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Heaven Week 1 HEAVEN The Home of Our Heavenly Father Heaven is the home of God the Father. I love to come home and find someone who loves me wai8ng for me. That’s what going to heaven will be like. God loves us more than anyone in the whole world can. We can talk to God now when we pray and He speaks to us through His Word, the Bible. But in heaven we will live with Him. And we will see the Lord Jesus sing on His throne. He’ll welcome us to heaven, and we’ll live with Him forever! (Rev. 21:3) I have a lot of ques8ons that I would like to ask Him. What would you like to ask God? A Place of Joy and Peace We don’t know when we’ll be called to heaven. Some8mes people are very sick before they go. It might be hard to leave behind people they love. But all of that won’t maSer when we get to heaven. If we have been sick or sad, the Bible says God will wipe away every tear from our eyes and there will be no more death; we’ll never be separated again from those we love. There will be no sorrow; we’ll never be sad again. There will be no more crying; once Jesus wipes away our tears, we’ll never cry again. And there will be no more pain (Rev. 21:4). What a wonderful place heaven will be! A Place of Great Beauty Heaven will be a beau8ful place to look at, too. In heaven, the city and the street will be made of pure gold. You and I have never seen such pure gold before. It will be shinier than anything we’ve seen. It will be so pure that it will be transparent like glass. We’ll be able to see through it. (Rev. 21:18, 21) The founda8on of this city will be made of precious stones. Take your children outside to see the concrete founda8on of your house. It’s usually dull grey concrete. We try to hide it with bushes. We won’t have to do that with heaven’s founda8on. Heaven is beau8ful from top to boSom. There will be 12 layers in the founda8on. Each layer will be made of “all kinds of precious stones” (Rev. 21:19) (Parent: if possible, bring in jewelry containing a variety of stones for children to see.) (You also could show them pictures of precious stones) Some of those jewels will be brilliant colors – red, blue, green, purple, yellow; others will be sparkling clear like diamonds. (Show the painHng of heaven and look for the colorful foundaHon of the wall.) The huge wall around the city will be no ordinary wall. The Bible says the wall is made of jasper (Rev, 21:18) (Jasper is a stone, usually red in color, but can come in other colors). A wall around the city was important in the Bible 8mes. Once you were inside the wall, you were protected from your enemies outside. Inside the walls of heaven, we will never have to be afraid of anything again. We will be protected from all harm. Built into those walls there will be 12 gates, three on each of the 4 walls around the city. And even the gates will be beau8ful to see. Each gate will be one giant pearl (Rev.21:21). (Parent, if possible, show children a piece of jewelry that contains a pearl). Imagine a pearl big enough to be used as a gate in the city’s wall. (Show the pearl gates in the painHng). A Place Bright with God’s Glory Do you remember a 8me when angels came to earth? (Parents - Let children tell you of a Hme). One appeared to the shepherds who were watching their sheep in the field the night Jesus was born. How did the shepherds react? The angel glowed so brightly with the glory of God that the shepherds were afraid. (Luke 2:9). In heaven there will be an angel at each gate and tens of thousands inside. (Parents, I have included a picture of an angel that you could print for the children to color if they want. Explain to them that angels were beings created by God. They are messengers from God. They do not have halos and sit around on clouds playing harps all day. The angel at the gate is a guardian so he probably looked more like a warrior or soldier). In heaven there will be no sun, and there will be no moon (Rev. 21:23). There will be no need for a lamp or a night-light because there will be no night there. (Rev. 22:5) Where will the light in heaven come from? From the glory (or the shining brightness) of God Himself. A Place of Delight and Service Heaven will be full of wonderful things to see and enjoy. A river of water as clear as crystal will flow out from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1). On either side of the city’s main street will be a special tree called the “Tree of Life.” This tree will bear 12 different kinds of fruits – a different fruit every month (Rev.22:2). That’s preSy amazing, isn’t it? What will we be doing in heaven? (Let the children share their ideas). Look in Revela8on 22:3. It says we will have work to do, work that we enjoy. With our new bodies – bodies like that of the risen Lord Jesus (1 John 3:2), we will never get 8red of serving. We will be there for all eternity. NEXT WEEK WE WILL DISCUSS SOME MORE INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT HEAVEN. .
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