Season
of the Church Year:
Advent, Preparing for Christmas (purple)
Story
in Scripture: Matthew 8:
14-17 & Proverbs 30:4
This week, we began
discussing Jesus and the man he was when he walked in flesh on the Earth.
Throughout this month, we will be considering how Jesus fulfilled prophecy, how
he treated others, how he glorified God, how we can emulate him, and how we
know that he is fully God and fully man. It’s a lot to learn and to discuss, so
I urge you to make time to discuss it at home as well. Today, we thought about
some of the things that we might already know about who Jesus is and we also
talked a lot about the things that the prophets said about him. Much of our
conversation centered around people who expected the Messiah. Jesus was a
different kind of King; he was a very different kind of ruler. We will continue
to build on our knowledge about Christ as the weeks continue. Thank you for
your partnership in helping your child to understand and think about Jesus.
Guiding
Questions for Discussion:
*I wonder why God sent so many prophecies to those people that lived a
long time before Jesus?
*I wonder what the people thought when they heard about Jesus for the
first time? I wonder if they remember the prophecies?
*What must it have been like for the prophets to write about God’s
son…. And know that they wouldn’t be alive when he was actually born?
*Do you think that Jesus was the kind of Messiah, or King that the
Jewish community expected?
*How do you think Jesus’ birth and life surprised the people that loved
God?
Prayer:
“Dear God,
thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to grow in our understanding of
who he is. Help us to learn from the prophets and the ways that they helped
lead the way for the work that Jesus did. We know that Jesus is with us each
day. May we think of him in how we treat others and make choices at home, at
school, and in our neighborhoods. Amen.”
Week 2
Season
of the Church Year:
Advent, Preparing for Christmas (purple)
Story
in Scripture: Luke 6:
31, John 15: 12, Luke 22: 47- 51
After taking a moment
to review our discussion last week about how Jesus fulfilled prophecy about the
Messiah, we continued out conversation by considering how Jesus treated others.
The New Testament is full to the brim with lessons about this. Through parable-sharing,
conversation, healing, guidance, friendship, and sacrifice, Jesus demonstrated
God-with-us. We segmented our discussion around these topics: (1) He healed,
(2) He helped, (3) He cared, (4) He shared [about God and the Kingdom of
Heaven]. We spent considerable time thinking about how Jesus responded to very
specific, Biblically referenced situations. We thought about how Jesus
responded to temptation, to lies, to pain, to sadness. We also thought about
how we might respond in similar situations. If Jesus prayed, “Forgive them
Father, for they know no what they do.” (Luke 23: 34a), then how should we
respond when others hurt us? In the next few weeks, we will be moving on to the
topics of how Jesus glorified God, how we can emulate him, and how Jesus was
fully God and fully man. I encourage you to continue to have open discourse
with your children about these important topics, especially as we prepare our
hearts for Christmas morning.
Guiding
Questions for Discussion:
*I wonder why God sent so many prophecies to those people that lived a
long time before what it was like to be healed by Jesus?
*I wonder if people were often surprised when Jesus responded with love
instead of revenge or meanness?
*I wonder why Jesus treated others the way he did?
*I wonder how you could remember to treat others the way Jesus did?
Prayer:
“Lord, you
cared so much for us that you sent your son Jesus to live with us and teach us
about the people that we should be. We can learn so much from the ways that he
cared for others and treated them perfectly. Help us to be like Jesus in our
daily lives. Go with us into the situations that are tough and give us the
strength to do the right thing and treat others as Jesus did. Amen.”
Week 3
Season
of the Church Year:
Advent, Preparing for Christmas (purple)
Story
in Scripture: John 13: 31- 32, John 17:
1- 26
After taking a moment
to review our discussion last week about how Jesus treated others and how we
can emulate him in our own lives, we spent time this week learning about and
considering how Jesus glorified God. This discussion dovetailed well in to
remembering how Jesus treated others, as he glorified God in his love,
compassion, and care for those around him. We began by reflecting on the things
that we may choose to do that make our parents “proud.” Students thought about
everything from doing their homework to helping a friend being bullied. Their
experiences helped to provide a connection to the ways that Jesus made God
“proud.” But glorifying God is much bigger than just making God proud. Jesus’
glorification of our Father manifested and culminated in his absolute sacrifice
for our sins. He fulfilled his Father’s plan and therefore allowed for
reconciliation between God and all the people of the world. What a magnificent
thing! We also discussed how Jesus glorified God by being humble, serving
others, praying, and sacrificing. In continuation of our lesson last week, we
continued to think about ways that we can also glorify God in our daily lives.
In the small and the big things… just like Jesus did. In the next few weeks, we
will be moving on to the topics of how we can emulate him, and how Jesus was
fully God and fully man. I encourage you to continue to have open discourse
with your children about these important topics, especially as we prepare our
hearts for Christmas morning.
Guiding
Questions for Discussion:
*I wonder what it was like for the people who were friends with Jesus
when he explained what he would be doing to glorify God?
*I wonder how we can glorify God in our own lives? How can we glorify
God at home…. at school… with our friends and family?
Prayer:
“Dear God,
thank you so much for the sacrifice of your son! I have so much gratitude for
the sacrifice of Jesus and the way that he glorified you in his life, death,
and resurrection. Help me to live my life in a way that also glorifies you. Amen.”
Week 4
Season
of the Church Year:
Common Time/ Great Green Growing Season (green)
Story
in Scripture: 2 Timothy
2: 1-5, Philippians 2: 5-8
After taking a moment to review our
discussion last week about how Jesus glorified God, we spent time this week
learning about and considering how we can emulate Jesus. This topic came up
earlier in the month when we thought about the ways that Jesus treated others.
We wondered how we could use his example to treat those around us well. Today
we spent significant time learning about the ways that Jesus spent his
time…..Of all the stories in the Gospel, we grouped his actions into these 5
areas: Jesus took time to (a) Listen
& Learn, (b) Spend Time Alone with God in Prayer, (c) Serve the Needy, (d)
Teach about Salvation, (e) Train or “Make Disciples.” Focusing on these five
areas allowed our discussion to stay focused. Please continue the conversation
at home to help your child think about and internalize the ways that they can
spend their time like Jesus. Next week, we will be concluding
our lesson series about the Personhood of Jesus by learning about how Jesus was
fully God and fully man. I encourage you to continue to have open discourse
with your children about these important topics, especially as we prepare our
hearts for Christmas morning.
Guiding
Questions for Discussion:
*I wonder how we spend our time?
*I wonder what things fill up most of our day?
*I wonder how we can do the things that Jesus did, even in the midst of
our busy lives?
Prayer:
“Father,
please help me to be like Jesus. Help me to love, listen, and learn. Help me to
make time to spend with you in prayer, help me to serve those who have need,
help me to share about salvation with others, and help me to become a disciple
of you. I pray that others would understand you better because of the way that
I act like you and make choices that you might make. Amen.”
