Term 2 – Week 08
Big Idea – Followers of Jesus are to trust in God, their heavenly Father, to provide for their needs because he cares for his children.
Matthew 6:25-34
Outcomes
- To know that it’s foolish to anxiously pursue earthly things, because these are what non-Christians pursue and they are temporary and ultimately do not provide any security..
- To understand that living God’s way in this world means trusting God to provide for his children and seeking first his kingdom.
Implications
- Belief – Help the children to see that it is right to work hard in life and get good grades at school etc. but this is not where our priorities in life should be as followers of Jesus
- Behaviour – Get the children to think about some of the things themselves and the people in their family worry about. Ask what do you think are things we should worry about instead? How can we put God and his priorities in our lives? E.g., coming to church, school work, friends parties, prayer, getting new clothes and possession
Introduction
In the previous lesson we learnt that followers of Jesus are to love God more than their possessions because the things of this world are temporary and they draw us away from our devotion to God. For this reason (v.25)connects todays lesson with verse 24; because it is impossible to be a slave to both God and money, followers of Jesus should not act as though their material possession are the be-all and end-all of life. Jesus commands, ‘Don’t worry about your life…. And don’t worry about your body’ (v.25), for there is more to life than food and clothing. If our primary goal is personal security, then we are like the ‘ungodly’ (Gentiles) who don’t know God (v.32). If we are to live God’s way in this world, then followers of Jesus are to trust in God, their heavenly father to provide for their needs, because he cares for his children.
To help us understand this teaching, Jesus gives two illustrations from nature:
The Birds (vv.26-27)
The birds teach followers of Jesus about reliance upon God in life. They do not engage in agricultural processes like sowing crops or reaping them like a farmer, but that does not mean they starve, and nor does it mean they are idle; for they actively search for their food. So, although the birds have no active part in any process, they are fed. Therefore, if the very father in whom the anxious have ceased to trust, provides even for the birds, how much more then will God our Heavenly Father provide for his children. Trust him, for worry is futile, nothing is ever achieved through worry.
The Wild Flowers (vv.28-30)
Then Jesus turns his attention to clothing and asks why people worry about what they wear. ‘See how the wild flowers grow. They don’t work or make clothing’ (v.28b). The wild flowers in fields do not toil, and more specifically they do not spin/sew. Beautiful as they are, they do not work and they not produce any cloth to account for their beautiful clothing. Not even the magnificence of Solomon can compare to way flowers are clothed (v.29). Therefore, if God dresses even the green grass of the fields, which is here today and gone tomorrow, let alone the beautiful wild flowers, how much more then will God our Father dress his children. Trust him. Therefore, since God takes such care for the lower things in creation, we should trust him to look after his children. He says, ‘Don’t worry. Don’t say, ‘What will we eat?’ Or, ‘What will we drink?’ Or, ‘What will we wear?’ (v.31). Non-Christians, who don’t know God and his fatherly care, devote their lives to anxiously pursuing material possessions, in order to find security and prolong their earthly lives. Don’t be like them says Jesus, but rather, trust in God to provide for our needs because he cares for his children and seek as their first priority, not the things we would like to have or even the things we are sure to need, but seek as first priority God’s kingdom and his righteousness (v.33).
Memory Verse
Matthew 16:24-26 (NIrV)
Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must say no to themselves. They must pick up their cross and follow me. Whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good is it if someone gains the whole world but loses their soul? Or what can anyone trade for their soul?
Songs
The Hero – Awesome Cutlery – YouTube
Leaders PDF
This has been put together using purchased external material and therefore this resource may only be used by Dundonald Church. For more information please contact kids@dundonald.org
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