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.