Welcome
Welcome to the sermon series Your Kingdom Come: God’s project for making all things new. Here you will find a brief overview, a few ideas for going deeper into the sermon topic with Preschool, Elementary, and Middle/High Schoolers.
Recap
This week we’re talking about a very sad day. When God made this beautiful Garden, and God’s people lived in God’s place, with God as their king, God told Adam & Eve not to eat from one tree in the middle of the garden. But you know what happened, don’t you? Adam and Eve decided to eat from the tree anyway. They listened to satan’s terrible lie instead of God’s good words. They chose not to let God be king over them, and they ate the fruit. What happened then? Sin broke God’s beautiful world. And Adam & Eve had to leave the garden—but even though this was a very sad day, all was not lost, because God loved Adam & Eve too much to let them live forever without him. God loved you and me too much to let us live without him as our king. God promised that one of Eve’s very own children would crush the head of satan, that lying snake. Now, all that Adam & Eve, and all of God’s people after them, could do, was wait…
Preschool
Confession
Play is the language of children, and God knows that. God is willing and ready to talk to children in the way that he created them, and this week provides a great opportunity to enter into that practice of play in a serious way. You Forgave Me (Psalm 32:1-5) by Slugs and Bugs is my favorite confession song for children. It doesn’t heap guilt or veer into shame, but helps children to understand confession and forgiveness as the road to a restored relationship with God. Maybe you would like to listen to this song and memorize these verses this week. Maybe you would like to invite your child to sculpt something they would like to ask forgiveness for with play doh and then smash it while saying “All my guilt is gone, you forgave me.” Maybe you could join them in this practice.
Elementary School
Play is the language of children, and God knows that. God is willing and ready to talk to children in the way that he created them, and this week provides a great opportunity to enter into that practice of play in a serious way. You Forgave Me (Psalm 32:1-5) by Slugs and Bugs is my favorite confession song for children. It doesn’t heap guilt or veer into shame, but helps children to understand confession and forgiveness as the road to a restored relationship with God. Maybe you would like to listen to this song and memorize these verses this week. Maybe you would like to invite your child to sculpt something they would like to ask forgiveness for with Play Doh and then smash it while saying “All my guilt is gone, you forgave me.” Maybe you could join them in this practice.
Middle/High School
Read Genesis 3:1-24 in the New Living Translation.
Why do you think the woman gave in to the serpent's temptation to eat of the tree?
Reflect on the words of the serpent. Did he tell the truth? Did he lie? Did he mix truth with lies?
Notice that Adam and Eve each blame someone else for sin: the man blames "the woman you gave me," and the woman blames the serpent who "deceived me." Do you ever notice that in yourself?
Read verses 14-24 carefully. What do you notice? What promise does the Lord make in verse 15? Why does the Lord send Adam and Eve out of the garden?
Take a moment to reflect on the seriousness of sin. It's easy to think sin isn't really that big a deal, but notice that it means Adam and Eve have to leave the presence of their God!