Kids - Friends Around the World
God Wants Us to be His Friend - Week 1
July 6-7, 2019 |
Friends Around the World is a four-week curriculum that is used to teach elementary-age kids that God is our friend, he wants us to be his friend, and he wants us to share friendship with everyone in the world. This video series will teach kids the biblical reason for global outreach while exploring different parts of the world.
WORSHiP
BOTTOM LINE
Tell people everywhere about Jesus' love.
GROUP Q&A
- Whose idea was it to be friends with people all around the world? (God)
- Why do you think God saved Noah, his family, and all of the animals? (Discuss.)
- What did God put in the sky to remind all people of his promise to never again destroy the earth from a flood? (rainbow)
- What was God’s plan to save the world and make it so we can be friends with him forever? (He sent Jesus on a mission to forgive everyone’s wrongs forever.)
- How did Agent Max Wilder choose to be a Friend Around the World? (He gave.)
- What were some things you learned about our friends in Mexico? (Points of discussion: food, sharing with one another, family)
PARENT BIBLE STUDY
Read: Genesis 6-9
The story of Noah demonstrates the collision of God’s judgement and God’s mercy. The state of creation at this point in the Biblical story is nothing like God intended, meaning people had reached a point of such corruption that they no longer reflected the image of God. Sons of God (angel-type beings) were mating with human women and creating a whole new type of perverted being, and God was not only angry but grieving, just like a loving dad with a rebellious child. He wanted to destroy the earth.
But then there was Noah. Noah found favor in the eyes of God. While everyone else’s heart was only evil continually, Noah remembered and obeyed God. And not only did Noah remember God, God remembered Noah, too. God saved Noah and his family on the ark. When Noah and his family finally walk on dry ground again, Noah remembered God and made a sacrifice to him, and then God made a new promise to Noah – a new covenant with his creation. Even though his creation would continue to rebel against him, he would never again destroy them with a flood. It was a promise of mercy, and so that we wouldn’t forget his mercy, God painted a rainbow in the sky.
If we’ve heard this story a lot, we might conclude that it is about Noah’s obedience and faith. But the story of Noah is about the much larger story of God and the redemptive arc of the Bible. The stories of the Old Testament are patterns for God’s work in the future, and Noah’s story on the ark foreshadows the story of Jesus on the cross.
Jesus is the judgement of the flood and the salvation of the ark wrapped up in one person, and so the story of Noah writes the script for the truth that God declares to us through Jesus. God says, “I love you. I am holy, and sin grieves me. But because of my great love for you, I will make a way to be friends with you again by sacrificing my very own son.”
We are saved not by a wooden boat but by a perfect sacrifice on a wooden cross. It is the ultimate collision of God’s judgement and mercy, the ultimate demonstration that God is faithful to his love for us.
How do you deal with the tension between God’s mercy and God’s judgement?
What does it mean to you that sin grieves God? Does sin grieve you?
In what ways are you thankful for God’s mercy toward you?
