Welcome to God's Fam-Cover No 1

Living with

a discipleship track for children

Welcome to God’s family

Daphne Kirk

This is a unique, exciting and transformational discipleship course for children,taking them through the fundamentals of the Christian faith in a relational,interactive, and challenging way, always applying to their lives the commands to:

Love GodLove One Another

Love the Lost

Concepts that children are not normally exposed to are explained simply. Eachbook builds on the other into a complete discipleship course with suggestions forputting faith into action.

All books in the Living With Jesus series are designed to be used interactivelyeither one-on-one with a parent or other adult or in a small group.

Books in this series include:(These are in suggested order.)

Welcome to God's family - The body of ChristSpecial times and gifts - Baptism, Communion, and the Holy SpiritTalking and listening - Hearing the voice of GodLove for me and love for others - The unconditional love of JesusStrongholds - Strongholds, the soul and freedomWhat do we choose? - Making kingdom choicesHaving faith - The life of faithStaying protected - Spiritual warfare

Living With Jesus Together43 weeks of dynamic children’s small group materials. This book complementsthe Living With Jesus series, which can be

• taken home for parents or another adult to do with their children• used as a part of the small group experience

Other resources by Daphne Kirk:Reconnecting the GenerationsBorn for Such a Time as ThisHeirs TogetherWhen a Child Asks to be BaptizedWhen a Child Asks about Communion

Living with

9 781840 033342

ISBN 1-84003-334-7

Introducingchildren tothe bodyof Christ

Living with

Welcome to God’s familyIntroducing children to the body of Christ

Daphne Kirk

a discipleship track for children

First published in 1999 byKEVIN MAYHEW LTD

Buxhall, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 3DJ

Designed by Angela PalfreyEdited by Helen Elliot

Revised printing in 2004 byDaphne Kirk

© 1999 Daphne Kirk

The right of Daphne Kirk to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

All rights reserved.

Scripture references are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, unless otherwise stated. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, by International

Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Limited.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

ISBN 1 84003 334 7Catalogue No 1500254

Printed and bound in the United States of America

Contact Daphne Kirk by email via her website:www.Gnation2gnation.com

Introduction

Living with Jesus is a tool for discipleship. It can be used in a variety ofsettings, but perhaps the most effective will be in the context of child and parent.

The adult is named a ‘special friend’ in the material so this can be appliedto a parent or responsible adult.

The following guidelines will help you to achieve the best from the time spentwith your child. Meet with one child at a time; each child is different!

1. Anticipate that you will change and grow with the child; apply the materialto yourself also.

2. Try to have one session a week with your child (values cannot be changedevery day!).

3. Living With Jesus aims to stimulate sharing and deepen relationships, so takeyour time together in a relaxed, quiet environment.

4. The material is not designed to answer questions, but to reveal issues thatneed to be talked through.

5. If you are not the parent, always gain the permission of the parent. Showthem the material. Ask if they would like to join you as you meet with thechild. Stay in a place where you can be seen and heard by others, i.e. notbehind closed doors.

6. Remember that honest answers are ‘right’ answers.

7. If you are unsure how to react, or unsure of an answer, it is all right to tellthe child that you will talk about it again the next time you meet, and takesome time to pray or ask for help.

8. Find creative ways to learn the memory verse, i.e. put actions to it, draw apicture of it, fill in words, make them into plaques, etc.

Remember that this is one of the most important times with your child. Youhave all the wisdom and anointing of the Holy Spirit available to you. Enjoyyour time…have fun and expect Jesus to be at the center!

My name is:

My friend is:

My church is:

My address is:

We will meet on:

Welcome to God’s family

To Megan and Harryand the next generation

Session 1: Precious to Jesus 9

Session 2: Belonging to Jesus 15

Session 3: Who are your family? 21

Session 4: Caring in the family 27

Session 5: Your new body 33

Session 6: Growing up in your family 39

Contents

Precious to Jesus1

Precious to JesusI follow Jesus today because

The answer is ‘No’ becausethings change – better toyscome into the shops – holidayscome to an end – friends arenot always kind to us – clothesbecome too small – and thenour happiness goes too.

1110

?Q

Tell me some things you think will make you happy, or happier.

I’d be happy if.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

I’d be happy if.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

I’d be happy if.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

I’d be happy if.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Your new life with Jesus isdifferent. You have givenyour life to Jesus to take careof. He thinks you are moreprecious and valuable thananything you can imagine.

School A holidayNew clothes

I wonder why you decided to follow Jesus?

Perhaps you could tell me why.

Before you accepted Jesus you didmany things without even thinkingabout what He wanted. Now it isdifficult to think what your new lifewill be like.

Some toys come with an instructionbook – and if we want to use thetoy properly we need to read thebook, otherwise we might playwith it and not know all the wonderful things it can do.

It would be sad if we

did not know all the

wonderful things about

our new life with Jesus.

The Bible is our instruction

book – and we’ll learn

how to use it together.

Here are some things you might think will make you happy . . .

These things will bring you happiness, but is it happiness that will last?

My name is Daphne. I wrote these books tohelp you and your special friend to learnabout your new lifewith Jesus.

}

}

Yes/NoA new toy

New friends

QWhat is the mostprecious thing youcan think of?

12 13

l This is your verse to

learn this week. You can learn it

and then say it to your special friend,

or perhaps you couldlearn it together!

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,

that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

You are so precious to Jesus that He died for you, so you can trust Him to take care of your life.

What does your Father God feed?

Now, either draw or find a picture to stick in this book of someone who is more valuable than the birds are . . .

Read Matthew 6:26

MM

eemmoorryy VVeerrssee

More sharing together

14

2. Then both of youwrite your own letter

to them telling them why you love them.

Take the letters to them together this week.

Belongingto Jesus

2

To my

special friend

1. Talk together about someone whois very precious to both of you.

Name: ...............................................................................................................

Date of your new birthday: .................................................................................

Place where you were born again: ......................................................................

Citizen of the ......................................................................................... of God.

Born Again Certificate

You are IN God’s KingdomAND

God’s Kingdom is IN you becauseJesus is in you.

see Luke 17:21

WOW!

16 17

Belonging to Jesus

Q QHow long will theKingdom last?A day or 1000 years or for ever?

Who is the kingof the Kingdomof God?Is it King Arthur orJesus or Henry VIII?

I have something to tell you that sounds like a riddle –but it is true. Sometimes we can’t understand every-thing about the Kingdom of God, but we can just beexcited and believe it. Are you ready? I’m going totell you something wonderful.

} }

Birth Certificate

Name: ...............................................................................................................

Mother’s name: ...................................................................................................

Father’s name: ....................................................................................................

Date of birth: ......................................................................................................

Place of birth: .....................................................................................................

Citizen of: ..........................................................................................................

Complete this certificate about your birthday

You now have another birthday – when you were ‘born again’ into God’s Kingdom.

You are now able to hear Jesus speaking to you!

Read Luke 1:31-33

18

QYou are a very special person.Why do you thinkyou are veryspecial?

I think I am special because

You are not special because of anything you have done. You are special just because you are . . .

(put your name here)

Isn’t that exciting news?

We are going to discover many excitingthings together – and as you introduce your

friends to King Jesus they will belong to the Kingdom of God too.

19

He will reign . . . for ever and ever;His Kingdom will

never end.

Luke 1:33





MM



Who are your family?

3

20

1. Share together what happenedwhen you took the letters

last week.

2. Ask your special friend to tell you aboutwhen they were born again into God’s

Kingdom, then ask them questions about it.

Thiswe

ek,go together to one other person

andaskthemhowtheyw

ere

born

When you became a Christian you became part of a new family.

We are now members of the family of

The first Christians went to each other’s homes, ate meals together and had fun together, just like a family!

22 23

What do you think ‘church’ is?

It is all the people in God’s family.

Jesus also calls it His body.

Who are your family?God’s plan is that all babies have a family –

a mother, a father, relatives or someone who loves and cares for them.

Have you got a photo of those special people? If not, you could draw them.

Read Ephesians 2:19

The church is made up of different people.

Tell me about your church.

Our church leader is _______________________________________________

Some other members of my church are:

24

I am the way and the truth

and the life.

No one comes to the Father

except through Me.

John 14:6

25





MM

eemmoorryy VVeerrsseeAs people come to know Jesus, God’s family grows bigger and bigger.

A family gets bigger when a new child is born.

God’s family gets bigger when someone is BORN AGAIN!

I think that is very exciting, don’t you?


26

Caring in the family

41. Can you remember what happenedwhen you asked the other person how

they were born again? Talk about it together.

Ask your special friend to tell you about their family orabout other church families they have been in.

28 29

Caring in the family

You were born to your parents on ..................................... and you are ................... years old. (Your physical birthday.)

You were born into the family of God on ............................... and you are now ................ years old. (Your spiritual birthday.)

Q

Q

Who looked after you as a baby andmade sure you had the right food?

The ‘milk’ here means teaching from the Bible that you need when you first become a Christian. You will need others to ‘feed’ you the right food at the right time from the Bible.

I will help you as we journey together.

Your friend .......................................................... who is meeting with you each week will help you too.

You now need to grow and learn in the Kingdom of God.

Hebrews 5:12 says that when we begin our lifein the Kingdom of God we are babies who can

drink only _ _ _ _ and are not old enough for solid _ _ _ _ .

Who are the other people who can help youeat the right food in the Kingdom of Godand help you to learn what is good and evil?

You will have TWO birthdays and TWO ages.

Have youjust becomea Christian?

You need to grow physically, so youlook after your body by

eating, exercising, washing, and keeping

it warm.

When you were 1 week old what did you eat?

When you were1 year old whatdid you eat?

What do you eat today?


31

Peace I leave with you;

My peace I give you . . .

Do not let your hearts

be troubled and do not

be afraid.

John 14:27





MMeemm

oorryy VVeerrssee

1. Talk together about the Bible.

}

}QQ

? 3. Who helped your friendto understand the Bible?

4. What do you find difficult about the Bible? 5. How can your

friend help you?

2. Did your special friend find the Bible easy to understand when they were a child?Q

30

Your new body

5

34 35

Your new bodyI’d like you to draw a picture or put a photo of yourself here.

Can you say to anyone in your church that that you don’t need them?NO! Remember that every partof the body is needed andimportant, just like your eye,hand and feet.

You are a very special and important person

We need all of our body –each part is important andspecial. It is very sad whenthere is something wrong withone part of it.

Each part of your body cares for the other parts.

Draw lines to show what one part does for the other parts. I’ve done one for you!

What could you do to show another member of your church that you really care about them?

Hand Bite

Eye Walk and run

Feet Sees

Ear Smells

Teeth Touches and holds

Nose Hears

It is important that in Jesus’ body each part cares for the rest and does what it can to help them.

Q Can you say to your eye that you don’t need it? Yes/NoCan you say to your hand that you don’t need it? Yes/NoCan you say to your feet that you don’t need them? Yes/No

36 37

Remember, there will be times when you don’t like something another person does.

You may not like what they DO but that is never a reason not to like THEM.

Now read 1 Corinthians 12:18-21(If you find reading easy then you might like to read

from verse 14 to 21 and you will be able to understandmost of it now.)

God has arranged

the parts in the body,

every one of them,

just as He wanted

them to be.1 Corinthians 12:18





MM


What can the headNOT

say to the feet?

What can the eyeNOT

say to the hand?

Perhaps you can fill in good things for them to say.

What couldyou say toanother person toencouragethem?

}

}


38

Growing up in your family

61. Talk about what you can do together this week to show another person that

you really care about them. (See page 35.)

2. Plan whenyou will do it.

3. Pray together

abou

tit.

40 41

Growing up in your family

In the family of God we continue to learn about things that are right, andthings that are wrong.

If we do things that are wrong, someone usually gets hurt. So it is good for everyone if we try to do things that are right.

If you are playing around with knives, who might get hurt?

If you are bullying other children, who might get hurt?

As you grew up in your family you learned about things being

right (good) and wrong (bad)

Give a tick or a cross to show which of these youhave learned to be right or wrong.

Playing around with knives.

Cleaning your teeth.

Running across the road.

Telling the truth.

Tidying up your bedroom.

Hurting people.

Sharing your toys.

Bullying other children.

So there may be things that you will have to fight. Circle any of these that give you trouble:

DisobedienceDisobedienceHating FFeeaarrLying

Not forgivingBeing too proud

God has given us a sword to fight Satan with.

The sword of the Spirit which is the _ _ _ _ of G _ _ (or the B _ _ _ _ ).

That’s good news, isn’t it? The more we grow as Christians –

and the more we know the Bible – the better we will be able to fight Satan

and WIN.

(Put your name here.)

is a winner

with Jesus

8833

Read Ephesians 6:17

42 43

You are a member of God’s family. Tick the box that tells you when you can talk to your heavenly Father:

Only in my church

Only on Sunday

Only with my friend

Only when I am in trouble

At any time and anywhere

The last box was the right answer.

When you find something difficult, who do you ask to help you?

When you find it hard to fight against some of the things that are wrong . . .

remember . . .

you are in God’s family and He is your Father. We have prayer which is like a telephone line to Him. You can ask Him to help you.





MM


Take the

helmet of salvation

and the sword of the Spirit,

which is the

Word of God.Ephesians 6:17

You can talk to Godanytime andanywhere.

Both of you, p

lease

writ

e your

favourit

e vers

e fro

m this

book here More sharing together

44

1. Talk together about what happened when you

showed that other person that you really cared

about them.

2. Pray together for them now.

3. Ask your specialfriend what they havetrouble with (see page 41) andask how they fight it.

4 Pray for your special friend.

?

?

? ???

If you have any questions from this book,write them here to ask your special friend.

47

Welcome to God's Fam-Cover No 1

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