Hi, I'm Ranger Bailey, as we continue our vacation Bible school at Bethel Crossroads Baptist Church, located at 450 Iron Hill Road, Taylorville, Georgia 30178, Pastor Keith Dempsey. Here is again on June the 10th, 2023, the 21st of Savannah, 5783 of the Hebrew calendar, as we did our five lessons all on a Saturday and had a wonderful time This goes out to our children once again, the many that were not able to go to Vacation Bible School or have had a tough time being able to go. Our church, we send this with our love out to each and every one of you as we dealt with Proclamation Safari Park. Here we're going to talk about our koala kingdom. Last time we talked about our elephant encounter. Here we talk about our koala kingdom. In lesson one, it dealt with how Jesus came to rescue the birth of Jesus from the Bible of Luke chapter two, verses one through 20. We dealt with how that we learn as shepherds did that God provided a savior, a rescuer for everyone when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Remember, it's all about people, places, and things. Lesson one dealt with Bethlehem. I tell you, each and every one of us, Jesus is the greatest rescuer of all. The elephant fact is that the elephant population has been on decline for over a century, especially the Asian elephant. The African has declined somewhat, But the worst has been for the Asian elephants. Elephants need help before they become extinct. And so people need to be rescued from their sin. And Jesus, he came to rescue every one of us. We all have to accept Jesus, his gift of salvation in order to be rescued. And so lesson two, as we look at our koala kingdom, As our ages that we dealt with was ages 10 through 11, even though that I actually had ages, I think, eight all the way up to 11. As we had a wonderful time and all the kids contributed a tremendous amount along with the wonderful workers that was with me. that did a great job. Our pastor Keith Dipsy as he took care of just a tremendous blessing as he taught class as well and all of the ones that did the music and every part that went on with the food was a wonderful time for everyone. Now there's a word focus for every lesson and so for our lesson two of the koala kingdom. Our focus word is happy. Last time it was joy. This one happy. I made up a word that would spell out happy and I called it heaven anticipated positive pleasing years. OK, and so our focus word for our lesson two of koala kingdom is happy. Ain't it good when you can be happy? You know, you get to see a lot of kids that get sent off to vacation Bible school and you know what? It's a lot of love that the parents do to let their kids go and enjoy a whole day of activities with other children and have a wonderful time in the Lord. Proclamation Safari Park is that very thing. Remember, when you're on a safari, you have to get in a vehicle. On our way to Proclamation Safari Park, we get into our Jeep of all the kids, and we take our ride out to the animals, and we begin to look and see every one of those animals out in the safari. As we drive our Jeep, and we go out to the Abel in Lesson 2, where we talk about how Jesus rescues by example. And it deals with the biblical account of the early life of Jesus in Luke, continue on, Luke chapter 2, verses 39 all the way to verse 52. And our memory verse that we'll be talking about is, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Every student needs to learn that Jesus His rescue sets the example of how he is to live after being rescued. And so we need to follow Jesus' example and respect our parents as Jesus did in the carpenter shop. And so when we look and we begin to realize that no doubt growing up in the city of Nazareth was quite an adventure for Jesus. As we continue on our major theme for our entire Vacation Bible School of 2023 is, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me in John 14 6. But remember for this lesson, our memory verse that we'll be having is Ephesians 6 1. Children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. Now, I know that last time in lesson one, I showed some of our lesson plans, but I want to show a correction for the very fact is because there was a typo in the book, not in the teacher's book, but in the lesson book. And one of the things that was opposite in it is that we see is that right in here were manger. They had Jesus there and it was backwards so that Everything, when Savior comes down, it lines up with the R of manger. This was backwards on the original lesson, and I just wanted to do a typo of correction for those ones that saw the first one so that I could correct it and let everyone know that there was a typo in it. Because if it didn't line up, something's not looking right. but we want to make sure everything comes together right. Please make that correction on your other lesson. I'm leaving it up there just for a little bit to see that correction so that you're able to do that. Now, Koala Kingdom, Jesus rescues by example. When we look at the picture here, we see the young Jesus. He's in the temple and he's talking with all of the elders and the physicians and he's amazing them. And so when we look at this, we begin to realize that as Jesus, his life was no different than any other boy at the time. He would have played games with other children. He would have done his chores. He would have helped care for his younger brothers and sisters. He would have listened to the stories of the elders of the city. Jesus would have learned the trade of Joseph in the carpenter shop. All fathers prepared their sons with a way to earn a living. And because Joseph was a carpenter, Jesus would have worked long hours to learn how to build furniture and other items that were made of wood. But when Jesus was 12 years old, he went with his mother and Joseph to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast. The first night of their journey home, his parents could not find him. And after the days of searching, they found Jesus in the city discussing things of God with the teachers of the temple. And when questioned, Jesus answered, wish you not that I must be about my father's business in Luke chapter 2 verse 49. Mary and Joseph, they didn't understand this saying, but Jesus was preparing himself to do his heavenly father's work. Jesus has always been our example to follow. We are to pattern our lives after his. And as a child, as Jesus obeyed his parents, the Bible tells children today to do the same thing. When you follow the teachings of the Bible and obey your parents, you're obeying God just as Jesus did. And so we look at Coco because Coco is the koala. And in this second lesson, Jesus rescues by example, how important it is to live for Christ after salvation when we're rescued. You know, koalas have a wonderful relationship with their moms. They're called Joey's. I'm going to show a lot of that about these. You look and here you see a little bitty baby koala right up in the top right corner. How cute they are. We see that we follow Jesus' example and respect my parents. That is one of the great things that we need to do. I'm glad that I've always give honor. God will add years to your life when you honor your parents. Maybe you have the best parents. Maybe you have good parents. Maybe you have great parents. And maybe your parents is not as great or as good as you think they are. But when you're older, you will realize how wise your parents truly are. I know. All of my parents are gone on into the presence of the Lord and I miss them every day. But then I also know that they're in the presence of the Lord and his comfort. Jesus the King lived on earth where he became victorious over Satan, sin and death. And now he lives in heaven and will one day return victorious for the church. Here again, Coco. And so, Every one of us will learn that Jesus, his rescue, sets the example of how he is to live after being rescued. Jesus rescued by example. This is lesson two, the early life of Jesus around 12 years old, and it relates to each and every one of you kids. And so, here, the early life of Jesus that we see, that we get into, one of the relationships that koalas have is with their moms and baby koalas live in their mom's pouches for the early years of their lives. People's relationships with their parents are one of the most important relationships to them. We should honor our parents like Jesus honored his. And so, as Coco We look and we're reminded again of what that memory verse is for us in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 1. Now, many of you that are looking at this PowerPoint, kids, you missed out on a tremendous blessing that day. They got to ask me every question they could think of all day long. I mean, the questions just keep coming, keep coming. Doesn't mean that I'm the wisest and smartest. I answered a lot of questions and a lot of things that some of these kids had never heard before because they've never had someone like myself that could answer those questions. But they got to ask me every question that they wanted to all day long. Now, They also had a great time because I had these bulletin boards made up that went with every lesson. And we had these pinned things on the things that were fun things that we did in the classroom that you're not going to get to experience in this PowerPoint. But I hope and pray that we're sending this out, Bethel Crossroads, with the love of all of our children in the community that could not come and be with us in the utmost regard as we send this out. Children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. And so when we look at koalas, we realize that the life application is one of the relationships that koalas have, again, is with their moms and baby koalas. They live early years of their lives in the pouch and this lesson focuses on being obedient. The Bible teaches us obedience is better than sacrifice. Jesus was obedient to his parents as a young child and he certainly had to follow Joseph's instructions in the carpenter shop even as a child he was obedient to God. Ultimately Jesus was obedient to God even unto death and so We look and conclude that teaching that God wants us to obey his voice. We must read the Bible to know God's instructions for our lives. Jesus was obedient. God was pleased with him. And every one of us as students, we look up and we read aloud how Joshua 1-8, Jeremiah chapter 7 verse 23, Isaiah 1-1, and Ephesians 6-1, all of these scriptures that God promised the people of Israel that if they would obey Him, they would be blessed and prosper. We will be happy when we obey God. And I'm saying the same thing for you children. You will be blessed. You will prosper when you obey your parents. And so, Again, people, places, and things. This second lesson focuses on Nazareth and it focuses on the temple. Here are pictures that you see that I took again with John Hagee when I was with him in 2008. Again, these areas, here is the wailing wall. Down through here is the men's side, back over here is the ladies side. The men will have their prayers on the Wailing Wall here, and the ladies will have their prayers on the Wailing Wall here. This is all from the top up in here is where the original temple set, which is no longer, and all that the Jewish people can go to to be as close to the original foundation inside of the temple is at the Wailing Walls. Here is that original site that the temple sat on. But when David and the threshing floors were first started, when David came and captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites, that area was right here. That is the original threshing floor of the temple that is right there. And here, as we look, we realize that in Nazareth, of all the things that we're looking at, Nazareth, that is right in here, we begin to realize that this is where the story unfolds for each and every one of us, that we follow Jesus' example and respond to our parents. And so we look at our koalas and we're reminded of the area of Australia, of all the koalas, the habitat where they lived and where they begin to have so many of them at one time. that there was a lot of them. Once, koalas lived everywhere, but now the only place in the wild that you can find them is in Australia. Hey, mate. Hey, I always say chap. And so, there are three species of koalas. The victors, if I can say this, cinerius, adjustin, the victor spices is from Victoria, the cinerius is from New Southern Wales, and the adjustus is from the Queenland. And so, All koalas live in eucalyptus trees. However, no koalas does not have permanent homes. It's a tree here and it's a tree there. They do not like thick bushes or grass. And so one male shares his home of 15 trees with six females. Man, something don't sound fair there. Oh my goodness, help us. And so we see the habitat. And so here, as we move on, we begin to realize that As the koalas and all of this that took place, we see as we go forward that here, the koalas body, the uniqueness of it, that when we relay this class of how by example of parents that Jesus rescues by example, They grew up koalas to be up to be two feet tall, and they're fully grown at four years old. An adult koala is about the size of a bulldog. Koalas do not have tails. Koalas have small eyes compared to the other nocturnal animals, and koalas have about 30 teeth. Whoa, that's a lot. Man, you imagine they go to the dentist, man, how many they gotta have clean there, huh? The mother koalas have pouches like a kangaroo, except they are upside down. And so, we'll talk a little bit more about some of these later on. And so, the covering of the body. They have a woolly water coat to help keep them warm in the winter and dry in the rain. Their fur blends in with the tree barks and the fur changes according to the weather. And koalas have white fur under the chin and forearm. And their rump is padded fur so that they can get a soft cushion for the hard branches that they sit on. And so, koalas have powerful arms and legs. And the front paw of the koala has two thumbs and three fingers. I'll show a little bit more details about these as well. The back paw of the koala has five toes. And so, except for the first of all the toes on the back that have claws, koalas use claws to climb, and the first toe works like a thumb, second and third toe are joined together, and the fourth and fifth are used for climbing. Boy, if that ain't descriptive. Koalas connect their toes for scratching. Oh my goodness. Hey, how about that? I wonder if they could play a banjo. And so, they have pads on their front toe to prevent them from getting hurt if they fall off of trees. And so, we look and we begin to realize that these koalas, their cuisine and what they eat. They eat eucalyptus trees. They nibble the stems, the barks from the trees. They eat only the older leaves. Younger leaves are poisonous to them, but Believe it or not, when they're in their mama's pouches, they have a secretion that goes into them from their mamas that helps them to overcome the poison from the koalas. And out of 300-something different eucalyptus leaves, believe it or not, they only prefer a variety of the odor of the 30. But that substance that comes from the pouch of the mama helps the young ones adapt to the things that they eat that gives their immune system strength. And so, normally they do not eat the same thing every meal. Hardly drink is basically, they really don't drink much water at all. That means no drink. And the mothers give pap to the babies, chewed food that has been saved and believe it or not, the babies like it. And so, You're talking about a family, an example. They climb high to get plenty of more eucalyptus leaves. And so here we see that mothers give birth to their babies only once every other year. Twins are extremely rare. Oh, my babies are called Joes and Joes are born blind and deaf and they are pink and furless. Babies live in a pouch in their mommy's tummy, and mommy cleans her pouch before her baby is born. And just like human, Joes kick their moms, and at six months they get fur, and they stay in their mother's pouch for six to eight months. And after a while, the mother says no to staying in the mother's back. You're going to get out and do your own walking. You're going to do your own climbing. You're going to do your own thing. And so usually a Joey is too scared to get out of the mother's pouch. But after coming out, the joey rides on the mother's back for a while and gets comfortable, and then finally they get out on their own. By 12 months, they start eating eucalyptus trees. And at 18 months, the young koala lives alone. Uh-oh, wow, can you imagine? And so, koalas are mammals, they're nocturnal, they are marsupials, a type of animal that has a pouch, and koalas are more related to kangaroos than bears. And so, Here we see what they are and what they are not. And so here we look and see a little bitty baby that would fit right in the cup of a coffee cup. Boy, that's pretty tiny. That's small. Man, here, what can they do? They're excellent sniffers. They never lose their amazing sense of smell. They're strong swimmers, believe it or not. They avoid each other. They are fast climbers. This koalas sleep 18 to 22 hours a day. They sleep in any position that's comfortable for them and koalas like sleeping as much as eating and they may fall asleep at the tree while chewing if the tree is very comfortable. Oh man imagine there's a lazy boy recliner up in the tree and so here we look kids and we see of all of the things about koalas that are really a great thing. And so we have to watch out for them because as they're endangered and on the endangering list is probably like all animals, humans can be the worst danger to them if they're crossing a road and get run over. Their survival, that they climb 150 feet high to be safe. and eucalyptus trees provide them with the protection from rain and shade them from the sun. And they have 650, listen to that, different species of eucalyptus trees. But remember, they only prefer 30 of them out of the 650 different trees. Their stomachs are unique, their system of cascum that is in there and this is something that's developed through being in the pouch of the mothers that is shared, cecum. And so how it's pronounced is on the bottom. And so we see that the cecum is a pouch within the petunium that is considered to be the beginning of the large intestine. It's typically located on the right side of the body and the same side of the body as the appendix to which it is joined. And the function of the cecum is it absorbs fluids and basically that remain after the completion of the intestinal digestion and absorption to mix its contents with the lubricating substance of mucus. This is some good nutrients that the mothers supply to the young babies of the koalas just as our mothers supply to our babies as they're being born. So, some scientists estimate that there's about, oh my goodness, anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 koalas left in the wild. People used to kill koalas for their fur, but since 1927, there was a law to protect the koalas, and there are people who help protect koalas. Their predators are eagles because they snatch their babies, and dingoes, a type of dog, that kill the koalas. So, as we look at trying to protect them and to help them along the way, Once we look at about a million of them, and remember I said anywhere from down to 40 to 80,000, Eastern and Southeastern Australia, that we see these. And so it's sad that the changes that are coming across the world now and estimations of how the endangered list is becoming of these ones, and we see them now, are not bears they're marsupials and so as they live in a pouch when they're babies and here we see all of the things probably more than we want to see of the koalas that are taking place with each and every one of these. as all the sleeping that they do, all of the eating only about 10%, 90% sleeping. And so out of the 650, only 30 of the fiber that they get into the pouches and the babies are called joeys. And so they're upside down compared to the kangaroos. And so six opposable thumbs that they have that are very unique, five digits, And so here as we look and realize that I have solved two different things on it. One is that they can actually sustain even if they eat the poisonous plants because of the fluids that when they were absorbed in the patch by their moms. And so the lesson of scripture that we said earlier was Luke chapter 2 verses 39 through 45. that tells us, and when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned in the Galilee to their own city, Nazareth. And the child grew wax strong in spirit, filled with wisdom. And the grace of God was upon him. And now his parents went to Jerusalem. every year at the Feast of Passover. And when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they supposed him to have been in the company when a day's journey and sought him among their kinfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. Here, as we see a picture of Jesus in the temple and how that the questions that are coming about through all of the doctors and those of that time. Three times each year all Hebrew males were required to appear before the Lord in a great festivals of the Jewish religion according to Exodus chapter 23 verses 14 through 17 and Exodus chapter 34 verse 23 at Deuteronomy chapter 16 verse 16. These festivals were Passover, Leviticus chapter 23 verse 5, Pentecost, Leviticus chapter 23 verses 15 through 22, and Tabernacles, Leviticus chapter 23 verses 34 down to verse 43. And the Old Testament law anticipated the celebration of these feasts at Jerusalem And so Luke, the historian, informs us that Joseph and Mary went up every year to Jerusalem at the Passover. Can you imagine how dedicated Mary was just to go and to support them, even though it wasn't required of her to go? And we continue on, and it came to pass that after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said to him, son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorry. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my father's business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom, and statute, and in favor with God. And so, when we look and realize that through this we need to follow Jesus' example and respect our parents and honor them. And so when we look and as we go on this safari, remember we're in the jeep, we're riding around, there ain't no walking, the animals are all about. We realize that here, no doubt that growing up in the city of Nassau was quite an adventure. You cannot escape Jesus Christ because his birth affected Caesar's politics, and God singled out the shepherds to be the first human messengers, and the angels sang about him, and he's still the theme of the greatest music in the world today. Luke wrote about him, he's the subject of the greatest literature, and the shepherds hasten to behold him. And he is still at the center of the greatest art. Jesus was perfectly balanced intellectually, wisdom, physically, stature, spiritually in favor with God, socially in favor with man, and is still the greatest example for childhood and youth today. And so the koala kingdom, the carpenter shop, the tools of the day, of all the different tools that we used, that we'll talk about here in our part of our activities page. Our lesson, we learned that Jesus obeyed and honored his parents and the Bible tells all children to obey their parents. We circle the correct answer for each question below. According to Ephesians 6.1, why are children told to obey their parents? Because this is right. Who receives honor when a child obeys his parents? God. Children should obey their parents because the Bible says to. What do you think will happen when children obey their parents? They will be blessed. And I'm glad that every one of us children should behave the way the boy Jesus did because he is our example. The objects that you expect to find in the first century carpenter shop, a wooden hammer, a chisel, a saw, that's it. When we look, on the left is a picture representing Jesus as a boy. We draw a line from him to the words on the right that you feel describe him. Can you think of any others? We see kind, obedient, helpful, polite, nice, thoughtful, and caring. And believe it or not, Jesus is every one of these things. Get back to our puzzles again. Children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. We circle the words from the memory verse in the puzzle. And this may be forward or diagonal. Letters may be used in more than one word. And when you have found all of the words, write the verses in the correct order in the space provided, which I've done for you. So what are we looking for? Children, obey your parents in the Lord. For this is right. Boy, if we didn't knock out that lesson, I wanna give you a high five on that one because we knocked it out of the park, hallelujah. Man, how about them Braves? And so the A.D.s of salvation, is A is for admit. Admit that you're a sinner and need him. For all sin comes short of the glory of God, Romans 3.23. The B stands is for to believe. Believe that Jesus died for your sins and he rose again from the dead. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in Acts 16.3. And then the C of ABC salvation is for call. Call upon Jesus to save you. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, Romans 10.13. Look at that again, will you? Whosoever, if you put your name in there, my name is Daryl, for Daryl shall call upon the name of the Lord and shall be saved. Whosoever is you. So we see the salvation pyramid. fill in the steps listed above in the ABC salvation, starting with the admit on the bottom section of the pyramid. And so here. Look here. Wow. So we're able to build our pyramid again, I remind you, like the old fashioned preachers, if you don't know what the old fashioned preacher used to do, they would preach everything in threes, huh? And I'm going to razzle dazzle you. Oh, children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right in Ephesians 6, 1. And so it is, again, that we learned this. But something that's different, the Romans wrote. One thing I didn't think about is I put my mug right in the way of these over here, but it will not block the scripture. I want you to take time to get your Bible out. And with that Bible, I want you to mark the Romans road down with me because you might be at home. And with this scripture, when you walk this road, just as Paul was saved on the road to Damascus, you can be saved at home. If you truly believe in your heart, you've got to come under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Now, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, Romans 3, 23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Romans 6, 23. Romans 5, 8. But God commends his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Look here. This is a PowerPoint. When you're watching it, you have the power to stop it at any time and set your Bible up with this Romans road and mark them out in the pages. And I thank God, Romans 10, 9, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10, 9. Romans 10, 13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And so we finish up our second lesson of Koala Kingdom that Jesus rescues by example. Remember, we need to follow Jesus' example and respect our parents. God will honor you when you honor them. Father, thank you so much for this great privilege. And I pray that we plant seeds in the young hearts. Our children are the future of our church. They're the future of everything. And Lord, I pray that I want to thank again all of Bethel Crossroads for all of the hard work of the many names. And I know that I'm not pronouncing all the names because there were so many that contributed to this successful Vacation Bible School. That on behalf of Pastor Keith Dipsy, Lord, I want to send your love out to every one of them and for all of these children. that we planted seeds in this past Vacation Bible School in Jesus' marvelous mighty name. Amen. God bless you.