E C C O H O M E L E S S O N September 19-20

Last Week’s Lesson: Three Parables

Many people came to listen to Jesus teach. The religious leaders were angry that sinners came to listen to Jesus. They did not think Jesus should be friends with people who do wrong things. So Jesus told them three parables, or stories, to teach them about God. Jesus said, “If a man has 100 sheep and one goes missing, he leaves the 99 sheep and looks everywhere for his lost sheep. And when he finds it, he tells his friends and neighbors, ‘Let’s celebrate because I have found my lost sheep!’” Jesus told them, “In heaven, there will be more joy over one person who is sorry for his sin and turns back to God than over 99 good people who don’t need to be sorry.” Then Jesus told a second story: “If a woman has 10 silver coins and loses one of them, she lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches until she finds it. Then she tells her friends and neighbors, ‘Let’s celebrate because I have found my lost coin!’” Jesus said, “In heaven, God’s angels will celebrate when one person is sorry for his sin and turns back to God.” Then Jesus told one more story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘Give me the money that will be mine someday.’ So the father gave his son what was his. “The younger son traveled to a faraway country. He spent all his money and made wrong choices.

The son had nothing left, and the country he was in ran out of food. He got a job feeding pigs, but he was still hungry. “The son was sorry for his wrong choices. He said, ‘My father’s workers have plenty of food. I do not deserve to be his son. I will ask to be his worker.’ So he went home. His father ran to him and gave him a big hug and a kiss. The son started to say he was sorry, but the father told his servants, ‘Bring the best clothes for my son to wear! Let’s celebrate with a big meal! My son was lost, and now he is found!’ “The older son came home and asked, ‘What’s going on?’ A servant said, ‘Your brother is home. Your father is celebrating.’ “The father asked the older son to come inside and celebrate. But the older son was angry. He said, ‘I always obeyed you, but you never threw a party for me.’ “‘Son,’ the father said, ‘everything I have is yours. This is a day to celebrate!’

KEY CONCEPT

How does God care for His creation? God loves and rules over all He made.

KEY VERSE

“He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.” Colossians 1:13

This Week’s Lesson: Jesus’ Hard Teachings

A crowd of people were looking for Jesus. They found Him on the other side of the sea. Jesus said to them, “You are looking for Me because I gave you food not because you saw My miracles. Don’t work for food that will go bad. The Son of Man will give you food that never goes bad.” The people asked, “What work does God want us to do?” Jesus said, “Believe in the One whom He has sent.” The people said, “What will You do for us to make us believe? Will You do another miracle?” The people wanted bread from heaven like Moses and the Israelites got in the wilderness. Jesus said, “God the Father gives true bread from heaven. I am the bread of life. No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again.” Jesus said that the Father had sent Him to do God’s plan. God’s plan is that everyone who sees Jesus—God the Son—and believes in Him will have eternal life. The people complained because Jesus said He came from heaven.

“Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. Jesus said again, “I am the bread of life. I came from heaven. Moses and the Israelites ate bread in the wilderness, and they died. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever.” When Jesus said this, many of His followers said, “This teaching is hard. Who can believe it?” Many of Jesus’ followers decided not to follow Him anymore. Jesus asked His twelve disciples, “Do you want to go away too?” Peter answered, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”

Pre-School Age Review Questions (Ages 2-5) 1. What did the people want from Jesus? (bread) 2. Who is the bread of life? (Jesus) 3. Where did Jesus say He came from? (heaven) 4. Why did many of Jesus’ followers decide not to follow Him anymore? (Many people did not understand Jesus’ teaching.) 5. Did Jesus’ twelve disciples go away too? (no) 6. How does God care for His creation? God loves and rules over all He made. Elementary Age Review Questions (K-5th grade) 1. What did Jesus say God wants people to do? (believe in Him, John 6:29) 2. Who will have eternal life? (everyone who believes in Jesus; John 6:40) 3. Why did many of Jesus’ followers go away from Him? (His teaching was difficult to understand and accept, John 6:60-66) 4. How can we eat Jesus’ flesh and drink His blood? Remind the kids that Jesus was not speaking literally. Guide them to think about the way Jesus’ body would be killed and His blood spilled to make the way for us to be saved. Discuss how believers consume the Lord’s Supper to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us. 5. Who can help you understand the Bible? Direct the kids to pastors, elders, deacons, their parents, and so forth. Remind them that God has sent the Holy Spirit to live within believers. He helps us understand God’s Word with the help of other believers. Emerge Review Questions (Kids with Special Needs) 1. What did the people want from Jesus? (bread) 2. Who is the bread of life? (Jesus) 3. Where did Jesus say He came from? (heaven) 4. Why did many of Jesus’ followers decide not to follow Him anymore? (Many people did not understand Jesus’ teaching.) 5. Did Jesus’ twelve disciples go away too? (no) 6. How does God care for His creation? God loves and rules over all He made.

A C T I V I T Y OP T I ONS Activity #1: Write Thank You Notes

Provide paper and markers for kids to make thank you notes. Show children how to fold their paper in half to make a card. Write THANK YOU where everyone can see. Encourage a child to copy it on the front of his card. Write THANK YOU on the cards ahead of time for younger kids. Encourage children to draw a picture of someone taking care of them inside the card. Ask each child about what she is drawing and for whom, and then write a brief note in her card. Invite children to deliver their notes this week.

SAY •I’m so thankful that God provides people to take care of us! Saying thanks to them is important. They take care of you because they love you, just like God does! How does God care for His creation? God loves and rules over all He made. We feel God’s love through His care for our physical needs, but we especially feel His love through Jesus.

Activity #2: Follow an Obstacle Course

Set up an obstacle course for children to move through. Use furniture on hand as well as cardboard boxes, pop up

tunnels, foam blocks or mats, jump ropes, hula hoops, and so forth to provide plenty of physical challenges.

Explain how to complete the course and offer assistance to any children willing to try. Applaud all attempts.

SAY •Following an obstacle course can be hard! Did any of you not even want to try it when I told you how hard it

would be? Did you feel any different when I offered my help? In our Bible story today, some people thought Jesus’

teaching was too hard to follow, but Jesus helps us do even really hard things when we trust Him!

Prayer

• Use this time to teach your kids about prayer. Teach them that prayer is talking with Jesus, both listening to him and hearing from Him. Prayer can be thanking Jesus for something, asking Him for something, telling Him we are sorry for something we’ve done wrong, or even just telling God how we feel about something. He always wants to listen to us!

• Everyone of every age can talk with Jesus. In fact, the Bible says Jesus wants us to talk with Him all the time about everything!

• We can pray no matter how we feel, whether we are happy, sad, mad, lonely, or maybe even scared. Ask them why it may be helpful to pray when we feel _____.

• Prompt your kids with this idea: God sent Jesus to earth to be our King. Simeon and Anna praised God for sending Jesus. How can we praise God for sending our Savior?

• Teach your kids that we should pray for others as often as we pray for ourselves. Ask them for their ideas about who they could pray for today.

We hope you and your family can use this tool to grow closer to Jesus together! THE EXPER I ENCE ECCO TEAM

DOW

NLOA

D th

eLI

FEW

AY K

IDS A

PP

Pre

scho

ol A

ctiv

ity P

ages

Uni

t 25

• S

essi

on 3

Je

sus’

Har

d T

each

ings

BIB

LE S

TO

RY

SU

MM

AR

Y:

• Pe

ople

want

ed Je

sus t

o gi

ve th

em

brea

d fro

m h

eave

n lik

e Mos

es an

d th

e Isra

elite

s got

in th

e wild

erne

ss.•

Jesu

s did

not

com

e jus

t to

give

pe

ople

brea

d to

eat,

He c

ame t

o gi

ve th

em tr

ue li

fe.•

Man

y pe

ople

did

not u

nder

stand

Je

sus’

teac

hing

.

KE

Y P

AS

SA

GE

: Col

ossia

ns 1

:13

BIG

PIC

TU

RE

QU

ES

TIO

N:

• H

ow d

oes G

od ca

re fo

r His

crea

tion?

God

love

s and

rules

ove

r all

He m

ade.

FAM

ILY

DIS

CU

SS

ION

STA

RT

ER

S:

• W

hat d

id Je

sus s

ay is

the w

ork

God

wa

nts p

eopl

e to

do?

• W

hat d

id Je

sus m

ean

when

He s

aid

He i

s the

bre

ad o

f life

? •

Why

did

man

y of

Jesu

s’ fo

llowe

rs de

cide n

ot to

follo

w H

im an

ymor

e?

FAM

ILY

AC

TIV

ITY

:

• Re

ad E

xodu

s 16

as a

fam

ily. T

alk

abou

t how

God

gav

e man

na th

at

only

laste

d a l

ittle

while

, but

the l

ife

He g

ives t

hrou

gh Je

sus i

s for

ever.

•

Bake

a lo

af o

f bre

ad as

a fa

mily

. Ta

lk ab

out h

ow Je

sus i

s the

bre

ad

of li

fe as

you

eat t

he b

read

.

Wh

at D

o Y

ou

Nee

d?

INS

TR

UC

TIO

NS

: Circ

le th

e thi

ngs y

ou n

eed,

and

cros

s out

thin

gs y

ou m

ay w

ant b

ut d

o no

t nee

d.

7©

202

0 Li

feW

ay

STO

RY

PO

INT:

MA

NY

PE

OP

LE

DID

NO

T U

ND

ER

STA

ND

JE

SU

S’ T

EA

CH

ING

.Jes

us’ H

ard

Teac

hing

sJo

hn 6

8©

202

0 Li

feW

ay

DOW

NLOA

D th

eLI

FEW

AY K

IDS A

PP

Youn

ger K

ids

Act

ivity

Pag

es

Uni

t 25

• S

essi

on 3

Je

sus’

Har

d T

each

ings

BIB

LE S

TO

RY

SU

MM

AR

Y:

• Je

sus s

aid H

e is t

he b

read

of l

ife

and

the t

rue b

read

from

hea

ven.

• Je

sus s

aid p

eopl

e mus

t eat

His

flesh

an

d dr

ink

His

bloo

d.•

Man

y pe

ople

misu

nder

stood

Jesu

s’ te

achi

ng.

• !

ough

som

e disc

iples

stop

ped

follo

wing

Jesu

s, Pe

ter k

new

that

He

is th

e Mes

siah.

KE

Y P

AS

SA

GE

: Col

ossia

ns 1

:13-

14

BIG

PIC

TU

RE

QU

ES

TIO

N:

• H

ow d

oes G

od ca

re fo

r His

crea

tion?

God

love

s and

rules

ove

r H

is cr

eatio

n ac

cord

ing

to H

is pe

rfect

plan

.

FAM

ILY

DIS

CU

SS

ION

STA

RT

ER

S:

• W

hat d

oes i

t mea

n fo

r Jes

us to

be

the “

brea

d of

life”

?•

Wha

t are

som

e thi

ngs t

hat a

re h

ard

to u

nder

stand

abou

t the

Bib

le?•

How

can

we g

row

in o

ur

unde

rstan

ding

of G

od’s

Wor

d?

FAM

ILY

AC

TIV

ITY

:

• W

ork

with

your

kid

s to

bake

a lo

af

of b

read

. Talk

to yo

ur k

ids a

bout

th

e way

s Jes

us su

stain

s us a

nd

satis

fies t

he sp

iritu

al hu

nger

of o

ur

soul

s for

God

’s tru

th.

Ha

rd B

ut

Go

od

INS

TR

UC

TIO

NS

: Cha

nge o

ne le

tter a

t a ti

me t

o tra

nsfo

rm th

e wor

d ha

rd in

to th

e wor

d go

od. U

se th

e pict

ure c

lues

to h

elp.

7©

202

0 Li

feW

ay

STO

RY

PO

INT:

MA

NY

PE

OP

LE

MIS

UN

DE

RS

TOO

D J

ES

US

’ TE

AC

HIN

G.

Jesus’

Har

d Te

achi

ngs

John

68

© 2

020

Life

Way

Title the Title Scripture Reference

Key Passage: Colossians 1:13

Babies & Toddlers Christ Connection: Jesus’ words tell us how to have life with Him forever.

Preschool Christ Connection: Jesus did not come just to give people bread to eat, He came to give them true life. Jesus’ teachings were hard to understand. God the Father wants us to believe in His Son. When we trust in Jesus, He gives us life with God forever.

Big Picture Question & Answer: How does God care for His creation? God loves and rules over all He made.

Story Point for Babies & Toddlers: Jesus is our King.

Story Point for Preschoolers: Many people did not understand Jesus’ teaching.

Gospel Gems: • People wanted Jesus to give them bread from heaven.• Jesus said He is the bread of life.• Anyone who believes in Jesus will have life forever.

Jesus’ Hard TeachingsJohn 6

005819673_v9_PS_Cards.indd 8 11/13/19 8:49 AM

Key

Pas

sag

e (C

SB

®)

• P

resch

ool

• U

nit 2

5 •

© 2

020

Life

Way

OK

to P

rint

He

has

resc

ued

us …

an

d tr

ansf

erre

d us

in

to t

he k

ingd

om

of

the

So

n he

love

s.C

olos

sian

s 1:1

3