LET JESUS ROLL THE STONE OF STUFF AWAY
As we count down the weeks to Easter, we continue to look at many of the stones Jesus’ life, death and resurrection roll away in our life – clearing a path for us to come back to God and be with Him forever!

You can watch Paige M.’s re-enactment of the Bible stories here:

For the week of March 29th we’re going to reflect on the stone (barrier) of self. Jesus says He will roll away the stone of self if we put Him first.

Keys for this lesson:

  • Jesus said that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.
  • The pursuit of money and possessions has the ability to take up the place God wants to have in our hearts.
  • Jesus is the TREASURE we are to seek!

Preparing in Prayer & Thought:
Please read through the lesson first so you are comfortable with it and can tailor it to your children. Pray with your children before beginning. Pray this week for God to work in their lives and provide opportunities for them to put into practice what they will learn through the lesson. Pray for hearts that want to follow Jesus and seek Him as their greatest treasure.

Reflection: The fifth stone that needs to be rolled away is STUFF.
The call to follow Jesus is a call to put God first in all things. Money and possessions are not evil nor does Jesus ask everyone to sell everything to follow him. But he knows that earthly stuff can be an obstacle to our relationship with God because they cause us to be satisfied with this life instead of longing for eternity with Jesus.

Jesus said: “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be…You cannot serve God and money.” – Matthew 6:19-21,24; Luke 16:13

The pursuit of money and possessions has the ability to take the place God wants to have in our heart.

The lesson today looks at two conversations Jesus had with two men. Both of them had great wealth but they had very different reactions to Jesus.

Read Matthew 19:16-30: Jesus has a conversation with a rich young man who is seeking to know how he can have eternal life.

  • What did Jesus say he had to do store up treasure in Heaven? (sell his possessions and give to the poor)
  • How did this make the young man feel? and why? (he was said because he had great possessions)
  • What did the young man do? (He went away, he chose not to follow Jesus)

Read Luke 19:1-10: Jesus is met by another rich man by the name of Zacchaeus. He wanted to see Jesus so much that he climbed up a tree!

  • Who was Zacchaeus and what was his job? (chief tax collector)
  • How did he become so rich? (he overcharged taxes to the people)
  • What did he do when he met Jesus? (climbed a tree, he gave half his goods to the poor, he returned what he stole)
  • What did Jesus ask Zacchaeus to do? (come down from the tree, stay at his house and eat dinner)

How do we roll away the stone of STUFF?

  • What was the difference between these two men?
  • How do we store up treasures in heaven?

Read Matthew 6:25-33 and pray with your children.
Pray together for practical ways to choose Jesus and his ways this week. Let Jesus be the Treasure that we seek.

Activity: Mural
Grab some chalk and on your sidewalk, fence (or paper), write the words, “Let Jesus be the treasure we seek!” and then decorate it with drawings related to the phrase. Please take pictures and send to diane@parksidechurch.ca.

Activity: Treasure Chest

  • Part 1: Decorate a box to make it into a treasure chest.
  • Part 2: Go for a walk in your neighbourhood or back yard and five special things to put in your treasure chest.
  • Part 3: Go into your bedroom and find five things to add to your treasure chest.
  • Part 4: Look through your items in your treasure chest and sort into one of two categories: things that we can take to Heaven and things we can’t.
  • Part 5: Find an item in your treasure chest and give it away to someone out of your love for God and others.

Questions? Contact Mrs. Kim (diane@parksidechurch.ca).

Written and developed by Rhonda B. and Diane K.