Children’s Bible Program – Level 1: NT Lesson 11 “Five Loaves and Two Fish”

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Featured Passage: Luke 9, John 6

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NT-L1L11 Five Loaves and Two FishDownload/Print

The disciples had just returned from preaching the gospel to many people, and they were excited to tell Jesus about what they had done. Jesus took them to a deserted place so that they could rest. Even so, the crowds heard where they went and came to find them. Jesus began to teach the people so they stayed to listen to Him all day as He preached the gospel of the Kingdom and healed their sick. After sitting there so long everyone started getting hungry.

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Discuss:

  1. Why do you think Jesus wanted to feed the people? How many people were there listening to Him teach?
  2. What food did Andrew find among the people? Who brought the food to share? Was it enough to feed all the people?
  3. What did Jesus do to the food before giving it to the disciples to distribute?
  4. How many baskets of leftover food was taken up by the disciples? 
  5. What did the people want to do when they witnessed the miracle Jesus performed (John 6:14-15)? Why didn’t Jesus want this?
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Memory Challenge:

John 6:35 

“And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”

Course Spotlight: How Do We Abide in Christ?

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In some of our online courses, we have a “Student Thoughts” section where we ask a question to see what the students think. In Unit 4 of the Life Ministry and Teachings of Jesus Christ course, we asked the questions:

How do we abide in Christ? (John 15:4) How do we allow God’s word to abide in us? (John 15:7) What does that look like in a practical sense?

Read some of the responses:

“For us to abide in Christ, we must be full of His words, they must be part of our thoughts, actions and motives. [We must] Be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit, for this is from Christ and lights our way, giving us understanding and repentance when we err. Stay close to the truth and be courageous!”

— VC

“It is the Holy Spirit that helps us abide in Christ. As we have seen in the lesson, the Holy Spirit connects our minds to God. It imparts both understanding and strength hence keeping Gods truth flowing in hearts. For a tree to bear fruits, adequate water has to flow through, bringing in the right minerals. A good fruit is not formed by itself. We need Gods Holy Spirit so as to bring forth good fruits.”

— LK

“The A.S.K. formula from Matthew 7:7 is helpful. ‘Ask’ – start by having a prayerful attitude. Don’t approach life with an attitude of: ‘Here’s how I think about it.’ Go to the Father, humbly in prayer, asking to guide your approach to anything you face. ‘Seek’ – search God’s word for the answer. Know that God has revealed the truth to us through the pages of the Bible. The basic principles concerning all the fundamental things we face in life is contained in there somewhere … find it! ‘Knock’ – go forward in faith with what you have been guided to do through prayer and Bible study.”

— TW
Share your answer!

Forum Summary: God’s Way Works

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Author: Juliette McNair | Student, Living Education Charlotte 2021

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 3 seconds.

Mr. Stephen Elliot is the Area Pastor of New Mexico and Arizona. In his Assembly, Mr. Elliot shared with the students a broad sketch of what it was like in Ambassador College (AC) and the Worldwide Church of God. “I recognize that to you and even to me that’s ancient history, but I want to put it into perspective for you.”

Some Perspective

Mr. Elliot’s father was the first Church member hired as a teacher at AC. He was hired in 1949 when competitive and political issues were beginning to arise from employing non-members as instructors. He became the first Dean of Students and was head over the campus grounds. In those early years, Dr. Meredith babysat Mr. Elliot. In 1947, only four students attended the college, but by the mid-60s, when Mr. Elliot attended, both the Big Sandy and Pasadena campuses had grown to around 500 students each. At a college reunion years later, Mr. Elliot found that most of his peers had left the Church and were glad they had been “liberated” from what they now considered a cult. There were around 1200 ministers in the 1980s—nine out of ten have since left the Church. By the late 90s, ninety percent of the membership had left the Church, with the remaining ten percent split now between almost 500 different organizations. Mr. Elliot asked, “How could we all have been taught the same things, grown up believing the same things, and most of us drift away?”

Do You Want the Answers?

After college, Mr. Elliot shared how he became disillusioned by Church politics and poor examples and stopped attending. But after he got married and his family began to grow, he returned. “I came back for a very selfish reason. I knew the Church had the answers and I wanted those principles for my marriage and family… The world was no longer shiny and glossy.”

God provides answers to life through His Church. “This is the reason that I stayed in the Church—not because people are perfect. Everyone is flawed, and no matter how hard we try, we are going to fall short. God only calls humans.” Yet there are always those who don’t want answers—they never get better, and they don’t change. While it is easy to become anxious about those who are not concerned with improving their lives, Mr. Elliot shared some sound advice he had gotten in the past: “Why are you worried about them? They’re not.” This is not meant to be cynical but real. Each person must choose to seek the truth individually. “It isn’t really selfish to want the answers to this life—it’s why we’re here.”

“You should experience struggles.”

Mr. Elliot said, “What do I wish you to get from your Living Ed experience?” Years ago, Mr. Armstrong instituted a rule that students being considered for the ministry had to have attended AC for at least two years—why? So that they had practiced the right way of thinking and the right way of living. You don’t need Living Ed to become educated, but it is an opportunity to learn a way of life. “It’s not always easy—you probably will experience some struggles. I hope you will because if you’re not, you may not be taking this way of life seriously… Before we have anything to teach others, we have to practice it ourselves. We have to have a track record.”

A Way of Living

Mr. Elliot concluded the Assembly, “Out of seven and a half billion people, God chose to call you. At Headquarters, you have an opportunity to know how the Church works. Living Education is not all book-learning—you can get that anywhere. It’s about a way of living.”

This post is part of our new series of student-written content for LivingEd-Charlotte. These summaries cover topics originally presented by our faculty and guest speakers in our weekly Forum and Assembly. For more Assembly-related content check out our Second Thoughts posts.

Assembly Summary: The War Against God

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Author: Juliette McNair | Student, Living Education 2021

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 53 seconds.

“If God has opened your mind to the truth, you are going to be in Satan’s crosshairs.”

Dr. Douglas Winnail, the Director of Church Administration, began the Assembly with a PowerPoint slide with the following statements:

The Bible is outdated. The miracles of the Bible never happened. Moral absolutes are old fashioned. There is no ultimate purpose in life. You are stupid if you believe the Bible.

These are ideas that are prevalent in a society that is waging a war against true Christianity. Dr. Winnail asked the Living Ed students, “Where do these ideas come from—why are they here?” The first step in understanding the modern war against God is knowing where these ideas come from.

Know Your Enemy

The struggle is not a physical one—it is Satan’s fight to win hearts and minds and pit them against their Creator. Dr. Winnail said, “Modern cultural wars are more than just liberals versus conservatives—it’s a spiritual war.” And if we know who is behind this war, we can understand that, as Dr. Winnail quoted, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against… spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12).

“Who are the warriors in these cultural wars against God?”

There are several recent figures instrumental in tearing down belief in God and the Bible. The renowned atheist Richard Dawkins has called creationism, “God’s gift to the ignorant” and religious faith, “the great cop-out.” Christopher Hitchens, a social critic and another antagonist against Christianity, believes the real axis of evil in the world is “Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.” Bart D. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, is a prominent critic of modern Christianity, authoring numerous books that seek to discredit the New Testament and the Christian belief in God. James Tabor, a former teacher at Ambassador College, is another scholarly skeptic who had commented, “If you find the bones of Jesus, the resurrection is off.”

Yet, Dr. Winnail emphasized, these skeptics are “merely the latest versions of people who have been doing this for years.” In the 19th century, Robert Ingersoll said concerning the Bible, “It has lost power in the proportion that man has gained knowledge.” Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution planted doubts on the biblical account of creation. The philosophers, Voltaire and Rousseau, played a role in turning “cathedrals into temples of reason” during the Enlightenment. Even in the first several centuries A.D., many philosophers—Porphyr and Celsus, for example—were bent on discrediting Christ and the Bible.

Critics of the Critics

Yet these warriors against God are not without their critics. John Gray, an English philosopher from the London School of Economics, calls Dawkins closed-minded, saying, “His atheism is its own kind of narrow religion.” Peter Hitchens, brother of Christopher Hitchens, was also an atheist but returned to religious faith later in life. He is a sharp critic of his brother’s book, God Is Not Great. James Tabor has been called out for his speculation on the nature of Christ because his ideas are built on the shaky ground of the Gnostic gospels.

“How do you prepare to fight?”

Dr. Winnail turned to Ephesians 6:10-18 to conclude his talk. God gives His servants weapons for defending themselves. The students were inspired to “put on the whole armor of God…”  Christians must arm themselves with the spiritual belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, and sword to fight for the truth in a world at war with God. Dr. Winnail encouraged, “Seek God’s help; win the war against God.”

This post is part of our new series of student-written content for LivingEd-Charlotte. These summaries cover topics originally presented by our faculty and guest speakers in our weekly Forum and Assembly. For more Assembly-related content check out our Second Thoughts posts.

Programme biblique pour enfants : niveau 3 – NT leçon 3 “Le Fils de Dieu”

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Passage étudié : Matthieu 1 à 3 ; Ésaïe 53

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NT-L3.03-Le Fils de DieuTélécharger

Les prophètes, comme Ésaïe et Jérémie, ont parlé du Messie – Celui qui viendrait et restaurerait la gloire d’Israël. Ils ont également parlé de Celui qui souffrirait et mourrait pour sauver toute l’humanité. Dès le début, Dieu a prévu de créer des êtres humains qui pourraient devenir comme Lui, et vivre dans Sa Famille pour toute l’éternité. Dieu savait, qu’à cause du péché, les gens devraient être sauvés de la peine de mort. Dieu et la Parole ont donc prévu que la Parole naîtrait en tant qu’être humain, et mourrait pour payer l’amende des péchés de toute l’humanité.

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Discussion :

  1. La Parole S’est dépouillée de Sa divinité pour naître comme un simple être humain (Philippiens 2:5-11). Qu’est-ce que cela nous apprend sur Elle ?
  2. Qui trouve-t-on au début de la généalogie de Jésus-Christ, dans Matthieu ? Est-ce que tu reconnais d’autres personnages cités dans cette liste ?
  3. Compare la généalogie de Luc 3 avec celle de Matthieu. Jusqu’où remonte celle de Luc ? Pour quelles raisons ces listes sont-elles différentes ?
  4. Dieu a soigneusement choisi les parents humains de Jésus. Quels sont les traits de caractère, chez Marie et Joseph, qui ont conduit Dieu à les choisir pour cet honneur ?
  5. Qu’a dit la voix du ciel lorsque Jésus a été baptisé ?
  6. Le Christ a vécu sans commettre un seul péché durant toute Sa vie (2 Corinthiens 5:21). Aurions-nous pu avoir accès à la vie éternelle si le Christ avait péché ?
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Mémorisation :

Matthieu 1 : 21

“Elle enfantera un fils, et tu lui donneras le nom de Jésus ; c’est lui qui sauvera son peuple de ses péchés.”

Programme biblique pour enfants : niveau 2 – NT leçon 3 “Naître de nouveau”

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Passage étudié : Jean 3

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Alors que Jésus commence Son ministère, Il devient de plus en plus populaire parmi les gens de la région. Les chefs religieux juifs, les pharisiens et les sadducéens, commencent à s’en apercevoir. Les sadducéens sont un groupe de Juifs qui ont une interprétation plus libérale de la loi ; ils ne croient ni aux anges ni à la résurrection. Quant aux pharisiens, ils sont très stricts ; ils ont ajouté leurs propres règles, et ils pensent qu’en les respectant, ils seront plus justes. Mais Jésus enseigne la loi de Dieu telle qu’elle est écrite dans les Saintes Écritures, ce qui met ces dirigeants juifs en colère. Pourtant, l’un des chefs religieux vient voir Jésus pour chercher la vérité.

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Discussion :

  1. Qui est Nicodème? À ton avis, pourquoi Nicodème est-il allé voir Jésus de nuit ?
  2. Que dit Jésus à Nicodème ? Quelle est la condition pour être dans le Royaume de Dieu ? Quelle est la réponse de Nicodème ?
  3. Quel exemple Jésus utilise-t-Il pour expliquer à Nicodème ce qu’est un être spirituel ?
  4. Que dit Jésus à Nicodème sur le fait “d’aller au ciel” ?
  5. Que dit Jésus au sujet de la récompense de ceux qui croient en Lui ? Que signifie croire en Jésus, et croire qu’Il est le Fils de Dieu ?
  6. Que voulait dire Jésus lorsqu’Il dit que “Dieu a tant aimé le monde” ? Qui Dieu veut-Il que nous aimions ?
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Mémorisation :

Jean 3:16

“Car Dieu a tant aimé le monde qu’il a donné son Fils unique, afin que quiconque croit en lui ne périsse point, mais qu’il ait la vie éternelle.”

Programme biblique pour enfants : niveau 1 – NT leçon 3 “Jésus et les affaires de Son Père”

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Passage étudié : Luc 2

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Dieu a choisi Marie et Joseph pour être les parents de Son Fils, sur la terre. Ils sont tous les deux issus de la famille du roi David, et ils obéissent aux lois divines. Ils prennent soin de Jésus quand Il est enfant, et ils L’enseignent du mieux qu’ils peuvent. Dieu guide et dirige cette famille. Et à mesure que Jésus grandit, Il commence à apprendre qui Il est, et ce qu’Il doit faire sur la terre.

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Discussion :

  1. Pourquoi Jésus et Sa famille étaient-ils à Jérusalem ?
  2. Où Joseph et Marie ont-ils retrouvé Jésus, après L’avoir cherché pendant 3 jours ? Que faisait-Il ?
  3. Quel âge faut-il avoir pour commencer à apprendre à connaître Dieu ?
  4. À ton avis, pourquoi les docteurs (ou les enseignants) du temple ont-ils été surpris lorsque Jésus leur parlait et leur posait des questions ?
  5. Lorsque Jésus a dit qu’Il devait S’occuper “des affaires de [Son] Père”, de qui parlait-Il ?
  6. Que signifie le verset : “Jésus croissait en sagesse, en stature, et en grâce, devant Dieu et devant les hommes” ? Quelles sont les choses que tu peux faire, dès maintenant, pour suivre l’exemple que Jésus a donné quand Il était jeune ?
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Mémorisation :

Luc 2:52

“Et Jésus croissait en sagesse, en stature, et en grâce, devant Dieu et devant les hommes.”

Forum Summary: Skilled People Have Choices

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Author: Juliette McNair | Student, Living Education Charlotte 2021

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 42 seconds.

Mr. Rick Stafford is the Regional Director of the Caribbean and Area Pastor of South Texas. After studying geology for two years at the University of Oregon, in 1965, Mr. Stafford enrolled at Ambassador College. At Ambassador, Mr. Armstrong encouraged the students to not only prove God’s existence and His Way of life but also to learn skills. Mr. Stafford discussed the importance of skills in the Living Ed Forum.

“God created us to work.”

God commanded man to work from Creation (Genesis 2:16-17). Parents ought to instill the value of work into their children at a young age. Mr. Stafford quoted an old Jewish proverb, “He who does not teach his son a trade teaches him to steal.” Traditionally, Jewish boys were taught some skill very early in their lives—often by the age of twelve. When pogroms and social persecution uprooted and relocated them, “they could take their skills with them.”  This is especially important if you are Sabbath keeper.

Don’t be a square peg in a round hole.

When he attended Ambassador, Mr. Stafford had no idea what career he wanted. Yet, he explained this is normal. As young people mature, they discover their abilities and begin to harness them in their lives. “Find out what that ability is and get your interests behind it.” Align your interests and abilities, for “much of your happiness in life will depend on whether you’re a square peg in a round hole.”

“Whatever you’re doing, if you have a mindset that your work is a paid education, you will become skilled.”

Mr. Stafford advised the students to wholeheartedly catch their organization’s vision. Work must be one’s study and passion. “People are not just overnight successes. They’ve probably worked on that one thing for years.”  Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”Treat work like your ongoing education.

Career or job?

Mr. Stafford defined a career as “a pursuit of a lifelong ambition.” On the other hand, “a job is an activity in which an individual can earn money.” While a job is short-term and competitive and doesn’t require one to grow and adapt their skills, a career is long-term, secure, and requires one to hone their skills and talents and be flexible. A young person needs to build skills that apply to their life-long aims and not just earn money. “I’ve seen this too many times—young people who have wasted their youth. It is a time when you need to build your foundation.” Mr. Stafford said, “You’ll find your education wasn’t lost time.”

“You’ll never get to perfection,” Mr. Stafford wrapped up, “you’ll always be improving—so do it with all of your might. You are working for God using the talents He has given you to serve.  Getting skilled and being diligent leads to a blessed, full and abundant life.”

Over the years, Mr. Stafford worked over thirty different jobs—from career counselor, sales engineer, and carpenter to cowboy in Colorado, roping, branding, and herding livestock. Yet, he said, he’s already submitted his request to God for his future work in the Kingdom. He said, “I want to be a tour guide, taking people to where no man has been and colonizing the universe!”

This post is part of our new series of student-written content for LivingEd-Charlotte. These summaries cover topics originally presented by our faculty and guest speakers in our weekly Forum and Assembly. For more Assembly-related content check out our Second Thoughts posts.

Children’s Bible Program – Level 3: NT Lesson 10 “Passover and Plotting”

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Featured Passage: Matthew 26

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NT-L3L10 Passover and Plotting Download/Print

Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem did not sit well with the chief priests and elders. Besides, not many days before that, Jesus had resurrected Lazarus from the dead in front of a host of witnesses. Many of the people started to believe that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah, and the religious rulers were determined that He must be stopped. They looked for an opportunity to take Him without the people knowing it, and the opportunity presented itself.

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Discuss:

  1. What happened when Jesus and His disciples were at the house of Simon the leper? Why were the disciples upset by this? 
  2. What was Judas promised for his betrayal? Where in the Bible is there a prophecy that this would happen?
  3. Where did Jesus and the disciples eat the Passover meal? 
  4. How did Jesus tell the disciples to prepare for what was about to happen to Him? How did they respond? What did Jesus say Peter would do?
  5. What did Christ do to prepare for what was about to happen? 
  6. Who came to arrest Jesus? How did the Jews know who Jesus was to arrest Him? What did the disciples do? 
  7. What crime did the high priest and elders say Jesus had committed? Was Christ guilty of that crime? Why or why not?
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Memory Challenge:

Matthew 26:39

 “He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’”

Children’s Bible Program – Level 1: NT Lesson 10 “A Little Girl Resurrected”

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Featured Passage: Luke 8

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NT-L1L10 A Little Girl ResurrectedDownload/Print

Like wildfire, the news spread that Jesus was doing miracles and healing many people of all kinds of sicknesses. Crowds of people followed Him nearly everywhere He went. One day, when Jesus returned to one of the towns by the Sea of Galilee, a man came to Jesus and desperately begged him to come to his house. The man’s young daughter was very sick and was dying. Jesus began to follow the man, but as he went, the crowd of people tried to keep following Him, bumping and pushing to get close. Suddenly Jesus felt someone touch him. He stopped to find that a woman had reached out to touch His garments, believing she would be healed—and she was! While Jesus was still talking to the woman someone came to tell Him that the little girl had already died. It was too late, or was it?

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Discuss:

  1. How old was the girl who was sick? 
  2. How do you imagine the man, Jarius, felt while the crowd was making it take longer for Jesus to get to his house to heal his daughter? 
  3. What did Jesus say when they found out the little girl was dead? Why do you think He told them that?
  4. Who did Jesus allow to be with Him in the house when He went to the little girl? Why do you think He didn’t want anyone else to come in?
  5. What did Jesus mean when He said the little girl was “sleeping”? Can you think of any other places in the Bible where God says being dead is like sleeping?
  6. How do you think the girl’s parents felt when Jesus caused her to wake up from being dead? Is there anyone you know who has died who you are looking forward to seeing again when God brings them back to life in the resurrection?
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Memory Challenge:

Luke 8:50 

But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.”