STUFFed part 3

We hit up part 3 of our STUFFed series yesterday dealing with the issue of selfishness. This series has been about thankfulness and selfishness can be the enemy of a thankful attitude!

After Joshua had led the camp of Israelites into the Promised Land, the first city that they came to was a place called Jericho. Jericho was a large fortified city, which meant it had huge walls built around it to keep invaders out!


Well Joshua had specific instructions on how to take over the city, and as he followed through with those instructions, the walls came tumbling down and the Israelites quickly seized the city.

That wasn’t all! God wanted the Israelites to stay focused on the one who was providing the land… Him! So he gave them one more thing to do! He had Joshua tell the Israelites, “The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord.” No big deal, right?

The conquest of Jericho went as planned, but someone didn’t follow through with all the instructions that God had given!

The next city that the Israelites had planned to take over was a small city called Ai (pronounced just as it is spelled… A-i.) Joshua had a few men go spy out the city and they came back with a positive report. They told Joshua that he would not have to send many men, because the city was so small.

Hearing this, Joshua sent about 3,000 men up to capture the city of Ai. When they got there they were routed by the men of Ai and they had to retreat, but the men of Ai defeated the men of Israel.

This upset Joshua, so he tore his clothes and he cried out to God, “… why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan River to deliver us into the hands of the enemy so they could destroy us?” After Joshua prayed some more God let him in on a little secret!

God told Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I have commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies…”

After this God told Joshua to get the whole camp of Israelites ready for a meeting the next day, where God would show him who committed the sin. The whole camp came together and family by family God showed Joshua who had committed the sin…but it was only one man, named Achan!

The selfishness of one man had a negative effect on so many others besides himself. Achan probably didn’t realize it at the time, but he took his eyes off of what God had commanded the Israelites to do. When he let his selfishness get the best of him, it cost others their lives!

Selfishness… the opposite of thankfulness can lead you down the wrong path quicker than you think!

Memeory Verse: "Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Q's for the Family:
1. Have you ever displayed the same kind of attitude that Achan did? Maybe you didn’t steal anything, or people weren’t killed, but when was a time that you were selfish in your decisions? What were the negative consequences?

2. I don’t know about you guys but I want God to bless my life! What are some practical steps that we can take towards having a more thankful attitude? Practice having a thankful attitude, pray and ask God to help you to have a more thankful atiitude, pray and thank God for the things that he has already blessed you with!

That's all I've got for you this week, but tune in next week for part 4! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

STUFFed part 2

We knocked out part 2 of our series this week, talking about the ten lepers found in Luke 17:11-19:

One day, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem when he was met by ten people who had a skin disease called leprosy. They couldn’t come close to him because there was a law against it. Everyone thought that leprosy was contagious.

The lepers called out to Jesus and asked him to take pity on them. Jesus always felt sorry for sick and hurting people, so he told them to go show themselves to the priest. That is what the law said lepers had to do when they thought their disease was cured. The priest had to agree that they were better before they could go home and live normally!

As the ten men obeyed Jesus and walked toward the Temple to see the priest, their skin became clear and healthy.

One of the ten turned around and ran back to where Jesus was standing. He was so sure he was well that he came right up to Jesus and fell at his feet. He began to praise God because he was totally healed.

Jesus said, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Isn’t it strange that only one man came back to say thank you!” Then he told the man, “Because you have faith, you have been healed.”

As illustrated in this passage, thankfulness is important to Jesus! Having a thankful attitude is a part of being more like Jesus, and that is our ultimate goal as Christ followers.

Memory Verse: "Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (Contemporary English Version)

Q's for the Family:
1. Can you think of a time that you didn't have a thankful attitude? What happened?

2. How can you have a thankful attitude next time?

3. What will God do if we have thankful attitudes?

[Challenge]
Sometimes we take our health for granted. Go home this week and spend some time in prayer thanking God for making you a healthy person!

STUFFed part 1

With Thanksgiving coming up here pretty soon, what a better series to do than a series on being thankful. The elementary students are doing a series called STUFFed that we kicked off this last weekend.

We talked about a group of people that the Bible calls The fellowship of the Believers. This group of people is found in Acts 2:42-47.

Not long after Jesus had risen from the dead and gone up to heaven, the people who believed in Jesus became really close friends.

They all ate together and prayed together. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They would even sell their own possessions and goods, so that they could give to anyone who was in need!

Everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They also broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying all the people.

Because of this, the Bible says, “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:47.)”

What was the key this group of people? They were thankful for the things that they had, but they were also thankful for the friendships that they had! When they would sell their stuff to help others, they did it with glad and sincere hearts!

They were very aware of the things that God had blessed them with, but they were willing to use those things to bless others!

Memory Verse: "Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (Contemporary English Version)

Q's for the Family:
1. What is something that you are thankful for?

2. Why is it important that we have a thankful attitude?

3. How can we be thankful for the things we have?

[Challenge]

This week, go home and write a note to someone you are thankful for, or someone who gave you something that you are thankful for.

iWorship part 4

We wrapped up our iWorship series yesterday, talking about yielding our lives to God!

Over the past 4 weeks we've been uncovering different aspects to worship.

Worship involves prayer, reading God's Word, the way we act toward God and toward others, and all of that is encompassed as we yield our lives to God's control!

We talked about a man named Zacchaeus found in Luke 19:1-10.

Zacchaeus was a Jewish tax collector for the Roman Government. Zacchaeus lived a sinful lifestyle because he would cheat the people out of their money. He would secretly raise the taxes and then keep a lot of the money for himself.

Well, Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus so he climbed up into a tree so that he could see over the crowd as Jesus passed by. When Jesus was getting close he looked at Zacchaeus and told him to come down out of the tree be cause he was going to eat dinner at Zacchaeus' house that night.

Zacchaeus was a very rich man and had a lot of possessions... so he gladly had Jesus in his home. But when Zacchaeus came in contact with Jesus his life was completely changed.

He told Jesus, "I want to give half of my wealth to the poor and I will give back 4 times as much as I stole from the people."

Jesus saw that Zacchaeus' heart had changed. Zacchaeus wanted to accept Jesus into his life and change the bad things he was doing... and he did! Zacchaeus yielded his life to Jesus!

Bible Story: Luke 19:1-10

Memory Verse: "Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.'" Matthew 22:37-38

Q's for the family:
1. Zacchaeus's life was completely changed when he yielded himself to Jesus! What is something that keeps you from completely yielding your life to Jesus? Video games, friends, the ineternet, money, having the coolest clothes or toys, porpularity, etc.

2. How can those things get in the way of knowing God?

3. What steps can you take to make sure that you are spending time worshipping Jesus?

[Challenge]
This week I want you to take a break from something that takes up a lot of your time. Whether it is video games, the internet, or just watching TV; take a break from it and focus that time on God. Have a parent sign a sheet of paper explaining what you gave up and you can get a prize!