Here we are on Day 3! Today let’s add a little bit to our memory verse. Do your kids remember the first part? Mine did… sort of. The 6-year-old remembered it. The 5-year-old still needed a prompt. The 3-year-old flat out refused to participate again. Such is life.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God…”
Now is a good time to do a little review of Day 1’s scripture. See if your kids know what they are saying so that they aren’t just regurgitating words for you.
Who was the Word?
What does it mean that he was there “in the beginning?”
Who else was there with the Word in the beginning?
Bonus points if they remember that the Holy Spirit was there too! Extra bonus points for the word “Trinity.” If your kids get the bonus points then they already know more about theology than a lot of adult Christians.
(Disclaimer: there’s no point system. When we study scripture, everybody wins. I’m just being silly!)
Onward, to today’s reading!
11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:11-14, NIV
What should you teach them?
Here’s the part where I give you a bullet-point list of how I break this down for my kids:
- As a review: Jesus is the Word of God and Jesus is God. Jesus was there at the creation of the world.
- Since nothing in this world was made without Jesus, this world belongs to Him.
- Even though the world belongs to Jesus the world still rejected Him!
- Just like we said yesterday, there were some people who did accept Jesus and who believed in Him.
- The people who believe in Jesus are called God’s children.
- In this world, children are born when a man and a woman come together and have a baby. This is not how we become God’s children.
- When you were born it was a natural event. You have a mom and a dad, you have grandparents, great grandparents, great-great grandparents and on and on your family tree goes!
- Many times two married people will decide that they want to have children. Just like in the scripture, your dad may have decided that he wanted to be a dad, your mom agreed and now here you are! This is not how we become God’s children.
- Instead, the scripture says that we are “born of God.”
- Jesus taught Nicodemus in John 3 that in order to be one of God’s children we must be “born again.”
- We are born again as children of God when we are transformed by the Holy Spirit into believers in Jesus. God then adopts us into His family.
- Jesus, the Word of God, was born as a human being and lived here on earth with us.
- We have seen His glory! Here, Jesus is referred to as the one and only Son. We know that another name for Jesus is the Son of God.
- Jesus is the only true, begotten Son of God and we are all God’s adopted sons and daughters.
- Now’s the time to say that prayer! Today the 6-year-old and the 5-year-old opted to say prayers out loud.