OC Kids this Week

The Gospel Project for Kids
               Sunday School
               1/13/20
 Unit 17, Session 2: The Captives Come Home 

Dear Parents, 
God’s people had been living in Babylon for 70 years. Some of God’s people had died in Babylon. Some of their children and grandchildren were born in Babylon and grew up there. But Babylon was not their home. Before the people of Judah were exiled, God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah. These are the words of the Lord: “These nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years” (Jer. 25:11). Then the Lord said, “When seventy years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place” (Jer. 29:10). The time had come for God’s people to go back home. Cyrus, the king of the Persian empire, had overthrown Babylon. Cyrus took over the kingdom, including the lands of Israel and Judah. In the following year, the Lord did something miraculous in Cyrus’s heart. He prompted Cyrus to issue a decree: All the Jewish exiles are free to return to their ancestral homes. The exile was over! God’s people were free to return to their own land. They were free to live as God’s special people. The first group of Judean exiles returned home under the leadership of Zerubbabel (zuh RUHB uh buhl). Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin, who had been taken to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. (See 2 Kings 24:8-13.) Ezra 2:64-65 says nearly 50,000 people traveled back to Judah. When they got to Jerusalem, they began working to rebuild the temple that the Chaldeans had destroyed. (See 2 Chron. 36:19.) Explain to your kids that the temple was the place where God met with His people. Jesus came to earth to rescue God’s people from sin. When Jesus returns, He will restore the earth and will dwell with His people forever. Zerubbabel led God's people back to the temple to rebuild it. The temple was the place where God met with His people on earth. Jesus came to earth to rescue God’s people. One day Jesus will return to restore a greater home for all of God's people, and we will spend eternity with Him.

 Check this session’s Activity Page and Big Picture Card as well as the Gospel Project for Kids Family App for ways to interact with the Bible content this week. 

FAMILY STARTING POINTS  
Babies and Toddlers 
○ The prophets told about Jesus. 
○ Jesus will give us a home with Him. 
○ God brought His people back to their land. 
○ Zerubbabel led the people to build the temple. 
○ Jesus brings us to God. 

 Preschool 
○ How is Jesus the perfect Prophet? God speaks to us through Jesus. 
○ God kept His promise to bring His people home.  

Kids 
○ How is Jesus the perfect Prophet? Jesus perfectly reveals God the Father and fulfills what the prophets spoke. 
○ God kept His promise to bring His people home. 

UNIT KEY PASSAGE 
Jeremiah 29:11
 NEXT WEEK  “The Temple Was Rebuilt” (Ezra 4–6; Haggai)




Royal Ambassadors, Girls in Action, Mission Friends
January 2020

This month, children will learn how One More Child helps children across the United States and around the world. One More Child trains foster parents to care for children in Christian homes. They support single moms by providing a safe place for them to live until they are self-sufficient. They host a safe house program that helps victims overcome their pasts. They also run feeding programs, training conferences, and schools in Uganda, Colombia, and Nicaragua. As One More Child meets these physical needs, they are sharing God’s love and spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

BIBLE FOCUS
The story of Jonah reveals that we can call out to God for help, and the Lord will generously give us a second chance. Jonah was running away from God. He did not want to deliver God’s message to Nineveh. He found himself in the midst of a storm in the middle of the ocean and in the belly of a huge fish. Jonah called out to the Lord for help from inside the fish belly. God listened to him and answered him. You can pray to God at any time and in any place.

MINISTRY FOCUS 
Dr. Jerry Haag is the president and CEO of One More Child. Nothing brings him greater joy than feeding children physically and spiritually. But there are so many more children who need help. They need homes and loving families. When Jerry visited a school in Uganda, he saw a young boy on the outside of the school grounds looking through a fence. This boy desperately wanted to be with these children who were well-cared-for. This is the reality all around the world and even in our own backyard. There are children who are hungry and in need of love because there are not enough foster homes, food, and resources to care for them.