Can you think of anyone with a more trusting and believing heart than a little child?
Children ask questions (lots of them!), but their questioning is always motivated by curiosity - never by doubt or skepticism. When a child seeks knowledge from an adult they trust, they believe it!
Now think about what Jesus taught us about how to enter the Kingdom of God. He said “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.”
Our hearts must become soft, believing, trusting, and curious! This is how the Lord has taught us to receive Him!
We hope you will take time to share some special and sacred moments in the scriptures this week with your little children. May we feel of the Lord’s love for the little children, and may the Lord bless each of us that our hearts might become a little more like theirs!
LESSON BUNDLE DOWNLOADS:
➤ L E S S O N
Open the lesson with a song and a prayer.
🎶 O P E N I N G S O N G : "I Am a Child of God"
➤ P R E P A R A T I O N
Print and cut out the six character cards (included in the lesson pdf). You will also need an image of Jesus Christ.
➤ I N T R O D U C T I O N
Lay out the six character cards on the floor or on a table where all of the children can see them. Read the title of each character together saying, “This is a Soldier. This is an artist.” and so on until all of the children are familiar with the characters.
Now place the image of Jesus Christ next to the six character cards. Explain: In the scriptures, Jesus said that we must become like one of these to enter the kingdom of God! (Point to the six characters.) Ask the children to guess which one, and invite a volunteer to place that character’s image next to the image of Jesus Christ. Explain that the correct answer is a child! Jesus taught us that we must become like a child to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Once you have completed the activity, discuss the following questions:
1) Why do you think that Jesus taught us to become like a child? (Discuss.)
2) What are some words that you would use to describe the heart of a child? (Discuss attributes of a child’s heart such as innocent, believing, humble, willing to obey, etc.)
🎥 V I D E O : "Let the Children Come Unto Me | Animated Scripture Lesson for Kids"
Say: “Now we are going to watch a video about some little children. When Jesus was teaching his disciples, some little children wanted to listen to Jesus! The disciples told the children not to bother Jesus and asked the children to leave. But when Jesus saw this, He said something! What do you think Jesus said? Let’s watch and find out!”
Discuss the following questions after watching the video:
1) Why did the disciples want the children to leave? (They thought the children didn’t belong there.)
2) When the disciples told the children to leave, what did Jesus say to His disciples? (He told them to let the children to stay! He said that no one would enter the kingdom of God unless they have a heart like a child!)
3) What kind of heart does Jesus want us to have? (Discuss attributes of a child’s heart such as innocent, believing, humble, willing to obey, etc.)
4) How does Jesus feel about little children? (He loves them! And He wanted them to be allowed to come to Him, and He blessed them and prayed for them!)
➤ S C R I P T U R E
Read the following scriptures and discuss the questions that follow.
But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
1) What did Jesus see that made Him displeased? (His disciples wanted the children to go away from Jesus.)
2) What did Jesus do? (He told His disciples to let the children stay, and to let them come unto Jesus.)
3) Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me.” What does the word “suffer” mean? (Suffer means let! Jesus was saying “Let the children come unto me!”)
Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
1) How did Jesus tell us we should receive the kingdom of God? (As a little child!)
2) When someone teaches something to a child, how does the child receive it? Do they doubt it? Or do they believe it? (A child’s heart is a believing heart! If someone teaches something to a child, the child will trust that person, and the child will believe it!)
3) How can we make our hearts more like a child’s heart? (We can trust Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and try to believe them the way a child would believe them.)
At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
1) Did Jesus answer the question right away? Or did He do something first? (Before He answered the question, He called a little child to stand in the middle of all of them!)
2) After Jesus called the little child to be by them, what did Jesus teach His disciples? (He taught them that we must become as little children. We must have a heart that is believing and humble and willing to obey.)
3) If Jesus was here with us, do you think that He would want all of you to be by Him too? (Yes!)
➤ C O L O R I N G P A G E S
Pass out the coloring pages, one to each child. Invite the children to color the scene from the video! Use this time to talk about how much Jesus loves the little children. Discuss ways that we can make our hearts like the heart of a child.
➤ T E S T I M O N Y
Bear testimony of the truths found in the scriptures.
Do you know what your kids are watching?
The Lord isn’t the only one who knows about the trusting, believing and curious hearts of little children. The adversary knows this too, and he’s working overtime to gain access to their hearts through “children’s” media and entertainment.
As parents, we obviously want our children to benefit from good and inspiring media. But previewing everything in existence to protect our children from the garbage is an overwhelming task! There is too much!
Wouldn’t it be nice if someone searched out all of the great content for you? The content that actually promotes good values and ideas - and put it all together into one digital library? We think so, and that’s exactly what our friends at Living Scriptures are doing!
Bypass the sea of sludge and go straight to the good stuff! It’s all there in one convenient location, and for 60 days it won’t cost you a single penny!
See for yourself: