Dear Parents, John was on the island of Patmos when he had a vision. Jesus appeared to John and showed him what will happen before the end of time. John wrote about what he saw in the Book of Revelation. John saw a vision of the future. John saw a throne in heaven and the Lord was on the throne. John saw a scroll in the Lord’s right hand. A mighty angel asked, “Who is worthy to open the scroll?” But no one in heaven was worthy. No one on earth was worthy. No one under the earth was worthy either. John began to cry loudly because no one was worthy! Then John ...

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Dear Parents, The Book of Revelation opens with John’s description of a vision. In the vision, Jesus gave John messages for seven local churches. Jesus told John to write these messages on a scroll and send them to the churches. In most cases, Jesus commended the church for their good work, warned them about the areas in which they needed correction, and urged them to return to Him. Among other things, He warned the churches not to forget their love of the Lord. He encouraged them not to be afraid of being tested. He urged those who were surrounded by evil to not ...

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Dear Parents, During this unit, we will be looking at God’s message about what will happen when Jesus returns in the Book of Revelation. The apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation from the island of Patmos. Patmos was a small Greek island where the Roman emperor often exiled prisoners. John was likely sent to Patmos as a prisoner, arrested for preaching the gospel. With this Bible story, introduce your kids to the Book of Revelation—the last book of the Bible. Other Bible books tell us about things that happened in past, but Revelation tells about things that ...

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Dear Parents, Peter’s story of faith began when Jesus said, “Follow Me.” (Matt. 4:18) Peter and his brother Andrew—two fishermen from Galilee—left their nets and followed Jesus. As one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, Peter witnessed firsthand Jesus’ miracles and teachings. He saw Jesus heal his mother-in-law (Matt. 8:14) and raise a little girl from the dead (Luke 8:49-55). He saw Jesus walk on water, and Peter walked on water too. (Matt. 14:25-29) Peter believed that Jesus is the Messiah (Matt. 16:16), and he was understandably upset when Jesus predicted ...

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Dear Parents, Jude, along with James, was a younger half-brother of Jesus. And like James, it wasn’t until Jesus rose from the dead that Jude believed Jesus was the Son of God. Sometime between AD 65 and AD 80, Jude wrote a short letter to warn believers about false teachers. False teachers had secretly made their way into the church, and Jude urged his readers not to abandon their beliefs but to “contend for the faith” (Jude 3). Jude wanted them to not only defend the true teachings but also to actively share the gospel. He told his friends to show mercy to ...

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Dear Parents, Consider how your life would change if you could know the future—if you could accurately predict the weather or outcomes of baseball game. If you could know how your life is going to turn out, would you live today differently? In the bigger picture of God’s plan for the world, we do know the future. God reveals the outcome of His plan for humanity in His Word. In the Book of 1 Thessalonians, Paul writes about the future to encourage believers facing persecution. Their hope as believers then is the same as our hope as believers today. We look forward ...

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Dear Parents, During this unit, we will be looking at how God gave hope to Christians while they waited for Jesus’ return. Paul was a prisoner under house arrest in Rome when a man named Onesimus (oh NESS ih muhs) came to visit him. Onesimus was a slave who had run away from a wealthy man named Philemon. As it turned out, Paul was a friend of Philemon. So when Paul told Onesimus the good news about Jesus and Onesimus believed, Paul desired forgiveness and reconciliation between Onesimus and Philemon—now brothers in Christ. So Paul wrote a letter and told Onesimus ...

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