Awana Message for March 7
QUEST: Clubhouse Service for March 7
Family Quest: Extreme Makeover, Spiritual Edition – Family, Lesson 2
LESSON 2: HONOR YOUR PARENTS – THE BRIDGE
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12. ‘Honor’ is a word that has fallen out of favor in our modern western culture. This is particularly the case when it comes to the giving of honor to parents by children whether grown or still at home. The fifth command is the first of six commands that God gives concerning our behavior towards our fellow man. It is the “bridge” between the commands about loving God and those about loving our neighbor. So it is fitting that in our study we will begin here. This week we will look at what it means to “honor” our parents. We’ll consider how this is a picture for how children relate to their Heavenly Father. As you prepare this week take some time to consider how you “honor” your own parents, even if they may not be very “honorable.”
Download Family, Lesson 2BABY QUEST: March Lessons
Baby QUEST is Reston Bible Church’s ministry to the youngest members of our Body.
Each month, we will feature a guide for your family to use with children ages 0-2. The guide includes follow up activities, a craft or sensory activity, recommended reading, a song, and other tips that are uniquely tailored to the development of infants and toddlers.
The guide follows the themes we are teaching in our nursery classes, giving you an opportunity to connect and reinforce the ideas taught at home. Because children this age need repetition, each activity can be done multiple times throughout the month to continue to press it upon your child’s memory as they grow!
This month, we’re focusing on God’s love for your child through the story of Jesus and the children. Children will begin to learn that they are made in the image of God, how much God loves them, and the purpose God has for them individually in bringing Him glory.
Big Idea:
Jesus Loves Me
Scripture Focus:
Mark 10/Psalm 135:4
QUEST: Preschool Lesson for March 7
This week’s video is the same as last week.
This week’s reading from the Jesus Storybook Bible:
A Little Servant Girl and the Proud General, p. 136
This week’s Big Idea:
Salvation and relationship with God isn’t something we achieve, it’s something we receive!
This week’s Key Verse:
Isaiah 53:6
Stay the Course: Wisdom, Part 3
How do we apply wisdom? Start with the Word. Understand how to discern between things you can change, and things you can’t or you’ll default to what is wise in your own eyes.
Preparing for Sunday | March 7
We are excited to be gathering in person this Sunday! You can use the button below to register, or to find out more about the precautions we have put in place. If you are unable to join us in person, we encourage you to worship with us via our live stream.
Register to attend a worship service Watch the Live Stream
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
This week, we will sing together a song called Jesus Strong and Kind, which we introduced recently. This song reminds us of Jesus’s promise that He is able and willing to offer ultimate sustenance and relief in our times of need. Watch the Doxologies video here.
We’ll also sing Promises, which we learned last week. This song comes as a blessing and sweet reminder of God’s inherent goodness (Psalm 25:8) and His promise to complete the work that He begins (Philippians 1:6). Watch the Doxologies video here.
Christ Is Enough | [listen + lyrics]
Reuben Morgan, Jonas Myrin
2 Corinthians 12:9
Only King Forever | [listen]
Mack Brock, Chris Brown, Steven Furtick, Wade Joye
1 Timothy 1:17
Jesus Strong And Kind | [listen]
Colin Buchanan, Jonny Robinson, Michael Farren, and Rich Thompson
Matthew 11:28-29
Promises | [listen]
Aaron Moses, Carrington Gaines, Dante Bowe, Keila Alvarado, Lemuel Marin
Psalm 113:2-3
SERMON TEXT
Colossians 3:22-4:1
Philemon 1
MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE
“For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” (Colossians 1:19)
Stay the Course: Wisdom, Part 2
Where do we get wisdom? Start by fearing God. Wisdom doesn’t guarantee you won’t have problems in life, only that you won’t be the cause.
Doxologies: Jesus Strong and Kind
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
Jesus Strong and Kind has a rich message and yet a simple melody that makes it easy for the family to learn and sing together. This song reminds us of Jesus’s promise that He is able and willing to offer ultimate sustenance and relief in our times of need. The problems we are currently facing as a community, as a country, and as a culture may lead us to rely on temporal things that can offer brief respite or relief; but they will never fully satisfy the way Jesus can.
The verses of this song touch on four symptoms of our fallen world. After each challenge is presented, truths from Scripture are sung in response reminding us of the way Jesus can satisfy when we face those challenges. So we can come to Jesus…
…WHEN WE ARE THIRSTY: Verse 1 says that if we thirst, we should come to Him, because no one else can satisfy. This reminds us of the promises of John 4:14, “Whoever drinks of the water that [Jesus] will give him will never be thirsty again,” and that “the water [Jesus gives] … will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
…WHEN WE ARE WEAK: Verse 2 says that if we feel weak, we should come to Him, because no one else can substantially or be our strength in a sustained way. This reminds us of the promises of 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, where Jesus says “My power is made perfect in weakness” and Paul responds, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses… For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
…WHEN WE ARE AFRAID: Verse 3 says that if we fear, we should come to Him, because no one else can be our shield. And this is not just because He is able and strong to protect us from earthly danger, but also because no one else can protect us from the spiritual forces at work against us in this life. As Jesus says to John in Revelation 1, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” What an amazing opportunity we have to lay our fears at the feet of our Jesus who died, was raised to life again (“forevermore”!), and who literally holds the keys to Satan’s entire operation.
…WHEN WE ARE LOST: Actually, verse 4 changes things up and says that if we are lost, Jesus will come to us. The song turns to focus on our depraved sin nature – our inability to provide our own salvation. While repeating the same phrase “I should come to Him” from the first 3 verses would have certainly helped maintain the repetitive structure throughout the song, it wouldn’t have made sense, because we are unable to do this for ourselves. As Jesus says in John 14, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” We are indebted to Jesus because of the sacrifice He made for us.
The Bible is filled with beautiful stories and parables depicting Jesus’s passion for the lost. Like when Jesus tells the tax collector Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to this house… for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19). Or when He shows the lengths to which He will go to save, not just His people (plural,) but even just one of His people – (singular.) “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?…there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
Lastly, throughout the song, a simple chorus reminds us of God’s faithfulness to us at all times. As Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica, “The Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3).
As we go forward into this week, whether we are singing together as a church body on Sunday or singing with our family as we do chores in our homes, I pray we are encouraged in knowing that Jesus is always enough for us, even – and especially – in life’s greatest moments of need.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES: John 4:13-14, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Revelation 1:17-18, John 14:6, Luke 15:4-7, 19:9-10, 2 Thessalonians 3:3
————–
Jesus Strong and Kind
Verse 1
Jesus said that if I thirst
I should come to Him
No one else can satisfy
I should come to Him
Verse 2
Jesus said if I am weak
I should come to Him
No one else can be my strength
I should come to Him
Chorus
For the Lord is good and faithful
He will keep us day and night
We can always run to Jesus
Jesus, strong and kind
Verse 3
Jesus said that if I fear
I should come to Him
No one else can be my shield
I should come to Him
Verse 4
Jesus said if I am lost
He will come to me
And He showed me on that cross
He will come to me
Stay the Course: Wisdom, Part 1
The world is steadily growing in knowledge, but also increasing in problems. We need more than knowledge: we need wisdom, which is the proper application of knowledge.