This week we focused on Hebrews 11:6, which has always been a verse that kind of haunts me in the things I do. "Without faith it is impossible to please God, for anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." It's chilling to think that those times when I don't have faith are the times when I'm not pleasing God. Not surprising, just chilling. Either way, it was important that the kids hear this verse, so we worked around it.
We started out playing a game of Sardines. The first game we played normal. The second game, I told the kids they would get a prize if they found the "sardine". Man! I haven't seen kids run that fast in a long time!!! We talked about how it's so much easier to really run hard after something if there's a prize involved. Both times "luck" worked in our favor as the kids found each other in about thirty seconds (in contrast to about five minutes the first time). We had the kids try and define "faith". All of our kids did a really good job. Faith is believing God, trusting God. Hoping in God even when we don't see how it can happen! We read Hebrews 11:1 which says that faith is basically confidence in things that have yet to happen and hope in things unseen. The kids accepted this definition and we went on our way.
We split the older kids from the younger kids and I brought the older kids into the library while Ms. Danielle did a similar lesson in the other room. Reading over Hebrews 11:6, we took it bit by bit. We talked about why it was impossible to please God without faith. As one of our kids pointed out, God really wants us to trust Him, and when we don't trust Him, that makes him sad. We talked about how important it is for us to have faith because we always want to please God. We talked about how silly it would be to walk up to someone and tell them they don't exist, and how that's what makes it so important that we believe God exists! It's super hard to have a relationship with someone who doesn't exist!
The last part was the trickiest. We talked about the rewards God gives us. I asked the kids if they thought God gave the same reward to everybody. At first they said, "no!" I challenged them, just to see if they would change their minds. I was so proud of them when they stuck to their answer--totally the truth!!! Last week we had talked about how God made us different and how he knows us intimately and loves us completely. We talked about how a God that knows us this well would know how to reward us best! God doesn't just give a blanket prize of gum to every student (even the ones who don't like it!). God makes sure to give us things we will really like!
This is where our morning got really amazing. I had the kids think about ways they've been "rewarded" by God. They all mentioned experiences they had--not gifts or tangible things. I thought that was really awesome, that they realized that experiences (ALL of which were experiences of being with and helping others!!) can be rewards. We talked about why those stuck out to them as being "rewards" from God, and they said because they felt really good when doing it. That they felt like they were doing the right thing and that feeling was probably a reward from God. I was really impressed with our kids and the depth of their understanding of God and how he made each of them!
Then we pulled it back around with the simple question that's not so simple to answer. "If we can't please God without having faith, where do you need to have faith even in those rewards God's given you?" This was really awesome and really got to the heart of the kids that were down there. They all expressed that they needed to have faith that what they were doing would make a difference, and that God would use them.
This was one of those Sundays that I think might have been more influential for me as a teacher than for them as "students". That fifteen minute conversation with our kids showed me that the kids at Holy Cross seem to understand that:
- God made them unique and gave them all special gifts.
- God is always looking to USE them to impact people for Him.
- God rewards them in ways that are more than tangible.
- The biggest rewards are in relationships and serving others.
- There is ALWAYS an opportunity for faith in God.
Next week, the kids should have read through Hebrews 11:6-12. We'll be talking about our first big name Hall of Faith-er!
