SUNFUN agenda
We have come to the end of the book that we have been doing with our youths and we are going to be having GAMES this sunday :D!
Thursday, November 29, 2012 | | 0 Comments
Service
Scripture passage for today:
Matthew 25:31-46
Theme verse:
Matthew 25:35-36 (NIV)
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Questions to get your youths to answer:
Who from who will God separate? Identify who are the "Sheep and Goats". (verse 32)
One side question to ask them: Does this mean that if we don't serve, we wont go into heaven?
The answer: No, we probably still will. But take note that service is a part of being a Christian and one of the manifestations of having Christ in our lives. Since service is something that God guides us to do. It is possible to not serve but still enter heaven, as long as Jesus is Lord of your life, but you won't experience the true joy of serving, following and growing in God's guidance here on Earth. Furthermore,when we serve others, we too are serving God.
Take heart that most of us do serve in our small, little ways. We all probably serve in different forms and occasions, as having the Spirit of God in our lives, we would hear prompts when we're called to help others or do that little kind deed for someone (Could be as simple as opening the door for someone).
But this lesson is not focusing on these small nice deeds. It's good, but rather, service is something we should adopt into our lives. Its an attitude. Service should be a huge part of our lives, since we're followers of God, and should be done in LOVE, both for God and God's creation.
This service aspect is something that God Himself will guide you to do. We can't tell you where you should serve and whom exactly, but we can help you identify some places that you can serve in, and you should pray and ask God for guidance where He would like you to go.
We'll focus on our meso community, the church.
Ask the youths:
Who attends church? (Note. "Christians" are not the right answer. People who attend church are people who are seeking God. This includes Non Christians as well)
Why do they attend church? (Note. Seeking God is only a partial answer. Most of them seek God because of difficulties or uncertainties in their lives. Christians as well.)
How can you help them? (PRAY. The rest depends on their needs. Do they need attention? A listening ear? Encouragement? All these things are also acts of service, done in love.)
Next: Their school
What is one big problem that all people who attend school face? (Well. i hope the obvious answer is exams)
Is everyone coping well with exams? Are your friends struggling? ( Everyone struggles, im sure)
How can you help them? (If your friend is a Christian, how about asking that person whether you can pray for him/her? Then again, why not both of you pray for each other? If its a group, also can! Prayers work wonders. Really. If your friend is Non Christian, you could also request to pray for him/her! That'll be really great! But if you feel he/she might not like it, or if youre shy, then you can just spend time in your QT and pray for him/her also! That is, also, an act of service. =D )
HOMEWORK. YES. HOMEWORK. I really suggest EVERYONE to do this. Yes. ESPECIALLY LEADERS. :)
Christmas is coming!!! Buy a small gift for everyone in the group! YES. EVERYONE. Tell your youths to do so to! Buy a small gift, wrap it up, and give it to each other in December! (You decide the date) It would be better if each gift to each person is different. Like customised, or different entirely. So that at least it shows that you put in some thought in it :) but of course be fair to everyone and dont specially give one person 99 roses. or if you do, do it secretly. not in this session.
Doesnt have to be expensive, but do give it some thought. Make it more thoughtful than costly. I'm sure everyone will appreciate it! Its a small act of service, but I hope that if everyone does this, youll be able to build love and friendship. and it'll be fun!
Today's lesson key points in summary:
1) Service is important as it is an out pour of God's love in you and also we are serving God as we serve others.
2) God will guide you to serve. Identify the areas you can serve, ask Him and He will lead you :)
Pray after you're done!
God Bless everyone!!!!
Done by Kenn
Saturday, November 24, 2012 | | 0 Comments
Forgiveness
Hey guys this sunday's lesson is on Forgiveness.
I find it quite app that it was just last week that i was talking to John my brother about the bible and we were talking about the exact verse or story that we are going to teach our kids today.
Key verse for this lesson is taken from:
Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
We will also be looking at the parable of the unforgiving servant, which is found in Matthew 18: 21- 35
As usual there are three main points that we want our kids to take home.
They are:
1) A forgiving spirit comes from the trust in his finished work on the cross
2) To Forgive is not the absence of anger to sin or the absence of serious consequences for sin
3) True forgiveness comes from your heart
Tuner: The rock:
Bring in a load of rocks, preferably large ones if possible, and hand each student a rock (it needs to be big enough so that it is uncomfortable to hold and would get in the way of normal activity). Some of the rocks can be bigger than others. Give the students the rocks at the beginning of the lesson. As you start the lesson, tell the students they cannot put their rocks down, they must hold them constantly on their own, and they can’t rest them on anything else. Begin the lesson and get them to take down notes, etc. while holding the rocks. After a 20 mins or so while holding the rocks, ask them if their rocks are bothering them yet. What about if they carried them everyday? What if they had to hold on to them while they were using the restroom? Playing sports? Sleeping? After a short time ask the students (or take them into the scripture block to have them find the answer) what they think the rock symbolizes and what it is supposed to teach them.
Application: The rock is symbolic of holding grudges, or withholding our forgiveness from other people. When we hold a grudge, or harbor bitter feelings toward someone else, who does it affect? When we withhold our forgiveness we are only hurting ourselves.
I know its not a game but it as a great object lesson. ok maybe it doesnt have to be a rock haha but something that annoys the kids. Maybe ill get aaron to go around each classroom and annoy them for 15 mins each. haha. Ill think of something.
Point 1: A Forgiving spirit comes from the trust in his finished work on the cross
Start of by reading the parable of the unforgiving servant. In this story we are the servants who owe the king a huge debt. In reality these debts are the sins that we have done against God. As you can see in the parable the state which the relationship we have with God. That we have sinned so much against God that it is impossible to pay back our debts.
This is a point that we as Christians must first internalise. That we have wronged God, we must acknowledge that we have not followed him and have sinned against him. But this act that we have done against him is not one which can be easily cancelled. This act against him is huge and has dire consequences. We as christians must understand how far the pit we have fallen then can we understand how great God's grace is for us.
In verse 27, it says that the master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. This is grace. In our lives, God cancelled our debts, our sins for a price, by giving up his one and only Son.
In Ephesians 4:32 'Forgive each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." In other words God's forgiveness is underneath ours and creates it and supports it. So that if we don't give it to others—if we go on in an unforgiving spirit—what we show is that God is not there in our lives. We are not trusting him. We are not trusting him that our debts are cleared. And not trusting him will keep us out of heaven. And cause us to be handed over to the tormentors.
The reason is not because we can earn heaven or merit heaven by forgiving others, but because holding fast to an unforgiving spirit proves that we do not trust Christ. If we trust him, we will not spurn his way of life. If we trust him, we will not be able to take forgiveness from his hand for our million dollar debt and withhold it from our ten dollar debtor (those that have done wrong to us)
This is the perpective in life we should have.
The blew two points are taken from Desiring God which i thought was pretty good, cause most of the time we talk about what is forgiveness but we also forget to emphasis to our kids what forgiveness is not. That leads to us having doubts.
Point 2: To forgive is not the Absence of Anger at Sin
Forgiveness is not the absence of anger at sin. It is not feeling good about what was bad.
I was on the phone yesterday with a pastor from out of state who told me about a woman in his church who, he noticed after he came to the church, never came to communion. He probed and found that 15 years earlier she had been separated from her husband because he repeatedly beat her and sexually abused their children. She said that every time she came to communion she would remember what he had done and feel so angry at what it cost her children that she felt unworthy to take communion. This was over a decade later.
My friend said to her, You are not expected to feel good about what happened. Anger against sin and its horrible consequences is fitting up to a point. But you don't need to hold on to that in a vindictive way that desires harm for your husband. You can hand it over to him who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23) again and again, and pray for the transformation of your husband. Forgiveness is not feeling good about horrible things. And he encouraged her to forgive him in this way, if she hadn't, and to take communion as she handed her anger over to God and prayed for her husband.
Forgiveness is not the absence of serious consequences for sin.
In other words, sending a person to jail does not mean you are unforgiving to him. My pastor friend has been part of putting two of his members in prison for sexual misconduct. Can you imagine the stresses on that congregation as they come to terms with what forgiveness is!
More Help from Watson
Thomas Watson was helpful to me again on this point. He asks,
Question: Is God angry with his pardoned ones?
Answer: Though a child of God, after pardon, may incur his fatherly displeasure, yet his judicial wrath is removed. Though he may lay on the rod, yet he has taken away the curse. Correction may befall the saints, but not destruction. (Thomas Watson, Body of Divinity, p. 556)
This gives us a pointer to how we may at times have to discipline a child in the home, or a leader in the church, or a criminal in society. We may prescribe painful consequences in each case, and not have an unforgiving spirit.
TBC HAHA
Saturday, November 17, 2012 | | 0 Comments
Salt and Light
I have no good apart from you.”
Saturday, November 10, 2012 | | 0 Comments
Gifted by God
Saturday, November 03, 2012 | | 0 Comments