*The kids are standing in a green field. *
NARRATOR: Hello Jacob! How鈥檚 it going Eimear?
EIMEAR: Not bad! Though I am wondering where we are today鈥
NARRATOR: Ah yes, good point. We鈥檙e just about to take a look at Jesus performing his ministry.
*Jesus sits under a tree as people listen to him talk. *
NARRATOR: Christians believe that Jesus was the Son of God. The Bible tells Christians that Jesus was a preacher, healer and religious leader. He taught his followers about God through 鈥榩arables鈥.
JACOB: What鈥檚 a para鈥 parble?
NARRATOR: A parable! These are stories Jesus told that contained simple lessons. The stories were usually about everyday things that the people he preached to would understand.
EIMEAR: Like what?
NARRATOR: Like, um鈥 sheep!
*We see a little sheep all alone on the hillside. *
NARRATOR: In the Bible, Jesus tells the story of the lost sheep.
We see a flock of sheep with a shepherd. The shepherd is counting the sheep.
NARRATOR: A shepherd is tending his flock. He counts and realises one of them is missing, so he runs to find it!
*The shepherd runs away from his flock of sheep to find the missing one. He is overjoyed when he sees the lost sheep. *
NARRATOR: When he finally sees the lost sheep, he rejoices over finding it again. To him, finding it was more important than the rest of his flock who did not go missing.
The shepherd and the sheep hug joyously and return to the flock.
NARRATOR: The shepherd in this story represents God, and the sheep are Christians. The sheep that gets lost represents the boys and girls, men and women who stray from the path of God. To God, each and every person is important, even those who have disobeyed God鈥檚 rules.
The lost sheep does a little bounce of happiness.
Different perspectives
When people think of Jesus Christ, there are many different ideas and opinions.
Historical records tell us that he did exist.
Christians firmly believe that he is the Son of God
Other religions, such as Islam, accept that he was an excellent teacher and a caring person. But otherwise, they see him as a perfectly normal human being.
Baptism
The Bible doesn鈥檛 give us many details of Jesus鈥 childhood and teenage years.
We are able to read about his birth in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. In Luke we also learn about Jesus鈥 experiences at the temple when he was a little boy.
The ministry of Jesus began when he was around 30 years old and he went to the Jordan River to be baptised by his cousin, John the Baptist. He got baptised because he wanted to show the world that he was living in obedience to God.
The Bible says that after Jesus was baptised, God's voice came from Heaven and a dove landed on him. God said, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy."
Meeting the people
After Jesus was baptised, he chose his disciples and began sharing news of God鈥檚 love to people in Galilee, Judea, Samaria and Perea. You would maybe recognise these places on today鈥檚 world map as being part of Israel and very close to Egypt.
During three eventful years, Jesus spoke to large crowds in the open air, preached God鈥檚 word in the synagogues, talked to people in their homes and during walks, and stood up to religious leaders at the temple in Jerusalem.
The Bible records at least 37 miracles of Jesus; from curing a man with leprosy, to walking on water, to feeding 5000 people, to healing a woman who had been crippled for years.
Parables
Some Christians describe a parable as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. In other words, they are simple stories of everyday life that reveal important truths about both God and Heaven.
Jesus must have been an amazing teacher, because people turned out in their thousands to hear him.
Some of his parables included: the Lost Sheep, the Wise and Foolish Builders, the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan.
While Jesus鈥 miracles displayed the power of God and proved Jesus was His Son, the parables were designed to encourage people to think about their own relationship with God.
Now that you have learned about the ministry of Jesus, find out why some saw him as an unlikely Messiah.
More on The life of Jesus
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