philippians

Set your mind on Jesus

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi all! Today we will finish our lessons from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. This bit comes from Phil 4:8.

After Paul reminds the people to talk to God when they are worried, he tells them this:

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Instead of focusing on the things that worry us, first he says “think of things that are true.” These are things like “God loves me. God died for me. God can do ANYTHING! God made EVERYTHING. He loves EVERYBODY and wants them to know Him. It’s important to think about these things and remember them.

Then he says thinks about things that are nobel and right. This means thinking about good things, not yucky things. Do not think about lying or stealing or hurting someone. Think about how you can help others and show them God’s love.

We are to think of things that are pure and lovely and that remind us to praise God. Like stars in the sky or a friends hug. Anything that reminds you of God’s goodness is a good thing to think about.

We can set our minds on Jesus. Can you turn your brain to Jesus? Go ahead…turn your little pretend knobs and think about Jesus. Set your mind on Him, the things He wants you to do, the things He has made, the things He says are true.

For our craft today we drew a big head with a face and then wrote in the brain area the things we should think about.

Our bottom text says: I will set my mind on Jesus. Phil 4:8

 

This song from Steven Green goes along with today’s lesson.

Thanks again for joining us. Love to you all!

Don’t be anxious

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

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

phil4

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.

Shine like Stars

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hello again! Today’s lesson is also from Philippians 2. This is from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. (These letters were written by Paul, but Paul was very close to God and knew God’s heart. We can know that if it’s in the Bible, it’s something God wants us to see and know. Some things in the Bible that people do are bad examples, things God doesn’t want us to do. But in these verses, Paul shows us something God DOES want us to do.)

We learned last time that Paul told the people to serve like Jesus. In that same letter, he also told the people this:

“Do everything with complaining or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the universe.”

We are to do EVERYTHING God wants us to do (part of that means obeying your mom and dad) without complaining or arguing. “But I don’t want to!” “But SHE made the mess!” “This is TOO HARD!” “I cleaned it up LAST time!”

He says if we can obey with a happy heart, without grumbling or complaining, it will make us more like God– we will be blameless and pure children of God.

Then we will shine like stars in the universe. Have you ever looked outside at night? Do you remember how BLACK the night sky can be? And how a star SO far away can be SO bright compared to that black sky? People who do not obey with a happy heart are like the black sky. They have black yucky hearts. But when we obey with a happy heart, without complaining or arguing, we are like a bright light…like a star shining in the universe.

For today’s craft we cut out a star and wrote the verse on it. Then we added some glitter and hung them in the kids’ rooms so they can be reminded of today’s lesson.

 

We also found THIS song from Steve Green posted by Kendall Sauer.

Thanks for joining us. Love to you all.

Serve like Jesus

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi again!

jesusserves

Today’s lesson is from Philippians 2. Paul wrote another letter–this time to the people of Philippi–the Philippians. In this letter, Paul reminds the people about Jesus. He says “Do nothing out of selfish ambition” Do you know what that means? Being selfish means thinking only about yourself. “ME ME ME, MINE MINE MINE.” When someone is selfish, they only think about what THEY want, and not about other people.

Paul tells the Philippians (and us) to instead, “value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (That means think about OTHER people! Do you remember when Jesus told us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves? Treat people the way we want to be treated.)

He says “Be like Jesus.”  Jesus is God’s son, so He has all the power God does, and He lives with God in a perfect place….but because He loves us, He made himself nothing and came to earth as  a servant, becoming a man. He humbled himself (accepted God as King and obeyed Him) and He even became obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Remember Jesus didn’t WANT to die on the cross. He prayed and asked God if there was any other way to save us…but there was not. So He obeyed God.) And because He obeyed, God raised Him up and the Bible says that eventually every person will bow and worship Him.

Jesus came to serve. He healed people, He taught them, He washed their stinky feet and He loved them–even enough to die for our sins. (Remember the consequence for our sins is to die forever, but Jesus died in our place and now when God looks at us, He doesn’t see our sins, He sees us as perfect if we love Jesus).

Jesus did not think about ME ME ME MINE MINE MINE, He thought of others. Paul reminds the people to not think all about ME ME ME, but to think of other people too.

How can WE do that?

(Share our toys, help our mom and dad, let our brother or sister have the last cookie)

Selfish=Me Me Me Mine Mine Mine

Humility=not thinking you’re SO important…letting GOD be the most important

Can you and your family make a list of ways to serve other people?

 

Thanks for joining us. Love to you all!