Dear Parents, We hope the following summary of the Sunday School lesson will help you in discussing the lesson with your children and working through this booklet together. SCRIPTURE PASSAGE:
Ezra & Nehemiah
Nehemiah 2:11-3:32 BIBLE STORY SUMMARY:
Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem and takes a nighttime tour of the walls in secret. He had not told anyone what he was doing. After surveying what needed to be done, he called together the priests and nobles and officials, and he called them to all work together to rebuild the walls. He also told them how God had been with him and had given them favor with the king. They all agreed and began to build the wall. Their enemies tried to discourage them, but they all worked hard together and made great progress. LESSON FOCUS:
Following God often means enlisting the help of others.
We need to follow God’s timing when we are doing His work. God calls leaders to help people do what is right and to accomplish things for Him.
WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT GOD:
God works through people, and often that means people in groups.
Nehemiah Encounters Resistance This Week’s Memory Verse:
It is God who brings people together to do things as groups.
RESPONSE:
We need to be ready to share our skills and abilities with others in Jesus’ name so that we can lighten the load and burden of other Christians and to build bridges of relationship to non-believers.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12
Copyright 2009 Berean Baptist Church 309 E County Road 42 Burnsville, Minnesota 55306 952.432.7168
February 3, 2013
Read Nehemiah 4:1-5
Monday—Opposition Strikes Nehemiah was going to Jerusalem to:
Rebuild the temple Visit relatives
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Deliver a message for the king
Who was angry that the Jews were rebuilding the wall?
_____________________________________ _____________________________________ What were some things they said to make fun of the Jews to try and discourage them?
_____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ How would you have felt if you were there?
_____________________________________ _____________________________________ What is a choice you made one time that obeyed God, but caused other people to make fun of you for it?
_____________________________________ _____________________________________ Did that discourage you, or remind you to keep following God instead of the world?
_____________________________________
DISCOURAGEMENT
ENCOURAGEMENT
ENEMIES
ISRAELITES
JERUSALEM
NEHEMIAH
OBEDIENCE
PERSEVERANCE
PLAN
PRAYER
SANDBALLOT
WALL
Read Nehemiah 4:21-23 & 6:15
Tuesday—Discouragement
Friday– Perseverance Pays Off!
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How many days was the wall completed in?
_____________
days
How many weeks is that?
______________ weeks How many months is that
____________ months Imagine a building a huge wall to protect a city in just 52 days! God was really helping by giving them perseverance and strength!
Go get your lego, or block wall that was only half done, and finish building the wall around Jerusalem. What is a job that you need perseverance for?
_______________________________________
Read Nehemiah 4:6-12
Go get your legos or some other blocks and build your own wall around a pretend Jerusalem, but only build it halfway, since that’s how high it was in today’s verses. (You might want to save this until the end of the week) When the Israelites heard about the enemies plot, what did they do?
______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ In verses 10-12, we read about some things the Israelites were saying. Do their words show they were:
Encouraged? Discouraged? Losing sight of God’s plan? Motivated to keep building?
Do you think God can give you the strength to get the job done?
Yes No If he did it for the Israelites, he can do it for me!
God helped Nehemiah come up with a plan.
___________________________ What is your plan? __________________________ What is your battle?
Sometimes we get discouraged and start believing the enemies lies. What are some lies that the enemy tells us today? (ex. Money will make me happy)
1. ______________________________ 2. ______________________________ 3. ______________________________ Are you going to believe the lies?
Yes No
Read Nehemiah 4:13-15
Wednesday—Battle Plan! Did the Jews give in to the discouragement and stop building the wall?
Thursday—God’s Tool For Hard Times! Draw a picture of verses 16-18
Read Nehemiah 4:16-20
Yes No
Nehemiah helped the people come up with a plan in case the enemy at-
________________ who is ______________ and ________________ . . .” tacked and told them, “Remember the
Were Nehemiah’s words:
Encouraging? Motivating? Honoring to God? All of the above
God uses people to speak to us sometimes when we need encouragement. Who is someone who gives you Godly encouragement?
_______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ Is someone you know going through a rough time? Who can you give encouragement to?
_____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________
It must not have been easy to work on the wall while carrying a sword, but it was what God provided for protection. Does God make everything easy when we decide to follow Him?
Not everything Nothing Everything
What do we have as our tools when things get difficult?
Prayer Friends The Bible Family ________________________________ Pray about a difficult situation that you are in, then pray for a situation that someone else is in!