SUNDAY 2 August
Today’s service:
Access our streamed services here.
This week, we continue our series, Back to the New Future, looking at what our lives might look like post-COVID and how we might develop a new ‘normal’ that centres on God’s norms.
Use some blocks, or something else you can stack, to make a tower. Which block is the most important? Take off the top block – what happens? Pull out the bottom block – what happens? Imagine we are those blocks. We are God’s chosen people, his special possessions and his word and Jesus are our cornerstone. If we build our lives with Jesus as our foundation, we can follow God’s plan for our lives. If we reject Jesus, it can cause us to stumble and fall.
Get ready to join in some great music today, including a kid’s song True North which reminds us to rely on Jesus as the solid ground we build our lives on and our guide in life.
Activities to keep hands busy while listening to Tim’s talk:
- Colouring 1, 2, 3
- Word Search
Family Devotion Time:
Before/After your service of choice, or at another time during the day/week that best suits your family, spend some time together exploring God’s word.
God’s law is perfect, but rules do not make us want to do the right thing. It is God love for us that changes us. It changes us from the inside out. Because God loves us, his Spirit lives in us. And it is God’s Spirit in us that changes us. God’s Spirit changes us to be more like Jesus – full of kindness, patience, gentleness and love.
Watch …
Discuss …
- Have you ever had a teacher or coach that you tried really hard to please? Were you able to do so all of the time?
- What was Matt like? Did Matt know he needed to change? Who told him?
- Matt knew he needed to change, but he did not change for his mum or his friends. What finally made Matt change? (He fell in love and that love made him want to make changes in his life).
- When your mum or dad says, ‘Whatever you do, don’t open the door of my bedroom’, what do you want to do?
- When we are told not to do something, sometimes we just want to go ahead and do it anyway.
- When we are told to do something, sometimes we just do not want to do it.
- Knowing what we should and should not do, does not always help us to make the right choice.
Activity …
Equipment: Target, Feather, Masking Tape
- Attach target to a wall.
- Mark a throwing line 1.5-2m from the target – Use a stick if you are outside or don’t have tape.
- Try and throw the feather at the target (Children should not be able to hit the target)
If you do not have a feather, try using a light leaf, or a balloon – but don’t blow it up much and make your throwing line further back.
After everyone has had enough of trying, talk about:
- How hard you tried, but still all missed the mark
- It was impossible and, in the end, you gave up
- God’s law is good and perfect, but because of sin we all fall short and fail to keep God’s law
- God’s law does not make us want to do the right thing; it shows us that we all fall short
Dig Deeper …
- What does Romans 8:1 declare? (If we trust Jesus, we are not guilty of sin)
- Why are we not guilty of sin? Is God just forgetful? Does he ignore our sin?
- Read Romans 8:2-4
- God’s Spirit gives us new life, setting us free from sin and its punishment.
- God accepted Jesus’ death as payment for our sin because Jesus did what we can never do … he perfectly obeyed God’s law.
How does this apply to me …
- Have you asked Jesus to pay for your sin?
- If not, think about what is holding you back.
- If yes, how has God’s Spirit changed you?
Remember …
- God has given us his law so that we know what is right and what is wrong.
- Even though we have God’s law, we cannot perfectly obey it.
- We just can’t do it on our own.
- It is because of God’s love for us, we want to do the right thing.
- Jesus has taken the punishment for our sin and God’ Spirit works in us, to help us do what pleases God.
Pray together …
- Thank Jesus for paying for our sins
- Thank the Spirit for working in us to change our hearts and help us choose to do what is right
- Ask for help to become more like Jesus – think of specific areas in which you would like to change
Family Devotion resource credit: Kidswise
[mc4wp_form id=”5448″]