GOD VIEW: the connection between RESPONSIBILITY and God’s character, as shown through God’s big story.
Think about all you saw when you stepped outside this morning. Was the sun shining? Did you hear birds or see squirrels making the most of their morning? Did you take a deep breath?
Without our thinking about it, life happens.
The sun keeps shining. The seasons change. We have air to breathe.
From the beginning, when God created the world, He set systems in motion. If He decided to ignore those, our world would quickly turn chaotic. God takes responsibility for what He creates. Even when we fail Him, He promises a way of escape through Jesus. He made good on this promise, and after we take our last breath we can trust that we’ll be with Him forever. God has proven that you can trust Him with every moment of your life.
But God doesn’t want for us to move through life simply trusting Him. He wants us to become more like Him by showing others that we can be trusted as well. Every day, you have opportunities to take what God has given to you—your stuff, your words, your relationships—and use them wisely. When you respond to God with the abilities He has given to you, you are responsible. And when you are responsible with a little, the Bible says you will be given more: more opportunities, more relationships, more ways that you can use what God has given you to reflect His character to the world around you.
This month, let’s think about how:
(1) God has proven He can be trusted.
(2) When we trust Him and we respond to Him with our abilities, we are responsible.
(3) When we are responsible, we live a good story. We are a light to others. They will see our good works and glorify God because of how they see Him at work in us.
Remember: A virtue is something God does in us to change the world around us.
This week, we’re discovering:
Our Bible story is the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). This is key for the whole month because it talks about being responsible with our stuff—both our money and our gifting. Everyone’s been given something, so what should you do to best invest it? We’ll see how the worst thing is to sit on it or just save it for later.
Our Bottom Line is: I can be trusted when I make the most of what God has given to me. When we bury our stuff, we seem to be afraid. People waste their lives and what they’ve been given when they don’t trust God enough to let Him work through them with the abilities He gave them in the first place. When we are responsible, we can become trusted people.
It’s important to remember this week’s Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what, as we talk about responsibility. It’s true that everything we have has been given to us by God. When we respond to God with what He has given us, then we are responsible. It’s like our Memory Verse says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.” Luke 16:10, NIV
This week, we’re discovering:
There was more to what Jesus said to His loyal disciples right before He returned to his Father, God in heaven (Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 1:3, 8-11). It’s easy to imagine that the disciples felt a little desperate, hanging on every word, wondering what might happen to them after Jesus leaves. Bottom Line: Whatever happens, remember Jesus is always with you.
We can relate to this when negative things happen in our lives and we feel alone or powerless. That’s when it’s most important to remember that Jesus promises the Holy Spirit—if we believe in Him—so we’re never really alone. That realization is another reason to believe that something good can come out of something bad, even today.
This week, we’re discovering:
The disciples and other people who knew Jesus were still confused by all that had happened—by the way things had turned out. In our story today, Jesus joins two guys walking on the Road to Emmaus. Later at dinner as Jesus breaks bread, they realize who He is and what’s really happening (Luke 24:13-35, Romans 15:4). Bottom Line: Whatever happens, remember God has a bigger story.
These men were discouraged. They thought things would turn out differently, but until Jesus helped them to connect the dots, they just couldn’t see the bigger picture. They’d lost hope. They were so focused on the fact that Jesus died; they couldn’t see what God was doing through and because of it. We do this too in dark and confusing moments—we focus so much on the negative things that have happened, that we stop having hope and we stop believing that something good can come out of something bad.
But when we remember and believe that this month’s memory verse is true (“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33b), we’re not so caught off guard when things go wrong and we’re more able to see what God might be up to and believe that He wants what is best for us.
This week, we’re discovering:
That even when things seem at their darkest, hope is believing that something good can come out of something bad. The best story in all of history to show this truth is Easter—when our Savior returns. Jesus surprises everyone and comes back to life after dying on the cross and being buried in the tomb—three days later (John 20:1-18).
Jesus is all the evidence that we need to believe that God can do anything and He keeps his promises. And if God kept His promise about Jesus, then there’s nothing God can’t or won’t do to give us hope. Bottom Line: Whatever happens, God is stronger than anything. It’s going to be a powerful week!
This week, we’re discovering:
That we are part of the never-ending Story that God is still telling. This month, leading up to and after we celebrate Easter, is the perfect time to talk about believing that something good can come out of something bad. We’ll look at five different Bible stories focusing on Jesus and some of the people who knew Him best.
In our Bible story today (John 14:1-14, 18-19, 27-29), we’ll listen as Jesus talks to His closest friends, with whom He’s done ministry over the last few years. They were probably confused and listening very closely to some of the last words they’d hear Him say, especially about heaven and being together again someday. Bottom Line: Whatever happens, remember what Jesus promised.
Our theme this month is Puzzled: believing there’s a bigger picture. In all of our lives, there are times when we just see one piece of what’s going on and it can be hard to picture something good coming out of it. So our monthly memory verse reminds us: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33b, NIV
April God Time Card
Easter is a great time to sit down and really think about how much Jesus loves you. Forget what the world says. You are loved. Did you get that? You are loved. Your past? Forget it.
It’s forgiven. Jesus loved you SO much that He died for you. Period. He thought you were worth it. Know what else? He’s alive today, and nothing you will ever do will make Him stop loving you. He’s just that kind of friend.
Do you take time in your life to spend with your friend, Jesus? Do you even think you HAVE time to spend with your friend, Jesus? Or, are to too drained, too busy, too exhausted? Our lives are so packed with our marriage, our kids, our schedules that we sometimes miss our most important friendship ever.
Carey Nieuwhof shares some ways he’s learned to stop the draining of energy from life. Visit Parent Link Live at www.OrangeParents.org to learn more.
What we’re talking about this month
We hear and say the word hope a lot. I hope you have a great day. Hope the test results are good. Hope your meeting with the boss goes well. Hope you feel better soon. Hope the baby will start sleeping through the night.
We hope for things both big and small every day. But really hope in its truest and most life-giving form is what God (and now His church) has always uniquely offered the world.
That’s because throughout all of time, God has been revealing Himself as the one true God. He keeps His promises at all times and the Bible clearly says that God works all things out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. His faithfulness is eternal. And His mercies are new every morning. (Romans 8:28)
Even back in the Garden of Eden after sin entered the world and all hope seemed lost, God promised a way of rescue. He set a plan in motion. By sending His Son, Jesus, God fulfilled that promise not only through Jesus’ life, but through His death and resurrection. As Jesus ascended back to His Father, He made two more promises to give us continued hope—that the Holy Spirit would come and that Jesus Himself would one day return and make all things right.
As humans, we are often limited in what we can see and understand. We don’t always know how things will turn out. We can easily lose hope just by turning on the TV or dealing with challenging situations in a broken world. But we can believe and take hope in a God who keeps His promises. His history of faithfulness helps us to trust Him no matter what. We can have hope that heaven is real and that restoration is now and coming. This is real hope that we can cling to even when life is difficult and we just don’t understand. The people around us are desperate for this kind of hope too.
This month, let’s think about how:
(1) We can have hope because of what God has done.
(2) We respond with hope, as we actively trust God and His plan.
(3) God uses the hope in us to influence our families, friends, and neighbors.
Remember: A virtue is something God does in us to change the world around us.
This week, we’re discovering:
Wise men know how to be generous. Three men come to visit a young Jesus in our Bible story, Matthew 2:1-12. They go to great efforts and travel a long distance in order to be generous— making someone’s day by giving something away. The generosity of the wise men demonstrated to Jesus and to His parents how much they valued Him.
This last week in December, we want to show the importance of getting wrapped up in others. We will focus on all the ways the wise men gave to Jesus—not just the three gifts, but their time, energy, money, and intentionality. Bottom Line: When you give, it shows others how valuable they are.
Other people should be valuable to us because they are valuable to God. When we give to others, it shows God that we value the people He loves so much that He sent His Son. Basic Truth: I should treat others the way I want to be treated. Our monthly memory verse challenges us that there are many ways to be generous besides giving gifts that cost money. How will you “be rich in good deeds … be generous and willing to share”? 1 Timothy 6:18, NIV
This week, we’re discovering:
How to get wrapped up in what Christmas is really about. Our Bible story from two different accounts (John 3:16-17; Luke 2:1-18) tells us about the greatest gift ever—Jesus’ birth! Bottom Line: God gave the greatest gift when He gave us Jesus.
In one of the busiest times of year, it’s important to take time to remember who gave first. We can stop and remember how amazing it is that God sent His Son to show us a new way to live and later made it possible for us to live with Him forever. Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.
God is the ultimate example of generosity. We give because God gave to us. God’s original gift is our motivation for giving freely to others. Our memory verse reminds us that no matter how much stuff or money we have, we can all “Be rich in good deeds … be generous and willing to share.” 1 Timothy 6:18, NIV
This past week, we discovered:
That you can’t take it with you! A rich young ruler has a big question in our Bible story (Luke 18:18-25). We want to get Wrapped Up in the right thing and not overvalue our stuff. Bottom Line: Don’t let stuff get in the way of loving Jesus.
One of the best ways to show your love for God is by giving to others. What did Jesus really want from the ruler? Jesus really wasn’t after the guy’s stuff; He was after his heart. Jesus knew that this guy was trapped by his stuff and Jesus wanted to set the guy free. This can be summed up in this week’s Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.
What do you think the people listening thought as the rich young ruler walked away sadly? Our monthly memory verse changes the way we define what it means to be rich. It says “Be rich in good deeds … be generous and willing to share,” 1 Timothy 6:18, NIV. Living generously shows the people around us what we love and trust in most.
