Parent Guide

This week we studied Matthew 7:24 to 27, the parable of the wise and foolish builders.

Jesus tells a simple but powerful story. Two people build houses. One builds on rock. One builds on sand. The storm comes. The house on the rock stands. The house on the sand falls.

We talked about what Jesus says the difference is.

It is not hearing.

It is not knowing.

It is not even agreeing.

It is putting his words into practice.

Big Ideas We Focused On

1. Information is not enough

We can know a lot about Jesus and still not build our lives on him.

2. Formation matters

Jesus is not just giving ideas. He is forming a new kind of person. When we practice his teachings, he shapes who we become.

3. Information plus formation leads to transformation

When we learn what Jesus says and actually live it, our lives begin to change.

4. Following Jesus is more than not sinning

We talked about how discipleship is not just avoiding bad behavior. It is learning to live as God designed us to live. We look to Jesus to see what that life looks like.

5. Prayer shapes us

We prayed through the Scripture together. We showed students how to turn a Bible passage into prayer. Prayer is not just asking for things. It is a way Jesus forms us from the inside out.

Parent Guide for the Week

Your role is huge. Middle schoolers are building their house right now. You help shape the foundation.

Here are simple ways to reinforce what we talked about.

1. Read the Passage Together

Read Matthew 7:24 to 27 out loud one night this week.

Ask:

What is the difference between the two builders?

What does Jesus say makes someone wise?

What storms do you think middle schoolers face?

Keep it conversational. Do not turn it into a lecture.

2. Talk About Information vs Formation

Ask your student:

What is something you know how to do but still struggle to actually do?

Why is knowing something different than practicing it?

Then connect it:

Following Jesus is not just knowing Bible facts. It is practicing his way in real life.

You might say:

"Jesus is not just teaching us what to think. He is teaching us how to live."

3. Practice One Teaching of Jesus This Week

Choose one simple teaching from the Sermon on the Mount. For example:

Pray for someone who annoys you

Forgive someone

Tell the truth even when it is hard

Serve someone quietly

Ask:

"What would it look like to build on the rock in this situation?"

Help them take one small step. Formation happens through repeated practice.

4. Practice Praying Scripture

One night this week, try this simple rhythm:

Read Matthew 7:24 to 27 slowly.

Ask, "What stands out to you?"

Turn it into prayer.

Example:

"Jesus, help me not just hear your words but actually do them. Help me build my life on you."

Keep it short and simple. You are modeling that prayer is relational, not complicated.

5. Help Them See the Bigger Vision

Remind them:

Following Jesus is not about being a rule keeper.

It is about becoming the kind of person who trusts him.

It is about becoming wise.

It is about becoming stable in the storm.

You can say:

"Jesus wants to build something strong in you. The practices are how he does that."

A Final Encouragement for Parents

Middle school is full of storms. Social pressure. Identity questions. Fear of missing out. Comparison.

Jesus does not promise no storms.

He promises a foundation.

Thank you for helping your student build on the rock.

If you would ever like to talk more about what we are teaching or how to reinforce it at home, we would love to connect with you.

We are grateful to partner with you in forming your student to follow Jesus.

Parent Guide

Shema Love and Ahavah

What Your Student Learned This Week

This week students explored the Shema and the biblical idea of love using the Hebrew word ahavah. In the Bible love is not mainly a feeling. Love is loyal action. God’s love moves toward people and does something for them. Because God loves first we learn how to love God and others.

Students learned that

• God’s love begins with God not with us
• God’s love is both affection and action
• Loving God always shows up in how we treat people

This lesson was shaped by Scripture and the Bible Project video Ahavah Love.

Key Scriptures

Deuteronomy 6:4 to 5

Deuteronomy 7:7 to 8

Deuteronomy 10:12 to 13

Deuteronomy 10:18 to 19

Leviticus 19:18

1 John 4:19

Big Idea in Simple Terms

God does not love us because we earn it. God loves us because love is who he is. When we receive that love it changes how we live and how we treat others.

Love in the Bible is not just something we say. It is something we do.

Why This Matters for Middle Schoolers

Middle school students often connect love with emotion popularity or preference. Scripture reshapes that understanding by showing love as commitment faithfulness and action even when it is uncomfortable.

This lesson helps students

• Understand God’s love as secure and unearned
• See obedience as a response to love not a way to earn it
• Connect loving God with loving classmates family and neighbors

How This Connects to Jesus

Jesus perfectly lived out ahavah. He showed God’s love through healing forgiveness service and sacrifice. When students look at Jesus they see what love looks like in real life.

The message students heard is simple and powerful

We love because God loved us first.

Conversation Starters for Home

You do not need to teach a lesson. Simple conversation goes a long way.

What do you think it means that love is an action not just a feeling?

Who do you think it is hardest to love at school and why?

What is one small way we can show love as a family this week?

How does knowing God loves you already change how you see yourself?

A Simple Practice for the Week

Encourage your student to choose one intentional act of love this week. Keep it realistic and small.

Including someone who feels left out

Helping without being asked

Speaking kindly when it would be easier not to

Standing up for someone

These everyday choices help love become a habit not just an idea.

How Parents Can Reinforce This Lesson

Model love through consistent actions not just words

Name loving choices when you see them

Remind your child that mistakes do not cancel God’s love

Connect obedience to trust and relationship not fear

Students learn love best when they see it lived out around them.

Closing Encouragement

This lesson is not about pressure to be perfect. It is about learning to live from a place of being loved. When students know they are deeply loved by God they are freer to love others well.

Thank you for partnering with us as we help students grow in faith and follow Jesus with their whole lives.

Love Part 3

Parent Guide for the Week

Forgiveness - Peacemaking in a World of Conflict

Matthew 5:33-48

Purpose of This Guide

This week your student explored one of Jesus most challenging teachings from the Sermon on the Mount. Conflict is unavoidable in everyday life at home school friendships and even online. Jesus does not pretend conflict will disappear. Instead he offers a radically different way forward rooted in honesty creative nonviolence and love even toward enemies.

This guide is designed to help you continue the conversation at home. The goal is not to force agreement or quick answers. The goal is to help your child wrestle honestly with Jesus way of peace and begin to imagine what it looks like in real life.

Big Idea for the Week

Jesus teaches that real peace begins with truth telling refuses revenge and responds to enemies with creative love.

In Simpler Words for Kids

Jesus shows us how to tell the truth stand up to wrong without hurting back and love people even when it is hard.

What Your Student Learned

The Setting

Jesus taught these words while Israel lived under Roman occupation. Many people expected violence or revolt. Instead Jesus invited his followers into a new kind of righteousness that heals relationships and breaks cycles of harm.

Matthew places this teaching within the larger story of Jesus ministry across Galilee Judea and Jerusalem. Jesus is not canceling God’s law. He is revealing its deeper purpose which is peacemaking.

Three Big Teachings from Jesus

1. Honesty and Oaths

Jesus teaches that God’s people should be so truthful that they do not need dramatic promises to sound believable. Simple honest words build trust and peace.

Talk with your child about how exaggeration half truths or swearing to be honest can actually damage relationships.

2. Retaliation and Creative Nonviolence

The law of eye for eye was meant to limit harm not encourage revenge. Jesus goes further by teaching creative nonviolent responses that expose injustice while preserving dignity.

Turning the other cheek giving the cloak and going the second mile are not passive surrender. They are bold actions that refuse to let injustice have the final word.

3. Loving Enemies

Jesus calls his followers to love enemies and pray for those who hurt them. This does not mean pretending harm is okay. It means choosing to see every person as made in God’s image and refusing to return hate with hate.

Jesus points to God’s generosity who gives sun and rain to everyone as the model for this kind of love.

How This Came Up in Small Group

In small group students were invited to share which parts of the teaching they agreed with found interesting or wrestled with or disagreed with.

Many middle schoolers are honest about how hard this teaching feels especially when it involves bullying unfairness or family conflict. That honesty is a healthy starting point.

You can reinforce that questions and wrestling are part of following Jesus not a failure of faith.

Questions to Talk About at Home

Choose one or two that feel natural rather than rushing through all of them.

• What part of Jesus teaching felt easiest to understand

• What part felt hardest to imagine living out

• Why do you think Jesus connects honesty with peace

• Can you think of a time when getting even made things worse

• What do you think it would look like to love an enemy in a middle school kind of situation

A Simple Practice for the Week

Practice Honest Words

Encourage your child to notice moments when it is tempting to exaggerate or avoid the truth. Practice simple yes or no honesty with kindness.

Practice the Pause

When conflict shows up help your child pause before reacting. Ask What would a peaceful response look like here even if it costs me something.

Practice Prayer for Others

Invite your child to quietly pray for someone they find difficult. This does not excuse hurtful behavior but it opens the heart to healing.

Rewatch the Video Together

Your student watched a teaching from the Bible Project that explores oaths retaliation and enemy love through Matthew chapter five. Rewatching it together can help reinforce the ideas and open space for discussion.

You can pause the video and ask what stood out this time or what questions are still lingering.

Why This Matters

Jesus vision of peace is not soft or passive. It is courageous costly and deeply hopeful. He believes creative love is the only path to real peace in families communities and the world.

As parents you do not have to have all the answers. Walking with your child as you learn this way of Jesus together is already a powerful witness.

If you want to explore the Scripture more deeply you can read the Sermon on the Mount together in the Gospel of Matthew chapter five.

Thank you for partnering with us as we help students learn to follow Jesus with honesty courage and love.

Love Part 3

Parent Guide for the Week

Loving God With Our Whole Selves

What Your Student Learned This Week

This week in our middle school gathering, we explored what it means to love God with our whole selves. We talked about how Christians often separate faith into head and heart. Some people focus more on learning and thinking. Others focus more on feeling and worship. The Bible does not treat these as opposites. Scripture presents human beings as integrated people whose thoughts, emotions, actions, and desires are meant to work together.

Your student learned that loving God is not about choosing between thinking deeply or feeling deeply. It is about bringing all of who we are to God and letting Jesus shape our whole life.

The Big Idea

God invites us to love him with our whole selves. Our thinking and our feeling are meant to work together as we follow Jesus.

Key Scriptures We Looked At

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 NIV

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

This prayer, called the Shema, shaped Israel’s entire life with God. It shows that love for God involves every part of a person, not just beliefs or emotions.

Luke 10:26–28 NIV

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself.” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

Jesus affirms that loving God includes the mind as well as the heart, and that this kind of love leads to real life.

Psalm 119:10–15 NIV

The psalmist seeks God, treasures God’s word, speaks it aloud, delights in it, and meditates on it. Thinking, feeling, and doing are all present together.

Why This Matters for Middle Schoolers

Middle school is a season where kids are learning how they are wired. Some students love asking questions and thinking deeply. Others feel things intensely and connect through worship or relationships. This teaching helps students see that both are good gifts from God.

When one part of our faith is ignored, we can feel stuck or insecure. Students may think their faith is not real enough if they do not feel emotional, or not strong enough if they do not know as much as others. Scripture shows that following Jesus is not about comparison. It is about growing into a balanced, whole person.

Simple Language to Use at Home

You might say it like this...

God cares about what you think and what you feel. He wants all of you, not just one part.

Conversation Starters

Use one or two of these during a meal or car ride

• Do you think you connect with God more through thinking or through feeling?
• What is one way you like to learn about God?
• What is one way you like to express your love for God?
• Why do you think Jesus cares about our minds and our hearts?

There are no right or wrong answers here. The goal is awareness and curiosity, not correction.

A Simple Practice for the Week

Try this short practice once or twice this week

Read and Respond

Read Psalm 119:14–15 out loud together.

Ask

• What does this verse make you think about God?
• What does it make you feel?

End with a short prayer like:

Jesus, help us love you with our whole selves. Teach our minds and shape our hearts.

Pointing Them to Jesus

Jesus is the perfect picture of a whole life. He taught with wisdom, felt compassion deeply, and obeyed the Father fully. As we grow in both understanding and love, we become more like him. This week, remind your student that Jesus is not asking for performance. He is inviting them into a full and integrated life with him.

If you want to explore this theme more, the Bible Project videos on the Shema and loving God with heart, soul, mind, and strength are a great next step to watch together.

Love

Parent Guide for the Week

(Practicing Non Transactional Love at Home)

Purpose of This Guide

This week your child is learning that Jesus love is not transactional. That means love is not earned, traded, or taken away when someone fails. Most of us naturally think love works like a deal. I am kind if you are kind. I forgive if you apologize. I stay close if you behave. Jesus offers a very different kind of love. This guide helps you slow down, name transactional love honestly, and practice Jesus shaped love together in everyday moments.

The goal is not to force behavior change. The goal is awareness, conversation, and small practices that help your child experience love that does not keep score.

Big Idea for the Week

Jesus loves us without keeping score and invites us to love others the same way.

In simpler words for kids

Jesus loves you because you matter, not because you earned it.

Video to Watch Together

Bible Project

Agape Love

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/agape-love

Try to watch this video together early in the week. It gives language and images that help kids understand love as action rather than a feeling or a reward.

After watching ask

• What did you notice about how Jesus shows love?
• Did love in the video look more like a feeling or a choice?
• Did anyone in the video earn love or was it given?

Help your child see that agape love moves toward people without asking what it will get back.

What Is Transactional Love? You can explain it like this...

Transactional love says...

• I will love you if you do what I want
• I will forgive you if you say sorry the right way
• I will be kind as long as you are kind first

Jesus shaped love says

• I love you because you are mine
• I forgive even when it costs me
• I stay even when things are hard

Ask early in the week...

• Where did you see love treated like a trade in the video?
• Where do you see love working like a trade at school or online?
• Where do you notice it at home?

Normalize this. Most systems in the world run on transactions. Jesus invites us into something different.

Key Scriptures to Read Together

(Choose one or two during the week.)

Mark 12:29-31

John 15:9

Luke 6:35-36

After reading ask:

• Does Jesus describe love as something people earn or something people receive?
• How is that similar to what we saw in the video?

Day One - Noticing Transactional Love

Conversation starter:

“Today we are just going to notice how often love feels like a trade.”

Ask:

• When do you feel like you have to earn approval?
• What happens when someone does not hold up their side of the deal

Listen without correcting. Awareness comes before change.

Day Two - Jesus Love Is Ongoing

Say something like...

“The video shows Jesus loving people again and again. He did not stop loving after the cross. He loves you today and tomorrow.”

Ask:

• When is it hardest to believe Jesus still loves you?
• What makes you feel like you have to do better to stay close to God?

You may briefly share when you struggle with this too.

Day Three - Forgiveness Without a Trade

Connect back to the video.

Say...

“In the video Jesus keeps loving people who fail him.”

Clarify...

“Forgiving like Jesus does not mean saying the hurt was okay. It means choosing not to make someone pay you back.”

Ask...

“What do you usually want before you forgive someone?”

• An apology
• A promise to change
• For them to feel bad

Then ask...

• How is that different from how Jesus forgives?

Let the tension sit. This is a hard but important realization.

Day Four - Loving When You Get Nothing Back

Ask...

Who feels hardest to love right now?

What do you usually want from them before you are willing to be kind?

Say...

“Jesus knows our love runs out. That is why he keeps loving us and invites us to pass that love on instead of trading it.”

Day Five - Trying One Small Experiment

As a family say...

“This week we are going to try one act of love where we expect nothing back.”

Examples

• Being kind to someone who may not notice
• Helping without telling anyone
• Forgiving without bringing it up again

Afterwards ask...

• How did that feel?
• What made it hard?
• What surprised you?

Success is not the goal. Reflection is.

Simple Family Practice

(Once This Week)

At dinner or bedtime ask...

Where did you notice love being treated like a transaction today?

Where did you notice love that did not keep score?

Keep it short and honest.

Prayer for the Week

You can pray this together or use your own words.

Jesus, thank you for loving us without keeping score. Help us notice when we turn love into a trade. Teach us to receive your love and share it freely. Amen.

Encouragement for Parents

Your child is learning something many adults never fully unlearn. Transactional love feels fair and safe. Jesus love feels risky and slow. Walking through this together with honesty and patience is itself a powerful picture of agape love.

Advent

Agape Love

Parent Guide for the Week

Purpose of This Guide

This week your middle schooler explored what biblical love really means. Not just liking someone or feeling happy around them, but choosing to care about others the way Jesus cares for us. This guide is meant to help you continue the conversation at home in simple, pressure free ways. You do not need to have perfect answers. The goal is to help your child notice how Jesus love shows up in everyday life.

Big Idea for the Week

Love is choosing to care about others the way Jesus cares about us.

In simpler words

Jesus shows us how to love, and he helps us do it.

Key Scripture

Mark chapter twelve verses twenty nine through thirty one

Jesus says the most important things are to love God and to love other people. These two loves belong together.

Video to Watch Together

Bible Project

Agape Love

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/agape-love

If possible, watch this video together early in the week. It gives a shared picture language for love that will help your conversations.

Ask after watching

• What stood out to you?
• What surprised you about how Jesus defines love?

Daily Conversation Prompts

You can use one per day or pick a few that fit your schedule.

Day One

Love and Real Life

• At school or online, what does love usually look like?
• How is that different from how Jesus talks about love?

Listen more than you talk. You are helping them name the difference between feelings and actions.

Day Two

Who Deserves Love (this is from a game we played in class)

• Who feels hardest to love right now?
• Why do you think Jesus still calls us to love people like that?

You can share a simple example from your own life where loving someone was hard.

Day Three

Loving God and Loving People

• Why do you think Jesus connects loving God and loving people?
• Can you think of a time when it was easier to say you loved God than to love someone near you?

Help them see that loving people is one of the main ways we show love for God.

Day Four

Receiving Love

Say something like:

Sometimes we think Jesus loved us in the past but now expects us to try harder. Jesus still loves you today.

Ask

• When do you forget that Jesus cares about you?
• What helps you remember that he is close?

You are not fixing anything here. You are helping them feel safe being honest.

Day Five

Choosing Love

Ask:

• What is one small way you could show love this week even if you do not feel like it?
• Who might that be toward?

Encourage simple, doable actions.

Simple Family Practice

(Once This Week)

At dinner or bedtime, ask everyone to share one moment they noticed love in action. It can be something they did, something they saw, or something someone did for them. Keep it light and short.

Prayer for the Week

You can pray this together or paraphrase it.

Jesus, thank you for loving us first. Help us see your love in our everyday lives. Teach us to love others the way you love us, with patience and care. Amen.

Encouragement for Parents

You are not trying to raise a perfect forgiver or a perfectly loving kid. You are helping your child learn to recognize love and slowly practice it. That takes time. Jesus is patient with them and with you.

Advent Joy

Parent Guide

Helping Your Child Practice Biblical Joy This Week

Purpose for Parents

This week your child learned that biblical joy is not the same as being in a good mood. Joy is a way of living that comes from trusting God’s faithfulness, even when life is hard. This guide is meant to help you review what they learned, reflect together, and practice joy as a family during the week.

The Big Idea to Remember

Joy is the lived expression of God’s faithfulness in the present, looking toward a future certainty.

In kid friendly language

Joy is how we live today when we trust that God will keep His promises.

The goal is conversation, not perfection.

Step 1

Quick Review Conversation

5 minutes

Ask your child:

What did you talk about in group about joy

How is joy different from just being happy

What do you remember most from the lesson or games

If they need help remembering, you can say:

You talked about how joy can exist even when things are hard because God is faithful.

Step 2

Watch the Video Together

6 minutes

At some point this week, watch this short video together from the Bible Project.

Chara Joy video

https://bibleproject.com/videos/chara-joy/

After watching, ask:

What did the video say joy is based on

Did joy come from easy lives or trusting God

Where did you see Jesus connected to joy

You do not need long answers. One or two thoughts is enough.

Step 3

Scripture Together

5 to 7 minutes

Choose one passage to read together.

➡️Option 1

Isaiah 51:11

Ask:

What does God promise here

How does this promise help people who are hurting

➡️Option 2

Luke 2:9 to 11

Ask

Why were the shepherds afraid

Why did the angel say this was good news of great joy

➡️Option 3

2 Corinthians 6:10

Ask

How can someone be sad and joyful at the same time

Step 4

Real Life Connection

5 minutes

Ask questions like:

What is something hard you are facing right now

What would it look like to trust God in that situation

How could joy show up even if the situation does not change right away

Sharing briefly from your own life helps kids see what lived joy looks like.

Step 5

Practice Joy This Week

Simple Family Exercise

Try this together once or twice during the week.

Say out loud

This is hard right now.

Then say

But we trust God because He is faithful.

Explain

This is not pretending things are fine. It is choosing trust while we wait.

Step 6

Nightly Prayer Practice

2 minutes each night

Use this prayer before bed.

God, thank You for being faithful.

Some parts of today were hard and some were good.

Help us trust You with all of it.

Teach us to live with joy because of Jesus.

We trust You with tomorrow.

Amen.

Invite your child to name one hard thing and one good thing from the day.

Encouragement for Parents

Do not force joy or correct emotions. The Bible makes room for sadness and fear. Biblical joy is not about fixing feelings. It is about forming trust.

If your child remembers one thing, let it be this

God is faithful and we can trust Him.

Shalom and the Peace of Jesus

Bible Project Video

Peace

https://bibleproject.com/videos/shalom-peace/

Purpose of This Guide

This guide is meant to help you continue the conversation at home. You do not need to be a Bible expert. The goal is simple conversation, shared Scripture, and helping your child see how Jesus brings real peace into everyday life.

Big Idea for the Week

Peace in the Bible is more than quiet or the absence of fighting.

Biblical peace, called shalom, means wholeness, completeness, and restoration.

Jesus brings this peace by restoring what is broken between us and God, between people, and even inside our hearts.

Step 1

Watch and Review Together

Watch the Bible Project Peace video with your child sometime this week. It is about five minutes.

Video link

https://bibleproject.com/videos/shalom-peace/

After watching, ask one or two of these questions:

What is one thing that stood out to you from the video

How is biblical peace different from just being calm or quiet

What does it mean that peace is about things being made whole

You do not need perfect answers. Let your child talk. Affirm their thinking.

Step 2

Read Scripture Together

Choose one or two passages to read during the week. You can read them all if time allows.

Isaiah 9:6 to 7

Ask

Why do you think the promised King is called the Prince of Peace

What kind of peace do you think the world needs most

Luke 2:9 to 15

Ask

Why do you think God chose shepherds to hear the news first

What does that tell us about who God cares about

Colossians 1:19 to 23

Ask

What did Jesus come to fix

How did he bring peace between people and God

Ephesians 4:1 to 3

Ask

Which of these is hardest for you right now

Humility

Gentleness

Patience

Love

Step 3

Talk About Real Life

Use one of these questions during a meal, in the car, or before bed.

Where do you feel stress or lack of peace right now

Is there a relationship that feels broken or tense

What do you think it would look like for Jesus to bring peace into that situation

You can model honesty by sharing a small example from your own life.

Step 4

Practice Peace This Week

Choose one simple action together as a family.

Ideas

Apologize quickly when you mess up

Listen without interrupting

Speak kindly when frustrated

Include someone who feels left out

Pray for someone who is struggling

At the end of the week, ask

Did anything change when we tried to bring peace on purpose

Step 5

A Short Nightly Prayer

You can pray this together or let your child lead.

Jesus,

Thank you for being the Prince of Peace.

Thank you for loving us and restoring what is broken.

Help us bring your peace into our words, our choices, and our relationships.

Make our hearts whole in you.

Amen.

Encouragement for Parents

You are not expected to fix everything.

Your role is to point your child toward Jesus, the one who brings true peace.

Simple conversations and faithful presence matter more than perfect teaching.

PARENT GUIDE

Advent: Prophetic Hope for Gods Good King

What we taught this week and how you can continue the conversation at home

THE BIG IDEA

Your student learned that Advent is a season of waiting with hope. We looked at Isaiah 9 and the story of King Josiah to show that God promised a coming King who would bring justice, peace, and healing to a broken world. Josiah was a good king, but even he could not fix the deepest problem inside the human heart. Only Jesus, the true and perfect King, can heal, restore, and bring Gods Kingdom into our lives.

This is why Advent matters. It helps us look back to Jesus first coming and look forward to His return with confidence and hope.

——————————————————

WHAT WE TAUGHT

1. Advent is about waiting with hope

We watched the BibleProject video titled “Hope” to show that biblical hope is not wishful thinking. It is trusting God while we wait for Him to act, even when life feels dark or uncertain.

We compared this to Israel waiting for God to send His promised King.

Key idea

Hope grows when we remember who God is and what He has promised to do.

2. Isaiah 9 shows the promise of a future King

We read Isaiah 9:1 to 7 and saw how God promised a child who would become a King bringing light, justice, fairness, compassion, and peace. This promise was made when Israel was experiencing darkness and judgment because their leaders had turned away from God.

Key idea

God always brings hope even when His people are in dark seasons.

3. King Josiah showed what a good king looks like

Students learned that Josiah became king at eight years old and helped lead the people back to Gods ways. He rediscovered the Book of the Law and responded with humility and repentance. Josiah did a lot of good, but he still could not stop the consequences of generations of rebellion.

Key idea

Even the best human leaders cannot heal the heart or fix the world. We need someone greater.

4. Jesus is the promised King who fulfills Isaiah 9

We watched a second BibleProject video titled “The Messiah” which showed how all the Old Testament hopes for a perfect King came true in Jesus. He is the only one who can bring true justice, peace, and restoration. He writes Gods Law on our hearts through the Spirit and brings the light that Isaiah promised.

Key idea

Josiah pointed forward. Jesus fulfills everything.

5. We practiced seeing hope through a simple activity

The group played a fast and fun round of “Hope Charades” to help them picture what hope looks like in real life. This helped reinforce that hope is active trust, not passive waiting.

——————————————————

WHY THIS MATTERS FOR YOUR STUDENT

Middle schoolers live in an unpredictable world. They face stress, pressure, friendships that change suddenly, and fears they often do not verbalize. Many feel both the desire for control and the frustration of not having it.

This lesson gives them:

A bigger story

God has been working through history and continues to work today.

A deeper hope

Jesus is the good King who brings light in dark places and who can be trusted when life feels confusing.

A clear direction

Waiting on God is not weakness. It is faith. It is how followers of Jesus grow stronger.

A relational picture of God

Jesus is not distant. He is present, ruling, guiding, and renewing hearts.

——————————————————

WAYS YOU CAN CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION AT HOME

You do not need to teach a full lesson. Just weave simple, intentional moments into your week.

1. Read Isaiah 9:6 together one night

Ask:

Which title of Jesus means the most to you right now and why?

Wonderful Counselor

Mighty God

Everlasting Father

Prince of Peace

2. Ask this simple daily question

Where did you see light today?

This helps your student begin to recognize Jesus presence in ordinary life.

3. Share one short waiting moment from your day

Example:

Waiting in traffic.

Waiting for a phone call.

Waiting for clarity on something.

Then say:

Waiting can be hard, but God meets us there.

This shows them that hope is something adults practice too.

4. Watch the BibleProject “Hope” or “Messiah” videos as a family

Even watching one together opens the door for conversation.

Ask afterward:

What is one thing about Jesus as King that stood out to you?

5. Pray a simple Advent prayer together

Jesus, help us trust you as we wait for you. Fill our hearts with hope and help us look to you as our King.

6. If your student is struggling with something

Use this question gently:

How might Jesus the good King bring hope into this situation?

Big Idea

Every person is created in the image of God. God made humans to reflect his character and partner with him in bringing goodness into the world. The Bible shows us that Jesus is the perfect image of God and he can restore our hearts so we can reflect God in our daily lives.

Summary

In our first week we explored what it means for every human to be created in the image of God. Genesis teaches that God made people to reflect His character by bringing life, beauty, order, and goodness into the world. This connects directly to our earlier weeks on righteousness and justice where we saw that God is restoring all things and invites us to partner with Him in His work. Because every person is made in God’s image, we treat others with dignity, compassion, and care, and we look for ways to help people flourish in our homes, schools, and neighborhoods. Through Jesus, we are transformed and are being transformed to become more like Him so we can grow as His image bearers and display His character for the world to see. In Jesus, we are God’s sons and daughters who reveal His heart to a watching world. Our goal this week was for students to understand their identity as image bearers, their role in God’s healing mission, and the beautiful responsibility of bringing life, goodness, and flourishing to others every day.

What We Taught

• God created every human with incredible value

• Humans are God’s living images in the world

• God invited us to rule creation with him by helping life flourish

• Humans often choose selfishness which breaks the image

• We need God to heal what is broken in us

Questions Parents Can Ask

• What does it mean that you are made in the image of God
• How would your school look different if every student treated others as God’s image
• What is one place where you see people using their influence to help something grow or flourish
• Where do you see people using influence in selfish or hurtful ways
• What part of being God’s image feels the hardest for you

At Home Activities

• Family Garden Moment

Plant a small herb or flower together. Talk about how ruling like God includes caring for creation and helping things grow.

• Honor Someone Challenge

Ask your student to name one person who is difficult to love. Pray together for that person and talk about how God still made them in his image.

• Reflect Together

Read Genesis 1:26 - 28 together as a family. Invite each person to share one thing that stands out.

Further Reading + Viewing for Families

• Psalm 8

• Genesis 2:15

• Ephesians 2:10

• Bible Project video: Image of God