(Work in Progress 12/2022 Last update 2/24/23)
The Sermon on the Mount – A Daily Study for Child and Parent
Introduction
The December articles are optional for the young person. Use them if they will be of help, or save them for a more appropriate time.
The questions often imply a verbal answer. The answer can be in any form that works best for the individual – words, drawings, acting, etc.
All Bible quotations are NKJV except as noted.
Note: The Younger person's section is separated from that for older readers.by ** on a line.
December 28 The Holy Spirit, the Helper
John 16:7 (BBE) But what I am saying is true: my going is for your good: for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
The Bible contains many stories about God. The stories tell of God’s love for all people. He created all of us, and He is the Father of each of us.
But we cannot see God. Sometimes people don’t even know He is there. They do not know they are His children and that they are loved from the day they were born.
Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth to show us God. He came to show us God’s love. Because He came as a human being like us, He could not stay forever.
When He left, He sent us the Holy Spirit. He called the Holy Spirit the Helper. This is because the Holy Spirit helps us to remember God’s love. Knowing we are loved helps us to love everyone else like God loves us.
How do you feel when you know that God loves YOU?
**
Looking at Jesus’ time on earth, we might think of that brief time as the only period that God has been on earth.
We might remember that He has been here from the Beginning, that the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters (Gen. 1:2). We do not read that He ever left.
Before Jesus left, He promised there would be a greater presence (John 16:5-15). Rather than the concept of God in the Most Holy Place of the Temple, He is now seen as distributed everywhere in the form of the Holy Spirit.
The concept of “God with us” has changed over time. But this is just whatever the current understanding of God’s presence has been. Indeed, God spoke to Moses as to a friend (Ex. 33:11), and Isaiah refers to Abraham as God’s friend (Is. 41:8).
We have not been left alone.
December 29 Three Are One
Matt. 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit….
Yesterday, we talked about God as Father, Jesus as Son, and the Holy Spirit as Helper. They are called the Trinity, three Beings that are also one Being.
If this is confusing, maybe thinking of water will help. Water can look like three different things. Water freezes and it is solid and becomes a piece of ice. Water is boiled, and it becomes steam floating in the air. But ice, water, and steam are all made of the same thing.
We cannot see God, so He sent someone we could see, Jesus, to tell us about Him. When Jesus left, He sent the Spirit. Although we cannot see Him, we can invite Him into our hearts to help us to live joyfully.
The Bible speaks of the fruit of the Spirit, the evidence that the Spirit is inside us. Examples of the fruit of the Spirit are love, joy, and peace. These help to remind us that we are loved even when things around us are not going well.
Can you feel the love, joy, and peace of the Holy Spirit?
**
When God is seen as a spirit sitting on a remote heavenly cloud, He hardly seems relevant or concerned with events on planet Earth. The presence of Jesus on earth helps us to replace the image of a cold and distant God with the actuality of an empathetic and present God.
As Genesis 1:2 clearly shows the presence of the Spirit in Creation, John 1:1-3 affirms the Son’s role in Creation and Oneness with the Father.
We have not been left alone. At no time have they all three been absent.
December 30 Talking with God
The Bible shows us that Jesus often spent time talking with God, His Father. When we talk with someone, sometimes we are talking, and sometimes we are listening. Jesus spoke to God, and He also listened to God.
This talking and listening with God is called prayer. Jesus taught us how to talk with God, how to pray. Jesus showed us that the purpose of prayer is not just to ask that the Father do certain things, but also to hear what the Father wants us to do.
When we pray, the Holy Spirit and God and Jesus hear our prayer. When we listen, the Holy Spirit and God and Jesus teach us. We may hear how to solve a problem, or how to accept what will happen, or how to help someone else.
Talking with someone older, like a parent, who may have faced a similar problem and already have an answer may help, too.
Have you asked for help with a problem some time?
**
That we were created in God’s image is reassuring.
Obviously, we were not created in a physical image of God. He made our character in His image. Character is the integrity of our morality and ethics in body (what we do), in mind (what we think), and in spirit (whose we are).
The farther we drift away from Him, the more our character will drift away from His as well.
Prayer is our reunion with God and is the reunion of our fractured selves.
December 31 The Bible
The Bible is part of the story of God and all that He created.
We hear stories about the Beginning of the earth, and about people long ago who knew God.
We hear the stories of Jesus, the Son of God. He came to not only tell us about God the Father, but to show us how God the Father would help people.
And then there are the stories of the Holy Spirit, the Helper, and how He worked to spread the Good News about Jesus and God.
Even though the stories happened a long time ago, they show us how to love and help others, and to be loved and helped by them.
Some of Jesus’ words to the people were recorded in the Gospels, four books in the bible. He tells us how to love and be loved, how to help and be helped.
Are there some stories from the Bible about God and Jesus that you know already? Which is your favorite?
**
There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Among there are four Gospels telling us of Jesus’ ministry.
If we had only one Gospel, we would be rich. Having four Gospels and the books leading up to them and proceeding from them, we are wealthy beyond measure.
We will look at one section in the Book of Matthew, the chapters known as the Sermon on the Mount. This monologue by Jesus gives us a condensed summary of some of the lessons that He taught as He moved through Galilee and later into Judea and Jerusalem.
The purpose of this study is to give an introduction to these teachings. A complete and exhaustive study is impossible. The important points and comprehension of the meaning of what Jesus taught is as varied as the understanding and implementation of these lessons in each individual life.
This is a starting point, or perhaps a point along the way, for each reader to grow in unity with the Father.
Next day
The Sermon on the Mount – A Daily Study for Child and Parent
Introduction
The December articles are optional for the young person. Use them if they will be of help, or save them for a more appropriate time.
The questions often imply a verbal answer. The answer can be in any form that works best for the individual – words, drawings, acting, etc.
All Bible quotations are NKJV except as noted.
Note: The Younger person's section is separated from that for older readers.by ** on a line.
December 28 The Holy Spirit, the Helper
John 16:7 (BBE) But what I am saying is true: my going is for your good: for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
The Bible contains many stories about God. The stories tell of God’s love for all people. He created all of us, and He is the Father of each of us.
But we cannot see God. Sometimes people don’t even know He is there. They do not know they are His children and that they are loved from the day they were born.
Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth to show us God. He came to show us God’s love. Because He came as a human being like us, He could not stay forever.
When He left, He sent us the Holy Spirit. He called the Holy Spirit the Helper. This is because the Holy Spirit helps us to remember God’s love. Knowing we are loved helps us to love everyone else like God loves us.
How do you feel when you know that God loves YOU?
**
Looking at Jesus’ time on earth, we might think of that brief time as the only period that God has been on earth.
We might remember that He has been here from the Beginning, that the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters (Gen. 1:2). We do not read that He ever left.
Before Jesus left, He promised there would be a greater presence (John 16:5-15). Rather than the concept of God in the Most Holy Place of the Temple, He is now seen as distributed everywhere in the form of the Holy Spirit.
The concept of “God with us” has changed over time. But this is just whatever the current understanding of God’s presence has been. Indeed, God spoke to Moses as to a friend (Ex. 33:11), and Isaiah refers to Abraham as God’s friend (Is. 41:8).
We have not been left alone.
December 29 Three Are One
Matt. 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit….
Yesterday, we talked about God as Father, Jesus as Son, and the Holy Spirit as Helper. They are called the Trinity, three Beings that are also one Being.
If this is confusing, maybe thinking of water will help. Water can look like three different things. Water freezes and it is solid and becomes a piece of ice. Water is boiled, and it becomes steam floating in the air. But ice, water, and steam are all made of the same thing.
We cannot see God, so He sent someone we could see, Jesus, to tell us about Him. When Jesus left, He sent the Spirit. Although we cannot see Him, we can invite Him into our hearts to help us to live joyfully.
The Bible speaks of the fruit of the Spirit, the evidence that the Spirit is inside us. Examples of the fruit of the Spirit are love, joy, and peace. These help to remind us that we are loved even when things around us are not going well.
Can you feel the love, joy, and peace of the Holy Spirit?
**
When God is seen as a spirit sitting on a remote heavenly cloud, He hardly seems relevant or concerned with events on planet Earth. The presence of Jesus on earth helps us to replace the image of a cold and distant God with the actuality of an empathetic and present God.
As Genesis 1:2 clearly shows the presence of the Spirit in Creation, John 1:1-3 affirms the Son’s role in Creation and Oneness with the Father.
We have not been left alone. At no time have they all three been absent.
December 30 Talking with God
The Bible shows us that Jesus often spent time talking with God, His Father. When we talk with someone, sometimes we are talking, and sometimes we are listening. Jesus spoke to God, and He also listened to God.
This talking and listening with God is called prayer. Jesus taught us how to talk with God, how to pray. Jesus showed us that the purpose of prayer is not just to ask that the Father do certain things, but also to hear what the Father wants us to do.
When we pray, the Holy Spirit and God and Jesus hear our prayer. When we listen, the Holy Spirit and God and Jesus teach us. We may hear how to solve a problem, or how to accept what will happen, or how to help someone else.
Talking with someone older, like a parent, who may have faced a similar problem and already have an answer may help, too.
Have you asked for help with a problem some time?
**
That we were created in God’s image is reassuring.
Obviously, we were not created in a physical image of God. He made our character in His image. Character is the integrity of our morality and ethics in body (what we do), in mind (what we think), and in spirit (whose we are).
The farther we drift away from Him, the more our character will drift away from His as well.
Prayer is our reunion with God and is the reunion of our fractured selves.
December 31 The Bible
The Bible is part of the story of God and all that He created.
We hear stories about the Beginning of the earth, and about people long ago who knew God.
We hear the stories of Jesus, the Son of God. He came to not only tell us about God the Father, but to show us how God the Father would help people.
And then there are the stories of the Holy Spirit, the Helper, and how He worked to spread the Good News about Jesus and God.
Even though the stories happened a long time ago, they show us how to love and help others, and to be loved and helped by them.
Some of Jesus’ words to the people were recorded in the Gospels, four books in the bible. He tells us how to love and be loved, how to help and be helped.
Are there some stories from the Bible about God and Jesus that you know already? Which is your favorite?
**
There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Among there are four Gospels telling us of Jesus’ ministry.
If we had only one Gospel, we would be rich. Having four Gospels and the books leading up to them and proceeding from them, we are wealthy beyond measure.
We will look at one section in the Book of Matthew, the chapters known as the Sermon on the Mount. This monologue by Jesus gives us a condensed summary of some of the lessons that He taught as He moved through Galilee and later into Judea and Jerusalem.
The purpose of this study is to give an introduction to these teachings. A complete and exhaustive study is impossible. The important points and comprehension of the meaning of what Jesus taught is as varied as the understanding and implementation of these lessons in each individual life.
This is a starting point, or perhaps a point along the way, for each reader to grow in unity with the Father.
Next day
