​We encourage you to use the resources below to follow up on what your kids and teens learned at Sunday School and Wednesday's Student Ministry Gathering and as a guide for having some Christ-centered conversations with your family this week.

For Kids:
Unit 12: Session 4 - God Is Good to Give Mercy

Bible Story Summary:

• Jesus told a story about a religious leader and a tax collector who went into the temple to pray.
• The religious leader prayed, "Thank you, God, I am not like that tax collector. I tell the truth, and I obey you."
• The tax collector prayed, "Please forgive me, God! Show me mercy. I have done wrong."
• Jesus said God was happy with the tax collector and forgave him. God was not happy with the religious leader.

Christ Connection

• Everyone has sinned and needs God's mercy and forgiveness. We can ask God for forgiveness and because of Jesus, God will forgive our sin.

​
This Unit's Key Passage Phrase: The Lord is a kind and loving God. - Exodus 34:6

This Unit's Big Picture Question: What is mercy? Mercy is when God does not give us the punishment that we deserve.

For Students:
“For the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.” - Psalm 100:5

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
1) How does God’s never-ending love encourage you as you seek to follow Him this week?
2) How can you praise and thank God this week for His love for you and for His desire to know you deeper?
3) How can you serve others in God’s name this week?
​
QUESTIONS FOR PARENTS:
1) How does the idea that God’s promises to us are never-ending encourage your faith?
2) How can your family praise and thank God for His love more intentionally this week?
3) How can your family serve others this week?

Student Guide

For Family Worship:
New City Catechism Question 40: What should we pray?
The whole Word of God directs and inspires us in what we should pray, including the prayer Jesus himself taught us:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Sing/ Memorize:

For Kids:
Unit 12: Session 3 - Solomon's Sin Divided the Kingdom

Bible Story Summary:

• King Solomon loved God, but still made wrong choices. He worshiped false gods.
• God said that Solomon's son Rehoboam would only be king of one tribe.
• When Rehoboam became king, 10 tribes followed a man named Jeroboam.
• Jeroboam became king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Rehoboam became king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

Christ Connection

• Solomon sinned, and Israel was divided into two kingdoms. God's people needed a perfect king. God sent his son, Jesus, to be King. Jesus is a perfect King who brings God's people together.​

​
This Unit's Key Passage Phrase: The Lord is a kind and loving God. - Exodus 34:6

This Unit's Big Picture Question: What is mercy? Mercy is when God does not give us the punishment that we deserve.

For Family Worship:
New City Catechism Question 39: With what attitude should we pray?
With love, perseverance, and gratefulness; in humble submission to God’s will, knowing that, for the sake of Christ, he always hears our prayers.

Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Reading:
Hypocritical prayer is an oxymoron; hypocrisy and prayer just don’t go together. Anything that we properly call prayer should be divorced from hypocrisy. The Lord teaches us this in the Gospels when he talks about those who pray for an audience; for them prayer is a show. And if you’ve been praying any length of time, you know that you don’t need an audience for your prayers to be a show. Sometimes we’re watching ourselves pray. We’re admiring the eloquence of our appeal. We like the turn of phrase. So our prayer can go from being an act of communion with God to a demonstration of pride.
But real prayer is an expression of love. Real prayer is an expression of perseverance. It’s an expression of gratefulness.
Why love? Because in prayer we’re communing with God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. We’re praying to the Father in the name of the Son through the Spirit. And in the act of prayer, we’re meant to enjoy them and to get to know them and to commune with them. How can prayer be communion without love?
In prayer there should also be perseverance, steadfastness, pressing in, continuously knocking at the door. This perseverance is necessary to prevail against our flesh. Our flesh wars against the spirit. And, boy, I tell you, when we pray, don’t we sometimes experience a wandering, distracting mind? When we pray, don’t we sometimes experience our frailty, our weakness, our fatigue? I’ve fallen asleep praying just as our Lord’s apostles did in the garden of Gethsemane. So we need perseverance, and we need that pressing into the things of God, that pushing out the distractions of the world, that crucifying of the flesh, again, that we might have this fuller communion with the Lord.
Finally, prayer ought to be an expression of gratitude. Let us count the blessings of the Lord. Let us mark his providences. Let us observe the divine interruptions that have broken into our lives, such that we might receive not only Christ but everything in Christ, and receive and experience it in surprising ways, in opportune times, in times later than we had hoped for or expected. The divine interruptions of God, which are blessings and distributions of his kindness to us, ought to cultivate gratitude in us. Our prayers ought to express that gratitude so that we’re conscious of the kindness and goodness of the Lord.
Even when we can’t trace God’s hand, as the saying goes, we can trust his heart because we know God is good, and we’re grateful for his goodness. That spurs us on in our prayer and perseverance, and it turns us again in love toward Christ our Savior, God our Father, and the Spirit our Comforter.
- Thabiti Anyabwile

Pray:
Loving Father, we come to you in the name of your beloved Son. Give us perseverance in prayer, even when we do not immediately see answers. Let us believe that you will not keep back any good thing from us, and trust that you will withhold those things we seek that would harm us. Your ways are higher than our ways, and we entrust our requests to your sovereign kindness. Amen.

We encourage you to use the resources below to follow up on what your kids and teens learned at Sunday School and Wednesday's Student Ministry Gathering and as a guide for having some Christ-centered conversations with your family this week.

For Kids:
Unit 12: Session 2 - Solomon Built the Temple

Bible Story Summary:

• King Solomon built the temple like God had promised King David.
  
• The temple took seven years to build, and it was beautiful. Solomon covered everything inside the temple with gold.
  
• As King Solomon and the leaders gave an offering to God, the priests brought the ark of God into the temple.
• The people praised God. Solomon said, "God there is no one like you!"

Christ Connection

• The temple was a place where God was with His people and people could worship God. When we trust in Jesus, He forgives us and is always with us, ready to help us.

​
This Unit's Key Passage Phrase: The Lord is a kind and loving God. - Exodus 34:6

This Unit's Big Picture Question: What is mercy? Mercy is when God does not give us the punishment that we deserve.

​For Students:
“Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You!” —Psalm 67:3

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
1) How has God blessed you physically and spiritually?
2) What are some of the blessings of God that you are tempted to hoard for yourself?
3) With whom can you share this week about the source of your spiritual and physical blessings?
​
QUESTIONS FOR PARENTS:
1) How has God blessed you and your family?
2) How is your family using God's blessings to bless others?
3) How do you use your blessings to benefit people all over the world who have never heard the name and gospel of Jesus?

For Family Worship:

New City Catechism Question 38: What is prayer?
Prayer is pouring out our hearts to God in praise, petition, confession of sin, and thanksgiving.

Psalm 62:8
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

Reading:
Prayer is the way you walk by the Spirit. Prayer is the way you walk by faith. In other words, it’s the breath of the Christian life all day long. Just breathe in, breathe out. It’s the way you live.
Let me illustrate for you with four elements from the catechism: confession, petition, praise, and thanks. I’m commending to you that any time you face any situation when you feel I need help here, you do it by prayer using these four elements.
Suppose I have to speak in front of a group, and I am nervous (you can pick your particular challenge). As the moment approaches, I wonder, “Am I going to be able to do this? Will I remember what I have to say? Will I make a fool of myself?” And at that moment I confess my need to God. I say, “Lord, I’m a sinner. I don’t deserve your help, but I need your help. I can’t do anything without you.” That’s the confession step of prayer.
And then I turn my confession to petition. “Lord, please help me. I need memory. I need articulation. I need the right spirit. I need humility. I need to look the people in the eye. I need all these things. I want to be helpful to my listeners. But I don’t have it in me to be all that they need. Help me.” That’s the petition step of prayer. A cry for help.
And then I need to reach out and take hold of something about God that will be worthy of my praise and worthy of my trust. Like God says, “I’ll strengthen you. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you up with my victorious right hand” (see Isa. 41:10). I take hold of that promise, that power, that love, that mercy, and I hold onto it. And I trust him and praise him. “You, oh Lord, can help me. I trust you to help me. I praise you for being the kind of God who is willing and able to help me!” That’s the trust and praise step of prayer.
Then I give my talk, trusting him. And when I am done, no matter what, I thank him. Since I trusted him for his help, I believe that he is going to use my effort, no matter how well I think I did. “Thank you, Lord!” That is the thanksstep of prayer.
There they are—four key words from the catechism.
First, continually confess your need to the Lord. “I need you.”
Second, cry out in petition. “Help me.”
Third, lay hold of God’s promises with trust and praise for his ability to fulfill them.
And then when he helps you, go on your face and say, “Thank you.”
That’s the rhythm and the breath of the Christian life.
- John Piper

Pray:
Our Great Refuge, thank you for calling us to prayer. You are not far away; you are near, and you hear us when we pray. Let us pour out our hearts to you without ceasing. Let us pray without guile, bringing our true selves before your throne of grace. Amen.

We encourage you to use the resources below to follow up on what your kids and teens learned at Sunday School and Wednesday's Student Ministry Gathering and as a guide for having some Christ-centered conversations with your family this week.

Unit 12: Session 1 - God Gave Solomon Wisdom

Bible Story Summary:

• Solomon, King David's sons became king of Israel.
• One night, God spoke to Solomon in a dream. God said He would give Solomon anything he asked for.
• Solomon asked for wisdom to be a good leader for God's people.
• God was happy with Solomon. God made Solomon the wisest man who ever lived, and He gave Solomon riches, long life, and success too.

Christ Connection

• Solomon was a wise king who wanted to follow God's plan. God had a plan to send a wiser king -- Jesus. Jesus trusted God and followed God's plan.

This Unit's Key Passage Phrase: The Lord is a kind and loving God. - Exodus 34:6

This Unit's Big Picture Question: What is mercy? Mercy is when God does not give us the punishment that we deserve.

“The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” Psalm 24:1

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
1) How does God's sovereign control of everyone and everything comfort you through the struggles and
challenges of life?
2) What areas of your life (words, actions, and motivations) seem out of sync?
3) Pray that God would continue to transform you to be more like Him and to be someone who praises Him
for His great work.
​
QUESTIONS FOR PARENTS:
1) How have you seen God's sovereign plan at work in your life and the lives of your family members?
2) How can you live a synced life before your kids in which your words, actions, and motivations are all in
line?
3) How can your family remember to give God credit and praise for His work in your lives and the lives of
others around you?

For Family Worship:

New City Catechism Question 37: How does the Holy Spirit help us?
The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, comforts us, guides us, gives us spiritual gifts and the desire to obey God; and he enables us to pray and to understand God’s Word.

Ephesians 6:17-18
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.

Reading:
I’ve always been struck by Jesus’s words: “Apart from me you can do nothing.” They are a humbling and refreshing reminder that our need, from first to last, isn’t partial, but total. By giving us the Holy Spirit, Christ has given us all we need and more, from first to last. The Holy Spirit gives us life. He fills our life and points us to the One who is life. He gives us life in that our starting point is not simply that we’re spiritually needy, but that we are dead in sin. Our spiritual life begins when the Holy Spirit regenerates us, giving us new life. When he turns our heart of stone into a heart of flesh, he makes the truth of God’s Word real to us, and we freely embrace Christ as he’s offered to us in the gospel. This reminds us that being a Christian isn’t about being a better person but about being a new person, by God’s grace alone, through faith alone.
Not only does he give us life, but he also fills our life. When we become Christians, God the Father adopts us as his children and gives to us his Spirit of adoption. He comes to live in us and fill us, and in doing so he guides us as a counselor would—supporting, convicting us of our sin, strengthening us in Christ, encouraging us in the way we should live, helping us to pray, and even praying for us when we’re too weak to do so ourselves. In all this, he grows us in Christlikeness, enabling us to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do. And he gives us specific gifts to use to contribute to the building up of the body of Christ, and to love, serve, and obey God.
So he gives us life. He fills our life. And finally, he points us to the One who is life. Jesus said, “[The Spirit] will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. He doesn’t draw attention to himself but glorifies Jesus and gives us the grace to do the same, making him who is life our life and love. So the One who is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, has given us his Spirit to supply all we need from first to last. He gives us life, fills our life, and points us to the One who is life.

- Leo Schuster

Pray:
God the Spirit, have your way in us. Shine your light on the secret sins of our hearts. Equip us for tasks that are too large for us. Make us glad in what delights you. Intercede for us and open our eyes to rightly understand the Word of truth. Amen.