In our story a few weeks ago, we learned that many of God’s people had already returned to Jerusalem. However, not all of them went back.
Today we will hear about a woman who stayed in Persia. Her name was Esther, and God planned to use her for a very important job. Our story for today is, “Esther Became Queen!”
We learned last time that God changed the king’s heart so the Israelites could go home. When they got there, they began to rebuild the temple, the place where God met with His people. It was not exactly like the original temple that Solomon built, but it would have been very close.
We’ll see how God gave very detailed instructions on how to rebuild His temple in our story this week called: “The Temple Was Completed”
Many people believe that “when bad things happen, God is punishing me.” It sometimes seems that if God is in control then He should keep troubles and suffering from happening, but this view only shows our limited understanding.
In today’s lesson, we will get to know Job – a man in the Bible who suffered a lot yet continued to trust in God. Our series continues with the lesson, “OPTICAL ILLUSION #4: When Bad Things Happen, God is Punishing Me.”
Jesus is alive and we rejoice and celebrate this victory!
But the empty tomb is only the beginning of the story, and there are important lessons to be gained from events immediately after the resurrection as well as further down the road.
Let’s meet Jesus’ disciple named Thomas in our story today and learn how his special encounter with Jesus changed His life forever. Our story for today is, “Jesus Appears to Thomas!”
We have been learning about God’s plan to rescue His people from sin. This week and next week, we are going to study Jesus’ triumphal entry, His death on the cross, and His resurrection as we celebrate Easter.
Today’s Bible story is called “Palm Sunday.” This Bible story happened a few days before Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin.
Many people believe that they can get to Heaven by being good enough, being kind enough or helpful enough. But the problem is, no amount of good works can bring us anywhere close to God’s holiness and perfection. Nobody can possibly do enough good.
Our lesson for today is, “OPTICAL ILLUSION #3: I CAN EARN MY WAY TO HEAVEN!”
Babylon was eventually conquered by another nation called Persia, but Daniel was so faithful and good at his job, even the new kings wanted to keep him around!
Daniel prayed only to the one true God. When the king made a law that people could only pray to him, Daniel remained faithful to God. Let’s learn more about this in our story today called, “Daniel Was Rescued.”
Last week we learned about Daniel and his friends who refused to eat the king’s food. They obeyed God even when no one around them did!
This week, we will learn about a group of young men who refused to worship a statue. They knew that only God deserves our worship, but the king was furious with them and threw them into a furnace, a place where very hot fires burn. What do you think happened next?
Let’s find out in our story today called, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.”
God’s people were under new leaders. They had been living in sin, so God had sent them away from their land. The Southern Kingdom of Judah was captured by Babylon.
In our story this week, we will learn about a group of God’s people who were asked to break God’s laws about what foods to eat. We will learn how they remained faithful to God even under pressure in our story called, “Daniel and His Friends Obeyed God.”
A few weeks ago, we learned that God sent Judah into captivity because of their sin. As you can imagine, this made the people extremely sad. They probably felt abandoned by God.
Obviously, God did not abandon them. Quite the opposite. Though God was punishing their sin, He sent them a message through His prophet Ezekiel. And it was a very good message!
Today’s story is “Ezekiel Told About a Future Hope.”