Fri June 19

Listen up, little ones

Especially for the littles in your household.

Listen for the word asleep.

Reading

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14—Asleep in Jesus

Optional Reading

Matthew 9:18-26

Keys for kids

Also for the littles. Young households might choose, after Keys for Kids, to go directly to praise and prayer.

Those who are dead in Christ are asleep.
People who are asleep will wake up again.
As Christ has risen from the dead, so will we.

Questions

(Some read the ?s before the notes/ ask them after.)

Do you think of death as “sleep?”
How does this change your view of death?
Why are you confident that you will wake up again?

Notes

(See Saturday for authors. Today’s notes are from a commentary on 1 Thessalonians by J. Philip Arthur.)

It is worth noting here that Paul refers to the believing dead as ‘those who sleep’ (4:13, 14, 15). It is not surprising that many cultures refer to death as a kind of sleep. The word ‘cemetery’ is derived from a Greek word that means ‘place of sleep’. The stillness of a corpse bears a certain resemblance to a person in slumber. Furthermore, it is a phrase which occurs from time to time in the Old Testament, where we read that this or that monarch ‘slept with his fathers’. The main idea in such cases seems to have been that these figures were now at rest after a lifetime of strenuous activity. ‘Sleep’ is a word that promises a great deal; it reminds us that physical death is not the end. Those who go to bed at night expect to get up in the morning! Viewed from that perspective, cemeteries are mere dormitories. When the great alarm sounds, those who inhabit them will rise from their slumber. Death loses much of its power to terrify us when we can begin to think of it in these terms. What could be more homely than calmly settling oneself down to sleep in full confidence that morning, when it comes, will bring a new and better life altogether?

Paul went on to make a strong affirmation of the truths which lie at the heart of the Christian faith (4:14). The object of our faith is a crucified and risen Saviour who will certainly return to the world that he left at the time of his resurrection. This will not be a solitary return; he will be escorted by an enormous multitude, for he ‘will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus’.

Swedish Method questions

See the Sunday notes for meaning of the symbols.

Praise

Psalm 16d, 111d

Prayer

Rejoice in the hope of the resurrection.
Pray for the hearing of God’s Word preached this Lord’s Day’s.
Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.