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NOTE TO PARENTS: Each of the main points can be taught/discussed over different days throughout the week.
MORE FROM THIS LESSON:
POINT #1 – JESUS WANTS FELLOWSHIP WITH US
POINT #3 – YOU CAN BE CLOSER TO GOD IF YOU WANT TO BE
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POINT #2 – AS A CHRISTIAN, YOU ALWAYS HAVE THE PRESENCE OF GOD
A long time ago, before Jesus came to the earth, people could not be in the Lord’s presence. Only the priest (or the pastor) were allowed to go into a temple, which was considered a Holy place where God’s presence was. But even when the priest went into the temple, the priest could not go into a place called the Holy of Holies (the holiest place), which was behind a huge curtain. That place behind the curtain is where God’s presence was.
Before Jesus came to the earth, the Holy Spirit did not live inside of people, like He does now. His presence would come to that holy place behind the curtain inside the temple building. The Bible tells us that King David loved to be in the presence of the Lord. He loved the Lord’s presence so much that he prayed to God, “Don’t push me away or take your Holy Spirit from me.” (Psalm 51:11 ERV) That is a prayer that we don’t have to pray today. After Jesus died, rose again and went back to heaven, He sent us His Holy Spirit to live inside of us. Because the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, each and everyone one of us can have ACCESS to Jesus and His Holy Spirit. All the time. To have ACCESS means that we have a right to be with someone or something. We can’t get any closer to Jesus than that right now.
In the book of John, we read about a promise that Jesus makes to His disciples. He says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever. The Helper is the Spirit of truth. The people of the world cannot accept him, because they don’t see him or know him. But you know him. He lives with you, and he will be in you.” (John 14:16-17 ERV) Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live inside of us. He is with us, inside of us, forever! We don’t ever have to wonder or be afraid that God is going to leave us. The Holy Spirit is a PROMISE made and a PROMISE kept.
Discussion Questions
- Have you ever felt alone, even though there were other people around? Why did you feel that way?
- Have you ever felt like God wasn’t with you? Maybe you didn’t feel like you could hear Him inside of you, or feel His presence?
- Are there times when you KNOW that God is with you? How do you know?
- How do you hear God, or feel His presence?
Prayer
Jesus, we thank you for the promise of the Holy Spirit. We thank you for sending Him to us, to live inside of us forever. We thank you that because He lives inside of us, we don’t ever have to feel alone. We can always be in Your presence and even know what you think in your heart. Holy Spirit, we ask you to fill us up, all the way, with your Holy presence. We want you to live in every part of our heart. We want more and more of You inside of us. We pray these things in Jesus’s name, amen.
Scripture Memory Verse
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever.” John 14:16 (ERV)
Application Activity
- Worksheet (downloadable): https://ministry-to-children.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/holy-spirit.pdf
- Grab some paper and something for your child(ren) to color with (crayons, colored pencils, markers, etc). Ask your child(ren) to close their eyes and ask the Holy Spirit to show them a picture in their mind of Jesus spending time with them. Once they get a picture in their mind, encourage them to draw, color, paint that picture.
Worship Song
“Alive”