Conversation Starters: God is Powerful
Posted by Karah
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE: We’ve all lost something valuable. We’ve experienced the panic-filled search for that item. Then we find it and all is well. But what about something abstract such as hope? Can a person ever truly find it? In Matthew 8, we see Jesus’ interaction with a leper and a Roman centurion. More importantly, we find an answer. In Christ we find hope for today and our future.
Preschool
Matthew 8:1-13
THE POINT: Jesus was on a mountain teaching about God. As He came down, a man with a serious skin disease came and said, “Jesus, if You are willing You can heal me.” “I am willing,” Jesus said. The man was healed. Jesus told the man to go show himself to the priest and give an offering to God. As Jesus traveled to another town, a soldier came and pleaded, “Please help my servant. He is sick and in pain.” Jesus offered to come and heal the servant. “Jesus, You do not need to come,” the man said. “Just speak the word, and my servant will be better.” Jesus was amazed by the man’s words. “Go home. Because you believed, your servant will be better.” Jesus helped people and gave them hope.
LIVE IT OUT: Talk with your child about times that God has answered specific prayers for your family. Remind her that even though sometimes we don’t get the answer we hope for, God always wants what is best for us. Begin a prayer journal. Write down prayer requests made at each devotion time, and then be sure to record God’s answers as they come.
Kids
Matthew 8:1-13
THE POINT: A man with a skin disease begged Jesus: “I know You can make me well.” Jesus answered that the man would be well, and it happened! Later, a soldier said to Jesus: “My servant is very ill and in pain.” Jesus offered to go to the servant. The soldier stopped Jesus. He told Jesus that soldiers obeyed his commands. He knew that Jesus could just speak and that his servant would be well. Jesus praised the man for his faith. He told the soldier that the servant would be well—and he was!
LIVE IT OUT: Send a card to someone in your family, church, or community who is ill. Include encouraging Bible verses and reminders that Jesus gives hope.
Students
Matthew 8:1-13
THE POINT: When we seek Christ, we find hope. Discuss with your student something important you’ve lost and later found. Have a conversation around this quote:
“Thanks be to God, there is hope today; this very hour you can choose Him and serve Him.”1 —D.L. Moody
LIVE IT OUT: Your student has been encouraged to do one or both Live It Out activities:
Encourage your student as he or she plans to connect with friends this week to discuss the Word. Pray that your student is encouraged as he or she studies with friends.
Ask your student if he or she needs help planning ways to seek Christ in different areas of life. Encourage your student during the week as he or she is working through the Live It Out.
1. Dwight Lyman Moody, Anecdotes and Illustrations of D.L. Moody, ed. James Baird McClure (Chicago: Rhodes & McClure, 1877), 100.
Posted in Just For Parents | Tagged Camp Crestridge for Girls, Camp Ridgecrest for Boys, Conversation Starters, Ridgecrest Summer Camps