June 28, 2020
Parents, this lesson is simple to use. Just follow the instructions and have a great time with your kids at home worshipping God and learning from His Word together!
Lesson: Oh the Joy!
Bible Passage: Luke 15
First watch this lesson video:
[fullscreenvideo videourl=”https://vimeo.com/433267028″ autoplay=”0″ fullwidth=”yes”]
Discussion & Activities
Now it’s time to talk about the lesson together. Let your interactions with your child help you determine what parts of this section to use. Use this as a time to talk, learn, pray and worship together.
1. Talk about the lesson
See if your kids can explain the different between happiness and joy.
Ask: What brings God the most joy? (We do! God has joy when we are in His family, connected to Him.)
Explain: We bring joy to God, but God also wants us to have joy being in His family. Assign someone in your family the role of the sheep, someone the role of the coin, and someone the role of the son from the parables in Luke 15. Have them imagine that they are that character as you interview them with these questions:
- – Describe what happened when you were found. How did it happen? (Encourage them to use their imagination.)
- – How did you feel when you were found?
There’s a lot of things in life that can make us happy, but nothing compares to knowing God loves us and has forgiven us! That brings joy. We can even have joy when things are going wrong. How is this possible? (Allow time for kids to ponder and share their thoughts.)
Share examples from your lives when God gave you joy.
How can we tell if the fruit of joy is growing in our lives? (Possible answers: We’ll start to complain less and less, we’ll be thankful, we’ll remember how much God loves us, we’ll trust God more.)
2. Pray together
Build a prayer together using the P.R.A.Y. method from the Build-a-Prayer workshop.
Assign the following parts to family members to pray aloud. Encourage them to add their own words if they feel like it.
P – (PRAISE)
“Oh Lord Almighty, what joy for those who trust in You!” Thank you God for coming to our rescue! You came looking for us like the shepherd searched for his sheep, like the woman looked for her coin, and the father looking for his son. Thank you for dying for our sins and rising again. Thank you for forgiving us. Your joy over us gives us joy!
R – (REPENT)
Lord, many times we forget how much You love us. We complain. We can be grumpy and gloomy. We forget to trust you when things go wrong. Forgive us.
A – (ASK)
God, please help us remember Your great love for us. Help us to trust You always. Fill us with joy and may it gush out and touch others who need to know Your love too.
At this time, if you know people going through a difficult time, pray for them and their situations. Ask God to help them trust Him and ask Him to give them joy.
Y – (YIELD)
God, we know You want us to trust You. We know that’s how the fruit of joy will grow in us. You are almighty and we put our trust in You.
3. Sing together
Singing is one way we can express joy! Here are some joyful, thankful songs to sing.
Here’s a thankful one first:
[fullscreenvideo videourl=”https://youtu.be/U_ewLEvA8_o” autoplay=”0″ fullwidth=”yes”]
Here’s one about joy:
[fullscreenvideo videourl=”https://youtu.be/imK7pAMf61E” autoplay=”0″ fullwidth=”yes”]
Here’s a fun one to help you learn the Fruit of the Spirit:
[fullscreenvideo videourl=”https://youtu.be/i4oyh2sBDlE” autoplay=”0″ fullwidth=”yes”]
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