Big Idea: When Jesus returns, He will destroy evil and make all things new.

Bible Passage: Revelation 1:9-20

This week the kids learned about what John wrote down when Jesus appeared to him in a vision. John, a close friend of Jesus', had been exiled to the island of Patmos, likely for preaching the good news of the gospel. There on the island, he has a vision of Jesus, and he writes it down into what becomes the book of Revelation.

We talked about how every other book in the Bible talks of what has happened, but Revelation is the book that tells us of what is still to come. Jesus appears to John, and although He is so fearsome-looking that John falls to the ground at Jesus' feet, Jesus' words are,  "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look- I am alive forever and ever."

This is great news for Jesus' followers. Even though Jesus is the Judge, the First and Last and so powerful that we should fear Him, instead He tells his followers not to be afraid, but instead to celebrate that He is alive, and that He is for us. What good news! We are called to be courageous and follow Jesus as John did, because Jesus is alive, He is Lord, and one day, He will come back and put all things right.

Family Activity

Just as Jesus told John to write down on a scroll all that he saw, have a family story night, and have children draw the stories you tell. Choose a story with a happy ending, or make one up, and tell it to your kids, and have them draw the things you describe. Then, at the end, talk about why the ending is so important. The happy ending makes all the hard or sad parts of the story worth it. Celebrate in song or prayer together how great it is that we can have hope for the future because of Jesus, the Living One. 

See you Sunday!