Use this children’s Sunday School lesson on the second Beatitude to tell kids about the hope we have in Christ.
Needed: Bibles, various items, a picture of a deceased loved one, writing or drawing paper, crayons or colored pencils
Intro Game: “What’s Missing?”
Place a variety of objects on the table or around the room. Have students close their eyes, and then, take one of the objects and put it in your pocket or outside the room. Have students open their eyes and guess what’s missing. Give them hints if they can’t figure it out. The first student to correctly guess what was missing gets to take the next object.
Play until everyone has had a turn taking an object or as long as time allows.
Explain that when people die, we feel like they’re missing. Fortunately, those people will only be away for a short while. When we die, God will take only our spirit to Heaven, and we will see those people again. Then, when Jesus comes back to earth, He’ll bring all of our spirits with Him and will raise our bodies back from the dead to be like new. Then, our spirits will go back in our bodies, and we’ll all live forever with God and Jesus.
Lesson
Ask students, Who can tell me about a time when you were sad?
Who can tell me about a time when someone you knew died?
(Talk about someone you knew who died and tell how sad it made you feel. Show them a picture of the person.)
(Read Matthew 5:4.)
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
What is mourning? (It’s being sad when someone dies.)
Jesus said that people who mourn will be comforted. What does it mean to be comforted? (It means someone will help you feel better when you’re sad.)
Who can make us feel better when we’re sad?
God says that He will make us feel better because we will see all the people who believe in Jesus in Heaven. And one, day, when Jesus comes back, He will bring all the people who believe in Him back to life. We’ll all live together forever.
(Read Revelation 21:3-4.)
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”
When Jesus comes to make everything new, God will wipe the tears away from our eyes and nothing sad will ever happen again. No one will ever die again or get hurt or get sick. Everything will be perfect, and we will live with God and everyone who died forever.
Craft: Letters to Heaven
Give students writing and drawing supplies and ask them to write a letter to a draw a picture for someone who has died. It can be about how they’re excited to see that person again one day.
If any of your students haven’t lost someone, they can write to Jesus about how they’re excited to see Him.
Game: Resurrection Tag
Pick one student to be It. That student is Death. Pick another student to be Jesus. When Death tags someone, they fall down and lie on the ground like they’re dead. Jesus can then come to tag them, and they can get back up. If Death tags Jesus, Jesus must count to three (because Jesus was dead for three days), but can then get up again. If Jesus tags Death, the round is over. Play until everyone has had a chance to be both Death and Jesus or as long as time permits.
Remind students that Jesus will come back one day and will raise everyone who believes in Him back to life.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank You that death is not the end for us. You will take our spirits to Heaven, and then, You will bring our bodies back to life too so that we can all live together with You. Help us stay hopeful for that day and not to be too sad when someone dies because we know that we’ll see them again. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
You can also find this lesson for Kindle or in print in my book, Jesus Teaches on the Mountain.