Lesson Overviews: May 6 and 13

This month, our focus has been on the early life and ministry of Jesus. A general overview of the month of May looks like this:

• May 6, Jesus at the Temple (Luke 2:40-52)
• May 13, John the Baptist and Jesus’ Baptism (Luke 1:1-25; 57-80; 3:1-22; John 1:19-37; Matthew 3:13-17)
• May 20, Jesus was Tempted (Matthew 4:1-11)
• May 27, Jesus Called Disciples (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; 2:13-14; 3:13-19)

As you spend time speaking with your children about what they’re learning this month, keep in mind two basic truths that we derive from Jesus’ life on earth:

Jesus is our Example. No one lived life on earth more perfectly than Jesus. In fact, He is the only One who can claim to have lived without sinning. The Bible tells us that Jesus was tempted in every way, yet without sin (Heb. 4:14-16). For this reason, we can look to Him in our times of need, when we’re suffering, and even when everything is great. Someone once said, “Learn from the best.” Certainly, no one is better than Jesus and if we’re going to learn from the best, it means looking at Jesus as our example.

Jesus is our Savior. Ultimately, we cannot follow Jesus completely because we are sinners who have a natural disposition to sin. So, although we can look to Jesus as an example, we must keep in mind that He came for a purpose greater than modeling a good life. He came to redeem that which was lost (Luke 19:10). Jesus’ perfect life on earth reminds us that He lived as only He could and in such a way that it validated His claims of being the Son of God and our Redeemer.

Our memory verse this month reminds us to keep God at the forefront of everything we do. Work with your kids to memorize Proverbs 3:5-6:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

If you’re looking for a fun way to learn the memory verse, we have plenty of ideas. One would be to write each word of the verse on a sheet of paper. Crumble up the individual pieces of paper and use them as basketballs. Play basketball with your kids using the pieces of paper with the words on them. As your kids score baskets, have them unfold the piece of paper that they scored with and put the verse together as they score. The game is complete when all the basketballs have been scored and the verse has been completed!

*We will resume posting our weekly lesson overviews next week.