The Waiting.

This season we have celebrated advent in some powerful ways. I hope you continue this celebration as you go through the holiday season.

Advent is about more than the birth of Jesus. Advent is the celebration that Jesus came and that he will come again!

Read our passages that we have explored again, and don’t forget to light a candle for Christ on Christmas morning.

Advent Season:

Week 1- Hope

Romans 15:4-13

Week 2- Love

Romans 13:8-14

Week 3- Joy

Romans 8:18-25

Week 4- Peace

Romans 1:1-7

Self-Control

“I can do what I should instead of what I want.”

There are a lot of choices for us to make. We must choose what food we like. We must choose what music to listen to. We have choices concerning the television shows, video games, and movies we watch. 

The choices you make say something about you. They also say something about your God.

When Daniel was faced with choices (Daniel 1:1-21) he wanted others to see that the choices he made meant that he was a servant of God. When Daniel was willing to choose to do what he should instead of what he might want God took care of him.

What choices do you face?

Which choices are the hardest to make?

Are there things that you watch, eat, or listen to that you know you shouldn’t?

If someone was watching your choices what would they think about your God?

Joy

“I can be happy when things don’t go my way.”

Joy is a word we hear a lot. But joy may not be something that we have a lot. Joy is being happy when things don’t go your way. There is a happiness that comes from the inside. David had it. It showed when he was bringing the ark of the covenant back into Jerusalem. He danced so hard that his undies were showing. But he didn’t care. He had a joy that was inside him and nothing could take it out.

When do you feel you have more joy?

What do you do when you feel joy?

How can you show your joy to others?

Service: “I can use what I am good at to help others.”

We are all created by God to be different.

You are created with talents and abilities that others do not have.

God gives you special abilities to use in the church to serve others.

The truth is, you were created to change the world for the better.

A story that I am reminded of is when the disciples were struggling meeting the needs of all of the needy people in Jerusalem. They gathered themselves together and put some in charge of studying and teaching God’s Word to others. They also put others in charge of serving the needs of the people. They would take charge of giving out food or money that the people in the city needed. They called these men “ministers or deacons”. They were servants of the people for Jesus.

What are you good at?

How could you use what you are good at to help others?

Are you involved in helping the people in need?

Go to www.compassioninternational.com and pray for the kids that need food in other countries.

Talk to your parents about adopting a child.

Patience

It is hard to wait! Patience is something that all people face. Adults struggle with and kids struggle with it too. Even Abraham struggled with patience in Genesis when he was waiting for a son that God promised him. Abraham took another wife and had a son with her named Ishmael. Both Abraham and Ishmael suffered because Abraham did not wait on God. We also miss out on the best that God has for us when we do not wait with patience for God to help.

What is it that you have trouble waiting for?

Have you ever had to wait in line or wait your turn?

How frustrated do you get when you have to wait on someone else?

How can we learn patience?

Comment below and let us know. 

Individuality

You were made for a reason! 

This statement is a powerful truth in our lives. God saw this world and He created you uniquely equipped to help be a force of change within it.

You are not like any other person on the face of the earth!

This means that this world, that has seen billions and billions of people live in it, will never see another you.

You were made for a mission!

That means you have a job to do that God has put in front of you. It is an incredible privilege to be a small part of God’s big story. No one is a better example of this truth than John the Baptist. We will learn his part of God’s big story this month.

What are some thing you see in yourself that are unique?

Do you think God wants us all to fit in or to stand out?

What are some ways you fit in and some ways you stand out from your friends? 

Compassion

The one thing that virtually everyone recognizes about Jesus Christ was the way he showed compassion to others. Everything we see on TV and everything anyone tells about success in this world is about how much money we make or how popular we are. Jesus didn’t seek these things. Instead, he touched the people no one would touch and he loved the people that others thought were sinners. He even died for people that hated him enough to kill him. 

Who are the people that you need to love and care for? 

What people in your school are easy to ignore or pick on? Should you defend them instead?

What are some things you can do to make the needs of others important to you?

Music That Matters

One of the most common comments I receive from kids is on the music that we use in our worship. This was the first real hurdle for me as a children’s pastor. I came into children’s worship content to repeat the music I had grown up listening to when I was in church. The problem was the kids were different than I was when I was a kid (come to think of it, I don’t think I liked the music that much when I was a kid).

I had asked a young teen, Stephanie, to help with music. The first week she came in she didn’t use any of the music I had suggested. Instead she used some stuff I had never heard. I knew then that I had a lot of learning to do. I did! I began to make music a priority in my life.

Today, I am always on the lookout for the newest music or for what makes the kids really respond to the move of God.

Music is the language of love. God speaks to us through music. So why shouldn’t we be asking kids what music best communicates the message of God’s love to them.

I owe my thanks to Stephanie. She showed me more than music. She showed me that I needed to pay attention to the needs of others and put them over my own ideas of how things “should be”. 

Discipline

Discipline is a hard thing to do ourselves. That is why we often need our parents or teachers to help (ouch!). The value of doing what we need to even when it is hard will take us a long way and make us a much stronger person (on the inside). 

Jesus was a great example of discipline. I think of the time he spent in the garden of Gethsemane and how he sweat blood knowing that he would have to suffer and die such a gruesome death. He was still willing to go through it though. I think it is amazing that someone could endure so much pain and suffering for someone else, especially someone like me.

We all need to know we are loved. The discipline of Jesus shows us that we are loved. Our discipline will help us tell the story of Jesus when it is hard or unpopular. I know that I have put Jesus in charge of my discipline when I can say, “I can do what I need to even when it is hard.” 

What is one of the hardest things you have ever done?

 Have you ever done something really hard for someone else?

 Tell the story of how you came to know the love of Jesus? 

Tell about a time you helped someone else know about the love of Jesus?

 Make a comment below or add a comment to one of the others. 

Responsibility

Responsibility is not a dirty word. Responsibility is not having a good work ethic either. Responsibility has more to do with who you are. Responsibility has to do with how much you care for other people. If someone gives you a job to do, do you care enough about them to make sure you don’t let them down?

Our teachers, parents, bosses, and leaders give us jobs to do all of the time. Are you the kind of person that they trust to get the job done? Or are they holding their breath, hoping that you don’t forget?

Being responsible means making the things that are important to others important to us. So I really can show someone the love of Jesus by being able to look my teacher, parent, boss, or leader in the eyes and say, “I can be trusted to get the job done.”

That is Responsibility!

What does responsibility look like at your house?

What is a way you need to put Jesus in charge and be more responsible?

Do you know anyone that you just can’t trust to get the job done? How do they make you feel when they let you down?

Comment Below and we will share your thoughts.