Year A. 3rd Term. Lesson 2 How to get to heaven

Scripture: for teacher background:  John 14:1-7, Rev 21:27; Acts 1:7; John 5:24; 1 Cor 15:1,3,4; Heb 11:16; 1 Tim 6:7; 1 Thess 4:17; Rev 21:4; Matt 6:20; Is 61:10;Rev 21:23,25; 2 Cor 6:2; 2 Tim 4:8; Phil 3:20; Heb 10:23

 Making contact:

Talk about going on a trip, maybe even flying to another country. 

Be sensitive if these children have never traveled and if so then just tell them things that you need one day if you go to another place.

You need a ticket for your bus or plane, a passport, a suitcase, packed with suitable clothes; you might need a vaccination – injection. 

You have to know what time the departure time is and not be late. You might need to go through immigration and customs. 

You might need different money for a different country. You need to have accommodation the other side. The time might even change and you might have to change your watch. You need to check your bookings.

You could bring as many of these items to the lesson and tell them about a trip you or someone else went on. Just keep it brief thought because the lesson is quite long.

 Exploration:

Let’s talk about going to heaven as if it was like going on a trip.

The first thing we need is a passport. What do you think is our passport to heaven?

There is a book in heaven called the Lamb’s Book of life.  (Rev 21:27)

This is like a passport and all the people who believe in Jesus have had their names written in there. You need to have this to go to heaven. How does this happen? It’s what we learnt last week. Believe that God loves me, admit that I am a sinner; ask Jesus to cleanse me and ask Him to come and live in my heart. This happens once and then my name is in that Book forever.

(I always think to myself that people who don’t want Jesus now certainly don’t want to go to His house so they don’t want to go to heaven!)

You need a ticket. Your ticket is what you believe about Jesus. 

Always hold on to what you believe. It’s like holding a ticket in your hand. (Jn 5:24) When you grow up, do not let your faith change. 

Hold on to your faith, no matter what life brings. “Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep His promise.” Heb 10:23

Now you need to know where your accommodation is. 

Jesus has gone ahead to get a place ready for you.

 Listen to this verse. “Jesus told them: “Believe in God and believe also in Me. There are many rooms in My Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this if it were not so. And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself so that you will be where I am.” John 14:1-4

Our accommodation is ready for us and Jesus will fetch us and take us there!

 (It’s like children who fly without their parents – they have an air hostess looking after them. When we die or if Jesus comes back before that, either way, He comes HIMSELF to accompany us to Heaven!) 

We don’t need to be afraid of dying- He has promised to never leave us and it is all part of our journey to heaven.

Departure Times. The Bible says it is not for us to know the times or dates, but that God the Father has set them by His authority. So we must just be ready at all times. (Acts 1:7)

Luggage. We don’t need any luggage. “What did we bring into the world? Nothing!  What can we take out of the world? Nothing!” 1 Tim 6:7.

 In fact we need to get rid of all sin that weighs us down. 

So confess it and Jesus will take it all away. That way we can travel light each day. Don’t let something hang around for days.

 If it’s wrong then confess it and stop it. It is heavy luggage that slows down the journey.

Customs. We only have to declare what we believe. “We believe that Jesus died and rose again.” 1 Thessalonians 4:14

“If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from death, you will be saved.”   Romans 10:9

Immigration. We are taking up residence in a new country so we are immigrants.

“It was a better country that they longed for, the heavenly country.” Heb 11:16

“We, however, are citizens of heaven and we eagerly wait for our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Phil 3:20

Vaccination and inoculation. 

In heaven there is no disease and no sickness, so no injections or medicine will be needed.

Currency. 

This works ahead of going there because you can’t take any money with you. 

We need to be banking into our heavenly bank account now, every day. 

Every time we do something for the Lord and for someone else out of love, it is like depositing into our account in heaven. “So store up for yourselves riches in heaven.” Mat 6:20

Clothing. 

When we arrive in Heaven we will be given new clothes and we’ll be dressed beautifully as if for a wedding. “Like a bride dressed for her wedding – God has clothed her with salvation and victory.” Is 61:10

Time. 

There is no time change because there won’t be time. There will be no sun or moon marking day and night and seasons. So you won’t need your watch!

“The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it because the glory of God shines on it and the lamb is its lamp.” Rev 21:23

Booking. 

“Listen! This is the hour to receive God’s favour. Today is the day to be saved!” 2 Cor 6:2

 Don’t wait. Book now. Believe now!

Application

 Ask the children questions to see if they understand and are ready for their journey to heaven whenever it comes.

 They might need to wait 70 years, but we all need to be ready.

See if anything has confused them. There were many Bible verses to show them that we are not making this up. The Bible has prepared it all for us and we can read all about our future destination.

Challenge to Mission

 We don’t want our family and friends to miss out on Heaven, so we need to tell them and as many people as possible. 

Tell them about the ticket and the passport to heaven and how to get ready.

 Consolidation

There is a worksheet like a brochure of everything we need to know about our destination.

Memory Verse

“We are citizens of heaven and we eagerly wait for our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 3:20