Crosspoint,
At this point I believe that most, if not all, of the kiddos are out of school. The family dynamic is shifting into summer mode. I was thinking this morning about a handful of conversations that I had last summer, where I found a number of parents explaining how difficult it was to stay spiritually disciplined during the summer. What they meant was that the flow of life had changed and the schedule was much less rigid, and in result, it was more difficult to be disciplined to take the time to sit with the family to pray and study the Word.
So I write to encourage you this morning: DON'T LET YOUR FAMILY LANGUISH SPIRITUALLY THIS SUMMER!!!
Redeem the summer months. 1 Corinthians 15:58 states, "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." Whether we are in the middle of a busy school year or the many opportunities provided by summer, there will always be something competing for our time and attention. But we must not be foolish in regards to our call. I am not writing to encourage to simply make sure you have devotionals. I am writing to encourage you to ENJOY GOD THIS SUMMER! There is wonderful flexibility in the summer months where you can go to different places and spend unique time with your family enjoying God in new ways. Devotionals, Bible studies, prayer times and other spiritual disciplines are all things that we do because we treasure our relationship with God in Christ.
One resource that CF has put together to assist you in this is the weekly Family Devotional. It is written in response to the Word preached the previous Sunday, to help the body continue to walk in the Word, being doers and not hearers only. I have copied this week's Family Devotional below. We are praying for you that your summer is filled with sweet times with family and friends as you enjoy our great God!
J. Scott Sutton
FAMILY DEVOTIONAL:
This week our Kidspoint crew read Philippians 2:1-11 and talked about our humility in response to Christ’s humility in becoming like His brothers. Below is a devotional to help facilitate family discussion of the preached word.
Read Hebrews 2:14-18
What does verse 17 tell us about Christ becoming like his brothers? Did he become sort of like his brothers? (No, he became like them in every way)
Read John 1:1-4 and Isaiah 6:1-5 and talk about what Christ was like before he became like his brothers. Spend some time talking about the details. Draw a picture on paper or in your minds. Describe how His train filled the temple, what seraphim look like and how loud their voices were when they cried holy, holy, holy! Talk about how the foundations of the thresholds shook and what that might have felt like…
Now read Isaiah 6:5 and Leviticus 10:1-3 and talk about how different his brothers (humankind) are from His holiness. Talk about that because of sin, these guys are nothing compared to the holiness of Christ. List some other examples of “humanness” that you have read in the bible (David, Jonah, Abraham, Cain, Peter … EVERYBODY) List some examples of “humanness” in our own lives…
Read the following verses and talk about just how human Christ became:
Luke 24:36-40 - had flesh and bones
Luke 2: 48 -51 – was submissive to parents
Mark 6:1:1-6 – was a carpenter, day laborer, and we was astonished
Matthew 4:1-2 – was hungry
Matthew 21:18-19 – was hungry
John 4:7-8 – was thirsty
John 19:28 - was thirsty
John 13:21 – was troubled
Luke 10:21-24 – was happy
Mark 4: 35-38 – he got tired and needed rest
John 19:26-27 – loved his mom
Now read Philippians 2:1-8
Humility is an accurate view of who He is and an accurate view of who you are relative to Him. If Christ, in all His holiness, humbled himself to take on humanness in every way, we too should humble ourselves in the way that Philippians 2 describes. Read Philippians 2:1-8 again. Thank God for what He has done and pray that that we can become more like Him in humility.
