July 18, 2021
Parents, just follow the instructions and have a great time with your kids worshipping God and learning from His Word together!
Lesson: Peace
First watch this lesson video:
After the video…
Explore together
Here are some activities to help you talk about the lesson with your family.
Have your family pretend they are the disciples coming ashore after Jesus calmed the storm. Interview them by using the following questions…
- How was the weather on your trip across the lake?
- How did you feel during the storm?
- What was Jesus doing during the storm?
- How did you get the storm to stop?
After, talk about what real peace means. Ask your child if they can give a definition in their own words.
More options:
- – Print this coloring page and while you color, take turns sharing things that might be troubling you.
- – Tell you kids that after coloring we’ll bring our worries to Jesus in prayer together.
- – On the back of the coloring page, have your kids write out the memory verse –
“The peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”
– John 14:27
Seek God together
As you get ready to pray, ask, “Have all of us said yes to Jesus’ invitation to join His family and let Him be our King?” If anyone says no, and they would like to, pray together, encouraging them to talk with God in their own words, asking the Lord to forgive them and telling Jesus they want to follow Him.
Next, have everyone take turns sharing either something that is troubling them or a situation where they are struggling to have peace with another person.
Then build a prayer together using the P.R.A.Y. method. Assign the following parts to family members to pray aloud. Encourage them to add their own words if they feel like it.
P – (PRAISE)
Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to bring peace. You are the great Peace-Maker! You died so that we could be at peace with You. We can never thank you enough.
R – (REPENT)
God, so often we fight for our own way. We worry about being right and we want to get back at people who hurt us. Please forgive us and help us to work for peace with the people around us starting here in our family. And when it feels difficult, help us remember that we are part of your family of peacemakers and that the Holy Spirit will help us. Help us, oh God, we pray.
A – (ASK)
Lord we bring our worries and troubling situations to you like the disciples came to you on the storm-tossed boat. Please calm us with Your love. Please bring Your peace where there is trouble. We cannot have real peace without You. Thank you that when we are connected to You we can have your peace. (Here is where you can pray for the situations mentioned earlier.)
Y – (YIELD)
God, there are places in our world that aren’t peaceful right now. There are people who don’t have your peace. God, please help! And God, we want to be peacemakers, but it’s hard and we can’t do it without You. So we give ourselves to You. Please help us see ways that we can bring Your peace into the world. Give us courage to listen to You and do what You ask us to do. In Jesus’ name, amen.
To close, have everyone shake hands and say, “Peace be with you.”
Remember to follow up on your children’s prayer requests during the week. Encourage your children in the areas they are struggling and talk about ways to handle the situations they are in. Let God speak through you to your child this week as you share God’s wisdom and love with them.
Celebrate together
Singing is a way of putting our prayers to music. It’s also a way to encourage one another.