Kidzport September 28 – Revival

September 28, 2008

We continued our look at Old Testament kings today by talking about Josiah.   Josiah was a good king, especially compared to the the kings before him, Manassah and Amon.

The key verse was 2Chronicles 34:2.    And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.   Josiah became king of Judah when he was eight years old.  He inherented a country that was broken and dissolute, worshipping idols in high places.  Josiah began to seek after God’s heart, and eventually began to tear down the high places and idols.  And God began to bless Judah as a result.

Josiah then resored true worship in the land of Judah, and the people began to turn back to the Lord.  There was then revival in the land.  Revival means bringing something back to life.  Judah was coming back to life, spiritually. 

Revival requires three things:

• Hunger – Josiah sought after God with his whole heart
• Holy – Josiah
• Humble – Joshiah humbled himself before the Lord, and the Lord blessed him and Judh

 

For Parents:

• What does revival mean?  (Bringing something back to life)
• What three “H’s” are required for revival? (Hungry, Holy, Humble)
• Who was the good king who started revival in Judah? (Josiah)

Assignment:  I asked the kids to find out the meaning of their names, and why their parents named them what they did.  If they have a Biblical name, then tell me about the who that person was.

Kidzport September 21 – Trading Gold for Bronze

September 22, 2008

In our second week of Kidzport ministry, we had a much larger group than we did the prior week, especially in the 4-6 year old group.   So praise God that people are bringing their kids to church.  Hopefully this ministry will continue to grow.  

The 4-6 year olds watched a video and learned about Jonah and the great fish.  

In the 7-9 group, the lesson was based on Brother Josh’s message, Trading Gold for Bronze.   The main thing we focused on this week was humility.   In 2 Chronicles 12, we learn that King Rheoboam has become hard on his people.  We talked about how Rheoboam did not listen to the advice of the elders, but instead relied on the advice of young men like himself, and as a result, God sent the pharoah Shishak to come to destroy Jerusalem. But according to verse 7, when God saw that the king had realized his mistake and humbled himself, he spared Jerusalem.  But Shishak still came and took all the gold. 

We talked about who the children should turn to for advice – parents, teachers, pastors, older siblings, trusted adults and God.  We asked what would happen when they took advice from their friends instead of people more experienced.  Then we talked about humility – what it means and when it’s important.  I asked them about pride, when it’s OK and when it’s not.  We said it was OK to be proud of accomplishments, but not to the point you think you’re better than other people, or that you don’t need God. We gave examples of having nice things (like the gold Rheoboam had) and having it taken away, and having then to have not-so-nice things. (like the bronze he was left with.)

For parents:

• Read with your kids 2 Chronicles 12:7.  Ask them what it means to them.
• Talk to your children about who they can go to for help and advice
• Ask your kids about pride.  Find out what they think that they do really well, and how they feel about that.  How do they feel about others who can’t do so well?  Is there anything that they wish they did better?
• Watch how they treat their “nice” stuff.  Is it too important to them? Talk to them about that.  Ask them what they would do if they had to have something not so nice.

Next Saturday, Kidzport is going to be hosting the children’s ministry at the HFC annual meeting.  Hope to see everyone there!