Matthew 24 - Gospel to the Nations Quiet Book Page

  Matthew 24 is a well-known but I believe largely misunderstood chapter.

Memory Verse: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14, NKJV.

Materials needed to create the Gospel to the Nations quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used black
• this Globe Colouring Page from Colouring Home
• felt in dark/mid blue and light green
• about 40cm of 9mm wide ribbon, preferably with edging that resembles train tracks
• train button
• hot glue and glue gun (optional)
• sewing thread to best match the page
• scissors!

Use the colouring page as a template and create pattern pieces by cutting out each piece. Print it as many times as you need to.

Cut out the large world circle of blue felt - sew it down to more blue felt and cut it out again.

Choose a green felt that goes well with your blue felt, and a ribbon for the train. I would have chosen the black ribbon with white stitching above, but it wasn't quite long enough. I think it looks a bit like train tracks.

Cut out the land pieces from the green felt (remember to place them upside down if you are planning to draw around them so the drawing is on the wrong side). Position them on your blue world and sew down.

Measure the amount of ribbon required to circle the world easily and cut and melt the edges - see my post on How to Stop Ribbons Fraying.

Lay the ends of the ribbon on top of each other beneath the train button and sew it on in place. You can hand sew or set your machine to zig zag setting and adjust the width to fit the button holes and set the length to zero and sew. I added a little hot glue to the back of the stitching just to be sure.

Position your world on your background page with the ribbon around it. Sew down the world along the top and bottom edges, leaving the sides open to allow the train and ribbon to slide through.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Matthew 24 - it is our job to take the Gospel to the nations
• Imaginative Play - pull the train around the world and take the Gospel to the nations
• String Pull - pull the train around the world and watch it disappear behind the far edge and re-appear at the other
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Read the Chapter

Matthew 24

Devotional

Much of this chapter is about the destruction of Jerusalem and The Second Temple in 70AD. The Parable of the Fig Tree is about this too, and is often misunderstood. Perhaps the most important sentence in this chapter relating to the very end of time in which we find ourselves is that the gospel will go to the nations, and then the end will come.

It is our duty to take the gospel to the nations, not to worry about what terrible things may befall us. Jesus promises to be with us to the very end of the age - so what do we need to fear? I feel it is selfishness which drives us to prepare for the end by buying property in the country or hills so we can run to it in the future trials. Selfishness is never something that should be motivating us, therefore the theology behind it must be wrong. 

Ultimately, what we need to worry about is if we took the gospel to the nations. If we spent all our time worrying about our future instead, it will be something to be ashamed of - but if we spend our time preparing others to enter Heaven, God will take care of us and we won't need to worry about anything that may or may not happen to us down here. In reality it doesn't matter - God can resurrect, restore, and re-build.

If you are feeling worried about the future and the end times - read this sermon titled Jesus’ Prophecy of Consummation of the Kingdom, Part 4: The Fig Tree: That Day and Hour No Man Knows by Dr Ligon Duncan.

Human Nature - People Get Ready

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Do you like my Gospel train in Matthew 24, or do you think it doesn't really fit? Comment below!

Matthew 2 - The Wise Men Quiet Book Page

Matthew chapter 2 recounts the story of the Wise Men following the star to find Jesus, King of the Jews.

Memory Verse: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” ” Matthew 2:1-2.

Materials needed to create The Wise Men quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used white
• Betty Lukens Felt book 011 Life of Jesus as a Boy Felt Activity Kit (not an affiliate link)
• sewing thread to best match the page
• scissors!

Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.

Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Matthew 2 - Learn the story of the Wise Men who came to worship Jesus
• Imaginative Play - re-enact the Wise Men following  the star
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Sew the Betty Lukens scene onto your page along three sides
to form a pocket for piece storage

Read the Chapter

Matthew 2

Devotional

Magi... it seems strange that priests from a different religion came to worship Jesus, doesn't it? To find out how the Babylonians came to know prophecies about Jesus, read The Connection Between Daniel and the Christmas Story.

Lyric Video - "We Three Kings" by Kirk Franklin

THE STAR

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What are your biggest questions about the Wise men? Comment below!

Matthew 1 - Baby Jesus Quiet Book Page

Matthew chapter 1 lists Joseph's genealogy and records the birth of Jesus by the virgin Mary.

Memory Verse: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”” Matthew 1:21.

Materials needed to create the Baby Jesus quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used white
• Betty Lukens Felt book 011 Life of Jesus as a Boy available at Koorong (not an affiliate link)
• sewing thread to best match the page
• scissors!

Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.

Sew the gates onto the doorposts by the sides.

Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!

Finished!

Sew the Betty Lukens scene onto your page along three sides
to form a pocket for piece storage

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Matthew 1 - Learn about Joseph's lineage and how Jesus was born to the virgin Mary
• Imaginative Play - put Baby Jesus to bed
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

I left the wise men out of the cover picture as they are not mentioned till
Matthew 2 - didn't think about it until after taking the photos that
actually the shepherds are not in this chapter either!!

Read the Chapter

Matthew 1

Devotional

I often think about the fact that without sin entering the world you and I would never have existed. Should we be grateful?

In everyone's lineage there is going to be some kind of sexual sin... I'm not sure about my lineage, but with almost 6000 years of history there has got to be quite a lot.

Adam and Eve could have had children without sin entering the World - but would WE have existed, or someone else... there are so many eggs and sperm around with slightly different DNA. If everything hadn't gone pear shaped, there would have been different combinations made, and plenty of people, but not specifically me.

When I explain my view to people, they often think I am saying that sex is wrong or bad or something. I don't mean that at all. God created intercourse to be beautiful. But we are all descended from people who have resulted from sexual sin. Everyone has prostitution, adultery, rape or something in their ancestry at some stage. Even having multiple wives like Jacob did is something I can't see happening in a perfect world. Not to mention all the children from Levirate marriages whose first child was considered the child of the father's brother/relative (the woman's first husband who died childless).

Would you have been born if sin never existed? Would your great great great grandparents have slept together? And then would you have been created?

Jesus Himself would have never needed to be born in the flesh either. If sin never existed, there would be no reason for Him to bother. Matthew goes out of his way to mention all the unmentionables in Joseph's lineage. Tamar (who slept with her father-in-law by deception), Rahab (a prostitute), Ruth (from a despised race), Bathsheba (an adultress), and Jeconiah (who was cursed). If you want to read about the Curse of Jeconiah and the different explanations for the differences between Matthew's and Luke's genealogies the following article is a fascinating read - The Two Genealogies of Jesus, the Curse of Jeconiah, and the Royal Line of David posted on the website The Jesus Question.

So there are plenty of scandals in Jesus's family ancestry. He even wears the (assumed) shame of His own birth. People who did not believe Mary's virgin birth story assumed that Jesus was a bastard - Joseph's son conceived out of wedlock. And it's understandable. God had to send an angel to Joseph personally to convince him to continue past the betrothal and marry her. Until that point, Joseph had decided on divorce (a legal requirement of betrothals, unlike engagements today). He must have been so hurt by Mary's appearance of unfaithfulness.

If you are feeling the guilt of sexual sin in your own life or family history, take this record in Matthew as encouragement, and remember, none of us today would have been born without sin including Jesus.

I tried to think of a good song to include with this devotional - it seemed like a tough topic to find a song about. But God had it covered. This song popped up in my random Spotify feed that day, and although it was written as a love song, like a lot of love songs it can easily refer to God.

Selah - Bless The Broken Road (with lyrics)

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What do you think? Should you be grateful for sin because ultimately you wouldn't exist otherwise? I'd be intrigued to read your responses below in the comments.