Teaching

Have the children sit at tables for this lesson so they can do the craft. If there are children with special needs, have older children sit nearby to help them.

Has a teacher ever stepped out of the room for a few moments and trusted your class to obey the rules while he or she was gone?

Maybe you were told to work on an assignment or read a book. Maybe, for some of you older ones, your parents left you alone in the house while they ran an errand. Perhaps they trusted you to watch a younger brother or sister while they were away. Did you believe they were coming back again?

Why would you respect their rules while they are gone? To show that you can handle the responsibility; you didn’t want to disappoint them.

Our SuperTruth says: “I will live my life knowing that Jesus will come again.”

Jesus left Earth, but He is coming back again. We can anticipate that day with excitement, but what should we be doing until He comes back?

Read Ephesians 5:15-17:

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

God calls us to obey His commandments and live our lives for Him. Do you remember in the video when Satan lied to Chris? Satan wants to scare us, lie to us, and tempt us to disobey God. Yet we should not be afraid. God’s power is greater than any other power, and when we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, He lives in us and gives us His power! 

Read 1 John 4:4b:

The Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.

Here is what Jesus told His disciples before He went to heaven.

Read John 14:27–28a:

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again.”

Jesus left the disciples with His gift of peace that the world can’t give us—and can’t take away! Yes, Satan is no match for God’s Spirit living inside us! Jesus is coming back again; and until He does, God has equipped us with everything we need!

Read 2 Timothy 1:7:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

God has given us everything we need to live a victorious and obedient life until Jesus returns! 

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

It’s time for our Discipleship Challenge. For these three lessons, we will learn some scriptures about God’s plan of salvation, then share His plan with others. 

Do not show the craft you made ahead of time so children will be surprised how it turns out. Distribute the craft patterns and scissors to the children, then give these instructions:

1.  Place the pattern on the table with the words “The Problem” facing you. Let’s read aloud the scripture underneath. Read Romans 3:23:

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

What is the problem? We have all sinned.

Wow; that's a huge problem, isn’t it! How can we get rid of the terrible problem of our sin? 

2.  Fold on the dotted line, putting the circle on the star. What do you see? The Plan.

Read Romans 6:23:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

When we sin, what do we earn? Death.

Yet what does God give us? The free gift of eternal life.

Read John 3:16:

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Who paid the price for our sins? Jesus died on the cross.

What happens when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior? We have eternal life.

3.  Fold on the dotted line, putting the circle on the star. What do you see now? Our Part.

Which way is the triangle pointing? Downward, toward me.

Salvation is a gift from God, but we need to receive it. Let’s read the scripture aloud to find out how.

Read Ephesian 2:8:

God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

So, what is our part? To believe in Him.

Can we earn salvation by doing good things? No, it is a free gift from God.

The next verse, Ephesians 2:9, tells us:

Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

4.  Fold the triangle up, along the top edge. What do you see? The Promise.

Which way is the triangle pointing now? Up.

Yes, the promise is pointing up to God. Let’s read God’s promise to us. Read Romans 10:13:

For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Is this promise just for some people? No, everyone!

5.  Fold on the dotted line, putting the circle on the star. Uh-oh! What showed up? The Past.

Do you ever feel guilty about things you’ve done in the past? 1 John 1:9 says:

But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

Read Psalm 103:12:

He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

What does God do with our sins? He removes them completely.

Let’s take our scissors and cut along the line through all layers of our craft. We want to cut off the past completely! Wait until everyone has finished cutting.

6.  Now open just one fold; what do we get? The Power.

Let’s read the verse to learn about God’s power! Read Romans 1:16:

I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.

Does God offer His wonderful gift of salvation to just a few people? No, to all the world.

Yet how can people believe in Jesus if they never hear about Him? This is why it’s so important for us to share the Gospel with others. 

7.  Carefully unfold your craft, and you will see God’s Plan of Salvation revealed. What is it? A cross.

Were you surprised?

Our Discipleship Challenge for the next two lessons is to study these verses so we understand what they mean, and also to share these verses with someone else. I will give each of you an extra craft to take home and do with a friend or a relative, telling them about God’s Plan of Salvation. Next time, I’ll ask you what happened when you did!