THIS MONTH’S BIBLICAL THEME IS: God Gives Us Hope
God is faithful and fulfills His promises. As our stories this month unfold, we see God consistently intervening to help His people. He reaffirms covenants, liberates His people in miraculous ways, and shows His unwavering faithfulness. God gives us hope even when we are in times of darkest uncertainty. God is the Master Painter behind our lives!
The Red Sea
Bible Passage: Exodus 13:17-22; 14
Focus Verses: Isaiah 41:10; Psalm 46:1; Romans 15:13; Hebrews 4:16
Summary: God’s people were freed from Pharaoh and left Egypt. However, Pharaoh quickly changed his mind and pursued them with his army. The Israelites were trapped between the Red Sea and the advancing Egyptians. God instructed Moses to lift his staff and stretch his hand over the sea. God divided the waters so the Israelites could walk across on dry land. When the Egyptians came after them, the waters returned and covered Pharaoh’s soldiers. The army was destroyed, and God rescued His people.
Why would God help His people? God loves His people deeply. He rescues us to bring us into a relationship with Him and to show His glory.
What can we do when we realize we need help? Whenever we are afraid, we can trust that God is with us. He knows our situation, and He knows what is best. We can always pray to Him and seek His way.
What does God want me to know about Him, and what does this mean for my life?Ask your child this question, answers will vary.
Deism is the belief that God exists and created the world, but He is not actively involved in the lives of people. In today’s culture, this often shows up as moralistic, therapeutic deism — a general belief that God exists and His ultimate goal is for people to do good things and be happy. The American Worldview Inventory 2021 indicated that 34 percent of adults accept moralistic, therapeutic deism ideals. How does this filter into kids’ culture? Media promotes ideas such as: all good people go to heaven, God just wants everyone to do what makes them happy, or God is disconnected from our lives (e.g., “the man upstairs”). If you hear phrases like this from your kids, gently encourage them to compare those thoughts to what Scripture says. Point them back to absolute truth. In this week’s Brite lesson, kids learn about God’s desire to rescue His people. He is not distant. He is involved in our lives. He loves His people and wants good for them. But He knows that we can only experience true goodness when we have a relationship with Him and live life His way.
Here’s how we discussed this topic and how you can discuss at home:
Discuss: Does God care about what happens in people’s lives? How do you know?
Discuss: How would you respond if someone said God exists but He doesn’t care about people?
Discuss: What does God have to say about that?
Say: You may have heard people say that if God exists, He doesn’t really care about people. Or maybe you’ve heard God called the “big guy upstairs” or something along those lines. Some people believe that God created everything but isn’t closely connected to His people. They think He doesn’t care what we do as long as we are happy and as long as you’re good you’ll go to heaven. God is way more involved than that. God loves us very much. He is fully aware and involved in everything in our world. He cares about the choices we make because He knows how life works best. He knows sin separates us from Him and He wants to be in a relationship with us.