The Rooster Crowed!

In the book of Luke chapter 22: 54-62 we read the account of when Peter denied Jesus, repeatedly. Peter spent a ton of time with Jesus, travelling with him, learning from him, eating with him and now he has just witness him be arrested right in front of him. Peter was scared, upset, mad, and frustrated. He didn't know what was going to happen to his friend, he didn't know what was going to happen to himself, and that led him to make a great mistake. Peter's fear drove him to a place where he lied, he denied ever being acquainted with Jesus. He denied his friend, his brother, his Lord, his Savior! The one who loved him unconditionally and would die for him in a moment, the one who did die for him. Not a moment too soon and the rooster crowed! Just like Jesus told Peter it was going to happen, the rooster crowed right after he denied Jesus for the third time. As soon as the rooster crowed Peter was made aware of what he had done. He was overthrown with shame, disappointment, and regret.

This is what we talked about in Jr. Church on Sunday. We mess up all of the time, and sometimes in the moment we don't realize it, but at some point we always do. There is always a rooster that crows that makes us aware of our mistakes. But thankfully we serve a gracious, forgiving Lord. Peter didn't let his mistake stop him, but instead it pushed him forward. He was able to see the mistake he had made, asked Jesus for forgiveness and then pushed forward with his life where he became the rock on which the church was built. He became one of the greatest preachers/teachers of all time. He was an eye witness to Jesus' ministry, to his death, to his resurrection, to his unfailing and unconditional forgiveness. Peter became a better man after his mistake. Our mistakes don't define us, Jesus does. In Jr. Church we talked about different scenarios and how to make them better if we do something wrong, or how to make the right choice when want to do something wrong. We talked about how the more we know about Jesus, and the more we know Jesus, the more we can be like Jesus. We talked about how because Peter followed Jesus and spent all of his time with him he was able to become like him, and that we could do the same by reading our bibles, praying, going to church, spending time with other people who love Jesus, etc.

I find that every week as I prepare lessons for your children, I am also learning new things, or relearning old things that I have forgotten or chosen to ignore and from this week I am noticing the importance of the rooster's crow. It wasn't before that moment that Peter truly realized what he was doing and I think we find ourselves far too often in that same position. We find ourselves falling into sin without noticing until it's very obvious, until the rooster crows and then we have a choice to make. Do we choose to listen to the warning cry of the rooster and turn from our bad ways or do we continue down a path of destruction ignoring the rooster altogether? I think the more we ignore the rooster's crow the quieter it gets, and the easier it is to ignore the warning signs altogether. Don't quiet your rooster's crow, instead listen to his loud crow and act! Listen to the warning signs and turn to Jesus who will forgive you. That's what I took away from my preparation last week and thought I would share with you.

The memory verses that your kids worked on this week were the same as last week,
Younger kids:
"Come and follow me." Jesus said,
"I will send you out to fish for people."
Mark 1:17

Older kids:

“Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right,
because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you
ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done
to you.  

John 13:12-15

Please take some time to work on these verses with your kids this week, make it a challenge and see

if you can memorize them too. Spend some time worshiping with your kids too, whether it's through

prayer, singing, dancing, reading scripture, serving, etc. spend some intentional time with your children

focusing on God. If you want some music to dance and sing too you can find the worship playlist that

we use in Jr. Church here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW1XM9341lIbwDUQYbJvUVp6n1BUSNNhI

Have a great week!

-Megan