The Mercy of God

Do you know what the word Mercy means?

• Mercy isn’t about feeling sorry for someone• To be merciful is to be compassionate- to see

someone’s suffering and to want to help• To forgive someone even when they have done

something wrong and help them start again • God never gives up on people- God always offers

a new start – when you call on God he will answer• We are going to look at some examples of God’s

mercy

In the Desert

• You probably know part of the story of Moses. These pictures may give clues to the story. Which part of the story do you think they are describing?

What happens next

• The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. (what do you think their life as slaves was like?)

• They asked God to rescue them and God sent Moses.

• They escaped into the desert to freedom and were on their way to a new land. You would think they would be happy. But they weren’t.

• They had only been going for a few days when they began to complain. “There isn’t enough water. In Egypt we might have been slaves but there was always lots of water. Wish we were still slaves again”

• Then they said: “we don’t have enough food and we don’t have any bread. We are fed up. Ok being slaves was bad but at least we got bread. We should turn back the journey’s too long. Lets go back to being slaves”

• Now remember they asked God to get them out of Egypt. If you were God how would you feel if the people you helped did nothing but complain? Have you ever complained about things when someone was trying to help? (BE HONEST!

• What God does is keep on trying to help• He provides water for them. “I will be standing

there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Exodus 17:6

• God provides them with meat and bread. “ The LORD spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.” Exodus 16:11

• Remember when we read bible stories we look for their meaning. We ask what does this tell us about God and what can we learn from it about the way we should behave.

• So what do you think we learn here?