The Mailbx Club presents... BEST FRIENDS 1 Lessn 1 best friends Jesus said, "I have called yu friends... " Jhn 15: 15 Dear Friend, D yu knw that yu have a special friend wh lves yu with all His heart, a friend wh is strng and gentle and kind, a friend yu can talk t at any time, a friend wh is always willing t listen t yu and help yu? Yu may wnder, "Wh is this special friend?" He is Gd's Sn, the Lrd Jesus Christ! He lves yu with all His heart. He is the best Friend yu culd ever have! This best Friend lives in a special place. What is this special place where the Lrd Jesus lives? It is called Heaven. Heaven is Gd's hme. Jesus called it "My Father's huse." Yu cannt imagine hw beautiful it is. 1 What is Heaven like? The best way t tell yu what Heaven is like is t tell yu abut the things that will be in Heaven and the things that will nt be in Heaven. First, we will think abut the things that will NOT be in Heaven. 1
The sun and the mn will nt be in Heaven. What We need them here, but in Heaven there is never any darkness. The glry f Gd is the light f that beautiful place. be in Heaven There will be n sin in Heaven. The spts in this heart stand fr sin. We cannt g t Heaven with sin in ur hearts. There will be n church buildings in Heaven. We g t church t wrship Gd, but in Heaven we will be living with Gd. He will be ur Gd and we will belng t Him frever..' We will nt need any medicine in Heaven because n ne ever gets sick. There will be n tmbstnes in Heaven because n ne ever dies. ;: eels Gd is ging t wipe away all tears. There will be n sickness, n srrw, and n heartaches in Heaven. Nne ever gets tired and n ne grws ld. There will be millins and millins f Gd's children there. All ur friends and lved nes wh trusted the Lrd Jesus as their Savir will be there. We will knw them and they will knw us. Gd will give special crwns t thse wh lved the Lrd Jesus and served Him here. What WILL be in...heaven Gd's hly Wrd, the Bible, will be there. Gd has said that His Wrd will never pass away. It will always be with us. There is anther bk in Heaven. This bk is called "The Lamb's Bk f Life." The Lrd Jesus is "the Lamb f Gd," s this is His bk. When yu take the Lrd Jesus as yur Savir, yur name is written in "The Lamb's Bk f Life," and yu knw that yu will be with Jesus in Heaven frever. The Tree f Life will be in Heaven. This tree will bear twelve different kinds f fruit. There will be beautiful hmes in Heaven-far mre beautiful than anything we can imagine. Even the street f Heaven is made f pure gld. Cpyright @ 2001 The Mailbx Club@ Internatinal
Millins f angels will be there. Angels are Gd's servants. Gd sends His angels t watch ver us while we are here n earth. The mst wnderful thing abut Heaven is this: the Lrd Jesus will be there! We will see ur Savir face-t-face, the Sn f Gd wh lves us s much that He gave His life fr us. If yu ask anyne in Heaven hw they gt there, they will pint t Jesus and say, "It is all because f Jesus and what He did fr me." In Heaven everyne lves and praises Jesus. Wuld yu like t knw that yu will g t Heaven sme day? Well, I have sme wnderful news fr yu: Gd wants yu in Heaven with Him! Hw t get t D yu knw why Gd wants yu in Heaven? He wants yu there because He lves yu! Yu can say, "Gd lves ME!" Say it right nw. Pint t yurself and say it again: "Gd lves ME!" Yu may be thinking, "Des Gd knw abut all the bad things I have dne and all the lies I have tld?" Yes, Gd knws all abut them, but that des nt keep Him frm lving yu. He lves yu just the same. 3
Gd lves yu just the way yu are! Yu d nt have t d a single thing t get Gd t lve yu. He lves yu with all His heart, just the way yu are, and He has made a way fr yu. t be frgiven f all yur sins. He gave His Sn t die n the I. crss fr yur sins, s that yu culd have everlasting life in'" Heaven with Him. The Bible says, "Fr Gd s lved the wrld, that He gave His nly begtten Sn, that whever believes in Him shuld nt perish, but have everlasting life" jll/ /:::.;; (Jhn 3: 16). When yu believe n the Lrd Jesus and take Him as yur Savir, Gd frgives yu f all yur sins and makes yu His child frever. As a child f Gd, yu can knw that yu will g t Heaven sme day. If yu have never taken the Lrd Jesus as yur Savir, ask Him t cme int yur heart. Yu can d this right nw. Just tell Him, "Lrd Jesus, I knw that I have sinned. I am truly srry fr my sins, and I want t stp ding them. I believe that Yu are the Sn f Gd and that Yu died n the crss fr my sins. Please cme int my heart. I am taking Yu as my Savir right nw!",---rr-\. \\ \ Dnji<sr(OOvveerryy \ \ \'\ - */.!.j.../s/and, (!.. c... /,c:,/ Gd lves ME, and >.. ;("' / 'cfe7>::s('vi/a,,,...) '-1.H.e wants ME t be in Heaven with Him! lj "We lve Him, Ht: first lved us." -1 Juhn 4;19 (MemOriZe because 1II1S vers.) Hi there! Welcme t The Mailbx Club! Wuld yu like t be a member f an exciting club, learn abut Gd, and receive mail just fr yu? All yu have t d is read the lessn again carefully, fill in the Questin Page and mail it back t us. Yu will then be a member fthe Mailbx Club, alng with thusands f bys and girls arund the wrld! We will check yur Questin Page and send it back t yu with the next exciting lessn and stry. When yu finish all eight lessns, we will send yu a beautiful certificate with yur name n it! Please send yur Questin Page back sn! We want YOU t be a member fthe Mailbx Club! 4 I
,,"'ye... t y. nd : l'ri 1( ",-w \. Y \ CHAPTER ------) With a sigh f relief, Maria left the building and ran tward hme. Her brther Steven was swinging n the gate, watching fr her. "I bet yu had t stay after schl," he said with a grin.. The Trn List "I did nt," Maria snapped back, trying t push past him. "Is Mther hme yet?" Maria clsed the dr quietly and tipted ver t the teacher's desk. Nw, if she culd nly find that list! It had n it all the names f thse wh were t sing at the retirement hme the next week. "N," Steven said, scwling. "And Mther and Daddy are ging away tmrrw as usual. This time yu are t stay with cusin Anna. But I have t g t dull Uncle Bill's again." "Oh, I hpe my name is n it," Maria whispered t herself. Quickly she began t hunt amng the papers n the desk. At last she saw the list under the edge f a bk. Maria pulled it ut and read the names eagerly. "Oh n," she thught. "My name isn't n it!" Maria lked at her brther's unhappy face. He was nly a year lder than she was. It didn't seem fair that he had t spend s much time at Uncle Bill's glmy huse. "If nly Grandma still lived here," Maria thught sadly. "Then Steven and I wuld nt have t stay with relatives s ften." ( (, "Well, run n hme nw. Yu knw yu shuld nt be here," Miss Wilsn said impatiently as she hurried ff. "That mean ld teacher," Maria muttered, tears stinging her eyes. "She knws my grandmther is in that hme. And I wanted t g and sing especially fr her." With an angry jerk, Maria tre the list in half and pushed it deep int the trash can. Then she rushed ut f the rm. The next day the hurs passed swiftly as Maria and Anna played tgether. Maria enjyed spending time with her cusin. When they were getting ready fr bed that night Anna said, "Tmrrw we will g t Sunday Schl and church. It is really great! Yu will like it a lt." "Maria, stp!" Maria turned slwly. Her teacher, Miss Wilsn, was just cming ut f the schl ffice. "What are yu ding here, Maria?" she asked. Maria was nt sure abut that. But the next mrning as they entered the Sunday Schl rm, she saw what Anna meant. The teacher was yung and cheerful. The ther bys and girls seemed happy and eager t begin learning abut Gd. Maria's heart punded as she said, "1-1 went back t put away a bk." 5
The teacher held up a large sheet f paper with a Bible verse printed n it. "This verse is fund in Revelatin 21:27. It tells us that all wh d bad things and tell lies cannt g t Heaven. Only thse wh have their names written in 'The Lamb's Bk f Life' can enter Heaven." "Tday we are ging t talk abut a wnderful place called Heaven," the teacher began. "Heaven is Gd's hme. Heaven is where Gd lives. His Sn, the Lrd Jesus, lives there t. It is a very beautiful place and it is full f jy. Nthing mean r bad can happen in Heaven. N ne will ever get sick there. And n ne will die in Heaven. While the rest f the class read the verse alud, Maria sat very still. She had suddenly remembered the trn list and the lie she had tld Miss Wilsn. "It's n use," Maria thught. "I didn't get my name n the list at schl. And nw Jesus will nt put my name in His beautiful bk either." Maria was s trubled she didn't hear anther wrd the teacher said. "The reasn Heaven is such a wnderful place is because there is n sin there." Maria nudged Anna. "It's nt a true stry," she whispered. "Everybdy dies, yu knw they d." Right after church Maria's father came and hurried her int the car. "Anna," Maria whispered as she was saying gdbye, "can a persn wh has tld a lie ever get her name int Gd's Bk?" "Yes," Anna answered quickly. "If they are truly srry and cnfess it. Jesus will... " Just then Maria's father started the car and Anna's wrds were blwn away as the car sprang frward. shk her head. Then she held up her hand and asked, "Teacher, is this really a true stry?" Maria leaned back with a sigh. "Did Anna mean I wuld have t tell Miss Wilsn abut that lie?" she wndered. "I culd never d that." Her head was full f questins. She glanced at her father but his muth was set in a grim line. "He desn't like t answer questins anyway," she thught. "Only Grandma ever has time t answer questins. I've just gt t see her. And I will g singing with the grup next Friday-smehw I will g." "Yes," the teacher smiled as she answered. "It is all written in Gd's Bk, the Bible. Best f all, the message f the Bible is that we can g t Heaven and live there with Jesus frever." "Hw?" Maria asked the questin withut thinking. "It's like this;' the teacher explained. "We are happy when ur name is written n a special list r hnr rll. The mst imprtant place t have ur name written is in 'The Lamb's Bk f Life.' This bk is in Heaven. It belngs t the Lrd Jesus. All wh have their names written in this bk will g t Heaven. Jesus will write yur name there if yu take Him as yur Savir. We are never t yung r t ld t have ur names written in 'The Lamb's Bk f Life.'" Pr Maria... Wtlat WILL she d abut the list? Will she get t see her grandmther Dn/t miss the next chaptercmin with yur N 6
UESTION PAGE,,, BstFriends1., c' l;' L!?sl1<1,; b,; i' Instructins: Chse the better answer-a r b. Write it in the bx prvided. I \ \,\ 1. The mst wnderful thing abut Heaven is this: a. the street f gld. b. the Lrd Jesus will be there. f;\ 2. Why des Gd want me in Heaven? u.i... a. Because I am s gd. b. Because He lves me. ll. III I- z c' Q.s:: r r 0..,"0 "0.- O+-' C +-' Q. r +-' 2 a. By being really gd and nt sinning. b. By believing n the Lrd Jesus and taking Him as my Savir..s:: 0 D 'iii 2::::>.s:: C 3. Hw can I becme a child f Gd? 4. Crss ut the letters F, K, P,T. When yu find the wrd, put YES in the space t the right if it will be in Heaven and NO if it will nt. u "'O:;:i "0 r K F T P T F T K P { c F K M K P G Please Print Name Age Birthday / / Parent r Guardian Mailing Address City State ZIP D yu knw smene wh wuld like t take Mailbx Club lessns? Write their names and ages here: i t.: j(!,.!. '.' i. '.. i!, I, ; I,,} {,( Name We will send the lessns t yu, and yu can give the lessns t them. Imprtant! Yu must send this page back t us t get the next lessn. Put a smile n Steven r Maria! Lk n the back fr instructins.