Faith

Parent prep | We are going to talk about two kinds of faith: a faith that saves, making you God’s child, and a faith that shows. Both are important. If you have a story about your faith, tell your child about how you first trusted Jesus. If not, that’s okay! Be honest about exploring what it means to have faith in Him.

Read together | In the Williams’ family, our children had many babysitters when they were young. When mom and dad went out, sometimes our kids would cheer and other times they’d groan depending on who came to watch them. Either way, for a little while, they were in someone else’s care. Paul writes a letter to God’s people and tells them that God sent the Law as a babysitter for them until they were mature. The law was filled all kinds of rules to follow. I know a lot of kids and most kids don’t like rules; most kids wish they were grown up so they don’t have to follow rules they don’t like. But Paul also told God’s people that they didn’t need the law to babysit them anymore. How can that be? Jesus came and gave His life for them. When they trusted or had faith, they were considered mature and didn’t need a babysitter anymore. When you have faith in Jesus, you are called God’s child… a grown up child who is trusted! You probably still need a babysitter when mom and dad go out, but in God’s family, you are a grown up son or daughter.

After you’ve put your faith in Jesus, you start to grow in a different kind of faith. It’s a faith that shows that you are God’s child and you start to behave like one. You try do the right thing. You start to care about what God says, even when you’re not at church. You start acting like a grown up kid in God’s family.

Which kind of faith is God inviting you to today-the kind of faith in Jesus that makes you God’s son or daughter or the kind of faith step that shows you are God’s trusted son or daughter?