peace

Don’t be anxious

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hey all. Today’s lesson is from Philippians 4.

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This is still part of Paul’s letter to the Philippians (the people of Philippi). In this part of his letter, Paul tells the people “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition (that means asking God), with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

This means we don’t have to worry! If we start to worry should we cry? Or hide under our bed? Eat a lot of junk food? No…Paul says if we are worried to PRAY! We can always talk to God. We can talk to God with a thankful heart and ask Him for the things we need.

Now…can we ask God for a trip to Disney World TOMORROW??? We can ask…but He will probably say no. Sometimes God says yes, sometimes He says no, and sometimes He says wait. Just because we ask God for something doesn’t mean we’ll get it right away. But do you know what we WILL get? The Bible says He will give us peace. He will calm our minds and our hearts. If we are worried, and we talk to God, He will help us.

Maybe He will remind us of a Bible verse that says He is control. Maybe He will tell us He loves us, and we can trust Him.

No matter what you are worried about, God wants to hear it. And He wants to help you feel better.

Is there anything you are worried about today? Anything you want to talk to God about? Maybe you and your mom or dad or grandparent can pray right now and talk to God about the things that make you nervous or anxious. Then WAIT. And let God speak to your heart. Maybe He will tell your mom or dad what to say. Maybe He will remind them of a Bible verse they know. But talk to God always…He wants to give you His peace.

 

Thanks for joining us. Love to you all.

Fruit of the Spirit

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Welcome again!

Today’s lesson is from Galatians 5.

(Our lesson from last year can be found HERE)

So this time Paul was writing a letter to the Galatians (people who lived in Galatia). In this letter, one of the things Paul reminds the people is to live how God wants them to live. He says before they knew God, they did whatever they wanted. And everyone sins….so what showed was their sin…they were angry, and mean and thought only about themselves. But, he says, once we know God, God’s spirit lives in our heart and we should become more like Him everyday. And that will show too! (How do we get closer to God? We pray and talk to Him! We sing praises to Him and we read the Bible: His words to us).

The things we do that show we are sinful or that show we follow God are called fruit. Just like fruit trees grow and show off fruit, people grow too and show off what’s inside their heart. Sometimes people grow more and more into their bad choices. Sometimes, they grow more and more to be like God. A yucky tree makes yucky fruit and a good healthy tree makes yummy fruit. Just like trees, people who make bad choices show off yucky things and people who make Godly choices will show good things. These are called the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit is what shows when God’s spirit lives in your heart. And the more you become like Him, the more these things will show.

So what ARE the fruits of the Spirit? Paul says they are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.

We drew trees with 9 branches and then drew a picture for each fruit as we discussed them.

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Love-heart

Joy-smiley face-(being excited about God’s plans)

Peace-cloud-(not worrying, but trusting God)

Patience-clock-(waiting with a happy heart)

Kindness-flower

Goodness-halo-(obeying God)

Faithfulness-mountain-(always trusting God, not loving other things more than God)

Gentleness-lamb

Self-Control-tongue-(being able to take time to make good decisions, not just doing whatever we want right away. We drew a tongue for this one because it can be very hard to think before you use your words to make sure you are using NICE words).

 

And since these are fruits of the Spirit…that means this is what God is like! If we are like Him, we will show these things and He is love, He is joy, He is peace, He is patient, He is kind, He is good, He is faithful, He is gentle, and He has complete self-control.

Also:

We like THIS VIDEO from the “What’s in the Bible” series.

There is also THIS SONG from Steve Green’s “Hide ’em in your heart” album.

This is our song for the fruit of the spirit.

Thanks again for joining us. Love to you all!

Advent-Day 18-Jonah

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi all.

This month we are learning about God, God’s son Jesus and Jesus’ earthly family.

Today’s story is about a prophet named Jonah. You can read about him in the Bible in the book called Jonah and our complete lesson can be found here. Below is a shortened account.

Jonah was a prophet (that means he talked to God and told the people what God wanted them to know.)

One day God asked Jonah to go tell the people of Ninevah to STOP IT! They made a lot of bad choices and if they didn’t stop, God would destroy the whole city.

But Jonah didn’t want to go there…he was too scared because those people were BAD.

SO instead, he got on a boat going the other way. But you can’t hide from God and Jonah ended up getting swallowed by a big fish. He lived in the fish’s belly for 3 days where he prayed to God and asked God to forgive him for disobeying. Jonah promised if God would get him out of the fish, that he WOULD go to Ninevah and take the people God’s message.

So the fish spit  Jonah up onto the beach and Jonah went to Ninevah. He told the people to stop making bad choices and you know what?! THEY DID! They started being nice and they followed God…so everyone should have been happy!

But Jonah wasn’t. He wanted God to destroy the city! But God said, “I forgave you! Why should I forgive them?” You see, God loves ALL people…not just the Israelites, and He wants to forgive all people. We all sin and make bad choices sometimes and that keeps us apart from God. But God wants to live in PEACE with us. That means together, not fighting. Jonah couldn’t understand why God would forgive such awful people…but he forgot that we ALL need God’s forgiveness and peace.

God is peace. (Judges 6:24, Is 9:6) He wants all of us to obey Him and live in peace with Him. But God won’t make anybody obey Him. We have to choose whether we will follow God or not. Our sin keeps us away from God, but God wants us to be WITH Him…so He sent His son Jesus to come to earth, not to punish us, but to die FOR us because He loves us. (John 3:16).

When the angels came to the shepherds in the field, they said “Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill to men.” God did not send Jesus to punish us, but to bring peace…to bring us back to God.

Bible story: Jonah

Attribute of God: Peace

Jesus’ birth story: The angels announce peace

Craft:

Side one of our ornament today is a big fish.

Our text reads: Jonah learned about God’s forgiveness and peace. Jonah

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Side two of our ornament is a dove with white feathers glued on.

Our text reads: Jesus brought peace to all men. Judges 6:24, Luke 2

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Thanks for joining us! Love to you all!