Posts made in March, 2016

March 20

God, tell me a story about…prayer

Garden of Gethsemane

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

Read Matthew 26:36-46 

1 – Where does Jesus go to pray? Who does He go with?

2 – How is Jesus feeling? (verses 37 and 38) What are other words we could use instead of “troubled” and “sorrow”? (check a Thesaurus)

3 – Have you ever felt troubled? (concerned, distressed, pained, scared, confused) What did you do or what do you do when you feel that way?

4 – In verse 39, what does Jesus ask for? But then, how does He end His prayer? What does that mean, “Yet not as I will, but as you will”? Have you ever ended a prayer that way? How about your parents?

5 – Why does Jesus want the disciples to pray? (verse 41) Here, the disciples have forgotten or dismissed how much they need God to strengthen them. Have you ever forgotten about this? When or why?

Read Luke 23: 32-46

6 – In His final hours, Jesus continues to talk to God, what does He say? (verses 34, 46) Does Jesus have any sins to confess? Why or why not? Is there anything that you need to confess?

7 – In KidVenture we talked about how prayer should be honest, humble and continual. What words would you use to describe how Jesus prayed?

8 – Why did Jesus die on the cross? What can you do to remember the sacrifice Jesus made? What can you do to thank Jesus for the sacrifice He made?

This week’s challenge

The snow is melting, let’s go outside. Grab a backpack and fill it up with books and go for a walk. After a few minutes, give the backpack to someone else to carry. Continue to pass the backpack until everyone’s had a turn. When you get back, talk about how when we hide our sins (or don’t confess our sins) it weighs us down, it makes us tired or makes us feel weak, just like carrying the heavy back pack. But, when we confess our sins to God, he forgives us, he takes our sins away, this gives us energy and makes us stronger (like how we felt once we gave the backpack away). Finish off by reading Psalm 32 together.

 

And, just because, here’s a video telling the story of Easter.

 

Read More

March 13

God, tell me a story about…prayer

From the Gospels

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,

Hebrew 12: 28

Today’s story is from The Gospels

1 – When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, what did Jesus answer? (Read Matthew 6:5-13)

Try to think back to the different things we talked about in KidVenture over the last couple weeks. We talked about how prayer is communicating (or talking) with God. We talked about how our prayers should be honest and humble. We should talk to God like we talk to our best friend or parents. Just as David did in the Psalms. Honest and humble communication brings us closer to God.

2 – In Matthew 6:5, Jesus refers to hypocrites and pagans. Were their prayers honest and humble? Why or why not?

3 – Over the last couple weeks we also saw that our prayers should include: praising God, thanking God, asking help for ourselves, asking help for others and confessing our sins. Do you recognize any of these in the Lord’s Prayer? Where?

4 – The gospels allow us to see how Jesus lived while he was on earth. There are several verses which refer to prayer. Let’s review a few of them to see what we can learn about how Jesus prayed.

– Luke 9:28

– Luke 6:12

– Luke 5:16

– Mark 8:6

When we read through the gospels we see that Jesus prayed often, he prayed alone, he prayed with others, he said short prayers and long prayers, he prayed to say thank you, he prayed for wisdom, he prayed for strength. He prayed to connect with his father. His prayers were honest and humble.

5 – What do your prayers like look?

This week’s challenge

Let’s use our bibles. Look up the verse and then draw a line to the corresponding item.

  • psalm 34:1                           – Listen
  • James 5:14                           – Confession
  • Romans 10:17                     – Praise
  • Philippians 4:6                    – Thanksgiving
  • Psalm 107:1                         – Request for others
  • Psalm 115:1                         – Request for ourselves
  • Luke 11:28                           – Praise
  • 1John 1:9                              – Confession
  • Numbers 21:7                      – Request for others
  • Psalm 5:3                              – Request for ourselves
  • Psalm 32:5                            – Listen
Read More

March 6

God, tell me a story about…prayer

Elijah

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:3

Today’s story is from 1 Kings 17 and 18

Click here for a short video which focuses on Elijah and the altar

Or, older kids can click here to read Elijah’s full story 

1 – What is a prophet?

2 – Our story begins with God telling Elijah to tell the king that there will be a drought. What’s a drought? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Was the king happy to hear this news from Elijah?

3 – God then tells Elijah to leave and hide (1 Kings 17:2) and that He will take care of him. How will God care for Elijah? (1 Kings 17:4) Does Elijah hear God? Does Elijah do as God says?

4 – Elijah stayed away for three years. After three years why did Elijah return? (1 Kings 18:1) Two altars were built. One to God. Who was the other altar for?

5 – When the people prayed to Baal, what happened? When Elijah prayed to God what happened?

6 – What did the people learn that day? What have you learned from reading this story?

BONUS QUESTIONS (if you read the whole story)

7 – After awhile there is no more water where Elijah is hiding and so God tells Elijah to go to Zarephath. How does God take care of Elijah there? (1 Kings 17:9-16)

8 – Elijah stays with a woman and her boy, but the boy dies. What does Elijah do? How does God respond? (1 Kings 17:21-22)

This week’s challenge

Ask your parents to help you make it rain fire. (Click ahead to trick #5)

 

Read More

Recent Comments

Categories