Summer Fun! Preschool Day Camp 2014

Haggai, Prophet to Judah

Haggai 1-2

Thank you for continuing this journey of The Gospel Project^® for Kids. At last! God’s people returned to Jerusalem, the home of their ancestors. Many of God’s people had been born in Babylon, and life in exile was the only reality they knew. Life in Judah wasn’t exactly what they had imagined. It was difficult. Their national wealth was gone. The work of rebuilding the temple and the city of Jerusalem was hard. The land was desolate, and crops failed. Their neighbors opposed their efforts. (See Ezra 4:6,11-16.)

God’s people were disappointed and discouraged. Their enemies forced them to stop building and, rather than fight them, God’s people gave up. The temple of the Lord sat unfinished for 16 years. If that was what God wanted, wouldn’t He make it easier for them? (See Haggai 1:2.) The prophet Haggai stepped onto the scene and brought words from the Lord, commanding them to finish the work they started. God promised to fill the temple with His glory, and comforted His weary people with this promise: “I will provide peace in this place” (Haggai 2:7,9).

God’s people struggled to do what God wanted them to do. God chose Zerubbabel, who was a descendant of King David and an earthly ancestor of Jesus, to help the people finish the temple. Many years later, God would send His Son, Jesus, to do His will. Jesus died and rose again to free us from sin so that we, too, can do what God wants us to do.

Jesus Appeared to the Disciples

Luke 24:36-49; John 20:19-29; Acts 1:3, 9-11

Thank you for continuing this journey of The Gospel Project^® for Kids. After Jesus’ resurrection, He graciously appeared to the disciples, proving that He was alive. Even though Jesus had told His disciples that He would die and rise again, they believed by seeing.

Talk with your preschooler about how the disciples must have felt when Jesus appeared in the locked room with them. Jesus told them not to be afraid! To prove that He had a real, physical body, Jesus let them touch His hands. He even ate some fish! Jesus promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come to them and equip them to proclaim the gospel.

The resurrection is essential to the gospel. If Christ remained dead, His death would have meant nothing more than any other human being’s. God gives us victory over death through Jesus. Emphasize to your kids that Christians have a special purpose: to tell others that Jesus is alive!

Easter Sunday: Jesus' Crucifixion and Resurrection

Matthew 26:36 - 28:10; John 18:1 - 20:18

Jesus is alive! We celebrate with you and your family the joy of Easter. This week’s account in The Gospel Project for Kids^® is all about Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection three days later.

Why did Jesus have to die? God is holy and just, and He requires due payment for sin. To simply forgive without receiving a payment would be unjust. The payment for sin is death. (Romans 6:23) Jesus came to earth to save us from our sin (Matthew 1:21), to show God’s love to us (Romans 5:7-8), and to give those who believe in Him eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus came to die so that we would be forgiven (Ephesians 1:7), and to bring us to God. (1 Peter 3:18)

Jesus’ resurrection proved that God accepted Jesus’ death as payment for our sins. Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are not the end of the story, but the climax of God’s plan to redeem us. Pray with your family, thanking God for sending His Son, Jesus, to be the Savior of the world.

Sunday, April 13: The Triumphal Entry

Mattthew 21:1-17; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-19

Thank you for continuing this journey of The Gospel Project^® for Kids. We’d like to take a break from the chronological study of the Bible to tell the accounts of Easter. Sunday’s Bible account describes Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem during Passover week, riding on a donkey like the prophet Zechariah foretold. (Zech. 9:9) Waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna,” the people welcomed Jesus as King. They believed He would overthrow Roman oppression. Jesus had a different message when He arrived in Jerusalem.

Jesus entered the temple complex. He turned over the tables of the money changers and those selling doves. Jesus said the temple was supposed to be a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:6-7), and declared His kingship would be over all people. Jesus healed the blind and the lame. Jesus wasn’t just an earthly king, He is God! (Isa. 35:4-6)

Help your kids connect the dots between God’s promises of a Messiah and Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. How did the people act when they saw Jesus? The people welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem as their King. Celebrate with your children why Jesus came: to save people from their sin!

for Sunday, April 6: Zerubbabel led the Captives Home

Ezra 1:1 - 2:2; 2:64 - 3:13

 

This week in The Gospel Project^® for Kids, our journey takes us to Babylon. God’s people had been living in Babylon for 70 years and some had even died in Babylon. Some of their children and grandchildren were born in Babylon and grew up there. But Babylon was not their home.

Before the people of Judah were exiled, God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah. These are the words of the Lord: “When 70 years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm My promise concerning you to restore you to this place” (Jer. 29:10). The time had come for God’s people to go back home. Cyrus, the king of the Persian empire, overthrew Babylon. Cyrus took over the kingdom, including the lands of Israel and Judah. In the following year, the Lord did something miraculous in Cyrus’s heart. He prompted Cyrus to issue a decree: All the Jewish exiles are free to return to their ancestral homes.

The exile was over! God’s people were free to return to their own land. The first group of Judean exiles returned home under the leadership of Zerubbabel (zuh RUHB uh buhl). Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin, who had been taken to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. Ezra 2:64-65 says nearly 50,000 people traveled back to Judah. When they got to Jerusalem, they began working to rebuild the temple that the Chaldeans (Babylonians) had destroyed.

Zerubbabel led God's people back to the temple to rebuild it. The temple was the place where God met with His people on earth. Jesus came to earth to rescue God’s people. One day Jesus will return to restore a greater home for all of God's people, and we will spend eternity with Him.