Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Children's Church Lesson: The LORD's Prayer

Story
Say: Do you pray?  How do you pray? (take some answers) What do you pray about?  (Take answers)  In today’s story we will see what Jesus had to say when his disciples asked him to teach them how to pray

Read “The Lord’s Prayer” in  any children's story Bible (or read Matthew 6:5-15).  
Lesson
Say: The Lord’s Prayer is something we can always pray, but it also shows us how to pray – we can use our own words and still pray the same way. 
'Our Father in heaven, hallowed is your name' - It's always good to begin by worshipping God and focusing our hearts on him in some way
'Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven' - What would you like to ask God to do? For example, do you have a friend who is ill; who we could pray will get better?  Have you seen God answer any prayers?
'Give us today our daily bread' - Do you thank God for your lunch? Which foods are your favorite ones? Which food would you most like to thank God for?
‘Forgive us our sins' - Do we remember to say sorry when we've done something wrong? Did we say sorry to God?
We pray to God to honor Him, to say thank you, and to ask for help.

Big Idea
We pray to God honor him, to say thank you, and to ask for help.

Memory Verse
22 You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” – Matthew 21:22

Craft
Kids will decorate the Lord’s Prayer Booklet: http://www.dltk-teach.com/minibooks/prayer/

Friday, February 6, 2015

Children's church lesson: the 12 spies

Say: Today we are going to read a story about two real live spies! Their names were Caleb and Joshua. A spy is a person who secretly watches something to get information.  Let’s see what happens! 

Read “The Twelve Spies" in any children's story Bible, or read Numbers 14 
Lesson
Say: What kind of report did the ten men give? (Awesome land, good food.  The people are too big and strong.  We can’t go there) Why did Caleb and Joshua give a different report? (The trusted God and knew he would be with them) What did the reports of the other spies make all the people think? (The people were afraid and did not believe that God would help them conquer the Canaanites).

Caleb and Joshua didn’t listen to the bad reports. Instead, they put their confidence in what God said.  Caleb and Joshua were confident in God’s promise, even when the others were not. Caleb and Joshua believed in God’s promise to them. God keeps his promises to us, too! We can believe in God.
 Big Idea
God keeps his promises to us! We can believe in God. 

Memory Verse
Trust in the God with all your heart – Proverbs 3:5  

Prayer- Ask for Joys and Requests
Take a minute to see if the children have any prayer requests or prayer joys Say a short prayer thanking God loving us and taking care of us. 

Craft
Make and decorate toilet paper role binoculars.

Friday, January 30, 2015

Children's Church Lesson: God's House (John 14:1-14)

Story
Say: Have you ever thought about heaven?  What do you think heaven is like?  (Take answers)  Those are great answers.  In today’s story Jesus shares a little bit about heaven. 

Read “God’s House” in any story bible, or read John 14:1-14.

Lesson
Say: What is God’s house in heaven like? (Big, room for everyone) Why was Jesus going to heaven? (To get it ready for everyone) How do we get to heaven to be with God?  (Jesus is the way!) 
Jesus teaches us two things about heaven in this story.  The first thing he teaches us is that there is room for everyone in heaven!  That is great news isn’t it?!

The Second thing that Jesus tells us about heaven is that he is the only way to get to heaven.  What did Jesus mean by that (take answers).  That’s right!  Jesus made a way for us to get to heaven.  Jesus loves us and wants us to go to Heaven one day. How do we get to Heaven? We have to believe that Jesus died and came back to life. We must know that Jesus died for the wrongs we have done. We must tell Jesus we are sorry for our sins and ask Him to forgive us. Then, we must ask Jesus to come into our heart and help us live for God in all we do. Jesus promises to stay with us forever and take us to Heaven one day. If you want to know more about Jesus, talk to us anytime about it.  

Big Idea
Jesus is the way to heaven!  We go to heaven when we admit our sin and accept his gift.   

Memory Verse
Jesus said “I am the way, to God.” -  John 14:6

Prayer- Ask for Joys and Requests
Take a minute to see if the children have any prayer requests or prayer joys Say a short prayer thanking God loving us and asking Him to help us love others.  

Craft


Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Youth Discussion: A Heavenly Perspective (Philippians 3:10-4:1)

Bible Verse 1: Philippians 3:10-4:1
         
Video:  “Evermore” Dan Stevers 

Bible Verse 2:                                   

Five Questions:

1.     Are you ever afraid of death?  Why?
2.     What does Paul say happens when people don’t follow Christ? (Philippians 3: 18-19)
3.     What happens to people who follow Christ as his Disciples?  (Philippians 3: 20-21)
4.     In the video those who go to heaven are themselves only better.  How does this make you feel?
5.     Does the video answer some questions you might have about death and heaven?  Do you have others?
6.     How does knowing that God had a plan from the very beginning help you to be less afraid?  How does it help you to trust God?


Wrap Up:

Verses 18 and 19 describe those who live as “enemies of the cross of Christ”. “Their mind is on earthly things”; in other words, they can’t see beyond the here and now (i.e., “whose god is their belly”), and they only live for the present moment. But, says Paul, “our citizenship is in heaven” (v 20). To know Christ, we must understand that heaven is our home. We are called “heavenwards” (v 14), we belong there (v 20), our Saviour will return from there (v 20), and he will transform “our lowly bodies” (v 21) into glorious bodies that will spend eternity there. Keeping that heavenly perspective, says Paul, is “how you should stand firm in the Lord” (Philippians 4:1).

Supposing we decide that our country is no longer worth living in, and we become convinced that Peru is the place to be. We receive our Peruvian citizenship, but must wait six months before we move there. What will we do in the meantime? We will not spend our time building up our attachment to our old country – extending our home, buying things that we will have to leave behind when we move, forming relationships that have no future. We will spend time getting ready to live in our new country – learning the language, the customs, the national anthem, the history. And we will think about and talk to each other about how marvellous it will be when we move there. Knowing Christ should change the way we look at everything – our homes, our work, our relationships, what we spend our money on, what we give our time to. Knowing Christ is not just the aim of life; it is life.


Close in prayer and ask for prayer requests. 

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Youth Lesson: The New Nature (Colossians 3:5-14)

Bible Verse 1: Colossians 3:5-14
         
Video:  “Can You Here Me Now”- Skit Guys 

Bible Verse 2:  Colossians 3:12-14   

Five Questions:

1.     Do you think that in the video “Trevor” is angry at his friend, the phone or both? Why?
2.     In the passage in Colossians how does God say we are to treat others?
3.     Why is it so hard to be patient with one another?
4.     Should both friends in the video forgive each other or does only one friend need to forgive the other? Why?
5.     What does it mean that God forgives us so we must forgive others?
6.     How well do these verses describe this group and this church?  What can we do to be more like what Colossians 3 calls us to be?



Close in prayer and ask for prayer requests. 

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Salt and Light

Story/Passage
Say: What do your friends and family say that you are like? (take answers)  In today’s story Jesus shows us how we can be like salt and light.  Let’s take a look!

 Read “Salt and Light” in any children's bible (Matthew 5:13-17)
Lesson
Say: Do you like salt? What does food taste like when there is no salt in it? (Let the children answer). When salt is added to some foods they taste much better. God put Christians in this world so that we can make the world better. Are you salt? Do you make this world better? Tell me some ways you make your school better? (Let the children answer and then go on to talk about ways they can make home, sports, etc. better by living a Christian life.)
What do you think Jesus meant when he said: “You are the light of the world”? Did he mean we are not human but that we are light bulbs? Of course not. He was saying a parable to tell the people something very important.  Many people in this world do not know about God. Jesus said that it is like they are in a very dark place. They need someone to give them some light so that they can see. When Christians obey God then it is like a light is shining. People see Christians doing good things and it makes them want to follow God.
When we live like Jesus and tell others what we he has done for them we are being like salt and light.

Big Idea
When we live like Jesus and tell others what we he has done for them we are being like salt and light. 

Memory Verse

Matthew 5:16 …let your light shine…

Prayer- Ask for Joys and Requests
Take a minute to see if the children have any prayer requests or prayer joys Say a short prayer thanking God loving us and asking Him to help us be like salt and light to the people around us.  

Song

Monday, December 29, 2014

The Wise Men

Story
Say: Sometime after Jesus was born, some special visitors came to see Him. These visitors are known as the three wise men. Everyone has probably heard the Christmas carol that goes "We three kings of Orient are..." Without a doubt they were wise, because they were searching for Jesus in order to worship him and give him gifts.

Read “Wise Men” in any children's bible 
Lesson
Say: What did the magi see that caused them to look for Jesus? (A star in the east.)  How did King Herod know that the magi would find Jesus in Bethlehem? (He asked the chief priests and teachers of the law, who knew the prophecy that said a ruler of the Israeli people would come from Bethlehem.)  What gifts did the magi give to Jesus? (Gold, incense and myrrh.) Besides giving gifts, what else did the magi do when they saw Jesus? (They worshipped Him.)
The Three Wise men were from A different part of the world than Jesus and his family.  They knew that God made a promise to send Jesus to save the whole world.  No matter what we look like, how we dress or where we come from,  Jesus came as a baby to save us all.  Thank you God for Jesus!  
Big Idea
Jesus came to earth to save us from our sins so we can live with him forever in heaven!   

Memory Verse
God loved the world so much that he sent his only so anyone who believes in him will be saved – John 3:16

Prayer- Ask for Joys and Requests
Take a minute to see if the children have any prayer requests or prayer joys.  Say a short prayer thanking God for love us and sending us his son.  Ask God to help us share the good news with others.