Joyful Moments in Christ

This Bible study lesson is for people who are learning English (ELL or ESL students). It is made for advanced beginner and intermediate English learners. Children who speak English or adults who prefer easy English may also enjoy it and learn from it.

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Lesson Icebreaker Question

Have you ever waited a long time for something important to happen? How did you feel while you waited?

Lesson Highlight

In this lesson, we will learn about the Kingdom of God and what Jesus said about the future. We will hear how people should be ready for the day Jesus comes again. We will talk about how to trust God with our lives.

Vocabulary List (GNT)

1. Across — From one side to the other side.
2. Belongings — The things a person owns.
3. Boat — A small ship people use to travel on water.
4. Buying And Selling — Getting things by paying money and giving things to others for money.
5. Come — To arrive at a place.
6. Coming — Arriving or happening soon.
7. Dead Body — A person who has died.
8. Day — The time from morning until night.
9. Disciples — The people who followed Jesus and learned from him.
10. Eating And Drinking — Having food and something to drink.
11. Field — Open land, usually used for farming.
12. Fire — Hot, bright flames that burn.
13. Flashes — Quick, bright lights that come and go.
14. Flood — A lot of water that covers land.
15. Grinding — Breaking something like grain into tiny pieces to make food.
16. Heaven — The place where God lives.
17. Kingdom Of God — God’s perfect place where he is King and everything is good and right. It is a real place in heaven, and it also lives in the hearts of people who love and follow him.
18. Killed — Made someone die.
19. Lights Up — Makes everything bright so people can see.
20. Lightning — A bright light in the sky during a storm.
21. Life — The time when a person is alive.
22. Lose — To no longer have something.
23. Look — To use your eyes to see something.
24. Lot — A man in the Bible who was saved when God destroyed a wicked city called Sodom.
25. Lot’s Wife — The woman who looked back at the city of Sodom and turned into a pillar of salt.
26. Married — When two people join together as husband and wife.
27. Meal — Food you eat at one time, like breakfast or dinner.
28. Must — Something you have to do.
29. Noah — A man in the Bible who built a boat to save his family and animals from a great flood.
30. People Of This Day — The people who are alive now.
31. Pharisees — A group of Jewish religious leaders in Bible times.
32. Planting And Building — Putting seeds in the ground and making homes or other places.
33. Rejected — Not accepted or turned away by others.
34. Remember — To keep something in your mind.
35. Revealed — Shown or made known to others.
36. Roof — The top covering of a house.
37. Same Way — In a similar or alike manner.
38. Save — To keep someone or something safe from danger.
39. See — To use your eyes to notice something.
40. Side — One part or edge of something.
41. Sleeping — Resting with eyes closed, usually at night.
42. Sky — The space above the earth where the sun, moon, and stars are.
43. Son Of Man — A name Jesus used to talk about himself.
44. Such A Way — In a certain manner or style.
45. Suffer — To feel pain, sadness, or hardship.
46. Sulfur — A yellow material that burns easily and smells strong, often mentioned with fire in the Bible.
47. Taken Away — Removed or carried off from a place.
48. The Time Will Come — A moment in the future will happen.
49. Those Who Try — The people who make an effort to do something.
50. Vultures — Large birds that eat dead animals.
51. Within — Inside or part of you.
52. Wish — To want something to happen.

Summary of the Passage

This passage tells us about a time when some religious leaders asked Jesus about the Kingdom of God. They wanted to know when it would come. Jesus told them it would not come in a way people could see. He said the Kingdom of God was already here, inside people’s hearts when they follow God.

Then, Jesus spoke to his followers. He told them about the future. One day, he would come again, but no one knows when. He warned them not to believe people who said they knew where or when it would happen. Jesus said it would be sudden, like lightning flashing across the sky.

Jesus reminded them about stories from long ago, like the days of Noah and Lot. People were living their normal lives, but then trouble came quickly. Jesus said that when the Son of Man comes, people must be ready. They should not try to hold on to their things but trust God and be prepared.

This passage teaches us that God’s Kingdom is not a place we can see. It is God’s rule in our hearts. It also shows us that Jesus will come again one day. We should live every day trusting him and being ready for his return.

Read The Passage

The Coming of the Kingdom
20 Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was, “The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen.
21 No one will say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’; because the Kingdom of God is within you.”
22 Then he said to the disciples, “The time will come when you will wish you could see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
23 There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, over there!’ or, ‘Look, over here!’ But don’t go out looking for it.
24 As the lightning flashes across the sky and lights it up from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.
25 But first he must suffer much and be rejected by the people of this day.
26 As it was in the time of Noah so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man.
27 Everybody kept on eating and drinking, and men and women married, up to the very day Noah went into the boat and the flood came and killed them all.
28 It will be as it was in the time of Lot. Everybody kept on eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
29 On the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and killed them all.
30 That is how it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
31 “On that day someone who is on the roof of a house must not go down into the house to get any belongings; in the same way anyone who is out in the field must not go back to the house.
32 Remember Lot’s wife!
33 Those who try to save their own life will lose it; those who lose their life will save it.
34 On that night, I tell you, there will be two people sleeping in the same bed: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind.
35 Two women will be grinding meal together: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind.”
36*
37 The disciples asked him, “Where, Lord?”
Jesus answered, “Wherever there is a dead body, the vultures will gather.”

Luke 17:20-37 (GNT)
* Note: Some manuscripts add verse 36: Two men will be working in a field: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind.

Most English learners should use the New International Reader’s Version (NIRV) or the Good News Translation (GNT) because they are easy to read. If you want to try something harder, you can read one of the other Bible versions:

• Very Easy: New International Reader’s Version: Luke 17:20-37 (NIRV)
• Easy: Good News Translation: Luke 17:20-37 (GNT)
• Medium: New Living Translation: Luke 17:20-37 (NLT)
• Hard: New International Version: Luke 17:20-37 (NIV)
• Very Hard: English Standard Version: Luke 17:20-37 (ESV)

Comprehension Questions

1. Who asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come?
2. What did Jesus say about where the Kingdom of God is?
3. What did Jesus say people should not do when others claim to see the Kingdom?
4. What did Jesus say the coming of the Son of Man would be like?
5. Who did Jesus talk about from the Old Testament?
6. What happened to the people in Noah’s time?
7. What happened in the time of Lot?
8. What did Jesus say people should not go back to get on that day?
9. What happens to people who try to save their own life?
10. What did Jesus say about two people sleeping or working together?

Application Questions

1. Why do you think it is hard for people to wait for something they cannot see?
2. How can we live ready for Jesus every day?
3. What are some things we sometimes hold on to too tightly?
4. Why is it good to trust God more than our own plans?

Theological Insights

1. Right now, God’s Kingdom is not a place we see, but something he starts in our hearts.
2. Jesus will come again, and no one knows when.
3. We should not be fooled by people who say they know the time of Jesus’ return.
4. Like in Noah and Lot’s days, many people will be unprepared.
5. God asks us to be ready, to trust him, and not to hold too tightly to our things or plans.

Closing Prayer

Dear Father, thank you for teaching us about your Kingdom. Help us to trust you and be ready for the day Jesus comes again. Amen.

ELL Resources for the Gospel of Luke

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Scripture quotations marked (GNT) are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.