Family Sunday School Week One

By March 28, 2020

“I’ve Never Hung out with My Family this much Before.”

– First Church Member, 17

For all of the struggles, anxieties, and challenges of this season, it has offered a lot of First Church an unexpected gift: family time.

Our church’s normal Sunday morning rhythm consisted of age-segregated ministries and staff – children, youth and adults all experienced faith formation in unique ways – which is good! It allowed us to create specialized content and focus on the uniqueness of each of those life-stages. But now, our Sunday mornings look different. Many of our families are in their pajamas, on the couch, worshipping together. Which is something we didn’t always do before.

You’re still going to be getting tons of age-level-based content from youth and children’s ministries. We’ve pulled Mister Mark out of retirement temporarily to create daily Together Time videos for young children, and Youth Ministries is active on social media and online, producing new content and ways to connect every day (follow us on Instagram @fumcfwyouth and Facebook at FUMC Fort Worth Youth Ministries). Adult Sunday school classes are now hosted on Zoom! But also, in this season where we are worshipping together more than usual, we wanted to create a quick guide for talking about faith together!

Attached to this email you’ll find a really simple guide for talking about this week’s scripture themes as a family, with questions directed at adults, teenagers, and children to talk through as you take a walk together. This is no big, homeschooling schedule, just a quick guide to a conversation around faith that you maybe wouldn’t have had time for before now!

Know that we are thinking about you, praying for you, and here to help resource and support you in any way we can!

Love,
Children’s, Youth, and Adult Education Ministries

Family Sunday School Week 1

Topic: Jesus is The Way

Introduction:

Today, after worship, take a walk with your family. For families with older children, maybe this is a walk through the neighborhood, and for younger children, maybe just through the yard. Pets are more than welcome.

In John 14, Jesus explains to his disciples that they will have to follow him to his Father’s house. They are confused and ask how they can follow him if they don’t know the way. Jesus responds, “I am the way…”

Take some time as a family to talk about how Jesus leads us, and what it means to follow the way, with these questions. Have this document, and these questions, pulled up on your phone to talk about while you walk.

Questions:

For the Adults (ask each other or have an older child ask):

  • When was a time you felt lost? Where did you look for guidance?
  • When do you feel like God has led you somewhere? How did you know?

For the Teenagers (have a younger child ask if possible):

  • What’s a time when you felt like you knew what God wanted you to do? What happened?
  • Where do you feel God is leading you next?

For Children:

  • What do you do when you feel lost?
  • How do you think Jesus can help us when we’re lost?

For Everyone:

  • What’s one question in your life that you wish God would lead you to an answer to?
  • Rest of the family, how would you answer that question?
  • Rest of the family, how do you think God might answer that question?