© 2017 Lisa T. Bergren. Published by David C Cook. All ... · Think of that. Jesus, King of Kings, God’s own Son, brought to humanity’s lowest point. The Romans crucified only

© 2017 Lisa T. Bergren. Published by David C Cook. All rights reserved.

THE GOOD BOOK FOR KIDSPublished by David C Cook

4050 Lee Vance DriveColorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

David C Cook U.K., Kingsway CommunicationsEastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.

All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

without written permission from the publisher.

The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of David C Cook, nor do we vouch for their content.

Details in some stories have been changed to protect the identities of the persons involved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered

trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. The Ten Commandments listed in chapter 8 are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.)

The author has added italics to Scripture quotations for emphasis.

LCCN 2016958398ISBN 978-1-4347-1024-6eISBN 978-1-4347-1104-5

© 2017 Lisa T. BergrenPublished in association with the literary agency of Ann Spangler &

Company, 1415 Laurel Avenue Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506.

The Team: Catherine DeVries, Beth Leuders, Nick Lee, Jennifer Lonas, Andrew Sloan, Helen Macdonald, Susan Murdock

Interior Illustrations: Luke Flowers CreativeCover Design: Amy Konyndyk

Cover Photo: Kirk DouPonce, DogEared Design

Printed in the United States of AmericaFirst Edition 2017

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

011217


For my Jack, with prayers that you might someday know how much God loves you and

what it means to fully love him in return.—Mama


Contents

NOTE TO THE READER 11ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 13

In the Beginning1. God Rocks … the World 172. When Everything Broke—Including You 253. WWND? (What Would Noah Do?) 334. Faith Means Taking Risks 395. I’ll Do It, but I Just Don’t Get It 45

God Is Good When Life Gets Messy6. Knowing God by Name 557. God Leads the Search and Rescue Team 638. More Love Than Law 719. Even Superheroes Have Weaknesses 8110. Why Hard Times Help Us Grow 89

God Is Big11. When You Lost It … Big-Time 9712. A Sheep, a Shepherd, and You 10513. Oh No, You Didn’t! 11114. God Is Closer Than You Think 11715. Live Smart 123

Tough Love, Troubled Times16. Jesus Unmasked 13117. Not Me! 13718. Whose Side Is God On? 143


19. Stay Cool, Dude 15320. You Can Run, but You Can’t Hide 157

Jesus Has Just Entered the Building21. Jesus—God with Skin On 16522. Hey, I Know You! 17123. What Does Jesus Want? 17724. Why Worry Never Works 18325. What Should I Do? 189

Jesus Won’t Leave Us as We Are26. Jesus Rules 19727. Jesus: Up Close and Personal 20328. Welcome Home 20929. Battle Scars 21930. Death Stinks … and Life Rocks 225

Following Jesus31. Jesus Lives … in Us! 23332. Happy Birthday to Us 24333. Autobots, Roll Out! 25134. Hardly an Exclusive Club 25735. Heaven Is Real 263

God’s Message for You36. You Were Born to Be God’s Kid 27337. Choose Love 27938. God Works in the Produce Department 28539. Move It! 29540. Muddy with Guilt, Washed in Forgiveness 303


NOTES 311

GENESIS 1 313GENESIS 3 315GENESIS 6 317GENESIS 12 319GENESIS 22 321EXODUS 3 323EXODUS 14 325EXODUS 20 327JUDGES 16 3291 SAMUEL 17 333JOB 1 337PSALM 23 339PSALM 51 341PSALM 139 343PROVERBS 1 345ISAIAH 53 347JEREMIAH 1 349DANIEL 3 351DANIEL 6 353JONAH 1 357JOHN 1 359LUKE 2 363MATTHEW 5 367MATTHEW 6 371MATTHEW 7 373LUKE 8 375JOHN 3 379LUKE 15 381


MARK 15 383MATTHEW 28 387ACTS 1 389ACTS 2 391ACTS 9 395ACTS 10 399REVELATION 22 403ROMANS 8 4051 CORINTHIANS 13 407GALATIANS 5 409JAMES 1 4111 JOHN 3 413


29

Battle ScarsMark 15

Have you ever been in a pitch-black room, unable to see the door or lamp or light switch? How did you feel when you finally saw something? Relieved, right? There’s something about knowing the uncomfortable experience of true darkness to make us very grateful for true light.

It was the darkest moment in history when Jesus opened his arms and heart and took upon himself the sins of the entire human race (Mark 15). By doing so, the One who had lived in perfect connec-tion with God was momentarily disconnected. The only thing Mark recorded Jesus saying from the cross was, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (v. 34). The other gospels record additional things he said. But Mark was tuned in to the total wreckage of Jesus’s heart in that moment.

The crucifixion itself was brutal, but for Jesus, being separated from his Father was more brutal still. This was why he came, to bear the brunt of our sins, to feel how far it could take us from God, so that we would never be separated from the Father again. We call it atonement. Making a terrible wrong right by taking the punishment for our sins.

The angels must have been devastated. The same angels who had gathered en masse to praise God at the King’s birth watched as the


220 TheGoodBook for Kids

people mocked him as “King of the Jews” on the way to the cross. They watched him get whipped. Spat on. Laughed at. A crown of thorns pushed onto his head. The angels watched as the Jewish religious leaders mocked him as “the King of Israel” and challenged him to come down from the cross.

Think of that. Jesus, King of Kings, God’s own Son, brought to humanity’s lowest point. The Romans crucified only the worst of criminals. Nails were driven through the prisoner’s wrists and heels, and he was left to await a slow and painful death, hanging from a cross. It was a horrible way to die. And Jesus went through it for you and for me.

He could’ve called down the angels to rescue him. But he didn’t. Because he loves us. He was willing to die to make sure we could always be with God.

Imagine This …Bearing the Weight of the World

My name is Henry, and my youth pastor, Jesse, wanted us to get what Jesus did.

I mean, like, really get what Jesus did.

He sat all twenty of us in youth group down and said, “What Jesus did

was like taking on all the baggage that each of us carries and carrying it

himself.”

We all stayed quiet.

“You guys are all looking at me like you don’t quite understand that,”

Jesse said. Some of the group looked up. Some of the group looked away. Of

course I was the loser who stupidly looked him in the eye.

“Henry,” he said, standing. “Can you come here?”

I heaved a sigh and walked over to him.

“Now here is what I want you to think about, guys. Think of Henry here

like Jesus. No pressure,” he said to me with a wink. We all laughed a bit


Battle Scars 221

awkwardly. “What I want the rest of you to do is go outside the worship-center

doors. You’ll see a pile of luggage there. Grab all the suitcases and bags you

feel represent your sins today. Some are heavy. Some are light. Go.”

The rest of the kids left, giggling and whispering. I took a long, deep

breath.

“What you’re about to experience, brother,” Jesse said quietly, “is some-

thing you’ll remember the rest of your life.”

The kids started flowing back in toward us and standing in front of the

altar, all carrying some baggage. One by one Jesse put his hands on the kid

in front of him and said these words: “Child of God, you are handing off all the

sins of your heart and mind that have been so heavy. Hand them now to your

friend Henry as you would to Jesus.”

After the first two or three kids dumped their bags on me, I was still

smiling.

After the next four or five, I began to get worried.

At first I was holding all the bags, trying to show I was tough and strong.

After they dumped about fifteen more suitcases on me, I was surrounded.

After fifteen more, I was buried.

And still they came, burying me deeper and deeper with layers of baggage.

It was dark. I was worried there wasn’t enough oxygen. I was stressed

out that the piles would fall and actually hurt me.

Then, through the cracks, I heard Jesse. “See that?” he said. “That’s a

picture of your Savior buried in your sin. Dead. So you could be free. But you

know what?”

What? What? I asked silently.

“He didn’t stay dead. Three days later, God raised him to life. Because the

price for our sins had been paid. And death couldn’t hold him down.”

Jesse called, “Henry? Bust loose out of that tomb now. Come out!”

With a roar I pushed and shoved, toppling the mountains of suitcases and

duffel bags around me. Then I took a long, deep breath.

I didn’t think any breath had ever felt so sweet.



T h e S k i n n y o n M a r k 1 5

• Mark gives us the feeling of being present, right there with Jesus on that dark day he died for us:

• Above the cross, where even creation boiled in dark-clouded rage and grief: “Darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon” (Mark 15:33).

• On the cross, when Jesus, feeling totally forsaken, cried out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (v. 34).

• At the foot of the cross, when the hardened Roman centurion recognized something in the way Jesus had “breathed his last” and exclaimed, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (vv. 37, 39).

• Most of us know about the ark of the covenant from the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. (If not, you can Google it.) Unfortunately the ark was lost during the Babylonian conquest. The ark used to be in a small room at the heart of the Jewish temple called the most holy place, because it represented the presence of God. Only the high priest—the highest ranking priest—got to go in there once a year. He’d enter on the Day of Atonement, when he would offer sacrifices for the sins of all the people. A curtain separated this inner room from everyone and every-thing else—and it was that same curtain that was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died (Mark 15:38).

BOOM! Jesus took care of that

access-to-God issue. Everyone

who believes in him will have

access to God forever.


Battle Scars 223

• Who were those angry Sanhedrin guys? The Sanhedrin was the Jews’ governing council, and they were superjealous of Jesus. They wanted to kill Jesus, but only the ruling Romans could authorize the death penalty.

WHAT STRUCK YOU IN THIS CHAPTER? Most of us have gone to church, at least on Christmas and Easter, so we’re pretty used to the story of the cross and Christ’s death. But have you ever really thought about how much it hurt Jesus? And why he did it? Reading the account this time, did it become more personal to you? How so?



YOUR FUTURE STORY

Jesus didn’t die so that we would live in guilt, feeling the weight of his death. He died so that we could be free from our sins, forever connected with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Sometimes we have to experience the darkness to appreciate the light. Jesus deserves our respect and grati-tude for what he did for us. Keep that in mind as you praise him in prayer and in worship.

Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed his last. Then the curtain of the temple was

torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion, who was standing opposite him,

saw the way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

—Mark 15:37–39



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© 2017 Lisa T. Bergren. Published by David C Cook. All ... · Think of that. Jesus, King of Kings, God’s own Son, brought to humanity’s lowest point. The Romans crucified only