Welcome back - we hope you’ve had a good week!
Today we have two challenges for you. You might want to choose to do just one of them, or you might want to try them both.
Challenge 1 – Change hate to love
For this you will need a pen or pencil and a piece of paper. At the top of the paper, write the word “hate”. Your challenge is to change the word “hate” into “love” by changing one letter at a time to make a new word.
For example, you could change the word “hate” to “late,” then you could change one letter of “late” to make a new word. Keep on going and see if you can get to the word “love.”
Scroll to the end of this session for one possible solution.
Challenge 2 – Seek and find
This challenge involves finding things in a crowded picture.
Click on this link and see if you can find the panda among the snowmen.
Then try this one, and see if you can find the lollipop among the ice creams.
(Hint: click on the image to make it bigger, and zoom in if you’re using a phone. If you’re stuck, you can find the solution by scrolling to the bottom of each page.)
How quickly did you do it?
Last time we began looking at the New Testament of the Bible. We found out about a man who met Jesus and had his life transformed. Jesus healed the man’s legs and forgave his sins!
Today we’re going to think about someone else who had their life changed by Jesus – a man called Zacchaeus.
Watch this short video to hear his story:
Think for a moment: what does this story teach us about Jesus?
What words would you use to describe Zacchaeus at the start of the story?
How would you describe him at the end of the story?
It was an amazing transformation. He changed from being someone selfish and greedy to being someone generous, who cared about others and who wanted to put right the wrong he had done.
And it was all because he met Jesus!
Even though there was a huge crowd, Jesus saw Zacchaeus, he called him by name, and he chose to spend time with him. The other people weren’t happy about that because they knew all the things Zacchaeus had done wrong, but Jesus explained that he had come for people like Zacchaeus:
“The Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” (Luke 19:10 NLT)
The Bible describes people who don’t know God as being lost. Zacchaeus had lost his way in life because he didn’t know God, and he was living in a way that hurt other people. But Jesus helped him to see that he could be forgiven. Zacchaeus was saved from his old life, and he was able to live a new and different life because of Jesus.
The Bible tells us that God knows each of our names too, and that he cares about each one of us. He sent Jesus so that we can get to know him, and so that we can be forgiven and transformed just like Zacchaeus!
Why not take a few minutes to think about what that means for you, and to talk to God about it? Here’s a song you could listen to, or sing along with, as you do that:
Thank you, Jesus, that you came to seek and save the lost. Thank you that you cared about Zacchaeus, and that you forgave him and changed him. Thank you that you care about each of us, and that you can forgive us and change us too as we get to know you. Amen.
Solution to Challenge 1 – Change hate to love
Hate, late, lane, lone, love
