Scripture:
for
teacher background: Rev 3:15-20 Hebrews 4:12 1 Timothy 4:12-16 2 Timothy 1:6,7
Making
contact:
Make
a cup of tea or coffee in front of the children using cold water. It doesn’t look very
nice and tastes terrible – ask for volunteers to taste it.
Exploration:
Aldersgate
is the name of a street in London ,
England
One day a man went to a meeting there. His
name was John Wesley.
He was an Anglican minister who had tried to be a
missionary but failed and was really struggling with his life.
When he was growing up his mother,Susanna Wesley, used to spend lots of time praying for her children.
God heard her prayers.
John tried so hard
to be a good Christian, but he was so unhappy. Well on 24th May 1738 at that meeting John attended in Aldersgate Street
His heart went all warm. It was like God lit a flame in his heart. He said now he knew for sure that he was God’s child. His heart was on fire for
Jesus.
It
was like he was that cold coffee and then he found the kettle!
He
couldn’t wait to get back into pulpits to preach, but the people didn’t care
about his beliefs and they asked him not to preach there. They were like cold
coffee!
They didn't like how excited he was about Jesus!
So
he preached anywhere he could, mostly outside in market places and under trees
and on hillsides and anywhere he could gather people to listen.
He took his
brother with him who was just as on fire as he was and they would go into the
poor areas and sing and then he would announce that later he would be back to
preach.
Thousands of people gathered to hear him preach and many, many people
gave their hearts to Jesus and turned from all their wicked sin.
He
taught them how to live holy lives, moving away from sin and becoming more like
Jesus.
He started small groups where they could talk
about their faith and how they were living.
He rode his horse all over England
His brother wrote
thousands of songs that the people could sing about Jesus. They were mostly
illiterate, they couldn’t write or read, so the songs taught them all about
Jesus and what they believed. It was like singing the Bible!
John Wesley also visited prisons and helped start schools for children. He organized free
clinics to help the poor with medicine and also organized trade unions for
abused workers and a home for the homeless. He fought slavery and wrote a
simple dictionary for the poor.
He got other people to preach as well, part
time – he called them local preachers and he trained them. He preached for 50
years and eventually died in London
You
can go to his home in London – there is a church next door and a museum and you
can find out much more about John Wesley – the little man with such a big heart
and so on fire for Jesus that he changed a whole country.
Application
Be
on fire for God and ask Him to use you. Don’t be a cold coffee Christian. Ask
God to plug you in like a kettle and fill you with His Holy Spirit.
It just takes one person like this to start a revival for God. Be grateful for praying parents.
Challenge to Mission
Bring
a friend to Sunday school to hear the Good News that Jesus loves them.
Consolidation
The worksheet shows pictures of John Wesley, the kettle and
“cold cup of coffee”! It also gives the date of his heart-warming experience.
Memory
Verse:
2
Timothy 1:6 “Fan into flame the gift of God.”
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