Family Worship

Ezra Lead The Law :    

The focus of this family time is to use five easy steps to teach your family that Nehemiah led the people to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem to protect them from their enemies. Jesus came to protect us from our greatest enemies, sin and death. He died on the cross and rose from the dead to rescue everyone who trusts in Him. 

MEMORY VERSE: 

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”


2 Corinthians 7:10


Learn the Memory Verse together and say it throughout the week to help your family remember and apply what they have learned.


STEP 1. GATHER!

Use this time to begin Family Worship Night and have fun!


For Fun

Throw a party to celebrate God’s work in your family. Decorate, serve dessert, and sing worship songs as a family. Take turns telling stories and naming specific things God has done for you and your family in this past year.  


To Serve

Decide as a family to purchase one or more children’s Bibles to make available for kids in your church or community to have their own copy of God’s Word. Pray for the families who will encounter God’s Word because of your donation. Remind kids that people need to hear God’s Word in order to understand and believe the good news of Jesus. 


STEP 2. WORSHIP!



  • Sing and have fun while worshiping then pray. Take a moment here to thank God for your family and your time together!! 

STEP 3. BIBLE!

Watch the Bible story video or read Ezra 7–10; Nehemiah 8 from the Bible or Watch:



Elementary:


Use these questions and points to have a conversation with your children about the Bible story. 


Preschool Discussion:

  • When Jerusalem’s walls were finished, the people gathered together. Ezra (EZ ruh) the priest read God’s Word. God’s words were written on a what? Scroll.
  • The people in the crowd listened carefully. Everyone stood up. Then they bowed down with their faces close to the ground. All the people worshiped God together.
  • While Ezra read God’s words, other leaders helped people understand them.
  • When the people understood God’s words, were they happy or sad? Sad. They knew they had not obeyed God; they were sorry for disobeying.
  • Ezra said, “Go and get ready for a feast! Eat good food and drink good drinks. Share what you make with people who do not have any. Today is a special day. Be happy! God makes us strong.”


Christ Connection: The Bible teaches us about God and Jesus. It helps us know the right things to do. We do wrong things, but God can help us want to obey Him. Jesus died to rescue us from sin.

 




Elementary Discussion:

  •  The Bible is the best-selling book of all time; somewhere between 5 to 7 billion Bibles have been purchased. More than 80 million Bibles will be produced this year! The Bible is also the most translated book of all time. At least a portion of the Bible has been translated into 3,500 languages! God’s Word continues to spread around the world and change hearts as people hear the truth about Jesus. 

  • Ezra loved to study and teach God’s law. After returning to Jerusalem and promising to follow God, the people of Israel gathered to hear Ezra read from God’s Word. For hours and hours, the people stood and listened to Ezra read. The people cried and repented as God’s Word showed them how they had disobeyed God. Ezra told the people to prepare a feast to celebrate the power of God’s Word.  

  •  The Bible is God’s Word to us. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible shows how our sin separates us from a holy God. It also shows us God’s plan to fix all that is broken by sending His own Son, Jesus, to be the Savior we need. Jesus perfectly obeyed God’s commands, died on the cross in the place of sinners, and rose again to conquer sin and death. As we read the Bible, we learn that forgiveness and salvation is God’s gift to all who believe in Jesus! 


Christ Connection:God's Word is powerful. When Ezra read God's Word, the people loved God more and changed their ways. The Bible says that Jesus is "the Word." Jesus is God who came to live with people on earth. Jesus has the power to change our hearts. 


Mission Moment

    When Stephen and Erin Spencer visit the elderly lady in one of the Southeast Asia villages, they say to her, ‘So, tell us what God did this week.’ The missionaries say that one miracle after another is happening in the village. Once a woman in the lady’s village became paralyzed and was in severe pain for four months.

    People in the village did not believe she would live much longer. The elderly lady asked the woman’s husband if she could pray for God to heal her. The husband agreed to let her pray for healing. The elderly woman told the man’s wife about Jesus and prayed for her. In ten minutes, the woman who had been paralyzed and in pain was able to sit upright in a chair. The next day, the woman walked out of her house and met Stephen and Erin. The healed lady believed in Jesus and became a Christian. Close in prayer, asking God that more people in the village will believe in Jesus. Pray for the Spencers and other missionaries in Southeast Asia as they minister to the people during a time of unrest.


  • STEP 5. Pray!
  • Pray: God, Your Word is perfect and powerful! The Bible shows us our sin, but we praise You because it also shows us Jesus and His power to save us from sin. Help us to understand Your Word and let it change us to honor You more. Amen.