Big Idea: Jesus speaks to us by His Holy Spirit and we can learn to recognise His voice.

Bible Passage: Luke 1:8-19, Luke 1:26-38, Matthew 1:18-24, Luke 2:8-15, John 10:27

Parent Prep: This week is the first week in our Christmas series, and we are talking about how God speaks to us. It can be difficult for children to understand how to 'hear' God, as they think mainly in literal terms. So to say God 'speaks' and that we can 'hear' him can confuse kids sometimes. They may think if we cannot hear Him audibly, that He is not speaking to them, and then wonder why or why not. We can help children understand how we listen to God's Holy Spirit by reading His word together, and getting to know what Jesus says through becoming familiar with His teachings.

Read: Luke 1:8-19, Luke 1:26-38, Matthew 1:18-24, Luke 2:8-15, John 10:27

Talk

In the Christmas story, we read of God sending many special messengers, or angels to His people. The angels spoke God's messages and gave people instructions to follow. But God doesn't send us an angel every time we need to follow His instructions. It was a very special time in history, and the angels had very important instructions. Now, Jesus says He speaks to us and gives us instructions to follow by His Holy Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit's job is to 'remind us of everything Jesus has said' (John 14:26), and to reveal to us what is true (John 16:13). That means the Holy Spirit will remind us of what Jesus has said in the Word of God and help us know which way to follow Him. 

Jesus also says that He is like a shepherd, and that those that follow Him are like His sheep. He says that just like sheep follow a shepherd because they recognise their shepherd's voice, we also learn to recognise the Holy Spirit's instructions and follow Jesus. 

Listen

Have you ever heard God speak to you in a voice you can hear with your ears? Have you ever had an angel visit you to tell you a special message?

Why does Jesus promise to speak to us if we can't hear Him when He talks? How do you think we listen to Jesus? Is it easy or hard to hear Him? Allow children to be honest with their responses and assure them that just because they cannot hear Him with their ears, that it doesn't mean He isn't speaking to them. 

Do

Jesus says we will recognise Him when He speaks to us. We can learn to recognise the words of Jesus to instruct us if we spend time getting to know Him more and more. Just like you recognise your grown-ups' voices because you know them so well and they are familiar to you, so we can also learn to recognise the voice of Jesus the more we know Him. 

Have everyone in your family close their eyes. Then have someone in your family anonymously call out a word. All the other people in the family must guess who spoke. It will be an easy game! Make a point of telling children that we learn to recognise the words and instructions of the Holy Spirit when we spend more and more time with Him.

What are some ways you can spend time with Jesus and learn about Him this week? 

Big Idea: Our God can do amazing extraordinary things with ordinary people who trust in Him.

Bible Passage: Ruth 1-4

Parent Prep: This week is our final week in our Family series, and we finish off by celebrating Foster Care Sunday together as a big church family. This week's lesson is about using the ordinary, every day things we can do to serve and love others. The story of Ruth teaches us that God will bless and use all those who place their trust in Him.

Read: Ruth 1-2:4; 4:13-22, or watch this hilarious version of the story here. 

Talk

The story of Ruth teaches us about God's faithfulness to those who put their trust in Him, even when things look hard and scary. Ruth had many reasons not to trust in the God of Israel, but she chooses to trust Him anyway, and He blesses and uses her in His story. 

1.  Ruth was a Moabite, a land of enemies of God.
2. Ruth was a widow. She had no safety or security without a husband to protect and provide for her. If she followed Naomi and trusted in God, she would have to beg for food, or find work wherever she could.
3. Lots of sad and bad things happened to Ruth. How could she trust God to take care of her? 

But Boaz says to her, "May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you take refuge." 

Read Psalm 91:1-4 together. God is faithful to protect and provide for and bless those who trust in Him. Just like Ruth, we can trust God. 

Even though Ruth was far from God, with lots of hard and scary things to face, she chose to trust God, and he blessed her and gave her a family. He used Ruth as part of His great big story and she became part of the family of Jesus!

Listen

Sometimes we feel like we aren't good enough for Jesus to love, or to care for, or to use in His story. But the story of Ruth tells us that God uses even people who are His enemies, or people who feel far away from Him all the time. All that we need to do to be a part of God's big story is to love and trust in Him. 

What are some things that hold you back or stop you from feeling like God loves you? 

What are some things that make you feel like God wouldn't use you for great things in His story?

What do you think makes someone 'great' to God? 

Do

The story of Ruth teaches us that God will welcome anyone who trusts in Him into His family, and that He can use them for great things in His big story. When Ruth gets to Judah, her new home, she offers to God the only thing she can: her willing hands to serve. She gets to work doing very ordinary work picking up grain in the fields. It is while she is working with her hands that she meets Boaz, who becomes her husband. 

Ask children What are some ordinary things that you can do with your hands? How can we use these ordinary things to serve others in Jesus' name? On a piece of paper, write or draw a list of ordinary things you can do with your hands. (Dance, wash dishes, wave, serve dinner, make art etc). Then, on the other side of the paper, write or draw ways you can use these things to serve God, and other people. 

On top of your paper, write "Our God can do amazing extraordinary things with ordinary people who trust in Him."

Have a great week, see you Sunday!

Big Idea: Our God wants us to honour Him as a family, and to hear from us, His children.

Bible Passage(s): 2 Chronicles 20:12-13, Ephesians 6:1-5

Parent Prep: This week in our family series we continue to look at what it is to honour God and seek Him first as a household. On Sunday we took some time as part of our worship service to worship and listen to God about what He is saying to our big church family about next steps towards possibly purchasing a building. This process of worshipping, praying and listening as households before the Lord is a powerful way to lead your home, too. We encourage your family to seek the Lord & listen for Him to speak together and pray together whenever you have a decision to make as a family.

Read: 2 Chronicles 20:12-13 and Ephesians 6:1-5 in a children's Bible, or in this easy-to-read version here: 2 Chronicles; Ephesians 6.

Talk

Our God calls Himself our Father, and us, His children. He delights to give us what we need. He asks that we, as families, would come to Him as our loving Father for all that we need. In 2 Chronicles we read the story of the whole family of Judah coming together to listen to what God would say to His children. They pray,

"'Our God…we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.' All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord." 

We read in Ephesians, that honouring our parents (which means to respect and love them) comes with a promise – 'so that it may go well with you and tha you may enjoy long life on the earth.' It is the same with honouring God, our heavenly Father. We are promised that when we put Jesus first, make Him King over our lives, and honour Him (respect and love Him most), that He will bless us with by being with us and taking care of us all of our days, and even after we die! We can count on our God to never give up on us, and look after us. We can bring all our hard questions, and our tough times to God, and ask Him for His help. He promises He will help us.

Listen

What questions does our family have for God? Is there any big decisions we need to make? Is anyone facing anything scary or uncertain? 

Write these things down as a family. 

Do

As in 2 Chronicles, come together – all family members if possible. Place God's word, open at 2 Chronicles 20:12-13, in the center of your family. Together, pray "God, we don't know what to do. But our eyes are on you. Please help us with __________." Use the list you made together to ask God about these things. Then, stand (or sit) and listen. You might consider playing some worship music, or singing praise to God while you listen. You could place pieces of paper and coloured pens in front of each family member and ask them to write or draw words or pictures that come to mind while you pray. After a few minutes, or as long as you like, thank God for taking care of your family. If God has spoken clearly, talk about that with your family. If there hasn't been a clear word from God, keep coming back, expectantly like this as often as you can. Encourage each other to keep praying and seeking God – He promises to answer and bless HIs children, and He is always faithful. Celebrate answers to prayer together to remind each other of this.

Big Idea: We can rest and rely on God.

Bible Passage: Zechariah 4:6-7

Parent Prep: This week we take a short pause in our 'Family' series to dig into what it really looks like to depend on God and His Holy Spirit to help us when we aren't strong enough. This has been a big, tough year for many families, and so it is a refreshing reminder for us that God is all-powerful, and His promise to build the church & bless His children is not dependent on us, but on His own mighty arm. Our calling is an honour, a privilege and a work of faith to trust and rely on Him to do His work. As we look ahead to 2021 for our own church family, with big decisions to make about our future, we too can be assured that God will be faithful and that our calling as His children is to rest and rely on His faithfulness, and trust that we too will be able to look back and say, 'Beautiful, beautiful!' (verse 7).

Read: Zechariah 4:6-7 in a children's Bible, or this easy-to-read version here.

Talk

Zerubbabel was a powerful leader of God's people who led them back to the land God had given them. He took them from exile, back home to Israel, and he received a word from God that he was to lead the people to rebuild God's temple. It was a big job! And yet, these words that we have read are a promise from God that it would be His Holy Spirit that helped Zerubbabel, and that he would be able to do this great big job if he had faith and relied on God to help him, not his own strength. 

Ask

When you were little, did someone big ever carry you? Did you rest your head on their shoulder, and lean your whole weight on them? Faith is leaning your whole weight on God. Resting your head on his shoulder. Faith means resting – relying- not on who we are or what we can do, or how we feel, or what we know. Faith is resting in who God is and what He has done. And He has done EVERYTHING.*

We can trust God to take care of us, and keep His promises to bless us, His beloved children. 

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us." – 1 John 4:16

Do

Give children an instruction to get from one point to another in your house. For older children, consider making it difficult by placing obstacles in their way. Then, repeat the exercise with a parent carrying them from one point to another. Ask children if it was easy or harder to be carried than to walk. Use this simple demonstration to explain how God's strength helps us. We can do things- even hard things- that God has asked us to do, because we know that it is God who helps us by giving us His strength. We can ask Him for help with whatever we need and rest and rely on Him in faith knowing He will always keep His promises to help us. Pray together about the things that are tough for your family, and ask God's Holy Spirit to give you the faith to rest on Him as you look ahead.

Have a great week, see you next Sunday!

*Quote taken from page 77, 'Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing' by Sally Lloyd-Jones

Big Idea: The way we love each other in our family points people to the love of Jesus. 

Parent Prep: This is our second week in our special series on family. This week we talk about 'submission' and 'love'. These are both virtues that Jesus modelled for us, perfectly. He submitted to the Father – knowing the Father's love would glorify Him and not put Him to shame. In the same way, in marriage, wives are encouraged to trust the love of their husband, that he would esteem her and see her flourish- as the church does because of Jesus. Husbands, in this passage, are encouraged to love their wives as Jesus loves the church – that means laying their lives down and 'giving himself up fo her.' We call this kind of reciprocal love and trust 'mutual submission.' We are told that this love we have for each other is what will point people to Jesus. It is supposed to be so self-sacrificing and beautiful, that people observe the love in our marriages, and want to know where it comes from. But it's not just for husbands and wives. It's for all believers in the family of God. The key to understanding these instructions is found in verses 1,2 and 21. "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." This verse precedes the specific instructions to husbands and wives, because it's not just an instruction for husbands and wives. It's for all those who love Jesus. We should love each other as Christ has loved us: freely giving ourselves up for the flourishing of others in our family. In this way, both in our household families (bayith), and our wider church family (michpacha) our love would be so selfless, that we would point others to Jesus, that they would call on His name and desire to join God's family, too.

Read Ephesians 5: 1& 2, 21-25 in a children's Bible, or in this easy-to-read version here.

Talk

Re-read verse 1& 2 together. Make a list together of the ways that Jesus has loved your family. (Forgives us always, loves us no matter what we do, always for us, never abandon or turn away from us, delights in us, is always our friend. Laid His life down for us. He is slow to anger, always kind.). These are great things that Jesus has done for us! 

Listen 

Do you think these things are hard or easy to do for one another? Have children turn to their siblings, or other members of the family (grown ups included!) and say aloud, "I always," before you read the statements to eachother of what Jesus has done for you. It should read like this:

Child (to sibling or other family member): "I always forgive you. I am slow to anger, and always kind to you. I love you no matter what. I am always your friend." 

Are these statements true about your love for each other in your family? Why or why not? 

Loving each other in our family as Jesus has loved us is hard work! Why do you think Paul tells us to do this if it is so hard?

Read verse 2 again. It was a sacrifice for Jesus to love us and die for us. It wasn't easy for Him either. But just like Jesus, we can do these hard things because we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us. He promises to give us the strength to love each other this way, even when it is difficult. And just like Jesus, we know more joy when we love people the way He calls us too. 

Do

Write a family manifesto. Using the list you made of how Jesus loves your family, on a piece of paper, write the heading:

In this family, we love as Jesus has loved us. 

So we will always try to:

Then, write the list of ways your family wants to commit to loving each other. At the end of your manifesto, write the following (or similar) words form Philippians 4:13,

We can do these things with the help of Jesus. He is the one who gives us the strength we need.

Consider placing your poster in a frame, and hanging it in your home, or on the fridge where people can see it. Pray together that your love for one another would be a testimony to the goodness of God and be a light that shines for other families to see. 

Have a great week, see you Sunday!