This week in Student Ministry Sunday School we will be continuing with our discussion of the Ten Commandments. I feel like last week went well with a little different approach to the way we associate ourselves with the Ten Commandments.
Normally, people associate themselves with the TC much like we would a nice warm fire in our fireplace. Stacy and I made our first fire in our new house last night. At first there was a small flame from some cardboard pieces that I tore up and stuffed under the wood. Then came the smoke. We have an old house and the fireplace is not exactly deep so the smoke poured out into our den and Chloe, our dog, looked at me as if to say, "What have you done now?!" I blew and poked and added more wood then it really got going. As I warmed myself by the fire I thought to myself, what if I just grabbed one of those burning logs and went and sat on the couch... I concluded that wouldn't be a good move but it caused me to think about the sunday school lesson. We approach the commandments our Lord has given us much the same way, we take hold of something that if misused or not properly understood can really cause more damage than good.
Sure, it is always good not to murder, covet, steal, etc but as someone famous said "Rules without relationship equals rebellion." I made the connection with the students last sunday that as parents you care about your kids because of your relationship with them, therefore you set rules. But if I was to walk into CBC on my first Sunday and list out a bunch of dos and don'ts, they would reject the rules and most likely not like me. God did not do this with Moses on Mt. Sinai. He first established His relationship with Moses and the Israelites when he said "I am the Lord your God."(Ex 20:1) Using the present perfect tense of the word "am", He let Moses know that He has always been their God and always will be. God did not set up the rules and then desire a relationship with His people and it's the same with us. God does not ask us to shape up and then come to Him. When we first have a relationship with God the commandments become results rather than prerequisites.
Talk with your kids this week about how as a family you use the TC to glorify God in your relationships with each other? Talk with them about the rules of your household, why they are there, and most of all... that you, like our Lord, are hurt when the rules are broken yet you love your children no less.
It may be out of left field. It may not be way you've ever thought. Consider it.
Jordan
“He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge.” Proverbs 14:26b
Sunday School Summary Oct-Nov 2012
Oct 21-Nov 1 -- Sunday School Summary * WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT: "You've seen their shiny, happy faces staring at you from picture frames, magazine ads and commercials. They are the perfect family. Every tooth sparkles. Every face beams with joy. And they seem to have everything you don't. But the reality is, well they aren't real. In fact, it's an illusion. There's no such thing as a picture perfect family. Families are made up of imperfect people--people like you and me. So how do we live and interact with the family God has placed us in? How do we find a way to be a part of it, instead of just surviving and living for the day when we move on? Because no family is perfect. And no person is either. "
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