February - Lesson 3

I hope that this new online Lesson 3 for February finds everyone healthy! As always, you and your entire family are invited to read and listen and create and pray around our selected story. The title of our February story is “A Little Servant Girl and the Proud General”. It can be found on pages 136-143 of The Jesus Storybook Bible written by Sally Lloyd-Jones. A free copy of this book is available to you at our church, Resurrection Lutheran Church in New Berlin, or you can order a
copy online. Both children and adults can respond to Pastor Matt on this blog if there are questions or comments.

Children
Let’s begin with a reread of the story or a re-listen to the video above as a review. Remember you can also find someone, a parent or a friend for example, to read the story together. Today we are going to look at the miracles in our story. A miracle is a surprising and welcome event that cannot be explained by the normal laws of nature.

Naaman, whose picture is to the left, was commander of the Army, wealthy, and a talented soldier.  He had everything going for him, except leprosy.  While leprosy may have been a terrible thing to Naaman, it brought him to Israel to the prophet Elisha who told him about the one true God. God could have helped Naaman’s leprosy in many ways, but He chose to use one small girl to bring Naaman to healing and to know God. And this little girl should have hated Naaman for killing her parents and making her a slave!! God miraculously softened her heart so she wanted to help him. Yes, God can use anybody to do His work. Just as He can use a little servant girl, He can use each and every one of us! He can use YOU! Do you think the little girl was treated differently once Naaman went back home? My answer would be yes, very much differently. She was not only
responsible for his healing, she had given him (and his wife, children, and servants) a chance to know the true God! I believe that Naaman and the little girl would have loved each other, and he would have welcomed her into the family. It was a miracle that her life was so amazingly changed by God! Healing Naaman’s leprosy was truly a miracle, also. Let’s think about what possibly could have been in the water of the Jordan River that healed Naaman?? Would the river Naaman could have used in his home country of Aram have worked? Could any river have worked? Yes is the answer to all three questions. Any body of water, large or small, an ocean or a puddle, chosen by God would have worked if Naaman wanted to try it. The water wasn’t the cure on its own; God used that water to deliver His miracle of healing and rebirth for Naaman. Why would God choose “washing in water” to do Naaman’s healing? Being washed in water should sound familiar to us in our religion. Amazingly, Naaman was baptizing himself and didn’t know it. And being baptized allowed
him to be a member of God’s kingdom, just as it does for us. Knowing and loving our Lord God and His grace is the greatest miracle of all!

Adults
The Biblical reference is 2 Kings 5 and is continued from the previous lesson. Naaman went straight back to Elisha’s house. Naaman wanted to give Elisha all the money, gold and silver, and beautiful fabrics he had brought from Aram. But Elisha would not accept the gifts. He had not done this for money. He told Naaman how to be healed because he wanted Naaman to know that God was real. “Elisha, since I have been healed of my leprosy, I know that the God of Israel is real. My wife’s servant girl was right. From now on, I will worship the Lord,” Naaman promised. Naaman left and began his journey back to Aram. Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, was not happy. He thought Elisha should have accepted all of the gifts. Gehazi did not tell Elisha, but he followed Naaman and told him a lie. Gehazi told Naaman that Elisha had changed his mind, and now Elisha wanted the gifts. Naaman was happy to give Gehazi the gifts, and then he continued on his journey.
Elisha was very angry with Gehazi for the way he had tricked Naaman. He told Gehazi that now he would have the leprosy that Naaman had had. Gehazi looked down at his skin and saw that he did have leprosy. Gehazi knew that he had made a big mistake. P.S. In this final note, adults/parents praise children for their accomplishments – earning good grades, scoring a soccer goal, or painting a pretty picture. Let us also praise them for helping others, for allowing someone else to go first, for volunteering to clean up or tidy an area, for trying to help someone solve a problem when difficulties arise. God wants us to praise their simple acts of kindness.

Children and Adults
This coming Sunday, February 23, 2024, from 11 am to 12pm, our monthly Sunday School will gather to talk about the little girl and Naaman. We will begin with a tasty treat, continue with an oral reading and discussion of our story, move on to a fun craft, and end with a prayer of the week. All are invited to join us! Hope to see you!

~Weekly Prayer~
My dear Lord, thank You for the miracle of creating me.

Brrr … Stay warm,
Margo Greer

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