GoldenBells

Stories Jesus Told

#423

Acertainrich

man...

Tadpole

UniversityTadpole

GymnasiumPond Improvement Club

Supermarket

My Mercedes is the best in the

pond!

My mansionhas city views!

I think I’llretire here!

This is the life!

Tadpole

House

Tadpole Mansion

One day I’ll extend my house and it will be

even bigger thanthat mansion!

Will you be at the P.I.C

meeting tonight?

Of course!We must

make the pond better!

When Igrow up

I’m goingto rule the

pond!

Hey bro! Let’schill out.

There was once a little pond full of tadpoles.The tadpoles thought their pond was a wonderful place!

One day, one of the tadpoles started feeling strange...

Welcome to #423

1

Tadpole

UniversityTadpole

GymnasiumPond Improvement Club

Supermarket

My Mercedes is the best in the

pond!

My mansionhas city views!

I think I’llretire here!

This is the life!

Tadpole

House

Tadpole Mansion

One day I’ll extend my house and it will be

even bigger thanthat mansion!

Will you be at the P.I.C

meeting tonight?

Of course!We must

make the pond better!

When Igrow up

I’m goingto rule the

pond!

Hey bro! Let’schill out.

The tadpole discovered he could walk! He could jump! There was dry land! Green grass! Blue skies! The tad-pole realised he was not a tadpole anymore. He had left the pond behind forever. Now he was a frog!

Sometimes we behave just like tadpoles in a pond. We think that our life on this earth is everything. We only think about the things we can see right now. We even plan our futures in this world. We do not realise that things are going to change and that our life in this world will come to an end.

The tadpole in the comic was not born to be a tadpole forever. He was not born to live in the little pond. He was born to be a frog! He was born to live outside the pond! Don’t be mistaken. Your life is not just about the things you have on earth and the things you can see right now. You were born for something bigger and somewhere better.

You were made for God. You were made for eternity.

In #423 we are going to look at another story Jesus told. A story about a man who was a bit like one of these tadpoles. A man who forgot God, forgot his soul and forgot eternity. A man who God said was a ‘fool’. It is a serious story with a serious warning, so even if you are only very young, you had better start to do some serious thinking!

Welcome to #423

...From Claire2

Treasure Shack

KS

Hard work pays off.Soon the very ordinary man

became a very rich man.

The very rich man started to spend his money.

Then he spent some more... Then lots more!

Spending! Spending! Spending!

KidsStory There was once a man. He was a very ordinary man.

The very ordinary man started to think.

He thought and he planned and he sorted things out.

Then he started to work very hard.

The very ordinary man made a little bit of money.

Then he made some more... Then lots more!

Money! Money! Money!

TreasureBox

Treasure Cupboard

The very rich man bought some things.

Then he bought some more... Then lots more!

Things! Things! Things!

3

The very rich man was very pleased.

He looked at all the things he had stored up. He had everything! He

wanted nothing.

The very rich man started to think.

He thought and he planned and he sorted things out...

Turn the page >

“I have many things...I will never need to work again...I can take it easy and live the dream! I will eat. I will drink. I will be happy. I will...............”

Treasure City!

Treasure House

4

R.I.P

Suddenly God interrupted!God spoke to the man.

“You FOOL. Tonight your soul will be required of you!”

That same night the man died.

What happened to all the things he had stored up?

He lost everything. He had nothing.

About Us...

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Continued from p4...

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3 Things...There are three important things to remember from #423. To reveal them, write down the first letter in the name of each object below. The first one has been done for you.

Treasure House

G

Grass

1

1

1

6

CCCompetitionColouring

Send your entries to Golden Bells by August 19th - Curly has some great prizes to give away!7

Competition

Send your entries to Golden Bells by August 19th - Curly has some great prizes to give away!

Winners to be published in #424!

25

8

Fools in the Bible

1

2

3

4

The FOOL SAYS

there is no God

The FOOL HATES

teaching

The FOOL LAUGHS

at sin

The FOOL MAKESan idol

‘The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”’

‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.’

‘Fools mock at sin, but among the upright there is favour.’

‘Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man.’

- Psalm 53:1

- Proverbs 14:9

- Proverbs 1:7

- Romans 1:22-23

Match each of the statements above with the most relevant verse.

We could not fit the memory verse on the back page for this issue. Look it up in Bible Bits verse 31 (on the back page) and write it here instead:

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

2

29

“He who lays his

treasures for himself is

not rich towards God. God

provides us with many

things, but we should not

depend on them.”

(Sharon from India)

Everything on earth will pass away, so focus on God rather than on earthly treasures that ‘moth and rust doth

corrupt’(Sarah from Tasmania)

Lessons from the Parable of the Rich Fool...

Thanks everyone - there were heaps of entries in the Rich Fool Competition! There were lots of good answers… and some bad answers... and some pretty weird answers too! If you missed out on a prize this time you have another chance in…

If your name is on this

page, your prize is on the way!

“The Parable of the

Rich Fool teaches us not

to seek the things of this

world but to seek the kingdom of God.” (Jared from New South Wales)

“This means not to put you trust in worldly things

but in Jesus Christ. You can’t serve two masters. Luke 9:25, ‘What is the

profit if a man could gain the whole world but loose

his soul.” (Caleb from New South Wales)

Curly’s Colouring CompetitionHi everyone – I’m Carlton (Curly)… I really like the Parable of the Rich Fool as it teaches us not to lay up treasure on earth, which will soon pass, but rather lay up treasure in heaven which will last forever!! I read Bible Bits and drew my version of the rich fool on p7&8. Your job is to color my picture in! I have some nice prizes for the winners… but you have really got to impress me…

CompetitionCorner

10

TreasureBox

Treasure Cupboard

Treasure Shack

Treasure House

R.I.P

A fool forgets

Eternity

Warning Don’t be a fool!

A fool forgets

God

“I... I... I...”

Don’t be like the rich man

who thought and planned and sorted

things out... without God!

Don’t be like the rich man who thought his life on this

earth was everything!

A fool forgets their

Soul Don’t be like the rich man who was so busy getting

‘things’ that he forgot the most important thing he had!

11

“For what is your life? It is even a

vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

(James 4:14)

“What will it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”

(Mark 8:36)

“Prepare to meet your God.” (Amos 4:12)

Don’t be a fool!

If you leave God out of your life, you can be sure that one day He will unexpectedly interrupt you. When you suddenly meet God, you will realise that life is not yours, things are not yours, time is not yours and you may be left with nothing at all.

Don’t forget about your God.

The most precious thing you have is something you cannot see (that is why it is easy to forget!) It is something that is inside you. It is the part of you that was made for God. The part of you that will live forever! It is your soul.

Don’t forget about your soul.

You might live until you are 21, 55 or even 100yrs old... then you will die. Dy-ing is the end of life and the beginning of eternity. Eternity is forever and ever. It goes on and on and on... etc. However long your life may be it will seem like 5 seconds when compared with eternity.

Don’t forget about your eternity.

Lessons from the parable TheBible

Warns...

12

YoungChristiansPage

A man came to Jesus and asked Him to settle a family argument. His brother had inherited some money, part of which was rightfully his, but his brother would not give it to him.

Jesus replied by telling the man that there are more important things in life than money and possessions. He then told the story of the rich farmer to illustrate what He meant.

The farmer had an excellent crop. “This is good” he thought to himself and stored up as much as he could. With so much stored away he felt secure and decided to use all his effort to have a good time eating, drinking and making merry. But then something happened. Some-thing that he had not thought about. Something quite unexpected. His life ran out and he died. Everything he possessed, everything he had worked for, he had to leave behind. His possessions were gone, his plans were over. Things had changed. Everything he thought impor-tant, everything he thought worth working for, everything he thought made up his life was finished.

God said, “You fool!” No, it was not an insult, nor was it abuse. It was a fact. The farmer had made some terrible and tragic mistakes.

The things he could see, have and enjoy now were the things that he had set his heart on. He forgot that none of these things were perma-nent. None of them could be relied on. In the end, either you go, or they go. The Bible says the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

He thought life was all about possessionsMistake #1

Mistake #2

Mistake #3

Mistake #4

13

YoungChristiansPage

The farmer thought about his farm, his crops, his barn and his future. He thought about Himself but he never thought about God. God was not part of the farmer’s plans. The unseen God, the God who made Him, the God who he was made for – he left Him out!

Just because you can’t see a thing does not mean it is not real. He looked at himself and saw a successful man, someone to eat, drink and be merry. He forgot the part of him he could not see – his soul. He looked after his body but he forgot his soul. He forgot about heaven. He forgot about life after death.

Nothing stays the same. Not the crops – they rot. Not the barns – they fall down. Not even ourselves – we must all die. The farmer was like the tadpole who thought his pond was forever and beyond it there was nothing more.

The Bible calls this sort of person a fool. Someone who provides only for now and not for the real future. Someone who thinks living is made up of getting all you can and thinks security and happiness is found in possessions. Someone who thinks life is only what you can see. Yes that is the life of the fool. “For the fool has said in his heart, there is no God” and he lives that way.

He forgot about the things you cannot seeMistake #2

Mistake #3He forgot things would change

He never thought about GodMistake #4

Jesus then talked about the things a Christian should be concerned about. It is not possessions such as clothing and earthly wealth that re-ally matter. A Christian’s heart is somewhere else - the Christian looks forward to eternity. Jesus says that the Christian who seeks first “the Kingdom of God” will have “all these things added” to them. In other words, if we concern ourselves with the heavenly things that really matter, God will ensure our earthly needs are supplied.

14

15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he pos-sesses.”16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a cer-tain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, say-ing, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not wor-ry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will

put on. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens, for they nei-ther sow nor reap, which have nei-ther storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more val-ue are you than the birds? 25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

Luke 12:15-31[NKJV] Bible Bits

Golden Bells #423 is based on the Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke chapter 12. Here is the original story for you to read.

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