The Treasure: Ancient Story Ever New of Jesus and His Church

by Marty Machowski, Flavia Sorrentino (Illustrator)

Best-selling author Marty Machowski takes young readers on an exciting biblical voyage to discover the treasure of God’s love revealed in Luke’s letters to Theophilus—Luke and Acts. In the tradition of his well-loved bestsellers The Ology and WonderFull , Machowski weaves a study of the Bible with a fictional story. The Treasure follows the adventures of Mira and Theos who discover a sea captain’s personal journal which offers clues to a hidden treasure. They can only solve the riddle of the treasure by studying two ancient scrolls, the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. Young readers will journey with the siblings as they solve their puzzle and discover the captain’s treasure—Christ! While these New Testament books are often thought of as two separate books telling different stories, they are really two halves of one greater story recorded by Luke. Through Luke’s retelling of Jesus’s work on earth and the Spirit’s work in growing the church, we see the Father’s love on full display. The Treasure will help children grow in their knowledge and love of God.

Genres: Devotional, Childrens

256 pages, Hardcover

Published October 2, 2023

About the author

Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, a Sovereign Grace Ministries church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, where he has served on the pastoral staff for more than twenty years. As leader of their children’s ministry, Promise Kingdom, he has worked for many years to develop curriculum and devotional material that connect church and home. His passion is equipping families to understand the Bible as one gospel story and help them share that with their children. He is the author of The Gospel Story for Kids series including Long Story Short: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God (OT); The Gospel Story Bible; and the Gospel Story Curriculum: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament and the forthcoming Old Story New (NT): Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God and Gospel Story Curriculum: Following Jesus in the New Testament. He and his wife Lois and their six children reside in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marty Machowski’s The Treasure: Ancient Story Ever New of Jesus and His Church tells the story of Theos and his sister, Mira, who are on a search to find a Treasure after finding a Captain’s Journal. Combining what happens in the books of Luke and Acts from the Bible, Mr. Machowski creates a fun story to help introduce young readers what the books of Luke and Acts in the Bible are all about. To add to the fun of The Treasure: Ancient Story Ever New of Jesus and His Church there are clues/puzzles sprinkled throughout the book to help keep young readers engaged and helps at the end of the book to help families go deeper in the Word and discover something new.

Marty Machowski always creates Christian books for kids that are different than anything else on the market geared toward the children’s demographic that is out there and The Treasure: Ancient Story Ever New of Jesus and His Church is no different. I love how Mr. Machowski chose to focus on the books of Luke and Acts in The Treasure: Ancient Story Ever New of Jesus and His Church. I love how every story in the book of Luke and Acts are summarized in a way that kids can understand and uses neat analogies to help them understand the point being presented. I love meeting Theos and Mira and their Mom, Lydia. I love going on the journey along with Theos and Mira (and sometimes mom, Lydia) to find the Treasure. I love the character of Pastor Thomas and the role he had in helping Theos, Mira, and Lydia with finding the Treasure. To me, there was also a splash of mystery and shock as to what happens when the Treasure is found and how it came to be. (But no spoilers from me!) If you are in Ministry or are looking for a way to get the kids in your life more engaged in learning more about what is in the Bible, then I highly recommend The Treasure: Ancient Story Ever New of Jesus and His Church by Marty Machowski!

Thank you to New Growth Press for giving me a copy of The Treasure: Ancient Story Ever New of Jesus and His Church to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My review is also on my blog, Leslie's Library Escape.

[Sydney Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

> a treasure hunt for the whole family!

> seamlessly weaves a modern story (two kids in Greece who discover old scrolls) with an ancient one (which their discovery tells) while journeying toward the treasure

> focuses on Acts & Luke, but effectively paints the plenary view of the Bible–how all parts connect and nothing is left to chance

> wonderful illustrations keep the readers’ interest engaged
(note: one page depicts a girl in a one-piece swimsuit)

> faithful to Scripture

Type: family devotional/Bible study
Ages: 4-10*

*I say these ages very loosely. It can be enjoyed by and impactful for all ages! Plus, there is a thoughtful “Bible Study for Older Children” that can facilitate excellent further discussion.

I know many of you have read Machowski’s “The Ology” based on past discussions on here, and I’m here to say that this is equally well-written!

If your family has never had devotions together (or if you’re looking for something new), I can happily suggest The Treasure. It is undated, so it can be started any time. Each entry is short, so you can even do more than one in a sitting if inclined.

One of the best parts is how well Scripture is woven in with relevancy. Your family will learn to apply Scripture to real life and be forever benefited.

It releases October 2, so follow New Growth Press on social media to be one of the first to have it in hand. Thank you, New Growth Press, Marty, and Flavia for giving our children priceless treasures.

[Debs Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I've never seen a kid's devotional quite like this, there are so many things I love about it. 1. That he includes Martha's entire story, instead of merely knocking her for behaving like the Proverbs 31 woman, 2. In the back of the book there is a section for kids who want to extend their study to compare Old Testament prophecies with New Testament fulfillments, 3. Luke & Acts stories highlight Jesus life and the resulting early church, 4. A fun fictional story that's woven in to help kids get excited, 5. Quiz questions to get kids thinking/searching, 6. Tying in Old Testament truths, 7. Amazing illustrations, 8. Lot's of real life comparisons to help kids see that God's Word is relevant for today, 8. Marty Machowski clearly loves the Word of God.

[Bethany Feustel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic companion to reading the book of Luke and the book of acts with your children. The ages of my girls currently, acts was a little bit above them. But reading the gospel of Luke together with this commentary was memorable and insightful for all of us.

[Janelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for every family!!! Captivating!

[Gabrielle Houweling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great devotional aide for reading through the books of Luke & Acts. My kids loved this one, and made for good discussion!
After we finished, my 4-year old asked if we could get another one just like it, or read it again 👌🏼