In our desire to equip parents as they “train their children up in the way they should go,” we have created a blog series to communicate the lessons our kids will be learning each Sunday, family discussion questions, resources for discipling children, and opportunities to engage in serving and loving the world with your kids.
Renew Kids
Our curriculum comes from The Gospel Project for Kids and systematically teaches the stories of the Bible starting in Genesis and finishing in Revelation. We are currently studying Jesus’ life in the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

HeadHead » Learning the Story

This month in Renew Kids we are learning about many of the parables that Jesus taught. Parables are stories that Jesus used to teach people about the kingdom of God. The story we are looking at this week is the parable of the Wedding Feast and we are asking, “Who is invited to the kingdom of heaven?” Everyone is invited to the kingdom of heaven.

The parable is one where a king invites people to a wedding feast for his son. The king sends his servants to tell the guests that the feast is ready, but the guests did not want to come to the feast. The king sends 0ut his servants again, but the people still did not listen. Some were mean to the servants. When the king heard this, he became angry.  Then the king told his servants to go out into the streets and invite everyone to the wedding feast. Read the full story together as a family in Matthew 22:1-14.

Review Questions:

  • Who was getting married? (the king’s son)
  • To whom did the servants go first? (the people who were invited to the feast)
  • Did the guests come to the wedding feast with the servants? (No! One guest went to his farm, another went to his work, and some guests were mean to the servants.)
  • Who did the king tell the servants to invite next? (everyone they could find in the streets)
  • Who is invited to the kingdom of heaven? Everyone is invited to the kingdom of heaven.

HeartHeart » Family Discussion

Reading and discussing parables is a great opportunity to ponder God’s Word in our hearts. Take some time to think through this story and what Jesus may have been trying to convey to his listeners.

  1. What do we learn about God from this parable?
  2. What do we learn about ourselves from this parable?
  3. What did you wonder about when this parable was being told?
  4. Based on this story, what do you think God desires of us? What in this story makes you think so?
  5. If someone asked you what was the most important part of today’s parable, what would you tell them?

HandsHands » The Word at Work

The Bible says that God’s Word does not return to Him void without accomplishing what He wills (Isaiah 55:11). Spend some time as a family and ask God how He wants you to live out what He is teaching you through scripture. Then make a plan to do it!

Ideas:

  • Invite. Our heavenly father has invited us to be a part of his kingdom and his family! What an amazing gift. Take time this week or in the coming weeks to plan a picnic, party, or grill-out where you invite a number of guests from the people already in your life – co-workers, friends, neighbors, etc. Spend time being an extension of God’s invitation into relationship to those who may not yet know Jesus.

Additional family resources:

Each week we will include a family resource for parents as they seek to disciple their children to love and follow Jesus.

This storybook bible is a great way to introduce young children to many of the stories in God’s Word. The link above connects to their website and has several multimedia resources for parents and families. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of this bible for your family, please see Jeff or Elisha on Sunday and we will get you a copy of this great family discipleship resource.

Family Verse

We are giving away a free copy of the verse art below! Please comment below on what stood out to you or your kids as you discussed this story as a family. We will randomly select one person to receive this artwork for their home on Sunday, May 17th.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” —Ephesians 2:8