A Pattern of Christ | Kids Lesson

 

The lesson: So, you will take two different colors of construction paper cutting each into multiple, smaller, squares of paper. Each square will only need to be an inch or two. Your workspace and number of children present will determine what size square and how many you will need. Here are some examples:

You will make a cross out of the pattern of squares. The darker color will be used to identify sin. The lighter colored squares will be used to identify the Godly behaviors.

Note: Quilting squares would also work great for this lesson. You can usually buy them pre-cut from most craft stores. Also, the numbers have no significance to the design. They are only for counting purposes. Drawing it out does help when it comes time for assembly. (It gives you a visual for each row.)

Read the passage: Titus 2:6-8 (Shown below are two translations. Read both or have the children read them.)

NKJV -  ⁶ Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, ⁷ in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, ⁸ sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

NASB - ⁶ Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; ⁷ in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, ⁸ sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.

Discuss the verse by starting with what the kids think that it means. Point out that the same verse said it two different ways.

(Our habits and behaviors are patterns that make up a design. The things that we do are an example to others too. Is our example Godly or like the world?)

Talk about patterns.

1. Hand each child a black (or dark colored) square, have them write or draw negative examples like sin or bad habits on the square.
2. When everyone is done, give each child a yellow (or light colored) square. Have each child write or draw the opposite of what they wrote on the dark square. For example:
   1. Dark = anger, then light = pleasure
   2. Dark = stealing, then light = give
   3. Dark = frustration, then light = kindness
3. When everyone is finished, have someone read Romans 12:2 (another verse about patterns)

NIV - Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

4. Ask how do we resist conforming? (We just gave a hint for one answer.)

Answer: By renewing our mind. By reading our bible to know what is right from wrong. Sometimes you’ll need to read more than one translation to really understand it.

We can also resist being like the world by paying attention to our thoughts. –Thinking about things before we do them.

5. Then have someone read 2 Corinthians 10:5

NLV - We break down every thought and proud thing that puts itself up against the wisdom of God. We take hold of every thought and make it obey Christ.

NET - and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.

6. Tell them: Most of your actions start with a thought. You don’t get a glass of water without first thinking that you’re thirsty. Likewise, the things that we say, do, and feel, start in our mind.

Being ‘Christ like’ means slowing down enough to have time to think about every little thing and ‘reconcile’ that to Christ’s example.

7. Next, we’re going to lay out these squares and we’re going to ask if what is written on them is wise or if it is something that Christ would display.

Pick up each piece, then guide laying them out in the cross design on your pattern. As you lay out pieces, talk about what may be written on each one. (Blanks are okay if you need filler).

Ask if what is listed on each square is wise or like Christ.

8. When all of the squares are laid out ask the children

What stands out? (It should be a cross)

Likewise, living for Christ also makes us stand out in the world too.

But also, why did Christ die on the cross? (to save from sins)

So, in the same way—just as the cross stands out on this paper better than the other color, His cross, cancels out our sins too.

Even now, you and I may still make mistakes but he sees our hearts, so even when we mess up, he knows who we’re trying to be.

9. Close in prayer. Ask a child if they’d like to do this.

Prep & what you’ll need:

• 2 different colors of construction paper, one light color, one dark color (or quilting squares)
• Scissors
• a ruler to measure squares if you're cutting them out yourself.
• Something for each child to write or color with.
• A big enough space to lay out the pattern.
• If you need to tweak my design, graph paper may help you count. You can print it here.
• I’d recommend cutting the squares out in advance.
• If you intend to have the kids read the passages, you may want Bibles in various translations, or you may want to write the verses out in advance on index cards.

One Word | Pattern

The one word in this verse that stands out to me here is 'pattern'. As in something that repeats itself, like your grandmother's quilt. Every few squares or inches, the design begins again. It’s often only a small section or detail that makes up a larger design.

Here 2 Timothy 1:13 says ‘Keep what you've heard/read of the Lord as a pattern of sound teaching.”

But also, there is a quote by a man named Frank Outlaw “Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character; watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

While our verse ends more with an onus on teaching, so much of our behavior and our actions starts in our mind. Patterns of thoughts. The things that we meditate on.

It can be condemnation, judgment, insecurity, comparison-- 'shoulda coulda', ambitions, to do lists, and pride, and fear. Many times, it's disguised under the stories that we tell ourselves. Like when we rehearse a conversation or let an event play out in our mind. These patterns often lead to anxiety, stress, frustration, and depression.

In contrast, praying all day (1 Thes 5:17) or meditating on the word (Psalm 143:5) are also patterns. But these patterns lead to a more peaceful response and power of the Holy Spirit.

You and I are the only ‘seamstress’ in this scenario. If you were to capture your thoughts (2 Cor 10:5) filter them, and arrange them against this verse, how would they line up with what God says? What is your physical response to each one?

In the bigger picture, if each little thought adds up, is it worth including in the final design?

P.S. If you’re having trouble stopping your chain of thoughts and breaking negative patterns, try fasting from it or consider starting a new hobby. New activities require focus and even distraction from ourselves. The repetition and practice of it, can also bring a new association. -Meaning that we can eventually just start doing the new thing (like think good stuff) as soon as we start the new habit.  –Not just changing the pattern but also the final design.

One Word | Seek

One Word: SEEK
The verse does not say look, see, or watch.
It says to 'Seek'.
Which means an attempt to find something.
Think of Gold Miners. They do not go to look at gold or to watch gold. They go
to pan it, mine it, to sift it and shake it out.
To collect it for oneself.
Jeremiah says SEEK me.
In fact, it’s said twice in one verse! It must be important.
‘You will SEEK me and find me when you SEEK me with all your heart.’
There is a reward between the occurrences. You will find me.
I challenge you, friend, seek Him. It changes everything.

Image from: http://www.charlottefive.com/reed-gold-mine/

The Beef & the Bread

If you’re looking for fun ways to get your kids to open up, check out this post. It ties right into a great lesson about communion.

What’s your beef?

I recently heard a friend describe an activity that another family used to get their kids talking about hard things. It was dubbed ‘What’s your beef’ night and specifically aimed at the parents.

On this night, everyone in the house picked what they wanted for dinner from any fast food place. If everyone wanted something different, that was okay! Once the meals were all collected, they came back and ate together. While eating the kids would tell the parents about anything in the home, that they ‘had a beef’ with. The parents could only listen. They were not allowed to defend, get mad, or explain. 

The goals of this activity are to help children practice hard conversations while they are young, but also to instill the habit of coming to their parents to talk.

Colin and I have an open door with our kids already, but one of our children, in particular, has a difficult time opening up. I’m always up for new ideas and loved the regularity and the habit behind this one. Especially the deliberateness of asking them and not waiting for them to come to us. 

–And any time the kids get to pick whatever they want, they enjoy it. So, it sounded like a fun thing to try.

I went back and forth about when to start this and how frequently. Quarterly seemed about right, but I am so forgetful; how on earth would I remember or keep it up? I thought about it for a while and then remembered a sermon that I once heard during a communion service.

Many churches do communion on the first Sunday of the month. The more I let those details swirl, the more they stirred my heart. So, the Saturday before that service is our night.

About that communion sermon

So how does this activity line up with communion? I’m totally paraphrasing here but in the sermon that I heard, the Pastor reminded the congregation that our anger is something that should be dealt with. Since we accept communion in remembrance of what Christ has done for each of us, we need to right our relationships with others before accepting it. 

While I can’t remember the exact verses referenced then, the ones below are what I used. They speak to the same tone.

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First, go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”  Matthew 5:23-24

Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 1 Cor. 11:28-29

In our relationships, sometimes it can be easier to say we’re sorry for something done wrong than to admit or confront someone else who has made us angry. Unity, love, and grace are at the heart of Christianity and how can we accept it for ourselves from God ‘in remembrance of me’ yet not extend that same grace and mercy to someone else when the time arrives.

Even if monthly seemed too much at first, the Saturday before communion has to be the perfect time to have this conversation! The more that we can implement this attitude in our home, the more that it will benefit our relationships, including those outside the home.

Prep

So, I announced to the kids a month in advance. Then reminded them a few times here and there. I expected some funny remarks about discipline but wanted to give them the extra time to think of other things that came up.

I also asked them to think of suggestions for anything that they didn’t like. With each reminder, the boys would giggle, and Sophie would ask me if I was sure that they could say anything.

The night we talked, I reminded them of what was expected of them. (Their frustrations and suggestions.) Also, that Colin and I would only listen. If they wanted us to address something, they'd need to ask us to do so. Then each child had their turn to speak.

The results

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had this perfect vision of how some family activity would go, only to have the kids destroy it (and I think secretly laugh in my face. Haha). So, I expected that it would take months for us to get a serious answer from them. To my surprise, if I had of envisioned it, this first go went as good as I possibly could have possibly hoped for. They gave some real answers and didn’t have as many as you might expect (from a child).

• We went to three different places for dinner.
• Sophie [age 8] asked me what the word was for not liking to be in small spaces [Claustrophobic]. Then she said that when she was upset about something, she didn’t like it when I tried to hug her to console her. She felt claustrophobic and closed in like she couldn’t breathe. She preferred me to hold her hand. It makes sense; she has never really liked being touched closely or for very long. Haha. And Gosh, that’s a personal space thing. Good for her!
• Jackson [age 5] listed every form of discipline that he remembered receiving. This I did expect but wish I thought to ask him for his alternatives. I am sure that they would have been amusing.
• He also asked me not to hit any more squirrels. Which I didn’t mean to do in the first place. Agreed!
• Ethan [age 11] said that he would like us to give him a few minutes of time when he starts something before asking him to do something else. –What he means is that often I will ask him to do something, like take out the trash and it never fails, he [in another room] just started a show or a game. He’d like five minutes of what he was doing before he has to do whatever it is we’re asking. Sounds fair... I'll think about that.
• He also brought up yelling. While we have all come a long way on this one, it’s still an issue that we’re working on. It bothers all of us.
• Then he asked if we could bring back a particular chore/consequence for cleaning up the room. (A friend did sweeps of the kid’s rooms and if laundry was found on the floor, it was confiscated, and the offender had to pay .25 to get a piece back.) We didn’t mean to get out of that habit, but summer threw us all off. We agreed to get back on track.
• They also all like the most recent chore list better than all of our other previous attempts.

When they were finished, we talked about the verses seen earlier in this post. While the first verse mentions anger, we didn’t spend much time there. After all, the goal is to find out what upsets them. You don’t want to shut them down for being upset. Besides, anger happens to all of us. We did talk about how it’s just as important for us to restore unity when we’re the one who has been offended as it is to repent when something was brought to light. We told them that we were proud of them for speaking up!

Then Ethan read the Last Supper and we discussed it. (pick one: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

Then we prayed.

Now it’s your turn!

If you’re looking for new ways to talk to your kids or ways to incorporate faith into your conversations. I dare you to try this! Even though this attempt came out of the gate the way that I had hoped, that doesn’t mean it will be the same the next time that either of us tries. There might be many times that there are no answers too! Don’t give up. Do it again and again. Learn from it as you go and tweak it.

Also, if you have some parenting/faith activities that you’ve done that came out well, I’d love to hear them. Let’s swap notes!

You might also be interested in this site:

If you like props, ‘kidsfriendly.org’ has some interesting tools, like a power point that you can edit for a communion hangman activity, a checklist, and more.

Photo credit: stainedglass.com

How to Be a Godly Woman in Today's Culture: A Study in the Book of Titus

Information about this study


This class is currently at capacity as we are testing new technology. The majority of this class will join from remote locations. The remaining members will meet in my office. We meet every other Friday at 1:00 p.m. The study is based on the book "How to Be a Godly Woman in Today's Culture: A Study in the Book of Titus." The notes shown below reference the same parts of the Book of Titus found in our homework. These notes are my personal verse by verse notes.

I will post them after each session for group members. Feel free to follow along if you are studying on your own. Shoot me a message if you want to talk about parts of it. Maybe we can even meet up. :)


Notes - Each section below is broken down by the verses that correspond to each chapter in the workbook.

Intro                                   

Week 1 | Titus 1:1-7, 7/7

Week 2 | Titus 1:7-16, 8/4 (Class was rescheduled because no one could make the 7/21 date)

Week 3 | Titus 2:1-4, 8/18

Week 4 - 9/1                              

Week 5 - 9/15

Week 6 - 9/29                          

Week 7 - 10/27


Resources
These are the links and materials that I am using while in the study. I may not cite every comment but the ones that I use will come from here:

 - How to Be a Godly Woman in Today's Culture: A Study in the Book of Titus
 - Life Application Bible
 - Matthews Henry Commentary

 - The Daily Study Bible Revised Edition by William Barclay. The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon

You will need the zoom app if you're joining remotely. Please install it and test it before the class. (You can coordinate testing with me.) 

For the Kids - If you're a mom and you would like to talk to your kids about the Bible, you may also enjoy these messages on Titus from PursueGod.org. There is a video, discussion questions, etc.

One Word | This

THIS is the day

That the Lord has made

(not tomorrow after the work gets done, or when something returns)

Let's rejoice and be glad in it! ❤️

Messes

It's so easy to look at pictures and captions and then [compare] tell yourself stories about what something else looks like. You don't even realize that you do it. Yet, it changes your mood, how you feel, your response, everything!

This picture behind me is my living room. Most of what you see on EVERY surface is what we unloaded from vacation over the weekend. We haven't managed to get it all put away yet. 🤷‍♀️(But it looks like we got back from vacation a lot- with dust- so, tell yourself that if you ever come over. Haha).🤦‍♀️😂

And trust that this is not the only place that needs some tidying.

NONE of us have it all together. And sometimes learning something new, practicing a new habit, or even life, brings changes that come at the expense of something that you used to do and know well. 

It's ALL only for a season. (Ecclesiastes 3) and most of what we worry about doesn't even matter (Ecclesiastes 1).

CELEBRATE even your tiniest accomplishments, especially in the chaos. Try to enjoy the things you don't like because there are many other scenarios that are much worse. Prayerfully, prioritize your messes and choose one or two that you're willing to live with. If you want perfection, seek Jesus. He's the only thing that is! Heck seek him anyway, because he changes you, and can even change your circumstance or carry you through it. Now be BOLD AND COURAGEOUS and post a picture of your 'mess' in my comments. Tell me about it if you don't have a picture! #BandTogether #RealitySocialMedia#PerfectionismAnotherSilentKiller #ComparisonIsAThief #EndTheSilence 🙌👍