Thu Aug 6

Listen up, little ones

Especially for the littles in your household.

Listen for the words Jesus and Him.

Reading

Hebrews 12:1-3-Looking to Jesus

Optional Reading

John 6:28-40

Keys for kids

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

Questions

(Some read the ?s before the notes/ ask them after.)
  1. How does the author of Hebrews urge us to run?
  2. How can you run with endurance?
  3. Why should we look to Jesus?

Notes

(See Saturday for authors.)

The Bible sometimes talks about following Jesus like it's running a race. Not a short, fast race, but a long one where you need endurance-the strength to keep going even when life gets hard. Hebrews 12 tells us to "run with endurance."

To run well, we must get rid of anything that slows us down-things that make us think we don't need Jesus or things that pull our hearts away from Him. When we throw off those things, we can focus on Jesus, who gave us faith and helps us keep running the race.

Hebrews 11 helps us understand this. Hebrews 11 is like the Bible's Hall of Fame for people who trusted God. It's a "great cloud of witnesses"-people from long ago who lived by faith. They trusted God even when they couldn't see the things they hoped for. Some even died still believing His promises. They looked forward to Jesus coming. Now they encourage us to look to Jesus and trust Him, too.

Hebrews shows us something else amazing: Jesus found joy in saving us. The Bible says He endured the cross "for the joy set before Him." The cross itself wasn't joyful-Jesus even prayed in the garden, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me." (Luke 22:42) That "cup" was God's punishment for sin. Jesus took it so that everyone who believes in Him would be forgiven and given endless grace instead of punishment.

So, as you run your race, look to Jesus.

Swedish Method questions

See the Sunday notes for meaning of the symbols.

Praise

Psalm 16d, 51d

Prayer

  1. Pray for help keeping your eyes looking to Jesus.
  2. Pray for the preparation for preaching God’s Word this Lord's Day.
  3. Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.
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