Family Worship is a devotional plan which equips your family to build upon the gospel truths your child learns Sunday in children’s church.
We include scripture, questions, and a prayer for you and your child to engage with throughout the week. It is our goal to give you tools to help model a personal worship practice for your children.
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Unit 7: Session 1
Big Picture Unit Question:
Why can we trust God? We can trust God because He is faithful and does everything for His glory and our good.
Christ Connection:
The Gateway Arch stands 630-feet tall over the city of St. Louis, Missouri. Built in 1963, the arch is made of concrete and steel, and it weighs more than 43 tons! This impressive monument is meant to remember and celebrate the westward expansion of the United States that connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is known as the “Gateway to the West.”
Monuments like the Gateway Arch are meant to help people remember the past and symbolize important events. The practice of building monuments dates back to ancient history and can be seen many times throughout the Bible. After God miraculously stopped the Jordan River for the Israelites to pass through, He gave Joshua specific instructions for building a monument. The Israelites took 12 stones from the middle of the river, and they built a monument to remember what God had done. Whenever someone asked why those stones were there, the Israelites could retell the stories of their strong and mighty God.
Psalm 78:4 says, “…tell a future generation the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, his might, and the wondrous works he has performed.” Remembering the amazing things God has done helps us trust Him. We can also tell others about His wondrous works—like how He sent Jesus to save us from our sin—so that they might believe in Him.
God’s presence went before the people, and the waters of the Jordan were stopped. God’s people crossed safely into the Promised Land. Jesus went before God on behalf of sinners. All who trust in His life, death, and resurrection are saved from judgment and enter into eternal life.
Questions:
1) How did God make the way for people to come into His presence?
Remind kids that God made a way for the Israelites to enter into the land He had promised because He went before the people. Tell kids He has also made the way for us to enter into His presence. Sin separates us from God, but through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God made the way for us to have our sin forgiven and live with God forever.
2) How did God show the Israelites that He is strong and powerful?
Prompt kids to recall how the priests carried the ark of the covenant into the river and the water stopped. Discuss how God stopped the river and allowed His people to cross on dry ground. Through this, God demonstrated that He is Ruler over all He has created.
3) Do we still need an ark of the covenant today? Why not?
Tell kids the ark of the covenant represented God’s presence with His people. God was not confined to the ark. Nothing on earth can contain Him! Discuss how the ark was a symbol to help the people understand God’s holy presence. Tell kids we no longer need the ark of the covenant because God sent His Son Jesus to dwell among us. Jesus died so that we could come into God’s presence. When we place our faith in Jesus, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us.
Pray:
Lord, we praise You because You have done great things! Help us remember all the amazing things You have done and to share those stories with others to help them know You. Amen.
Worship Video
The Apostle’s Creed
We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
