Mystery question: Where is Jesus Now?
Need to Know: Jesus is Alive Right Now!
Bible Story: The Resurrection John 20; Luke 24:13-35; Matthew 28:20
Memory verse: But without faith (cover eyes) no one (shake head) can please God. (Point up) We must believe (hand over heart) that God is real (nod head) and that He rewards everyone (hands out in front) who searches for Him. (Point up) Hebrews 11:6
Preparation: (Shadow Games)
Choose some of these awesome Shadow games to play with the kids: Fun Shadow Activities
Lesson:
Oh my hat. We only have two more Sundays with Stevie and Parker. And this mystery is really getting very exciting.
As we catch up with Stevie and Parker today, they have a few money notes and it seems like something has been written on the notes. They are both very sure that these notes are their next clue.
Something else also happening on the inside of both Stevie and Parker. Paret is growing in his trust in God and in his faith. Stevie, who has been very skeptical has warmed up to the idea of God speaking to them with every clue that they solve. Let’s hear what they are chatting about:
Parker: So you’re saying that you’re TOTALLY on board with this now? You aren’t going to give me a hard time about following these clues or tease me about believing that there were monsters in the basement when I was little?
Stevie: Yes, no, and yes. Yes I’m on board. No I won’t give you a hard time about believing what Great Grandpa Pif-Paf taught you. And yes –I will probably still tease you about believing there were monsters in the basement, but that’s just because that’s what older cousins do.
The mushy moment got bit much for Parker and he directed Stevie’s attention back to the clue. He asked Stevie what was written on the notes:
Stevie: See? There are letters and numbers written on the back of these! There’s “WS,” “HE,” “11:6” and “BRE.” If I’m correct, and I always am, then we need to arrange these so they give us the next clue.
Parker started jumping up and down.. he knew what the clue meant. ” HEWSBRE 11:6! ” he shouted. But Stevie was less convinced. Parker was not letting Stevie convince him otherwise. He took the Bible laying nearby and looked up Hebrews 11:6. And here is what it says: “But without faith, no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that He rewards everyone who searches for Him.”
Stevie could not believe his ears. ” Wait a second! No one mentioned that there was a REWARD!!! If I had known that, I would’ve been solving this mystery a LOT faster!”
Parker could not stop laughing. ” Welllll…I don’t know if that means like a money reward. It mightbe a different kind of reward.”
Stevie was confused. He did not know there was any other kind of reward.
Parker tried to explain: “Well, it talks about having faith to please God. And faith is when we are confident in things we can’t see. So it might be a reward that we can’t see yet.”
Stevie: “An invisible reward? Really, Parker? That is NOT the case. Now, let’s finish solving this mystery and find that reward! What’s our next clue?”
But that was just the thing. They had not found another clue that Parker could see. Stevie looked at the Bible again. The page where Hebrews 11:6 was written, was marked by a folded piece of paper. Stevie was delighted to find that this piece of paper contained yet another Bible story.
Stevie could not believe his ears. “So wait, not only did Jesus pay the price for all the wrong things I’ve done, but He’s actually alive right now?”
Parker could answer this with all his confidence: ” Yep! God brought Jesus back to life after He had only been dead for three days.”
Stevie was amazed: “Wow! No one in all of history has ever died and come back to life like that! That’s so cool that Jesus is alive right now!”
Parker also started getting excited. “Yeah! And you know what else is cool? I think our next clue is right here on this page from Great Grandpa Pif-Paf’s journal!” “You will see after looking among the rocks. Not all doors have doorknobs and locks…”
Stevie got super excited. “That must mean that there is a secret door somewhere here in the basement.” “Who would have thought that this old house was this cool?”
Stevie and Parker searched high and low until they were just about to give up. Stevie decided to take one last look at the stones by the fireplace. And then he found it. A ke hole! Parker took the same key they used to open Grand Pa’s safe and placed in the keyhole… and what do you know. when they turned the key, a secret door opened. On the other side of the door was the longest, darkest, creepiest staircase they had ever seen.
We leave Stevie and Parker as they stand at the top of the staircase, working on their courage to go down into the darkness…
Prayer: Father God, thank you that Jesus paid the full price for me. And thank you that You are the rewarder of those who diligently seek You. In Jesus name. Amen
Have some fun with your shadow
