Tue May 13

Listen up, little ones

Especially for the littles in your household.

Listen for the word gave.

Reading

Ephesians 4:8–16—He gave some to be Pastor-Teachers

Optional Reading

Nehemiah 8:4-9

Keys for kids

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

We should pay attention to the Bible read and preached.
Jesus gives shepherds to his church to help us all grow up.
As we respond to the Word taught, we should be growing up.

Questions

(some read the ?s before notes, then ask them after)

What is required of those who hear the Word preached?
Why should we pay attention to the Word read and preached?
What might it look like to grow up spiritually?

Notes

Westminster Larger Catechism Q160. What is required of those who hear the word preached? Answer. It is required of those who hear the word preached that they attend on it with diligence, preparation and prayer; examine by the Scriptures what they hear; receive the truth with faith, love, meekness and readiness of mind as the word of God; meditate on and discuss it; hide it in their hearts, and bring forth its fruit in their lives.

We find in our text today another reason to pay attention to the Word read and preached—namely that Jesus, as a conquering king—because of his death, resurrection, and ascension—gave gifts. One of those gifts he gave is pastor-teachers (or shepherd-teachers). These shepherds (elders, as we often think of them) are given to the church in order to teach the church all that Jesus has commanded. The reason for their teaching is to make the church mature.

Think about all the people in your family. If you have any babies or little children in your family, are they immature? Yes, of course. But the older children are (hopefully) more mature. And moms and dads are even more mature. As cute as little babies are, if they never grew more mature that would be terrible. And if Christians don’t grow in maturity that too would be terrible. Jesus’s plan is that pastor-teachers will help his church grow in spiritual maturity.

Swedish Method questions

See the Sunday reading for meaning of the symbols.

Praise

Psalm 144b, 84a

Prayer

Pray that Pastor Ed and the elders will help SRC grow in spiritual maturity.
Give thanks for something from last Lord’s Day’s sermons.
Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.