Category Archives: Proven Path Ministries

Children's Ministry, Proven Path Ministries, The Romans Study For Kids

Romans Study For Kids (Romans 7:7-13)

PPM-3.jpgNow we will be digging into Romans 7:7-13…

Romans 7:7-13

7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.

9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;

10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;

11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

 

Romans 7:7 begins with more questions. What are they?

  1. What shall we say then?
  2. __ __   the  __ __ __    __ __ __?

 

Read Romans 7:7 again. What is Paul’s answer to these questions?

__ __ __    __ __   __ __ __ __ __   __ __!

 

What does Paul say that he would not have come to know had it not been for the Law?

__ __ __

THINK ABOUT IT…

How does knowing the Ten Commandments help you know when you are sinning? When you tell a lie, take something that is not yours, disobey your parents, or even want something that belongs to someone else… are you reminded of what God says about that by the Ten Commandments and other verses you have learned from the Bible?

 

Read Romans 7:8-11. This might be hard to understand as you read it. So go ahead and read it two times.

Now maybe what Romans 7:8-11 is saying is that, before you knew God’s Law, you probably thought you were pretty good. When you heard God’s Law the first time, you might even have thought you could do a pretty good job of keeping it. 

Look up and read Matthew 19:16-22. You will read about a man who thought he could keep all the commandments too.

According to Matthew 19:21 what did Jesus say that the young man still needed to do?

__ __ __ __ all his __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

and come,  __ __ __ __ __ __    __ __

 

What commandment or commandments do you think the young man was unable to keep? Write your answer below.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

THINK ABOUT IT…

As you read Romans 7:7-11 and you read about the young man in Matthew 19:16-22 do you think that the Law is bad since it was because of the Law that sin was woken up in you? 

Go back and read Romans 1:18-20, Romans 2:12-16, and Romans 3:19-20.

What did these verse teach us about the Law of God? 

So is the Law good or is the Law bad? Explain your answer to the adult that is helping you with this study.

 

Read Romans 7:12. What does this verse tell us about the Law of God? Fill in the blanks below with the answer.

the Law is __ __ __ __

the commandment is __ __ __ __

and __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

and __ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 7:13. How does this verse begin? Unscramble the letters to get your answer.

HTREEFROE     __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

Remember when there is a “therefore” we need to find out what the “therefore” is there for. This “therefore” is referring back to what we just learned, that the Law is good.

Read Romans 7:13 again. 

What is Paul’s question?

did that which is good become a cause of __ __ __ __ __ for __ __?

What is the answer to this question?

__ __ __    __ __    __ __ __ __ __    __ __!

 

Read Romans 7:13 again. What is it that causes death in us. Circle your answer.

Law                    sin

 

Read Romans 7:13 one more time. What good thing does the Law do for us?

it makes sin __ __ __ __ __ __ __    __ __ __ __ __ __

 

Whew! That was a lot! We will stop here and think about all that we have learned. Let’s end today’s study with talking to our God. Let’s thank Him that we are saved by faith in Jesus and not our ability to keep the Law.

 

 

Children's Ministry, Proven Path Ministries, The Romans Study For Kids

Romans Study For Kids (Romans 7:1-6)

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It’s time to begin digging into Romans 7…

 

Romans 7:1-6

1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?

2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.

3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.

6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

 

Read Romans 7:1. How does it begin?

__ __ do you not know,

 

THINK ABOUT IT…

How many complete thought sentences do you know that begin with the word “or”? “Or” is a conjunction word. This means it joins together two sentences, or two thoughts by either comparing, contrasting, or conjoining them. If Romans 7 begins with the word “or” then we need to find out what two sentences or thoughts are being joined together. So let’s go back and begin reading at Romans 6:20.

 

Read Romans 6:20-7:1. How long does the law have jurisdiction over a person?

__ __    __ __ __ __    __ __    __ __    __ __ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 7:2-3. What example does Paul give us to explain how the law was over us? Unscramble the words to get your answer.

MIRAREGA      __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

 

THINK ABOUT IT…

Have you ever been to a wedding? When the couple getting married says their wedding vows, or wedding promises to one another, that promise ends with “until death do us part”

The husband and wife are supposed to keep these promises to one another and make them with no one else. These promises to one another are for life.

But if one of them dies, then the promises are able to be made to someone else.

Paul is trying to show us here that we are bound to the law until we die in Christ like we learned happens Romans 6. 

It’s kind of like we are married to the law. But when we die in Christ, the law does not matter anymore, because we are now free to be married to Jesus. 

 

Read Romans 7:4. What usually happens when people get married? Look at the picture below to get your answer.

babies1

They have __ __ __ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 7:4 again. If we have died to the law and have been married to Christ what should we be doing for God?

__ __ __ __ __ __ __     __ __ __ __ __

 

Remember what we learned in our Romans Part One Study?

Go back and read Matthew 7:16-20 and John 15:1-8. Then answer the question below.

How do we know if we belong to God?

We should bear  __ __ __ __   fruit for __ __ __

 

Read Romans 7:5. When we were in the flesh what did our bodies bear fruit for? 

__ __ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 7:6. When we were bound to the Law we served in the oldness of the letter. No matter how hard we tried to keep the Law, we just couldn’t. Now in Jesus we are dead to the Law. How do we serve now?

in the __ __ __ __ __ __ __  of the __ __ __ __ __ __

 

Read Galatians 5:22-23. This passage describes to us what our fruit should be when we serve in the Spirit. Fill the tree below with the fruit of the Spirit. 

tree-of-life-with-empty-circles-for-species-request1

 

 

 

Children's Ministry, Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Kids Mess Rooms Adults Mess Hearts

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Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap

Luke 21:34

Kids are messy. Anyone who has them knows this is true. The room will be spotless but then they enter it… and it explodes!

I used to keep a spotless house. I mean eat off the floor spotless. I thought that it was really important for me to be a good housekeeper… but then I realized that in order to keep it spotless I had to constantly be on my kids, pick this up, put that back, did you not see I just washed that, I just mopped this floor, look at this mess, did you not see I just finished vacuuming, etc. 

I was always either harping on them or trailing right behind them like a hoover vac picking up as fast as they messed up and when they asked me to play along, I was sure to let them know that I couldn’t because I was too busy going behind them cleaning up their mess.

Then one day I realized I was busy cleaning the wrong things…

I realized that the kids were messing up rooms, but I was messing up hearts.

I had these children looking to me to help them keep a clean heart and I was too busy worried about keeping a clean house to see it. I was more worried about the splatter marks on the bathroom mirror to see the splatter marks of sin that were on our hearts.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

Psalm 51:10

Today I see that kids mess rooms, but adults mess hearts.

These children entered this world as little sinners. Yes, their little hearts are slap full of the seeds of sin… yet their hearts carry no worries, no dissipation, no drunkenness . They have hearts full of the seeds of sin, but they are not yet weighted down.

I realized that I was the one that was weighting down their hearts with all that stuff…

I was just taking my weighted down heart and dumping it on over onto theirs…

…I will not be a burden to you. I don’t want what you have—I want you. After all, children don’t provide for their parents. Rather, parents provide for their children. I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me.

2 Corinthians 12:14-15 (NLT)

Is it possible that many times we as parents look at the carefreeness of our children and are jealous of it and so seek to destroy it by “bringing them to reality”? We look at them and wonder how they do not see all the things in the floor we are tripping all over, the mess in the floorboard of the car we are shoving over, the crumbs on the counter, the dirty clothes covering the floor, or the pizza smeared all over their face clear up to their forehead…

So we decide it is our responsibility as parents to make sure they do see them…

The funny thing is that we provide them with all this stuff, then we get upset when we are tripping all over it.

Kids can’t have a floor full of toys for us to trip over unless we have allowed them in the house or purchased them for them. They can’t have a floor full of dirty clothes without first having received a closet full of clean ones, that once again we allowed or provided. They wouldn’t leave crumbs all over the counter and food smeared all over their face if it were not for the abundance of food that we have allowed and provided for them. I mean, really, there is no need to worry about consuming crumbs when a brand new feast is coming in just a few hours.

This is parenting in most of America.

We weigh our kids hearts down with worries and we don’t even realize it… because we call it “giving them the things we never had”. We load them up and then we fuss at them for not being able to handle it all.

Our job as parents is not to burden our children down, but to build them up. If we are going to provide them with all this stuff, we must be careful to not put too much stock in the stuff… We must be purposeful to keep all things in perspective.

In this day of America, if we are not careful we will end up training our children to be very good at white washing tombs.

We may keep the house clean, but how much filth have we shoved into the closet of our kids heart in order to do so?

How many opportunities to clean out the hearts of our children did we pass over in favor of cleaning out the garage or filling up the garage with more stuff…

I am returning to this post after about a month… after I read this article, I Wonder If Sunday School Is Destroying Our Kids, and reading this quote in it, “So why do we burden our children with the unbearable load of “being good little boys and girls like the heroes in the Bible”? We wouldn’t load a pack mule with the burdens we place on our children.”

Have you ever really stopped and thought of the burdens of no eternal value we place on our children?

While all the while we completely ignore the things that are eternal in them… like their souls.

Take a moment and walk through your home and look over your calendar… how much time have you spent training your child up in the things of God… in discussing with them the fears of their hearts… as compared with training them to catch a baseball and/or “discussing” with them the importance  of the fears of surprise company coming over and the house being a wreck?

Are you busy white washing tombs and teaching your children how to do it as well?

Proven Path Ministries

Unless… Series Begins

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I wrote a post not long ago titled Unless… I wrote this after I noticed how many times the word “unless” was used in the Scriptures and the context in which it was used.

This word has continued to run through my mind over and over since that day… so I am going to dig into it. I am beginning  an “Unless Series”. A series of posts on the usage of the word unless in the Scriptures.

The word “unless” is a pretty strong word. According to the online Free Dictionary in its conjunction form it means: except on the condition that; except under the circumstances that and in its preposition form it means: except; but; save, except for.

The first usage of the word “unless” in the Word of God, according to the NASB, is in Genesis 32:26. 

Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.”

But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

 

In this verse, the word “unless” in the Hebrew is kiy. It is used as a conjunction in this verse and it means: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since, that, yea, indeed.

The context of this verse of Scripture is when Jacob has been left alone after sending his family and all his possession across the stream. He was  empty in this passage. He was empty of his family, his possessions, all his earthly wealth… all the things that defined him past and present were across the stream and he stood alone. He was just Jacob… the deceiver.

He stood there empty and for the first time he realized that unless God was with him… unless God blessed him… unless he held on to the heel of God he could not prevail.

In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
And in his maturity he contended with God.
Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed;
He wept and sought His favor.
He found Him at Bethel
And there He spoke with us,
Even the Lord, the God of hosts,
The Lord is His name.
Therefore, return to your God,
Observe kindness and justice,
And wait for your God continually. 

Hosea 12:3-6

From the womb, Jacob was a sinner. He sought his way in this world by the cunning of his wits. He thought he could connive and manipulate and deceive to get what he wanted in this world. It worked pretty good for a while… but eventually he began to reap the consequences.

Finally as he looked to his future  and he looked to his past… he realized that unless the Lord bless him he had no where to go.

Are you there precious one?

The first unless in the Scriptures came from a man who made his lot by manipulating those who were his own family. He used his family instead of serving them. He stole from them instead of giving to them. He lied to them instead of loving them. He was after his own good, not the good of his family…

but finally He realized that it was only by the grace of God that He had what he had.

In this realization he knew that if God did not bless him, he could not carry the weight of his consequences. He realized that having the blessing of God was worth more than having all that he just sent ahead of him across that stream. He realized reality. He was nothing apart from the grace of God.

Are you there?

Have you been there?

If so, what was your unless moment?  What did it take for you to stop and lay everything you ever thought you were, everything you ever thought you wanted, to stop and lay it aside, and stand alone before God and take hold of Him and say “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Children's Ministry, Proven Path Ministries, The Romans Study For Kids

Romans Study For Kids (Romans 6:12-23)

PPM-3.jpgNow for the rest of Romans 6…

Romans 6:12-23

 

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,

13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!

16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?

17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,

18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.

22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

 

 

We learned in Romans 6:1-11 that we were baptized into Jesus Christ, which means that…

 – when He died, we died

 – when He was buried, we were buried

 – when He was raised, we were raised

 – death is no longer master over Him 

 – sin is no longer master over us

  • and since Jesus lives to God, so should we

 

Now we are going to begin digging into Romans 6:12-23…

Read Romans 6:12. What word does it begin with?

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

Remember that when we see a “therefore” we need to look back at the verses before it to see what the “therefore” is there for. Read Romans 6:8-11 to find out what the “therefore” is there for.

 

Read Romans 6:12 again. What command does God give us in this verse?

Do not let __ __ __ reign in your mortal __ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 6:13. What command are we given in this verse?

Do not go on presenting the members of your body to

__ __ __  as instruments of unrighteousness

 

Read Romans 6:13 again. Who and what are we to present ourselves to?

to  __ __ __  as those alive from the dead,

and your members as instruments of

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __   to God

Read Romans 6:14. How are we able to present our body to God as an instrument of righteousness? 

For __ __ __ shall __ __ __ be master over you

Read Romans 6:14 again. As a Christian, sin is no longer master over you and death is no longer master over you. So according to this verse what are we under? Circle your answer.

law               grace

 

Read Romans 6:15. If we are under grace and not law, does that mean that we can sin whenever we want to? 

May it  __ __ __ __ __  be!

 

Read Romans 6:16-22. Now that we are freed from sin, does that mean that we are slaves to noone and nothing? Read through these verses and answer the questions below.

If you have been freed from sin, what are you now a slave to? (hint:look at Romans 6:18)

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

If you have been freed from sin, Who are you now enslaved to? (hint:look at Romans 6:22)

__ __ __

When you were a slave to sin, you obeyed sin. What does the Bible tell us is the result of obeying sin? Read Romans 16:16 to find the answer. 

__ __ __ __ __

 

When you become a slave to God, you obey righteousness. What does the Bible tell us is the result of obeying righteousness? Read Romans 16:19 to find the answer. 

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

 

When we become a Christian we get a new heart and a new master. This changes the way we live and the choices we make. Have you ever seen “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”?

Type this link into your computer search bar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eulSbXIjzk and watch the video clip.

Or if you have the movie at home, why not watch it with your family.

THINK ABOUT IT…

How did the Grinch change when his heart changed? Did his actions change? Did he get strength to do the right thing?

Romans 16:16-22 explains to us the difference in obeying sin and obeying righteousness. When we obey righteousness we learned the result is our sanctification.

Sanctification is a big word! It is a big and important word. As a matter of fact it is what Romans 6 – 8 is all about. So what exactly is sanctification?

Sanctification is the purification of our heart and life. Justification is when God forgives us and declares us not guilty of sin because Jesus paid our debt for us. Sanctification is when God begins to make us look and act like His children. 

 

Read Romans 16:22 again. What is the outcome of sanctification?

__ __ __ __ __ __ __        __ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 16:23. Right this verse out below. This one you need to memorize.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

THINK ABOUT IT…

Did you first begin the process of sanctification (making yourself pure) by obeying righteousness (keeping the law) and then earn your justification (pardon from sin) from God and receive eternal life?

Is it even possible for us to do that?

No it’s not.

That’s why eternal life is a gift from God. 

Remember Jesus is a gift to us from God (John 3:16). Justification is a gift to us from God in Jesus (Romans 3:24). Righteousness is a gift to us from God through Jesus (Romans 4:3). Sanctification is a result of the gifts of God to Jesus (Romans 6:22).

We can’t make ourselves good enough for God… God has to do that for us. 

How about we take a moment to tell God thank you!

Children's Ministry, Proven Path Ministries, The Romans Study For Kids

Romans Study For Kids (Romans 5:12-21)

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I just realized I never posted Romans 5:12-21 🙂

Romans 5:12-21

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned

13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.

16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.

17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Read Romans 5:12. Through how many men did sin enter the world? Circle your answer.

3       2       1       7

 

Read Romans 5:12 again. What entered the world through sin? 

__ __ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 5:12 one more time. How many men did death spread to? Circle your answer.

few       some      couple      several       all

 

Read Romans 5:13. What came first the Law or sin?

__ __ __

 

Read Romans 5:14. What reigned from Adam to Moses to prove that sin came first?

__ __ __ __ __

 

Did people die before God gave Israel the Law (Ten Commandments)? Circle your answer.

Yes            No

 

Read Romans 5:15-21. These verses compare and contrast two different men and two different events. We will learn about a man named Adam and a man named Jesus. Let’s do some background work.

Who is Adam? Read Genesis 1:26-29 and Genesis 2:15-25 to find out.

Who is Jesus? Read John 1:1-5, John 1:14-18, and John 3:16 to find out.

What happened because of Adam? Read Genesis 3:1-24 to find out.

What happened because of Jesus? Read John 14:1-31 to find out.

Adam disobeyed His Father. He sinned and had to leave the garden of his Father. He was unable to return.

Jesus obeyed the Father. He never sinned and has come to take us back to the Father with Him! He is the way back to the Father’s house for all who believe.

Now let’s turn back to Romans 5:15-21 and see what else we learn about Adam and Jesus and what they mean to us.

 

Read Romans 5:15. Complete the sentence below by filling in the blanks.

But the free gift is __ __ __ like the transgression.

 

What is the free gift. Look back at Romans 3:24 to find out. Fill in the blanks with your answer.

being __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

 

The free gift is being justified and receiving life. It is receiving the free gift of the grace of God.

The transgression is being condemned and receiving death. It it receiving the due penalty of the wrath of God.

These are two very different things aren’t they?

 

Read Romans 5:15-17 again and answer the following questions.

 

Who is “the one” who caused “the many” to die by transgression? 

__ __ __ __

 

Who is the one who caused the grace of God to abound to “the many”?

__ __ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 5:18-19. Look at the chart below. I have filled in the “what” and “results” section for you. I need you to fill in the “who” section.

What Results Who
one transgression resulted condemnation to all men  
One act of righteousness resulted justification of life to all men  
one disobedience many were made sinners  
obedience of the One many will be made righteous  

 

Read Romans 5:20. Why did the Law come?

So __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __  would

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

 

Remember Romans 3:20? What comes through the Law?

the __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of sin

 

Remember Romans 3:10-18? How many of us do good? Circle your answer.

some of us        all of us         none of us

 

Read Romans 5:20. What abounded all the more as sin increased?

__ __ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 5:21. Fill in the blanks below.

Sin reigned in __ __ __ __ __

Grace would reign in __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __  to eternal __ __ __ __ through __ __ __ __ __

 

THINK ABOUT IT…

Are you wondering, how does the Law make sin increase and how does an increase in sin lead to more grace? Those are good questions to wonder about.

When we read the Law and the rest of God’s Word we learn about His standard and His holiness. We learn what He says is good and right. 

When we learn what He says is good and right and then we compare our actions, thoughts, and words to His we realize that we are great sinners. We realize that we disobey. We realize that we are just like Adam in the garden. 

And if we are just like Adam then we realize that we under condemnation and the wrath of God.

When we realize this we have two choices.

We can stay where we are and continue to love sin.

We can cry out to God for help and believe on Jesus and be saved. In Adam all die. In Christ all who believe live.

Let’s close our study in Romans 5 by filling in the chart below with pictures to help illustrate the difference between Adam and Jesus.

 

ADAM JESUS
   

 

Children's Ministry, Proven Path Ministries, The Romans Study For Kids

Romans Study For Kids (Romans 6:1-11)

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I am looking for reviewers for the Romans Study For Kids. I do have it in a PDF form. If you are interested in going through it with your kids, let me know and I will email or FB message it to.

Today we begin with Romans 6:1-11.

Romans 1-5 was written so that we would know why we needed to be saved. In Romans 1-5 we can clearly see that everyone is a sinner. It doesn’t matter how good someone thinks they are, they still need Jesus. It doesn’t matter how bad someone thinks they are, Jesus still can save them.

Let’s do a quick review.

I will break down the chapters in Romans and you fill in the blanks with what you remember from the chapters.

Yes, it’s okay to go back and look over the chapters to help you 🙂

 

Romans 1:1-15

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Romans 1:16-17, This is the key verse so write it out below.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Romans 1:18-32

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Romans 2:1-29

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Romans 3:1-18

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Romans 3:19-20

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Romans 3:21-31

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Romans 4:1-25

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Romans 5:1-11

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Romans 5:12-21

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That was a great job reviewing! Romans 1-5 explains to us our need for God to save us, because we cannot save ourselves. We learn in Romans 1-5 that God gave us His Law so that we would realize we needed help. Remember the Law is good. The problem is that we just simply are not.

But God loves us anyway!

How awesome is that!

He loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us… even though we were helpless, ungodly, sinners, who were, at the time, His enemy. 

We have a very good God!

I think we should thank Him right now. Let’s take a moment to pray or sing a song… How about singing “Jesus Loves Me” because He does, and the book of Romans shows us just how much He does.

I’ll start. Ready! Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so…

 

Now, let’s start digging into Romans 6. We will begin with reading through and studying Romans 6:1-11. 

 

Romans 6:1-11 

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?

2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?

4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.

10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

 

Romans 6 begins with a question. Read Romans 6:1, what is the question? Circle your answer.

a) are we to have eggs and bacon or pancakes and sausage?

b) are we to use a purple crayon or go with the blue one?

c) are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?

d) are we to keep on this trail or take another one?

 

Romans 6:2 answers the question in Romans 6:1. Fill in the blanks with the answer.

May it  __ __ __ __ __    __ __ !

 

Look at Romans 6:2 again. Why should we not keep on sinning? 

We have  __ __ __ __  to sin

 

Read Romans 6:3. How did we die to sin?

all of us who have been __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ into Christ Jesus have been __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ , into His __ __ __ __ __

 

Let’s look at the word baptized in this verse. This word is “baptizo” in the Greek and it means to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk), to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one’s self, bathe, to overwhelm. The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. 

 

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Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be ‘dipped’ or baptized(bapto) into boiling water and then ‘baptized’ (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptizing the vegetable, produces a permanent change.

 

The word “baptized” in Romans 6 is the one that makes the cucumber into a pickle.

 

Now let me ask you… Can that pickle ever become a cucumber again? Circle your answer.

Yes            No

Read Romans 6:4-6. Below is a storyboard. Draw out what each verse says happened to you if you were baptized into Christ.

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Read Romans 6:7. If we have died what are we free from?

__ __ __

 

What was our relationship to sin before we died with Jesus (was baptized into Christ). Read Romans 6:6 to find the answer.

We were  __ __ __ __ __ __ to sin

 

Does a slave have any control over their own life? 

Yes            No

 

If we have died with Christ and are now freed from sin, does that mean that we now have control over our own life? 

Yes           No

 

Can sin still tell us what to do and make us do it?

Yes          No

 

Does sin ever try to make us its slave again?

Yes          No

 

Read Romans 6:8. If we have died with Christ what will we also do with Him?

__ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 6:9. What do we know now that Christ has risen from the dead? Will He ever die again?

Yes           No

 

How can we know He will never die again? What is no longer master over Him? Unscramble the letters to find your answer.

HEDAT   __ __ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 6:10. How many times did Jesus have to die to sin? Circle your answer.

Several         Couple        Once        Over and Over

 

How does Jesus live the life that He lives?

to  __ __ __

 

Read Romans 6:11. How does this verse begin? Fill in the blanks.

E __ v __           s __

 

This phrase in the Greek is kai houto and it means and also in this manner. 

Read Romans 6:11 again. What are we to consider ourselves to be? Draw a picture of yourself under the correct answer.

alive to sin, but dead to God           dead to sin, but alive to God

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The word “consider” in Romans 6:11 is in present tense and is in a command form, so it means to “keep on considering”.  God wants us to remember every day that we are to be dead to sin and alive to Him in Jesus. How about you right Romans 6:11 on a card, and put it on your bathroom mirror and read it every morning for at least this next week 🙂

 

 

Proven Path Ministries

A Lesson From Tonto

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For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.

Psalm 91:11

A couple of days ago my husband and I went to the movies to see The Lone Ranger, yes, hi-o silver away. We rarely go to the movies… I think, maybe, we don’t even run out of fingers when we begin to count the one’s we have been to since we met. But, The Lone Ranger, in it’s nostalgia, we thought we would take a stab at it… and well it was good, but we left thinking we probably would have been just as fine to wait until it came out on DVD.

However, there was a lesson from Tonto… although Tonto probably had no clue what he was talking about, nor, most likely, did the Hollywood person that wrote out the script… but there was indeed a lesson shared all the same.

The fact is, whether we like it or not, whether we will admit it or not, whether we will recognize and acknowledge it or not… the truth of the Word of God is everywhere. EVERYWHERE . And in everything… a thread of truth runs…  those that choose to grab that thread and hold on to it and follow it will always find themselves face to face with a Living God.

If you have seen the movie… you know that supposedly The Lone Ranger is the chosen one by the spirit horse. Tonto believes that he has been brought back from death to help defeat the evil men that killed his family for the wealth of silver…

The-Lone-Ranger

Tonto encourages the Lone Ranger to take risk because anyone who has been to the “other side” and returned could not be killed in battle. There was one scene where the Lone Ranger takes an arrow to the shoulder and he yells in pain at Tonto and says, “You said I couldn’t get shot!” To which Tonto replies, “No, I said you could not be defeated in battle.“

So what’s the lesson from Tonto…

Simply this.

Are you a blood bought, born again, believer?

Then you, precious one, have been to the “other side”

 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:3-11

You precious one are no longer of flesh, but of spirit… eternally alive and death  has no claim on you… you have already died and been raised… and the gates of hell cannot prevail against you.

You may get wounded in the battle, but you will never be defeated.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 

2 Corinthians 4:7-9

So you, child of God… are indeed a Spirit walker, a real Spirit-walker…  you are called to walk by the Spirit!

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:24-26

It’s time to be bold. It’s time to stand up. It’s time to be strong… knowing that as long as we walk in truth, as long as we walk in the Spirit, as long as we are following our God… WE CANNOT BE DEFEATED!

We cannot be defeated in battle because we do not battle alone…

God has promised to send angelic assistance when we face attacks from supernatural realms. It makes sense. Satan and the demons are supernatural beings—so are angels. We need supernatural help when dealing with supernatural enemies. In verses 11-13, the composer describes three specific activities of the angels on our behalf. 

1. Angels are given “charge” of us (91:11). The term “charge” is from the Hebrew tzawa, which means “to appoint, install, give command of.” Other passages of Scripture suggest that the Lord has actually appointed angels—heavenly guardians—to give us aid when attacked by supernatural forces (Matthew 18:10; Acts 12:15).

2. Angels “guard” us in all our ways (91:11). The Hebrew word shamar means “to keep, watch over, observe, preserve, take care of.” Angels are overseers of God’s people. Like silent sentries, they stand guard over those who seek refuge in the Lord, preserving our steps.

3. Angels “bear you up” in their hands (91:12). The verb nasah actually means “to lift, to carry, take up.” When used figuratively in reference to a person, it means “to support, sustain.” In the context of Psalm 91, the angels see to your mental, emotional, and spiritual needs so that you will not be overwhelmed by the deception of the devil and his minions.

~ Swindoll

 

One of my favorite stories in the Scriptures can be found in 2 Kings 6…

Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

2 Kings 6:15-17

When the battle rages, remember that the armies of heaven are there… remember you have already been to the other side, Christ has already defeated death on your behalf, you are a Spirit-walker! And precious one, never forget that you never ever fight alone, God is with us, and if God is with us, if God be for us, who can stand against us?

Proven Path Ministries

Nesting…

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I spent the day today at my church… our youth were there today cleaning for their week of community world changers, one of my daughters being included with them. As they cleaned I put them to work in the children’s area as well. I had them move some things, take down some things, clean some things, throw away some things… and I picked up my paint brush and rollers and started back on the doors of the children’s wings.

As I painted… I listened to the kids running around asking what else could they do? Not once did I hear, when are we done… I only heard I’m done here, is there something else I can do?

As I continued to run my roller of paint over the old wood paneled doors I pondered all that was going on in our church… there were men there working on a bathroom remodel… youth there cleaning out closets and hallways and stairwells, parents there scrubbing the cabinets in the kitchen, the night before I had parents cleaning out the craft storage room, and I have teachers initiating there own remodels in their classrooms… and I was there putting fresh paint on the walls and new paint on old doors…

As I thought on all of this my mind went to what we women do right before we are about to give birth… we “nest”. We begin to clean out the house and rearrange things to make room for the new life that is about to enter this world…

Then my mind went to a Scripture…

Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8

Could it possibly be that we at Shiloh are “nesting”?

Could it possibly be that we are preparing to celebrate  a feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth?

Could it possibly be that God is getting us ready to give birth to what many of us have felt stirring in our hearts for years now?

You know, we don’t usually do a complete over-hall in the nesting stage… because we are extremely sentimental as well during this time. It’s not about getting rid of the old… its about fixing what is broken, restoring what is rusted, recovering, reusing, repurposing…  making the most of all that we have and treasuring ever bit of it. It’s a time of looking back at where we were… and how far we have come… and knowing we have so much unknown ahead… but we can’t help but be excited as we look forward to it.

A few years ago our church went through a change… we called it Shiloh Reborn. This was a step of faith and obedience for our church… and I believe God has shown us in many ways that it was the right step.

As I pondered nesting, I also pondered another event that the Lord laid on the heart and mind of our Pastor… The Calling.

This will be at our church on Sunday, August 25th beginning with a community breakfast at 9am… it’s an open house of sorts.

One thing that you do before an open house is, yep that’s right, you clean… you fix what is broken, restore what is rusted, recover what is worn, find a new purpose for an old thing…  you make the most of all that you have and you invite others to come in and celebrate it all with you.

I don’t know what God is up to… but I can’t help but have a sneaking suspicion that He most definitely is up to something… Curiosity in itself has me looking forward to August 25th… and the days that will follow it.

There is just too much nesting going on for nothing to be up!

All I know is that God is able to make beautiful things out of the dust… out of us… He is the God of rebirth and His house is open to us… and He wants us to come on in and celebrate all that He is and that He was and all that He forever will be!

 

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Skeered of the Eye Doctor!

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There are few things more comforting than to have a conversation with someone about something that you feel makes you appear a little ehhh not normal and they actually listen to you without this oh bless your heart look in their eyes. Then they actually take action according to what you just shared with them. It’s like a breath of fresh air!

I have not been to the eye doctor in about 12 years… now I have desperately needed to go… but visit after visit of eye doctors and eye nurses talking to me like I was an idiot who had no clue about the ability of my own eyes… just led me to just walk away and say… I will see what I can see and that’s all that I will see.

I don’t know how my brain connects my mind and eyes to make them do what they do, but it does. I don’t always have to know why something does what it does too know fully that it is indeed doing it.

I do not know how the sound of my voice travels through this little hand held device, through the air, attached to no cords, and right into the right hand held device, according to what numbers or letters I pushed. The thought of it can be really mind blowing if I choose to just dwell on it… even knowing the mechanics of it all, the correct technical terms and such, it’s still crazy that it works. So even if I don’t know exactly how something does what it does, it doesn’t mean that I am not aware that its doing it.

Twelve years ago at my final straw eye doctor appointment, I tried to explain how my eyes worked.

Before dilation the eye doctor would say, well its not that bad… then after dilation, he would say, oh, I see.

Then it would be at least three days before the dilation would wear off, then another couple before my glasses came in, and then when I would put my glasses on, I could not see with them on… or off.

I would return to the eye doctor and explain, to no avail, so I would just quit wearing them

Then I tried contacts. To which I had a reaction to the solution. To which the eye nurse, got irritated and told me there was nothing in the solutions to give me a reaction… even though I sat right there before her with burning watering eyes… so I quit wearing the contacts. I would see what I could see and that’s all that I would see.

Twelve years and multiple bruises later from running into walls, doors, shoes, tables, etc. I returned to the eye doctor.

So what do my eyes and my brain do?

Well, if my brain knows what something is supposed to say… I can see it. The latest example of what I am talking about… Sunday we were on our way to the bowling alley after church. I am driving looking for the sign, but it had been a while since I had been the way we were going and signs and buildings had changed. I had already slowed to a little below the speed limit as I searched for the familiar sign, but I was afraid I would not see it soon enough to be able to safely make the stop to turn in… then my excited nine year old says, Oh look there it is! The moment my brain became aware of it I could see the sign plain as day.

My eyes have worked very hard over the years to cooperate with my mind. Their muscles are quite strong and overworked, which causes me a many a headache. Which is also why they trip up the eye exam so bad, but I had never had an eye doctor who would take the time to listen to me and work with me until Monday (Of course I am sure the fact that I had a few sisters in Christ praying over the visit had something to do with that).

1) He believed me when I told him that I could not see for at least three days after eye dilation.

2) He believed me when I told him about my eye muscles and how if I knew what something was supposed to say I could see it.

3) He did not laugh at me when I told him that I had a underlining concern that if he dilated my eyes I feared that once those muscles were relaxed like that, they would never be able to return and I would be blind.

He took the time to develop a plan that would work for me and my situation. By the look on the face of the young girl who was helping me pick out my frames and order my prescription… I could tell my situation was a first for them.

As I thought of the relationship between my eyes and my brain… I thought of the relationship between faith and the gospel.

But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?

Romans 10:14

We share the Gospel with everyone… even those that are appear to be blind as a bat to it… because how in the world can they ever see it if we never point it out to them.

I once was blind, but now I see…

We study the Word of God so that God can grow us and show us things about Himself that we have never seen before… but how can we see them, if we don’t know they are there? And how can you know that they are there if you never open His Word to discover them?

How can God take you down a new journey into His glorious majesty if you only travel down the same familiar roads… yes the Romans Road gets you to salvation… and John 3:16 is the big flashing sign that says Start Here, but have you been down the paths of Habakkuk and Micah and Nahum and Leviticus and Numbers and Ezra and Amos…

Oh my! God has so much to open our eyes to!

Trust me, our God believes us when we say we don’t understand… and He patiently works with us as He brings us into understanding…

He also knows when our faith muscles are working hard and growing stronger as we strive to focus on what we begin to learn about Him in His Word… He also understands that sometimes faith gets “overworked” and we feel like our heads are going to explode as we try to take all of Him in… and He knows when to slow us for a moment so we can rub it all in.

He also does not laugh at us when we explain our fears of His hand upon us… it can be scary thing as we place our lives in the path of obedience before our God… that’s why faith is a mandatory requirement. Sometimes we can even be scared to open His Word… scared to learn about ourselves through the eyes of a knowing God. It can be scary to open up His Word and as you read it to discover things about your God and the history of His hand that doesn’t seem to make sense to us… especially when we begin to see that it is different than what we have been taught all our life and we have to choose to take God at His Word or to remain in the shadow of what we have always been told… We want to say, I will see what I can see and that’s all that I will see.

However, the fact just simply is that, some things we just can’t see until someone shows us they are there. So go ahead and take the plunge, open the Word, and let God have His way with you. Sit before Him, and let Him shine His Light right into the eyes of your soul… He has a plan, just for you, just for your situation, He will take the time to listen and He will take you one step at a time into His glory… He wants you to see.

So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.

Revelation 3:18

Sometimes the scariest and most stubborn obstacle to overcome is just to admit that we are blind (John 9:39-41). But oh, once we admit, and once we see, how amazing the freedom of truth and sight can be… seeing as we are seen… knowing as we are known… how beautiful grace becomes! Amazing!