Family Quest: The Rock – Peak 5 (Lesson 2)
SOUL SHERPA, LESSON 2: THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR GUIDE
My mother is infamous for her sense of direction. Or should I say, lack there of. She once followed a car for some distance out of her way because, “they looked like they knew where they were going.” She has driven almost out of state before realizing she had taken a wrong turn. Mom was sure she was going in the right direction. She even thought she had recognized some landmarks. It took some time but Mom has learned to lean not on her own understanding when it comes to directions. Nowadays she makes sure she either rides with or follows someone who knows the right path.
How many times have you headed down a path that you were sure was right and wise only to find out that you were on a road to heartache? When we depend on our human discernment and worldly understanding they will fail us in the end. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12).
We can contrast two great men of scripture in this regard. Saul, the first anointed King over Israel, when pressed, did what he discerned to be the wise thing when Samuel was delayed and an attack seemed imminent. He took it upon himself to sacrifice to the Lord. It might seem to us, on the face of it, to be an intelligent move. Samuel hadn’t shown up on time, they were in great danger, and they needed God’s favor. But Saul had been told to wait. He did not inquire of the Lord and he did not trust the command he had been given by the man of God. He was leaning on his own understanding. By contrast his successor, King David, inquired of the Lord for almost every big decision he made, with the exception of a few that famously went badly for him. God has given us a trustworthy spiritual GPS system; his Word and his indwelling Holy Spirit, ever present to guide us. Inquire of the Lord and He will make your paths straight.
He is our trustworthy teacher and guide. This is a promise of God.
Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (1 Corinthians 1:20)
BIG IDEA: Depend on God and not on what you THINK you know.
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 14:12
1 Corinthians 1:20
1 Samuel 13
1 Samuel 23:4
SECTION VERSE:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. In all your ways remember Him. Then He will make your paths smooth and straight. – Proverbs 3:5-6
LESSON VERSE:
But I will bless any man who trusts in me. I will show my favor to the one who depends on me. – Jeremiah 17:7
PRAYER:
Thank God the Father that Jesus laid down his glory, his power, and his life so that He could become one of us and show us what God is like. Ask
Him to help you make Jesus the center of your life every day.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- Who do you trust? Why?
- Do you trust God? Why/why not?
- How can you learn to trust God? (knowledge + experience = trust)
- How can we experience God’s will? (Read Romans 12:1-2)
LIVE IT OUT!
- Read James 1:5, Jeremiah 33:3, and Isaiah 55:9. Talk about them together for next week.
- Pray together. See the prayer focus.
- Think of a way you can obey God’s guidance today and do it. Write it down and talk about the results together.
– – –
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.
Family Quest: The Rock – Peak 5 (Lesson 1)
SOUL SHERPA, LESSON 1: THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR GUIDE
The work of the Holy Spirit – To manifest (make known, show) the active presence of God in the world and especially in the church.
Isn’t GPS a great thing? It amazes me that a satellite high above the earth can see me, and when combined with digital mapping software, can tell me how to get from point A to B in the quickest way possible. It amazes me even more to consider that this system can see if there is heavy traffic or an accident along my route and re-direct me around it. If I take a wrong turn, it quickly notifies me. “Rerouting.” But as amazing as this system is, it is only as good as its underlying data. How many times have you followed your GPS directions only to find out that its map data is incorrect and you are at a dead end or the address data is incomplete and you end up in a business park when you wanted to be at a friend’s house? Even when the data is good, it isn’t fool proof. An overcast day or poor cell coverage can knock your GPS out completely.
But there is a guidance system that is 100% trustworthy, 100% of the time. Its data is perfectly reliable. It works no matter how dark it gets because to it, “darkness is as light.” It is an integrated system that lights your path, turns your darkness to light, guides you on the best path possible, reroutes you when you make a wrong turn, and even provides roadside assistance when you break down along the highways of life.
That is our triune God. God’s living Word, breathed out by the Father through the Son is its database. It is empowered by his Holy Spirit whose job it is to make known the active presence of God in the world and especially in his children by guiding us into all truth. Our students need to learn early that they can depend, with ALL their hearts, on their failsafe guidance system. “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” (Isaiah 42:16)
BIG IDEA: We can trust God to guide us.
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 3:5-6
Isaiah 42:16
John 8:12
Psalm 119:105
Psalm 23:1-3
SECTION VERSE:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. In all your ways remember Him. Then He will make your paths smooth and straight. – Proverbs 3:5-6
LESSON VERSE:
Guide me in your truth. Teach me. You are God my Savior. I put my hope in you all day long. – Psalm 25:5
PRAYER:
Thank God that Jesus laid down his glory, his power, and his life so that He could become one of us and show us what God is like. Ask Him to help you make Jesus the center of your life every day.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- What did you learn today?
- From our memory verse, what 3 things should we do? What will God do in response?
- Who is a leader you admire? What makes God the best leader?
LIVE IT OUT!
- Read Psalm 32:8, Romans 12:1-2, Jeremiah 17:7 and talk about them together
- Commit to spending 15 minutes each day this week to just be quiet and think about God.
– – –
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.
Caroling for Christ Update
Throughout the month of December, RBC ministries, Shepherd Groups, and friends joined together to spread Christmas cheer and the gospel of Christ to our Northern Virginia neighbors.
This was the first time that we offered “Caroling for Christ.” It was an evangelistic opportunity, led by those in the congregation. To participate, the carolers would pick up a Caroling Kit that equipped them with everything they needed for planning their community outreach. Each Caroling Kit contained song sheets, candy canes, gospel booklets of the book of John, and invitations to the Christmas Eve service.
After gathering in groups, choosing a time and a location to carol, and assembling the Christmas caroling material, each group greeted 15 houses. Not only was this an event to minister to our community, but it was a fun way to bring Christian brothers and sisters together and be an encouragement to one another. Many caroling groups drank hot cocoa, ate cookies, and shared laughs together.
Over 500 households were reached the Christmas message. Praise God!
Here are a few comments we received from members our caroling groups:
“After caroling at one house, the lady commented that she had never been caroled to before. We asked if she’d like to hear another song and she said, ‘Yes, please!'”
“I was surprised by all the smiles.”
“It was a magical night, hopefully the first year of a long-lasting tradition.”
“We had an overwhelmingly positive response from the neighborhood and one family even wanted more information about RBC service times.”
“We had a whole night of caroling practice and prayer before actually caroling. I’m thankful for this community!”
Family Quest: The Rock – Intro
THE ROCK: INTRODUCTION
As a culture, we place a very high value on certainty, on assurance and security. We work towards “financial security.” We pay for car insurance, homeowners insurance, disability insurance, health insurance, and a whole host of other “insurances,” in order to protect ourselves from financial ruin or hardship. Why? Because in order to live a life free of anxious thoughts and fear we need some assurance that if something goes “wrong” we will have a safety net. Most of us will only take risks when the potential downside of those risks is minimized. We want protection. But all of these “assurances” are only temporal and financial and a poor substitute for the real assurances we can have in our God, the giver of all good gifts, the maker of heaven and earth, and the owner of all wealth seen and unseen.
In Isaiah 36, the Assyrian King laying siege to Jerusalem taunts the Israelites with this question: “On what are you basing this confidence of yours? You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him.” (Isaiah 36: 4-6). But Hezekiah took this before the Lord and said essentially, “Lord, our confidence is in you alone. We are not strong enough to fight this enemy. Only you can deliver us.” Hezekiah didn’t trust in Egypt or in counsel of war or ancient insurance plans, but instead in the Living God of Israel – a wise choice, as the account makes clear.
Once we, like Hezekiah, have come to understand that God’s promises are trustworthy, we are able to place our “weight” on them much as a climber places his weight on his harness, ropes, and carabineers. We will find that our confidence grows as God shows himself to be faithful. The peaks God asks us to climb may increase in difficulty but each will be accompanied by an increase in our confidence in Christ. When we fall or are taken through a valley experience it will be with this same confidence that we are in the hands of our all-loving, all-powerful, all-wise God.
This year we will cover five main areas we can be sure of based on God’s promises. These are, our salvation, the power of prayer, freedom from the power of sin, forgiveness, and guidance from his Holy Spirit. With our map now laid out before us, I pray that you will meditate on the scriptures we will be exploring. I am confident that you will see your own trust in God grow as you lead your children on their “Quest” for a deeper relationship with the Lord. Our hope is that as adults they will look back over their lives and say with the Psalmist, “For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you.” (Psalm 71:5-6)
BIG IDEA: With Jesus, we can build our lives on the Rock.
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Matthew 7:24-25
Psalm 62:1-2
Deuteronomy 7:9
SERIES VERSE:
I find my rest in God alone. He is the one who saves me. He alone is my rock. – Psalm 62:1-2a
LESSON VERSE:
I find my rest in God alone. He is the one who saves me. He alone is my rock. – Psalm 62:1-2a
PRAYER:
Pray together for children who are enslaved or otherwise mistreated around the world. Thank God for His “rock” solid promises to us.
DISCUSSION STARTERS:
- Why is God compared to a rock?
- What are some promises God makes?
- Why can you trust God?
- What does it mean to be “sure” of something?
LIVE IT OUT!
- Write down Psalm 62:1-2 and decorate the paper, then hang it up somewhere you will see it everyday.
- Search the Bible for places where God is called a Rock.
– – –
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.
VIDEO: Weekend Logistics Update
Thank you for your patience in cooperating with all of us assisting in the parking lot each week. We still have some tweaking to do and we can always use more helpers in our rotation (email hostteam@restonbible.org to express your interest!)
If you arrive for the second service somewhere close to 10:55, the parking lots will be full. You can drop your family off at the main entrance, but you will have to drive back to the overflow parking at the bottom of the hill to park.
Also, when leaving the property after services, please note that there is a Yield sign – not a Stop sign – at the bottom of our driveway. A volunteer will be posted there to remind people they don’t have to stop, which backs up traffic. We hope this knowledge will save you some time on Sunday mornings.
In addition, we have an imbalance in the number of children attending Quest during the first and second services. If you are a family with elementary school-aged children and attend the 10:45 and it is not a hindrance to your family, please consider attending the 9:00am service.
Kids Camp Update
From June 27 through July 1, Reston Bible Church was transformed into an interplanetary gospel children’s training center where more than 350 children and 180 volunteers gathered for our annual Kids Camp. It was a week of adventure, purpose, and learning about the real Force that overcomes sin and death, and gives us the power to overcome all obstacles — that Force is the Master, Jesus.
Thank you to all of our volunteers and staff for a week of great Bible teaching, art, music, and tons of awesome games! Thank you, God, for what You did in the lives of the children and volunteers in attendance. Your love was on display in so many ways and for this we are so thankful!
Save the date: Our next Kids Camp will be held June 26-30, 2017!
Family Quest: The Hope – Yesterday, Today, Forever
YESTERDAY, TODAY & FOREVER
“Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” – Joel 2:29
“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.”
God’s promise to Abraham that, “through you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,” was beginning to be fulfilled as God’s Spirit began to draw people from every nation, tongue, and tribe into His family, his assembly (ekklesia) of the faithful remnant in Christ (Romans 11:11-31). Help the children this week to appreciate the family that they have been adopted into.
BIG IDEA: Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS WEEK’S VIDEO
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Joel 2:28-29
John 14,16:7-11
Acts 1:8
1 Corinthians 12:7
SECTION VERSES:
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’” – John 14:6-7
LESSON VERSE:
“But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” – Luke 22:69
PRAYER:
Thank Jesus that He did not leave us alone, but sent the Holy Spirit to guide, comfort, teach, and give us power to live for God.
DISCUSSION STARTERS:
- Why did Jesus send the Holy Spirit?
- Review the functions of the Holy Spirit. (Answers below)
- To empower the people to spread the Gospel and establish the Kingdom (Acts 1:8; John 14:12)
- To teach (John 14:26)
- To comfort (Acts 9:31)
- To convict (John 16:8)
- To give gifts (1 Corinthians 12)
- To sanctify (produce change in us) (Galatians 5:22-23)
LIVE IT OUT!
- Celebrate the New Covenant this week as a family by sharing in communion together at home. (Matthew 26:26-29)
– – –
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.
Family Quest: The Hope – He Has Risen, 2
HE HAS RISEN! PART 2
“But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” – Luke 22:69
“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.
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.” Daniel 7:13
Jesus has ascended into heaven where he is seated at the right hand of God the Father. He is our King, our mediator and High Priest (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 10:12,14), making intercession for us (Romans 8:34), until all his enemies have been made a footstool (Matt 22:44).
BIG IDEA: Jesus rules from Heaven.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS WEEK’S VIDEO (Watch from 2:25 to the end)
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Daniel 7:13-14 Psalm 89:27
Psalm 110:1 Luke 24:50-53
Matthew 28:16-20 Acts 7:56
Acts 1:1-11 Hebrews 1:3
Acts 2:34-35 1 Corinthians 15:25
Revelation 3:21 Revelation 19:16
SECTION VERSES:
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’” – John 14:6-7
LESSON VERSE:
“But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” – Luke 22:69
PRAYER:
Give thanks that Jesus the Messiah, the KING, completed God’s story of Hope and rules heaven and earth with the Father.
DISCUSSION STARTERS:
- How long did Jesus remain on the earth?
- What was he doing during that time?
- What kind of body did Jesus have when he rose?
- Where is Jesus now?
LIVE IT OUT!
- When we trust Jesus as KING we become part of His Kingdom and are given his Spirit to live a Kingdom life. How can we do that today?
– – –
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.
Family Quest: The Hope – He Has Risen, 1
HE HAS RISEN! PART 1
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” – John 11:25
“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
“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death–that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14)
Jesus’ resurrection vindicated His divine claims and conquered once for all the power of the second death, separation from the Father, opening a way into the true Holy of Holies, the Throne of Grace for all who are found in Christ. What joyful news! He is risen! He is risen indeed!!
BIG IDEA: Jesus defeated death.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS WEEK’S VIDEO (Watch from the begining through 2:25)
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Matthew 28:1-15
Luke 24:1-49
John 20-21
1 Corinthians 15:14
SECTION VERSES:
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’” – John 14:6-7
LESSON VERSE:
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” – John 11:25
PRAYER:
Thank God that we don’t have to fear physical death because we have been made alive spiritually with Jesus forever!
DISCUSSION STARTERS:
- How would you feel if you were one of Jesus’ friends when He was buried?
- What about when He rose from the dead?
- Why did Jesus rise from the dead?
- Why is it so important that He rose?
LIVE IT OUT!
- Eternal life starts the moment you trust in Jesus. Make a list of the ways this new life has changed you and is changing you.
– – –
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.
Family Quest: The Hope – Love & Justice 2
GOD’S LOVE & JUSTICE INTERSECT, PART 2
“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood — to be received by faith.” – Romans 3:25a
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.
BIG IDEA: God is love. God is just.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS WEEK’S VIDEO (Begin at 5:36 at watch to the end. Parents: There are some scenes in this portion of The Hope that are not appropriate for younger viewers. You may consider simply reading the account to your child from Luke 23 or skipping some sections of the video as we did in Quest.)
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Isaiah 53
John 3:16
Romans 6:23
2 Corinthians 5:21
SECTION VERSES:
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’” – John 14:6-7
LESSON VERSE:
“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood — to be received by faith.” – Romans 3:25a
PRAYER:
Think about the fact that Jesus did nothing wrong, but was willing to suffer and die so we can live with God. Give thanks for God’s love.
DISCUSSION STARTERS:
- What does it mean to be just?
- According to God’s justice, what does sin deserve? (Romans 6:23a)
- If Jesus was innocent, why did Jesus die? (2 Corinthians 5:21)
- Why is Jesus’ sacrifice important to us?
LIVE IT OUT!
- Talk about what Jesus did for you. How should we respond to what we’ve learned about Jesus and what He did on the cross?
– – –
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.