"God Sends Help" April - Lesson 1

​     I hope that you had a blessed Easter! Thanks for joining me for our first lesson for this month of April. There will be two more April weekly lessons posted, and, of course, you are invited to attend our fourth Sunday gathering for Sunday School on April 23 at 11 am after church service. Everyone is welcome to participate.
     Our story this month is called “God Sends Help” and is found on pages 326-333 of The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones. (A copy is available at Resurrection Lutheran Church for free or online with a cost to you.) As always, you along with your whole family are invited to listen and read and create and pray around this selected story about a church celebration called Pentecost.
     Pentecost celebrates Jesus’ crucifixion (when Jesus died on Good Friday), His resurrection (when Jesus rose from the dead three days later on Easter Sunday), and His ascension (when Jesus returned to heaven, about 40 days after His resurrection). Most importantly for our story, it also marks the beginning of the Christian church’s mission of spreading Jesus’ message to the world.
     Children: Make yourself cozy and prepare to hear another amazing bible story. Please listen to the oral reading of this story that has been video-taped and posted above for you. As you listen, use your imagination to see the described scenes unfold in your head. Feel free to create your own illustrations if you like.
     This story tells us how some of Jesus’ helpers, also called His disciples, were given the gift of the Holy Spirit and how it changed their lives - from hiding in locked rooms and being afraid to speak out about Jesus at the beginning of our story to devoting their lives to openly teach anyone about Jesus and God’s love at the end of our story.  
     That is a huge switcharoo in their feelings! So what exactly is this Holy Spirit that the disciples were given? To explain the Holy Spirit, we need to discuss what is called The Trinity, the three forms that God can take. 
     The diagram below explains that the Father (which refers to Jesus’ father), the Son (which refers to Jesus himself), and the Holy Spirit (which refers to the non-physical part of us where our emotions and feelings live). These three are separate entities, but all three exist together in one as God.  I know that sounds very mysterious, but think of it like this: Any person, like myself, can be a daughter, an aunt, or a cousin, just different roles I play. Yet all together those three make one person - myself, Margo. 

​     The Holy Spirit came as the wind that entered the disciples’ locked room and created the flickering flames, which did not hurt or burn, above their heads. The Holy Spirit put love in their hearts for God and for their fellow beings and made them want to share the good news of God’s love.
     Remember, Pastor Steve will respond to any of your questions or comments!
     Adults: The Biblical references for the Pentecost are Acts 1-5 and John 15.
     As a religion, Christianity has been around for millennia. It has changed and transformed throughout time – both in terms of the principles and beliefs, the range of denominations it is comprised of, and the number of religious believers across the globe.
     Christianity certainly isn’t the only prevalent religion in the world, but it might come as a surprise to learn that, amidst Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and all other major religious schools, Christianity is the most popular.
     Global assessments conducted in 2012 revealed that the precise figures pertaining to the most-followed world religions were:

​     Quite clearly, Christianity exceeds the other four major religious/non-religious bodies by a significant proportion of 0.6 billion – overtaking Islam in number of followers by an astounding 9.1% of the global population.
     The figures have varied throughout history, though, and the number and spread of Christians worldwide has changed dramatically in the past century alone. In the next two lessons, our topic will be how Christianity spread throughout the earth.
     Pastor Steve will answer your questions or address your concerns if you submit them via this blog!
~This Week’s Prayer: Dear Lord, I pray that the Holy Spirit lives within my heart. Amen
     Join me again next week for our second lesson about the Holy Spirit and the joy it can create within us.
Enjoy the spring weather,
Margo Greer