April Mentor Monthly

March Focus: Easter

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

2 Corinthians 5:17

Week One

“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’

Then He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”

Matthew 26:26-28

Jesus went through a lot of hurt and a lot of pain to save us from an eternal life of hurt and pain. Without Jesus the mean things that we think and do are permanent. Jesus offers us forgiveness for these things and wipes them away.

The pepper and soap activity can illustrate to your mentee how we could never get rid of our sin on our own but if we accept Jesus into our hearts, He takes it all away.

Items needed:

  • Paper plate with edges
  • Black pepper
  • Dawn soap
  • Water
  • Marker

Instructions:

Using the marker, have your mentee put a dot in the center of your plate. Fill your plate with water then add the pepper. Ask your mentee if they can move the pepper away from the dot without the pepper moving back to the dot or sticking to their finger. Once they realize it is impossible, tell them they need another ingredient in order to keep the pepper from returning to the dot. They need the soap.  Put the soap on you or your mentee’s finger. Touch the dot with the soapy finger and watch the pepper move away. Relate this back to what we discussed above. Explain that we are like the dot and the pepper is our sin. We cannot clear the sin in our lives away on our own. Jesus (the soap) is the only one who can take our sin away.

Week Two

Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey. The crowd that was with Jesus laid out their cloaks on the ground and spread branches along the path. They said to Jesus, “Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9) Hosanna means an expression of adoration, praise, or joy. They were celebrating Jesus as the Messiah who was sent to save them from their sins. Talk with your mentee about ways to praise Jesus and if you are comfortable, choose one to do together. This may be singing a worship song together, praying for each other, reading the Bible together, etc.

Next week we will discuss how these same people who praised Jesus and loved Jesus betrayed Him.

Week Three

Review with your mentee what you discussed last week, reminding them that Jesus was betrayed by the very people that were telling Him that they love Him. One of Jesus’s very close friends, Judas, was the person who turned Jesus over to die on the cross. Jesus knew that His friends were going to betray Him but He also knew that He had to go through what He did so that we could have eternal life with Him.

Discuss with your mentee that sometimes their friends are going to be the ones to be mean to them and turn away from them. However, they can know that their Savior who died for them suffered the biggest betrayal of a friend. He knows what they go through because He has gone through it himself. Let them know that He is our comforter and they can pray to Him when they are going through something difficult.

Week Four

This week we will be discussing another time when Jesus’s friends betrayed him. Before He was crucified, Jesus and His disciples went to the Mount of Olives. There, Jesus told his disciples that they would reject Him and run away. One of His disciples, Peter, told Jesus that he would never do that. Jesus said by the time the rooster crows you will deny me three times. As Jesus was dying on the cross, Peter did just that. Remind your mentee of the discussion that you had last week about friends.

Week Five

Three days after Jesus died on the cross, He rose again. The stone in front of His tomb was rolled away and His tomb was empty. Jesus defeated sin and death. Jesus appeared to His disciples and they were so happy to see Him. However, one of His disciples, Thomas, was not there to see Jesus. When Thomas heard the other disciples saying Jesus had appeared to them, he told them that he would not believe them until he saw Jesus in person. Jesus then appeared to Thomas and Thomas believed that Jesus rose from the dead.

Explain to your mentee that the Bible was written to tell the true story about Jesus’s life. The Bible is filled with stories of people who had seen firsthand His death and resurrection. Let them know that if they ever want to find out about who Jesus is, they can pick up the Bible and turn to the books Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

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