2022 Theme: “Doing Life with Jesus”
Week 2: Jesus…just a brother!
Weekly Bible Bite: Matthew 13:55-57

Video lesson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s63yZxOXGZw (CQ Kids – Did Jesus Have Any Brothers or Sisters?)

I wonder if Jesus ever wished he had been an only child. Many people forget the fact, that after Jesus was born, his parents had more children. In fact, the Bible tells us that Mary and Joseph had four sons (James, Joseph, Simon and Jude) and at least two daughters (whose names we are not told). Growing up in the same house with Jesus, however, did not necessarily convince His brothers and sisters of His true identity as the Son of God. He was just ‘Jesus’…their big brother.

Big Concept: Building relationships based on worldly desires and values is a really foolish idea.

Leading Questions:

• Why is it hard to choose what is difficult now but better later?
• Why is it hard to trust God in choosing our friends? How can we allow Him to choose our relationships?
• How can people who are worldly affect their friends and family?

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Prayer of the week: God would you teach us how to see the world through Your eyes. Would we live out our faith so that our actions, words, and thoughts all make You happy and show the world Your goodness. Thank you for Your Son, Your Spirit, and Your faithful loving-kindness.

Big Concept: How showing too much and too little kindness shows our true values and bad desires.

Leading Questions:
How does our treatment of others show what we value?
How does this make the “poor” feel?
What if someone gets mad because they think they deserve the “better seat”?
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Prayer of the week: God would you teach us how to see the world through Your eyes. Would we live out our faith so that our actions, words, and thoughts all make You happy and show the world Your goodness. Thank you for Your Son, Your Spirit, and Your faithful loving-kindness.

Pure and Faultless Religion in God’s Eyes:
Take care of the widow and orphan, and keep from being polluted.

The Big Concept: Religion (the way we live for God) that God values is boiled down for us: Take care of those who are lost or left behind and keep yourself set apart from worldliness.

Leading Questions:
Do we care more about what God thinks or about what we think?
How complicated does this idea of religion seem?
What are examples of being polluted?

Interaction: Object lesson. Fill several containers with clean water. Allow them to add dirt, food colouring, Jell-O, or something else that they can see interact with the water.

Reminder: God can for certain clean us up, but He also asks that we don’t live recklessly in regards to sin so that we avoid spiritual dangers.
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Prayer of the week: God would you teach us how to see the world through Your eyes. Would we live out our faith so that our actions, words, and thoughts all make You happy and show the world Your goodness. Thank you for Your Son, Your Spirit, and Your faithful loving-kindness.

Season: The Book of James
Episode 6: “Problem With Anger”
Today’s Bible Bite: James 1:19-21,26

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtwnggDBGNE (Family Moments – Object Lesson)

“People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.” (Proverbs 14:29, NLT)

Anger can be a healthy response in some circumstances, but more times than not, how we express our anger is not good. Knowing how to respond to a situation and to do so in a way that honours God requires self-control. God wants us to think before we speak; our quick impulses sometimes get us into trouble, especially when we’re angry. It’s okay to be angry, but it’s never okay to hurt someone because of our anger. Sometimes, the wisest thing to say and do is nothing at all. Pray that God will help you to always behave and think in such a way that is never out of control and He will.

Think about it...
• Anger is an emotion we all feel. When is anger a healthy response? When is it not?
• How we think and act tells others a lot about our relationship with God. Why does God want us to show self-control and not just act on impulse?
• Our anger can be very hard to control. How can we learn to calm ourselves down?
• When we are angry it is important not to do anything we will regret. Can you think of a time that you let your anger get out of control? What could you have done differently?

Prayer: Thank you, God, for all of our emotions—even anger. Help us to learn how to control our actions, so that even if we come across a situation when it is right to be angry, we will respond well and not simply make the situation worse.
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~ Pastor Jane

Season: The Book of James
Episode 4: “Rich and Poor”
Today’s Bible Bite: James 1:9-11

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ4lIvi9rpk (Douglas Talks – What does God want me to do with money?)

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” (Matthew 6:19-20, NLT)

The Bible talks a lot about money. God gives us money to use, but too often we use it only for us. Sometimes we can begin to love our money more than we love and trust God. We also sometimes begin thinking that people who are rich are better than people who are poor. James tells us that this thinking is all wrong! It doesn’t matter if you’re poor or rich, God doesn’t have favourites and He loves everyone. A poor person can be thankful, that even though they are poor, God has given them the best gift—a relationship with Him when we believe in Jesus. And a rich person can be thankful that their worth isn’t tied up in their money, because everyone must die and we can’t take our money with us—only the treasure we store up in heaven counts. So how do we store up treasure in heaven? By doing good things for God and helping others, including with our money…no matter how much or little we have.

Think about it...
• God loves people all the same—rich or poor. So, why don’t we?
• James tells people who are poor that they have something to boast about. What is it?
• He also tells people who are rich that they can boast too. What does he tell them it is?
• Money can be both used well and badly. How can we be certain to use the money God gives us well?

Prayer: Thank you, God, for giving us the things we need, even money. Help us never to love money more than you and to remember that you don’t love anyone any less or more based on whether they are rich or poor. Help us to always look to use our money, no matter how much we have, to do good.
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~ Pastor Jane

Season: The Book of James
Episode 3: “God Gives Wisdom”
Today’s Bible Bite: James 1:5-8

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BotClS_6bI (Douglas Talks – Godly Wisdom)

“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you.” (James 1:5a, NLT)

James wanted people to know that anyone who needed to know what to do could just ask God…and God would provide that person with wisdom. There was nothing to be ashamed of for asking and God is pleased to help everyone in this way. But James also had a warning. If, after asking God for wisdom, you go looking for a second opinion, then you shouldn’t expect God’s help at all. God is more than capable of helping us. Asking only Him demonstrates our trust in Him. Using Him as just one possible source, shows a lack of loyalty to God…and God will not reward disloyalty. It shows that we are keeping our options open—willing to trade in God’s wisdom for the advice we might receive from another source. God refuses to play those types of games—if we truly want His wisdom, He will provide it; if we’re just wanting to hedge our bet, we shouldn’t expect His help at all.

Think about it...
• James tells us that if we need wisdom, we shouldn’t hesitate to ask God for His help. What ways can God’s wisdom help us?
• We should not treat God’s advice as one option amongst a number of possibilities. Why doesn’t God want us looking for other sources of wisdom?
• God loves to help us, but He refuses to be misused by us. How can we misuse our relationship with God?
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Prayer: Thank you, God, that you will provide us with wisdom—knowing what we should do—if we ask. Help us to trust you and not doubt that you will help when we do. Help us also not to fall into the temptation of looking for a different answer, if we don’t get the answer from you that we want.
~ Pastor Jane

Season: The Book of James
Episode 2: “Trials Can Be Good”
Today’s Bible Bite: James 1:2-4

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn-hLHWwRYY (The Bible Project – James)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kTnrFLqZuc (Douglas Talks – You Can Do It)

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” (James 1:2-4, NLT)

No one likes going through hard times, but James tells us to think about trials differently. He says we should see our difficulties as a chance to experience joy, because of the good that come out of them when we respond in the right way. Trials test our faith, which can cause our endurance to grow, and when our stick-to-it-tiveness has fully developed, our faith will be complete and we will be in good condition to serve God, no matter what life throws our way.

Think of it like building muscle…the only way to get stronger than you are today, is by forcing your muscles to work under greater stress. Your muscles won’t like it; you may even be sore from doing more push-ups and sit-ups, cramp after running longer distances or ache from lifting heavier weights, but with a little time and practice, you will develop more muscle and will become stronger.

The same is true of our spiritual body that is true of our physical body. If we want to have a stronger faith than we have today, we need to exercise our faith muscle…and trials are the ‘weights’ we are required to lift. Some people give up when things get tough, just like some people give up when their muscles begin to ache; however, without enough exercise our spiritual faith muscle and our physical muscle grow flabby because they aren’t being used.

The next time something less than pleasant happens, remember, God is giving you an opportunity to grow in your faith…and that is a cause for joy!

Think about it...
• Our muscles don’t grow and can even become flabby when we don’t use them. How do we use our physical muscles? How do we use our spiritual muscles?
• James tells us we shouldn’t try to avoid difficult times because they can have a good purpose. What good can result from experiencing trials?
• Many times, we try to avoid difficulties because they make us uncomfortable or they’re painful, so we give up. James tells us that trials produce endurance…why is that important for a Christian?
• When our faith is strong and circumstances no longer cause us to question God’s goodness and His love for us, James tells us we will no longer need anything. What does that mean?

Prayer: Thank you, God, that you will help us to grow in our faith and thank you, too, that you don’t waste an opportunity to show us how we can learn to be more like Jesus. None of us wants to experience trials, but I thank you that they have a purpose. Help me to develop stick-to-it-tiveness!
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~ Pastor Jane

Season: The Book of James
Episode 1: “Jesus Had Brothers and Sisters?!”
Today’s Bible Bite: Matthew 13:55-57

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s63yZxOXGZw (CQ Kids – Did Jesus Have Any Brothers or Sisters?)

“This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (James 1:1, NLT)

Many people forget the fact that after Jesus was born, his parents had more children. In fact, the Bible tells us that Mary and Joseph had four sons (James, Joseph, Simon and Jude) and at least two daughters (whose names we are not told). Growing up in the same house with Jesus, however, did not necessarily convince His brothers and sisters of His true identity—the Son of God. We know that at one point while Jesus was teaching, his brothers showed up determined to take him away; they believed He was acting crazy (Mark 3:20-21). At another time, they showed their unbelief by mocking him (John 7:1-5); they did not believe He was the Messiah. However, that all changed for at least two of His brothers—James and Jude, both authors of letters found in today’s Bible.

After Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected, He showed Himself to a number of people to prove that He was alive again…one of whom was His brother James (1 Corinthians 15:7). Though James may have doubted that Jesus was the Messiah earlier, he became fully convinced and even became a leader in the early Church. He wrote the Book of James, which was really a letter to all the Jewish believers. He knew how hard it had been for him to accept Jesus as the Messiah, and he didn’t want anyone to miss out on the truth. The Messiah had come! All who believe in Him are required not just to have a knowledge of God and to strictly adhere to the Jewish laws; they are required to have a change of heart.

Think about it...
• Mary's first child was Jesus, who was God’s Son. How many children did she have with her husband Joseph?
• Jesus’ brothers and sisters didn’t automatically believe there was anything special about Him. Why did they think He was actually crazy or just wanting attention?
• Jesus wanted to convince His brother James of who He was. How did He do this?
• James came to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. How do we know this?

Prayer: Thank you, God, that I can be part of your family, not because of sharing the same parents, but because of believing in Jesus. Anyone can be your child. Thank you, Jesus, for being obedient to God even when others didn’t believe you were truly God’s Son.
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~ Pastor Jane