LORD --- Bless My Child - July 28, 2013

This is a Devotional Thought and a Prayer for our children, along with a Bible verse or passage to reflect on.   (It is written by George Nielsen, 5th Grade Sunday School teacher, and also includes a Devotional Thought, adapted from Lord Bless My Child, by William and Nancie Carmichael, in the second paragraph below.  The publisher of the Carmichaels' book is Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. of Wheaton, IL.)

July 28, 2013

Romans 12 lists the spiritual gifts referred to as gifts of God the Father, that are given to all people, not only to Christian believers.    These gifts are  prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation or encouraging others, giving, leadership, and showing mercy.   These gifts are the foundation for developing personality.   Your child will have one or more of them, with one being considered “primary”.    This gifting from God is the key factor in your child having originality and being a unique person.  

Sometimes it takes a bit of study and waiting to discover what each child’s gifts for personality development are.  What makes your child happy?  What motivates your child?  When does this child seem to come alive, with a sense of excitement/ enthusiasm?   

As you are able to sense what your child’s personality gift is, encourage your child to develop it.   As you follow Proverbs 22.6 and train-up your child, this gift is a key for them to “choose the right path”.  

𝅺 𝅺

I pray for you, my child, that you will be encouraged and that your unique personality and gifts come into full bloom, as a Young Disciple of Jesus.    

𝅺  𝅺  𝅺

6  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.   (Romans 12. 6-8  NKJV)

------------------

Teach a child to choose the right path, and when he is older, he will remain upon it.    (Proverbs 22.6,  The Living Bible)  

July 21, 2013 -- "Laws to Live By ” -- The Written Word of God

 By George Nielsen                           

This week we covered Lesson 10 from Bible Adventures, “Laws to Live By” which is a lesson teaching about the giving of the Word of God in written form, beginning with Moses, on Mount Sinai, receiving the Ten Commandments.  Scripture texts in the lesson are from Deuteronomy 5: 1-5, and 6: 5-8.

The introduction to the lesson began with remarks about Adam and Eve, and that God spoke directly to them.  My remarks included explaining that Adam and Eve were created with the ability to speak and understand language, and may have also been created with knowledge of the symbols that comprise an alphabet and the ability to put them together to make the written form of their language.    Bible Adventures then stated that, after Adam and Eve sinned, “Usually, God no longer spoke directly to people.”   This was the lead-in to a brief statement that one of the times, after the Fall of Adam and Eve, where God did speak directly to people was with Moses.    God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, written in stone, and He later continued to meet with Moses and give him more of His commands.    

I was, and still am, concerned that the overly-generalized statement “Usually, God no longer spoke …” is misleading to the students, but time did not permit my expanding the discussion to deal with this, in class.    Here, I want to write that in Old Testament times, there were numerous exceptions to the general statement, and in the New Testament era, post-Pentecost, I would have to conclude that the general statement doesn't even apply any more.   Christian believers can enter into the Most Holy Place, directly into the Presence of God, if they seek to and are willing to listen.   This is a ministry function of Holy Spirit, who desires to lead us.

  The lesson from Bible Adventures then continued with the Scripture Spotlight, giving the text of  Deuteronomy 5: 1-5, and 6: 5-8, which were read in class.  Brief follow-up comments were made about the Deuteronomy 5 text, about the giving of the Ten Commandments.  Most of the discussion in class was about the Deuteronomy 6 passage, about Jesus quoting this passage and declaring it to be the “Greatest Commandment”, and about discipleship and the command to teach God’s Word to children.    

We concluded the lesson with reciting the Key Verse, 2 Timothy 3: 16.

𝅷  𝅷  𝅷

Our Lesson Focus is spiritual truth that we emphasize.   The kids can take away this truth from class as the application of what was taught -- especially for them.    

 Today’s Lesson Focus is: The Bible is God’s Message To Us.  

God gave us the Written Word, as a gracious act of love for us.   We will continue with this same focus during the next two weeks.

     𝅷  𝅷  𝅷

This week’s written Homework Assignment is to complete the copy of page 4 of Bible Adventures, Road Map for Travelers.  This assignment was an exercise to paraphrase the first four verses of Psalm 100.  

---

The Memory Verse assigned this week is 2 Timothy 3:16.  

16 All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

--------------------

This week we also continued the assignment of the first Emphasis Memory Verse, Acts 10: 38 (NKJV).   This verse can be recited for each class during the month of July.

38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.    ---  Acts 10: 38  (NKJV)   

---

Parents can contact the 5th grade teacher by email at rcc.5gr@gmail.com

You can read the class summaries and other information about our class by following our Class Blog at the address rcc5gr.blogspot.com    --  Weekly Blog posts will be made.  

LORD --- Bless My Child - July 21, 2013

This is a Devotional Thought and a Prayer for our children, along with a Bible verse or passage to reflect on.   (It is written by George Nielsen, 5th Grade Sunday School teacher. Devotionals adapted from Lord Bless My Child, by William and Nancie Carmichael, will return next week.)

July 21, 2013

When we are diligent to study the Word and hide Scripture verses in our hearts, we have instant access to them whenever we need them, and Jesus promised that we can ask for whatever we need in prayer and receive it.    So we need to be good examples ourselves, and make reading, studying, and remembering God’s Word, the Holy Bible, as one of our priorities.

I pray for you, my child, that you will want to be a true disciple - a Young Disciple of Jesus.    I pray that you will abide in God’s Word, the Holy Bible, that you would be diligent and hide God’s Truth in your heart.  And I ask you, LORD God Almighty,  to lead my child and give him (her) Your help -- to understand, remember, and obey Your Word.

𝅺  𝅺  𝅺

7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”   (John 15.7-8,  NKJV)

------------------

Teach a child to choose the right path, and when he is older, he will remain upon it.    (Proverbs 22.6,  The Living Bible)

---

July 14, 2013 -- "Believe It ” -- The Healing of the Canaanite Woman’s Daughter

 By George Nielsen                           

This week we covered Lesson 7 from Bible Adventures, “Believe It” which is a lesson

teaching from Matthew 15: 21-28, about the incident where Jesus encountered a Canaanite woman from the Tyre/Sidon region, north of Galilee.   Before beginning the lesson, comments were made about The Lord’s Prayer, and a survey form called Prayer Poll was completed by the students, concerning habits of prayer that they currently practice.    Then, a music video was shown -- “Lord, I Need You”  sung by Matt Maher, which emphasizes the idea of praying, and how it is a vital spiritual discipline.  

---

Click Here to see the video presented in class.   [Parents -- please remember that we have no control over advertising that may pop-up when you link to the YouTube site.]

---

We then began discussing the incident in our lesson by reading Matthew 15: 21-22.   Jesus would not have spent much time in the Tyre/Sidon region (modern-day Lebanon), so when this woman heard that He was there, she seized the moment.   She went directly to Him.  She called out to Him acknowledging His Lordship and His destiny to rule as the Son of David (a Messianic title).    Then we read from Bible Adventures, where the Scripture Spotlight was Matthew 15, continuing on from our earlier reading, and covering verses 23 through 28.    

In this incident, Jesus at first ignores the Canaanite woman, and then, when she goes directly to Him, Jesus turns down her request.  He says that she is a Gentile, and He will only minister to Jews.    This is actually just a challenge to her, to give her opportunity to express her great faith.   She persists, and Jesus commends her for her great faith. He also declares that her daughter is healed, given deliverance from demon-possession. His spoken word released the power of God, and the girl was delivered.

We closed the lesson by emphasizing the final two sentences of the Scripture Spotlight and the the very last two sentences from page three of Bible Adventures.   The students were also told to underline these sentences:

Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith!   Your request is granted.”  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

----------------------

We can pray with confidence in Jesus’ Name.   God will hear us and bless us.

This was our transition point, to then turn to Mark 11: 24, and discuss this verse, along with verses 22-23.   These verses teach that we need to have strong faith, then to speak out our requests confidently, without doubting since we are directing what we say either  to the Almighty or to a situation, where we are invoking the authority of the Almighty. Then, verse 24 restates/summarizes all of this, declaring again that what you request will be yours.   Verse 24 is this week’s Memory Verse.  We closed the lesson with practice of this verse.

𝅷  𝅷  𝅷

Our Lesson Focus is spiritual truth that we emphasize.   The kids can take away this truth from class as the application of what was taught -- especially for them.    

Today’s Lesson Focus is: God Answers Our Prayers.  

Faith and confidence are key factors that were emphasized, along with the example of the Canaanite woman, who seized her moment and persisted because of her great need and her complete confidence in the power of God.

     𝅷  𝅷  𝅷

Last week’s written Homework Assignment was to complete the copy of page 4 of Bible Adventures, The Lord’s Prayer wheel diagram, which was handed-out on July 7th, and can also be printed by following the link below.     Today the students were reminded that this assignment is about a very important subject;  students who did not turn-in this assignment on July 14th can still turn it in late (for half-credit, 2 Achievement Points).  It should be returned to class next week.  This assignment was an exercise to paraphrase the Opening verse of praise to God, and the petitions, of the Lord’s Prayer.   ( Click HERE to see a blank copy of the wheel diagram. )   

---

The Memory Verse assigned this week is Mark 11: 24.  

24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

--------------------

This week we also continued the assignment of the first Emphasis Memory Verse, Acts 10: 38 (NKJV).   This verse can be recited for each class during the month of July.

38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.    ---  Acts 10: 38  (NKJV)  

---

Parents can contact the 5th grade teacher by email at rcc.5gr@gmail.com

You can read the class summaries and other information about our class by following our Class Blog at the address rcc5gr.blogspot.com    --  Weekly Blog posts will be made.

LORD --- Bless My Child - July 14, 2013

This is a Devotional Thought and a Prayer for our children, along with a Bible verse or passage to reflect on.   (It is adapted from Lord Bless My Child, by William and Nancie Carmichael. Publisher is Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. of Wheaton, IL.)

July 14, 2013

I pray for you, my child, that you will learn to recognize good opportunity and to resist evil opportunity.   I pray that God will give you wisdom to discern the difference.

𝅺  𝅺  𝅺

Teach a child to choose the right path, and when he is older, he will remain upon it.    (Proverbs 22.6,  The Living Bible)

----------

I have thought much about your words, and stored them in my heart so that they would hold me back from sin.

(Psalm 119.11,  The Living Bible)

July 7, 2013 -- "PRAYER School” -- The Lord’s Prayer

 By George Nielsen                           

This week we covered Lesson 5 from Bible Adventures, “PRAYER School” which is a lesson to introduce the prayer that Jesus taught, which is commonly called The Lord’s Prayer.    The Bible passage studied was from Matthew, chapter 6 (verses 5 -- 13),  which begins with Jesus’ teaching on the kind of prayer the people of that day would have seen being said publicly -- which He condemned as hypocritical prayers, said just so the speaker could “show-off” to his listeners, appearing to be holy.  Then we read verses 9 through 13 using the Scripture Spotlight text, printed in Bible Adventures.   

We discussed God as our Father, and also briefly mentioned the concept of our God as a Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).   Our teaching continued with:

• mention of opening the prayer with praise (‘hallowed be Your Name’),
• brief teaching on the Kingdom of God and about the presence of evil (petitioning for God’s will to be done)
• daily bread, and how this can refer to both physical food and provisions and also spiritual nourishment from revelation by reading the Holy Bible and by the leading of Holy Spirit, who is given to us as our spiritual Helper.
• receiving and giving forgiveness -- and comments on how the term “debts” should be understood to mean wrong things we have said or done; “debtors” should be understood to mean people who have wronged us; the term “trespasses” has been used, in the past, in place of debts, to convey this meaning.
• leading us is something that God desires to do; the petition about not leading into temptation is a call to God for help in following His direction; the evil one, which refers to satan, is putting temptation in our path, but we can reject it; if we do get entangled in it, this petition asks for deliverance, out of the grip of evil.  
• in discussing this final petition, we also discussed the evil, vile wickedness of satan, and satan’s hatred of God and of people (since God loves people).

The Bible Adventures lesson stops with the final petition of the Lord’s Prayer.  In class, after concluding the explanation of those petitions, verses 9 through 13 were reread by George Nielsen from the Holy Bible, New King James Version.  This is one of the translations that includes the full text of verse 13.  Verse 13 (NKJV) reads as follows:

13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

The students were instructed that the text including the second sentence of verse 13 is the more accurate version, and the full verse is part of the Lord’s Prayer.   The students were told that this second sentence, called the Closing Doxology (giving praise and honor to God) is important and should be said.   It is a three-fold affirmation of praise and honor -- declaring that Kingship, almighty power, and radiance of glorious and holy light belong to God eternally.

𝅷  𝅷  𝅷

Our Lesson Focus is spiritual truth that we emphasize.   The kids can take away this truth from class as the application of what was taught -- especially for them.    

Today’s Lesson Focus is: Jesus Taught Us How to Pray.     We studied Matthew 6: 5-13, which included instructions about not being a “show-off” when we pray, and also about the specific petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.   The application for them is that this is a model-prayer, that we still say today, not as a rote, spiritual duty, but as a heartfelt expression of praise and faith in God -- asking for help with the things we are petitioning for.   

Today’s written Homework Assignment is to complete the copy of page 4 of Bible Adventures, The Lord’s Prayer wheel diagram, which was handed out to the students.  It should be returned to class next week.  This is an exercise to paraphrase the Opening verse of praise to God, and the petitions, of the Lord’s Prayer.   ( Click HERE to see a blank copy of the wheel diagram. )   

We have not assigned memorization of The Lord’s Prayer as homework, and recommend that parents work with their child so that they do commit this prayer to memory.    Knowing The Lord’s Prayer is a basic element of Christian discipleship that we believe children should learn from their parents.

---

The Memory Verse assigned this week is 1 Thessalonians 5: 17.  

17 Pray continually.

This week we also continued the assignment of the first Emphasis Memory Verse, Acts 10: 38 (NKJV).   This verse can be recited for each class during the month of July.

38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. ---  Acts 10: 38 (NKJV)   

---

One of the teaching points covered in 5th grade (one of our Learning Objectives) is to teach on the importance of giving and to show their understanding of the teaching point by participating in our weekly class offering.   They have been encouraged to be generous, like the people in one of our earlier lessons were.

---

Parents can contact the 5th grade teacher by email at rcc.5gr@gmail.com