Welcome to LifeSpring Kids At Home, a resource designed to fuel family discipleship in your home in partnership with what kids are learning at church. Each week you will be provided with new content that relates with what is being taught in your church's kids ministry.
Whether you have been discipling for years or are just getting started, The Gospel Project At Home is designed to give you a realistic, yet meaningful, starting point of one night a week family worship that you can build from by using additional content included here as well as by adding other resources.
Choose a day and a time for a weekly family worship experience that allows your family to be as consistent as possible. Use these materials to engage in an experience that lasts about 10-15 minutes, or one that can be longer if you desire. All you need is LifeSpring Kids At Home and a Bible.
Ready? Keep scrolling for this week's Kids at Home!
- READ THE SCRIPTURE -
Read all or parts of Matthew 23:1-36 from your Bible.
- TALK ABOUT THE SCRIPTURE -
Have you ever heard the phrase “putting lipstick on a pig”? It might sound like a rough job for a farmer, but it’s actually a way of describing the useless things people do to make something look better than it really is. No amount of lipstick can make a dirty pig look pretty, and no amount of good deeds can make up for a heart that loves itself more than Jesus.
The religious leaders said they loved God, but they failed to love others. They wanted people to praise them for how well they obeyed the laws, but they didn't obey what Jesus said was the greatest commandment. Jesus said that anyone who followed these religious leaders was being lead further from God, not closer.
Those who trust in Jesus receive a new heart with new desires. They desire to obey God for the right reasons: to honor Him and to share Him with others. Their love for God is shown through the ways they love others.
Jesus said that the greatest commandments are to love God and love others. (Matt. 22:37-39) The religious leaders loved themselves most of all. When we trust in Jesus, He makes us right with God and changes our hearts so we can love and obey Him.
Pray: God, help us to show our love for You by loving the people You have placed in our lives. Remind us of Your amazing love that was shown to us through Jesus. We want that love to overflow from our hearts so that we can love others as You love them. Amen.
- WATCH THE BIBLE STORY VIDEO -
Watch this Bible Story video with your kids to reinforce this week's devotion.
- LEARN SCRIPTURE -
The key passage below is focused on at church. Consider talking about what this passage means and memorizing it as well.
- Sing SCRIPTURE -
This song is a helpful way to worship, and to learn and memorize the Key Passage.
The prayer guide includes two prompts—one for mornings and one for evenings—that you can use during the week to help direct prayer and start casual family conversations about God.
Mornings
Ask God to help you see people the way He sees them today. Pray for opportunities to show and share the love of Jesus with others. How does loving and serving others show our love for God?
Evenings
Thank God for the love He has shown through Jesus. Try to think of as many blessings that you have been given through Christ as you can. Thank God for each one. How does God’s love for us motivate us to love others?
Two activities related to what your family is talking about are suggested each week. One activity is for your family to enjoy and the other is for your family to serve in some way as you live out the gospel in your community.
For Fun
Play a game of charades as a family. Let kids lead the game by creating a list of occupations, animals, activities, or chores. Cut the list into strips and place in a bowl. One person will draw a strip and act out what is written while the rest of the family guesses the correct answer. Talk with kids about how the behavior of the religious leaders was a charade of what Jesus actually calls His followers to. Remind kids that Jesus wants us to show our love for Him by loving others, not through actions meant to earn the praise of people.
To Serve
Create encouraging cards to anonymously give to people in your life. Remind kids that love is not just a feeling, it is an action. We need to show our love through words and actions because God calls us to do so, not because we want attention or compliments from people.
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