Week of 09-25-22

​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.

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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.

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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?
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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

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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:

​Reading:
When we’re asking what we should pray about, we instinctively turn to the Bible, because it’s the Bible that inspires us and directs us. So whether it’s Jesus reminding us that we should always pray and not faint or Paul reminding the Philippians not to be anxious about anything but in everything to turn to God in prayer, it is the Bible that keeps us on track. As we pray, we’re really asking God to bring our lives and the lives of others into line with his purposes. And when we pray in that way, we’re able to pray with confidence.

So, we can pray for our world, that men and women might come to believe the gospel. We can pray for laborers to be sent into the harvest field, as Jesus said. We can pray for the work of the gospel in our own lives, that we might become holy and joyful and thankful. And when we do all of this, we need to remember that God is far more willing to bless us than we are even to take the time to ask him.

As Jesus said, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matt. 7:11).

- Alistair Begg

Pray:
God Who Hears, let your living Word shape our desires and our prayers. May it challenge us to pray for things that don’t seem possible. May it inform our view of you as we approach you as beloved sons and daughters. May it drive us to our knees as we recognize our need of you. Amen.​