Lesson 2B: JESUS WANT US TO BE WISE – The Potter's House Mandaluyong

Bible Story: Josiah
(The Child Who Was A King)

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

By the end of this session, the student will be able:

To tell the meaning of wisdom
To determine how to make a wise decision or choice
To identify the benefits of wisdom and also distinguish between wisdom and the lack thereof.
To help each student set a good example for others by following the example of Jesus
To recite the memory verse

BIBLE REFERENCE
2 Kings 22:1-20 / 23:1-4. 19-25
“Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.”

WORDS TO REMEMBER

Wisdom – the ability to discern or judge what is true and right. It is a gift from God.
Choice – an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more Possibilities
Example – one that is representative of a group as a whole

PRE-SESSION ACTIVITY

Play a game, sing a song or give them activity to introduce the new lesson. (Activities may vary depending on age level and purpose of the lesson either for Sunday school or outreach ministry.)

Domino Effect
Have the children line up the dominoes, a half inch (1.5 cm) apart, standing on their shortest end. When they are finished lining them up, ask one of the children to push over the first domino. Watch the effect. Ask: What happened? How could one domino make the whole group fall? We call that a “domino effect.” Each domino had an efect on the next one. Our actions are like the dominoes. What we do affects others.

LESSON PROPER

A. PREPARATION and MOTIVATION
Teacher, review lessons about when Jesus was a child, Jesus at the temple and the road to Emmaus.

What is the place where Jesus was born? Bethlehem, Judea
Where did Jesus grow up? Nazareth
Why did Jesus’ parents go to Jerusalem? To celebrate the Festival of Passover
How old was Jesus when he stayed behind in Jerusalem? Twelve years old
Where did Mary and Joseph found Jesus? At the temple courts
Who were amazed by Jesus understanding and answers to them? Teachers
Jesus grew in what aspects? Mentally, physically, spiritually & socially
Who did Cleopas and his friend meet on the road to Emmaus? Jesus
When did the two men recognize the man walking with them was Jesus? After Jesus gave thanks and broke the bread

Teacher:
So far, we have learned about when Jesus was a child and how He grew up. And for today’s lesson we will continue to discover “wisdom” and how this can help us to be a good example to others.

B. INTRODUCTION
Jesus wants us to be wise. To be wise, we need to trust and follow Him. We need to understand what Jesus is telling in the Bible.

WHAT IS WISDOM?
Wisdom isn’t simply intelligence or knowledge or even understanding. It is the ability to think and act in such a way that common sense prevails and choices are beneficial and productive. What we learn from experience gives us the wisdom whether to try a particular thing or make a certain choice or not. Wisdom begins and ends with the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10). True wisdom is found in obedience to God, fearing Him and His Word, in the Word of God and by praying or asking for it. Wisdom is the application of knowledge; it is not the knowledge itself. The Bible tells us that God possesses both “wisdom and knowledge” (Rom. 11:33).

JESUS WISDOM
Jesus was said to be “full of wisdom” (Mark 6:2) by those who heard Him and as a young child He grew in wisdom rapidly (Luke 2:40; 52). Jesus experienced a natural maturing process similar to any growing boy, but He was especially endowed with God’s Spirit and grace from birth so that He was advanced far beyond other 12-year-olds when it came to grasping the Word of God.
(Read today’s story aloud from the Bible, or by showing pictures, or tell the story in your own words or dress up in a simple costume to act the part of one of the Bible characters.)

C. LESSON
In today’s story, the Israelites had been led by bad kings to worship idols. Is it still possible for us to have idols in our lives? What could be an idol today? Allow discussion time and list responses where all may see. An idol is anything that is more important to us than God. Idols affect our relationship with God because they take our mind and attention away from Him.

The Story
When Josiah was 8 years old, He became king of Judah. He did what is right in God’s sight just like his ancestor King David did. He did not turn away from doing what was right.
When Josiah was 16, he became a worshipper of God and when he was 20 he began removing all the idols from Jerusalem and Judah. He cleansed the land by breaking down all the altars that were made for false gods and removing all the priests who taught people to worship them.

When Josiah was 26, after he had cleaned up the land, he sent a group of people to go repair the temple of the Lord his God. They went throughout the land receiving donations to help. They took the money to Hilkiah the High Priest so that he could pay all the people who came to work on the temple. The men who worked were honest, trustworthy, and they did their work faithfully.
Now, while they were working, Hilkiah found the Book of the Law of the Lord that Moses had written! So the men whom Josiah had sent went back to him and told him how all the people were working on the temple just as he had told them to. They also told him about the book that Hilkiah found and began to read it to the king.
When Josiah heard the words of the Book, he was so sad that he tore his clothing, and he told the men to go and pray to God for him and for all the people in the land because up until now the people had not been doing what God had said was right and God was angry.
So they went back and got Hilkiah and together they all went and found a prophet. The prophet told them that God was indeed angry that the people had been worshipping other Gods and doing evil things. But because Josiah had a soft heart, and was humble, and had been sad about all the things the people were doing when he heard the words of the Book that Moses had written, God said he would not bring disaster to the land while Josiah was still alive. So they came and told Josiah everything the prophet said.
Then Josiah gathered everyone in Judah together and read to them the Book of God’s Promise that had been found in the temple. And the king in turn made a promise to God to walk in His ways and keep His commandments with all his heart and all his soul. And he asked everyone else to promise as well. So for as long as Josiah was king, the people did not stop following God.
There was no other king like Josiah, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might.

What we can learned from Josiah
a. He left an example of courage!
Even though he lived in a culture that had no respect for honoring God, Josiah honored the Lord.
b. He left an example of influence! The young King’s dedication to God was honored by those who were in his Kingdom.

c. He left us an example of how to receive God’s Word! He listened and allowed it to sink deep within his heart
d. He left us an example of how to serve God even if no one else does! Regardless of the people’s deception, Josiah remained firm in his devotion.

MEMORY VERSE
Luke 2:52
And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

How old was Josiah when he became king? (Eight)
What kind of person was Josiah? (Josiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord)
What did Hilkiah the high priest find in the temple? (Hilkiah found the Book of the Law of the Lord)

Discussion time:
Have you ever been in a situation where a friend tries to get you to do something you I know is not right? How easy is it to say no?

LIFE APPLICATION

Sometimes students simply listen without understanding because their mind is busy with other thoughts. Also, they are distracted by what they see around and their eyes begin to focus on their classmates, then tempted to fool around and miss the lesson of the teacher. It is not wise to fool around and ignore the Bible lesson. You will become slow in learning. But Jesus wants you to understand well and be wise. It is a wise choice to listen to your teacher than fool around and distract the class.

ACTIVITY

Craft: King Josiah Scroll

CLOSE IN PRAYER

Lead the children in a prayer of commitment to obey and serve the Lord. May God fan the flame of genuine revival in every hearts. If there are any children who have not yet responded to Jesus, give them opportunity and lead them to prayer.