Letters to Church Leaders - Sunday May 2, 2021
Sunday May 2, 2021 (Vol 11, Unit 32, Session 4)
Hi there, and thanks for joining us this week. The following blog is here to be a tool for you to review the previous Sunday’s Children’s church lesson and help your kids grow in their faith. Please feel free to use as much of it as you choose. You know your kids and are the best possible teacher for them. God has given you the power of the Holy Spirit to enable you to do more than you think possible (Eph 3:20). So, let’s have some fun and teach our kids from the scriptures.
Parent Devotional – Letters to Church Leaders
1 & 2 Timothy, Titus
As the early church expanded outside Jerusalem, new churches were planted in various cities. Each church needed godly leaders to help it grow and stay true to the gospel. Paul understood this need, which is why he wrote letters to some of the leaders in the church. Two of these leaders were Timothy and Titus. Timothy was Paul’s friend. He had traveled with Paul and helped him. Now Timothy was a leader at the church in Ephesus.
Titus was a Gentile believer. He had traveled with Paul too. Now Titus was on the island of Crete to help train more church leaders. Paul wrote to give Timothy and Titus advice, and he gave instructions for all the church leaders.
Paul warned Timothy and Titus that being a leader was difficult at times, but God had chosen them to be leaders. Their role as leaders put them in a position to serve God. Paul hoped that recognizing this would help them persevere and live in a way that pleased Christ.
As you share with your kids, help them see the value in God’s gift of church leaders. Look for ways to support your leaders so that your kids value them, love them, and respect them. Consider ways your group can encourage your leaders.
At the same time, emphasize that God is at work in them and that they too might be leaders in the church one day—perhaps one day soon. Help your kids see that being a leader is a great privilege to help point others to the gospel.
Finally, be sure that your kids understand that church leaders do not lead on their own. All church leaders follow the leadership of Jesus, who was a servant-leader to us. He gave His life so that we could be forgiven of our sins.
Parent Guidance and Instructions
As we begin to explore this week’s lesson, take a moment to pray and remember the verse from Deuteronomy about teaching your children the scriptures. Deuteronomy 6:9 says: “You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Maybe you do not have time to sit and have an hour of Bible time all at once, or perhaps your children are too young to sit for that long. Consider the key points of the lesson and ask God to give you opportunities to speak them into the hearts of your children throughout the week. Let the Bible become a part of your day-to-day. Be blessed this week, my friends!
Each week we include songs, activity pages, the bible lesson video, memory verses, and possibly a craft or 2. We pray this will help you find ways to engage your kids spiritually. It is written in script form from the K-2nd grade lesson, so you can read directly from it or change it to suit your children. Take some time to look at and print the activity pages and the additional activities and information (found in the links at the bottom of the page) to review the lesson so you can adjust as needed. I have included the Bible and Discussion questions along with a breakdown of the Gospel in the Older Kids Activities pages and loads of activities and crafts on the Preschool Extra Activity Pages. Once you are ready, go ahead and start with these songs if you would like, or pick some of your favorite worship songs and then jump right in! Have fun! And remember, this does not need to be done in one sitting! Feel free to break it up over the week. Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions. We would love to hear from you!
Opening
“Blessings and Bummers”
Let’s get started. Tell me, what have you seen the Lord doing in your lives this week? What have your greatest blessings been? How about your biggest challenges?
Parents share your blessings and bummers, encourage the kids to do the same
Prayer
Let’s go to the Lord in prayer: Father God, Thank you. Thank you for providing for our needs. You are so good to us even though we don’t deserve it! Thank you for continuing to bless us, Lord. Thank you for being patient with us. Thank you to our friends as well as our families.
Most importantly, we thank you always for sending Jesus to live a perfect life and die to pay for our sins. Thank you for raising Him from the dead and promising us life with you forever if we believe in Him. Please help us be thankful for all you do for us and look to you in all that we do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
(Please add to or customize prayer time to fit your family)
Praise the Lord for hearing our prayers!
Let’s chat!
Prompt kids to talk about what traits they think make for a good leader.
Say • Good leaders often have a few traits in common. They are usually smart, kind, hard-working, and patient. Today we will learn from letters that Paul wrote about what leaders in the church should be like. Do you think church leaders need any different traits besides the ones you talked about?
Optional Session Starter Activity
Pick one of two options, or do both; this is your party. (You can find these on page 2 of the optional activity pages attached at the bottom of the page.)
Big Picture Question
What is our mission as Christians? Our mission is to make disciples of all nations by the power of the Holy Spirit. God gives us the power, courage, and wisdom to tell others about Jesus and teach them how to obey Him. We all have different parts to play in that mission, but it’s all about glorifying God by spreading the news of His mercy, grace, and love to all the world.
Review
Three weeks ago we learned about how God rescued Peter from prison. Enemies of the gospel, like King Herod, were trying to stop the church from growing, but God still had plans for Peter. Two weeks ago we learned about the Holy Spirit calling Paul and Barnabas for a specific purpose. Paul and Barnabas told Jews and Gentiles about Jesus. Last week, we learned that some churches struggled with division over things that weren’t super important. Paul explained that the gospel unites all kinds of people in love. This week, we will see what God expects of leaders in the church and how leaders can effectively push the church to accomplish our mission.
Bible Lesson
Imagine what would happen if Paul had started all the churches and never taught anyone else how to lead? Eventually, when Paul traveled to another city, the churches would have had no good leaders! Thankfully, Paul knew that part of being a good leader is training new leaders to take your place when you are gone.
Paul told Titus and Timothy to do the same: raise up others who could lead along with them and continue training leaders after them. But it’s not just important to have leaders, it’s important to have leaders who are strong in their faith and know the truth of the gospel. That’s why Paul told leaders to trust and obey God.
Think about the people in your life who are leaders. How do they demonstrate their trust and obedience to God? What are some ways they are training new leaders to help them and carry on after them? The future of the church will always be secure because God’s plan has accounted for new leaders.
Christ connection
Paul wrote to give Timothy and Titus advice and to help all church leaders know how to lead God’s people. Church leaders help believers know what is true, and they serve the church by following the example of Jesus, who served us by dying on the cross for our sins.
Bible Time!
Distribute a Bible to each kid. Help kids find 1 Timothy and Titus. Remind the kids that these books are near the end of the Paul’s Letters division of the New Testament. As the name suggests, they are letters written by Paul to various believers. In this case, these three letters make up Paul’s leadership instruction to two men Paul entrusted to leading churches he helped plant.
Ask the following questions. Lead the group to discuss:
What was Timothy’s relationship to Paul? (a true son in the faith, 1 Tim. 1:2)
What did Paul tell Timothy to set an example in? (speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity; 1 Tim. 4:12)
Where was Titus leading? (Crete, Titus 1:5)
What about being a leader in a church do you think would be difficult? Encourage kids to discuss the different challenges that church leaders face, such as cultural pressure, temptation from Satan, dealing with difficult people or harsh criticism, and bearing the burdens of other believers. Help them think through ways they can be praying for their leaders and encouraging them.
Who is the ultimate authority in a church? Remind kids that the head pastor isn’t the ultimate authority in a church. Jesus is the head of the church. No matter what position a person may hold, if he says or does anything that goes against Jesus’ commands in Scripture, the church must lovingly try to correct the person. The pastor’s job is to follow Jesus well as he leads the church to follow Jesus alongside him.
Who can you lead in your life? Guide kids in your group to consider their roles as a leaders in their schools or families. Help them think through their ability to tell others about Jesus and set an example like Timothy did by trusting and obeying God.
Say • Paul told church leaders to trust and obey God. When leaders trust and obey God, they can help us to do the same. Leaders are an important part of God’s plan to reach the world with the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Key Memory Verse
Read the verse together.
This key passage explains our mission as believers. What is our mission as Christians? Our mission is to make disciples of all nations by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Memory Verse Activity:
Write the key passage on a dry-erase board or chalkboard. Lead the kids in reading the key passage together. Then, erase some of the words and challenge the kids to say the verse again, adding the missing words in from memory. Continue in this way until the entire verse is erased and kids are saying it from memory.
Say • The Great Commission explains our mission as the church. What is our mission as Christians? Our mission is to make disciples of all nations by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus wants us to tell the world about Him and teach others to believe in Him and obey Him. This is how the church grows.
That is all I have for this week. Let’s pray together:
Father, thank You that You provide leaders for us. Help us to be humble and teachable. Give us wisdom to trust and obey You. Help these boys and girls to be powerful leaders where they are, and grow these kids as the next generation of leaders in the church. Amen.
Thanks for joining us! I hope to meet you here again next week!
Thank you, Lifeway’s Gospel Project, for allowing us to publish this material.
Additional Activities and Information
