Eli’s Sons Disobeyed God (1 Samuel 4–6)

 Dear families,

The ark of the covenant was a physical reminder of God's tangible presence with his people. Rather than treat the ark with reverence, they treated the ark as a sort of good luck charm. In our Bible story today, we see what happened when the ark was taken from the people of Israel. 

Except in times of war or when the people of Israel were on the move, the ark was kept in the holy of holies in the tabernacle. Once a year, a priest would approach the ark and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat on the ark's top for the forgiveness of the people's sins. The ark and what it represented was temporal and pointed forward to the substantial reality of God who would come and live among His people.

When we realize that Jesus lived a perfect life and then died in our place, we see that Jesus is better than the ark because He is always with us. We are filled with thankfulness. 

Jesus is better than the bulls and goats whose blood was sprinkled on the ark because His sacrifice is once, for all time (Heb. 10:10). This should move us to worship. 

Finally, we should be humbled and filled with confidence when we realize that Jesus, who lived perfectly in human flesh, died and then was resurrected and ascended into heaven where He, in His glorified human body, prays for us.

This should give you confidence in this life that no matter what we face, God's Holy Spirit is with us. The Son is interceding for us. Because Jesus stands between the Father and us, we can "approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time” (Heb. 4:16). We can go before God daily because of Jesus.

Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities.

FAMILY TALKING POINTS

CHRIST CONNECTION

This is the big idea of how this week’s Bible story points to Jesus.

  • Babies & Toddlers: God sent His Son, Jesus, to be with His people forever.

  • Younger Preschool: The ark of God reminded the Israelites that God was with them. Many years later God sent His very own Son, Jesus, to be with His people.

  • Older Preschool: The ark of God reminded the Israelites that God was with them. Many years later, God gave His people something even better to remind them that He was with them. God sent His Son, Jesus. One of Jesus’ names is Immanuel, which means “God with us.”

  • Kids: The ark of God reminded the Israelites that God was with them. Years later, God gave His people something greater than a sign that He was with them; God gave them His Son, Jesus—God in the flesh. One of Jesus’ names is Immanuel, which means “God with us.”

BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER

This is an important biblical truth that your child will encounter each week of this unit. 

  • Younger Preschool: What is the punishment for sin? The punishment for sin is separation from God.

  • Older Preschool: What is the punishment for sin? The punishment for sin is death.

  • Kids: What is the fair payment for sin? The fair payment for sin is death.

KEY PASSAGE

This is a Bible verse that relates to what your child will encounter each week of this unit. 

  • Babies & Toddlers: God gives life forever. Romans 6:23

  • Younger Preschool: God gives life forever. Romans 6:23

  • Older Preschool: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

  • Kids: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

** Next week: God Takes Sin Seriously (Ephesians 2)

God Provided for Hanna

Dear families,

When was the last time you prayed fervently to God? What did you need? Did He answer in a way you expected?

When Hannah wanted a baby, she cried out to God with great earnestness so much that the priest Eli thought she was drunk. Hannah had confidence that God heard her prayer. She understood that one of the evidences of the understanding and the belief that God hears and answers prayer is persistence in prayer. 

Hannah prayed with a passion and bitterness of heart that looked to God at first and fixed her gaze upon the Lord only. She didn't even notice Eli watching her. She believed that God heard and God acted as a result of our small prayers. She prayed with passion because she believed God heard her. 

But what if our prayers seem not to be heard? Hannah is a great example for us of what C. H. Spurgeon observed about prayer in his book Illustrations and Meditations: "Frequently the richest answers are not the speediest … A prayer may be all the longer on its voyage because it is bringing us a heavier freight of blessing. Delayed answers are not only trials of faith, but they give us an opportunity of honoring God by our steadfast confidence in Him under apparent repulses.”

Finally, Hannah's persistence in prayer showed that she understood she could not fix her situation but the all-powerful God who hears and acts could. The next year, Hannah came with a baby in her arms. A baby she named Samuel, which means “God heard.” Samuel’s life was a constant reminder to Hannah and all of Israel that God lives, hears, and acts.

As you prepare to serve kids through teaching, remember that even prayers that seem to be delayed are meant to strengthen our resolve to pray and to honor God with a confidence that can't be shaken. We serve a God who hears us, and because He hears us, no prayer is too small or too big that we can't bring Him.

Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities.

FAMILY TALKING POINTS

CHRIST CONNECTION

This is the big idea of how this week’s Bible story points to Jesus.

  • Babies & Toddlers: Jesus showed the world what God is like.

  • Younger Preschool: Samuel told people what God is like and what He would do. Jesus, the Son of God, told people about God’s plan and showed the world what God is like.

  • Older Preschool: Samuel told people what God is like and what He would do. Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth as a human. He told people about God’s plan and showed the world what God is like.

  • Kids: Hannah trusted God and sent Samuel away from home to serve God with his whole life. God sent Jesus from heaven to earth to be our Savior. Just as Samuel used God’s words to tell people about God, Jesus—the Word who became flesh—perfectly shows us what God is like.

BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER

This is an important biblical truth that your child will encounter each week of this unit. 

  • Younger Preschool: What is the punishment for sin? The punishment for sin is separation from God.

  • Older Preschool: What is the punishment for sin? The punishment for sin is death.

  • Kids: What is the fair payment for sin? The fair payment for sin is death.

KEY PASSAGE

This is a Bible verse that relates to what your child will encounter each week of this unit. 

  • Babies & Toddlers: God gives life forever. Romans 6:23

  • Younger Preschool: God gives life forever. Romans 6:23

  • Older Preschool: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

  • Kids: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

** Next week: Eli’s Sons Disobeyed God (1 Samuel 4–6)

God Provided for Ruth

 Dear families,

The story of Ruth is an incredible story. We see how gracious and good God is. We see the providential care God has for a woman who was not Jewish. She was from Moab—a descendant of Lot, not a child of Abraham. Yet, she became a recipient of God's promise to Abraham because salvation is a gift and is received by faith. 

Ruth was married to a Hebrew man who died. She returned to Israel from Moab with her mother-in-law. Ruth was an outsider, a woman without a husband in a land that was not her own. Ruth was vulnerable, but what we see so beautifully in her story is that God protected her and provided for her. In the middle of a famine, God provided food to sustain Ruth. God did more than that; He ultimately provided a husband who redeemed her and saved her from destruction. 

Ruth is a picture of what it looks like to trust God in the hard seasons of life. The story of Ruth is the story of you and me. We are outsiders who have no hope in a world cursed by sin. But God did not leave us that way. He provides for us, sustains us, and ultimately redeems us through Jesus. 

Ruth brought nothing to her relationship with Boaz but her own need. Boaz saw Ruth, loved her, and redeemed her. From this loving act of redemption, it was from the family of their great-grandson that Jesus would come into the world and in His great love for people, redeem all who put their trust in Him alone. 

God shows us His desire to redeem all those who belong to Him by including Ruth in the lineage of Jesus. Remember that in Jesus, we have hope no matter how hopeless our situation looks. Jesus is more than just a friend. He is our kinsman-redeemer.

Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities.


FAMILY TALKING POINTS

CHRIST CONNECTION

This is the big idea of how this week’s Bible story points to Jesus.

  • Babies & Toddlers: God sent Jesus to be our Redeemer.

  • Younger Preschool: Boaz was a family redeemer. He helped his family. Jesus is our Redeemer. Jesus helps us by saving us from our sin.

  • Older Preschool: Boaz was a family redeemer. He helped his close relatives. Boaz bought back what his relatives lost. Jesus is our Redeemer. He bought our salvation by dying on the cross for our sin.

  • Kids: Boaz was a family redeemer. He helped his close relatives who were in trouble. Boaz cared for Ruth and Naomi because their husbands had died. In a similar way, Jesus is our Redeemer. We need help because we sin. Jesus bought our salvation for us by taking our punishment when He died on the cross.


BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER

This is an important biblical truth that your child will encounter each week of this unit. 

  • Younger Preschool: What is the punishment for sin? The punishment for sin is separation from God.

  • Older Preschool: What is the punishment for sin? The punishment for sin is death.

  • Kids: What is the fair payment for sin? The fair payment for sin is death.

KEY PASSAGE

This is a Bible verse that relates to what your child will encounter each week of this unit. 

  • Babies & Toddlers: God gives life forever. Romans 6:23

  • Younger Preschool: God gives life forever. Romans 6:23

  • Older Preschool: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

  • Kids: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23


** Next week: God Provided for Hannah (1 Samuel 1–3)