No lesson this sunday :)INSTEAD.....

We would be having Captain's Ball! YAY!!!
so please ask your kids to bring a change of clothes and shoes if necessary.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Try your best to be there to play with you kids on sunday :) Also its a good opportunity to invite those kids that we havent seen for awhile to come and PLAY :)

The 4 F’s:
Fear  Focus on the Father  Freedom from fear

To start the lesson, open with a time of sharing about our fears – it could be physical, emotional or spiritual. Guiding questions:
- What are the things we fear most?
- Recall a time when we feared something or someone
- What did we do – how did we handle that situation?


Next, we will explore 2 examples in the bible!

1. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
Read Luke 22: 39 – 44
Imagine this scene: Jesus was spending time in his usual (39) place; he knew that his enemies were after him, and he knew that they knew exactly where to find him and capture him. All he could do is sit and wait for his capture and death. How do you think Jesus would be feeling in those moments? What can you tell of Jesus’ emotional state from the passage?
- Anxious
- In anguish
- Earnest
- Worried
- FEARFUL
Like us, Jesus was placed in a fearful situation. In Mark 14:35 and 26: 37-38, it writes that Jesus even “fell to the ground” and was “very sad and troubled…to the point of death.” In fact, Jesus was even so troubled and worried that he sweated blood! (refer to the bottom of pg 75 for explanation as to why he could sweat blood) This situation that Jesus was facing is even more fearful and more severe than any situation any of us have ever experienced in our lifetimes. Yet how did he react to his fears? Let us compare his reactions with some of our reactions:



Jesus did not focus on the fear or the outcome or anything else around him. He focused on God, and God listened to him – He did not take the capture and the death on the cross away from him, but He sent His angels, and took away Jesus’s fears. Now, we can explore Q2: What promises does the bible give us?

2. David
Psalm 23
Why was David not afraid of the valley of the shadow of death?
- David did not turn to the other ‘sheep’, instead he turned to his Shepherd
- David knew that God is with him (“You are with me”)
- David knew where to look – he looked to the “rod and staff”
- Thus, he was able to say “I will fear no evil”
Explore Q3 & Q4
-

A Race to Run
How do we constantly keep our focus on God? We could do so by viewing our life as a metaphor of a race:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
– Hebrews 12:1-3
Take time to read the passage on pg 77 – 78: “Since heart disease runs in our family... Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Compare the physical pain, physical fears and physical barriers the author encounters. In our lives as children of God, we are all running His race too. Along the way, we may encounter pains, suffering, we may grow tired and weary, we may face fears – difficulties in overcoming barriers, in failing to finish the race well, in stumbling falling… but if we fix our eyes on “the author and perfecter of our faith,” he will surely not disappoint us!

Now, link this with The Fear of Loneliness part: All others may abandon us along the way, things and circumstances may fail us, and we may feel alone in dealing with our troubles and fears. But we are never alone – God will never forsake us. Jesus is always running the race with us every step of the way.
Read the passage at the bottom of pg 78: “Don’t avoid life’s Gardens… Who’s to say he won’t do the same for you?”
Memory verse for the week: Philippians 4:6
Before going through the Heart of the matter, ask the kids to say one thing they have learnt today! Clear their doubts etc.

The end!

Day Three ─ Freedom from Hopelessness

Hook: Genie in the lamp
I'm sure your kids are familiar with the genie and the magic lamp (eg Aladdin etc). If not, you can tell them. So basically, someone rubs the lamp, the genie appears and the person is granted 3 wishes (in the usual case). The person can wish for anything he WANTS in the entire world, but he's only entitled to 3 wishes, no more, no less and when he uses them up- well that's it. And he's not allowed to wish for more wishes.

Here, you can ask your kids what they would wish for, if there really was such a lamp in the world.
Good grades, more money, iphone, ipad, girlfriend, boyfriend, that pretty dress, that cool game, more friends etc?

Okay, now their wishes are used up. They probably should be pretty happy people now with all the stuff they have. Ask them to imagine their lives a few months later. Will they still be satisfied with the stuff they have now? Or will they be wanting more still?

There'll always be the next must-have item that will place them among the popular people and there'll always be someone who scores better grades than them. There'll always be something out there that's better than that something they have. The wants will never end.
Wouldn't it be great if we could wish for contentment? Well that's what today's lessons going to tell them about.

Lesson start:
Pray
I kinda really like this week's book lesson. So you guys could look through and see if there's any analogy or passage you might want them to read.

Read Philippians 3:19 and answer question 1 if you want. Go through with them the consequences of being caught up in worldly desires.

But that's not the end of the story; we don't have to be caught up in worldly desires. As we've been learning the past few weeks and as we've gone through with the kids last week, Psalm 23:1 tells us that 'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want'. Our wish for contentment can be found in the Lord. We should keep our eyes and hearts focused on eternity and know that our identity is found in Christ, that we are God's children. God's gift of love and salvation to us is the best gift and thing that we can ever have and nothing can ever best or beat it.

Read Ecclesiastes 5:15. This verse should be a good reminder that all the things (worldly things) we own on this earth or desire will not be ours forever. We won't be able to take them to heaven with us; all the accomplishments we've made, all the cool things we own. And like the book says, all these things do not define our very being. Luke 12:15 says 'a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.' and 1 Samuel 16:7 says 'The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.' God looks at the heart. Therefore, we too should not view ourselves unkindly if others views us poorly because of out outward appearance or the things we own. Simply because God sees beyond our exterior, and looks at our interior: our compassion, our devotion, our kindness etc. He sees us for who we really are, our real worth. And as God's children, we should also know where our worth lies.

Read Philippians 4:11-13 and emphasize verse 13- 'I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.' You should try to get your kids to memorise this verse. :) Paul found contentment in everything he did because of Christ. He knew who to find contentment in, and he knew who to rely on. We can do that too.

To end off, read 1 Timothy 6:6 (and if you have time, read until verse 10 if possible). Like the verse states, we have great gain with contentment in Christ. This contentment is forever and will definitely not leave us wanting. Situations in life may not always turn out the way we want to, but if we change our attitude and seek contentment in Christ, we will find joy.

Application:
Ask your kids if they're content with their lot in life now. Ask them how they can feel more content with life now.
If you know a bit more about your kids' life, you could also maybe help them to see the little blessings they have in their life.

Heart of the matter:
Discontentment is a kind of poison
We don't really own all the stuff we possess on earth
Don't wait for a change in circumstances to change your attitude
Gratitude is a sure-sign of someone's freedom from want and contentment in Christ

Hope this helps, sorry its late.