
Lesson plans.
Lesson 5: The family of God.
Luke 8:19-21 - Once when Jesus was teaching, his mother and brothers came to see him, but they couldn’t reach him due to the large crowd surrounding him. Someone informed him that his mother and brothers were looking for him, and he took the opportunity to teach the crowd that anyone who listens to and obeys God’s word are his mother and brothers.
Lesson 4: Finding rest in Jesus.
Matthew 11:28-30 - Jesus encourages his followers to come to him when they are tired and weary, and he will give them rest for their souls. The “yoke” or “burden” of Jesus’ teachings is light because he gives us strength in our weakness and helps us to carry them.
Lesson 3: The path of following Jesus.
Matthew 8:18-22 - Once a religious leader came to Jesus, wanting to follow him wherever he went. Jesus warned him that the path would not be comfortable - "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Then another man came and told Jesus that he would follow him, but to let him wait and bury his father first (ie. to wait until his father died). Jesus encouraged him to take the step and follow him now, rather than waiting for the right time.
Lesson 2: Light of the world.
John 8:12 - Jesus teaches his followers that he is the light of the world, and that anyone who follows him will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
Lesson 1: Jesus blesses the little children.
Matthew 19:13-15 - Once when Jesus was teaching a large crowd, some people were bringing their children to Jesus so that he could pray for them. However, the disciples rebuked them and tried to keep the children away. Jesus responded by telling his disciples to let the children come to him and not to hinder them, because the kingdom of God is for them too. Then he blessed them and went on his way.
Lesson 4: Returning to Nazareth.
Matthew 2:19-23 - After King Herod died, the angel appeared to Joseph again in a dream to tell him that it was safe to return to Israel with Mary and Jesus. However, Herod's son had become the king of Judea in his place and they were afraid to return there. Instead, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus went to Nazareth in Galilee. This fulfilled the prophesy that the Messiah would be called a Nazarene.
Lesson 3: Escape to Egypt.
Matthew 2:13-15 - When the wise men had gone home after visiting Jesus, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, warning him that King Herod was going to try to kill Jesus, and that they should escape to Egypt. So Joseph, Mary, and Jesus stayed in Egypt until King Herod died. This happened in fulfillment of the prophesy from Hosea, “Out of Egypt I called my Son.”
Lesson 2: Wise men visit Jesus.
Matthew 2:1-12 - After Jesus was born, the wise men, also known as Magi, came searching for “the one who has been born king of the Jews.” They had seen a star in the sky which alerted them to his birth, and wanting to find him to worship him. But when King Herod of Judea heard about it, he was disturbed by the news. He found out from the chief priests and religious teachers that the Messiah (anointed one) was to be born in Bethlehem. So Herod sent the Magi to Bethlehem to search for the child, and asked them to bring him news as well. When the Magi found Jesus, they were overjoyed, bowed down and worshipped him, and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. However, they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, but to go by a different route.
Lesson 1: An angel appears to Joseph.
Matthew 1:18-25 - In this passage, Matthew recounts the story of how Jesus’ birth came about. A woman named Mary was pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, but before they got married, she was found to be pregnant. Joseph didn’t want Mary to be publicly shamed, so he decided to divorce her quietly. However, an angel appeared to him in a dream telling him not to be afraid and that Mary was pregnant through the Holy Spirit. The angel announced that the child would be named Jesus and that he would be the savior of all people. Jesus would also be called Emmanuel, which means “God with us.”
Lesson 6: Jesus heals a man born blind.
John 9:1-12 - In this story, Jesus saw a man who was born blind. His disciples assumed that the blindness was caused by sin, and asked Jesus who it was that sinned, the man or his parents. Jesus told them that their assumption was wrong, but that this particular man’s blindness happened so that God could show God’s power and goodness through him. Then Jesus healed him by putting mud on his eyes and telling him to wash it off in a certain pool. When his neighbors saw that he was healed, they were surprised, and he proclaimed to them that it was Jesus who had healed him.
Lesson 5: A soldier’s faith in Jesus.
Matthew 8:5-13 - In this story, a Roman soldier comes to Jesus and asks him to heal his servant who is paralyzed. Jesus asks if he should go to his home to heal the servant, but the soldier says that he knows Jesus can just say the word and his servant will be healed. Jesus is impressed by the soldier’s faith and says that he hasn’t found this kind of faith in all Israel, and that the kingdom of God will be full of people from all cultures and nations in the world. Then Jesus tells the soldier to go home, and the servant is healed instantly.
Lesson 4: Jesus walks on water.
Mark 6:45-52 - After miraculously feeding 5000, Jesus tells his disciples to get on the boat and go ahead of him to another town. After they left, he dismissed the crowds that were following him, and went up to a mountainside to pray, before walking on the water and catching up to them. When they saw Jesus, they thought he was a ghost and were terrified. Jesus announced that it was him, and the disciples were amazed. They still didn’t understand who Jesus was.
Lesson 3: Five loaves and two fish.
Luke 9:10-17 - In this story, Jesus is teaching a large crowd of about 5000 men, plus women and children. After they had been there a long time, his disciples wanted to send them away to find food and lodgings, but Jesus told them that they should be the ones to feed them. They only had five loaves of bread and two fish, but as they distributed them, they found they had more than enough for everyone.
Lesson 2: Jesus calms the storm.
Matthew 8:23-27 - In the passage, Jesus is on a boat with his disciples when a violent storm begins to rage. The disciples are terrified, but Jesus is just sleeping. They cry out to him to save them, he wakes up and tells the storm to be still, and the wind and the waves die down. The disciples are amazed by this display of power and wonder, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and waves obey him!”
Lesson 1: Water into wine.
John 2:1-11 - Jesus’ very first miracle, as recorded by the Gospel of John, was changing water into wine at a wedding he attended in Cana. Jesus was reluctant to perform this miracle at first, as he did not want to draw the wrong kind of attention to himself this early into his public ministry. However, upon his mother’s request, he did perform this miracle, though he did so in a secretive way so that only his disciples knew what had happened, and as a result, put their faith in him. This miracle reveals that Jesus has power over the created world, and hints at his divine sonship.
Lesson 5: The lost sheep.
Matthew 18:12-14 - Jesus tells the Parable of the Lost Sheep, in which a shepherd has 100 sheep and loses one of them. The shepherd then leaves behind the 99 sheep to look for the one, and when he finds it, he rejoices about it more than the 99 that did not go missing. God is like this shepherd who cares about each one of us and does not want anyone to be lost.