11-The Greatest Love - Lesson 11

8/6/2019 11-The Greatest Love - Lesson 11

1/34FIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN


2/34

Man is hopeless without Gods love and His gift in Christ Jesus. God displayed

His great love by sending His perfect Son, His only Son, to die on a cross for us.

This is the glorious truth of the Gospel. Through Christ, we have hope.

Through Christ, we have eternal life. Through Christ, we have a

relationship with God our Father, the Creator of the universe.

Written by: Kimberly Davidson & Steve Wright

Graphic Design by: Michele Castillo | www.sonscapecommunications.com

Art Design by: Amy Torcasso

Editor: Jennier Sharpe

Music: Daniel Renstrom

Website: http://www.treasuringchristonline.org | 919-326-3000 | Email: [email protected]

Copyright 2011 by Providence Baptist Church. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any

means for prot via electronic, mechanical, recording or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. All Scripture quotations

are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

FIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN


3/34

Dear Sunday School Teacher,

Your ministry as a teacher or our Lord has eternal value! When we view our ministry in light o

eternity, we see its importance and the privilege that God has entrusted to us. In Psalm 78, the

Bible also reminds us o this great calling: One generation commending the Gospel to the next.

Treasuring Christ Curriculum:The ministry resource that you hold in your hand is produced

and shaped by the local churchThe Bride o Christ. We have three primary strategies thatguide us. First, we desire to produce a Gospel-centered curriculum that allows every child, babies to

high school students, to study the same Scripture passage each week. Second, we seek to equip

parents to thrive in their God-given role as their childs primary discipler. We want this resource,

thereore, to connect the church and the home by providing the Connecting Church and Home

resource within the curriculum. Third, we want to respond to the

desperate need or curriculum resources around the world. We

desire to bless the nations with a tool that will help them reach

the world with the Gospel o Christ.

Quarter One: God on Display

Every relationship begins with an introduction. God introducing Himsel to us is the heartbeat o

this study.

God on Display is a major theme that runs throughout all o Scripture. Gods desire to have com-

munion with those He created is seen rom cover to cover o the Bible. In the rst ew pages, we see

God communing in the Garden o Eden with Adam and Eve. The theme o communion continues

to be seen through the role o the Old Testament tabernacle and temple. In the New Testament,

God became incarnate in Jesus, God with us. Ater Jesus, the Father gives the Holy Spirit to believers

and institutes the Church. Fellowship in the Church breeds community, both with God and others

made in His likeness. As believers, we are guaranteed that we will spend eternity in communion

with God, dwelling in His presence.

God is on display: everywhere; in the past, present and uture; and in our lives as believers. Let us

live continually to display Gods greatness and love.


4/34

OVERVIEW 4FOR YOUR EDIFICATION 5-12

EARLY CHILDHOOD 13-15

ELEMENTARY 16-19

PRE-TEEN/MIDDLE SCHOOL 20-23

HIGH SCHOOL 24-29

CONNECTING CHURCH AND HOME 30

RESOURCES 31-33

The Greatest Love

QUARTER THEME | GOD ON DISPLAY John 3:1-21

W E E K E L E V E N


5/34FIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN | GOD ON DISPLAY 4

The Greatest LoveJohn 3:1-21

EARLY

CHILDHOOD

ELEMENTARY PRE-TEEN/

MIDDLE SCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOL

Treasure Verse John 3:16 John 3:16-17 John 3:16-18 John 3:16-21

Treasure Point

God loves you. God loves you so

much that He sentHis Son Jesus to dieon a cross.

God shows His costly

love to us bysending Jesus to dieon a cross.

Gods costly love

and Jesus deathon the crossshould motivate us

to live or Him.

Teaching Activities

God hearts,God So Lovedresource page,

Song time, Thankyou cards, Birthday

snacks, Cutout heart

Board games,Auction, Cutout

heart, Globeresource page,

Song time

Price Is Right Adoption video,Encouragement

letters

Supplies Needed

Birthday party

decorations, tape,red or pink

construction paper,markers, Froot Loops

(or other circularcereal or candy),

glue, God So Lovedresource page, cray-ons, CD player andCD, constructionpaper (any color),stickers, birthday

snacks such as

birthday cupcakes,birthday napkins,

birthday hats,birthday cups and

plates, butcherpaper

Board games, items

or an auction,stickers or pricetags, play money

rom a board game,marker, butcher

paper, tape, Globeresource page,

crayons, pencils,CD player and CD,Jesus Paid It All

resource page

Price Is Right items

such as dice andgrocery store items,

ticket to heaven

Laptop, note cards,

pens

OVERVIEW

OVERVIEW


6/34


FIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN | GOD ON DISPLAY 5

FOR YOUR EDIFICATION

Enter the Story

Birthdays. Some people love them and some

dont (usually those o us on the older

side want to avoid them). But all o us enjoy

celebrating the birthday o people who are

special to usthis is the day God chose or

them to be born into this world. One o the

ways we celebrate birthdays is by going out

to eat as a amily. The person with the birthday

gets to pick a avorite or new restaurant and

someone else picks up the tab. Thats how my

amily celebrates; how does yours?

When babies are soon-to-arrive or do arrive,

we host baby showers, pass out cigars, video

the special moment and post the news on so-

cial media outlets or all to seesome even

open trust unds. Baby registries at stores

are all the rage, and even grocery stores now

have entire departments dedicated to blow-

ing up balloons and displaying birthday cakes

and cookies. We celebrate well and rightly sobecause God created us. It is by Him that we

have lie.

This is a Treasure Story about being born again.

No, its not about having another birthday but

about being spiritually born again into the am-

ily o God. The Holy Spirit works in our hearts,

and we become new creations. This is indeed

cause or a greater celebration! The Gospel o

Luke says the angels rejoice over one sinnerwho repents and believes in God (Luke 15:10).

The Kingdom is not achievedby personal righteousness but by an act that God

Himself makes possible. The new birth isnt

something we do but something God does.

Michael Card, The Parable of Joy, pgs. 36-37

God not only provided theregeneration by which we are born again, but

also the authorization by which we can lay claim

to our inheritance as children, even though we

are sinners. And that is precisely where Jesus

comes in. The moment you believe in Jesus, the

moment you receive Him for who He really is,

and see yourself for who you really are, in that

moment He gives you not new birth, but the right

and authority, as a sinner, to lay claim to your

inheritance as a child of Godto become legal-

ly, as it were (with due authority), what you are

by virtue of new birthbecause you were born

of God. John Piper, sermon preached on

December 17, 1989

Story Outline

John 3:1-8: Now there was a man o the

Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler o the

Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said

to Him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher

come rom God, or no one can do these signs

that you do unless God is with him. Jesus an-

swered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless

one is born again he cannot see the kingdom

o God. Nicodemus said to Him, How can a

man be born when he is old? Can he enter a

second time into his mothers womb and be

born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you,

unless one is born o water and the Spirit, he

cannot enter the kingdom o God. That whichis born o the fesh is fesh, and that which is

born o the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that

I said to you, You must be born again. The

wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its

sound, but you do not know where it comes

rom or where it goes. So it is with everyone

who is born o the Spirit.





Our Treasure Story this week has three main

characters: God, Jesus, and a man named

Nicodemus. Nicodemus was an older man inthe Jewish community who belonged to a

group called the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling

council). Johns Gospel later makes clear that

the Sanhedrin was the legal Jewish body that

bore ultimate responsibility or Jesus death

(Andreas Kostenberger, Encountering John,

pg. 185). Nicodemus sought out Jesus to

nd out more about this rabbi, or teacher, o

Gods Law.

Nicodemus, being part o the ruling men

among the Jews, had indeed heard (or heard

o) Jesus teaching and the crowds He was

attracting when He spoke. Nicodemus also

had heard o the miraculous healings and

other wonders Jesus had done. When he rst

addressed Jesus in this Treasure Story, he

called Him Rabbi. To use this title was a sign

o respect, especially or one so young (Jesus

was around the age o 30 at this time). Rabbis

were men who had gone through extensivetraining under another rabbi and had been

schooled in the Law. Jesus had no ocial

training; He did not go to seminary or Bible

college (John 7:15). He had no need to be-

cause He spoke with authority; Jesus was His

own authority because He was God (Matthew

28:18, Ephesians 1:21, John 1:1-3). Nicodemus

probably came to Jesus with mixed emotions:

hope, conusion, anticipation, wonder and zeal.

The conversation between Jesus and Nicode-

mus gets o to a conusing start. He told Jesus

that they (the other members o the Sanhe-

drin) knew He was a teacher sent rom God.

Then Jesus responds that a person must be

born again to see heaven. What? That didnt

make sense! Not even Nicodemus, one who

knew the Law could comprehend this born

again idea.

Jesus expounded on this thought. He taught o

being born o water and Spirit, which is a reer-

ence to spiritual rebirth ound in the prophet

Ezekiels writings (Ezekiel 36:22-36). Jesus

meant that a person had to die to sin and be

rebirthed by the Spirit into the amily o God.

Two key belies are discussed here: regenera-

tion and adoption.

Regeneration: New birth, aninner re-creating of fallen human nature by the

gracious, sovereign action of the Holy Spirit

(John 3:5-8). The Bible conceives salvation as

the redemptive renewal of humans on the basis

of a restored relationship with God in Christ,

and presents it as involving a radical and com-

plete transformation . . . by God the Holy Spirit,

by virtue of which we become new men . . .

no longer conformed to this world . . . but in

knowledge and holiness of the truth created afterthe image of God. Evangelical Dictionary of

Theology, pg. 1000

Adoption: We are now Godschildren in a special sense, members of His

family . . . Adoption is an act of God whereby

He makes us members of His family . . . The

biblical teaching on adoption focuses much

more on the personal relationships that salva-

tion gives us with God. Wayne Grudem,

Bible Doctrine, pg. 323

John 3:9-15: Nicodemus said to Him, How can

these things be? Jesus answered him, Are you

the teacher o Israel and yet you do not under-

stand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we

speak o what we know, and bear witness to





what we have seen, but you do not receive our

testimony. I I have told you earthly things and

you do not believe, how can you believe i I tell

you heavenly things? No one has ascended into

heaven except he who descended rom heav-

en, the Son o Man. And as Moses lited up the

serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son o

Man be lited up, that whoever believes in Him

may have eternal lie.

Jesus continues His dialogue with Nicodemus,

reerring him back to the Old Testament storyo Moses and the bronze serpent. The Israelites

had been wandering in the wilderness or years.

They had been bitten by poisonous snakes, and

Moses told them the only way to be healed was

to look at a bronze serpent that had been made

and lited up or all to see (Numbers 21:4-9).

Jesus tells Nicodemus that just as healing came

through looking to the bronze serpent, so must

the Son o Man (Jesus) be lited up or all to see.

Jesus is reerring to His being hung on a cross to

die, to bring ultimate healing rom sin, to satisy

death and to ultimately gloriy Himsel.

John 3:16-21: For God so loved the world, that

He gave his only Son, that whoever believes

in Him should not perish but have eternal lie.

For God did not send his Son into the world to

condemn the world, but in order that the world

might be saved through Him. Whoever believesin Him is not condemned, but whoever does not

believe is condemned already, because he has

not believed in the name o the only Son o God.

And this is the judgment: the light has come

into the world, and people loved the darkness

rather than the light because their works were

evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates

the light and does not come to the light, lest his

works should be exposed. But whoever does

what is true comes to the light, so that it may

be clearly seen that his works have been carried

out in God.

At this point in the conversation, we see a

brilliant display o the glorious Gospel. The

key verseJohn 3:16is probably the most

popular and visible verse in all the Bible, seen

at ootball games, on billboards, bumper stick-ers, T-shirts, etc. John 3:16 is a lavish, simple

telling o the love o God, so proound, yet so

direct. For God SO loved the worldthis is not

just a normal everyday love. This is a sacricing,

excruciating love. The simple telling o the

Gospel is just this: believe in Jesus and do

not suer eternal death. Instead, experience

lie eternal with the Creator. What a beautiul

reminder o the sinul state humans are in due

to the Fall o Man (Genesis 3) and the hope we

have in Jesus and His death and resurrection.

The Apostle John says we are not condemned in

Christ (Romans 8:1). Imagine a person on death

row having the warden come in and say, You

are not condemned to die any longer; someone

paid your penalty. Imagine the eeling o nally

being ree! The relie rom being released o that

penalty! The hope renewed! The joy restored!

The Gospel also gives the reality o the bad

news: or those who choose not to believe

comes condemnation, eternal death. This con-

demnation comes because o unbelie in the

name o Jesus, the only name by which men

can be saved (Acts 4:12).





The story o Nicodemus and Jesus concludes

with a description o what regeneration would

look like lived out. People who are born again

will do what is true. Their deeds will refect the

light and the hope which now live in them. God

gave His only Son. God gave His only perect

Son to carry out the penalty or our sins, sins

He didnt commit. God gave so we could live.

He is the God who sent Light into a dark world.

The God who calls us to believe, to be adopted.The God who oers redemption. This is where

our hope lies.

Gospel Truths About God


The love o God is a holy and righteous love. To say thatGod is love is to say that love is so much a part of the character of God and He is so

loving that to express the depths of His love we must say He is love. R. C. Sproul,

One Holy Passion, pg. 161

The wrath o God is as personal, and as potent, as Hislove; and, just as blood-shedding of the Lord Jesus was the direct manifesting of His

Fathers love toward us, so it was the direct averting of His Fathers wrath against us.

J. I. Packer, In My Place Condemned He Stood, pg. 35

God is a loving God. He created to show His glory. He loves to show His glory. He gives o Himsel,

and He gave His only Son to redeem a people who rejected and denied Hima people that sinned

against Him and went their own way. His love is sacricial. His love is eternal. His love is amazing. Hislove is undeserved. His love is expensive. His love is undeniable. His love is radical. His love is ree. His

love is costly. His love is rich.

God is love and God is sovereign.His love disposes Him to desire our everlasting

welfare and His sovereignty enables Him to secure

it. A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, pg. 99




Gospel Truths About Redemption


Gospel Truths About Man

Man is helpless. We need rescuing. Nicodemus was a leader among the Jews; he was a good, moral

man. Yet he needed rescuing. No matter how good or moral we are, we still need help. We are

dead and need new birth, new lie, to be recreated (Ephesians 2:1, 2 Corinthians 5:17). According

to John 3, we are condemned, lovers o darkness, doers o wickedness. There is no hope or man

outside o the Gospel o God through Christ. None.

Look away rom yoursel. Seek rom God what He alone can do for you. Moral improvement of the old you is not what you need. New life is what the whole

world needs. It is radical and supernatural. It is outside our control. The dead do not give them-selves new life. We must be born again . . . This is what Jesus demands from the world. John

Piper, What Jesus Demands from the World, pg. 39

God gave His only perect Son to carry out the penalty or our sins, sins He didnt commit. God

gave so we could live. He is the God who sent Light into a dark world. The God who calls us to

believe, to be adopted. The God who oers redemption. This is where our hope lies.

The doctrine o the propitiation is precisely this: that Godloved the objects of His wrath so much that He gave His own Son to the end that He by His

blood should make provision for the removal of this wrath. It was Christs to deal with the

wrath so that those loved would no longer be objects of wrath, and love would achieve its aim

of making the children of wrath the children of Gods good pleasure. John Murray, The

Atonement, pg. 15

To this day, peoples need or regeneration is not sufcientlyrecognized, and a good, moral life is upheld as Gods sole expectation in many churches. But

this neglectand the ensuing nominalismwill prove fatal if not remedied. For what applies

to Nicodemus applies to every person:You must be born again. Andreas Kostenberger,

Encountering John, pg. 85


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FIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN | GOD ON DISPLAY 10FOR YOUR EDIFICATION

My Mission As Teacher:

Doourdailylivesreectthemagnitudeofthiskindoflove?Doweliveintherealityofthisloveor

do we live in the condemnation and chains o salvation by works?

DoourlivesreectthisGod-givinglovetoourneighbors?Doweshowthislovetoourcoworkers,

our spouses, our riends, our enemies? What can we do this week to show sacricial love to others?

Prayer Points:

PrayforthisGospeltruthofGodslavishlovetosinkintoyourheartandmindthisweek.Praythat

this wouldnt be a story that youve heard many times, but that you would see this Treasure Story

and truth with new eyes and an open heart.

PrayforyourstudentsthisweekwhodonotknowtheGospel.PraythattheHolySpiritwouldbe

working in their hearts to make them receptive to the truth o the Gospel o Christ.

Man is hopeless without Gods love and His gift in

Christ Jesus. God displayed His great love by send-

ing His perfect Son, His only Son, to die on a cross for

us. This is the glorious truth of the Gospel. Through

Christ, we have hope. Through Christ, we have eter-

nal life. Through Christ, we have a relationship with

God our Father, the Creator of the universe.


12/34FFIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN | GOD ON DISPLAY 1



For Your Edication (continued)

Leviticus17:11

Numbers21:4-9

Ezekiel36:22-36

John1:9-13

John15:14

John19:39

Acts4:12

Romans8:1

Romans8:14-17

Ephesians2:1

2Corinthians5:171John4:7-9

Leviticus 17:11: For the lie o the fesh is in

the blood, and I have given it or you on the

altar to make atonement or your souls, or it is

the blood that makes atonement by the lie.

Numbers 21:4-9: From Mount Hor they set

out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around

the land o Edom. And the people became

impatient on the way. And the people spoke

against God and against Moses, Why have

you brought us up out o Egypt to die in the

wilderness? For there is no ood and no water,

and we loathe this worthless ood. Then the

LORD sent ery serpents among the people,

and they bit the people, so that many people

o Israel died. And the people came to Moses

and said, We have sinned, or we have spokenagainst the LORD and against you. Pray to the

LORD, that He take away the serpents rom us.

So Moses prayed or the people. And the LORD

said to Moses, Make a ery serpent and set it

on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when

he sees it, shall live. So Moses made a bronze

serpent and set it on a pole. And i a serpent bit

anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent

and live.

Ezekiel 36:22-36: Thereore say to the house

o Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not or

your sake, O house o Israel, that I am about

to act, but or the sake o my holy name,

which you have proaned among the nations

to which you came. And I will vindicate the

holiness o my great name, which has been

proaned among the nations, and which youhave proaned among them. And the nations

will know that I am the LORD, declares the

Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my

holiness beore their eyes. I will take you rom

the nations and gather you rom all the coun-

tries and bring you into your own land. I will

sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be

clean rom all your uncleannesses, and rom all

your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you

a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within

you. And I will remove the heart o stone rom

your fesh and give you a heart o fesh. And I

will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to

walk in my statutes and be careul to obey my

rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to

your athers, and you shall be my people, and

I will be your God. And I will deliver you rom

all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the

grain and make it abundant and lay no amineupon you. I will make the ruit o the tree and

the increase o the eld abundant, that you

may never again suer the disgrace o amine

among the nations. Then you will remember

your evil ways, and your deeds that were not

good, and you will loathe yourselves or your





iniquities and your abominations. It is not or

your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD;

let that be known to you. Be ashamed and

conounded or your ways, O house o Israel.

Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I

cleanse you rom all your iniquities, I will cause

the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places

shall be rebuilt. And the land that was desolate

shall be tilled, instead o being the desolation

that it was in the sight o all who passed by. And

they will say, This land that was desolate has

become like the garden o Eden, and the wasteand desolate and ruined cities are now ortied

and inhabited. Then the nations that are let

all around you shall know that I am the LORD;

I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted

that which was desolate. I am the LORD; I have

spoken, and I will do it.

John 1:9-13:The true light, which enlightens

everyone, was coming into the world. He was

in the world, and the world was made through

Him, yet the world did not know Him. He

came to His own, and His own people did not

receive Him. But to all who did receive Him,

who believed in His name, He gave the right to

become children o God, who were born, not o

blood nor o the will o the fesh nor o the will

o man, but o God.

John 15:14: You are my riends i you do whatI command you.

John 19:39: Nicodemus also, who earlier had

come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mix-

ture o myrrh and aloes, about seventy-ve

pounds in weight.

Acts 4:12: And there is salvation in no one

else, or there is no other name under heaven

given among men by which we must be saved.

Romans 8:1: There is thereore now no con-

demnation or those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:14-17: For all who are led by the

Spirit o God are sons o God. For you did not

receive the spirit o slavery to all back into ear,

but you have received the Spirit o adoption

as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father! TheSpirit Himsel bears witness with our spirit that

we are children o God, and i children, then

heirsheirs o God and ellow heirs with Christ,

provided we suer with Him in order that we

may also be gloried with Him.

Ephesians 2:1: And you were dead in the

trespasses and sins.

2 Corinthians 5:17: Thereore, i anyone is in

Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed

away; behold, the new has come.

1 John 4:7-9: Beloved, let us love one another,

or love is rom God, and whoever loves has

been born o God and knows God. Anyone who

does not love does not know God, because

God is love. In this the love o God was made

maniest among us, that God sent His onlySon into the world, so that we might live

through Him.




EARLY CHILDHOOD

Early Childhood

engage

Early Arrival Activity: (15 minutes or until you are ready to begin)

Teacher Note: Decorate your room in a birthday moti today. Have balloons and streamers, birthday

hats, etc. As the children enter the room and ask about the birthday theme, remind them o how

gits are oten given at birthday parties. In todays Treasure Story, they will learn about the git that

God gave us.

Supplies Needed: Birthday party decorations, tape

Create God hearts. This activity will work or any preschool age with the younger children needing

more help. Pass out pink or red construction paper to the children as they enter. Have a big heart

drawn on the paper and the name GOD written inside the heart. The children can trace God in any

color marker they want but encourage them to make it dark and bold. Then have the children glue

Froot Loops, Cheerios, Lie Savers, etc. on the heart to trace the heart.

Supplies Needed: Red or pink construction paper, markers, Froot Loops

(or other circular cereal or candy), glue

Treasure Story: John 3:1-21

Treasure Verse: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoeverbelieves in Him should not perish but have eternal lie (John 3:16).

Treasure Point: God loves you.

1 John 4:9: In this the love o God was made maniestamong us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live

through Him.




discover

Bible Story Time: (15 minutes)

Teacher Note: Make sure the children see you reading the Treasure Story (John 3:1-21) out o

the Bible. The ollowing outline/points will help you as you tell the story.

NicodemuswasamanwhocametoseeJesus.HehadheardofallthegoodthingsJesus

was doing.

Whatdoyoudotocelebrateyourbirthday?Whatsthebestgiftyouvegottenforyour

birthday? Did you know that God loves us and that He gives us gits? The best git He

gave us is Jesus. Jesus came into the world as a baby (thats why we celebrate Christmas),grew up, became a man, and died on the cross so that we could know God (thats why

we celebrate Easter).

Jesusisthewaywehaveeternallife.ItisbecauseofHimthatwecanliveinheaven

orever with God.

IfweknowJesus, ifweareChristians,thenour livesshouldlooklikehowJesuslived.

We should help others and obey our parents. We should be nice to our brothers and

sisters and riends. We should give to others. We should tell others about Jesus and pray

to God. We should do these things because God loves us and we love God.

Treasure Verse Learning Activity: (5 minutes)

Pass out copies o the God So Loved resource page (see resources). Have the children color this

page while you retell the highlights o the story and discuss the Treasure Verse.

Supplies Needed: God So Loved resource page, crayons

Song Time: (10 minutes)

Love, Love, Love is this quarters theme song. This song can be ound on the Treasuring

Christ website: www.treasuringchristonline.org.

Supplies Needed: CD player, CD

EARLY CHILDHOOD




EARLY CHILDHOOD

Reinforcement Activity: (10 minutes)

Ask the children to make thank you cards or God or sending His Son Jesus to us.

Supplies Needed: Construction paper (any color), markers, stickers

Playground Time: (15 minutes)

Center play or ree play is useul here i there is no playground or i the weather is not con-

ducive to playing outside.

Snack Time: (10 minutes)

Have birthday cupcakes, a giant birthday cookie or birthday cake or todays snack time. Pass

out birthday hats and have birthday napkins, cups and plates. Celebrate with enthusiasm and

remind the students o the git God gave to us all!

Supplies Needed: Birthday snacks such as birthday cupcakes, birthday napkins,

birthday hats, birthday cups and plates

treasure

Treasure Point:God loves you.

My Mission: (5-10 minutes)

Hang up or tape a big cutout heart made out o butcher paper onto the wall. Ask the children

to name ways that God loves them. Write/draw their answers on the butcher paper. Explain tothem that we need to be thankul or all o the ways that God loves us.

Supplies Needed: Butcher paper cut out into a heart, marker, tape

Prayer Time: (5 minutes)


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Elementary

engageEarly Arrival Activity: (10-15 minutes or until all the children arrive)

Have two board games going, such as the kids versions o Monopoly or Lie. With these two games,

most o the students will be amiliar with the rules. When you are nished playing and ready to begin

class, talk with the children about which items were the most expensive to purchase: hotels, certain

streets, cars, etc. Later in todays Treasure Story, the children will learn that the git God gave us was

so costly that we cant pay or it no matter how much money we have. Because o the high cost, God

made it a ree git to us.

Supplies Needed: Board games involving money, such as Monopoly or Life Jr.

Introduction: (10 minutes)

Have an auction. Set up some items on the auction table and hide more expensive items in the

back or under a tablecloth. Give each child $50 in play money. Have random items rom your home

or your classroom up or sale. These can be unny items such as an old picture rame, a travel-size

bottle o shampoo rom a hotel, more serious items like ood or water bottles, etc. Bring in a ew bigand expensive items hidden or the end, such as a lamp, a nice dish or bowl, a radio. Put price tags on

the items and see what the children choose to buy. When they spend all their money, they wont be

able to buy what is at the end. Talk to them about how important things can be costly and how in

the ollowing Treasure Story God gave up Someone very costly to Him to pay our way into heaven.

Supplies Needed: Items from home to have at an auction, play money from a board

game, stickers for price tags

FIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN | GOD ON DISPLAY 16ELEMENTARY


Treasure Point:God loves you so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die on a cross.

Sin is so strong in our hearts that we cannotbecome children of God unless the Holy Spirit does the work in our hearts.

Marian Schoolland, Leading Little Ones to God, pg. 104

Treasure Verse: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that who-ever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal lie. For God did not send HisSon into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be savedthrough Him (John 3:16-17).


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FIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN | GOD ON DISPLAY 17ELEMENTARY

discoverBible Story Time: (15 minutes)

Teacher Note: Make sure the children see you reading the Treasure Story (John 3:1-21) out o the

Bible. The ollowing outline/points will help you as you tell the story.

Nicodemus was a Jewish leader who came to see Jesus. He had heard o all the good things

Jesus was doing. Nicodemus was one o the Jewish rulers in Galilee, and these rulers didnt like

Jesus very much. Nicodemus came to see Jesus at night in secret.

Why do you think Nicodemus wanted to be secretive? (Possible Answers: If the rest of the Jewish

rulers knew that Nicodemus was talking to Jesus, they may not let him stay a leader. He may

not be liked very much among his friends.) Do your friends know you know Jesus? Do they treat

you differently because you do know Jesus?

Jesus told Nicodemus he must be born again to go to heaven. What do you do to celebrate

your birthday? Whats the best git youve gotten or your birthday? Review what Jesus told

Nicodemus. Can you be born again? (Physically, you cannot be born again.) What was Jesus

saying? He was talking about being born again spiritually, knowing Him as your Savior. Did you

know that the Holy Spirit makes us new creations? Thereore, i anyone is in Christ, he is a new

creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

God loves us. He loves us by giving us Jesus. Jesus came into the world as a baby (thats why

we celebrate Christmas), grew up, became a man, and died on the cross so we could know God

(thats why we celebrate Easter).

Teacher Note: Have a big cutout heart on the wall. Ask the children to write inside the heart

words that describe the love o God.

Supplies Needed: Marker, heart cut out of butcher paper, tape

(for sticking to the wall or door)


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Jesus is the way we have eternal life. Because o Him we can live in heaven orever with God. How

many ways are there to God? The answer is only one. Ask the children to look up the verses on the

ollowing page and read them aloud to the class:

John 14:6: Jesus said to them, I am the way, the truth, and the lie. No one comes to the

Father except through me.

Acts 16:31a: And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.

Acts 4:12: And there is salvation in no one else, or there is no other name under heaven

given among men by which we must be saved.

If we know Jesus, if we are Christians, our lives should look like how Jesus lived. We should

help others. We should obey our parents: Children, obey your parents in the Lord, or this is right

(Ephesians 6:1). We should also be nice to our brothers and sisters and riends: Be kind to one

another, tenderhearted, orgiving one another, as God in Christ orgave you (Ephesians 4:32). We

should give to others: Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under

compulsion, or God loves a cheerul giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).

We also should tell others about Jesus: Let your light shine beore others, so that they may see

your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16b). We should pray

to God: Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be ull (John 16:24b). We should do these

things because God loves us and we love God. Doing all o these actions will not make us right

with God; Jesus death on the cross is the only action that will make us right with God. But by do-

ing the things that God tells you to do, you will show others that you love God: You are my riends

i you do what I command you (John 15:14).

Treasure Verse Learning Activity: (5 minutes)

Pass out the Globe resource page. Have the children color, draw, ll it in with country names, etc.

Use this time to tell them that Jesus died or people all over the world, not just people in the state

or country you live in.

Supplies Needed: Globe resource page, crayons

ELEMENTARY


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Playground Time/Center Activities/Free Play: (15 minutes)

Song Time: (10 minutes)

Love, Love, Love is this quarters theme song. This song can be ound on the Treasuring Christ

website: www.treasuringchristonline.org. Jesus Paid It All would also correspond with todays

Treasure Story (lyrics are in the resource section).

Supplies Needed: CD player, CD, Jesus Paid it All resource page

treasure

Treasure Point:God loves you so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die on a cross.

My Mission: (10 minutes) Allow time or sharing.

HowcanyoushowyourclassmatesoryourfamilytheloveofGodthroughJesusthisweek?

HaveyoutrustedinJesusasyourpersonalSavioryet?Takethisopportunitytotellyourstu -

dents about the hope o the Gospel.


Pray or any o the children that may not be there this weekwhether they are sick, traveling or

just havent attended the class recently.

ELEMENTARY


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FIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN | GOD ON DISPLAY 20PRE-TEEN/MIDDLE SCHOOL

Pre-Teen/Middle School

engage

Group Fellowship Time: (10 minutes)

Opening Game/Skit: (10 minutes)

Play the Price Is Right! You can nd all the games that are played on this game show at this website:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o_The_Price_Is_Right_pricing_games

Go to the grocery store, purchase various items and write down their exact prices. These items and

prices will be used with the Price Is Right games as well as or prizes or the winners. Here are three

Price Is Right games the students may enjoy:

Dice Game: Choose an item where all the digits o the price are made up o numbers on dice, suchas $2.15 or $6.55. Give the student three dice. The rst die is the dollar value. Have the student roll

it and then guess i the amount is that number or i the number is higher or lower. I the student

guesses correctly, change the die to the correct number (or keep it the same i the number guessed

was the number that was rolled) and he keeps going. Ater the third wrong guess, he is out. I the

student gures out all three digits, he gets the prize.


Treasure Verse: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoeverbelieves in Him should not perish but have eternal lie. For God did not send His Son intothe world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemnedalready, because He has not believed in the name o the only Son o God (John 3:16-18).

Treasure Point: God shows His costly love to us by sending Jesus to die on a cross.

Ezekiel 36:26-27: And I will give you a new heart,and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone

from your esh and give you a new heart of esh. And I will put my Spirit

within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey

my rules.


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Pick a Number: Have an item with one number o the price missing. I the student guesses theright number, she gets the prize. I not, let another student try. The student who guesses correctly

gets the prize.

Sae Crackers: Give one o the students all the numbers in the price in a random order. He would

then place the digits in the correct order to crack the sae and get the prize. I he guesses incorrectly,

let another student try.

Ater playing one or more o these games, give the class one more item to price correctly. Make that

item a ticket to heaven. The point o this illustration is that there isnt enough money in the world

to pay our way to heaven because o our enormous debt. We are sinners and in way over our heads.

We owe a debt we could never pay. But by the grace o God, Christ paid our debt even though it

wasnt His to pay. He took our punishment. He died or our sin. He rose again proving that the price

had been paid. The cost or sinners like us to be in Gods presence was the lie o His Son. God literally

paid the highest possible price by giving us His only Son so that we could have eternal lie in heaven.

Supplies Needed: Items for Price Is Right game(s) (will vary depending on the game

you choose), ticket to heaven

discover

Bible Story: (30 minutes)

Teacher Note: Have the students read John 3:1-21 aloud. The ollowing notes will help you as you

teach them the story. In this weeks Bible passage, three charactersNicodemus, Jesus and God

are discussed and their stories connect in a brilliant display o love that God wants us to read, know

and live.

Nicodemus was curious about Jesus. He was an older man who was respected among the Jews.

He was part o the rulers o the Jews called the Sanhedrin, an assembly o 23 judges appointed in

every city in the land o Israel. Nicodemus sought out Jesus by night to nd out more about this

rabbi, or teacher, o Gods Word. In Johns Gospel, night is used to illustrate unbelie or secrecy.


FIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN | GOD ON DISPLAY 21PRE-TEEN/MIDDLE SCHOOL


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Nicodemus did not want the other Sanhedrin members knowing he was coming to visit

with Jesus. Nicodemus had respect or Jesus as a teacher because he called Jesus Rabbi

(John 7:15). But this didnt mean that he trusted in Jesus as his Savior. Nicodemus asked Jesus

questions, which again showed respect or Him as a teacher o the Law. However, he did not

understand Jesus answers.

Jesus pointed Nicodemus to the love of God. Ask the students these questions: How many

o you have seen a T-shirt, sign or billboard that has John 3:16 on it? Who can quote the verse?

It is probably the most well-known verse o the Bible. Even many who dont attend church

know this verse. Why do you think that so many know the verse but not everyone who knows

it is a Christian?

John 3:16 says that God SO loved the world, a love that is more than just a normal every-

day love. This is a sacricing, excruciating love. How many o you love your parents? Siblings?

Friends? Girlriend/boyriend? Pets? How do you sacrice or those you love? Do you let them

watch their avorite television show when you really want to watch yours? Do they use your

allowance to buy a git when really you wanted the money to purchase a new sweater or video

game? What other ways do you sacrice or those you love?

Teacher Note: Encourage a lively discussion by asking the students to name the most

sacricial act anyone has done or them or to name something they did or someone that was

over the top.

The love that God the Father has for us is nothing like what we feel for the people we

love.God loved us rst when we didnt love Him back. God gave His only Son to die or people

who hated Him. God knew this was the only way to save man. He was willing.

God and His great love will change us. Ask the students to discuss the ollowing verses:

2 Corinthians 5:17: Thereore, i anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passedaway; behold, the new has come.

Psalm 51:10-12: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast

me not away rom Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit rom me. Restore to me the

joy o Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.God changes our hearts in order for

us to love Him.

PRE-TEEN/MIDDLE SCHOOL


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Psalm 37:4: Delight yoursel in the LORD, and He will give you the desires o your heart. He

changes our desires and actions.

1 John 4:7-9: Beloved, let us love one another, or love is rom God, and whoever loves has

been born o God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because

God is love. In this the love o God was made maniest among us, that God sent His only Son

into the world, so that we might live through Him. We are adopted into Gods family as His

sons and daughters.

treasure

Treasure Point:God shows His costly love to us by sending Jesus to die on a cross.

My Mission: (10 minutes) Allow or group discussion.

IfyouhavebelievedinJesusasyourSavior,thenhowhasyourlifebeendifferentbecauseof

that relationship? The Apostle John is clear that we will walk in the light and not in the dark i

we are ollowers o Christ.

HowareyoutellingyourfriendsaboutJesus?AreyouashamedofHim?Doyouboldlytell

them? Why or why not? How can you show your school, amily, riends and neighbors that

you Treasure Christ?

Prayer Time: (5-10 minutes)

PRE-TEEN/MIDDLE SCHOOL


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FFIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN | GOD ON DISPLAY 24

High School

engageIntroduction Video: (10 minutes)

Watch this video clip with your students: http://vimeo.com/12678494

Teacher Note: This is a two-minute video o one amilys adoption story o two boys. This

video will spark conversation about adoption into Gods amily and putting Jesus on dis-

play. What does it mean to be adopted? What does it mean to be adopted as Gods children?

Supplies Needed: Laptop

discoverBible Story: (30 minutes)

Teacher Note: Allow your students to tell you the story o how Nicodemus rst came to Jesus.

Have them read the Treasure Story (John 3:1-21) aloud and work through the story as a class.

This should be a amiliar story to some. I need be, go back through the For Your Edication

section o this lesson to help you tell the story to your students.

HIGH SCHOOL


Treasure Verse: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever be-lieves in Him should not perish but have eternal lie. For God did not send His Son intothe world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemnedalready, because He has not believed in the name o the only Son o God. And this is thejudgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than thelight because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the lightand does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does whatis true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried outin God (John 3:16-21).

Treasure Point: Gods costly love and Jesus death on the cross should motivate us to liveor Him.


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Ater they tell the story, discuss these points with the students:

The Apostle John, the writer of this story, gives us the whyand the howof Gods great love for us.

The Why. God loved us. He loved the world and wanted to see the world in relationship with Him:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not

perish but have eternal lie (John 3:16).

The How. God sent Jesus. Jesus came to earth and lived as a man or about 33 years. He lived per-

ectly. He committed no sin. He then died on a cross or the sins that we (you and me and every

other person on this earth) would commit. He knew that this was the only way people could be in

relationship with God the Father. He obeyed willingly: For our sake He made Him to be sin who

knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness o God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

What do these truths of the why and how of Gods love do for us?

IF WE BELIEVE IN JESUS, WE AREREGENERATED ANDADOPTED INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD:

Regenerated. We are made ully alive. Nicodemus thought that Jesus meant we had to be physi-

cally born again, but He meant something else entirely. This regeneration (being made alive in Christ

by the Holy Spirit) will look like sanctication (becoming more Christlike) in our lives:

2 Corinthians 5:17: Thereore, i anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed

away; behold, the new has come.

Philippians 3:12-14: Not that I have already obtained this or am already perect, but I press on to

make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brother, I do not consider that I have

made it my own. But one thing I do: orgetting what lies behind and straining orward to what lies

ahead, I press on toward the goal or the prize o the upward call o God in Christ Jesus.

HIGH SCHOOL

Hebrews 12:1-3:Thereore, since we are surrounded byso great a cloudof witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clingsso tightly, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus,

the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured

the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself so that you

may not grow weary or fainthearted.


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Ephesians 4:17-5:2: Now this I say and testiy in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the

Gentiles do, in the utility o their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated rom

the lie o God because o the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness o heart. They have

become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind o impu-rity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!assuming that you have heard about Him and were

taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put o your old sel, which belongs to your ormer manner

o lie and is corrupt through deceitul desires, and to be renewed in the spirit o your minds, and to

put on the new sel, created ater the likeness o God in true righteousness and holiness. Thereore,

having put away alsehood, let each one o you speak the truth with his neighbor, or we are mem-

bers one o another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give

no opportunity to the devil. Let the thie no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work

with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupt-

ing talk come out o your mouths, but only such as is good or building up, as ts the occasion, that

it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit o God, by whom you weresealed or the day o redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander

be put away rom you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, orgiving one

another, as God in Christ orgave you. Thereore be imitators o God, as beloved children. And walk

in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himsel up or us, a ragrant oering and sacrice to God.

Ephesians 2:2-10: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, ol-

lowing the course o this world, ollowing the prince o the power o the air, the spirit that is now

at work in the sons o disobedienceamong whom we all once lived in the passions o our fesh,

carrying out the desires o the body and the mind, and were by nature children o wrath, like the rest

o mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because o the great love with which He loved us, even

when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christby grace you have been

savedand raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so

that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches o His grace in kindness toward us

in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through aith. And this is not your own doing; it is

the git o God, not a result o works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created

in Christ Jesus or good works, which God prepared beorehand, that we should walk in them.

Galatians 5:16-26: But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratiy the desires o the fesh. For

the desires o the fesh are against the Spirit, and the desires o the Spirit are against the fesh, or

these are opposed to each other, to keep you rom doing the things you want to do. But i you are

led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works o the fesh are evident: sexual immoral-

ity, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strie, jealousy, ts o anger, rivalries, dissensions,

divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you beore, that

those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom o God. But the ruit o the Spirit is love, joy,

peace, patience, kindness, goodness, aithulness, gentleness, sel-control; against such things there

is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucied the fesh with its passions and desires.

I we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one

another, envying one another.

HIGH SCHOOL


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We get a glimpse o this process o regeneration by observing Nicodemus throughout the Gospel

o John. While it is never clear i Nicodemus trusted in Christ as his personal Savior, we do see three

revealing scenes into his lie:

InJohn3,heisquestioning,puzzled,wondering,askingthetoughquestionsandremaining

persistent about wanting answers to his questions.

InJohn7:50-51,heisaskingtheSanhedrinquestionsthatmighthavebeenoffensivetosome.

The members o the Sanhedrin had grown increasingly hostile toward Jesus and the Gospel

He was preaching. In these verses, Nicodemus seemed to not trust them: Nicodemus, who

had gone to Him beore, and who was one o them said to them, Does our law judge a manwithout rst giving him a hearing and learning what he does?

In John 19:39, hewas one of the oneswho prepared Jesus body for burial:Nicodemus

also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture o myrrh and aloes,

about seventy-ve pounds in weight. This portrait shows an act o aith that demonstrates

Nicodemus most likely trusted Christ as his Savior.

Adopted. We were not children o God. I we believe in Jesus as the Son o God, as our Savior who

died or our sins, then we can be adopted as Gods children, born into the amily o God.

Teacher Note: Talk about the similarities and dierences between earthly athers and God as their

heavenly Father. Some o your students may not have athers who are godly role models. This truth

that God is a loving and aithul Father might be dicult or them to grasp because o the absence

o a ather in their lives.

John 1:12-13:But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to

become children o God, who were born, not o blood nor o the will o the fesh nor o the will o

man, but o God.

Galatians 3:26: For in Christ Jesus you are all sons o God, through aith.

HIGH SCHOOL

The biblical teaching on adoption ocusesmuch more on the personal relationships that salvation gives us with

God and with His people. Wayne Grudem, Bible Doctrine, pg. 323


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FIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN | GOD ON DISPLAY 28HIGH SCHOOL

1 John 3:1-2: See what kind o love the Father has given to us, that we should be called chil-

dren o God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not knowHim. Beloved, we are Gods children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we

know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.

John 8:41-44: You are doing the works your ather did. They said to Him, We were not

born o sexual immorality. We have one Fathereven God. Jesus said to them, I God were

your Father, you would love me, or I came rom God and I am here. I came not o my own ac-

cord, but He sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear

to hear my word. You are o your ather the devil, and your will is to do your athers desires.

He was a murderer rom the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there

is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out o his own character, or he is a liar and the

ather o lies.

Romans 8:14-17: For all who are led by the Spirit o God are sons o God. For you did

not receive the spirit o slavery to all back into ear, but you have received the Spirit o

adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father! The Spirit himsel bears witness with

our spirit that we are children o God, and i children, then heirsheirs o God and el-

low heirs with Christ, provided we suer with Him in order that we may also be gloried

with Him.

One o the last points made in John 3 is the exclusivity o the Gospel through Jesus Christ. Exclu-

sivity is taught by Jesus when He reerences Moses and the bronze serpent. This story is ound in

Numbers and describes how the people o Israel were bitten by poisonous snakes. The only way

healing would come was by looking to a bronze serpent that was held high up or the people

to see. I they looked at the bronze snake, they would live. This was their only chance or survival

just as Jesus is our only hope or eternity.Only is a repeated word in John 3:16-21. There are not

many paths to Godthere is only one. Other Scriptures also arm that Jesus is the only way we

can come to know God the Father.

John 3:18:Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is con-

demned already, because he has not believed in the name o the only Son o God.

Acts 4:12: And there is salvation in no one else, or there is no other name under heaven given

among men by which we must be saved.

John 15:14:You are my riends i you do what I command you.


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FFIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN | GOD ON DISPLAY 29HIGH SCHOOL

Romans 3:20-26: For by works o the law no human being will be justied in His sight, since

through the law comes knowledge o sin. But now the righteousness o God has been mani-

ested apart rom the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to itthe righteous-

ness o God through aith in Jesus Christ or all who believe. For there is no distinction: or all

have sinned and all short o the glory o God, and are justied by His grace as a git, through

the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put orward as a propitiation by His blood, to

be received by aith. This was to show Gods righteousness, because in His divine orbearance

He had passed over ormer sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He

might be just and the justier o the one who has aith in Jesus.

Numbers 21:4-9: From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the

land o Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God

and against Moses, Why have you brought us up out o Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there

is no ood and no water, and we loathe this worthless ood. Then the LORD sent ery serpentsamong the people, and they bit the people, so that many people o Israel died. And the people

came to Moses and said, We have sinned, or we have spoken against the LORD and against you.

Pray to the LORD, that He take away the serpents rom us. So Moses prayed or the people. And

the LORD said to Moses, Make a ery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten,

when he sees it, shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And i a serpent

bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

treasure

Treasure Point:Gods costly love and Jesus death on the cross should motivate usto live or Him.

My Mission: (15 minutes)

HowareyoulivingthefulllifethatGodhasgiventoyoubywalkinginstepwiththeHolySpirit?

Truly, i you are living without Christ, you are not really living at all.

Askthestudentstowriteanoteofencouragementtoafellowstudentorfriend.Encouragethem

to include one o the verses that they discussed in class today in their note.

Supplies Needed: Note cards, pens



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CONNECTING CHURCH AND HOME FIRST QUARTER, WEEK ELEVEN | GOD ON DISPLAY 30

connecting church and homeThis upcoming Sunday, the Treasure Story will ocus on a man who came to Jesus under the veil o

night. Nicodemus was not only a Pharisee (one who kept the Law in order to nd avor with God) but

a member o the Sanhedrin, a ruler o the Jews (John 3:1, 10). This man o authority came to Jesus

as one who was a good, moral man but Jesus said that Nicodemus would not see the kingdom o

heaven unless he was born again. In order or Nicodemus to receive this new birth, it would require

aith and not head knowledge.

We do not know i Nicodemus became a believer or not, but he is mentioned two other times inthe Gospel o John. In chapter seven, we see Nicodemus standing up or Jesus when the Sanhedrin

(his peers) wanted Jesus arrested. Nicodemus asks, Does our law judge a man without rst giving

him a hearing and learning what he does? (John 7:51) Ater Jesus death, we see Nicodemus again

risking his reputation and rank by being one o the rst willing to care or the body o the man cru-

cied or being the Christ: Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing

a mixture o myrrh and aloes, about seventy-ve pounds in weight (John 19:39).

connectRead John 3:1-21 to your amily. Many times children believe that Christianity is a long list orules or a checklist o dos and donts. Focus on verses 14-21. Jesus was taking Nicodemus aith

beyond himsel and the things he controlled (a man-centered aith). He was teaching Nicodemus

that he would have to see Jesus as the Christ, the one who would be lited up as Gods Son so that

those who believe in Him may have eternal lie (John 3:16). Conclude your amilys discussion by

asking these questions: What does this type o belie look like in us as individuals and as a amily?

How do we as a amily need to live our lives with aith?

Treasure Verse: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in

Him should not perish but have eternal lie (John 3:16).the world, and people loved the darkness

Your parenting aects more than your childshere and now. It affects generations to come and their eternity.

Steve Wright and Chris Graves, ApParent Privilege, pg. 94


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rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyonewho does wicked things hates the light and does not come to thelight, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what istrue comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his workshave been carried out in God

Jesus Paid it AllWords by Elvina Hall

I hear the Savior say,

Thy strength indeed is small;

Child o weakness, watch and pray,

Find in Me thine all in all.

Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had let a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.

For nothing good have I

Whereby Thy grace to claim;

Ill wash my garments white

In the blood o Calvrys Lamb.

Documents

11-The Greatest Love - Lesson 11