Heyys guys, so I wanna thank all the leaders that came down to play captain’s ball with your kids last Sunday! I heard that it went pretty well and I know that the kids definitelyyy enjoyed it so pat your own backs yeahhhh! Well done especially for those ahem a little unfit ones. we will try to have more of these sessions for bonding and FUNNN

Leaders please help cher out with the collection of the Faith anniversary dinner money collection  1. remind your kids to bring the money 2. Help her collect the money before she comes around to collect! thanks loads

Okays so back to this week’s lesson:

Day 5- Freedom from Shame

Main takeaway point for the lesson: (don’t reveal yet)

1. We will fail, again and again and when we do, guilt and shame weighs us down completely.

2. However, as Christians Jesus has called you to come to him, not to punish or chide you but to wash you clean, of your sins/guilt/shame as long as we bring all of it to him and confess our misdeeds

3. Because he has prepared a place for you in heaven and he isn’t going to leave you here on earth with all the pain and guilt that you have brought upon yourself.

Hook:
Scenario Timeeeee--- dangdangdangdang…

So lets say your friend comes to you, looks down, shuffles his/her feet (and no they are not shuffling everyday!!!) anyways back to the story, so he/she wants to reveal something to you/ tell you a secret….. but they make you swear that you would never tell a soul. I mean seriously would anyone say… neh dont tell me because I would tell the whole world. So all of us know how the story goes… the person reveals *the secret* and you gasp! Okays maybe too dramatic but yeah you get my point, the person made you pinky promise again/ for guys urm a whack on the back with a death stare and you promise that you would never ever leak this out and you confidently say: “over my dead body” (okays something along the lines of exuberating confidence)
Initially, you never had the intention of leaking this *secret* out and you were pretty confident that you could keep this but then…..peer pressure kicks in, some cool friends find out that you know something about that friend, something all of them want to know. They threaten you with your reputation if you did not give up that information and you spill but you knew they wanted more and you started to fabricate more to add flavour to the *secret* and sooner of later the whole sch came to know about it.......

A few days later, you saw that friend in the corridor, all broken and shaken up but he/she manages to force out with much pain in his/her eyes: “You promised!”
Fade to black.

Questions:
1. Have you faced a situation like this before or at least heard about something like this that happened?
2. Do you think the person trusted you when he/she revealed the secret to you?
3. How would you have felt after you friend said those words to you? (you promised!) -----guilt/shame (hopefully haha, guide them to the ans)
4. Do you think the friend would ever forgive you? If the person had to drop out of school eventually, would you feel even guiltier?

Book:

Part 1:
A Promise Broken - familiar eh

Read Luke 22:33-34 and v54-62

- Get one of your kids to summarise what happened at the last supper (v33-34) and then what happened after Jesus was arrested (v54-62).

1. What did Peter pledge to Jesus?
- He pledged that he was ready to go with Jesus to prison and to die with him

2. What was Jesus’s response?
- Jesus told Peter that before the rooster crows on that day, Peter would deny knowing Christ 3 times.

3a. Referring to Peter’s pledge, do you think that Peter was confident of what he was saying?
-Yes, he was sure that he was willing to sacrifice for being one of Christ’s followers. However, we know that eventually when he was faced with danger, he broke under pressure and could not deliver what he pledged to Jesus and he felt ashamed and upset. (he wept when he realized the mistake that he made, the one swore he would never make)

3b. Have you ever boasted to someone that you could do something very well? (Maybe run really fast, jump really high or shoot zombies really well) whatever the case, you were very confident of that particular skill. So crunch time came andyou had the chance to show off that skill in front of everyone. You were given not 1 but 3 tries….however, you just couldn’t do it, and the worst thing was that you even fell flat on your face. Were you ashamed?

3c. Or maybe when you ask God desperately for help during your end of the year exams because you know that you did not put in the effort throughout the year and you promise God that this would not happen again… neverrrr.
So I guess Justin Bieber was right yea… NEVER SAY NEVER
But we still do it? Are we that different from Peter?


So…. Is there hope for us? Do you think we need to feel ashamed, hopeless and guilty whenever we do something wrong, or we fail to meet the mark?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Part 2:
Return to Shore
Read John 21: 4-12

WE HAVE HOPE why?????

-Again I think it’s good to know that the kids understand what’s going on here so try to get them to summarise what happened before Jesus approached them and what happened after?

Questions:
1. Why do you think that Peter and the gang were fishing again? Didn’t they already quit two years back to fish for men and follow Jesus? So why do you think he is fishing now?
-Maybe they were just hungry but it could also be out of a broken heart, a heart that though aware of Christ’s return felt that he had no hope and that Jesus would never return, much less forgive him.
- Don’t we feel like that sometimes, when we keep failing God or when we keep doing the things that we know upsets him…. So we are ashamed and afraid to ask for help. For eg. Exams again, you realized that it is yet another round of final year papers and you are not fully prepared for it again but you know that you have done this before and you are ashamed to run to him for help afraid that he would not help you so you depend on your own strength, do the papers the only way you know how to.


2a. Despite what Peter did, what did Jesus do when he saw them?
- He provided them with an incredible catch of fish and MOST IMPORTANTLY! He invited Peter and gang join him for breakfast.

2b. What does this mean? Jesus inviting them to have breakfast with him?
- Even though we might have failed him, he is ever ready to have breakfast with us  which basically means he is ever ready to commune with us again, can you imagine the KING is sooo willing to invite you to sit down with him, prepare a meal and just hear you out and at the end of it instead of scolding you he forgives you!
(Jesus reinstates Peter v15-19)


okay now learning from Peter
3. What did Peter do to show his eagerness for Jesus to set him free from shame and restore their fellowship? (v7)
- He jumped into the water.

Part 3:
What the bible tells us further about guilt: IMPT VERSES TO REFER TO
Psalms 32:5
- Then I confessed my sins to you and didn’t hide my guilt. I said, “ I will confess my sins to the Lord,” and you forgave my guilt.

Hebrews 10:22
- “Let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.’

Took:

What should you do when you are in a whirlpool of guilt and failures?

1. Don’t waste any time, do what Peter did, jumpto take the opportunity that Jesus has given to all of us to go to him, always remb that he does not want to scold you but to hold you and he is always ready to invite you back to have breakfast with him.
2. Confess to him whatever you have done wrong, so that he can wipe you clean.
3. Since you have been washed clean, you can thus continue to commune with God without feeling that guilt anymore and you also no longer have to face the agony of it.
Before you end off take time to read Matt 26:27-28
Ask them what are their thoughts when they take Holy Communion? Is it like snack time to them? How can we relate today’s lesson of Jesus inviting Peter and his gang to have breakfast with him to the Last supper?
- I think many of them do not understand the meaning but hopefully you guys can share about what Holy Communion is to you and how you feel when you take it?
- In the same way, in relation to today’s lesson taking Holy Communion is a reminder for us that when Christ comes again, we will be seated with him in heaven to have supper  despite anything and everything that we have done wrong we are still able to drink of the cup and eat of the bread because of what Christ did on the cross for us…

MEMORY VERSE:
last time to recite it :)
- John8:36
‘So if the SON sets you FREE, you will indeed be FREE”

Close in Prayer.

Sorry I would not be there on Sunday and Alex is also overseas. Oh yeah, its also good to make use of the holidays to plan a small group outing with your kids, for girls maybe movie and lunch? Guys soccer and whatever com game is hip now? To bond and really get to know them outside church context.

pet/.