Bible lesson hour

Welcome children

Singing:  Sing songs about the love of Jesus (e.g. The Love of Jesus is so Wonderful, Love, Love L-O-V-E, John 3:16 (The tune of Silent Night)

Prayer:  Thank God for sending his Son to cleanse us from our sins.

Bible verse to memorize: 1 Cor. 15:3  - “Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture” 

Bible lesson: THREE HOURS WHICH CHANGED THE WORLD (Dr. Sam Doherty)

TRUTH: Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us.   

VISUALS: A large clock (or an imitation clock face with moveable hands).

Or make three cardboard clock faces with each showing one of the three times indicated below.

Did you know that the three greatest and most wonderful hours in all the history of this world were nine o’clock, twelve o’clock and three o’clock.

Would you like to know why?

1.    At nine o’clock (Show this time) on a day almost 2000 years ago the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God was nailed to a cross and died on a hill outside Jerusalem. “And it was the third hour (nine o’clock) and they crucified Him” (Mark 15 v25). If He was the Son of God why did He allow this to happen to Him? Because He wanted to forgive our sins and to bring us to Heaven when we die – and He died on the Cross so that He could do that. For three hours He suffered the awful pain of nails through His hands and feet, the pain of being laughed at and made fun of by so many people, and the pain of listening to the nasty things people said about Him. But that was nothing compared to what happened at 12 o’clock.

2.     At twelve o’clock (Show this time) something very strange happened. Even though it was the middle of the day there came a deep darkness and it lasted for the three hours which followed. “And when the sixth hour (twelve o’clock) was come there was darkness over all the earth with the ninth hou r” (Mark 15 v33). During those next three hours the Lord Jesus suffered much much more than the three hours before, because during these three hours God the Father punished His Son for our sins. He took the punishment for our sin so that we would not need to take it. And God the Father covered the whole land with darkness so that no one would see the awful suffering of His Son.

3.    But at three o’clock (Show this time) in the afternoon two great cries were heard from the Lord Jesus. First of all He cried out “My God, my God why have You forsaken me?” (Mark 15 v34). It was a cry of suffering because of the awful previous three hours. But this was followed by a cry of triumph and victory “It is finished” (John 19 v30). He had finished the work He had come to do. He had paid the price for our sins. Salvation was now possible for those who would trust Him as Lord and Saviour.   

Application:  Have you trusted Him? Why not do so today?  You can talk to me about that or you can just now ask the Lord to help you to trust Him completely and invite Him into your life.

If you have trusted Him, thank Him for all that He did during those six hours on the cross, to make it possible for you to be saved.  

Revision:  Give children cardboard crosses. Let them write the 5 Bible verses on the crosses and on the other side of the cross write: Thank you Jesus for the 3 hours that you experienced to change my life.  Let them put it in their Bibles.  

Closing prayer:  Thank God for His love and for our salvation because  of what His Son Jesus Christ  did on the cross.