Praise and Worship Time

1. Begin with opening prayer

2. Sing songs: (songs of choice)

Set up for Final Competitions:

Set out the event signup sheets and give the children time to decide which events they want to participate in while they enjoy the party. Limit the number of events per child if necessary.

Party (Optional)

Provide some snacks and drinks and allow the children to fellowship with one another for a few minutes. You may want to consider inviting parents to this event so they may celebrate the children’s successes.

Begin Events

· Event 1: Place the books of the Old Testament in order

· Event 2: Place the books of the New Testament in order

· Event 3: Place the 10 Commandments in order

· Event 4: Match the Key Passages with their Scripture reference and find them in Scripture (set out enough bibles)

· Event 5: Place the Desert Trek cards in Chronological order

· Event 6: Place all the books of the bible in their correct order

· Event 7: Take home event option 1 – Illustration of one of the commandments

· Event 8: Take home event option 2 – Illustration of one of the Desert Trek events

Wrap Up

During our Desert Trek we learned much about who God is. Here are just some of the things we learned:

1. God is Holy and gave Himself a name “I am that I am” and from that name, “I Am” we learn God is a person and that He is self-sufficient.

2. God is above any and all things we can make to represent Him. It is best, therefore, not to even try to make an idol of Him nor should we worship anything else but Him.

3. Names are important in Scripture, especially names of God. The names of God help us gain a better understanding of who He is. We should not use His name in vain.

4. God does not like complaining. He gives us what He wants us to have. He has also set aside a day for us to rest and meditate on Him because He knows we need rest.

5. When we honor our parents, we honor God for God gave us our parents.

6. Human life is important to God for we are created in His image. We should preserve life, not take it.

7. God is the ultimate promise keeper. If we are going to be like God, we too should keep our promises. Keeping our promises when we are young helps us keep promises when we are adults such as our marriage promise to our husband/wife one day.

8. God provides all we need (like He provided manna and even someone to replace Moses after Moses died). When we steal we tell God what He has provided is not enough and that we need more. This saddens God.

9. Truth is very important to God. Jesus even said, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life.” We should always be honest; there is never a good excuse to lie.

10. God wants to be all we want and need. We should not covet what others have for we are not measured by what we own.

We also learned we can honor God by obeying His commands and His instructions.

God asked the Israelites to be different than others who did not know Him. We should be different as well. If we are going to call ourselves Christians, we should behave like Christians so that others will be drawn to God because of what we say and do. It is our responsibility to go out and share God with others.

Pray

· Worship God for all that He is (see above).

· Thank Him for the gift of His word that by it we learn more about Him.

· Thank Him for providing all we need, including Jesus as our Savior.

· Ask Him to help you represent Him well.

Closing (10 minutes)

1. Award those that competed in each event.

2. Award first through third place in each event.

3. Closing prayer.

4. Closing song – song of choice

Scripture Reference:

Mark 11:12-14, 20-26;

See also Matthew 21:18-22

Key Verse:

Mark 11:22 (NET)

“Jesus said to them, ‘Have faith in God…’”

1. Read the Passage:

Read Mark 11:12-25 in the NET Bible or in the translation of your choice.

Dig deeper:

If time allows, see also Matthew 21:18-22.

2. Observe the actions and attitudes of Jesus:

In the space below, write down all that you observe about Christ. For example, what did Jesus do? What did He say? To whom was He speaking to?

The Bible tells us that Jesus was hungry and saw a fig tree with leaves. When He reached for figs, he found that there were none. Mark tells us it was not the season for figs.

Ask: If it was not fig season, why do you think Jesus cursed the tree?

3. Understand the culture:

“Mark informs his readers that it was not the season for figs. Passover always comes in March or April, and fig season is not until May or June. However, fig trees generally produce a number of buds in March, leaves in April, and ripe fruit later on. Jesus was looking for the edible buds, the lack of which indicated that the tree would be fruitless that year.”ⁱ

Consider now how in Scripture, the fig tree is often symbolic for the nation of Israel. Jesus never wasted an opportunity to teach something spiritually while acting physically. If this fig tree represents the nation of Israel, what spiritual lesson can we draw from it?

The nation of Israel had the leaves of ‘profession’; they had the pretention of being fruitful when in fact they were not producing any real spiritual fruit. In other words, they were doing and saying the ‘religious’ things, but in their heart, they did not believe in Jesus. They refused to accept that Jesus was the promised Savoir.

4. Observe the response of the Disciples:

In the space below, jot down some of the responses of the disciples.

• v. 14 tells us the disciples heard Jesus curse the tree

• v. 21 tells us Peter remembered what they saw and mentioned it to Jesus

Peter sounded almost surprised when he says: “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” What was Jesus response to Peter?

“’Have faith in God,’ Jesus answered.” This was a lesson for the disciples in the importance of faith. Remember, Jesus knew

His time on earth was coming to an end and that He only had a few more days with His disciples. The point Jesus was trying to get across was that dependent trust in God can accomplish humanly impossible things through prayer.

Dig deeper:

Verse 23-25 read as follow (NET): “I tell you the truth if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your sins.”

Discuss what Jesus might have meant in these verses.

God is the source of all change. Moving a mountain is sometimes symbolic of doing something humanly impossible. Jesus was teaching His disciples that with faith, they can accomplish what appears to be impossible (see Philippians 4:13). Does this mean if we ask for anything, God will give it to us? What do you think? Ask yourself: “Is what I am praying for part of God’s will for my life?” If so, then you can be confident that God will answer your prayers. God does not desire to withhold from us, quite the contrary. Yet He knows what is best for us thus when He withholds anything from us, it is always for our own good. We can trust Him with that!

5. Your Response:

What can we learn from today’s passage?

1. Jesus wants us to have faith in God. He wants us to trust Him for all our needs and to believe He has our best interests at heart. He wants us to boldly ask for what we need in prayer knowing that God will answer us and meet our needs.

2. Jesus also warns us against pretending we are something we are not. If we are indeed going to call ourselves ‘Christians’, followers of Christ, then we should live our lives as such.

What is your response?

1. Is there something in your life that you are not trusting God with? Confess your lack of faith to God and ask Him to grow your faith. Then turn your needs over to God and watch for Him as He works out His will in your life.

2. Are you calling yourself a Christian? Are you living like one? Calling yourself a Christian and not living like one brings disgrace to Jesus. Surely you do not desire to defame the name of Christ. If you struggle with behavior that might not be honoring to God, find help. Find someone who can pray with you and help keep you accountable. Ask God for the strength and courage to live your life in a way that honors Him.

Pray with your family…

• Thank God for the gift of His word (the Bible) from which we can learn more about Him and about His expectations for us.

• Ask God to help you as you seek to grow your faith in Him.

6. Family Activity

Family Creed

The apostle’s creed was an early statement of Christian belief. In it, the apostle’s agreed to belief in specific things about God and about Christ. It included belief in God as Father Almighty and the Maker of heaven and earth. It also included belief in Jesus as God’s only Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary, a virgin at the time of His birth. It also included belief in the crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

Your activity today is to write out your Family Creed. On the leaves included as part of these activity sheets, have each family member write down one or more things you believe about God or Jesus (one item per leaf). Attach your ‘leaves of profession’ to your Family Tree (also one of the activity sheets). Discuss how important it is for your life to match what you believe. Display your family creed this week as a reminder of what you believe.

Scripture Reference:

John 13:1-17

Key Verse:

John 13:15 (NET)

“For I have given you an example – you should do just as I have done for you.”

1. Read the Passage

Read John 13:1-17

Dig deeper

In his book, John maintains a pattern of ‘7’. He lists 7 witnesses, lists 7 miracles and also lists 7 ‘I Am” statements of Jesus. Family Devotionals Activity Sheet – Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet lists the scripture references for the 7 miracles (John calls them ‘signs’). It also lists scripture references noting the responses of the people to those seven signs. In the space provided, jot down the signs and the responses. You will notice that as Jesus’ miracles became more significant, the hatred towards Him grew as well. Discuss with your family why this may have been the case.

2. Observe the scene, as well as the actions and attitudes of Jesus

This devotional will focus on the emotions Jesus may have been feeling. What do we know about what Jesus knew and felt? How did He demonstrate His feeling?

Notice an important principle here: Jesus KNEW (vs. 1, 3) so Jesus DID (vs. 2, 4-5). Jesus did what He did because He knew what He knew. Our actions are the result of our deepest thoughts. What do your actions say about your thoughts?

3. Understand the culture

It was customary for guests arriving at a person’s home to have his/her feet washed. This was a menial task and was often done by a servant.

This particular foot washing, however, did not take place upon arrival rather it occurred during the evening meal (John 13:2). Jesus got up from the meal and removed His outer garment because His outer garment would have gotten in His way. He then wrapped a towel around His waist.

“By putting on an apron, Christ looked like the slave to whom the task of washing the feet of guests was assigned. Though the disciples realized what Jesus was doing, none of them offered himself for the task. Servanthood was not on their minds. Jesus loved them knowing all about them, including the worst of them, Judas. All of them knew what needed to be done. All of them could have done it but none of them did.”ⁱ

(See Luke 22:24 for a glimpse as to why they may not have been thinking about servanthood.”

4. Observe the response of the people

We’ve already observed that none of the disciples offered to wash the others’ feet. Granted, it was not their job to wash one another’s feet, but they would have recognized what Jesus was doing the moment He bent down to wash the first set of feet. Thus they knew what Jesus was doing yet not one of them offered to do it for Him or to even help Him for that matter.

John tells us of Peter’s response. What did Peter tell Jesus?

Do you think Peter was being disrespectful? Why or why not? (see verse 9)

Peter loved Jesus and did not want Jesus washing his feet. He couldn’t imagine Jesus washing his dirty feet. Yet Jesus insisted because Jesus always took the opportunity to teach a spiritual lesson when doing physical tasks. What might have been the lesson Jesus was trying to teach Peter with His response: “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”

Also note: Peter was trying to tell Jesus what Jesus should or should not do. This is interesting; how often do we try to tell Jesus what we think is best for us?

Dig deeper:

Discuss with your family the contrast between the events of Palm Sunday and this event. Jesus announced Himself as King of Israel and was now performing the task of a lowly servant. What does this tell you about Christ and about the example He has set for us?

5. Your Response:

We can note three responses here:

1. Jesus

Out of His love for His disciples and because He knew His time had come, He washed their feet as a demonstration of His love for them. Consider Philippians 2:5-8 (NET)

“You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.”

2. The disciples

They were too busy arguing over who was the most important that they neglected to volunteer to wash the others’ feet or even to offer to help Jesus was the others’ feet.

3. Peter

He loved Jesus and wanted to please Jesus, but he was still trying to dictate to Jesus what He should do.

What about you? Are you too busy trying to become someone that you are missing opportunities to serve one another? Are you like Peter, one who loves Jesus but sometimes tries to tell Him what to do? Or are you like Christ, demonstrating your love for Him in how you serve others?

Decide as a family how you might serve another person or family. Perhaps you could bake cookies and take them to a shut-in or to a nursing home. Perhaps someone needs help with childcare or an auto repair and you are in a position to help. As a family, demonstrate your love for God by serving others.

Pray with your family…

• Thank God for Jesus and for the example Jesus sets for us in His word.

• Ask God to help you identify someone in need so that you might serve them.

6. Family Activity

Have you ever been a part of a foot washing? Why not follow the example set before us by Christ and participate in one with your family?

Beginning with the adults, wash the feet of one another in your family. As you wash one another’s feet, remember to pray for that person. Upon the conclusion of the foot washing, a parent should lead the family in a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing for his/her family.

Scripture Reference

Matthew 27:32-56

See also Mark 15:21-41; Luke 23:26-49; John 19:17-37

Key Verse

1 Corinthians 15:3 (NET)

“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”

1. Read the Passage

Read Matthew 27:32-56

2. Observe Jesus

This is a familiar historical account for many therefore, this day we will focus on some of the statements Jesus made while on the cross. Using a red letter edition (so you can spot the statements quickly), look through the four gospels (passages listed above) and list the 7 statements Jesus made while on the cross.

1. Matthew 27:46

2. Luke 23:34

3. Luke 23:43

4. Luke 23:46

5. John 19:26

6. John 19:28

7. John 19:30

As you consider the culture, take a closer look at the first one listed in Matthew 27:46.

3. Understand the culture

Take a second look at the statement Jesus made recorded in Matthew 27:46: “At about three o’clock Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

This passage has puzzled many for God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us and these words of Jesus suggest God had forsaken Christ, His very own Son, in His darkest hour. Was Jesus asking God why He had forsaken Him? The answer to the question is in Psalm 22.

Turn your Bible to Psalm 22. Note verse 1:

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

It was not uncommon for Jewish people to quote the Psalms when in extreme situations much like we sing songs or quote verses to make us feel better when we are hurting. Rather than asking God why He had forsaken Him, perhaps Jesus was thinking through Psalm 22. Why the two languages (Hebrew and Aramaic)? Jesus, like all of His disciples was trilingual. As a child, he learned Aramaic and this would have been His first language. This was the everyday language of the Jewish people in the first century.

When He was 11 or 12, He and all the other Jewish boys of similar age in Galilee and in Judea would have been required to learn Hebrew. Then, as an adult, He had to learn Greek for everyday commercial events. The fact that He spoke in His first language gives evidence to the extreme stress He was under while on the cross. This was not a cry of defeat though; this was a declaration of victory as He quoted Psalm 22.ⁱ Dig Deeper

Take a closer look at Psalm 22. This is a lament psalm and follows the usual pattern for lament psalms. In lament psalms, the psalmist begins with a lament (such as why have you forsaken me) but quickly moves into a confession of trust (see vs. 3-5) and always ends with a vow of praise (see verses 22-31). Consider how in thinking through Psalm 22, Jesus was not questioning God’s faithfulness; He was declaring God’s victory:

“Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him!

Let all the nations worship you!

For the Lord is king and rules over the nations.

All of the thriving people of the earth will join the celebration and worship;

all those who are descending into the grave will bow before him, including those who cannot preserve their lives.

A whole generation will serve him” (vs. 27-30 NET)

Dig even deeper:

When time permits, read through Psalm 22 as a family and point out all the prophecies that were fulfilled on the cross. For example, Psalm 22:7 reads “All who see me taunt me; they mock me and shake their heads.” We read about this in Matthew 27:41.

4. Observe the response of the people

Focus on the response of the centurion in Matthew 27:54. He saw all that had happened and exclaimed Jesus was indeed the Son of God. Interestingly (and significantly), this confession of faith did not come from a Jew, rather it came from a Gentile.

5. Your Response

What is your response to today’s passage? Living the Christian life is becoming increasingly difficult in today’s culture. More and more Americans are becoming intolerant of Christ. First, do you believe like the centurion that Jesus is indeed the Son of God? Secondly, purpose as a family to share the truth about Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection with someone this weekend.

Pray with your family…

• Thank God for Christ and for Christ’s willingness to die on the cross out of His love for us.

• Ask God to bring into your path someone with whom you can share Jesus.

6. Family Activity

Compose a family Psalm of Praise to God. This is easier than you may think.

Just like lament psalms have a distinct pattern, psalms of praise also have a particular pattern you can follow as you compose your family Psalm of Praise. Use Psalms 100 and 117 as your example.

1. A summons to praise God: As a family, (and on a separate a separate piece of paper) write one or two lines commanding all to praise God. See 117:1 and 100:1-2.

2. Descriptive praise: Now, write lines that describe why God should be praised. He is the Creator of the universe. He is our Source of life. He is faithful. He is slow to anger and abounding in love. You can also see 100:3 and 117:2 for more examples. Write as many as your family can think of.

3. A renewed summons to praise God: Now, as seen in Psalm 100:4, write another couple of lines calling for people to praise God again.

4. Finish with the motivation for Praise - As demonstrated in 100:5, finish with some lines about why we want to praise God.

For a sample Psalm of Praise see Family Activity Sheet – Good Friday.