Community Week of 3/25/12

This week's word is Community.  Having community is a very important part of following God. It was his plan for us from the very beginning.  We find this out in the second chapter of the bible, God says that it is not good for Adam to be alone.  It's interesting because until this point God had declared everything to be good, but he calls the fact that Adam is alone not good, and he makes Eve.  It was never God's plan for any of us to be alone. 

Along with learning about Adam being designed for companionship, we learned about encouraging each other in Hebrews chapter 3.  We also looked at Matthew chapter 10 where it talks about how Jesus had a community of 12 disciples who he did ministry with.  It seems to me that if it was important for Jesus it is probably important for all of us!

Sometimes in our culture we can undervalue community with other Christians.  However, the fact is that we absolutely need each other if we are going to successfully follow Jesus. We were not designed to "go it alone", and unlike Euchre you will not receive more points if you do it.  For some people Christian community happens easily and naturally, but if you do not have a support system of other Christ followers that you can actually talk to, you should seek these relationships out.  A good way to start would be by joining a small group, or getting involved in Sparks (if you are a woman) or plugging in to a ministry at LSCC.  

3-18-12 Character

This week our theme is Character.  We are learning about what it takes to develop good Character.  Something I want to stress to the kids is that often times we develop good character when we face struggles.  God can use these hard times to help us grow into mature people.  But when we talk about this we have to be careful to explain that God does not just send us trouble because he thinks it will make us better, he uses the trouble that comes as a result of the fallen world we live in to bring about good things in our lives.  So even when bad things happen, God can take those bad things and redeem them in our lives!

Scripture that we are looking at this week is Romans 5:1-5.  Also we are looking at James 1:2-4

We also read the story of Saul becoming a follower of Jesus in Acts chapter 9.  Saul was a person who hated the Christian religion until he had a surprising encounter with Jesus.  He learned about the love and grace of Jesus and actually went on to write many of the books of the new testament! 

Encourage your young people to persevere through trials and hard times.  Let them know that even though times are hard, God can take the hard things they are going through and use these times for good.  Above all else, show them that the love and grace of Jesus is more important than anything, even if things are hard. 

Caring Week of 3/11/12

This week's theme is caring.  We are learning about the importance of caring about others. 
We are looking at James 1:27 which says that real religion is caring about orphans and widows and keeping from being polluted by the world.  This simply means that rather than doing our best to appear religious, our actions should show what we really believe. 

Another bible verse that we will study is John 3:16.  This is a very often memorized and quoted verse that says that God loved the world so much that he sent Jesus so that our sins could be payed for.  This is important because if Jesus cared enough for us to leave heaven and come to us, we should care about others enough to leave our comfort zone and minister to them. 

In children's church we will be looking at the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  This story can be found in John 11.  This story tells a lot about Jesus.  First off, in the story Jesus knows that Lazarus is going to die and that he is going to bring him back.  This is a great example of Jesus' divinity.  We also see Jesus weeping even though he knew that Lazarus was going to come back.  What a great example of his humanity!  He felt sadness even though he knew it would be ok!  More than anything, this story tells us about Jesus' heart.  He really cared for Lazarus and all the people mourning his death.  While it is doubtful that God is going to use us to raise people's loved ones from the dead, we can care as Jesus did.  We can be there when people are hurting. 

This week, talk to your kids about practical ways that they can care about those hurting around us. 

Bully

This week the theme is Bully.  The goal is to teach our kids that it is wrong to bully other people.  In Genesis 1:27 it says that humanity is created in God's image.  When we intentionally harm another person, you are harming someone who is a little bit like God.  Jesus expands on this in Matthew 25:31-46.  He says that whatever we do to the least of these (meaning the people who are for whatever reason disadvantaged) you do to me. 
Something I have realized growing up in the church is that sometimes good Christian people bully others without realizing it.  We are quick to teach our kids that using certain "four letter words" is inappropriate, but sometimes our kids hear us throwing out insults like "that's gay" or "you're retarded."  Sadly, while this language is usually done with no ill meaning, it can be highly offensive to people.  In some cases, it can even keep people from receiving the good news of Jesus.  They may look at us and think that part of the good news is making fun of people that are not like you.  I say this not as someone who feels they are better than everyone else with my politically correct language, but as someone who has helped cause deep hurt to others by thoughtlessly using these insults and others like them. 

John 13:34-35

Common English Bible (CEB)

 ³⁴ “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. ³⁵ This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.”

It's hard for people to see your love when they are offended by what comes out of your mouth.