KidzPort February 1 – More Talent

February 3, 2009

We continued the discussion from last week on talents.  After making sure everyone had learned the memory verse, we recapped the Parable of the Talents, and then discussed with the kids what their individual talents might be, and how they could use them in the service of God.

After that, we developed some talent by working on a new song.   I decided to challenge them with a more modern, complicated song.  So we began working on “There Is No One Like You” by David Crowder* Band.  I have to say, the kids grasped the complicated verse structure of this tune faster than I thought they would.  Next week, we’ll add the second verse if we have time.

For Parents:

• Continue to encourage your child to explore and develop their talents.
• Work on them with this week’s memory verse: 2 Samuel 7:22

Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

KidzPort January 25 – Stewardship

January 26, 2009

It is never too early to begin training a child in responsibility, and so a teaching on the concept of stewardship is appropriate at any age.  We began by defining what a “steward” is: a person who is responsible to care for someone else’s possessions. 

So what does this have to do with God?  Well, basically, if we believe (and we do!) that God is the rightful owner of all things, that makes us all stewards of everything in our possession: things, homes – even people we are responsible for caring for.

The main lesson came out of Matthew 25, verses 14-30: what is commonly known as the Parable of the Talents.  In this story, Jesus tells of a wealthy man who entrusted some of his money two three servants.  Two of the servants invested the money (at their own risk) and doubled the master’s money.  The third, fearing losing the money, buried his small allotment in the ground.

When the master returned, he was pleased with the servants who had risked and gained, and was angry with the servant who had feared his master’s wrath.  This story tells us how God expects us to invest our own “talents.”  While there might be a risk involved (noteably a risk of failure) God would be more upset if we simply “bury” our talents out of fear.

For Parents:

• Re-read the Parable of the Talents with your child.  Have them explain to you what each servant did right or wrong.
• Discuss with your child how they can be “Good Stewards” of the things they have been blessed with. 
• They have a homework assignment: to list five talents that they have, and tell how t hey can use them for God.

Memory Verse:  Matthew 25:21

His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

KidzPort December 28 – Why Was Jesus Born?

December 29, 2008

That seems like a pretty simple question, right?   But it’s really not.  

Coming off Pastor Pedro’s Christmas Sermon, I asked the kids this question: Why did Jesus have to be born?  Couldn’t God have just chosen to forgive sin and defeat Satan on His own?  Why did Jesus have to go through everything He went through?

To begin, we look at the nature of Jesus – who was He?   We compared John 1:1 with Genesis 1:1 and came to the conclusion that Jesus must have been around at the beginning of time.   And if that is the case, then He must truly be God.

But since sin was first committed by men – Adam and Eve – then only someone who was comletely man could pay the price for that sin.  After all, that’s only justice.  So God had to become man – in the person of Jesus.  That man paid the price, not for his own sins – he had none – but for all of our sins.  If it was a sinful man who began the fall from Grace, then only a sinless man who had no debts of his own could pay the price.

For Parents:

• Read John 1:1-12 with your child.  Discover who Jesus was, and why He became man.
• Be sure that your child understands what Christmas means for him or her.  Do not let them give standard answers – really make sure they get it.