Fall Back Sunday, November 3, 2013: God Called Isaiah

Don't forget to set your clocks back one hour Saturday night!

Isaiah 6

Thank you for continuing this journey of The Gospel Project^® for Kids. During the next four weeks, preschoolers will learn about the prophet Isaiah and his message of the coming Messiah. This Sunday’s Bible account focuses on Isaiah’s calling by God to prophesy to the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

In the year King Uzziah of Judah died, Isaiah was worshiping God in the temple when he had a vision. Isaiah saw God sitting on a throne. God’s robe was long; its edges filled the temple. Seraphim—heavenly beings, each with six wings—stood above Him, calling out “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord!” The magnitude of God’s holiness made Isaiah realize the magnitude of his own sin. His response? “Woe is me!” A seraph touched Isaiah’s lips with a piece of coal, an outward sign of God removing Isaiah’s sin and preparing Isaiah for the next step. Isaiah would eagerly take God’s message of hope and the coming Messiah to the people.

God extended His grace to Isaiah and took away Isaiah’s guilt. God passed over Isaiah’s sins because He was going to send Jesus to pay for them. In His death on the cross, Jesus paid for the sins—past, present, and future—of those who would trust in Him. When we trust in Jesus, God says to us, “Your guilt is taken away. Your sin is atoned for.”

Sunday, October 27: Joel, Prophet to Judah

Joel 1 - 3

In Sunday’s Bible account, God called Joel to prophesy to the Southern Kingdom of Judah in the middle of a crisis. Judah was experiencing an invasion of locusts, on top of a drought. Joel made it clear that the people were not undergoing bad luck—God was judging them for their sin.

In Deuteronomy 28, God told His people that if they did not obey Him, “You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because locusts will devour it” (vv. 15, 38). That is exactly what happened. These disasters were a wake-up call. Joel told the people to repent. He told them to fast. He told them to cry out to God and ask Him to show them mercy. Then Joel looked ahead to the future. The Day of the Lord was coming, a day when God would show His strength through an invading army. God’s power would be against those who were not right with God. So Joel implored them, “Return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents from sending disaster.”

God would rather forgive His people than punish them. God used locusts and drought to get Judah's attention. They had turned from God, and the prophet Joel called them to repent. Like Joel, Jesus calls sinners to repent. Jesus died and was resurrected so that those who repent can experience forgiveness. (Luke 24:46-47)

Thank you for continuing this journey of The Gospel Project^® for Kids!

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Sunday, October 20, 2013: Jonah, Prophet to Nineveh

Jonah 1 - 4

Sunday’s Bible account in The Gospel Project^® for Kids is one that many kids have heard before, and we often lose sight of the central message. The message isn’t so much about Jonah being swallowed by a big fish, although that is certainly amazing. Jonah’s account centers around the compassion of God, not only for the people of Israel, but for people throughout the earth—even Israel’s worst enemies!

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and the rulers of Nineveh were notoriously evil and cruel. Check out how the prophet Nahum described the city in Nahum 3: “Woe to the city of blood, totally deceitful, full of plunder, never without prey” (v. 1). No wonder Jonah ran the other way! God used a storm and some time in the belly of a fish to get Jonah’s attention, and Jonah went to Nineveh. For three days, Jonah walked around the city. His message to the Ninevites was brief: “In 40 days Nineveh will be demolished!”

The people of Nineveh immediately repented, and God withheld His judgment. That made Jonah furious. But God rebuked Jonah and prompted him to examine his heart. God displayed His mercy and grace by forgiving the people of Nineveh when they repented of their sin. God showed His love to the rest of the world by sending His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross. God saves those who trust in Jesus and repent of their sin, and He sends them out, like Jonah, with the good news of salvation.

Sunday, October 13: Hosea, Prophet to Israel

Hosea 1 - 14

Today’s Bible account in The Gospel Project^® for Kids reveals what true and unconditional godly love looks like. God told Hosea to show the people of Israel how much God loved them, but in an unexpected way. God told Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman, and to raise her children who were conceived with other men.

Hosea obeyed God. He married a woman named Gomer, and she was unfaithful just as God said she would be. God’s people were no different than Gomer. They loved and worshiped idols, people and things that were not the one true God.

It would have been easier for God (and Hosea) to throw up His hands and say, “Enough! I’m done with you!” But God’s love never gives up. He gave Hosea a love for his wife that compelled him to buy her back from the slave market even after all she had done.

Hosea’s relationship with Gomer reminds us of God’s relationship with the people of Israel and with us. Even though God’s people are unfaithful and love other things more than they love God, God still loves us. God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sin and bring us back to Him.

Sunday, October 6: Amos, Prophet to Israel

Amos 1 - 9

Thank you for continuing this journey of The Gospel Project^® for Kids. Over the next four weeks, we will focus on the Bible accounts of four prophets whose messages to God’s people foreshadowed Jesus Christ. In Sunday’s account, we learn of Amos, a regular, hard-working man who raised sheep in the southern kingdom of Judah. God called Amos to prophesy to the people of Israel.

On the outside, the northern kingdom of Israel looked good. They were prospering economically, their borders were expanding and sure, King Jeroboam was an evil and ungodly man, but he could have been worse. But God was not pleased with His people. Their hearts were far from Him. They ignored God’s laws, worshiped idols, and mistreated the poor. They were greedy, hypocritical, and prideful. So God called Amos to tell Israel that God was going to judge them for their sin.

Taking God’s message to the people of Israel was no easy task. When Amos told Israel through three sermons that God’s judgment would also fall on them, they told him to go away. The Israelites’ refusal to turn back to God brought an end to their time of prosperity and eventually led to their exile.

God is Loving and Gracious, but He is also Holy and Just. God wanted His people to turn back to Him, but they refused, and the people of Israel were punished for their sin. God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sin. God accepts anyone who trusts in Jesus as Lord and Savior.