Year A. 3rd Term. Lesson 3. How to grow and how to stay on the path.

Scripture: for teacher background:  1 Peter 2:2; 1 Cor 3:2 Mat 4:4; Ps 119:103; Ps 119:105; Jer 23:29; Jer 23:29; Heb 4:12; James 1:22-25

Making contact:

What happens if a little baby isn’t able to drink milk or if an older child stops eating? 

They don’t grow. 

At the clinic the nurses weigh the babies every week to see if they are growing and putting on weight.

 Talk to the children a bit about whether they measure themselves to see if they are growing. 

Do they make a mark inside a cupboard to see how they have grown?

 Exploration:

When we start following Jesus, when we are born again we are actually baby Christians.

 So if a person of 50 years old believes for the first time, that person is really only a tiny Christian baby.

 Some people believe in Jesus their whole lives but even at a ripe old age they are baby Christians because they haven’t grown.

How does a Christian grow?

What is the food for our faith? Yes, the Bible.

The Bible that is like milk for new Christians and meat for the more mature Christians. Paul asks some Christians why they are still only having the milk part of the Bible and not the more meaty parts.

Jesus said He is the Bread of life and the Bible is also like eating bread. If you are hungry you eat bread. Well, our spirits are hungry and they need the Word of God.

Have you been feeding your spirit or starving it? 

Are you on a starvation diet? 

The best time to start reading your Bible is when you are young. Don’t think it is only for adults. 

If you can learn your way around the Bible – learn where the books are and start finding the wonderful stories and special verses, then you are feeding your spirit. 

Try and read it every day.

The Bible isn’t only like food; it is sweet and tasty like honey. Honey is very good for you – like a natural antibiotic, and so the Bible is also sweet and healthy and keeps you strong.

When you are growing up, it might be that you lose your way in life and lose your faith and wander off the path. However, if you can read your Bible often, it is like a light, a lamp to guide you so that you won’t get lost.

We also need to hear what things are wrong and bad for us. The Bible is like a hammer that breaks down the rocks of sin in our lives. Wrong attitudes and pride can be hammered down by verses in the Bible.

We also need a weapon to fight against the dark evil. The Bible is like a sword and you aren’t too little to use this weapon. Just one verse can knock Satan out! Remember how Jesus used 3 verses when He was being tempted?

The Bible is also like a mirror and we can see ourselves in it. We can see how we are measuring up to what God wants. We can see where the dirty marks are to wash off.

Application

 Because the Bible is so many things to us, there is only 1 response – start reading it and start studying it.

 Let it become your handbook of life. Let it become part of you, always near by and at hand to give you advice. 

Let the Bible be what it says it is -God’s Word.

So in order to listen to God’s voice, read it every day and obey what He tells you. 

It is like a personal letter to you from God. Learn to hear God’s voice through the pages.

Challenge to Mission

The Bible remains a closed book and a mystery to many people. 

If you get familiar with it, then you can help to spread the knowledge. 

Give someone a Bible – they are not expensive. Sometimes you can send someone a verse that has helped you a lot and maybe bring someone comfort that way.

 Consolidation

There is a worksheet.

Memory Verse

“Man cannot live on bread alone but needs every word that God speaks.” Mat 4:4