April 5th
Unit 20, Session 2: Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection
Dear Parents,
Jesus is alive! Thank you for entrusting your child to us throughout this year. We celebrate with you and your family the joy of Easter. This week’s story in The Gospel Project for Kids® was all about Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection three days later.
Why did Jesus have to die? God is holy and just, and He requires due payment for sin. To simply forgive without receiving a payment would be unjust. The wages of sin is death. (Rom. 6:23) Jesus came to earth was to save us from our sin (Matt. 1:21), to show God’s love to us (Rom. 5:7-8), and to give those who believe in Him eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus came to die so that we would be forgiven (Eph. 1:7), and to bring us to God. (1 Pet. 3:18)
Jesus’ resurrection proved that God accepted Jesus’ death as payment for our sins. Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are not the end of the story, but the climax. Pray with your family, thanking God for sending His Son, Jesus, to be the Savior of the world.
April 12th
Unit 20, Session 3: Jesus Appeared to the Disciples
Dear Parents,
Thank you for continuing this journey of The Gospel Project® for Kids. After Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus graciously appeared to the disciples, proving that He was alive. Even though Jesus had told His disciples that He would die and rise again, they believed by seeing.
Talk about how the disciples must have felt when Jesus appeared in the locked room with them. Jesus told them not to be afraid! To prove that He had a real, physical body, Jesus let them touch His hands. He even ate some fish! Jesus gave the disciples the Holy Spirit and equipped them to proclaim the gospel.
The resurrection is essential to the gospel. If Christ remained dead, His death would have meant nothing more than any other human being’s. God gives us victory over death through Jesus. Emphasize to your kids that Christians have a special purpose: to tell others that Jesus is alive!
April19th
Unit 29, Session 2: Jesus Has the Power to Provide
Dear Parents,
This week in The Gospel Project® for Kids, kids will learn about Jesus’ power to provide. Jesus’ disciples had been working hard, teaching people and healing them. Jesus called them to go away with Him to a place where they could rest. By now, Jesus’ popularity was so great that finding a place to be alone was difficult. When Jesus and His disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee, the crowd of people were already waiting for them on the other side.
Jesus saw the crowds. He wasn’t frustrated or angry. He didn’t tell them to go away. Instead, He had compassion on them because they were lost—like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who seeks and saves the lost. (See Luke 19:10; John 10:14.)
The miracle Jesus performed that evening—feeding 5,000 men plus women and children—is the only miracle during Jesus’ earthly ministry that is recorded in all four Gospels. God was clearly at work. The same God who provided manna for the Israelites in the wilderness multiplied loaves and fish to satisfy the crowd.
But Jesus’ didn’t intend to only meet the people’s physical needs. He came to satisfy their spiritual needs as well. By feeding the five thousand, Jesus provided for the physical needs of the crowd. The next day, Jesus called Himself the bread of life. (John 6:35) Only Jesus is able to satisfy our souls by providing forgiveness, friendship with God, and eternal life.
April 26th
Unit 29, Session 3: Jesus Has Power Over Sickness
Dear Parents,
Thank you for continuing this journey of The Gospel Project® for Kids. Today’s Bible story takes us to the outskirts of Jericho where a man named Bartimaeus sat by the side of the road begging. You see, Bartimaeus was blind. As Jesus traveled from Jericho, He passed Bartimaeus. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried out to Him, using a messianic title: “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Socially, Bartimaeus would have been considered unimportant—certainly not important enough for the attention of someone as popular as Jesus. Perhaps Bartimaeus was used to being ignored by passersby, but Jesus stopped and reached out to him. Jesus said to Bartimaeus, “What do you want Me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51).
Bartimaeus answered Jesus’ question with a plea of faith: “Teacher, I want to see!” Bartimaeus believed that Jesus could heal him, and Jesus did. Bartimaeus had nothing to offer Jesus. He knew he was needy, and he begged for mercy. Jesus is willing to help those in need.
The prophet Isaiah wrote that the promised Messiah would open the eyes of people who were blind. (Isaiah 35:5; 42:7) He was here! Jesus was the promised Messiah. Even if we are not physically blind, we are sinners. In our need, we can cry out like Bartimaeus, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Sinners can’t see the truth about God until Jesus opens our eyes and saves us.