Can you hear me now? Good.

Paul Marcarelli is the famous Verizon customer who used that iconic line. To me, those commercials are pretty nostalgic. I didn’t have a phone when they first came out, but now I realize that no matter what service you have, you are bound to have a call dropped…

I used to have Sprint, and it happened a lot. I now have Verizon, and it still happens on occasion…in my own home.

The good news is that no matter what cell phone service you have, there are no dropped calls with God. God hears you every time.

Yesterday in Kids Worship, we talked about Hezekiah. Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz and king of Judah. Ahaz was an evil king, but Hezekiah was not.

The Assyrians were a military powerhouse, and they had already attacked Israel. They were now knocking on the doorstep of Judah. Hezekiah was scared.

Hezekiah sent a message to the prophet Isaiah. He asked Isaiah to pray for God to protect them. Isaiah told them what God said. He told them to not be afraid.

Hezekiah eventually went to the temple himself and prayed. He prayed for God to show the Assyrians that he was the one true God. Isaiah came to Hezekiah and told him that God heard his prayer.

Even when you ask God, “Can you hear me now?” the call will never be dropped, he will never step away from the phone, he was and will forever be tuned in to what you have to say.

Here are the Conversation Starters with your kids:

• Have you ever prayed to God?
• Do you think he is listening?
• Has he ever answered one of your prayers? (Parent: tell of a time when he answered yours.)
• What happens when you don’t get what you prayed for? Does that mean he wasn’t listening? (No.)
• Does God always have to say “yes” for him to have answered your prayer? (No.) God can answer our prayers by saying “yes,” “no,” “not yet,” etc.
• Why would God answer your prayer by saying “no”? (Parent: tell of a time God answered your prayer by saying “no.”)
• Spend some time in prayer as a family.

As always, adjust where needed! God bless.

Isaiah was told to go and tell the people about the coming Messiah. However, the Messiah was still hundreds of years away. He gave specific details about what the Messiah would go through.

It is important to know that the details of what the Messiah went through are important when you know that it was all for us.

Isaiah told the people that the Messiah would be a servant. This was not what the people were expecting him to be. He was expected to be the king! Why would Isaiah say this person would be someone who serves?? The king doesn’t serve!

Next, he told the people that the Messiah would be rejected by men. The Messiah would come to serve the people and yet they would reject him! The story of Barabbas is a good example of Jesus being rejected by men.

Pilate offered to release Jesus or Barabbas. The crowd wanted Barabbas. This man was a murderer. They would rather have him over the Messiah.

Lastly, he said the Messiah would be beaten. 

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5, NIV)

Here are the Conversation Starters for this week:

• So, if Isaiah lived hundreds of years before Jesus, do you think this was God’s plan all along?
• What’s the difference between a servant and a king? Can one person be both?
• Have you ever served someone? How? (Parent: tell of a time you served.)
• If Jesus was rejected by many people, why do you think he still died on the cross?
• Jesus could have stopped it all, but he never opened his mouth. Why didn’t he?
• Jesus came and died for us on the cross. Have you ever accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?

As always, adjust where needed! God bless.

The call of Isaiah was a very unique story of how Isaiah volunteered to go deliver God’s message.

This was a difficult time for the people of Judah. The kingdom of Israel was split into two kingdoms: Northern Kingdom of Israel and Southern Kingdom of Judah. The king of Assyria was bound to take over the world.

The kings of these places were relied on heavily to protect the people from the Assyrian invasion. The king of Judah was Uzziah and he died. Isaiah found himself in the temple the same year that Uzziah died.

While he was in the temple, Isaiah had a vision. He saw God sitting on the throne. God’s robe was so long, the edges filled the entire temple. Then, seraphim (types of angels) came and spoke to Isaiah.

When they spoke, the foundations of the doorways shook. They said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord; His glory fills the whole earth.” Isaiah knew his sin because he was in the presence of God. One of the seraphim touched a burning coal to Isaiah’s lips and told him that his sin was wiped away.

God then spoke, “Who should I send? Who will go for us?” Isaiah said, “Here I am. Send me.”

God had an important message to the people: “You will listen, but you will not understand. You will look, but you will not really see. If your eyes and ears and minds worked, you would turn from your sin and be healed.”

Isaiah asked, “How long should I preach to people who won’t listen?”

God said, “Preach until the cities are destroyed and no one lives in them. I am going to send the people far away.” Then God explained that He would bring some of the people back to Judah. These people were part of Abraham’s family. God was going to keep His promise to Abraham through them. He would send the Messiah through their family to be a blessing to all the nations.

I pray these Conversation Starters would bless you and your kids:

• Have you ever volunteered for something but you didn’t know what you were doing? (Parent: explain a time when you have.)
• Who is the main character of this story?
• Where was Isaiah when he had a vision? (Temple)
• How would you act if you were in the presence of God like Isaiah was? (Parents: you answer as well.)
• Do you think that God knew that Isaiah would volunteer to go? (Yes)
• Isaiah was told to deliver a message to people who basically wouldn’t listen. How would you feel if you were going to talk to someone who wouldn’t listen?
• God promised to keep his promise with Abraham. Can you remember what that promise was?
• Who is the Messiah?

As always, adjust where needed! God bless.

After Elijah ran from Jezebel, he went up to the mountain top to hear God speak to him in a soft whisper. God gave Elijah instructions on what he was to do next. He was going to anoint three people to key positions.

One of these key positions is Elijah’s job as prophet over Israel. A man named Elisha would take over this position.  As the prophet over Israel, the land of Aram attacked Israel and took people to be their servants.

A commander in this army from Aram was Naaman. He was good, but he also had leprosy. One of the Israelite girls who worked for Naaman’s wife told her about a man in Israel who could help him.

The king of Aram sent Naaman with a letter to the king of Israel. The letter said that Naaman was sent so that they could heal him. The king of Israel became upset because he was not God and had no power to heal this man!

Elisha heard about this, and he called Naaman to his house. Elisha told him to dip in the Jordan River seven times. Those were the instructions! Never before was a man healed from leprosy by dipping in the river!

Naaman was upset and began to leave. Elisha’s servants persuaded Naaman to do as he said. Naaman finally did what Elisha had said. Naaman’s skin was healed!

Naaman came back to Elisha and told him that he knew God was the one true God.

Here are the Conversation Starters for the kiddos:

• Who was the prophet who replaced Elijah?
• What disease did Naaman have?
• Have you ever had chicken pox? Or a sunburn?
• Do you know what leprosy is? (Explain that it is a skin disease that is very bad and eats away your skin. People with leprosy would be called unclean and shunned from society)
• Was Elisha the one who healed Naaman? (No.)
• Was the Jordan River the one that healed Naaman? (No.)
• Who was the one who healed Naaman? (God.)
• Has God ever healed you from something? (Parent: Talk about a time where God healed you.)

 

As always, adjust where needed! God bless.

This week’s Conversation Starters focus in on the story of Elijah and how he ran from Jezebel. This story comes in 1 Kings 19. Last week we read in the previous chapter how Elijah was on Mt. Carmel with the prophets of Baal.

After God showed who the One True God was, He told Elijah to kill the prophets. King Ahab told his wife Jezebel what Elijah had done, and she was not happy. She sent word to Elijah that in one day, she would have him killed.

Obviously, Elijah was scared. He fled into the wilderness where Jezebel could not find him. He was so scared that he asked God to take his life! After he prayed this, he took a nap. It is crazy to think how Elijah went from one extreme to the other. He went from sheer panic and desperation to complete rest. Only God could provide such peace.

An angel came and spoke to Elijah and gave him food. Then, he went back to sleep. The angel awoke him once again to give him more food that would sustain him for 40 days.

He traveled to Mt. Horeb where he hid in a cave. God asked him why he was there and then told him to go stand out on the mountain. When he was on the mountain, a great wind came. It was so great it tore rocks off of the mountain. But God was not in the wind.

Then, there was an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. Then, there was a fire, but God was not in the fire. All of a sudden, Elijah heard a whisper. It was a soft voice. As God began to speak to him, he asked Elijah again what he was doing there. Elijah answered, “I have done my best to obey you. But these people are trying to kill me.”

God gave Elijah instructions on what to do next and Elijah was not killed by Jezebel.

Here are the Conversation Starters to have with your kiddos:

• Elijah was scared of Jezebel. Have you ever been scared? (Parents: Tell of a time when you were scared.)
• Did God protect Elijah? How?
• Do you believe God protects you? If so, how? From what?
• Elijah went 40 days without food. Do you think you can go 40 days without food?
• How was Elijah able to do that? (God sustained him.)
• So, there was a wind, an earthquake, and a fire. However, God was not in any of them was he? How did God speak to Elijah?
• Why did God speak to God through a whisper? (Maybe because he was scared, and a whisper is what would calm him down.)
• Elijah was a prophet who was hated by his enemies. Jesus was also hated by his enemies. What are some other similarities between Jesus and Elijah?
• What are some differences?

As always, adjust where you need! God bless.

If you were not at Carson’s Chapel yesterday, then you missed a sight to behold. We baptized 31 people! Praise God! Of those 31, 14 of them were children!

God is faithful! The Gospel moves within the hearts of people of all ages. I’m so thankful to be a part of a church that encourages and supports life change!

My prayer for all of those baptized yesterday is that in the good times and in the bad times, they always trust that God loves them and truly has a plan for them. Sometimes it will feel like the plan isn’t what it should be, but God won’t leave you. He can’t leave you.

We can look to Scripture and find a man, Job, who went through trials of many kinds, but he kept his faith in our Almighty God! Job lost his livelihood and his children on the same day. His wife told him to curse God and die. His friends told him that he was being punished because of his sin.

However, Elihu reminded him that God was sovereign. For the Conversation Starter with your kids, please walk through this story with them. You can follow the story by asking these questions:

• Has something bad ever happened to you? (Parent: tell of a time when something happened to you.)
• How did you feel when this happened? (Sad, Mad, etc.) (Parent: tell them how you felt.)
• Do you believe that God is always in charge?
• Do you believe that God loves you?
• Do you believe that God is powerful?
• Well, if God is so loving and so powerful, why do these things happen?
• Are we supposed to trust God even when bad things happen?
• Read Job 19:25.
• To “redeem” means to “buy back.” So, a “Redeemer” is someone who “buys back.” Who is Job’s Redeemer?
• Who is our Redeemer? (Jesus)
• Jesus bought us back with his death on the cross. God is so powerful and so loving that he sent Jesus to take the penalty for our sin.

As always, adjust where needed! God bless.

Ocean breeze, beautiful water, and not a care in the world is where I found myself last week. As Bethany and I were on vacation, I felt like I never wanted to leave. However, as a wise person once said, “All good things must come to an end.”

Do they? Do ALL good things come to an end? Yesterday in Kids Worship we discussed Solomon’s thoughts on life that he wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Solomon wrote how apart from God, everything is meaningless. I didn’t feel this way while I was at the beach. However, when Saturday morning came, I felt it.

The money we earn will one day be gone, generations come and go, and our nature is to never be satisfied with the things of the world are a few things that Solomon discusses in this book.

There is one good thing that will not come to an end: God. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Take these questions, and help your kids understand how everything is temporary and meaningless apart from God. With God, we have a purpose.

Here are the Conversation Starters:

• Do you believe that God gave us talents?
• Why did he give us talents?
• So, if we use these talents without him, what good are they?
• Do you have a game system? (Xbox, Nintendo Wii, etc.)
• If you have games with no system, what would the use of the game be? (Worthless)
• Read Ecclesiastes 1:8. (This means we are never satisfied.)
• Will food satisfy us? (No, because in two hours you are hungry again.)
• What is the only thing that will satisfy us? (Jesus)
• Read John 4:13-14. (This means that earthly things will not satisfy. Only Jesus can.)

Adjust where needed! God bless.

Have you ever gone through a time in your life where you truly needed wisdom? I’m sure most of you have. The past two weeks in Kids Worship we have been discussing Solomon and his wisdom.

Solomon was so wise! He was so wise that he needed to share his wisdom, so he wrote the book of Proverbs.

Yesterday in Kids Worship, we walked through some of the verses that give us wisdom. These verses can spark awesome conversation with your kids. They also give you an opportunity to pour your own personal wisdom on them.

Here are the Conversation Starters for this week:

• Solomon was the wisest king, should we listen to him?
• Read Proverbs 1:7
• What does fear the Lord mean? Does it mean to run away scared like when you see a spider??
• What does this verse say about people who do not listen to wisdom? (They are fools)
• So, when you parent or teacher gives you advice, should you listen?
• Read Proverbs 3:5-6
• Are you supposed to trust in the Lord with half of your heart?
• What does it mean that he will make your paths straight?
• Read Proverbs 4:14
• What does this mean? (Don’t be friends with troublemakers)
• Have you ever gotten in trouble because the person next to you was talking?
• If you hang out with people who get in trouble, you eventually will. Should you listen to your parents about who you hang out with? (Yes)
• Pray.

Adjust where you need to! God bless.

If I told you that you could have one wish granted, what would it be? You cannot wish for more wishes!

You might drive yourself crazy with all of the endless possibilities: a new car, world peace, one billion dollars (that one was popular with the kids), a new house, etc.

God gave Solomon the opportunity to wish for anything in the world. Solomon was named the new king of Israel after his father, David, died. God appeared to Solomon in a dream and gave him the opportunity to choose from the limitless possibilities a king would want.

His answer is shocking to most who read this story. Solomon asked God for wisdom. He could have wished for his enemies to die or even to be immortal! Solomon wanted to be a good king. The one thing he needed to help him was wisdom.

Our Main Idea in Kids Worship yesterday was God gives us what we need. For Solomon, it was wisdom. I led one of the Bible Fellowship classes yesterday, and the conversation was amazing. I believe you can really pour into your kids with these Conversation Starters!

• If you could have one wish what would it be? (They can’t ask for more wishes.)
• Why would you wish for that?
• Remind them about who Solomon is and read 1 Kings 3:9. (It may be difficult for them to understand the language of the text, so explain he is asking for wisdom.)
• What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom? (Knowledge is knowing things, but wisdom is knowing what to do with them.)
• What are some things that Solomon could have asked for?
• Did God give him wisdom? (Yes. Read 1 Kings 3:11-12.)
• Was Solomon being selfish when he asked for wisdom?
• Would you change your answer knowing what Solomon wished for?
• Read Proverbs 2:6-7.
• Explain that most wishes are materialistic. These wishes (one billion dollars, a new car, etc.) are attainable wishes. However, wisdom only comes from God according to the book of Proverbs.
• Have you ever been scared or confused and you didn’t know what to do? (Explain a time when you didn’t know what to do.)
• We can pray and ask God to give us wisdom on what we are supposed to do. (Pray together.)

As always, adjust where necessary! God bless.

Yesterday morning in Kids Worship, we discussed David’s sin with Bathsheba. Last week we talked about God’s covenant with David. A covenant is different than a contract. A contract says that if you break your end of the agreement, then I don’t have to keep mine.

A covenant says that even if you don’t hold your end of the bargain, I will still keep mine. In this week’s lesson, the kids learned about how David messed up, but God still kept his end of the covenant.

This great story shows us that sin is awful, and it will cause us to perform awful acts. David acted in a way to try and hide his sin from everyone. There is one who will always see our sin: God.

David had to face the punishment for his sin: the death of his child. It is vital that children know that we are forgiven from sins, but we must still face the consequences.

Here are the Conversation Starters for this week:

• Have you ever tried to hide your sin? (Talk about a time when you did.)
• Is it right to try and hide your sin?
• Who will always know that you sinned?
• Even though God chose David to be king, was David perfect?
• Read 2 Samuel 12:14
• What was David’s punishment?
• What is a punishment you usually receive?
• Do you deserve the punishment? (Most of the time…)
• Are we forgiven even though we are punished?
• Why must we be punished even though we are forgiven?
• Pray this Psalm together: Psalm 51:10.

As always, adjust where needed! God bless.