The Write Stuff

In RiverKidz yesterday, our biblical principle comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:11a. Paul wrote these words to instruct his friends in Thessalonica to give each other hope, even though they faced persecution for their belief in Jesus.

Our Bottom Line or our main point is: Friends encourage one another. It’s important for friends to encourage each other with positive words; to cheer each other on when we’re tired or hurt.

Our memory verse is -->

“A friend loves at all times. He is there to help when trouble comes.” Proverbs 17:17, NIrV

Stuck Like Glue

At Jesus’ final meal, He spoke with His disciples about what it meant to have a lasting friendship with Him. He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13, NIV)

Days later, Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified on a cross to take the punishment for our sins, setting the example for ultimate friendship. But Jesus demonstrated friendship throughout His life. He walked alongside His friends. He helped their hurts. He never shied away from discussing important topics. He surprised them with acts of service.

Friendship is spending time with someone you trust and enjoy. Just as Jesus spent time with His friends so they could get to know Him better, we can build trust and have fun with our friends as we spend time with them.

But we often take friendship for granted. We have friend requests on Facebook and conversations through email that make us feel hyper-connected with anyone on the other side of the Internet connection. However, real friends are Stuck Like Glue and won’t let go when times get tough.
The monthly memory verse is: “A friend loves at all times. He is there to help when trouble comes.” (Proverbs 17:17 NIrV). Everyone needs encouragement, especially in tough times. A friend will be ready with helpful words and simple actions to strengthen his friends.

In Week One’s Bible story, Paul writes to the believers in Rome teaching them about accepting one another (Romans 14:13; 15:7; Acts 9). Our Bottom Line is: Friends accept one another. Even if someone has different interests than us, has a different background, or makes a bad choice, we can still accept and help them.

All the Small Things

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In this week’s Bible story, Zacchaeus was a thief and considered a traitor to his people (Luke 19:1-10) when he met Jesus. When Zacchaeus trusted Jesus, he decided to change to an honest life. But to earn his community’s trust, he had to make things right by repaying everything he had stolen, and then some.

When we admit we have not been truthful, we can earn back others’ trust. Our Bottom Line is: when you are truthful and make things right, you build trust. So often we think it’s going to pay to tell a lie and cost to tell the truth, but really it often costs to tell a lie and pays to tell the truth.

Our memory verse this month is: “An honest person has respect for the Lord.” Proverbs 14:2a, NIrV Often our relationship with God helps us realize the areas in our life where we need more honesty. Apologizing to others and working to make things right not only builds trust with others, it shows our respect for God.

I’ve Got Truth Under My Skin

In our Bible story this week we meet Gehazi, Elisha’s trusted servant (2 Kings 5). When Elisha helps a high-ranking official, but will not accept payment, Gehazi lies to receive valuable gifts from the official. Then, when Elisha asks Gehazi about the gifts, he lies again to cover it up. Since Gehazi can no longer be trusted, he loses his health and the gifts he wanted so badly.

Our Bottom Line is: when you are not truthful, you lose trust. If we consistently use words that aren’t honest, people start to doubt if any of our words are true. When they doubt our words, it’s difficult to gain their trust. Honesty is also about living truthfully and acting on what we say.

Our memory verse this month is: “An honest person has respect for the Lord.” Proverbs 14:2a, NIrV. A person who respects God uses truthful words, keeps their promises, and follows through with what they say. They earn the trust of others. Truthful words build stronger relationships with others and with God.

Moment of Truth

God told Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation of people and He did. God told the Israelites that He would provide for them in the desert and He did. God told Joshua that the wall of Jericho would fall if the people marched around it for seven days and it did. God told Mary that she would have a baby boy—she did.

Jesus said He would die and rise again three days later—He did!

Honesty is important because it builds trust. Honesty is choosing to be truthful in whatever you say and do. What God says is true; He has shown us that time and time again. And that’s one of the reasons we know we can trust God.

But the same should be true in our own lives. If we want other people to trust us, we need to live honest lives. When we tell the truth and we follow through with our promises, other people learn to trust us. But when we cover up who we are, what we’ve done, or we constantly break our promises, then the people around us stop trusting us. They begin to wonder if, in the Moment of Truth, can you be trusted?

The monthly memory verse is: “An honest person has respect for the Lord,” Proverbs 14:2a, NIrV. Living a life of honesty shows that we respect God and the people we care about. We can find a way to be truthful and still careful of the feelings of those we care about.

The Negotiator

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In Sunday's RiverKidz Bible story, Abigail intervenes (1 Samuel 25:1-35) when her husband picks a fight with David. Abigail immediately knew what was happening and made a plan to present gifts to David and calm his anger. Her quick action promoted peace between the two men.

Our Bottom Line is: prove you care about others by being part of the solution. Peace is sometimes about stopping an argument before it can escalate into something worse. Creating peace between two other people will take time and energy.

Our memory verse this month is: “So let us do all we can to live in peace. And let us work hard to build each other up.” Romans 14:19, NIrV When friends are fighting, do all you can to encourage peace between them. Avoid gossip and taking sides. Help them find a peaceable solution so everyone can remain friends.

 

He Ain’t Hairy, He’s My Brother

Yesterday, the RiverKidz  Bible story was about how Jacob stole Esau’s birthright (Genesis 27, 31-33) taking his inheritance and his place in the family. It wasn’t fair that Jacob took everything from Esau, took his birthright and his family blessing though deceiving their father, but Esau eventually let go of his anger and forgave his brother. Our Bottom Line is: Prove you care about others by letting go of “what’s fair.” Preserving the relationship is more important. The application from the Bible Story is that we care more about each other then winning an argument.

This month's memory verse: So let us do all we can to live in peace. And let us work hard to build each other up. Romans 14:19

To read more about Jacob and Esau read Genesis 27:41-45; 31:3; 32:1-21; 33:1-11