MONTHLY ARCHIVES: August 2018

Conversation Starters: See the Worth in Others

Posted by Karah

CONNECTION POINT: People at church should love others like Jesus loves them.

THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE: Culture places great emphasis on our personal happiness, but people often take advantage of others to achieve that personal happiness. When the mindset is solely on our own personal happiness, we fail to take into consideration the ones we are involving. These individuals— just like us—have great value in the eyes of God. They are people made in the image of God for whom Christ died, and we are to show them the same love Christ does.

Conversation Starters: See the Worth in Others

Preschool

Acts 11:19-30

LIFE POINT: The people in the church in Jerusalem heard there was a new church in Antioch. They sent Barnabas to Antioch to see what the people were saying about Jesus. Barnabas was glad the people in Antioch were teaching other people about Jesus. Many people in Antioch believed in Jesus. Barnabas brought Saul to Antioch to teach the people more about Jesus. They stayed in Antioch for one year. Many more people in Antioch believed in Jesus. People who believed in Jesus were first called Christians at the Antioch church. A man named Agabus traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch. He told the people in Antioch about a famine in Jerusalem. The people in the Antioch church wanted to help. The people brought gifts for the Jerusalem church. Barnabas and Saul took their gifts to the people in the church in Jerusalem.

LIVE IT OUT: Talk with your child about community ministries in your church such as a food or clothing ministry. Choose a ministry and plan a time for you and your child to participate in this ministry. Your child will learn firsthand how the church helps others.

Kids

Acts 11:19-30

LIFE POINT: Believers came to a city called Antioch and began speaking to everyone about Jesus. God helped these believers tell the people of Antioch about Jesus, and many people believed in Jesus. The church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch to see what was going on, to teach more about Jesus, and to encourage the new believers. Barnabas was happy with what he saw.
Barnabas brought Saul to Antioch. For a whole year, the two men taught people at the church in Antioch where believers were first called Christians. The people in Antioch learned about a great famine. The people of the church in Antioch worked together to collect things for those who had a need. The church sent all that they had collected with Barnabas and Saul to give to church leaders in Jerusalem to help the people there.

LIVE IT OUT: Talk with your child about ways your church supports the work of God, whether in your community, state, nation, or in the world. Help your child choose a ministry at church and decide how to support that ministry. For example, she could sponsor a food drive to support the church food bank.

Students

2 Samuel 11:1-9, 14-17

THE POINT: When we see others as Christ sees them, we will treat them as He does.
• When has your opinion of someone changed in a good way?
• Why is it often difficult for us to see the value in others?
• What are some warning signs that we are viewing people as objects or obstacles?
Discuss the following quote:

“This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book.” ¹ —D. L. Moody

LIVE IT OUT: Encourage your student to take practical steps to take his or her faith and Live It Out. Here are some ways you can encourage your students to live out their faith with Christ personally, in community, and in their culture:
• CHRIST: Talk with your student this week about the ways we can reflect Jesus’ love.
• COMMUNITY: Discuss with your student ways that he or she can be a better friend. List a few ways he or she can serve a specific friend this week.
• CULTURE: Broken relationships can harm our witness. Pray with your student over any broken relationships and encourage him or her to respond in a humble way.

 

¹. Hugh F. Pyle, The Good Ship Courtship (Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Sword of the Lord, 2000), 25.


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Conversation Starters: Respect Authority

Posted by Karah

CONNECTION POINT: God is the authority over everything in people’s lives.

THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE: Most authority figures are good leaders whose authority we can respect. Unfortunately, we encounter other authority figures who, at best, are inept in what they do or, at worst, are self-serving or even “out to get us.” When it comes to respect, the Bible makes no distinction between the two types of leaders. In the Book of 1 Samuel, David modeled for us how we can respect even the worst kinds of authority figures.

Concept: Respect Authority

Preschool

Acts 10

LIFE POINT: Cornelius and his family loved God. One day, Cornelius was praying. An angel gave him a message from God. The angel told Cornelius to find a man named Peter. Cornelius sent some men to find Peter. When the men found Peter, they explained what the angel had told Cornelius. The next day Peter and the men went to Cornelius’s house. Cornelius was there, waiting with his family and friends. Peter began talking to them. “God wants me to tell you that He loves everyone,” Peter said. “God wants me to tell you about Jesus.” Peter told that Jesus was God’s Son, that Jesus taught people about God, and about the good things Jesus did. Cornelius and his family and friends listened to Peter. They believed everything Peter told them about Jesus. They loved
Jesus, too.

LIVE IT OUT: Make a list of friends who do not go to church that your child knows. Choose a friend and invite that child to go to a special event at your church, like a  “back to school ” event. Be sure your child knows he is helping his friend to hear about Jesus.

Kids

Acts 10

LIFE POINT: Cornelius was an important officer in the Roman army. Cornelius and his family worshiped God. Cornelius always prayed to God. One day God sent an angel to tell Cornelius to send for Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples. Cornelius sent three men to get Peter who was in a town called Joppa. God spoke to Peter and told him that Cornelius’s servants were looking for him. God told Peter to go with the men. Peter obeyed. Cornelius, his family, and his friends were waiting when Peter arrived at his house. Peter preached to Cornelius and everyone at his house. Peter told them about Jesus. Peter said that Jesus was sent by God so people could be forgiven for their sins: not just Jews, but all people. Cornelius and everyone who heard Peter’s message believed in Jesus.

LIVE IT OUT: How can you involve your child in God’s work around the world? If he is old enough, encourage your child to participate in a mission trip with your church. If that is not possible, he could earn money to help support a missionary or a mission trip.

Students

1 Samuel 24:3-12

THE POINT: Respect the authorities God has placed in your life.
• What have you been taught about respecting authority?
• How do you respond to the authority figures in your life?
• What do you like best about David’s approach in these verses?
• What can we learn from David about dealing with difficult people in authority?

Discuss the following quote:

“Until the will and the affections are brought under the authority of Christ, we have not begun to understand, let alone to accept, His lordship.” ¹ —Elisabeth Elliot

LIVE IT OUT: Encourage your student to take practical steps to take his or her faith and Live It Out. Here are some suggested ways for your students to live out their faith with Christ personally, in community, and in their culture:
• CHRIST: Spend time with your student discussing what he or she can do to further cultivate his or her relationship with Jesus.
• COMMUNITY: Are there opportunities to serve alongside your student ministry or ways for you to be a better community member? Pray this week for opportunities to lead and serve students.
• CULTURE: Talk with your student about ways we can live in submission to God and share His goodness with the world.

¹. Elisabeth Elliot, Passion and Purity: Learning to Bring Your Love Life Under Christ’s Control (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Revell, 2002), 41.


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