He is Risen!

Today we celebrated Easter by learning about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It really is an easy lesson, I can narrow it down to three words, “He is risen!” However, the deeper meaning is a little more challenging, and it will take years for the entire picture of Jesus death and resurrection to come together for our children. One way that we can help is to make a big deal out of the true meaning of Easter, and down play all of the secular tradition. I’m not saying that Easter egg hunts are bad or sinful, but we need to make sure that these kinds of activities are only very small part of our Easter celebration. The main focus should be on teaching our children about our savior, and worshiping Him for His goodness. In the coming weeks I encourage you to continue to discuss Easter, just because the day ends doesn’t mean our discussion should. The events of Easter weekend are the most significant events in redemptive history; we should treat it as such, and impress them upon our children.

I thought I would share our lesson this week; we serve kids ages 3-6 in our children’s church program. As a result, our lessons must be very short without losing any of the good stuff. As parents, teaching our children at home, we have to remember that certain point will take longer for our kids to grasp, so we must be persistent teaching the same lesson’s over an over again. As they grow in their ability to understand pray that God would work in their heart’s so they would be changed by these truths!

He is Risen!

Luke 24

Review: Can you remember from last week…

• Who was Jesus? (The son of God, fully God and fully man)
• What kind of people did Jesus help? (Sinners)
• How did they kill Jesus? (On a cross)
• Was Jesus being punished for his own sin? (no)
• Whose sin was he suffering for? (All those who will repent, turn from sin, and trust in him)

Lesson: After Jesus died a man names Joseph from a city called Arimathea, who the bible called a good and righteous man, went to the officials and asked for the body of Jesus. He placed Jesus in a tomb; the Sabbath (day of rest) was about to begin so he didn’t have time to properly clean Jesus’ body. On Sunday some of the women took spices and perfumes to the tomb to clean the body of Jesus, but when they arrived they found the tomb open and empty. They were very upset, but suddenly two beautiful angles appeared to them and told them that Jesus was not there because he had been raised from the dead! The angles reminded the women of Jesus’ words, “the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” The women remembered and went to tell the disciples. Can you imagine how happy they must have been? Today we celebrate that though Jesus died paying the penalty for our sins, He was victorious over sin and death, and rose again! His resurrection is the proof of His victory! We can have victory too, if we will repent, turn from sin, and trust in the good works of Jesus!!

Recap:

• Who put Jesus in the tomb? (Joseph of Arimathea)
• Why did the women go to the tomb? (To clean Jesus’ body)
• What did they find when they arrived at the tomb? (The tomb was open and empty)
• Who did they see at the tomb? (2 angles)
• What did the angles tell the women happened to Jesus? (He was risen)
• Why do we celebrate today? (Jesus paid the penalty for our sins on the cross, and he rose from the dead as a sign that he was victorious over sin and death!)
•  How can we have victory over sin and death? (turning from sin and trusting in the good works of Christ)

My prayer, one I hope you will make your own:

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for the honor to share Your word with my children, and help others share it with theirs. I ask that you would bless our efforts by working in the hearts of our little ones that they may come to know and love you, and that as we share the good news of the gospel with our children that we too would be changed. Help us to model your love to our kids so that they would see your goodness, not our fallenness! Please let our primary concern be revealing your glory to our children and the world, and not seeking after our own. Thank you so much for sending Jesus to live the perfect life, free from sin, the life I/we cannot life, and then having him stand our place, taking our punishment; so that you could be glorified in the redemption of undeserving people. We thank you for your love and mercy, help us to live every day in light of your sacrifice on the cross! In Your Son’s name I pray, Amen!

What If It Was Your Last Day?

This week I have been praying for healing of a young mamma of four little ones, this is someone I have never met, but I attended a bible study her mother taught. She got sick late last week with some kind of respiratory infection, she declined very quickly, and yesterday I received word that she passed away. I know many people whose hearts are hurt by this loss; I also know God’s ways are perfect (Psalm 18:30), ultimately His glory will be reveled through this tragedy (Ro. 8:28-29).

Today I thought often and prayed for this young lady’s husband, broken hearted and left to care for four little kids, her four children who will miss their mom, her mom and dad who have to on without her, and her friends who loved her dearly; if you are reading this will you please pray for their comfort and healing.

God is glorified when his children are made more like Christ (Ro. 8:28-29); today I felt changed by the loss of this young lady. As a young mom of three little boys this is a sobering reality check! It has given me a different perspective on pursuing Christ, and defeating the selfish sins hiding in my heart. Today could be my last day, or your last day; what kind of legacy would I/you be leaving behind? Would my children remember me as a godly wife and mother or would they remember the times I lost my temper because they weren’t cooperating with me? Would God be glorified in what they remember? While I know that my husband would help paint the picture of me as a saint, I know that I am long way from that. I have been working hard to learn to rule my spirit, and reflect Christ to my children; however, I fail often, more often than I care to admit. Today, I was more patient and kind, thinking about the privilege I have to enjoy one more day here with my boys. They still pushed all the same buttons, but my heart was softened by the brevity of life and the preciousness of these years.

Dear friends if you are feeling discouraged by the difficulty of parenting remember the days are long, but the years are short. They pass in a blink, then they are gone, and besides tomorrow was never promised to us. The bible says, “you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away (James 4:14).” May we all parent and disciple our children with the knowledge that each day is a gift, a chance to bring God glory by reflecting His love to our children and leading them to the cross where salvation is found. If we are to be successful in our endeavor we must turn from the selfish desires in our hearts, the desire for peace, comfort, and control. I find that my boys are often the heat that God uses to reveal the sin hidden from the sight of the world. In moments of difficulty I must give thanks to God for providing me an opportunity to see, confess, and turn from these hidden sins (1 Thes. 5:18), and put on love for Him by patiently disciplining my children.

In some small way each of us can bring God glory through the loss of this sister in Christ by letting it cultivate in us a heart that gives thanks for each day with our children, making a commitment to be more intentional as we parent and disciple them.

The Cross

This week we taught the kids about the death of Christ on the cross. This event is the greatest display of God’s goodness, love, and justice; it places the divinity of Christ at center stage, and points sinners to repentance and faith in the righteousness of Christ. As Christian parents it is important to teach our children the significance of Easter weekend. I would encourage you to take extra time this week to talk with your children about Jesus’ death on the cross. It is hard to talk with our children about the violent death of our savior, they don’t need all the details, as they grow you can share more and more with them. What they need to know: We are sinners, separated from God because of our sin. However, God in his goodness provided a savior; He sent His only Son being fully God and fully man to live a perfect life free from sin, and then die on the Cross, standing in our place, taking our punishment. If we will repent, agree with God that we are not good we are sinners and turn from our sin, and place our faith in the perfect life and atoning death of Jesus on the cross we can be saved. Not only does God declare those who trust in Christ innocent he looks at us and sees the good works of Christ. While I can fit all of that in a paragraph, it will take more time to help your children understand what it all means.

It is helpful to think about different ways of explaining our situation before God, after all it is something that will need do over and over again, if we say the same thing each time it is likely that our children will just tune us out. Our sin has created a debt before God, a debt we can never pay. We know that God is just, which means that if we have a debt it must be paid. Another way to say it is that we have broken God’s law, and we have a fine to pay. A just God cannot just let law breakers go, he must punish them. The cross stands as an amazing proof of God’s holiness and his love. His holiness, His law demands perfection and lawbreakers will be punished for their failure to satisfy the demand of the law. His love, He is merciful to a people that He knows cannot do what his law requires. God in His love sent His only Son (who was fully God and fully man) to take the punishment that we deserve for breaking the law. We must throw ourselves at the mercy of the judge, admit our guilt, and turn from our sin. Only when we put away all of our excuses, will his mercy be extended to us. Instead of trusting in our own good works, we must trust in the good works of Jesus.

I encourage you to make much of Easter, we should celebrate it with as much enthusiasm as we do Christmas. The cross gives us reason to weep and rejoice; weep over the weight of our sin and the cost of our salvation, and rejoice that God saw fit to send His Son to stand in our place and find glory in our redemption! It is important to remember that the cross was not the end, we serve a risen Savior!

Pray that God would help you to teach your child, and that He would work in their hearts so that they would be changed by these truths!

 

Sinners in Need of A Savior

It would be nice if we could share one account from the bible and presto our children understand that they are sinners in need of a savior. However, It doesn’t work that way, if it did scripture would not instruct parents to teach their children all of God’s commands, “talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise (Deut 11:19).” As Christian parents we are to take every opportunity to share God’s word with our kids, teach them who God is, who they are, and the awesome love displayed for sinners on the cross. The four gospels are filled of accounts of sinners coming to Jesus and receiving forgiveness; however, those who came thinking that they were righteous because of their good works walked away empty handed. Kids raised in the church are especially prone to the latter kind of thinking. They know they are sinners, but they are not like those outside the church. Our conscience naturally denies the truth of our guilt before God, they protest claiming we are good, after all we try hard and aren’t as bad as others, our kids hearts cry the same lie “no I’m NOT that bad”. We must make sure that we gently help them see they can’t meet Jesus half way, He paid it ALL!

Over the past few weeks we have been teaching the children at our church about the miracles of Jesus, the people he met and ministered to by offering them mercy. We talked about the account of Jesus and Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19:1-10). His fellow Jewish brethren hated Zacchaeus, because tax collectors were notorious thieves; he was considered the worst of sinners. Zacchaeus was well aware of who he was, and how short of God’s standard he fell. As a result upon meeting Jesus, he repented (turned from his sin) and happily paid restitution to everyone he wronged; this was the fruit of his repentance. He knew that aside from mercy, he was accursed!

This week we talked about the rich young ruler, who came to Jesus to find out how he could have eternal life (Luke 18:18-32). The young man had a problem though he thought he was good he because he had been taught to follow God’s standards from his youth. However, Jesus knew that the young man was rich and that he loved his money. In an effort to help the young man see his sin, Jesus asked him to sell all he had and give all the money to the poor. Jesus was not teaching that being rich was bad, but he wanted the self-righteous young man needed to see that he loved something more than God, his money. Sadly the young man goes away sad because though he wanted to be saved but not as much as he enjoyed being rich. The young man failed to see that he had placed his wealth about his love for God.

It’s great to spend one week talking about one story, the next week talking about the other story, and then a third week comparing the two accounts. This will help your children understand the differences between the two accounts and the two men. The rich young ruler thought he was a good person, Zacchaeus knew he was a sinner. They both loved money; however meeting Jesus changes Zacchaeus’ heart and he repented. When the rich young ruler met Jesus he was unchanged. Even after being told what repentance looked like he would not repent, because he was very rich and loved his money more than he loved God.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:31-32).” God has called us to be good stewards with what he has entrusted to us, and that means diligently teaching our children the truth of the gospel. As I said last time, the cross makes no sense to good people, but it is glorious news to those who know that they know they have broken God’s law and are in desperate need of forgiveness! Please pray for God to work in your children’s heart, and that they would trust in Jesus for His righteousness!

I hope this has been helpful, and until next time go serve your King!

Showing Them Their Need

As parents we cannot give our children spiritual life, we can teach them who God is, what His law demands, and how He provided a way to be reconciled to Him when Jesus dies on the Cross. God brings salvation through the teaching of the gospel; as we strive to faithfully raise our children we must remember that they can never hear it enough. Times of discipline offer a great opportunity to teach our children: explain how disobeying mom and dad is a violation of God’s law (read them Ephesians 6:1- open the bible with them), this violation is enough to separate them from God, but when Jesus died on the cross he was paying the penalty for all of the sins of those who would turn from sin (repent) and place their faith in the righteousness of Christ as the basis for their standing before God. Our children need to know that they are sinners in need of a savior, and that our God is good and provided one in Jesus. However, with out the knowledge of their need the gospel doesn’t make any sense. Pray for God to work in their heart, and that they would respond to the good news of the gospel!

This week our kids learned about Lazarus (John 11:1-44), how he became very sick, and how his sisters sent word to Jesus so that He would come and heal their brother. However, Jesus did not immediately come; He told his disciples, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it (John 1:4).” When Jesus did go to Bethany he found Lazarus dead, and his sisters grieved. He saw their great sadness, and felt compassion. He wept with them, not because he was unsure of the outcome but because of his compassion for the pain Mary and Martha were feeling. He said to Martha,”I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? (John 1:25)” Here Jesus has again made one of those “I AM” statements that really got of the nose of the Pharisees, he was asserting His deity. Then he was teaching about the nature of death, for the believer it is then entrance into a new life with God in Heaven. If we repent of our sins and place our faith n the righteousness of Christ we have eternal life. Then after speaking to Mary, he went and called Lazarus out of his tomb. This again reinforced the claim of deity as he is the only one who has the power to give life. The reaction of the on lookers was mixed some believed and others were angry and they went to the religious leaders and began to plot to have him killed. 

 

We must help our children understand why the narratives in scripture are important. The story of Lazarus is not just a story about a compassionate man named Jesus who raised a man from the dead. We have to help unpack it for them, Jesus saw God’s glory as the most important thing, He was compassionate even though he knew what was about to happen, He is in control of everything, He knew how the people would respond (some would believe and some would plot to take his life), and He had the power to do what he claimed because of His part of the triune Godhead. Each of these themes are important to teach our children fully. They need to know that Jesus came to save those who are dead in their transgressions, that when they fail Christ is compassionate, and that they can stand up for what is right because He is in control of the out come of any situation. We must show them what principles are being taught, and how they apply to them, this of course will vary depending on their age. 

The bible says that prior to salvation we are dead in our trespasses and sin; and that like Lazarus God because of his grace gave us life in Christ (Eph 2:1-2). This point helps connect the narrative to the gospel, which is critical. Pray for God to work in your child’s heart, and that they would respond to the good news of the gospel! 

Remember if we are going to teach our children God’s word it is important that we are well aquatinted ourselves. Take time to think through how the narrative reveals more about the character of God.  

I hope this has been helpful, and until next time go serve your King!