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LESSON 10: ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE GREAT I AM

Sovereign, independent, and forever the same. This is an attribute we do not share with God in
any sense. He alone is eternal. He is outside of time, He created time, and is therefore sovereign
over it. He does not exist in a succession of moments but instead He simply and simultaneously exists always. He is unlimited by the confines of time and unchanged by the passage of it. In fact, to God, all of his existence is somehow present.

Such an existence is hard for us to imagine simply because it is so utterly different from our own. There is nothing we can see in nature that allows us to make an adequate metaphor.

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 9: THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW

What does Scripture mean that God is “immutable” or unchangeable? Simply put it means that God cannot change in regard to His person, His purposes, His promises, or His perfections. God does act in time and space of course. He created both and is Lord of both time and space. It is also clear that God feels emotions differently in different situations. Neither of these however constitute a “change.”

As clear as these facts are in Scripture you may wonder, why spend time on it at all? What possible impact does this truth have on me and my faith? A big one. Let me explain and then leave you to meditate on His Word instead of mine.

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 8: “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY”

Holy. A biblical term generally meaning “to be set apart.” The term is used widely in Scripture to refer to a variety of people and objects alike but ultimately points to God as the one who is qualitatively different or set apart from creation. Holy may also be used to describe someone or something that God has “set apart” for special purposes. In the NT holiness takes on the sense of ethical purity or freedom from sin. The fullness of the biblical witness, then, testifies to God’s holiness, understood as God’s “otherness” and “purity,” as well as to God’s prerogative to set people and things apart for God’s own purposes, together with the resulting godliness in the lives of those whom God declares to be holy.

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 7: GOD IS MERCIFUL, BUT THE DEBT OF SIN CANNOT GO UNPAID

According to God’s justice, we are each given exactly what is due to us. That, in fact, is the bad news that makes the “good news” so good. God is righteous, perfectly so, and as such cannot violate his own character. Justice is simply God carrying out His righteousness. God does not do what is righteous but rather, what God does is righteous because God did it. This is an important distinction if we are to avoid confusing the issue with our human ideas of “fairness.”

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 6: GOD IS ALWAYS WITH US – YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE

The Bible clearly teaches that God is ever present. Whether He is present to bless, present to punish, or present to sustain, there is no hiding from God and no point in trying. Just ask Jonah, or David, or Adam for that matter. This simple truth about God should be a warning to the evil doer and a matter of great joy, comfort and even motivation to the believer. This motivational effect will be our focus here.

The 17th century Puritan minister and theologian Stephen Charnock puts it much more eloquently than I.

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 5: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

Being sold into slavery…good or bad? Being chased by a mad King…good or bad? Losing everything you own or hold dear in an utter catastrophe…good or bad?

How many trials and tribulations have you suffered through only to see, on the other side, the good that God intended?

“Natural” forces, life and death, peoples’ hearts, fertility, nations, leaders, battles, good, evil…Who is in control? Is anyone in control of all of these? If so, who and what does it mean to me?

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 4: DIVINE POWER – REASON FOR PRAISE, FEAR, AND COMFORT

The following is taken from “Divine Omnipotence” by Dr. Sam Storms of Enjoying God Ministries:

“A reason for praise – Stephen Charnock explains:

“Wisdom and power are the ground of the respect we give to men; they being both infinite in God, are the foundation of a solemn honor to be returned to him by his creatures. If a man makes a curious engine, we honor him for his skill; if another vanquish a vigorous enemy, we admire him for his strength; and shall not the efficacy of God’s power in creation, government, redemption, inflame us with a sense of the honor of his name and perfections!”

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 3: “EVEN THE HAIRS ON YOUR HEAD ARE ALL NUMBERED”

This is one of those attributes that, if meditated on long enough, can simply cause our mortal minds to short circuit. Kind of like, if the universe ends then what’s after that, and after that, and so on…God knows everything that there is to know about himself. That alone is mindboggling considering the fact that God is infinite, unlimited and eternal. “In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11b).

On top of that, God’s knowledge of creation is complete and perfect.

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 2: TRUE LOVE IS DIVINE

You may remember from our series on sanctification, “Extreme Makeover,” that God’s brand of love can be defined as follows: “Divine love is eternal and totally independent of the object of its favor. Divine love is an affection which stands in spite of any element of attractiveness, desirability, or even value. It also can be hated by the object of its affection, without damaging its intensity or character.”

Moreover, it is characterized by long-suffering and sacrifice. Divine love is perfect and complete. It is perfectly demonstrated in the cross.

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 1: GOD IS UNIQUE

I have three children and, as a father, it is very important to me that my children know me. I want them to know how much I love them and how I would move heaven and earth to show them my love. I want them to know my character. Am I an honest person? Am I trustworthy? Do I give of myself to others? Will I be there for them if they are in trouble or in danger? Am I strong enough to save them?

I want them to know that I will provide for their basic needs yes, but also that I’d like to bless them with much, much more. I want them to understand what I expect of them and hope for them. These are all things I want my children to know about me. I tell them in words, I show them with my actions and they can observe them in the things that I have done in my life.

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 22: YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER

“I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 22:49)

“And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4)

The coming of God’s Holy Spirit to dwell within everyone who believed in and trusted God the Father and His Messiah Jesus, signaled the beginning of the New Covenant age that the prophet
Jeremiah had spoken about so many years earlier when he said, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” and “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 21: HE IS RISEN, PART 2

“Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” – Luke 24:44–49

Jesus was returning to his Father, but for 40 days he explained to his disciples the full significance of his life among them from the scriptures, and shared with them what their mission would now be. After this he was taken up from them into heaven among the clouds. We see this event in Acts 1:9 from the perspective of the disciples, but in the book of Daniel, many hundreds of years earlier, we were given the view from heaven of this same event.

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 20: HE IS RISEN, PART 1

“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.” – Romans 6:4-7

“…having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” – Colossians 2:12

“Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 19: LOVE AND JUSTICE, PART 2

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46).

At the cross Jesus suffered the humiliation, physical death, and most dramatically of all, the separation from the Father, spiritual death, that our sin has earned us. That is the intersection of love and justice.

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 18: LOVE AND JUSTICE, PART 1

“And so it came to pass, that Jesus, whom John called the Lamb of God, went up to Jerusalem, to observe Passover…Jesus gathered His disciples to celebrate Passover. Taking the Passover bread, Jesus broke it and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.” Then He took the wine, which represented the blood of the Passover lamb, which had been placed over the entrances of the Hebrew dwellings. And He said, “This is my blood which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” – The HOPE, Chapter 10

Jesus walked resolutely into Jerusalem at the start of the Passover week knowing full well the mission he had come to accomplish.

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ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.