This lesson talks about how we can connect with God. It shares how we can pray at any time and that Jesus loved to pray. The story teaches that Jesus would slip away from the crowds to be alone and talk to Hs Father, God. There was one day that one of Jesus' disciples asked Him, "http://lord...teach us to pray". Jesus answered His friend with a simple example. The example God showed them is the prayer found in Luke 11:2-4. It is good to memorize this prayer, but we don't have to stick with those exact words to pray right. We can take the same ideas from Jesus' prayer and make them our own, as we pray to Him. Jesus called God "Father"; we can, too. He is our perfect Father who loved us, no matter what. God deserves to be honored. God made heaven and Earth, made us in His image. We ca take time to honor God and thank Him for all He's done for us. God is our King. He is our King. He is in control; He has a good plan for our lives. God's "kingdom" means that things happen the way God planned for them to happen. We're asking God to make things in our world right, good, and true. We're asking Him to help us be part of what He's doing in the world. We can pray and ask God for the things we need-and the things other people need. Praying helps us remember that God is always there to take care of us. Jesus knew that it was important for us to talk to God when we mess up. God will always be there to forgive us and give us a fresh start. When we've experienced God's forgiveness, that helps us forgive others too. You can talk to God anytime, anywhere, about anything. Practice praying to God.
River Kids | River of Life Church | May 12, 2021
May 12, 2021 • Pastor Mark Eskew
River Kids | River of Life Church | May 5, 2021
May 5, 2021 • Pastor Mark Eskew
River Kids | River of Life Church | April 28, 2021
April 28, 2021 • Pastor Mark Eskew
River Kids | River of Life Church | April 21, 2021
April 21, 2021 • Pastor Mark Eskew
Main focus: You can show you care about others by being part of the solution.
River Kids | River of Life Church | April 14, 2021
April 14, 2021 • Pastor Mark Eskew
If you’ve ever played on a team, then you know how important it is for everyone to work together and do their part. That’s how God made us to live—in every part of our lives. He made us to live in peace with each other.
River Kids | River of Life Church | April 7, 2021
April 7, 2021 • Pastor Mark Eskew
River Kids | River of Life Church | March 31, 2021
March 31, 2021 • Pastor Denny Curran
For hundreds of years, God’s people waited for the Savior God had promised. Every year at Passover, they celebrated how God had freed them from slavery in Egypt. They looked forward to how God would one day rescue them again.
Jerusalem was full of people who had gathered to celebrate what God had done for them so long ago. Jesus and His disciples approached the city from the town of Bethany. As Jesus and His friends got closer, Jesus sent two of them ahead with some unusual orders: Matthew 21:2-3. Word spread quickly that Jesus was coming. As the crowds prepared to celebrate, the religious leaders hatched their own plans.
The two disciples went to find the donkey and the colt. They placed their own coats on the donkeys’ backs so Jesus would have a comfortable place to sit. Jesus and the disciples rode into the city. Jesus was fulfilling the words that were written by the prophet Zechariah hundreds of years before. Zechariah 9:9
People took off their coats and threw them down on the road before Jesus. Some of them cut branches from the trees. They spread the branches on the road, as a way to honor Jesus. Some people went ahead, and some followed behind. They shouted: Matthew 21:9. Some of the religious leaders had joined the crowd to discover what was going on. They told Jesus to tell His followers to stop. Jesus said: Luke 19:40.
Even though the religious leaders had studied and waited their whole lives for a Savior, they didn’t recognize Jesus when He came. The people continued to cheer and follow Jesus into the city. They believed He really was the Savior God had promised. We can celebrate what God is doing in our lives, too—in the past, right now, and in the future.
Bottom line: You can celebrate even when you’re waiting.
River Kids | River of Life Church | March 24, 2021
March 24, 2021 • Pastor Mark Eskew
It can be tough to be patient. Such as waiting on your parent to stop working, waiting on virtual class to load, waiting for the next movie in your favorite series. What could you LOSE if you’re NOT patient?
God had promised to make Abraham the father of a great nation—and God said He would bless all people through him. God began to fulfill this promise when Abraham had a son named Isaac. When Isaac grew up, he married Rebekah. It seemed that Isaac and Rebekah couldn’t have children, but God kept His promise. Isaac prayed, God answered his prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with TWINS. Rebekah could feel the twin boys struggling inside her, and went to ask God what she should do.
The time came for Rebekah to have her babies. Esau was born first; he had a head full of red hair. Then Jacob was born—still holding onto Esau’s heel. Esau loved to roam in the wilderness. He grew up to become a skillful hunter
Jacob was happy to stay at home among the tents. He probably spent his days cooking.
One day, Jacob was cooking stew and baking bread. Esau came in from the open country, very hungry. Esau demanded that Jacob give him some food
Jacob. Back then, the oldest son had the right to be the new leader of the family when the father passed away. Jacob was telling Esau to give those rights to HIM—just for a bowl of stew. Esau wasn’t willing to wait.
Jacob made Esau promise to trade his rights if he gave him some stew. Esau promised his rights to Jacob just so he could fill his belly.
Esau had traded away the rights of a lifetime, for a meal that would last a few hours. God provides what we need, in HIS perfect timing
Bottom line, If you don’t wait, it could cost you.
River Kids | River of Life Church | March 17, 2021
March 17, 2021 • Pastor Mark Eskew
For hundreds of years, God’s people lived as slaves in Egypt. They cried out to God, and He rescued them. God parted the waters of the Red Sea. He led them through to freedom in the wilderness. He showed His love and care by providing bread from heaven and water from solid rock. After three months, God led His people to Mount Sinai where they set up camp in the desert at the foot of the mountain. God calls to Moses. God called out to their leader, Moses, from the mountain.
River Kids | River of Life Church | March 10, 2021
March 10, 2021 • Pastor Mark Eskew
When you have to wait, remember God is with you.
River Kids | River of Life Church | March 3, 2021
March 3, 2021 • Pastor Mark Eskew
It’s important to God that we choose to be kind—and not just to the people who you might expect.
Crowds of people followed Jesus around. They wanted to hear what He had to say, which made the religious leaders nervous. They looked for ways to try to trick Jesus into saying something that would make Him look bad. Jesus chose to answer the man by telling a story, which was the Good Samaritan. Jesus’ story made it clear: ANYONE you’ll ever meet is your neighbor.
Bottom line, be kind to people who are different from you.
Everyone who needs you to show them God’s love is your neighbor.
For more information, go to https://riveroflifeag.org/kids
River Kids | River of Life Church | February 24, 2021
February 24, 2021 • Pastor Mark Eskew
In Matthew 5:41 is the story of the second mile. Sometimes we only feel like being as kind as we HAVE to be.
In the story, the person who carried that backpack had to go a mile, no matter what Jesus said that you can choose to DOUBLE that . . . and carry it for two miles. Jesus wasn’t just talking about carrying a backpack for a Roman soldier. He meant that we can “go the extra mile” any time we choose to be kinder than we have to be.
When you make your own choices beyond what you’re REQUIRED to do, you show the person how valuable they are to you.
Be kinder than you have to be.
River Kids | River of Life Church | February 17, 2021
February 17, 2021 • Pastor Mark Eskew
Key Question: When is it hard to be kind? If kindness is something that we know should be a part of our lives, why do we find it difficult to show kindness to others? Often, we find it’s easier to show kindness to strangers than those who are closest to us. We hope through this question and the discussion that will happen; preteens will start to understand how they can make sure they show kindness to the people they love.
In week two, we head to Ruth 1 and 2, where we find Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth. Their husbands have died, and Ruth has the opportunity to return home to her family. Instead, she chooses to show kindness to Naomi and stay with her. Ruth’s kindness doesn’t go unnoticed. Boaz sees how Ruth is treating Naomi and offers kindness to Ruth, changing her life in a huge way.
Bottom Line: Be kind to your family and friends. When it comes to our family and friends, we can often find ourselves taking them for granted. We hope through the story of Ruth, kids will learn to show kindness to the people who care about them the most.
February 10 - Wednesday Night River Kids
February 10, 2021 • Pastor Mark Eskew
God was kind to us even when we didn’t deserve it. Because of His love for us, we can be kind to everyone. Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit. And when you show kindness to others, you give them a glimpse into the heart of God, and how much God loves them. Kindness should be a characteristic of people who follow Jesus. Not only did Jesus model kindness, but He also commanded it. He taught us to treat others the way we want to be treated.
We kick off the month of February with something Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:32. Be kind and tender to one another. Forgive one another, just as God forgave you because of what Christ has done, (NIrV). Even when we were separated from God, He showed us kindness through sending Jesus to rescue us and model what kindness can look like in our lives.
Bottom Line: Be kind to others because God is kind to you. As we follow Jesus and look for ways to reflect His love to the people around us, kindness is one of the easiest ways to do that. God was so incredibly kind to us, that we can help but to be kind to the people we meet.
“We need to show kindness to the people around us. We need to let people know we’re BIG fans of them—with the words we say and the things we http://do.we know what kindness looks like because we know how kind GOD has been to US. Take a look at what the apostle Paul wrote in the book of Ephesians. This was part of a letter Paul wrote to the people in the church in the town of Ephesus.
