This week’s session covers the pastoral epistles that Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus and provides us with a fantastic opportunity to help our kids develop a heart for the pastors, elders, deacons, teachers, and other leaders in the church. Here are three take-aways you might want to consider being sure to address:
We Should See Leaders as Gifts
This lesson might be the most important—God has given us leaders as a gift. This means we need to consider two follow-up ideas.
First, leaders are given to us to bless us for our good. God did not have to design the church the way He did, but He chose to. And part of that design—an important part of it—is the role leaders play in helping to teach us and guide us. Just as God did not place parents in the family to be a burden to children (although children may feel that way at times), neither did God give the church leaders to be a burden. Their role is not to break down, but to build up. We could surely grow in our faith without godly leaders, but they sure help us to do it better.
Second, leaders are not merely hired servants of the church. Unfortunately, some churches view leaders this way, as the hired help. Yes, there is accountability to the church, but we cannot fail to remember that God has given us leaders to do just that: to lead. Leaders are to be servant leaders—the best leaders are the ones who are not above unclogging a toilet—but that does not mean that we are not to treat them with dignity and respect.
We Should Not Expect Too Much from Leaders
It’s true that some churches see their leaders as hired help and expect too little of them. But other churches make the opposite mistake and expect too much from them, either in terms of demanding too much of a leader’s time and energy, or requiring the leader to be perfect.
We have to remember that no leader is our savior, Jesus is. No leader is perfect. They all make mistakes. They all sin. They all will fail us at times. We should expect no more perfection of leaders as we might expect of ourselves. We should be quick to extend lavish grace.
At the same time, our leaders also have the same limitations we have. They do not have limitless time and energy. They too are under pressures of life. They can have a hard day. They have bills to pay. They have irritating neighbors to love. Again, we should be quick to extend lavish grace.
We Should Support Our Leaders
This all takes us to the third important take-away: that we should seek to support our leaders. Here are some ways to do this:
Follow them joyfully.
Pray for them.
Share words of encouragement with them.
Ensure they protect time to rest and be with their families.
Forgive them.
Defend them.
Befriend them.
Bless them. Even a small gift can go a long way.
Work alongside them.
Love them.
Here’s a good rule of thumb: support your leaders in a way that when they see you coming, they smile and walk toward you, rather than frowning and ducking away.
*Devo from Pastor Brian, from The Gospel Project.
#JesusJams for today!
---> And here's this week's story!!
Christ Connection: Paul wrote letters to leaders in the church. He helped them know how to lead God’s people. Church leaders help believers know what is true, and they serve the church. Jesus served us by dying on the cross for our sins.
If you have a bible at your house, you'll be turning to 1–2 Timothy andTitus. This is probably too much to read in one day! So feel free to break it up and read a little each day this week! If you don't have one, that's okay! CLICK HERE for 1-2 Timothy. CLICK HERE for Titus.
OPTION 1: Write like Paul Give each person a sheet of paper and a coffee stirrer. Add washable paint and water to a small bowl. Mix up the paint and water. Show a child how to dip their stirrer into the bowl to retrieve “ink ” and move it to his paper to write like Paul. Encourage him to add additional paint by continuing to dip his writing tool into the bowl several more times.
SAY • When Paul wrote letters to leaders in the church, he wrote with a pen-like tool on a type of paper called papyrus. Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus. He helped them know how to lead God’s people. He told Timothy to tell God’s truth. He told Titus to do good because Jesus loves us. Church leaders help believers know what is true, and they serve the church. Jesus served us by dying on the cross for our sins.
OPTION 2: Play Post Office Before you play, cut a slot into a large box to form a mail drop box. You can use the letters you wrote in the previous activity OR give children markers or crayons, paper, and envelopes. Help them write or draw messages, fold their papers, and seal them in envelopes. Suggest children add stickers to resemble stamps and drop the envelopes in the mailbox. Choose someone to be the mail carrier. Guide him to gather the mail from the box and place it in a bag to deliver to the rest of the group.
SAY • Did you write a letter to someone in your family? Mail carriers pick up the mail and deliver it to the person you are writing to. Paul wrote a lot of letters. In today’s Bible story, we will learn about three letters Paul wrote to two different church leaders.
OPTION 3: Coloring Page Give each person a coloring Page and something to color with! SAY • The coloring page shows Paul writing letters to Timothy and Titus just like we learned about today. He also wrote a lot of other letters, you can see the list of who he wrote to at the bottom of the page!
UNIT QUESTION:
THE GOSPEL PRESENTATION: