Dear Saints,
It was so awesome being the Bible Teacher at a 4-week Church Basketball Outreach. Parents from all over the city send their kids to learn how to play basketball, and since the Basketball program is run by a Church, it’s understood that the kids will get a 15-minute Bible lesson each time.
This is an outstanding opportunity to reach unchurched kids and their families every week!
Every Saturday I had 15 minutes to share with three different age groups. First the youngest kids. The next hour the Intermediate girls, and then the next hour the Intermediate boys.
Between the 3 age groups, more than 150 kids and adults heard a Bible Message every weekend! Praise God!!!
How do you keep the attention of a gaggle of kids who are bursting with excitement and want to run and play Basketball rather than sit and listen? Well, God has made us very visually oriented. We retain information better when we hear it AND SEE IT. That’s why I love love love teaching with the paint board!
I split the paint message up to 4 15-minute segments, and taught one segment each week. The message came from Jesus interacting with Nicodemus in John, Chapter 3.
Here are some photos from the four weeks. Please feel free to click on them to enlarge them.
This is the first group in the morning, the beginners. They're so adorable!!!
And when you reach the kids, you reach the families too. Lots of kids come from unchurched homes, and their Moms, Dads, Grandparents, and other family members hear the message too. That's why I use an amp!
This was the painting before I got started.
After week #1, the top-left quadrant was done. Back in Jesus' day, people didn't have access to the Bible. If you wanted to know God's will, you had to ask religious leaders named Pharisees. The Pharisees had a 'plan' for how to be forgiven by God. They taught that you needed two things for God to accept you. These two things were like steps on a ladder getting you closer to God. The first is that you had to have the right birth (you had to be Jewish), and you had to perform good deeds (and the pharisees decided how to judge if deeds were good enough). The Pharisees were WRONG about how to be forgiven by God. It's not through the right birth and the right deeds, but this is what they taught they people. What is the right way? We'll learn that in weeks to come!
This is the second group, intermediate girls.
Week two I taught the top-right quadrant, and the bottom left. One of the Pharisees, Nicodemus, came to Jesus at night. He listened to what Jesus had to say. We listen to Jesus today by reading the Bible. But Nicodemus got confused, just like we do sometimes when we read the Scriptures. You see, Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and we learned last week that the Pharisees believed that you had to have the right birth, and do good deeds, and they believed they had those two. But regarding the right birth, Jesus said, 'YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN.' Our first birth isn't good enough. Being Jewish isn't enough. And then Jesus referenced Numbers, chapter 22, when the Israelites were very sinful. Of all the Old Testament accounts Jesus could pick, He chose one that illustrated how bad we are. Jesus even said, 'Men love darkness because their deeds are evil" (John 3:19). Those good deeds the Pharisees were trusting in... well, they're not very good. Jesus told Nicodemus that his first birth isn't good enough and his deeds aren't good enough. What is good enough to get us right with God? We'll learn that in coming weeks!
This is the third group of the morning, the intermediate boys.
Week three I taught from the bottom-center section. The Pharisees thought there were two 'families' of people, Jews and Gentiles. But they were wrong. The two 'families' of people are those who are in the family of Adam, and those in the family of Jesus. Adam had sin, and so the inheritance to all who come after him is sin. Everyone in the family of Adam is a sinner. And sin leads to death, the Lake of Fire. What do you have to do to be part of the family of Adam? Nothing. Just be born once. We've all done that. This is our default position. But the family of Jesus is so much better! Because Jesus had no sin, those in His family are seen as righteous. And that leads to Eternal Life! Nobody is born into the family of Jesus, you have to be adopted in by being born a second time. How are we born a second time? We'll learn that next week!
The 4th and final week was the day before the Superbowl, so everyone was encouraged to wear Patriots clothes. That's why I'm dressed like that! :)
The final week of Basketball Outreach. I finally got to teach on HOW to be Born Again. The Son of God dying on the cross and rising from the dead is beyond AMAZING! Jesus took our sin upon Himself. Jesus was seen alive after He rose from the dead by over 500 witnesses for over 40 days, so this is historically true and we can trust it. God demands that we repent and believe (or, Turn and Trust). Please pray for all three age-groups of these amazing kiddos, as well as the parents, siblings, grandparents, and everyone else who heard.
And this is what the painting looked like when I was finally done with it after 4 weeks.
The winners of the 'Best Dressed for the Patriots Superbowl' contest from the beginners group. They each got a gigantic chocolate bar!
Here's the winner from the intermediate girls.
Here's the winner from the intermediate boys.
We love you and thank Jesus for you!
Thank you so much for your prayers, financial support, and notes of encouragement, without which we would not be able to reach the Lost for Jesus Christ!
Please contact us anytime and let us know how we can pray for you!
And please feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be blessed by it!
For Christ and His gospel,
Mark, Shelby, Vivienne, Juliana, Caleb, and Gabriella
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