SHINE BRIGHT THIS SUNDAY - OCTOBER 30TH WEAR BRIGHT COLORS - WEAR NEON COLORS - WEAR WHITE! BRING THOSE BOXES IN - LAST DAY TO DROP OFF BOXES IS SUNDAY - NOV 13TH! Dear families,
The story of Ruth is an incredible story. We see how gracious and good God is. We see the providential care God has for a woman who was not Jewish. She was from Moab—a descendant of Lot, not a child of Abraham. Yet, she became a recipient of God's promise to Abraham because salvation is a gift and is received by faith. Ruth was married to a Hebrew man who died. She returned to Israel from Moab with her mother-in-law. Ruth was an outsider, a woman without a husband in a land that was not her own. Ruth was vulnerable, but what we see so beautifully in her story is that God protected her and provided for her. In the middle of a famine, God provided food to sustain Ruth. God did more than that; He ultimately provided a husband who redeemed her and saved her from destruction. Ruth is a picture of what it looks like to trust God in the hard seasons of life. The story of Ruth is the story of you and me. We are outsiders who have no hope in a world cursed by sin. But God did not leave us that way. He provides for us, sustains us, and ultimately redeems us through Jesus. Ruth brought nothing to her relationship with Boaz but her own need. Boaz saw Ruth, loved her, and redeemed her. From this loving act of redemption, it was from the family of their great-grandson that Jesus would come into the world and in His great love for people, redeem all who put their trust in Him alone. God shows us His desire to redeem all those who belong to Him by including Ruth in the lineage of Jesus. Remember that in Jesus, we have hope no matter how hopeless our situation looks. Jesus is more than just a friend. He is our kinsman-redeemer. Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities. FAMILY TALKING POINTS CHRIST CONNECTION This is the big idea of how this week’s Bible story points to Jesus.
BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER This is an important biblical truth that your child will encounter each week of this unit.
KEY PASSAGE This is a Bible verse that relates to what your child will encounter each week of this unit.
** Next week: God Provided for Hannah (1 Samuel 1–3)
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Dear families,
Samson is one of those characters in the Bible you don't easily forget. He was strong, handsome, successful, and blind. He is what in literature is called an anti-type. He is a type of Christ in all the wrong ways. Samson was consecrated from an early age yet disobeyed his covenant promises and dishonored his parents. When tempted, he gave in rather than resisting. Before Samson was physically blinded, he was blind to his weakness and to the source of his strength. Samson should have turned the nation's eyes from themselves and pointed them to God; instead, he lived for his own appetite by doing what is right in his own eyes. God used him despite his flaws and failures. The sad reality of Samson's life was that it wasn't until he was captured by his enemies who gouged out his physical eyes that he truly started to “see.” Unlike Samson, Jesus came into the world not "to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28). Jesus not only obeyed His Father but obeyed in such a way that we have a model for what obedience to God looks like. Jesus is more than a model; He is also our substitute who lived a perfect life and died in our place for our disobedience. He, like Samson, placed His hand on the twin pillars of sin and death and destroyed them. But unlike Samson, Jesus didn't stay dead. He lives, and He opens the eyes of those who are blind to see the beauty of God in the face of Christ. This week, pray that God will open the eyes of little ones you lead so that they would see Jesus as more beautiful than anything else. Pray that rather than running from Him and doing what is right in their own eyes, they will run to Jesus and find mercy in time of need. (Heb. 4:16) Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities. FAMILY TALKING POINTS CHRIST CONNECTION This is the big idea of how this week’s Bible story points to Jesus.
BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER This is an important biblical truth that your child will encounter each week of this unit.
This is a Bible verse that relates to what your child will encounter each week of this unit.
** Next week: God Provided for Ruth (Ruth) Dear families,
In the Book of Judges, we see a cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, rescue, obedience, and then back to sin. The condition of man's heart when left to himself will "do what is right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). Our own hearts lead us to sinful behavior that leads to enslavement to sin. Judges reveals who we are apart from God's grace. The Book of Judges also uncovers what God is like. He is rich in love and quick to restore those who turn to Him. He is gracious; every time the people of Israel repented and turned from their sins, He sent deliverance. He restored Israel from the edge of destruction. God also revealed Himself as able to save no matter how difficult or deep the captivity. In fact, we see God's mercy clearly when He sent the judge Samson when the people didn't even ask for deliverance. In these warrior-deliver stories, God showed that what His people really needed was a king— not just any king but a perfect king who would rule His people with perfect justice and mercy. It is easy for us as modern readers to judge the people of Israel harshly. How could they turn away from a God who delivered them from their enemies over and over again? But how easy is it for us to be tempted away from love for God and love created things more than the Creator? What gives us hope and comfort is that in a world where it feels like there is chaos all around us, we know that God in His mercy is a God who rescues. He didn't send a flawed warrior to deliver us from the effects of our sin temporarily. He sent His only Son to defeat sin and death and restore the relationship that sinners could never fix on their own. Today as you prepare to teach, rest in the knowledge that God has gone before you. Prepare your heart to point kids to Jesus over and over as the true Deliverer and the true peace for which their hearts desperately long. Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities. FAMILY TALKING POINTS CHRIST CONNECTION This is the big idea of how this week’s Bible story points to Jesus.
This is an important biblical truth that your child will encounter each week of this unit.
KEY PASSAGE This is a Bible verse that relates to what your child will encounter each week of this unit.
Dear families,
Joshua was getting along in years, so he gathered the people at the place where God had made a promise to Abraham. (See Gen. 12:6-7.) Joshua wanted the people to remember and to live based on what they knew to be true about God: God can be trusted. He is good, and He is faithful. Joshua issued a challenge: “Be very strong and continue obeying all that is written in the book of the law of Moses.” Reading, studying, and obeying God’s Word is a mark of belief in God. Joshua reminded the people that they were successful over their enemies because of their obedience to God. Joshua also gave the Israelites a warning. Just as all the good things God promised had been fulfilled, so would all the bad things He promised if the Israelites disobeyed Him. Further, Joshua reminded the leaders of their nations’ history—from the birth of Isaac to Israel’s escape from Egypt. Over and over, God had demonstrated His power and goodness to the Israelites. Their ancestors had repeatedly turned from God to worship the false gods of other nations. Joshua said, “Choose for yourselves today: Which will you worship … As for me and my family, we will worship the LORD” (Josh. 24:15). The Israelites had a choice: Continue to worship God or choose to serve other gods. In response to God’s faithfulness to His promises, the Israelites renewed their covenant to be faithful to the Lord. As you share the story of Joshua’s legacy with kids, point them to a greater legacy found in Jesus Christ. Jesus gave a similar type of farewell speech at the Last Supper, exhorting His disciples to not only love God but love one another. After His resurrection, Jesus sent His disciples out to tell the nations about Him. Jesus calls all people who trust in Him to tell others about Him. Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities. FAMILY TALKING POINTS CHRIST CONNECTION This is the big idea of how this week’s Bible story points to Jesus.
BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER This is an important biblical truth that your child will encounter each week of this unit.
KEY PASSAGE This is a Bible verse that relates to what your child will encounter each week of this unit.
** Next week: God’s Miracles Prove Who He Is (Mark 16) |
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August 2023
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