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Special Friends

3/28/2017

Opening Conversation: What qualities make a good friend? How do they treat you? How do you treat them?

Introduction: The Bible tells us about many people who had very close friends. Jesus spent much of his time especially with Peter, James, and John. We are also told that Jesus enjoyed a special closeness with Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. We are to be friendly with all people, but it is good to have friends that are especially close to us. The book of 1 Samuel tells of one such special friendship between David and his friend Jonathan. Jonathan was the son of King Saul. This makes his friendship with David all that more special.

Read 1 Samuel 18:1-4

Devotional: The Bible tells us that Jonathan loved David as himself. That is exactly how Jesus says we should treat everyone. When friends love one another as themselves, that means they are happy for each other when things go well. They also are sad for one another when things do not go well. They can trust each other, and they take care of each other. It also means that they are not jealous of one another. Because Jonathan was the son of the king, he could have been jealous of the fact that David had been selected by God to be the next king of Israel. Instead he was happy for David and even gave him his special robe, armor, sword, and bow.

Read 1 Samuel 19:1-2

Unfortunately, King Saul did not feel the same way about David as his son Jonathan did. In fact, there were times when Saul tried to kill David! But there was always someone looking out for him - his friend Jonathan. Even though Saul was his father, Jonathan knew that Saul was wrong to be jealous of David and to want him dead. The Bible tells us in 1 Samuel 20 that Jonathan made a special plan so that David could run away from Saul. While Jonathan and David must have been very sad that they might not see one another again, they knew their friendship would never end.

Read 1 Samuel 20:41-42

DISCUSSION: Who are some special friends in your life? What are some ways that you can help take care of them? How should you feel when things go well for them? How can you be like Jonathan for your friends?

Prayer: Thank God for the friends he has given you. Ask Him to help you be a friend who loves others as yourself.

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Dedicated to the Lord

3/21/2017

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Opening Conversation: What are some things you and your family are currently praying about? What are some different ways God can answer our prayers? Does God always give us what we ask? Why not?

Introduction: During the time of Judges, there lived a good woman by the name of Hannah. She was married to Elkanah, but Elkanah had another wife named Peninnah. While God did not want men to have more than one wife, this is how many people lived in the Old Testament. Peninnah was able to have many children, but Hannah was not able to have any children. This made Hannah sad, especially because Peninnah often made fun of Hannah and was cruel to her.

Read 1 Samuel 1:9-11

Devotional: Even though Hannah was sad that she had no children, she continued to trust God. In her deep sadness one day, she prayed to God and asked that He might give her a son. She also told God that if she ever had a son, then she would dedicate him to serving the Lord. Hannah would give birth to a son. She named him Samuel.

Hannah never forgot the promise that she made to God. When Samuel was still a young boy, she presented him to the priest Eli so that Samuel could grow up and serve in Israel’s special place of worship.

Read 1 Samuel 1:26-28 & 1 Samuel 2:26

As Samuel grows up, he learns more about God, how to serve Him, and how to treat other people. The statement made about Samuel in 1 Samuel 2:26 is also made about Jesus when He was a boy in Luke 2:52. Samuel would grow up to be a very important person for the people of Israel. He would be the one to lead Israel from the time of judges to the time of kings, and he continued to serve during the reign of Saul, Israel’s first king. When Saul showed himself to be an ungodly leader, God called upon Samuel to anoint a leader with God’s heart - David.

Samuel’s life was one of faithful service to the Lord. It all started by having a mother named Hannah who loved the Lord, who loved her son, and wanted more than anything else for her son to serve the Lord.

DISCUSSION: What are some ways we can serve God even when we are young? If Hannah had never been able to have a child, do you think she would have still followed God?

Prayer: Thank God for hearing your prayers. Ask Him to use you to serve others.

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Your God & My God

3/14/2017

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Opening Conversation: Talk with your children about how some people have a different belief in God or how some people do not believe in God at all. How should we treat such people?

Introduction: The book of Ruth takes place during the time of Judges. This was a very bad time for the Israelites. Many people were doing sinful things, including worshipping idols and gods who weren’t really God. Because of this, life was hard for the Israelites. During one hard time, Israel was experiencing a famine, a time when there was not enough food for everyone. That led some Israelites to move to other areas. One family of a father, mother, and two sons moved to Moab. Their names were Elimelech, Naomi, Mahlon, and Chilion.

Read Ruth 1:1-5

Devotional: Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and then her two sons died. Only she and her two daughters-in-law remained. After the famine in Israel ended, it was time for her to move back home. She told her daughters-in-law Orpah and Ruth to stay in their homeland of Moab and find new husbands for themselves. That is what Orpah decided to do. Ruth, however, was not going to leave Naomi.

Read Ruth 1:16-17

It is obvious that Naomi had a great influence on the woman Ruth had become. Even though Ruth had come from a place that believed in a different god other than the God, she now believed in the true God just like Naomi. God has always wanted for his people to tell others about Him so that they too can come to know Him.

Read Ruth 4:14-17

After Ruth moves back with Naomi, she meets a kind man named Boaz. Boaz helped take care of Ruth and Naomi by providing food for them. Eventually, Ruth and Boaz get married and have a son named Obed. Obed is raised as though Naomi is his grandmother. The amazing thing about Ruth’s life is that she will eventually become the great-grandmother of King David. That also means that Ruth is now one of the ancestors of Jesus! Ruth is a special woman in the Bible, but we would probably never know about her had Naomi not been such a good example for Ruth.

DISCUSSION: What are some ways we can talk to others about God?

Prayer: In your prayer, thank God for being a God of all people. Ask him to help show you ways to talk to others about Him.

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I Will Be with You

3/6/2017

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Morristown Church of Christ is journeying together in 2017 through "The Story" - a chronological study of the Bible. Each week a devotional like the one below is provided to guide individuals and families through the Bible. These can be used for personal reflection or for conversations among families. We hope this 8th devotional of the series blesses you. Please check our archives for previous devotionals and other articles.

Opening Conversation: Describe a time when you felt all alone or when you felt like no one was with you. How did that feel? Were you scared? Were you sad? Were you angry? Can you name any Bible characters who felt like they were all alone?

Introduction: In the times of the book of Judges, many of the Israelites lived in sin and were not sorry for it. In fact, the book ends with these words in Judges 21:25: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Doing what is right in your own eyes often leads you to doing wrong because you don’t think about what is right in God’s eyes. When things would get so bad in Judges, God would save them through a special leader called a judge. One of them was named Gideon.

Read Judges 6:12-13

Devotional: God called Gideon to lead Israel during one of its worst times. Through an angel, God first said to Gideon, “The Lord is with you.” Gideon had a hard time believing that because so many bad things had happened in Israel. Do you ever wonder if God is with you? If so, why?

Read Judges 6:14-16

As Gideon thought about how God expected him to lead Israel, all he could think about was his weaknesses. His family was not very important in Israel, and he was the youngest of his brothers and sisters. Surely God did not want someone like Gideon leading Israel, right? Instead of looking at his weakness, God wanted Gideon to know one thing - “I will be with you.” God proved to Gideon that He was with him in Judges 7. First, God had Gideon get rid of all of his army except for 300 soldiers. Then God gave special instructions for battle in which the soldiers’ weapons would be trumpets, jars, and torches.

Read Judges 7:19-23

God gave Gideon instructions for battle that no person would have ever thought of, and it worked! In the same way, God gives us instructions today through his Word. Just as God was with Gideon when he obeyed God, God will be with us when we obey Him.

DISCUSSION: When you feel alone, how can you know God is with you?

Prayer: In your prayer, thank God for always being with you and watching over you. Ask for His help to be brave in doing what is right.

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Special Friends

Dedicated to the Lord

Your God & My God

I Will Be with You

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