Home Connection & SPLINK

Early Elementary
The Adventure Guide should have come home with your student. Encourage
your student to spend time each day in God’s Word. Help younger students
develop this important habit by helping him or her with the Daily Bible
Readings and devotion. Today your student learned how Jesus was the
fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Savior. He is the Promised One.
Upper Elementary
The Explorer’s Guide should have come home with your student. Today your
student learned how Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a
Savior. He is the Promised One. We can have faith that Jesus is who He said
He was.

HOME CONNECTION
Listen to God: Read John 4:46-54
It is hard not to notice this father’s faith. When Jesus told him his son was alive and
instructed him to return home, this “believing” father obeyed, no questions asked. He
simply took Jesus at His word even though he had not yet witnessed any action. We
must also respond in faith to Christ’s declaration of good news. After all, the author of
Hebrews describes faith as having the assurance of things that will come to pass even
though it has not yet come to completion (Hebrews 11:1).
Talk to God
The miracles of Christ were not done merely to cause awe, but were
primarily intended to produce and strengthen faith. Our faith in Christ’s
Word will not always be met with such immediate results as with this
father. In fact, we will not see the fullness of our redemption this side of
eternity. But our faith will become fact in God’s timing. Pray together for
God to increase the faith of each family member.
Walk With God
Option 1: Develop (or add to) a family prayer list. Prayer is our greatest resource in
meeting the needs of others. Using a list with your children will help them learn how
to pray for others and not be so “self-consumed” that they forget or fail to recognize
the needs of those around them. Demonstrate love and encouragement this week in a
tangible way to someone from your prayer list. Involve each member of the family in
what you choose to do (a note, a special treat, an act of service, etc.).
Option 2: Be sure to remind your children that stories in the Bible are different from
stories they might read in other books. The Bible is 100 percent true. None of it is makebelieve
or pretend. This week’s Scripture passage tells a true story of amazing faith. This
faith is what God longs for us to have. Talk to your child about how we can’t see or hear
God but we can believe Him. We can read His Word to learn more about Him. It will help
us to know more about God. Encourage your child to ask God for faith.
Week 1
March 4, 2012
D6 Family Theme: faith
The Point: Christ’s good news calls us to faith in Him.

SPLINK
Surprise Guest

Kids started a new series about the miracles of Jesus. Long before Jesus came to earth, God promised to send One who would deliver them from sin; He them many clues so they would recognize Him.

Invite a special guest (family, friend or neighbor) to drop by your house at a specific time in the evening. Tell the kids at breakfast about the special guest, but don't reveal his or her identity. Give them clues about the person throughout the day, starting with general clues and ending with more specific ones. (It's a person. It's a man. He has two eyes. He wears glasses. He is tall. He has gray hair. He is kind. He will play a game with you; choose your clues to fit the person.)

When the person arrives, ask:
Did the clues help you figure out our guest's identity? Why or why not? (They helped us to recognize him when we saw him)
How did God give clues to the people BEFORE He sent Jesus to the earth? (The prophets gave many facts or clues about Jesus–where He would be born, who would be His mother, what He would do when He grew up, etc.)

Read Isaiah 61:1-2 to find some clues about Jesus written hundreds of years before His birth. He did all those things and even more!

God wanted the people to recognize Jesus when He came to earth, but many did not. He gives us reasons to believe in Jesus. Faith is believing in Jesus even though we have not seen Him. We may not have seen Jesus, but people who were eyewitnesses wrote their experiences in the Bible so we could know what He is like and what He did. Yes, we still have to have faith, but it is a faith built on facts and truth.

Optional: Ask your guest to bring a special treat or play a game with the kids so it will be a happy event.

More Than A Man
Items needed: poster board
Crayons, stickers, jewels, or any other materials to decorate the crown

Students learned that Jesus was not just a man, but He was also God–the One who is to be worshiped.

Make a crown and hang it on a chair at the dining room table as a reminder that Jesus is more than just a man–He is God. Only God can do the miracles Jesus did while on earth.

Ask:
What would it have been like to actually live on the earth when Jesus did?
What question would you have wanted to ask Him?
What would you have liked to ask Him to do?

Even though we can't see Jesus with our eyes, we can read in the Bible about all He did while He was on earth. We can have faith and believe it and then worship Him as the One True God.


3 Prayer Jar
Items needed: small box or jar with lid
Slips of paper and pencil

Kids also learned about the nobleman's faith when he asked Jesus to heal his son who was dying. (John 4:46-54)

How did this man show faith? (He believed that Jesus could heal his son, he asked Jesus to heal his son, and he obeyed when Jesus told him to go home because his son had been healed)

Faith is believing even before you see it. God can do what He says He will do. When Jesus came to earth, He did miracles. Jesus had power to heal people who were sick, blind, and crippled. He has the power to help us.

We show our faith when we pray to God. We believe He can help us, so we ask Him.

Make a prayer jar. When you hear or think of a special need, write it on a slip of paper and put it in the jar. Pray for the requests each night after dinner (or at breakfast). Ask God to answer the requests as He thinks best.