POINT #1 – THE PROMISES OF GOD
READ
2 Peter 1:3-4 ERV – “Jesus has the power of God. And his power has given us everything we need to live a life devoted to God. We have these things because we know him. Jesus chose us by his glory and goodness, through which he also gave us the very great and rich gifts that he promised us. With these gifts you can share in being like God. And so you will escape the ruin that comes to people in the world because of the evil things they want.”
Remember, Caleb and the Israelites had a promise from God, that He was giving them the land of Canaan to possess. Just like Caleb had a promise from God, this scripture tells us that Jesus has given us GREAT PROMISES! He tells us that with these promises we can share in being like God, and that Jesus has power from God, and has given us EVERYTHING we need to live a life being loyal and faithful to God.
Discussion Questions
- What is a promise? (allow your child to answer: when someone tells you they will or will not do something)
- Has anyone ever made you a promise before? To who and what was the promise?
- Have you ever made a promise to someone? To who and what did you promise?
God makes promises to us too! Can you think of a promise that God has made us? (allow your child to answer) Sometimes when people make promises, they don’t always keep them. Maybe they forget, or changed their mind and did something else. Maybe we’ve done that with the promises we’ve made to others also. But God, He keeps ALL of His promises that He makes to us. Where can we find the promises of God? How do we know what He promises us? (allow your child to answer: the Bible) There are so many promises for us in the Bible, the WORD of God.
Sometimes when things get hard, or we get our feelings hurt, we sometimes focus on those things. We focus on all the things that are going wrong or make us feel bad. But, those are not the things we should focus on. We should focus on the promises of God. The promises that say we are a child of God. We are His children. He loves us so much. He will never leave us and He will ALWAYS be with us. He will heal us of our sickness. Nothing evil will harm us. That just as we forgive others for doing wrong, God will forgive us. That we can have new life and will be saved and forgiven of our sin if we believe and confess that Jesus is the son of God, that He died to save us and defeated death and rose up out of the tomb and is in heaven sitting by the Father. These are the promises of God that we want to stay focused on.
Scripture Memory Verse
“…Jesus chose us by his glory and goodness, through which he also gave us the very great and rich gifts that he promised us…” 2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT
Prayer
Jesus, we thank you for choosing us. Thank you for your goodness. And for giving us great and rich promises. We are so thankful that you love us so much, and that you promise us great and wonderful things. We are so thankful that You are always faithful to keep Your promises to us. That You will never let us down. Holy Spirit, we ask you to help us to FOCUS on the PROMISES of God. Help us to desire to read and learn and discover those promises, to memorize them, remember them, and get those promises down deep in our heart. When times get hard, help us to remember to choose to not focus on the problems or the hard times, but to focus on You and Your promises, which are YES and AMEN in Jesus Christ. Jesus, it’s in your name that we pray, amen.
Application/Activity
Spend some time helping your child write down some promises of God (about their identity, salvation, healing, future, etc.) Talk through those promises. Spend time journaling, drawing, painting, memorizing, praying, and meditating on them. Below are a variety of promises. 🙂
- “I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future.” – Jeremiah 29:11 ERV
- “Don’t worry—I am with you. Don’t be afraid—I am your God. I will make you strong and help you. I will support you with my right hand that brings victory.” – Isaiah 41:10 ERV
- “The Lord will lead you. He himself is with you. He will not fail you or leave you. Don’t worry. Don’t be afraid!” – Deuteronomy 31:8 ERV
- “People will make weapons to fight against you, but their weapons will not defeat you. Some people will say things against you, but anyone who speaks against you will be proved wrong.” The Lord says, “That is what my servants get! They get the good things that come from me, their Lord.” – Isaiah 54:17 ERV
- “He forgives all our sins and heals all our sicknesses.” Psalms 103:3 ERV
- “But if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done.” – 1 John 1:9 ERV
- “and if my people who are called by my name become humble and pray, and look for me, and turn away from their evil ways, then I will hear them from heaven. I will forgive their sin and heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14 ERV
- “Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 ERV
- “So if the Son makes you free, you are really free.” – John 8:36 ERV
- “Dear friends, now we are children of God. We have not yet been shown what we will be in the future. But we know that when Christ comes again, we will be like him. We will see him just as he is.” – 1 John 3:2 ERV
- “The Lord All-Powerful says, “Try this test. Bring one-tenth of your things to me. Put them in the treasury. Bring food to my house. Test me! If you do these things, I will surely bless you. Good things will come to you like rain falling from the sky. You will have more than enough of everything.” – Malachi 3:10 ERV
- “So I tell you to ask for what you want in prayer. And if you believe that you have received those things, then they will be yours.” – Mark 11:24 ERV
- “My God will use his glorious riches to give you everything you need. He will do this through Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19 ERV
- “You will not have to do anything but stay calm. The Lord will do the fighting for you.” – Exodus 14:14 ERV
- “Trust the Lord completely, and don’t depend on your own knowledge. With every step you take, think about what he wants, and he will help you go the right way.” – Proverbs 3:5-6 ERV
- “So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil, and he will run away from you.” – James 4:7 ERV
Worship Song
“Good, Good Father”