The Hall of Faith - Sunday March 28, 2021
Sunday March 28, 2021 (Vol 11, Unit 31, Session 4)
Easter Sunday is next weekend (4 April)! So, if you are local to the SoArNoCa region (Southern Anne Arundel/Northern Calvert) and do not have a local church family, we would love to meet you. Wouldn’t Easter be the perfect time to see what we are all about? We offer a sunrise service overlooking the Chesapeake Bay at the Rod and Reel Resort in Chesapeake Beach at 6:30 as well as an outdoor, in-person service at our facility at 10:30. We hope to see you there!
The following blog is here to be a tool for you to 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
It is common to think of faith as something that is just within us—trust and confidence in God. While that is surely part of it, faith doesn’t stop there. Faith starts inside of us and always leads to action.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews wanted to explain the fullness of faith to the early Jewish Christians. One of the best ways he could do this was to walk through examples of how men and women in the Old Testament had proven to be faithful. The result is Hebrews 11, often known as the Hall of Faith.
Abel had faith when he gave an offering to God, and God accepted his offering. Noah had faith. He believed God when God told him to build an ark to rescue his family.
Abraham had faith when God called him to leave his home. Abraham’s wife Sarah had faith when she trusted God to give her a family even though she was too old to have children. Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses had faith too. Rahab had faith when she hid the Israelite spies in Jericho.
All of these people trusted God, and so did many others. Having faith was not easy. Many suffered, and they died before God’s greatest promise—the arrival of Jesus—came true, but they believed that God had a wonderful plan. God was pleased with them because they trusted Him.
This week, share the examples of these heroes of faith to help your kids understand faith in action. We can and should learn from these examples; that is why God gave them to us in Hebrews 11. However, emphasize that every person in this list was a sinner in need of salvation. Each of these heroes needed a greater hero. Point your kids to Jesus, the perfect hero who rescues us from sin.
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 maybe 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 up to suit your children. Take some time to look at and print the activity pages as well as the additional activities and information (found in the links at the bottom of the page) also 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 as well as 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 course of the week. Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions. I would love to hear from you! - Melissa
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 for 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. Help us to be thankful of all you do for us and to 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 your kids to share who they admire and why.
Say • We admire a lot of different people. You may admire a talented artist or athlete because of their skill and dedication. You may admire a family member who is older and wiser than you. This week we will learn about some people the Bible holds up as examples to be admired. There’s a specific trait they had in common. That is the reason we can admire them. What do you think that trait might be? We’ll learn more soon.
Optional Session Starter Activity
Pick one of two options, or do both, this is your party. (These are found on page 2 of the optional activity pages attached at the bottom of the page.)
Big Picture Question
As we get into the story, remember the big picture question and answer we have been studying. What is the gospel? The gospel is the good news that God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to rescue sinners. One of the coolest parts about God’s plans is that He chooses to use people in them. He doesn’t need us; on our own we would be powerless to do anything! But when we have faith, God gives us power and uses us to do wonderful things.
Review
Three weeks ago, we learned about the spread of the gospel from Jews to Gentiles after Peter had a vision. He realized that the gospel is for all people. Soon after that, Barnabas went to Antioch to encourage believers. Other church leaders wrote letters to encourage those who had faith. One letter, Hebrews, taught us that Jesus, our great High Priest, brought a better covenant. This week we will look to the Book of Hebrews again to learn about the ways God uses people who have faith to do incredible things.
Bible Lesson
When God created Adam and Eve, He told them to be fruitful and multiply to fill the earth. God’s plan has always been to fill the earth with His glory by filling it with people who glorify Him. He has never needed to use people; but, has always chosen us as a way to demonstrate His power. By using people to do things they could never do on their own, God is showing His goodness and power to us all.
It can be tempting while reading the list of faithful men and women in Hebrews 11 to think “wow, what a bunch of great people.” That is not the message we should take away. Each person listed there was a sinner, just as you and I are sinners. The reason they are listed is their faith in a good God who does good things. Everything God does is for His glory and our good. God works mightily through people who have faith in Him; but it is still God’s work!
Christ Connection
The gospel has always been God’s plan for the world. What is the gospel? The gospel is the good news that God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to rescue sinners. God kept His promise to send the Messiah—His own Son, Jesus—to rescue people from sin. Jesus is the true hero of the Bible. He gives us faith. We can look to Him because in Him, all of God’s promises will come true.
Bible Time!
Distribute a Bible to each kid. Help them find Hebrews 11. Remind the kids that Hebrews is part of the General Letters division of the New Testament. Point out that it is located right after Philemon and right before James. Explain that we don’t know for sure who wrote the Book of Hebrews.
Ask the following questions. Lead the group to discuss:
What is faith? (being sure that what we hope for will happen, Heb. 11:1)
What trait tied all the Old Testament heroes together? (their faith, Heb. 11)
Are faithful people rewarded with happy, easy lives? (No, having faith isn’t always easy; Heb. 11:36-37)
What is the reward God gives for faith? Guide kids to see that God’s rewards are bigger than material possessions, fame, glory, or power. Instead, God promises eternal life with Him in the perfect world Jesus will bring when He returns.
Why is faith important? Help the kids understand that faith is the mechanism by which God provides us salvation, grows us to be more like Jesus, and works His plans through us.
Who are people in your life who have great faith? Guide kids to think about the men and women they know who have demonstrated great faith. Direct them to consider their parents, the pastors and elders of your church, and the ministry leaders and volunteers they interact with each week.
Say • God works mightily through people who have faith in Him. God uses people even though He doesn’t need us. When we have faith, God gives us power through the Holy Spirit so that we can be a part of His mission to spread the gospel to all nations. What is the gospel? The gospel is the good news that God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to rescue sinners.
Memory Verse
Read the verse together
Say • God is the God of all nations, and someday all nations and all of creation will sing His praises. We can all rejoice and be glad because Jesus’ work on the cross is finished. He made the way for us to be free from sin, and when we have faith, He uses us in His amazing plans.
Memory Verse Activity:
Print multiple copies of the key passage poster. Cut them apart to form puzzles. Make enough sets so that there is one for every four or five kids in your group. Form groups of four or five kids and encourage them to work together to assemble the puzzles. Then allow volunteers to recite the key passage from memory. Thank each kid for his efforts and encourage all the kids to continue working to memorize the key passage.
Say • God’s plan all along has been to glorify Himself in all the world. We are called to tell the world the message of the gospel so that more and more nations will rejoice in Him. What is the gospel? The gospel is the good news that God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to rescue sinners.
That is all I have for this week. Let's pray together:
Lord, we praise You because that is what You deserve. All our praise and worship is still only a fraction of the worship You deserve. Help us to be faithful to You. Use us in Your mighty plans. 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
