Jeremiah was a Prophet. If you hummed that in your head, substituting 'bullfrog' for 'prophet', then you may not have been with us in Children's ministry this morning. Today, we learned about Jeremiah and his role as prophet to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. We have previously learned that there weren't a lot of excellent kings in Judah, and the people of Judah often failed to obey God. Jeremiah encouraged the people of Judah to obey God, but they just wouldn't obey. Because of their continued disobedience, Jeremiah had to share the message that God was going to punish their disobedience and sin by allowing them to be captured. But even in the midst of such difficult and scary realities, Jeremiah reminded the people that God promised a better covenant to forgive them. Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise to forgive, and even in the middle of our rebellion and disobedience, Jesus sacrificed himself for us. Remind your family this week that we cannot outsin the forgiveness of God; the Israelites were repeatedly disobedient and still were offered this unmerited forgiveness.
A NOTE FOR NEXT SUNDAY... PLEASE BE AWARE THAT NEXT SUNDAY'S SERMON IN THE WORSHIP CENTER (NOT IN CHILDREN'S MINISTRY), WILL INCLUDE THE TOPIC OF ARTICULATING SEXUAL ETHIC FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE. THIS NOTE IS NOT A DISCOURAGEMENT OF ENTERING THE CONVERSATION WITH YOUR CHILDREN, BUT SIMPLY AN AWARENESS OF THE SPECIFIC CONTENT SO THAT YOUR FAMILY CAN PLAN WHETHER YOU ARE PREPARED TO ENTER THAT CONVERSATION WITH YOUR CHILDREN.
Here are some questions to extend the conversation this week:
Elementary
- When is it hardest for you to obey? What things make obedience easier?
- Would you have wanted to share the message that Jeremiah shared with Judah? Why or why not?
- Why do you think God sent prophets like Jeremiah to warn His people?
Preschool
- Do you always obey? Whom should you obey?
- Should you always get exactly what you want? Or is there sometimes something better coming?