United for Kids: Palm Sunday class
Discussion re Easter: What does it mean to you? (holidays, Easter Bunny, chocolate eggs)
Let me tell you how it all began:
A long time ago, in a land far away, there lived a very special man – his name was Jesus. He lived in a town called Nazareth – so they called him Jesus of Nazareth.
He was a holy man, a Jew, a man who loved God, and everything that God made: all people, men, women, and children, birds and animals, mountains and lakes – everything. He loved everything, because God made it, and God loved it, and it was very good!
Let me read you a bit about that. (“God makes a world.” In Ralph Milton’s The Family Story Bible)
But most people in those days had forgotten that God loved them, and God loved the whole world – and so they were mean to each other, and did bad things like steal from each other and hurt each other.
So Jesus came – a man who was so good and so loving that people just knew he must be from God. He did wonderful things to show the people how great and powerful God is. He healed a lot of people from terrible diseases. He made people see again who had been born blind. He even brought people back to life! We call these things miracles, because most of us can’t do that!
People followed Jesus around to see what he would do next – and then he would talk to them – teach them about God and about how they should live together in peace and harmony, and take care of each other. He told the people to “Love God with all your heart, and all your mind, and all your strength, and love your neighbour as yourself.”
And to Jesus – loving your neighbour meant looking after them – helping them if they needed help. Giving them food if they were hungry – water if they were thirsty.
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!
But all this attention Jesus was getting upset some people. The people who were powerful – who told the ordinary people how to behave and expected them to obey – those people didn’t like Jesus because he was teaching a different way – the Way of Love. Sometimes it’s hard for us to change the way we do things, and we can get very angry at people who want us to do something new and very different from what we think is right, and we are used to doing!
So Jesus was in danger. Some of those people wanted to kill him. But the ordinary people loved him. And all this leads us to Palm Sunday – the beginning of Easter week in the Christian church.
Jesus went to Jerusalem – the city where the powerful people lived, and where the main Temple was, and where all the Jewish people were going to celebrate the Passover – a special event in their history when God saved them from death and slavery.
And Jesus knew they wanted to kill him – but he had to go there anyway – and we will talk more next week about what happened to Jesus in Jerusalem.
Lets read: (“Jesus goes to Jerusalem” from Ralph Milton’s The Family Story Bible)
On Palm Sunday we are hoping that you will come to church and help us celebrate Jesus entry into Jerusalem. We’re going to learn a new song about it called: “Hey now – singing Hallelujah!”
Discussion re Easter: What does it mean to you? (holidays, Easter Bunny, chocolate eggs)
Let me tell you how it all began:
A long time ago, in a land far away, there lived a very special man – his name was Jesus. He lived in a town called Nazareth – so they called him Jesus of Nazareth.
He was a holy man, a Jew, a man who loved God, and everything that God made: all people, men, women, and children, birds and animals, mountains and lakes – everything. He loved everything, because God made it, and God loved it, and it was very good!
Let me read you a bit about that. (“God makes a world.” In Ralph Milton’s The Family Story Bible)
But most people in those days had forgotten that God loved them, and God loved the whole world – and so they were mean to each other, and did bad things like steal from each other and hurt each other.
So Jesus came – a man who was so good and so loving that people just knew he must be from God. He did wonderful things to show the people how great and powerful God is. He healed a lot of people from terrible diseases. He made people see again who had been born blind. He even brought people back to life! We call these things miracles, because most of us can’t do that!
People followed Jesus around to see what he would do next – and then he would talk to them – teach them about God and about how they should live together in peace and harmony, and take care of each other. He told the people to “Love God with all your heart, and all your mind, and all your strength, and love your neighbour as yourself.”
And to Jesus – loving your neighbour meant looking after them – helping them if they needed help. Giving them food if they were hungry – water if they were thirsty.
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!
But all this attention Jesus was getting upset some people. The people who were powerful – who told the ordinary people how to behave and expected them to obey – those people didn’t like Jesus because he was teaching a different way – the Way of Love. Sometimes it’s hard for us to change the way we do things, and we can get very angry at people who want us to do something new and very different from what we think is right, and we are used to doing!
So Jesus was in danger. Some of those people wanted to kill him. But the ordinary people loved him. And all this leads us to Palm Sunday – the beginning of Easter week in the Christian church.
Jesus went to Jerusalem – the city where the powerful people lived, and where the main Temple was, and where all the Jewish people were going to celebrate the Passover – a special event in their history when God saved them from death and slavery.
And Jesus knew they wanted to kill him – but he had to go there anyway – and we will talk more next week about what happened to Jesus in Jerusalem.
Lets read: (“Jesus goes to Jerusalem” from Ralph Milton’s The Family Story Bible)
On Palm Sunday we are hoping that you will come to church and help us celebrate Jesus entry into Jerusalem. We’re going to learn a new song about it called: “Hey now – singing Hallelujah!”
