Teaching

From Beginning to End: Discuss our need for Jesus.

Let’s say our SuperVerse together. Romans 3:23:

How many sins are too many—1,000? 100? 10? One sin is too many!

The Bible says that if we break even one of God’s laws, we are guilty of breaking all of them! (See James 2:10.)

It doesn’t sound like we have much hope, does it? Point to the God’s Standard Sign taped up high on the wall. I would like three volunteers to try to reach God’s standard. Who can jump really high? Select three volunteers and have them try to touch the sign.

You are right—you can really jump! But you still couldn’t reach God’s standard. Optional: Let me try since I am taller. Try to touch the sign.

Is there anything that we can do to reach God’s standard? Believe in Jesus, trust in Jesus, ask Jesus for forgiveness.

Give the yardstick with the Jesus Sign to a different child—possibly the smallest or youngest—and have them touch the sign with the yardstick.

There is our answer: we need Jesus to meet God’s standard! Without Him, we fall short and have no hope! Let’s shout the SuperTruth together: “Everyone needs Jesus!”

In the game we played, why do you think we kept shooting until we hit the mark? Jesus forgives us and gives us another chance.

In the video, did the people of Jericho want to give Zacchaeus a second chance? No, they only saw him as a sinner who would not change.

Do you remember what Judge Gizmo said he would do to Zacchaeus? He said he would sentence him to prison!

If we judge someone as a sinner and think they will always be bad, we limit God’s power like the people in the video. God can change anyone. Nothing is impossible for God! (See Luke 1:37.)

Zacchaeus did change, even though none of the people in Jericho thought he would. His life was turned upside down for good. Place the two boxes with the Self Sign and the God Sign towards the children. Hold the sock balls.

Before Zacchaeus encountered Jesus, what would you say his main goal was? To be wealthy, to make money.

He was focused on himself and his own gain, even if it meant cheating people out of their money. This was his target or mark: he was focused on self. Throw the sock balls toward the box with the Self Sign. 

After he met Jesus and confessed his sin, he was forgiven, and his heart was changed. His target or mark also changed. Throw the sock balls toward the God Sign. Now he was focused on pleasing God instead of fulfilling his own selfish desires.

Zacchaeus found out how much he needed Jesus; he was set free of his old life, and his new life began. So, do we only need Jesus to start our new life, and that’s it?

Hold the book and walk it around so the children can see the front cover. Someone tell me who the author of this book is. Children answer. Do you see another author listed who wrote the middle and the end of the book? No, the same author wrote the whole book.

Here is what the Bible says about Jesus in Hebrews 12:2a (NKJV):

Who do we begin our new life with? Jesus.

Do we need to go to someone else in the middle of our journey? No, only Jesus.

According to this verse, who finishes our faith walk with us? Jesus.

Another Bible version of Hebrews 12:2a says that Jesus is the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. When we trust completely in Jesus, we will grow closer and deeper in our relationship with God. The Apostle Paul wrote about our need for Jesus in Galatians 3:3 (NLT):

There is no point in our walk when we can say, “I’ve got this; I don’t need any help, I can do it on my own.” From beginning to end, from start to finish, and all points in between, everyone needs Jesus.

Let’s move to our Discipleship Challenge now to apply this truth in a practical way.

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Give each child a Coin Pouch Page, Coin Page (one half), piece of yarn, scissors, and a pencil. Have the children carefully cut out their six coins. The children will then carefully cut out the coin pouches, fold them on the dotted line, and write their names on the blank line. Next, if you have not pre-punched the holes in the pouches, have the children do so now—one punch should punch a hole in both sides of the pouch. Demonstrate how to weave the yarn through the holes on both sides of the bag. It’s now time to put the six coins in their pouches. Display the model you made before class and assist the children as necessary to complete their craft.

Use the model craft as you explain the challenge. What did Zacchaeus do at the end of our Superbook adventure? He returned the money to the family.

Following his encounter with Jesus, Zacchaeus vowed to give money to the poor and return four times the amount to all he had cheated on their taxes. What did He bring the money in? A (money) bag.

Zacchaeus was holding a money bag filled with coins. That is what we are making—a money bag or pouch with coins. But instead of coins made of metal, we have coins made of something much more precious! These coins contain Bible verses and challenges for us to do to help us grow in our faith!

For each lesson, one coin will have a Bible verse to learn, and a second coin will have a challenge for you to do—only if you think you are up for it! Carefully reach into your coin pouch and find Coin #1 and Coin #2. Choose a volunteer to read the first coin. All of us have sinned. Romans 3:23

This is part of today’s SuperVerse. The first challenge is to look up and read this verse in your Bible or Superbook Bible app, then try to memorize it. Have a volunteer read Coin #2: Pray for people who may not know they need Jesus.

According to our lesson today, who has sinned? All of us, everyone.

Not everyone realizes this. At the beginning of our video, Joy didn’t think she needed a savior. But all of us do! You probably can think of some people who don’t know yet that they need Jesus. So your challenge is to pray for these people each day. As we learned with Zacchaeus, Jesus came to save the lost. 

We will discuss how this went the next time we meet.