May 19, 2021

Connect Lesson: Pentecost

Come Holy Spirit!

We are taking a short break from our Old Testament studies and moving fast forward to the time of Jesus. We know that on Easter we celebated Jesus' resurrection. At this time in our church calendar we are celebrating Jesus' return to heaven and the arrival of the Holy Spirit.

1- Jesus' Ascended to Heaven We say this every time we say the Apostles' Creed; "He Ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father." After Jesus was resurrected He appeared to His disciples several times. Many of these stories have been the Gospels since Easter. Now it is time for Jesus to return to God. But before He leaves He gives the disciples a job to do. We call this the Great Commission: "Go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit." As followers of Jesus we are given the same Great Commission. But how would the disciples be able to spread the story of Jesus and His words to all the nations? They didn't speak the same language. Many temple and political leaders would probably crucify Jesus' followers like that had done to Jesus. Watch the video below for this story.

2- Pentecost: The Holy Spirit comes. Jesus had promised that He would send someone who would help the disciples fulfill the Great Commission. Think about how scared the disciples were as they were hiding from the authorities. Jesus had been killed, resurrected and then left them alone again. It was probably terrifying. But we know that God keeps God's promises and God promised that the disciples would not be alone. The Holy Spirit gave the disciples the ability to be understood by all the people they were teaching. This was really weird! How could they be speaking in languages they never knew before? With the help of the Holy Spirit they had the courage and strength to go out and teach the world.

Click HERE for directions to make the sun catcher. Click on the picture to find the template that goes with the sun catcher craft.

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