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"For
where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." --
Jesus
When we choose to sin, we not only harm ourselves but other, sometimes innocent, people! The babies didn't have a choice, but Pharaoh did, and he had been given many, many chances, as you know. Younger children need to know that there are limits. They need to know that they have choices and that those choices bring consequences. They also need to know how horrific sin and its destruction is.
Since she's already heard the story, I'd probably say something like this: You know, honey, sometimes people do very bad things. And when they do, they have to pay for it. Some people have to go to jail for stealing or killing someone. Some people have to pay money for driving too fast or damaging someone's property. Some people get diseases from treating their bodies badly. And sometimes a person's sin is so bad that it hurts other people, too. Sometimes innocent people are hurt by sin and that's why God hates sin so much! He has to punish people for sin so that they will stop sinning and stop hurting others. I know it's hard for you to understand why the babies would have to die, but it is because God had to teach the
Pharaoh and all the people a hard lesson. Just like your Mom doesn't like to have to spank you or put you in time out, but she knows she has to teach you how to act so that you'll stay safe. If one of your friends were over and you were not
behaving, she might have to punish your friend, too, by sending them home because of your actions. That would not seem fair, but she'd have to do it to teach you a lesson about how to behave. God loves us very much and He knows how much sin hurts us, so He won't let us keep on sinning without trying to teach us a lesson. Pharaoh had many, many chances and he would not obey God. Finally, God told him that if he didn't do what he was told, then the babies would die. God wanted him to be afraid and to do what was right, but
Pharaoh didn't care about the babies. He went ahead and did wrong even though he knew what would happen to the babies. And God had to be fair by keeping his promise. It made God very, very sad to have to do this awful thing, but He had promised and it was Pharaoh's fault that the babies died. He loved doing wrong more than he loved his own people. Sin is an awful thing."
In response to Issue #54, Item 1, Why did God kill the Egyptian babies?
It's a hard question for such a young one.
I would have to go to the Bible. I remember when I was young how my mother read to me
the beginning of the book of Job once for a bedtime story. I too had hard questions. Later on
in life what was my trouble, became my gold.
This caught my eye:
Ex 6:7
And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that
I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
To get the people free from under the bondage of hard slavery, God had to send his prophet
Moses and his mouthpiece Aaron, who under the hand and direction of God brought many
judgments against Egypt. But none of them were enough to cause Pharaoh to let God's people
go. The cruelty that God's people endured was brought upon the Egyptians in the form of
dead fish, dead frogs, water made so that it could not be drank, and other things but the
thing that made Pharaoh break was when the babies of Egypt began to die, even his own
first born.
Disobedience takes us so far away from God that we don't know what we do, and if we
don't repent, we get even worse. That's why God finally sent his own Son, his firstborn
to come into this world, to do good and to heal, knowing the world would kill him for doing
no wrong at all. But God raised him up again after showing us all, that Jesus is worthy of
being the King over all things, and by him there will be a time when no more babies ever
die again.
RB
4) Killing Egyptian Babies
God didn't kill those babies, somebody against God's Will killed them and planned that. The world is cruel when they don't listen to God or pray to know him better--sometimes we all suffer. But God can use even the bad things that happen to us or loved ones. We just have to find that in a tough situation. God gives us a will of our own--and he hopes we include him in what we do. When we don't, it may be
disastrous.
The person who ordered those killings certainly didn't gain a lot of respect from his people!
It was all for his own gain and out of fear. Those who trust in God and Jesus and The Holy Spirit know we can withstand and be courageous in times when our faith is challenged by those who don't love God.
Blessings of Peace and Grace to you, as God gives,
Marlene L. Hitchcock
This issue's Bible Trivia answer
is: The book of "Acts".
Used by permission. From the game, "Bible
Stack-O!"
5) Sing Old Testament books?
Looking to sing the Old Testament books so young children can learn them.
Wonderful thought - praying for Muslims during Ramadan and anytime. How awful to spoil the thought by calling them "the enemy".
--from SSTN: his reference to
"the enemy" was not pertaining to Muslims. It is however a reference to the
following Bible verse: "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. As Christians we defeat "the enemy, Satan and his
legions",
by prayer and putting on the full armor of God.
The BE-Attitudes
for adult
Bible study...Get over yourself and live life approved by God!
< Next Week we are supposed to start on their PACES. >
Dear Karen,
When you mention the PACES, I assume you are using, ACE or School of Tomorrow PACES. Many small Christian Schools use this as it does not require that much training to teach the children. Many times parents with specific training help during the school year. ACE recommends 'teachers' have training to use the PACES. Let the Pastor know of your concerns and ask if he could get the training for you. The ACE headquarters are currently here in Lewisville, TX.
God Bless you in this effort.
Laura Jones
1614 Glenhill Ln
Lewisville, TX 75077
972-436-1491
ljonestx@verizon.net
8) Christian School
I may be able to help Karen some. I attended a
Christian school for several years and we used the
PACE curriculum. If she would like to email me, my email address is mbcol17@yahoo.com.
Thank you for all you do Sarah!
Mary
9) Creation Lessons
I am a Sunday school teacher at Desert Son Community Church in Tucson
AZ. Our class is held during 2nd service and we have varied numbers of
kids from 0-15. We decided to study The Creation while we were waiting
for the new program curriculum to arrive. We took one lesson for each
day, discussed the events/stories and had memory verses pertaining to
that day. We started a large mural, dividing it into 7 days; then I had
the children paint/color/paste the appropriate things onto the mural (I
had purchased inexpensive artificial plants/flowers, plastic moon/stars,
and drew birds/sea animals/land animals/Adam and Eve.) We had a snack
pertaining to that day (for example, on the 3rd day, we had fruits; on
the 4th day we had cereal with stars/moons in it, on the 5th day fish
crackers, on the 6th day we had animal crackers, etc. And I purchased
inexpensive items (bird seed garden kits, plastic animals, kites with
fish on them, sun glasses/snorkle masks, glow-in-the dark stars, etc.)
representing the day and wrapped them as gifts to pass out to each child
signifying God's gift to us on that day of Creation. We also had a
"reward" gift for the children who remembered their memory verse from
the week before (school supply items). The children are really into the
lessons and look forward to painting/coloring the items for the mural
and pasting them on the appropriate space, etc. The children really
seemed to grasp the wonder of that time and were very happy to sing and
pray praises to our wonderful God. Hope some of you find this useful
for your classes.
Bobbie Bushey
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