Family Time: Mary Ordinary

Read the following short paragraphs. After you read them, there are a couple discussion questions and a short activity to do as a family. This week, you parents just might learn something new about your kids . . . and you kids just might learn something new about your parents!

MATERIALS NEEDED: Smiles!

THIS WEEK'S VERSE: Philippians 4:13 -- I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

READ: This week's key concept was "God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things!"

God sent the angel Gabriel to tell Mary she would have a baby and the child would be God's son. Though Mary was afraid at first, she listened to the angel and allowed God to use her in an extraordinary way.

Remember the paintbrush. And ordinary paintbrush can create a masterpiece of art! Mary was humble and ordinary, but she became a "star of Christmas" by being willing to obey God.

TALK:

How are we like ordinary paintbrushes in the hands of God?

DO:

1. During dinner this week, play "Toss the Smile". Each member of your family begins with a straight face; assign one person to begin with a smile.

2. The person with the smile shares something extraordinary another family member has done (such as helping with a chore, giving a hug, etc.).

3. Then the person waves their hand in front of their face, "grabbing" the smile and changing to a straight face. They "toss" the smile to the family member who did the extraordinary thing.

4. The person who "catches" the smile waves their hand in front of their face and replaces their straight face with a smile -- then shares an extraordinary thing a different family member has done.

5. Keep the game up until everyone has shared. You can even play several rounds.

Adapted from The Stars of Christmas, (c) 2008 Willow Creek Association & The Chapel

Family Time: Thanks!

Family Time -- HOPE

Read the following short paragraphs. After you read them, there are a couple discussion questions and a short activity to do as a family. This week, you parents just might learn something new about your kids . . . and you kids just might learn something new about your parents!

MATERIALS NEEDED: Paper and pen, pencil, crayons, pencil crayons, markers, or whatever you want to draw with and draw on!

THIS WEEK'S VERSE: Romans 5:3b-5 -- . . . we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

READ: Hope can mean a lot of different things.

There's "Taco Bell Hope", which we talked about on Sunday. Taco Bell Hope is when you say, "Boy, I hope I get a lot of cheese on my taco" when you go through the drive-through. It's also when you say, "I hope I get a wii for Christmas." Or, "I hope we don't have homework tonight."

Taco Bell hope is wishing!

Real hope, Biblical hope, Godly hope . . . the hope that Paul talks about in Romans . . . THAT hope is not wishful thinking!

THAT hope is the kind of hope that we KNOW will happen! It's confidence! Assurance!

When we put our hope in God, it's not like Taco Bell Hope. We know that when we put our hope in God, we will not be disappointed. When we ask God to forgive our sins, we KNOW he will do that! When Jesus is a part of our life, we KNOW that we will spend forever with him!

Lots better than Taco Bell hope, eh?

TALK:

1. What's the difference between Taco Bell Hope and Biblical Hope? Is Taco Bell Hope bad?

2. What are some things that we KNOW God will always do?

DO:

Draw a picture of a taco and a picture of a Bible. Inside the taco, write some examples of "Taco Bell Hope". Inside the Bible, write some examples of "Biblical Hope".

~ Mr. Ben

Family Time -- Religion and Relationships

Read the following short paragraphs. After you read them, there are a couple discussion questions.

THIS WEEK'S VERSE: Romans 2:29b -- . . . (it is) by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.


READ: When Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, he was writing it to some people who were boastful because they followed the Old Testament law.

Today, people sometimes do the same thing. They think that if they go to church, that's all they need to do. Or that if they follow all the rules, that's all they need to do. Or that if they do good things, that's all they need to do. Or that if they at least aren't as bad as other people they know, that's all they need to do.

But salvation is not about following rules and doing rituals. Salvation comes from having Jesus in our lives. It means having a relationship with Jesus.

If we have a relationship with Jesus, we will want to do good things. We will want to be good people. We will want to do the things Jesus has asked us to do.

TALK:

1. Talk about salvation and what it means to be a Christian. How do you become a Christian? What does it mean when you are friends with Jesus?

2. Why do Christians need to do things like go to church and pray and help others and follow the rules?

~ Mr. Ben

Family Time -- Worship

Sunday morning, our KidVenture time was spent in worship. We prayed together and sang together and it was a very fun morning. We learned some new songs, sang some old songs, and I dug out a song we haven't done in a very long time (Spin).

For family time this week, we want to encourage you to set aside some time for intentional worship as a family. 

1. Sing a song together. 

Choose a familiar worship song from church, from the radio, from the Bethel College chapel band CDs, from anything, really. Just choose a song that is about God's love or God's power or God's place in your life. Think about the words as you sing it. Take a moment to talk about what the song is about.

2. Pray together.

Pray some prayers of praise and thanksgiving. Take turns finishing these sentences:

God, thank you for __________.

God, you are __________.

God, when I think of you, I think of __________.

Have a great week! I'll see you on Sunday!

~ Mr. Ben

PS -- For a peak at one of the new songs we learned, check this out:

Wanna Be Clip

The songs came from Uncle Charlie, a kid's worship leader. I've had his DVDs for a little while, and I'm so glad we used them yesterday. They were awesome!

Family Time -- Judgement Day

Read the following short paragraphs. After you read them, there are a couple discussion questions and a short activity to do as a family. This week, you parents just might learn something new about your kids . . . and you kids just might learn something new about your parents!

MATERIALS NEEDED: Paper and pen, pencil, crayons, pencil crayons, markers, or whatever you want to draw.

THIS WEEK'S VERSE: Romans 2:4b -- . . . God's kindness leads you toward repentance . . .


READ: Yesterday, both the adult service and KidVenture talked about judging others.

We also talked about some appropriate times to be a judge (like, for example, when you are a judge in a courtroom or when you are a parent or teacher who needs to take care of something wrong that someone has done). But the one perfect judge is God.

And I'm pretty glad for that.

Only God is a perfect judge because when we sin, it is HIS law we are breaking. But he also makes a perfect judge because he is a loving judge. As our verse says, "God's kindness leads to repentance." Well, Paul wrote those words to people who were forgetting that God's kindness leads to repentance. Instead, they were acting like judges themselves.

Instead of judging people who are doing wrong, we need to remember that God forgives our own sins . . . and we need to try showing that love to others. We can do this by being forgiving ourselves (showing by example) and by telling other people about God's forgiveness.

TALK:

1. Tell about a time when you were forgiven. What kind of feelings did you have? What kind of feelings do you think the person who forgave you had?

2. When you forgive someone, you are telling them about God's love without even mentioning his name! How are you showing or telling people about God's love when you forgive?

DO:

Draw a picture of something you were forgiven for. After everyone has drawn their picture,take turns showing it to the rest of the family. Then take turns TEARING IT UP AND THROWING IT AWAY!!! Because that's similar to the way God feels about the sin he has forgiven. 

~ Mr. Ben

Family Time -- Introduction to Romans

Read the following short paragraphs. After you read them, there are a couple discussion questions and a short activity to do as a family. This week, you parents just might learn something new about your kids . . . and you kids just might learn something new about your parents!


THIS WEEK'S VERSE: Romans 1:16 -- I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes . . .


READ: Yesterday, both the adult service and KidVenture talked about the introduction to Romans. It's pretty exciting, because for the next little while, the kids and adults will be learning the same things on Sunday mornings (although in different ways).

Romans was a letter from Paul to some people at a church he had never been to, but wanted to visit, so it starts with an introduction. The first thing he says is, "From Paul, a servant of Christ." He probably thought that was one of the most important things about himself. The whole rest of the introduction is filled with information about Paul: things he thinks the Romans might want to know about him and things he thinks are important. He ends the introduction by saying, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." Again, that seems to be something that's VERY important to him. And in a lot of ways, it's what the whole book of Romans is about.

Get ready to go on an adventure for the next little while as we learn about that power!

TALK:

1. Why would Paul think that being a "servant of God" is an important part of who he is?

2. Before Paul knew Jesus' love, he was a pretty bad guy and did some pretty awful things. How do you think that connects with Paul saying, "I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes"?

DO:

Pretend the people in your family don't know you. Introduce yourself to them, telling them three of the most important things about you.