This weekend the kids hear the account of Paul reminding the believers in Ephesus that Jesus taught about love and forgiveness. They learned that God calls us to practice love and forgiveness. They were encouraged to be imitators of God by loving and forgiving others as God loves and forgives us.

Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus is filled with advice and tips on how to “live the story,” including specific advice about to live in love with one another. In order to live a life of love, Paul first tells us to put away that which is harmful to ourselves and to others: “bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31). Instead Paul says that we must be “kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).

Wow! Can you imagine what kind of world we would live in if we all just followed those simple words of advice? The truth, though, is that our world is often full of the things that Paul advises us to “put away.”

God expects us to love as He intended. Note that Paul does not say that it will be easy for the church to follow this advice. Paul knew better than that! He knew how easy it is for people to use harsh words, to gossip about each other, to let anger get the best of them, or to carry a grudge. So Paul was not saying that living a life of love would be a simple task.

Paul did, however, give us one great tip on how we could work toward such a life. He wrote, “therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1). Surely, we are far from smelling like a fragrant sacrifice. But isn’t it wonderful that we are forgiven? And isn’t it great knowing that we have an example of Christ to follow in our own lives?

Children know about all the “junk” that Paul tell us to get out of our lives. They get angry; they sometimes say mean words. They unfortunately see adults behaving in such ways. So this week as you interact with your children, remember that they are looking at you, therefore, it is crucial that you become “imitators of God.” Remember that Paul said to be kind to one another that we should forgive. This week also encourage the children to fill their lives with love and kindness and forgiveness. As Christ is our supreme example, let’s strive also to be an example for little eyes and little lives to follow.

This weekend the children heard the account of Mary learning from Jesus. We also taught them that learning about Jesus helps us know how to live.

The New York Times reports something that we already know: Americans work long hours. The bottom line is that people today have about five hours of free time a day, and most of that time is spent watching television. The question that we raised this weekend was this: “with only five hours a day, can you make time to spend at Jesus’ feet learning?” In the Biblical account we read this weekend, Mary and Martha were faced with the same question.

Both Mary and Martha loved Jesus. He was coming to their house, and they were excited. Martha especially wanted everything to be perfect. The house had to be cleaned and Jesus’ favorite dishes must be prepared! Though Martha often gets a bad rap, her intentions were good. She was doing her best to be sure that everyone’s needs were met.

When Jesus arrived, Mary stopped and just sat at His feet. She wanted to learn, and listen to everything He had to say. Martha on the other hand continued to get busy and even got upset that her sister had stopped helping her. she even went to Jesus to complain and to ask Him to make Mary help her. Jesus did not, He knew that this was an important time of learning.

There can be no doubt that Jesus appreciated what Martha had done. However, He probably did not care if the house was spotless. He probably did not expect all His favorite dishes to be served, a simple meal would have been fine with Him. Jesus was more interested in having Mary’s and Martha’s time. He wanted them to focus on His teachings and not be distracted with busyness. Sometimes just like Martha, we can also miss this point.

Today we can still get busy doing things “for Jesus” and fail to learn from Jesus. We sometimes forget that Jesus does not only call us to serve; He first calls us to learn, to spend time in prayer, and to work on our personal relationship with Him. When we put that first, servant hood comes naturally, and without the stress or exhaustion that comes from service without learning.

Sometimes we as parents get bogged down in planning all sort of things for our children, and we tend to forget to plan time for them to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn. This week as you interact with your children, help them to see all there is to learn about Jesus. Pray that God will make your home a place where learning begins and never ends. Pray that God will instill in your children a love for learning more about Jesus.

All this year we have been focusing on the accounts of our faith. Now this month we are focusing on living according to those accounts. And this weekend we focused on prayer as a way to live our faith. We learned about what is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer.

When the disciples went to Jesus in this weekend’s account, they were looking for the right way to pray. In many ways prayer had become a contest among some Temple leaders. For many Temple leaders, their teachings and prayers had to be bigger and better than anyone else’s. Sometimes they would go on for hours, trying to “out pray” the others. So we see that when the disciples went to Jesus they were looking to Jesus, their leader and teacher to show them the best way to pray.

When Jesus gave the Lord’s Prayer to his followers, the point was not that these were the only words to be prayed. The point was that prayer should be between individuals and God. Prayer should not be said to impress other people.

The beauty of the Lord’s Prayer is its simplicity. Jesus said that when we go to God in prayer He knows our heart and what we long to say before we even say it. So the purpose of our prayer should not be what we say, it should be a child coming to a loving parent to share his or her needs.

Jesus used a simple but very powerful name for God to help the disciples and us remember our relationship with God: “Our Father.” Jesus continued the prayer by honoring God and giving praise to God’s holiness.

This week as you interact with your children, be willing to share your prayer experiences with them. Also remind them that talking to God is a very important part of a Christian’s life, and that they can do it anytime, anywhere, and most importantly about anything.

This weekend we started a month-long study of how we are to live as Christians. For direction on how to live our lives, we look to the Bible. We believe that Biblical accounts can teach us how to live as Christians. This weekend’s lesson on Salomon building the Temple and gathering God’s people together for worship reminds us that gathering together to praise and honor God through worship is an important aspect of living as Christians. This weekend we taught thet kids of ways that they can worship God.

Almost five hundred years after the Exodus, and four years after he became king, Solomon decided to build a temple. Building a house for God was originally King David’s idea. God, however, had other plans. God told David that building a temple was a good idea, but that he was not the one to do it. God chose Solomon, David’s son, to build the Temple (you can read the account in 1 Chronicles 22:1-10).

The building of the Temple was a great task that took seven years. The Bible gives us a detailed description of the measurements and all the supplies that were used. The Temple itself, however, is not the focus of the lesson. Instead the focus is the reason that the Temple was built. The Temple served as a reminder of God’s presence. The same way that every church that is built serves a reminder that God is present among His people today.

This week as you interact with your children, remind them that God is a personal God. Remind them that we each have a personal relationship with Him. Remind them that they can talk to God directly whenever and wherever he or she chooses. Remind them also, that God is everywhere. Remember that we are always telling the children that God is everywhere and that we will never be able to hide from Him. We believe all these things to be true, and it is important for the children to believe them too.

This weekend the children hear about the friendship between David and Jonathan. They were also taught how to encourage one another.

Friends forever that is what David and Jonathan swore to be. Most children have made a similar pledge at one time or other. David and Jonathan were of the same heart, brought together by their love for God. David and Jonathan believed that a king of God’s people should seek to do God’s will. That is why when king Saul’s heart ceased to seek after God, Jonathan, Saul’s own son, was willing to support his friend David. Jonathan’s father was obsessed with remaining king at any cost and sinned against God. When Jonathan saw that his father was even willing to kill David, Jonathan realized his loyalty had to be with his friend. The two friends swore their allegiance to one.

As we learned more about this account we see that Jonathan riked everything he had to protect David. He did what was right in the eyes of God when he put his love for God and his love for David above his own safety and concerns. This lesson teaches the kids that in all circumstances of life they can learn that when they choose to love instead of hate, the love of God brings them closer to people in ways that they will cherish for the rest of their lives.

This week as you interact with your children ask them how far they would go for a friend, and teach them what the limits of friendship should be. Teach them that there are times when they can go along with what a friend wants to do and that there are also times when they must refuse to go along. And most important talk to them about the best friend they will ever have and that is Jesus.

“The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever”. 1Samuel 20:42

This weekend the kids explored the biblical account of Ruth. We also showed them the place that Ruth has in the lineage of Jesus. We then had them think about the meaning of true friendship. We discussed how the church is like a family.

When the book of Ruth opens, it tells us that everything has gone wrong. There is a famine in Bethlehem that forced Elimelech and his wife Naomi along with their sons to move to Moab in order to survive. While they were in Moab, Elimelech died and the sons married Moabite wives, but the tragedies didn’t stop there. Naomi’s two sons also died leaving her and her daughters in law alone. As the story goes along we can see that the main theme is one of true friendship. Because Ruth sticks with Naomi, she meets and marries Boaz, creating a new family of which Naomi is a part. Ruth and Boaz have a baby named Obed who later became the grandfather of David, from whose lineage will much later come Mary, the mother of Jesus. As you can see this story provides a good opportunity to talk about ways families care for one another and also how the church family can support one another and care for those in need.

“The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever”. 1Samuel 20:42

This weekend we continued our journey with Paul as he says goodbye to the church leaders at Ephesus. He reminded them of all that had been accomplished in the forming of the church. He encouraged them to continue with the work that had been started. As he said his goodbyes, Paul warned the leaders of the hard times that would come to them as Christians, and he told them to be faithful. Paul left Ephesus with words of encouragement. As Christians we are called to be encouragers in the faith. We are called to lift one another up with kind words, service, and prayer.

As we have been teaching the kids about Paul’s journeys, we have been helping them to see themselves as missioanries. Even though children and most adults do not have the flexibility Paul had to travel anywhere, all of us can share the love of God and the truth about Jesus wherever we go. As you spend time with your children this week, encourage them, support and edify them, pray for them. The work that you are doing in raising them is important, and most important your children see you as examples of what God wants them to be.

“I am proud of the good news” Romans 1:16

Once again this weekend, we journeyed with Paul as he continues to share the good news about Jesus with everyone he meets. This weekend we focused on Paul’s second missionary journey. Paul began this journey from Jerusalem, and he had Barnabas as his traveling companion. They first went to the church in Antioch to let them know the decisions that the Jerusalem council had taken regarding Gentiles who had come to believe and follow Jesus.

The journey then takes Paul to revisit places he had been previously. In each of these places, Paul visits with the believers and encourages them to keep the faith. Paul then travels to new places, guided by the Holy Spirit, who keeps him out of Asia and shows him in a vision someone in Macedonia asking for help.

Everywhere that Paul went, he searched for opportunities to preach and share the good news about Jesus. Often this meant searching out places where people prayed and meeting with them. Sometimes Paul was thrown in jail for speaking about Jesus, but even there, he used that opportunity to talk to the jailer about Jesus. Through Paul’s travels and his efforts to share the good news about Jesus with everyone he met, the Word of God spread and the early church continued to grow. If Paul had stayed home we might not be having this lesson this weekend.

We might be tempted to applaud Paul for his efforts and then just sit back and do nothing thinking that the work of spreading the good news about Jesus is done. However, there are still people today who need to hear about Jesus, that He is alive and loves them. This week spend some time in prayer, asking God to help you see opportunities to share the good news. Also encourage your children to do the same. In doing this you are following Paul’s example and spreading the good news.

“For I am not ashame of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith” Romans 1:16

Last week we learned about Paul’s conversion, this weekend we learned about Paul’s first missionary journey. We helped the kids discover how God can use even the most unlikely people to go other places and tell others about Jesus. We explored with the children ways they can share the accounts about Jesus with others wherever they go, like Paul did.

Paul is famous for letters he wrote to churches. Thirteen of these letters were included in the Bible. However, none of these letters would have been written had it not been for Paul’s willingness to share about Jesus. Paul went to many places and everywhere he went he shared about Jesus, especially with Gentiles who didn’t know God. This weekend we learned about Paul’s trip when he traveled through modern day Turkey to share the gospel.

Paul took with him his trusted friend Barnabas, they encountered people who were open to the gospel and they also encountered people that were opposed to it. But no matter how people reacted, no matter what the situation was, Paul and Barnabas continued to tell everyone about Jesus. They spoke boldly about Jesus!

This week as you spend time with your children, remind them that no matter where we go and no matter how people react to us, our job is to share the truth we have learned about Jesus. Pray for God to give you and your children courage like that of Barnabas and Paul.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith” Romans 1:16

This week we learned about the most famous conversion in the Bible, Paul’s conversion. Paul always considered himself a man of God. He was born in the city of Tarsus to Jewish parents who were also Roman citizens. Because of this, Paul used two different names: his Jewish name Saul when he was among the Jews, and his Roman name Paul when he was among the Gentiles. When time came for Paul to choose what to do in life, he moved from Tarsus to Jerusalem to become a Pharisee. By the time of Stephen’s death, Paul was one of the religious leaders in the Temple. After Stephen’s death, Paul decided to further his career by seeking out followers of Jesus to arrest them, try them, and sometimes even kill them.

One day Paul was on his way to Damascus to arrest the followers of Jesus when he encountered the risen Jesus. That day Paul changed completely. Paul no longer worried about what other people thought about what he said and did. Instead, Paul devoted his life to going wherever God sent him and to sharing the message of Jesus’ love with anyone that would listen. Prior to meeting the risen Jesus, Paul’s focus was on what he needed to impress others and gain popularity and power. After meeting the risen Jesus, Pauls’s focus was on being humble and doing whatever was needed to teach others about God’s love.

Sharing what we believe as a Christian is not always easy. In fact it can be very hard. It is natural to worry about how people wil react when we start to talk about Jesus. However, Paul’s story shows that when we put our focus on what other people think, we are likely to take the wrong path.

Your children may be at an age where peer pressure is a major factor in their lives. No one wants to feel singled out or different. This week try modeling ways for your children to share their faith without being ashamed. It is not about pushing your children to be traveling evangelists, but instead to encourage your children not to be ashamed of what they believe and to be willing to tell others. Once they do this they will build self-confidence.

“For I a not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith” Romans 1:16