Seekers for Jesus 2Q 2018 Online Activities Lesson 1 Taken from page 6. How did the disciples recognize Jesus? The Bible tells us that the men walking with Jesus were blind to Him; they did not know they were in the presence of Jesus. They talked about various things, and as was the tradition of hospitality in their culture, they invited Jesus in for a meal. Once Jesus blessed the food and broke the bread in the same manner of the Last Supper their eyes were opened! They recognized their Lord because He performed an act that was familiar to them. That is because they were friends with Jesus before He died; He was familiar with and to them. Jesus wants this same familiarity with us. If you were walking down the street, wouldn t you want to be able to recognize the Lord right away? Activity: Word Search Find the following words in the word search puzzle: blind, bread, broke, disciples, Jesus, promise, recognize, remember, resurrect, witness. D S N U Y S S E N T I W I B U E A O T E R L D X S Y X S A K C A K G P D C E D Y E H E F H O L Z I S A U Y J R S W N R D P I E X N O R I A S N B L M R Q I O U U R I O X E O B U Q B S Q L L K Z S R O O M K E B H S K V W P B T F S R L U M Z Z R E C O G N I Z E M R T N I B R E B M E M E R B
Lesson 2 Taken from page 10. What makes Jesus the ideal Leader? There are lots of reasons that Jesus is qualified to be our Leader, and for being the best One. He is constantly putting our needs first and embodies selflessness. This is evident through His death and resurrection on our behalf, out of His free will. He knows everything, therefore He knows the best way to go, when to go, and how to overcome any obstacles along the way. He will never steer you wrong. He leads with gentleness and authority, as a good shepherd would with his sheep. He provides for all our needs, the ones we know about and even the ones we didn t know we needed. He never abandons us, regardless of how difficult our lives are or what is happening to us. You can trust that everything He does and says is out of His incredible love for us. Activity: Maze Follow Jesus to the other side of the maze.
Lesson 3 Taken from page 14. How did Jesus show that He had forgiven Peter? Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. This was in reference to the three times that Peter had denied Jesus before His death. With each time that Peter responded yes, Jesus was restoring Peter and forgiving him of what he had done. Furthermore, Jesus informed Peter that He would build His Church on Peter. Would Jesus have promised this incredible blessing to Peter if He were unforgiving or angry toward him? No. Jesus doesn t hold grudges and He doesn t hold our sin against us. Once we re forgiven, we re forgiven permanently. We simply have to ask for that forgiveness; He offers it freely. Similarly, if there s something you ve done that you re ashamed of, Jesus will forgive and restore you. Activity: True or False Answer the questions below, writing a T if the statement is true or an F if the statement is false. 1. Jesus offers forgiveness sometimes. 2. Peter would build a church and Jesus would be the rock. 3. Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him four times. 4. Jesus will restore anyone of any sin. 5. Today s passage comes from John 21.
Lesson 4 Taken from page 18. How do you define worship? Worship can mean different things to different people, and it can also be manifested in different ways. The dictionary defines worship as reverent honor or homage to God, adoring reverence, or formal and ceremonious rendering of homage and honor. All of these definitions show us that worship is something that is meant to be taken seriously, with an attitude of respect. But that doesn t mean worship has to be stuffy or boring. Worship can happen through a song or dance, through art work or the written word, or through prayer time. God gave us a variety of talents and strengths so that we could use them for His glory. Find out what yours is and worship the Lord in that manner. If your heart is in the right place, it doesn t matter how the worship occurs. Activity: Writing In the space below, write what worship means to you.
Lesson 5 Taken from page 22. Why does Jesus deserve to be worshiped? The biggest reason to praise Jesus is because of what He did for us on the cross. He took our place. It should ve been us who died, as the punishment for our sins is death. Yet He took on the punishment Himself because He loved us too much to let us die. Through His death and resurrection, we are offered forgiveness and eternal life. There is no one else who would make such a sacrifice for us, and no one else who could provide salvation. Besides His love and selflessness, He deserves to be worshiped for His goodness, grace, leadership, provision, humility, faithfulness, and a million other reasons. There are infinite explanations for why Jesus deserves our praise. Challenge yourself to think of a new one each day. Activity: Word Search Find the following words in the word search puzzle: celebrate, creatures, Lamb, new song, praise, revelation, scroll, slain, worship, worthy. S Q N V T W A N D F E N D C P I O I E S D Z T O J I R R A W K E V F A I X Q T O S L M R G X R T W H H O L N S U K A B A Y O N Q Z L A T K Z E L M G R X B P J A K B L E C K A S J W I E A O E V E Z I A H Y P R L W C E I K H Y Z I F C A U W R E S I A R P P D M W L D Y G P I Q H Y V B O J M
Lesson 6 Taken from page 26. Why does God love a cheerful giver? God gives to us freely. He is responsible for all our blessings, our provisions, and our daily needs. There is nothing we have without Him, from the air in our lungs, to the clothes on our backs, to the salvation in our hearts. He doesn t give conditionally (i.e. I will only give you salvation if you do X). He gives generously because He loves us so much. Since He gives us freely to us, and with joy and passion, He wants us to also give freely and cheerfully to one another. In doing so, we are mimicking Him. We are being an example of His love and demonstrating His generosity to others, including those who might not have a relationship with Him. Because of this, our giving can be a witness and testimony to non-believers. This is why we should always give cheerfully, not begrudgingly. Activity: True or False Answer the questions below, writing a T if the statement is true or an F if the statement is false. 1. God is never generous. 2. We should give because God gives. 3. Our generosity doesn t impact non-believers. 4. It s okay to give cheerfully only sometimes. 5. Giving is an example of God s love.
Lesson 7 Taken from page 30. Why did the people share with the poor? God loved and provided for the Israelites because they were His people (they had made a covenant with Him), but that didn t mean He loved and provided ONLY for the Israelites. His love and generosity are for everyone. He wanted to teach this concept to the Israelites, so He commanded that when they harvested, they would not harvest the edges of the fields or pick up the grains that had fallen or been dropped. These leftovers would be for those who were strangers in their land, or for those who were poor and had no other means for provision. In this way, God provided for all the people and made sure that the Israelites learned to be generous, compassionate, and not selfish. Activity: Maze Help the poor people get to the food by completing the maze.
Lesson 8 Taken from page 34. Should we still celebrate the Year of Jubilee? Why or why not? The Year of Jubilee is all about rest, celebration, equality, and restoration. For those reasons, it would be nice to still celebrate it today. If as a church collective, we could take time to rest from our secular lives and spend a year devoted to praising the Lord, restoring what was lost, and resting from our labors. On the other hand, as Christians, we can incorporate the mindset and ideals of the Year of Jubilee in our daily lives. We can find rest throughout our day, we can praise God at any time, and we can always strive to treat others with fairness and equality (i.e. not taking something that doesn t belong to us). When Jesus returns, we will see another example of jubilee, as He will restore the world to what it was meant to be and we will all join in the celebration of our Lord. Activity: Write In the space below, write about what the Year of Jubilee means for you.
Lesson 9 Taken from page 38. How has God rescued you from trouble? There are a variety of ways that God could ve rescued you from trouble. Maybe it happened literally. If you used to live with an abusive guardian or parent, and He was able to provide a way out of that situation, that is saving you from trouble. Perhaps it was saving you from a mental affliction such as depression or suicidal thoughts. Maybe it wasn t something as serious as those scenarios, but you simply had a scare when it was storming and the power went out in your house, or you lost your parent in a crowded mall or resort. No matter how big or small your trouble is, God is able to save you from it and walk with you through it. Activity: Maze Get to the safety on the other side by completing this maze.
Lesson 10 Taken from page 42. What does I desire mercy and not sacrifice mean? In today s story, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees about their hypocrisy. They were upset with Him on two occasions: for letting the disciples pick and eat grain on the Sabbath, and for healing a man on the Sabbath. He quoted from the Old Testament, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. In this sense, sacrifice means anything that we feel obligated to give up in order to appear religious. Like it s some burden for us to bear, and we re doing something just for appearances. That s what the Pharisees did, but that s not what Jesus wanted. He wanted them (and us) to get involved with people s lives, to care about their pain instead of the Law, and to do their part to help the hurting. This should be second nature for Christians. Activity: Word Search Find the following words in the word search puzzle: commandment, courage, healing, hypocrite, mercy, Pharisee, religious, Sabbath, sacrifice, Son of God. E G A R U O C T E U V E T N E M D N A M M O C T E A U X Z Y K P G D Y I V C Z I C K H S R O C R G F I R M A I E V G O C D N E F R N L B U F Y O C M I I I I P P K O E P L B S L G R J N O N I Y B E J I A R C F T O G H E M O U H E F A A S Z M L U G X Y R H C S B Z L S S A B B A T H I W A C
Lesson 11 Taken from page 46. What do the good seeds and the tares represent? In Jesus parable, there were a lot of metaphors used. The farmer in the story is God, who is in charge of the fields. He planted good seed, which is humanity. But the enemy snuck in and planted weeds (tares) that looked identical to the good seeds. This is to illustrate that just because someone says they re a Christian, it doesn t mean it s true. Only God can see their heart and determine the condition of their soul. When Jesus comes back, there will be a separation of the good seed and the weeds, the true believers and the fakers. The true believers will be rewarded with eternity in heaven, but the liars will be punished for their hypocrisy and deception. Activity: True or False Answer the questions below, writing a T if the statement is true or an F if the statement is false. 1. The good seed represents the true believers. 2. The tares represent God. 3. The farmer represents the fake Christians. 4. When Jesus returns, there will be a separation of true and false. 5. Jesus never spoke in metaphor.
Lesson 12 Taken from page 50. Why did Jesus call the Pharisees and scribes hypocrites? Jesus called the Pharisees and scribes hypocrites because they said one thing and acted out another. They said they loved God, but they lied about their possessions to avoid helping their ailing parents. If they truly loved God, then they would ve been happy to demonstrate that love by honoring their father and mother, which is one of the Ten Commandments. The Pharisees knew this, as they had been trained in the Law for their whole lives, yet they deliberately ignored it and created an out for themselves. This is not godly behavior, therefore Jesus called them out on it. The Pharisees and scribes were supposed to be the religious examples for the people, but they cared more about how they looked than the condition of their hearts. Activity: Write In the space below, examine your own life and if there are any hypocritical areas. What should you do to change?
Lesson 13 Taken from page 54. Why did the rich man treat Lazarus badly? The rich man treated Lazarus badly because he was a selfish man and cared only about himself and his own comforts. If he were more selfless, he would ve shared his food or belongings with Lazarus. Since Lazarus sat outside the rich man s home, he passed Lazarus every day and continually did nothing to help him. He didn t have the excuse of I didn t know Lazarus was in trouble, or else I would ve helped. He knew, and he turned away from Lazarus need. This is the opposite of how Jesus wants us to treat one another. If you were in the rich man s shoes, what would you have done differently? How can you apply that concept to your life today? Take a look around. See someone who is need and do your best to help, rather than turning away. Activity: Maze Help Lazarus get to heaven by completing the maze below.