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Debbie and Randy were bouncing their red ball in the back yard. Suddenly they heard a tiny sound.

"Listen!" Randy said. "What was that?" The small sound came again.

"It's a kitten," Debbie cried, running toward the hedge. "Let's find it."

Debbie and Randy looked in the hedge. The kitten was not there.

Randy looked in the tree near the hedge. "Here it is," he cried.

Randy put up his arms but he could not reach the kitten.

Randy ran and brought a chair from the porch. He put the chair near the tree.

Debbie held the chair while Randy climbed on it.

Then Randy reached up and took the kitten in his arms.

Debbie petted the soft, gray kitten. "Oh, he must be hungry," she said. "Let's give him some milk."

They took the kitten to the kitchen and asked Mother for some milk. The kitten drank the milk quickly.

Then it curled up on Debbie's lap and went to sleep.

"May we keep the kitten, Mommy?" Randy asked.

"We'll see," Mother answered. "Tomorrow we will ask the neighbors if the lost kitten belongs to them."

"It must have been lost a long time," Randy said, "because it is so thin."

"I wouldn't like to be lost," said Debbie.

Mother put down her sewing. "No, it isn't nice to be lost like the kitten was," Mother said.

"But there is another way to be lost. The Bible tells us that all who do not take Jesus as their Saviour are lost. And they cannot go to Heaven."

"God doesn't want us to be lost, does He, Mommy?" Randy asked.

"No, Randy," Mother answered. "God loves us. That is why He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, into the world. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost."

"Tell us about Jesus dying on the cross," Randy said.

"I know that. Let me tell it, Mom," Debbie said eagerly. Mother nodded, so Debbie began, "Jesus loved us so much He just had to come down and help us. He came as a little baby. When He got big, He died on the cross for us, so we could go to Heaven. But He didn't stay dead. He rose again."

"Yes, children," Mother said. "God tells us in the Bible that we have all sinned.

"That means we have done wrong things. And sin must be punished. So, because the Lord Jesus loved us, He took the punishment for us. He died on the cross for your sins and for mine."

"I'm glad Jesus loves me," said Debbie, "and I'm glad I asked Him to come into my heart."

Randy was very quiet. Then he said, "I know I have done bad things. I want to take Jesus as my Savior, but I don't know how."

"Well," said Mother, "Tell Jesus that you have sinned and that you are sorry for your sins. Thank Him for loving you and for dying on the cross for your sins. Ask Him to come into your heart to be your Savior. Would you like to do this right now?"

"Yes, I sure would," said Randy. He bowed his head and prayed, "Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned. I'm really sorry for my sins. Thank You for loving me so much and for dying on the cross for my sins. Please come into my heart. I am taking You as my Savior right now."

Randy looked up and smiled. "That's wonderful, Randy!" said Mother. "I'm so glad you have taken Jesus as your Savior."

"I'm glad too," said Randy, "because now I belong to Jesus."

"I'm glad I belong to Jesus, too," said Debbie. "And, Mom, I think the little kitten would like to belong to us, don't you?"

Mother smiled. "Yes, Debbie," she agreed. "I think it would."

"He is such a little scrap of a kitten," Randy said. "Let's call him Scrappy."

"Oh, yes," said Debbie. She held the kitten close as she added, "And, little Scrappy, I hope you will love us just like we love you."

"That reminds me of a Bible verse I want you to learn," Mother told them. "It tells us that because the Lord Jesus loves us, we should love Him too."

Randy and Debbie liked the verse. They learned it quickly.

Then they said their prayers and went to bed.

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Here is the verse that Randy and Debbie learned. Be sure to learn the verse.

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Will the children be able to keep Scrappy? Find out in the next lesson.

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Do you know who Jesus is and why He came into the world? Jesus is God's Son. He came into the world to be our Saviour. We need a Saviour because we have all sinned.

God loved us and wanted us to be in Heaven with Him. He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to take the punishment for our sins.

When it came time for Jesus to die for our sins, He was led away to be nailed to a cross. Two other men were also led away with Jesus to be put to death. These men had done many bad things. But Jesus had never done anything wrong.

When they came to the place called Calvary, they nailed Jesus to the cross. The other two men were nailed to crosses also. As Jesus hung on the cross, He prayed for the men who had been so cruel to Him.

He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

They left Jesus hanging on the cross until He was dead. Some friends of Jesus took His body down from the cross. They wrapped His body in clean linen cloth. Jesus was buried in a cave that had been hollowed out of rock. A big stone was rolled in front of the cave.

Three days later, early in the morning, three women came to the place where Jesus was buried. They found that the stone had been pushed away from the grave. Just then they saw an angel. The angel said to them,

"Jesus is not here. He is risen as He said He would."

The women ran back to tell Jesus' friends that He had risen. Later, Jesus Himself appeared to his friends. They were so happy to know that He was alive again.

(Taken from Luke 23 and 24.)

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