God's Messenger: Meeting Kids' Needs
Grades K–8 Lesson Summaries
 
K—2nd Lesson Summaries
Discover Jesus   Included in This Lesson Plan
  • Reading Story—"Jesus as a Little Boy" The story of Jesus' childhood is re-visited using kid-friendly language as originally written by Ellen White in The Desire of Ages.

  • Audio Story—"Finding the Love of Jesus" Ellen Harmon was very troubled. She had been taught to believe in an eternally-burning hell and thought that God delighted in torturing His creatures. She stayed up all night long for days at a time asking God to save her from the fires of hell. She was finally relieved when someone shared with her the message of the cross, that God longs to draw people to Himself. Ellen felt impressed to speak in public, but she was afraid. Then one evening at prayer meeting, she got the courage to pray out loud. From then on, she felt like a different person. She was full of happiness and enjoyed telling others the story of Jesus' love.
  
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Heaven's Ultimate Reward Included in This Lesson Plan
  • Reading Story—"A Glimpse of Heaven" When Ellen White was 17 she was given a vision of what heaven will be like. This story is re-told using kid-friendly language as originally written by Ellen White in Early Writings.

  • Audio Story—"The First Vision" A few weeks after the Great Disappointment of October 22, 1844, Ellen White joined some friends for morning worship. While they prayed, she was given a vision. There was a long path with a bright city in the distance. Then she saw Jesus and the angels coming on the clouds. The dead in Christ were resurrected. God's people ascended to heaven where Jesus placed crowns on their heads and gave them harps of gold. They marched over the sea of glass to the glittering gate and entered the Holy City.
  
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Joy in Witnessing Included in This Lesson Plan
  • Reading Story—"Missionary Missiles" Young Willie White was on a steam boat trip up the Mississippi. He and his father, James, witnessed to rafters by throwing them tracts about Jesus' second coming.

  • Audio Story—"Witnessing for Christ" When Ellen White was a young girl, she was excited about sharing Jesus with others. Church members tried to discourage her, labeling her as too zealous, too young, too inexperienced, and even proud, but Ellen was determined to witness for God. Ellen and her sisters wanted to do more to help others learn about Jesus' soon return, but how? They came up with the idea of raising money to buy books and tracts that could be distributed to others. Ellen was eager to do her part, and even when she was sick and in bed, she continued doing all that she could.
  
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3rd & 4th Lesson Summaries
Freedom From Fear Included in This Lesson Plan
  • Reading Story—"Every Last Drop" Ellen (Harmon) White and some friends were in a little sailboat, caught out at sea in a violent storm. God gave Ellen a vision right in the middle of the storm to reassure everyone aboard that they would not drown.

  • Audio Story—"Answering the Call" James White traveled to a town and began a series of evangelistic meetings at the schoolhouse. At the end of his first meeting, a man stood up and challenged him. He was furious with James's teachings and threatened to break up future meetings. James refused to be intimidated by the threats and returned to preach the next night. An angry mob surrounded the schoolhouse and began shouting and throwing snowballs into the building. But James continued to talk to the crowd as best as he could, and by the end of the meeting, nearly a hundred people stood to request prayer. As James exited the schoolhouse, the mob grew louder. Suddenly a man appeared by James's side and escorted him through the mob. After they passed through the mob, James turned to thank the man, but the man was not there.
  
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God's Messengers Included in This Lesson Plan
  • Reading Story—"Dark Stains" God revealed to Ellen White the secret sin of William Farnsworth, upstanding member of the Washington, New Hampshire, church. As a result of her care and concern, eleven people gave their hearts to Jesus and were baptized.

  • Audio Story—"God's First Messenger" Before Ellen Harmon's first vision, God gave a message to William Foy, an African-American. At first he was hesitant to share the message, because who would believe a black man? But after struggling with his conscience and finding no peace or comfort, he realized he must tell others what God had shown him. William Foy traveled throughout New England sharing his visions. Before long he had spent all his savings on traveling expenses. William Foy stopped preaching to work full time, but he wasn't at peace. At last he decided he must do his duty. Although he did not continue to receive visions, William Foy remained active in ministry until his death in 1893 at age of 75. He did his duty faithfully, to the best of his ability.
  
  • Discussion questions
  • Class activity
  • Worksheets (2) + Teacher's KEYS
  • Class Project
  • Ellen G. White Quotes
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Windows Into God's Word Included in This Lesson Plan
  • Reading Story 1—"Mutiny Aboard the Bounty" After all the violence and bloodshed on Pitcairn Island, Alexander Smith was now the only man left alive. Ten years had passed since the mutiny on the Bounty. Recognizing his need of God from reading the Bible and The Book of Common Prayer, Smith changed his life and led the other islanders to Jesus.

  • Reading Story 2—"The Great Disappointment" After Jesus did not return on October 22, 1844, many Millerites were asking, "Why didn't Jesus come? How could something that had been predicted in the Bible not come true?" While walking through a field, Hiram Edson was given the answer to his prayer.
 		  
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5th & 6th Lesson Summaries
Discover Jesus Included in This Lesson Plan
  • Reading Story—"Where's Jesus?" In the 1880s, many church members were completely wrapped up in the importance of rules and regulations of religion instead of the love of Jesus. During a church service, Mr. Waggoner's eyes were opened to the importance of emphasizing that Jesus saves—you are not saved by keeping all the commandments, as important as that is.

  • Audio Story—"Searching for Christ" Ellen Harmon was discouraged and afraid because she didn't think she'd ever be worthy to be a child of God. Finally, she decided to accept God's gift of grace and salvation, but she was distressed because she didn't feel the ecstasy that she thought would prove that she had been accepted by God. As she prayed, she suddenly felt her burdens disappear and Jesus seemed very near. She was later baptized by immersion. But Ellen's doubts were not fully gone. She didn't think she could ever have the purity known as sanctification. But she was sure of one thing: Those who find Jesus will rejoice at His coming.
  
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Privilege of Talents Included in This Lesson Plan
  • Reading Story—"A Bolt of White Cloth" Ellen White became discouraged by all the hard work she was doing, with no apparent results. God gave her a vision showing her the error of pre-judging the outcome of the seeds she'd sown.

  • Audio Story—"Following the Path of Duty" James and Ellen White turned down several preaching invitations. They didn't have enough money, plus traveling with their new baby boy would be difficult. One night, James and Ellen White discovered Baby Henry burning up with a fever. They tried everything they could, but the baby didn't get better. The doctor said he doubted Henry would recover. James and Ellen White prayed and asked God to heal their baby, but even that didn't seem to work. Then they realized they had been using Baby Henry as an excuse not to travel and do God's work. They knelt down and prayed again, promising to go wherever God would send them. Henry began to recover. Soon after this incident, the Whites received an invitation from friends in Middletown, Connecticut. From Maine where they were then living, they had only enough money to get to Massachusetts, but they decided to go anyway, trusting that God would provide. In Massachusetts, the people they were visiting gave them some money, enough to pay for their fare to Connecticut.
  
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Freedom in Healthy Living Included in This Lesson Plan
  • Reading Story—"Hope for a Dying Boy" Mrs. White gave sound counsel to a family whose little boy was dying because of an unhealthy diet. After the family accepts her advice, the little boy got better and lived to be 96!

  • Audio Story—"Holy, Happy, Healthy" In the 1800s people didn't know how to take care of their bodies. They didn't know the causes of disease, and they didn't know that diet affected health. In 1863 Ellen White had a vision about health. It was so different from common beliefs and practices that she was hesitant to share the message. Some of the things she saw in her vision included working and eating moderately, the importance of sunlight, water, and fresh air, and that meat can cause disease. The first few meals without meat were difficult for Ellen White to eat, but she was determined to follow the health principles in her vision. Other people adopted the health guidelines and responded positively. However, Ellen White warned against those who were taking the health principles to an extreme.
  
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7th & 8th Lesson Summaries
God's Messengers Included in This Lesson Plan
  • Reading Story—"Called to Preach" John Loughborough was called to be a minister. He loved preaching but struggled financially and was tempted to quit. But Ellen White encouraged him to have faith, and he continued preaching for another 70 years.

  • Audio Story—"God's Command" Ellen Harmon was hesitant about sharing her visions. She was only 17, timid, and ill. It was winter time, and they were out of money. Besides, a young unmarried girl wasn't supposed to travel around. Ellen Harmon became depressed, and some believers came together pray for her. Ellen agreed to join them for prayer. A sudden light came upon her, and Ellen knew she had to tell others about what she had seen. Her sister wondered how Ellen could speak publicly when her voice was so weak, but God gave her the strength, and her voice remained strong while she spoke.
  
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Healing Broken Relationships Included in This Lesson Plan
  • Reading Story—"Sued for Kindness" After Mrs. White raised her two nieces, Addie and May, their father re-appeared on the scene (after the girls are college-age) and decided to sue her for $25,000 on the charge of stealing his daughters' affections!

  • Audio Story—"The Last Sunset" As James and Ellen White traveled back to Battle Creek after a weekend evangelistic meeting in Charlotte, Michigan, James complained of a pain in his legs. A few days later he suffered severe chills. Soon Ellen also was sick, and they were both taken to the sanitarium where they were diagnosed with malarial fever. Ellen grew better, but James continued to get worse. On August 6, 1881, James lapsed into a coma, and later that evening passed away. Ellen was stricken with grief, but a week later, at her husband's funeral, She spoke of the day when their broken family would be reunited. She looked forward to the day when they would gather around the great white throne in heaven.
 
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Jesus-focused Learning Included in This Lesson Plan
  • Reading Story—"Schools for God's Children" Ellen White remembered a horrifying incident as a school girl. A teacher, in anger, mistakenly hit Ellen on the forehead with a ruler, leaving an ugly, bleeding gash. The memory of this incident motivated Mrs. White to try and find a way to start Adventist schools.

  • Audio Story—"Education's Shaky Start" In 1853, Martha Byington taught the first SDA school in a house with a little more than a dozen students. There they could have Bible classes as well as learn "the three Rs". Conducting a school was not easy, however, and it eventually died out. A few years later, the Battle Creek Church decided to open a school. They asked John Fletcher Byington, Martha's brother, if he'd be willing to teach. This time parents complained that the discipline was too strict, and the school was shut down. A few years later, some young people took the necessary steps toward establishing Christian education. Edson White introduced himself to a man who was sawing wood. The man's name was G. H. Bell. Mr. Bell had been a teacher for 15 years but had come to the Health Institute to improve his health. Edson asked him if he would be willing to teach him and a few friends in the evenings. Mr. Bell agreed. He was surprised when 14 young people showed up at his door ready to learn.
  
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Copyright © 2007 Ellen G. White® Estate