** Unlocked은 Keys for kids Ministries에서 지원받은 프로그램입니다. 원본으로 듣고 싶으신 분들은 홈페이지 Unlocked.org로 들어가시면 <August 2, 2021>에서 다시 들으실 수 있습니다.**
A Perfect Friend?
• READ: LUKE 6:31; JOHN 15:12-15; 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-4; 1 THESSALONIANS 5:11
Have you ever felt like you didn’t have any friends? I moved about two years ago, and I still have a hard time making new friends. I sometimes have dreams of meeting the perfect friend who loves the same things I do, has my same interests, and maybe has experienced some of the same situations I have. But I never seem to find the perfect friend like I dream of.
One night, as I was praying to God, I realized that I will never find a perfect friend. Every person is different, and throughout our lives, we will have different friendships. Yet we all have one thing in common—we are sinners in need of God’s mercy and love. And God doesn’t give up on us. He wants us to be in friendship with Him, so He made a way for us to be forgiven. Jesus calls us His friends, and He made the ultimate sacrifice by taking our sins and dying on the cross, then resurrecting from the dead to defeat sin and death so we can be with Him forever when He returns. Until then, He has sent His Holy Spirit to be in everyone who has put their trust in Him.
After I realized that only Jesus can be my perfect friend, I was excited. He is available whenever I need to talk to Him, and He always wants to listen to me. Through His Holy Spirit, Jesus is with me throughout my day, He gives me wisdom and strength when I need it, and He comforts me when things are hard. God doesn’t just want to give me the resources I need. He wants to be my resource. He wants to be my friend.
The Bible says that God designed us for community and that friendship is important. God even offers us wisdom in choosing our friends. We all need a good friend, but it’s important to remember that we will never find a perfect friend. Sometimes, you may feel like you don’t have any friends. But in those times, remember that you’re not alone. Jesus is near. And keep praying for God to guide you to another friend in His perfect timing. • Aubrey Hairr
• Have you ever thought of God as a friend? What might it mean to be friends with God?
• Have you been hoping for a friend? Is there someone in your life you might have overlooked because they didn’t seem like a “perfect friend” or because they’re different from you?
• While we are called to be kind to all people, what is different about being friends with someone? How can you be a good friend (Proverbs 13:20; 16:28; 17:17; 22:24-25; 27:5-6)? How has Jesus been a good friend to you?
“No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 (CSB)
** Unlocked은 Keys for kids Ministries에서 지원받은 프로그램입니다. 원본으로 듣고 싶으신 분들은 홈페이지 Unlocked.org로 들어가시면 <August 4, 2021>에서 다시 들으실 수 있습니다.**
Wonderfully Made
• READ: GENESIS 1:27; 5:1; PSALM 139:13-18; ROMANS 8:28-29
I felt ugly when I was young. I did not see any beauty in me. I had low self-esteem. I was not confident. And I did not think I was special. I did not feel smart or intelligent. I felt shy and vulnerable. I did not want to be around people. I thought there was nothing likeable in me that would draw people to me.
Have you ever felt like I felt? As I grew older, I began to learn what God says about me in His Word. These things are true about you too: It is written in the Bible that you are wonderfully made. God made you in His image—to reflect His glory and goodness. God is wonderful, kind, patient, beautiful...and because you are made in His image, you get to be those things too. You are one of a kind. You have a beautiful nature. You are unique. You are special because the God who created the universe is the God who perfectly made you, and He loves you.
However, we live in a world broken by sin, where we are all broken, and we all do wrong. Sin separates us from our loving Creator and distorts the good way God made us. But Jesus came to make us new. Through His life, death, and resurrection, we can be reunited with God. As Jesus’ forgiven followers, we get to discover how God truly made us when we abide in Him (John 15:4-5). His Holy Spirit is in us, transforming us to be like Christ and restoring us to the ways God made us to be.
God has planted talents and abilities in you that you may shine and be a blessing to others (1 Peter 4:10-11). Through Jesus, He has given you self-control so that you can make good decisions (2 Timothy 1:7). He has also given you a kind, loving, caring, considerate, gentle, joyful, and forgiving heart (Galatians 5:22-23). You have a body that can do good things for you and other people. You have senses that were made to behold the beauty of nature and of others around you. And God has brought you to places where you can make a difference.
Know that God made you with a purpose, and you can reflect His love to others. You were made wonderful so that you may (as the Westminster Shorter Catechism says) glorify God and enjoy Him forever. • Golda Dilema
• Do you sometimes look down on yourself? When it’s hard to believe that what God says about you is true or see the good ways He’s made you, who is a trusted Christian you can talk to?
• How does knowing the way Jesus views you affect the way you view others?
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14a (NIV)
