Peter’s Denial (Matthew 26:36–75, Luke 22:54-62)
Brite Idea: Jesus loves us no matter what.
After sharing the Passover meal with His disciples, Jesus prayed in a garden and asked God to spare Him from suffering but submitted to God’s will. He returned and found His disciples asleep. He urged them to pray. Judas arrived with soldiers, and betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Jesus was arrested and taken to the high priest. Peter followed but denied knowing Jesus three times when questioned by bystanders. When the rooster crowed, Peter was reminded of Jesus’ prediction that he would deny Him. Peter left and wept.
Judas betrayed Jesus and Peter denied Jesus, just as He predicted. But still, Jesus loved them. He knew what they were going to do, but He loved them anyway. You worked hard to make those eggs balance, and we often feel like that in life—we are working hard to balance doing the right thing and not messing up too much. But just as the eggs fell every time, we all mess up. No matter how hard we try, we can never be perfect. That’s why we need Jesus. When we do, say or think something that disobeys God, we sin and Jesus loves us anyway. That sin separates us from God. Because God loves us so much, He sent Jesus to die on the cross so we could be forgiven and be with Him forever.
Think About It: Jesus is the Lamb of God!
QUESTIONS:
1. What did this lesson teach you about God?
2. What did this lesson teach you about you?
3. From this lesson what is He asking you to do and/or what is He going to do?
4. How did you hear from God today?
God Encounters:
Please implement the family calendar discipleship ideas with your kids.
Please join me in praising our God. We began to use a new curriculum in January of 2025. Since then, the kids have been more engaged and only got one review question wrong after two months.
The curriculum has been adopted for all our children’s ministries. Siblings now have the opportunity to discuss their Sunday lessons together. That will deepen their understanding, and we owe all this to God.
I will pay you $1 to tell me what you think of the new curriculum.
Philippians 2:13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Discipleship
Navigating a Broken World: Broken Friendships
Some friendships end naturally, but some end in disagreements or hurtful situations. In this week’s lesson, kids learned about how Jesus was hurt by His friends, and many kids may be able to identify with how that feels. Give your kids space to talk about these situations while encouraging them to honor and not gossip about others. When your kid has a disagreement with a friend, help coach them through healthy ways to navigate the situation, such as talking it out with each other, not involving other kids, and remaining kind even if they choose not to be close.
Here’s how we discussed this topic and how you can discuss at home:
Discuss: Have you ever had a friendship change or end? What was that like?
Discuss: Why does it hurt so much when people aren’t our friends anymore?
Discuss: What does God have to say about this?
Say: Friends are a special gift from God and they are so much fun. But most of us have experienced a time when a friendship has changed. Maybe there was an argument or you just grew apart. It can really hurt when friendships are different. Romans 12:18 says: If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. When we have a problem with a friend, we should talk to them directly and try to work it out. If we talk to a lot of other people first and get them involved, it is usually harder to make things better. If the problems can’t be solved, we can choose to still be kind, even if we aren’t close, and we can speak kindly about the other person. Most of all, we can know that God is always there for us. Jesus loves us no matter what and that is a friendship that will never end.
Resources for Those in Need
Support services are available for people in need.
A list of available resources is available by visiting the following link:
www.ecdenver.org/resources
Upcoming Events
AWANA – Wednesdays from 6pm to 8pm.
Royal Ball – March 7th 6pm-8:30
VBS True North – June 16th -20th from 8am to 12pm
Movie on the Lawn – September 26th -7:30pm
Family Laser Tag – September 28th -1pm
Movie on the Lawn – October 24th – 7:30
Christmas Cookie Decorating Party- December 6th from 10am to 12pm
Testimonies
I received a call to visit a young man in the hospital. He is in his early twenties and was it a car accident. He became paralyzed because of the accident. He is from India and has no one in the US. He is here all alone. He did not know Christ.
Through an interpreter, he received Jesus and was baptized in the hospital. He also began to move his feet.
Praise God with me, and continue to pray for Karenveer.
“With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints,” – Ephesians 6:18
$5 Memory Verse: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
