Dear Confirming Your Faith Parents,
I apologize for not sending a parents email out for the last couple of weeks. I have no excuse beyond the pace of things lately. I will try my best to be regular about sending emails during our remaining weeks. Which by the way, last Sunday we completed our fifth week; we only have five weeks remaining and they will be gone in no time. Last class we took a look at The Lord’s Prayer and had an interesting conversation about prayer in general.
We also had a staff interview with Anthony Vartuli, Pastor of Adult Education. As an ongoing part of our class we invite various church staff members to come for a brief interview and question time. The purpose of the staff interview is to allow our kids to become more familiar with Greenwood Community Church and to feel apart of the congregation.
Found in Matthew 6:9-13, the Lord’s Prayer is Jesus’ teaching tool for telling those present during the Sermon on the Mount how they (and we) should pray. The Lord’s Prayer is a work of genius: within about a paragraph it expresses adoration for the Father, intercession for God’s kingdom, supplication for our needs, forgiveness of our sins, forgiveness of others who wrong us, and lastly asks for help with the temptations that are part of being human.
We also used this lesson as an opportunity to discuss the privilege of prayer and the importance of a personal prayer life. Prayer is a privilege because the Creator of the universe, who is powerful enough to do everything on His own, desires our participation in growing His kingdom on earth. He gives us the opportunity to be blessed as we pray for our needs and the needs of others. Through prayer we are able to participate in the spiritual warfare that is going on around us and in the world.
Questions to invoke discussion:
Why does God desire and enjoy our prayers?
Do you think God grows tired of hearing our prayers?
If you were to categorize your prayers, how much time do you spend praying about yourself? How much time do you spend praying for others?
What is your favorite part of the Lord’s Prayer?
Following Jesus' example, how would you put the Lord's Prayer in your own words?
This coming Sunday our topic is Salvation. We will take an in depth look at what it means, what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross, and how a person receives salvation. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns about our program or your kids.
In His blessings,
Perry Lundquist
Dan Beck
Doug Ashley