Feast of First Fruits, Feast of Booths (Sukkot)
Do Not Be Anxious
Theme: Good News to Share
Theme Verse: "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10b NIV
Readings: Leviticus 23:9-14, 39-43; Matthew 6:25-34
Memory Verse: "For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:32-33.
Word received: I want my people to remember; I want my people to remember.
Remembering what God has done is very basic both to Judaism and Christianity. We are to remember with thanksgiving. This is a basic part of the worship God desires. The other basic part of remembering with thanksgiving is to give back to God first, a part of what he has given us. That helps us remember that it all comes from him.
What are the ways God calls us as Christians to remember his saving acts? What does this remembrance do to change your behavior?
God gave directions to his people whom he had just delivered out of slavery in Egypt about how to celebrate. It was to be "a lasting ordinance". They were to remember yearly and forever the historical saving acts of God and also they were to celebrate the agricultural bounty of God in their harvests. The instructions were there to help them celebrate these harvest seasons in a way that gave glory to the real God who created and gave them everything rather than celebrating harvests like the pagans around them who tied the harvests to myths about their pagan gods (many of which were fertility gods, with all sorts of immoral, sexual activity). Remember how easily they slipped into the worship of the golden calf soon after God brought them out of Egypt. Over and over the Israelites fell away from God, the I AM, the creator and ruler of everything, and worshiped the pagan gods of the people around them. (Talk about the influence of culture!)
THE CELEBRATIONS and special times of remembering.
Before any special occasions they were to remember God's Sabbath weekly. (Spring) The first feast and celebration of the year in the, 1st month, was Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread to celebrate God's saving them from slavery in Egypt. What do Christians remember at Passover time?
The offering of First Fruits (waving a sheaf of grain as an offering to God) took place the day after the final Sabbath of the feast of Unleavened Bread, that is, at the beginning of the barley harvest in April. They were not to eat any of the grain until after they had made this offering to God first.
Remember what we say at the time of the offering every Sunday: "Of your own have we given you." When we give our tithes and offerings out of our incomes, God wants us to give to him off the top, first, and not out of what is left over after we have spent what we want. Remember that God gave us his first and his best in Jesus. He is only asking us to do what he has already done.
Seven weeks and 50 days later was the Feast of Weeks, also called Pentecost (means fifty). which celebrated the wheat harvest. Again they were to offer the first fruits to God. (Interestingly they were reminded NOT to reap the harvest to the borders of the field or pick all the grapes but leave them for the poor and the stranger--because they had been poor and strangers in Egypt.)
Pentecost also held a historical meaning. Jewish tradition held that God gave the Law to Moses and to them at Mt. Sinai seven weeks after the deliverance from Egypt.
What do Christians remember at Pentecost?
In the seventh month (Sept.-October) the first feast was the Feast of Trumpets on the 1st day of the Jewish New Year (called Rosh Hashanah). This year it was on Sept.22.). It celebrates the Creation of the World. In the same month is the Day of Atonement, (Yom Kippur-began this year eve of Oct.1st) a time of fasting, when they gave offerings to make atonement for their sins before God. How do Christians find atonement for their sins?
On the 15th day of the 7th month was the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles after they had gathered the harvests. (Also called Sukkot which means booths.) This was a feast of Thanksgiving but also a historical feast remembering how the Israelites lived in such temporary shelters when they lived in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land. They were remembering where they came from, how they had nothing and how God provided shelter for them. while they were traveling through the wilderness. They were not to forget their poverty and helplessness then and how God had cared for them, fed them, guided them by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night and brought them safely to the Promised Land. Have you seen booths around Schenectady's synagogues this time of year?
What about us? We don't even have a harvest with out God. Fill in the blank. We don't even have_______ with out God.
God knows that having physical and symbolic acts helps us to better remember what he has done. What are the physical actions that help us remember what God has done in Baptism and Holy Communion?
With all this as part of the experience of the first disciples, what is Jesus trying to teach them and us? The Matthew passage begins with "Therefore" because we cannot serve both God and money. We need to choose not to be anxious about what we need but trust our Father who made us and loves us even more than he does the birds and lilies. It is not that we sit back and do nothing, but we are not to be anxious and preoccupied. We are to be thankful and remember what God has done in our past and the past of his people. (God told us personally to start and keep a remembering sheet and look at it every day.) Instead of being anxious, we are to first seek God's kingdom and his righteousness and know that all necessary things will be ours as well.
Now read the Memory Verse again. Word received: What do you choose to run after? What do you make haste to seek? I want you to seek after Me and My ways. Matthew 6:25 says "Therefore I say to you, do not worry " Word received: You can make a choice about what is important to you. You are (underline are) more important to Me than what the advertisements say you are. Look to Me for approval, look to Me for My grace. I will be with you, loving you, when all the TV advertisements are forgotten.
Matthew 6:25 says, "Look at the birds of the air..."....Word received: I want you to measure yourself by the love of My cross. That is the measure of My love and care for you.
Matthew 6:27 "Which of you by worrying..."....Word received: Lord, help me to lay aside my worries and anxieties and trust and follow you. You are the faithful One. Thank you for your love for me. Share times when God provided for you in surprising ways or taught you not to worry.
God wants us to seek him FIRST just as he wanted his people to give him the first fruits of the harvest--before they took any for themselves. Often the first fruit is the biggest and best. When we give God the leftovers it means that we don't trust him to provide what we need and want and we don't really trust him to provide for us. People who tithe have learned that when they give it first, there is always enough for them. Word received: I want you to give back to Me the best of what I have given to you. I want you to recognize the provision and love I have for each one of you. It is also a sign of honor and respect to give to God before you take for yourself.
Teaching Ideas for Lesson 11
Please read the Study Guide first. Go over Memory Verse to make sure the children understand it and then if they have memorized it.
Remind them their parents need to sign a report slip monthly if they have read the lessons, so they will get credit at the end of the year.
Make sure they know what happened in the story. Get them to tell you.
Basic points of the lesson for little ones:
Intro: Soon it will be Thanksgiving. It is not really about a big, fancy meal. It is about giving thanks to God for all the good things He has given us and done for us.
1. What historical event do we remember at Christmas What do we thank God for then??
We remember Jesus' birth in a manger at Bethlehem.
We thank God the Father that He sent His Son to be like us, to save us.
2. What historical event do we remember at Easter? What do we thank God for then?
We remember that Jesus rose from the dead after dying on the cross for us.
We thank God that by rising from the dead Jesus showed us that he had victory over sin and death.
3. What historical event do we remember at Pentecost? What do we thank God for then?
We remember that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to give God's power to the first Christians.
We thank God that we too can receive the Holy Spirit and His power to know Jesus now and follow him.
4. Because God loves and cares for us, Jesus told us not to worry but to bring our needs to him , to thank him, trust him and follow him and love him back.
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