SOAR Flying High With God #1

SOAR
A lot of time and energy goes into designing and manufacturing an airplane.
Wouldn’t it be such a shame for a plane to be built, but then never
actually get off the ground and fly? In the same way God designed and created
us for a purpose. Not to just sit on the ground and do nothing, but to
soar high with Him. When a plane is in the air, carrying passengers and
cargo, it is accomplishing it’s purpose. We all have a special purpose for our
lives. God had a plan laid out for us before we were ever even thought of.
Most people live their lives never knowing what that plan is.
In this 4-week lesson, your kids will learn that they are very special to
God and that He has an incredible plan for them.

Lesson #1
“Special”
In order to soar high with God, you must know that you are special and
that God has a plan for your life. God called Gideon to lead his people
against a massive army. When the Angel of the Lord approached Gideon,
he didn’t think he was good enough for the job. The fact is: we are not “good
enough” for what God has for us to do. But with His strength and His power
we can do great things for the Lord. If we know that we are “special” to God
and that He has a great plan for us,then we can accomplish many things
for Him.

MAIN POINT : I AM SPECIAL AND GOD
HAS A PLAN FOR MY LIFE
BIBLE VERSE : “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life
was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day passed.”
Psalm 139:16

this week in Kids church

For this devotion, think of some skill that your kids have recently

You want me to do what?

“Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. " – Isaiah 26:4
One of the most important things you can teach your kids is that they
need to obey you when you tell them to do something. This not only makes
for a more peaceful household, it also prepares them to learn to obey God
better as they grow older. A good principle to put in place is First Time
Obedience (FTO), which means that whenever you call your children’s names,
they come to you immediately so they can find out what you want them to
do.
To teach your kids FTO, start by playing a game. Tell them that you
want them to go to different parts of the house and when they hear you call
their names, they are supposed to say, “Coming, Mom,” or something similar
and come to you. When they get to you, you’ll have a treat for them. Send
them throughout the house, wait a few minutes, and then call them loudly by
name. When they come to you, thank them for obeying and give them a small
piece of candy.
Play the game again, but this time, hide the piece of candy. Call their
names, and when they come to you, give them directions on how to find their
candy. Once they find it, tell them that learning to come when they’re called
and then doing what you tell them to do is obedience, and it’s what God
expects them to do. Tell them you’re going to practice this for a few days, and
that sometimes they’ll get a piece of candy for obeying, but sometimes they’ll
get a hug or a kiss. Continue to practice this for several days, making sure that
you only give one instruction at a time (for example, “Take your shoes to your
room,” not “Pick up your toys, turn off the light, brush your teeth, and go to
bed.”) Over the course of several weeks, if you’re consistent, you should see
the level of obedience in your kids rise.
Tell your kids that God expects them to obey him, too, and that by
learning to obey you, they’re learning to obey God. Pray together that God
will help you all learn to obey better, and to trust God that he loves you
enough to give you good instructions.
Pre-teens
How easy is it for you to obey people in authority, like your
parents, teachers, or pastors? Better yet, how easy is it for you to obey
them when you don’t understand why they’re asking you to do
something or they say, “Because I said so!” when you ask them why you
have to do it? For a lot of people, it boils down to a matter of trust: do
you trust the person who is giving you an instruction even if you don’t
know why you’re supposed to do it? Talk about the following questions:
* Why should you obey your parents, teachers, pastors, etc. even if
they don’t give you the reason behind their instruction?
* Are there any situations when you shouldn’t obey them? Name some
of these situations.
* How does it make you feel when you don’t know why you have to
do something?
* Do you think you always have the right to know why you have to
obey? Why or why not?
* Can you think of some reasons why someone in authority might not
tell you why you’re supposed to do something?
*Can you think of any times God has asked you to obey him without
knowing why he was asking you to do something?
God often asks us to trust him enough to obey him without
understand the reason behind his instruction. One of the reasons he does
this is to strengthen our faith—our ability to believe he’s in charge even if
our circumstances don’t look like he is. Sometimes talking to a trusted
friend, parent, or pastor can help us understand why God ask us to do
certain things. While it’s okay to question him, however, we ultimately
have to learn to do what he says whether we understand it or not.
Ask God to help you learn to trust him even when you don’t
understand the why behind his instructions. Thank him that you can

Crossing the river Lesson #6

this week is going to rock we are talking about putting God in the place that he belong in the front in the driver seat of our lives - I hope you take advantage of this family devotions and share it with your kids & friends.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear…, but of

power, love, and self-discipline.” - 2 Timothy 1:7

For this devotion, you’ll need 12 objects you can use to build a memorial.

It may be stones, blocks, boxes, or even simple sheets of paper that you

fold. The objects don’t have to be large. You’ll also need some way to write

on the objects.

Read the following out loud to your family:

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites,

one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD

your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on

his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a

sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these

stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark

of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the

Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel

forever.” (Joshua 4:4-7)

Then ask your kids the following questions:

* What is a memorial? (an object used to remind people of someone or

something that happened)

* What are some memorials you’ve seen before (think about statues,

markers, etc.)

* Do you have any memorials—objects you keep because they remind you

of something?

* How valuable are these memorials to you? Why are they so valuable?

* Why do you think Joshua wanted people to remember this particular

situation?

* Why do you think Joshua wanted people to pass this story along to

their children?

* Can you think of a time in your life when you weren’t sure what was

going to happen in the future? How did you feel then? How did you

feel once the future arrived?

Tell your kids that one of the best ways to fight the fear of the

future is to remember the past. Keeping in mind what God has done for

you in the past helps build your faith so you can trust him without fear

for the future.

Then take the objects that you gathered. Divide them as equally

as possible between all of your family members. Tell them that as a family,

you’re going to try to come up with 12 events in the past where God

helped your family. Give everyone a few minutes to think about this,

and then use the following questions to help you come up with more

ideas:

* Has there ever been a time when someone in your family was really

sick and then recovered?

* Can you think of a time when money was tight and someone unexpectedly

provided you with money, food, clothes, etc.?

* Can you think of a time when you were really afraid of something

that might happen, but you prayed about it and God helped you

through it?

* Can you think of things that at the time seemed like coincidences, but

as you look back on it, you realize God was setting things up to work

out a certain way?

Have each person write one of the things you came up with on

their object. If you can’t come up with 12, no problem; add to the

memorial in the months to come. Set the memorial in a place where the

family can see it, and then use it to remind each other that God has

always taken care of you in the past, and he always will in the future.

Thank God that he’s in control of the future. Thank him for the

blessings of the past, and ask him to help your faith to grow so you can

trust him with the things to come in your life.