"Dad, what's a centurion?" Jon asked as he carried his Bible into the living room.
Motioning to his son to join him on the couch, Mr. Thompson answered. "A centurion was an officer in the Roman army. He was in charge of one hundred soldiers. What are you reading about?"
"About when Jesus healed the centurion's servant."
"Tell me what happened."
"Well, one of the centurion's favorite servants was real sick. In fact, he was going to die. Then the centurion heard about Jesus. He sent someone to ask Jesus to come and make his servant well. But this next part I don't understand. The Jews said that the centurion had built them a synagogue. What's that?"
"A synagogue is like a church building. It is where the Jewish people worship. Romans didn't usually help the Jewish people like that. What happened next?"
"Before Jesus even got to the house, the centurion sent some friends with a message. He didn't think he was good enough to have Jesus come to his house. He said that Jesus could just say the words where He was and the servant would be healed. And that's just what happened!"
"Tell me, Jon, how was his faith like ours today?"
Jon thought for a minute and then said, "Jesus is in Heaven now. So we have to pray and ask Him to help us with what we need also!"
Mr. Thompson smiled. "That's right. Now let me tell you about someone who used faith like that. You know the Smith family at church. Well, about the time you were born, Sister Smith was very sick. She got so sick that she couldn't eat and was so weak they knew she couldn't live much longer.
"But, she wanted to trust God. She had read in the Bible, 'I am the Lord that healeth thee.' She knew that He had saved her from sin and had given her power to live for Him. He surely could heal her body. One night we had a special all-night prayer meeting for her. That very night she woke up and felt that Jesus was in her room. She knew He had healed her. In the morning she got up and made breakfast and ate with the family! She hadn't been able to do that for months. Within two days there was no sign of the sickness. She's been well ever since and that's been over seven years ago."
Jon smiled and said, "I want to have faith just like the centurion and Sister Smith. I know Jesus can do anything!"
This lesson illustrates the miraculous power of Jesus to heal the sick. This is very important for the primary child to learn, because it is at this young age that a basic faith and trust in God is established.
Your child will listen to the account of how Jesus healed the centurion's servant by merely speaking the words. We want the children to understand that the belief the centurion had was necessary, and it is also necessary for us to believe God when we come to Him with a request.
Although short, the memory verse for this week is an easily-remembered statement which sums up our belief in God's power to heal. Help your child review this verse by letting him spell it out using alphabet macaroni.
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