Preparing for Sunday | May 21
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
How Deep The Father’s Love For Us | [listen + lyrics]
by: Stuart Townend
1 John 3:1
Great And Mighty King | [listen]
Chris Brown, Zachary Kale, Brett Younker
Psalm 145:3
Only King Forever | [listen]
Mack Brock, Chris Brown, Steven Furtick, Wade Joye
1 Timothy 1:17
Great Things | [listen]
Mack Brock, Chris Brown, Wade Joye
Psalm 126:3
Christ Is Enough | [listen + lyrics]
Reuben Morgan, Jonas Myrin
2 Corinthians 12:9
SERMON TEXT
Psalm 13
Family Quest: The Rock – Peak 5 (Lesson 4)
SOUL SHERPA, LESSON 4: THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR GUIDE
How many times have you heard something like this, “God first, others second, I’m third,” or, “God, country, family.” Maybe you’ve even said something similar or worn the t-shirt. I know I have. At first glance it seems like a godly enough thing to say and it sure feels good to think we have our priorities straight.
Unfortunately it is not at all what God’s Word teaches us. God’s place isn’t first in a list of other lower priorities. He is the center and essence of every priority. We need to make sure that our children are not subjected to this wrong thinking. Whenever love for God is mentioned in scripture it is with all encompassing phrases like, “with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” or “in all your ways acknowledge Him,” or “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all,” or “all things have been created through Him and for Him.” There is no sacred and secular for the Christian.
“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:11)
Now matter what we do, we are called to do it as a representation of Christ. What would Jesus be like as a schoolteacher, a lawyer, an IT professional, or a manager? What would Jesus be like as a parent, a son or daughter, a husband or wife, brother, or friend? In all our ways, in all our decisions, in all our activities, in all our roles and thoughts, acknowledge Him. This is not an acknowledging in the shallow English meaning either. The Hebrew word means to know intimately by experience. Search your heart this week. Are you knowing God intimately by experience in all your ways?
BIG IDEA: Make God the center of everything and He will guide you on the best path.
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
1 Peter 4:11
Mark 12:30
Ephesians 4:5-6
Colossians 1:16, 3:17
Psalm 34:8
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:
There is one God and Father of all. He is over everything. He is through everything. He is in everything. – Ephesians 4:6
PRAYER:
Ask God to help you give Him control of every part of your life, and to trust His guidance.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- What does it mean to acknowledge God in all your ways?
- How do you make Jesus the center of your life?
- How can you learn to trust God? (knowledge + experience = trust)
- What things do you let take Jesus’ place on the throne?
LIVE IT OUT!
- Have a family sharing time to talk about when you should be seeking God’s guidance.
- Make a list of your gifts, talents, possessions, and hobbies. How can you dedicate each of these to the Lord?
– – –
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.
Preparing for Sunday | May 14
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
Holy, Holy, Holy | [listen]
Reginald Heber, John B. Dykes
Isaiah 6:3
Come Thou Fount | [listen]
by Robert Robinson (1873)
Psalm 16:11
Blessed Assurance | [listen]
Fanny Crosby, Phoebe Knapp, Mack Brock, Chris Brown
1 Peter 1:3-5
Be Thou My Vision | [listen]
by: Eleanor Henrietta Hull, Mary Elizabeth Byrne (Arrangement: Ascend The Hill)
2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Jesus Paid It All | [listen + lyrics]
by: Elvina M. Hall (1865)
Colossians 2:13-14
SERMON TEXT
Psalm 119:105
Family Quest: The Rock – Peak 5 (Lesson 3)
SOUL SHERPA, LESSON 3: THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR GUIDE
“Already There” by Casting Crowns
(written by Bernie Herms and Mark Hall; Copyright: Songs Of Universal Inc., Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, G650 Music)
From where I’m standing
Lord it’s so hard for me to see
Where this is going
And where You’re leading me
I wish I knew how
All my fears and all my questions
Are gonna play out
In a world I can’t control
When I’m lost in the mystery
To You my future is a memory
Cause You’re already there
You’re already there
Standing at the end of my life
Waiting on the other side
And You’re already there
You’re already there
From where You’re standing
Lord, You see a grand design
That You imagined
When You breathed me into life
And all the chaos
Comes together in Your hands
Like a masterpiece
Of Your picture perfect plan
Amen!
BIG IDEA: What God thinks and does is always BEST.
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Isaiah 46:10
Isaiah 55:9
Deuteronomy 32:4
Jeremiah 29:11
James 1:5-7
Jeremiah 33:3
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:
The heavens are higher than the earth. And My ways are higher than your ways. My thoughts are higher than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:9
PRAYER:
Thank God for the guidance He gives us in His Word and through His Spirit. Ask Him for the courage to trust Him and obey.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- Who helps you make decisions at home? At school?
- Why do you ask for their help?
- If you had to fix a computer who would you ask? (an engineer)
- What is it about God that makes Him our best teacher? Read James 1:5, Jeremiah 33:3.
LIVE IT OUT!
- Read Mark 12:30, Ephesians 4:5-6, and Colossians 1:16. Talk about them together for next week.
- Think of a way you can obey God’s guidance today and do it.
– – –
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.
Preparing for Sunday | May 7
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
The Lion and the Lamb | [listen + lyrics]
Leeland Mooring, Benton Brown, Brian Johnson
Deuteronomy 33:26
Good, Good Father | [listen]
Anthony Brown, Pat Barrett
Galatians 4:7
Come to Me | [listen]
Elizabeth Akers, Jeff Capps, Michael Bleecker
Matthew 11:28-30
Alive in Us | [listen]
Ingram, Morgan | Hillsong Music
Ephesians 2:4-5
SERMON TEXT
John 10:10
Celebrating Generosity: Family Mission Brazil
It is our great desire to celebrate the generosity of the Lord here at RBC. Over this past Spring Break, Family Life Pastor Mike Meyers led a team of eighteen RBCers – parents and children – to serve in an indigenous region of Brazil. Our U.S. team partnered with a team of Brazilians that included several RBC-supported missionaries working with Open Arms Worldwide. The teams partnered with a tribal church in the village of Limão Verde in order to serve families and reach children with the gospel of Jesus. Many of you gave and prayed in support of their efforts, and we just want you to know how thankful we are for your generosity. Here’s a quick look at their trip.
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.
Celebrating Generosity: Deacons Ministry
Scripture tells us to “bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). With this in mind, the RBC elders have appointed a specific group of men and women in our church to help bear the burdens of those in need. The specific purpose of the Deacon Ministry of Reston Bible Church is to care for the material and financial needs of those who regularly attend our church and consider RBC their church home. Your generosity enables us to serve many people within our congregation who are dealing with a variety of difficult life circumstances. Thank you for being a generous church and helping bear each other’s burdens as an expression of Jesus’ love.
You can learn more about the Deacon Ministry at RBC at www.restonbible.org/deacons.
Preparing for Sunday | April 30
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
Glorious | [listen]
Paul Baloche, Benton Brown
Exodus 15:11
Your Promises| [listen]
Chris Brown, Mack Brock, Steven Furtick, Wade Joye
2 Peter 1:3-4a
This I Believe (The Creed) | [listen | lyrics]
Ben Fielding, Matt Crocker
Romans 1:16
Holy Spirit | [listen]
Bryan and Katie Torwalt
2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Doxology | [listen | lyrics]
Thomas Ken
Jude 24-25
SERMON TEXT
Hebrews 5:11-14
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.