Lesson # 5 Jesus Is Baptized

John had been baptizing in the Jordan River. One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and asked John to baptize him . John protested because he felt that Jesus was the one who should be baptizing him. But Jesus told him that they needed to do this to fulfill all righteousness. It was the right thing to do. So John baptized him in the river.


Immediately after he was baptized, as he was praying, the heavens were opened and a dove came down and rested on Jesus. It was the Spirit of God in the form of a bird that had come down to show who Jesus was. Jesus saw it and John also saw the dove.

Suddenly there was a voice from heaven saying, "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased". The dove and the voice of God were a sign to John that Jesus was the Messiah who had been promised.

After this, John was again assembled with a group of people, and Jesus approached the group. John told them what had happened. He said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" He told them that he had seen the Spirit of God coming down on Jesus in the form of a dove. He said this had been a sign to him because God had revealed to him that the person on whom he saw a dove descending would be the Son of God. This is how John would know for sure.

Now John and Jesus were relatives and had grown up together. John's mother, Elizabeth, had known from the beginning, even before Jesus was born, that her kinswoman Mary was going to be the mother of the Son of God. Jesus was God in human form who had come to earth. It seems that John was not aware of Jesus' true identity until this event at Jesus' baptism.

John had a mission to prepare the people for the coming of Christ, and he was fulfilling his mission. Now the Christ was revealed.

Some people came to John and told him that now the crowds were going to Jesus instead of John. They thought he would be upset, but this didn't bother John at all. He said that he had told them that he himself was not the Christ. It was as if Christ were the bridegroom and John was just the best man, or friend of the bridegroom. He was rejoicing that people were turning to Christ. John said that Jesus must become greater and he, John, must become less important.


What does this story
mean to me?Jesus told John that he wanted to be baptized to "fulfill all righteousness".



Boys and girls need to learn to do right because it's the right thing to do. Parents and teachers offer rewards, stars, and stickers. That's fun and that's OK, but our goal should be to do the things we are asked to do simply because it is "the right thing to do".



Memory Verse
Suddenly a voice came -from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Matthew 3:17 (NKJV)  Want to do a Puzzle about this story?  Click Here

Sunday School Lesson 4: John The Baptist

Mary, the mother of Jesus was a relative of Elizabeth, the mother of John. After the angel appeared to Mary telling her of the coming of Jesus, she went to see Elizabeth and learned that she, too, was expecting a child.

Now Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah were advanced in years and their child was a very special child. He had been chosen by God for a special mission. That mission was to prepare the hearts of the people for the coming Messiah.

The prophet Isaiah spoke of John as "the voice of one crying in the wilderness" telling the people to get ready for the coming of Jesus. John told them that Jesus would be greater and mightier than he, and that he was not worthy to loosen the straps or even carry the sandals of the Lord.

He was dressed in clothes made of camel's hair and had a leather belt around his waist. He lived in the desert and ate locusts and wild honey.

He went through all the country around the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Crowds of people came confessing their sins and he baptized them in the Jordan River.

He told them that they must live right. They asked him what they should do. He said that if they had two coats, they should share with a person who did not have a coat, and if they had food, they should share with those who did not.

The tax collectors asked what they should do, and he told them to be honest in their collection of taxes and to not collect more than they were required to.

The soldiers asked what they should do, and he told them to not take money from people illegally, to always tell the truth and not falsely accuse people. They were to be content with their pay and not grumble about it.

John always spoke the truth, even when people didn't want to hear it. He fearlessly confronted King Herod with the evil things he had done. Eventually, this stand for the truth cost John his life.

What does this story
mean to me?

John's purpose was to prepare the people to accept Jesus. Could you help someone to accept Jesus when they see His love living in You? John told the people to be generous with the things they owned. Do you have something you could share? Do you have clothes that you could give to a child who needs clothes? Maybe you and your family could even buy new clothes for those who need them. Does your church or school sometimes ask you to bring canned food for the poor? Go with your parents to the store to buy food for them. You will be blessed if you do, and it will give you great happiness.

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Sunday School Lesson 3: Abraham

One day God told Abram to move to a new land He took his wife Sarai and also his nephew Lot and went to the land of Canaan.
Abram and Lot were both rich and had many animals. They decided to separate their cattle because the men who were caring for them were fighting. Abram let Lot have first choice, and Lot chose the best land. Abram took whatever was left.
God changed Abram's name to Abraham and his wife's name to Sarah. God promised to bless Abraham and give him a big family.
One day three men came to see Abraham and promised him that he and Sarah would soon have a son, even though he was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old.
Isaac was born just as they had promised.One day God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. God did not want Isaac to die, but he was testing Abraham. An angel saved the life of Isaac.  

Abraham loved God very much. Because he was a righteous man in God's eyes, God told him he would be the father of many nations. In fact, Abraham's name means father of many. God made Abraham a promise that if he was faithful, he would be the father of many, even in his old age. Abraham believed and did as God told him.

God also made us a promise that if we believed in His Son, we would have an eternal home in heaven with him. Are you living a faithful life?




This story about Abraham can be found in the Bible in
Genesis chapters 13, 18, 21 and 22.


Would you like to color a picture about Abraham? Click on the following link Online Picture to color