Zacchaeus
The story of Zacchaeus, occurring in Luke 19:1-10, is one of the best loved stories in all of the Bible. All of us seem to identify with Zacchaeus in some way. The sheer drama of the story quickly captures our imagination. Luke places the story essentially at the end of Jesus’ ministry, immediately before He…
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Lead Volunteers: Blocks Do Not Stack Themselves
You know, God has created the universe in such a way that things go from order to disorder — from order to chaos. It literally takes effort to build a ministry, like it takes effort to build anything. It takes energy to take blocks and stack them on top of one another. It doesn’t magically…
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Cain and Abel
The story of Cain and Abel, recorded in Genesis 4:1-16, reveals that evil is growing and having an impact that goes beyond Adam and Eve both in its reach and also in its intensity. The sin committed by Adam and Eve in the garden may seem small at first, but the story of Cain and…
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God Stopped the Jordan River
The story of how God stopped the Jordan river is found in the third and fourth chapters of Joshua. The Book of Joshua marks a transition from the Pentateuch (the books of Moses or the first five books of the Bible) to a new season of biblical history and a new section of the Bible…
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Lead Volunteers: Those Who Say and Those Who Do
We’ve often heard individuals share at length, droning on and on and on, about what they would like to see happen, and yet those items never come to fruition. They never truly see the light of day and we never see those items being executed. Before long, those who are following such a leader begin…
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Adam and Eve Sin
The story of the sin of Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:1-24), what we call “The Fall of Adam and Eve,” helps us understand that sin occurs when we doubt God’s goodness. This is important because it helps us understand that sin isn’t merely the violation of a rule or law. Sin is more fundamental than…
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Lead Volunteers: Be Humble
There is an interesting verse in the Bible which states “God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). That verse is extremely eye opening. To think that the Almighty God of the universe could be opposed to me is very sobering. Opposition to God I don’t want God to…
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The Easter Season
The period of time leading up to, including, and immediately following Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection is what we’re calling the “Easter season.” It includes more than the resurrection (see below) because the resurrection makes no sense apart from His sacrifice on the cross. The Easter season had always been part of God’s plan of salvation…
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The Resurrection of Jesus
The story of the resurrection of Jesus (Easter) is a crucial aspect of the gospel. The resurrection of Jesus confirmed that He truly is the long-awaited Messiah of the Old Testament, the Son of God. It also means that He is still alive today. Helping children (or anyone) understand the fundamentals of Jesus’ resurrection is…
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