a word without using letters of the alphabet.
The word ALPHABET means a writing system using letters.
When I became a Christian, I had to learn the ABC of Salvation and this is how it goes:

A stands for ALL
B stands for BELIEVE
C stands for CONFESS

 ALL

All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. Romans 3:23

 BELIEVE

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:31

 CONFESS

Confess with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead and thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:9

These three verses are in the Bible, which is God’s Holy Word to all of us.
They are there to teach us that God loves us and that He wants us to love Him.
If you cannot find these verses in your Bible, ask your teacher to help you.
Remember, before you can even begin to learn about Him you need to learn your ABC’s.
Just like before you can learn to read and write, you need to learn your ABC’s.

The verses tell us that we have all done wrong and have sinned.
You should try and memorise these verses, them to keep them alive in your mind.

They tell us that we need to believe and trust The Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him to come into our lives and live with us.
Lastly, we need to confess, which means to tell others that we believe and trust Jesus.
We also need to tell Jesus that we are sorry for sinning and ask Him to forgive us.
If you do this and trust Him with all your heart – a wonderful thing happens!

Jesus really does come to live with you.

JESUS FEEDS FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE

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This is the story about Jesus feeding 5000 people. Yes, that’s right, five thousand people! It all began when Jesus sent His disciples out into the countryside to heal sick people and tell them about God’s love. When they returned, they were so excited to tell Him of all the people they had met and what they taught and talked about.

Jesus then said that they should find a private place where they could talk and rest and perhaps have something to eat. So they got into a boat and sailed away to a quiet place across the water. But there was a problem. The people wanted to hear more about Jesus and had followed the disciples because they wanted to meet Him. They had heard so much about Him and wanted to see and hear for themselves, so they ran around the bay and met Jesus on the other side. When Jesus saw them, He was filled with love and concern for them because they needed a teacher and a leader and so He began to teach them many things.

It began to get late in the day and none of the people had eaten anything and the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him to send the people away into the villages to buy food for themselves because they were hungry and there was nothing to eat. But Jesus t old them to give the people something to eat. The disciples answered and said:

We cannot because we only have a small amount of food for ourselves, in fact we only have five loaves of bread and two fishes and it would cost a lot of money to buy enough food to feed so many people.

Jesus then did something wonderful! He told everyone to sit down on the ground. Remember there were over five thousand people! He then took the five loaves of bread and the two fishes in His hands and looked up to Heaven and thanked God for the food and asked Him to bless it. Then He broke the bread and fishes into pieces and told the disciples to hand it out and that everyone could take as much as they wanted.
After everyone was full, Jesus asked the disciples to gather all the food that was left over so nothing would be wasted. After they gathered all the baskets of food, they counted them up. There were twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and fish! Isn’t that amazing!?

What do we learn from this story?

We learn that only God can perform miracles. We learn that Jesus loves us and cares for us and that He wants us to love Him and follow Him every day of our lives.

The way to do that is to ask Jesus to forgive you for all the wrong things you have done and ask Him to come into your heart and live with you each and every day.

If you would like to read about this miracle, you can find it in the Gospel of Mark 6:30-44.

BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP

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BEAUTY IS ONLY
SKIN DEEP

How many of you have heard the expression that beauty is only skin deep? Do you know what it means? Looking at the picture of the hand should give you a clue.
Let’s see if by the end of this short story, you will know the answer. In the Bible there is a book called The Book of Proverbs and you can find it in the Old Testament and I would like you to turn to it and read Proverbs 27:19 which says: As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects a man. What this means is that what’s on the inside of a person is just as important as what is on the outside.
There are so many adverts on TV and in magazines telling women what lipstick to put on and what moisturizing creams to use so that they can look younger and more beautiful, but if they have ugly thoughts they will not be pretty.

In the same way, a man can spend hours on his beard and moustache and comb his hair until it looks perfect, but if his thoughts are not good, he will not look good.
People spend so much money these days on stuff to make them look good, smell good and appear good. An article in the newspaper tells us that even very young children spend hours in front of the mirror trying to make themselves look pretty. Hair gel is now the number one product sold in most shops all over the country. In another report we are told that young girls are buying fewer toys than ever before and would rather spend their pocket money on cosmetics.
There is nothing wrong with trying to be more beautiful and attractive, but it is very sad when lots of money is spent on things that can improve the outward appearance, while the inner person is being neglected. This is where it all goes wrong! This is where the saying comes from: Beauty is only skin deep. All the effort is put into the external, or outward appearance which sadly is all the world sees. A lovely skin, a lovely complexion, with matching lipstick all of which is external! Which is only as thick as the skin that holds us together and let’s face it, after a bath, it is all washed away!

We all know that God does not look at the outward appearance. He looks at the inward person. So how then can we make ourselves beautiful on the inside? Our verse of Scripture gives us the answer. Our hearts and minds should be clean and pure. This is where it starts. Our beautiful thoughts will be reflected in our faces and in our eyes.

I remember a very good friend of mine remarking on a girl he always admired. He said: She has such a lovely personality and her face seems to radiate and sparkle all at the same time.
If all our thoughts centre on ourselves and we never think of other people with love and affection, God will not see you as a beautiful person and nor will anyone else!
Here is another verse of Scripture for you to think about:

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

  • Ask God to help you make yourself beautiful from the inside out.
  • Remember He loves and cares for you.
  • Keep your eyes on Him and remember He is always in front of you – just like the rainbow.

THE BOY WHO RAN AWAY

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THE BOY WHO RAN AWAY

 THE BOY WHO RAN AWAY

Hi Children!

I wonder how many of you know the story of the boy who ran away? Well this is how the story goes:
There was a man who had two sons, and the younger one was not happy staying at home. He wanted to go out into the world and have fun. Then one day he said to his Father:

Father, I know that when you die, you will be sharing out all that you have between me and my brother so that each of us will get half of what you have got. Well, I don’t want to wait that long, so I would like my share now.

Even though his Father was very sad, he did what his son asked and gave him his share.
A few days later the son gathered all his belongings and left home to explore the land in which he lived.
He travelled far and wide and visited many places and before long he had no money left.
He had spent it all!
At the same time, there was a great famine, there was no rain and therefore no crops. The son became very hungry and what made things worse, was that he had no way of buying any food, so he asked for work from a farmer who gave him a job looking after the pigs. Things became so bad and he was so hungry that he began to eat the food that the pigs were eating.

FEEDING PIGS

He was so sad and miserable that he decided he could no longer live like this, because if he did, he would die of hunger.
So he made up his mind to go back to his Father and ask for forgiveness. He wrapped up what little possessions he had and travelled the long road back to his Father’s house.
Along the way he made up his mind to tell his Father that he had sinned against him and God and that he was not worthy to be called a son.
He also decided when he reached home, to ask his Father for a job, any job, even as one of the servants because that way at least, he would receive shelter and food.

There is a wonderful end to this story because, long before he reached home, his Father saw him in the distance and ran to meet him. He put his arms around him and kissed him.

WELCOME HOME - 1

With tears in his eyes the son said:
Father I have sinned against God and you and I am not worthy to be called your son. I am so sorry for what I have done, and I ask for your forgiveness.

The Father was so happy to see him that he called for the best robe to be put on him. He also put a ring on his finger and new shoes on his feet!
He then called to the servants and told them to prepare a great meal so that all could eat and be merry.
His precious son, who was lost in a far-away country, had come back!
What a wonderful welcome his son received!

If you would like to read this story in the Bible, turn to the Gospel of Luke 15:11-24.
It is known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
The word Parable, means a short story. Jesus often spoke to people using Parables so that He could teach us the truth about His love and that we must ask forgiveness for our sins and learn how to love Him with all our hearts.

The truth about this story is that the son thought that life would be better if he had some money and could get away from people telling him what to do. But he found out that once he left his home and his Father and Mother, life was not so easy. The money he had did not last long and before he knew it he had none left and was not able to buy any food. He also discovered that the friends he thought he had, soon left him when his money ran out! He was left with nothing, no money, no shelter, no food and no friends. He was all alone, and nobody cared about him.

One of the most important things to learn from this Parable is that even if we have drifted away from Jesus and tried to go our own way, He is there waiting for us to come back.

This is what we should do:

  • We should come back home.
  • We must ask Jesus to forgive us for the things we have done wrong.
  • We must ask our Mother and Father to forgive us.
  • Then, and only then, will we experience wonderful joy and happiness, because we are at last HOME where we belong. Home with our parents and home with Jesus!

I hope you have enjoyed this story.
It tells us so much about ourselves and why we need Jesus in our lives.
So until next time, keep looking to Jesus.
He is always in front of you – just like the rainbow!

THE COLOURS OF THE RAINBOW

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WHAT IS A RAINBOW?

A rainbow is made when beams of light from the sun fall on raindrops at a certain angle. This separates the colours of sunlight into seven colours. Do you know what these colours are?

They are stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet and they form a beautiful sight as the rays of the sun merge with the droplets of rain.

Did you know that these seven colours are always in the same order and never change?
They are always in a shape of an arc and are usually seen after a rain shower. Another interesting fact is that the intensity of the colours depends on the size of the droplets of water.
So the bigger the drops of rain, the brighter the colours are!

Have you ever heard of the famous scientist Isaac Newton? Well he was the one who discovered that the sunlight has to strike the droplets of rain at exactly 42 degrees in order for the rainbow to be formed so we can see it.

Another interesting fact is that when you see a rainbow, the sun is always behind you and the rain is always in front of you!
Have you ever tried to reach a rainbow?
It is impossible because as you start walking towards it, it will always seem to move further away.

There is a story in the Bible which mentions a rainbow and it is the story of Noah and the Ark.

NOAHS ARK 1

Noah obeyed God and did exactly what he was told to do.
You can read all about Noah and the Ark in Genesis Chapters 6 to 8.

God told Noah to build a big boat, called an Ark, and He told Noah exactly how to do it. The Ark was to be 450 ft. (137 m) long, 75 ft. (23 m) wide and 45 ft. (14 m) high. It was to have three decks or floors and be divided into rooms and it was to have a door in the side. It took Noah over 70 years to build the Ark!

Can you imagine working so long to build something? Well he did it and when he was finished, God told him to find two of every kind of animal and bird and take them into the Ark. He also had to take enough food for all the animals and enough food for his family.

Noah was 600 years old by the time everything was ready. God told Noah to go into the ark with his wife, his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives.

Then it started to rain. It rained without stopping for forty days and nights! The water got so deep that even the mountains were covered. But the Ark floated on top of the flood waters and the people and animals in the Ark were safe.

Eventually it stopped raining and the waters began to go away. So that Noah could find out if it was safe to get out of the Ark, he allowed a Dove to fly off and waited for it to return. When it did finally return it had an Olive Branch in its mouth.

So Noah knew that the waters were almost gone. He waited another 7 days and sent the Dove out again, but this time the Dove did not come back, so Noah knew then that the rain had dried up and that he and his family and all the animals could leave the Ark.

NOAH THE DOVE AND THE RAINBOW

After this God blessed Noah and his sons and told them to replenish the earth.

God then told Noah that He promised never again would there be another flood, and to seal this promise God set a rainbow in the clouds as a reminder.
So every time we see a rainbow in the sky, we are to remember God’s promise.
We must also remember that God loves us and that it pleases Him when we are obedient.
By the way, do you recall me saying at the beginning of this booklet that the colours of the rainbow are always in the same order?
Here is an easy and quick way of remembering them:

RICHARD OF YORK GREW BEANS IN VENICE

Richard  RED

Of           ORANGE

York        YELLOW

Grew      GREEN

Beans     BLUE

In            INDIGO

Venice    VIOLET

I hope you have enjoyed this story. It tells us so much about ourselves and why we need Jesus in our lives.
So until next time, keep looking to Jesus.
He is always in front of you – just like the rainbow!