Faithful Friends
Are you a good friend?
We’re still looking at the Sermon on the Mount and this week Jesus talks about what it means to be faithful in our relationships, so what it means to be a good friend.
The service starts at 9:30am on stwderby.online.church
But this button will go live Sunday afternoon on 30th May for you to watch the service again if you missed it live! You won’t want to miss out!
Hope you enjoyed our Werb’s Kids Service this morning!!
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We’re still looking at The Sermon on the Mount which is one of Jesus’ most famous teachings in the bible. We’ve looked at lots of different teachings within this and this week Jesus talks and teaches us about relationships and what it means to be faithful in this.
Being faithful is when someone is loyal or trustworthy and true. You can depend on them to not let you down.
So I wonder how faithful you think you are!?
This morning we looked at some questions which helped us work out how faithful we are with things!
HERE is the full questionnaire should you want to answer more of the questions!
The scoring works as follows:
1 point for every A
2 points for every B
4 points for every C
Once you’ve finished this add up your score.
If you got less than 15:
You are quite happy to please yourself and let everyone else pick up the pieces! You need to be careful not to be selfish, you need to remember other people and that sometimes we need to do things for them and not just ourselves. Try to think more about other people and think of ways that you can help them. You will have better friends if they feel that they can trust you to be there for them if need be.
If you got between 15 and 25:
A lot of the time you like to do what you want, but you can see the need to help other people, even if it means putting yourself out. Being faithful means being reliable and doing the things that you have promised or been asked to do. You are beginning to be faithful in some areas. Look at the things that you can't be bothered with at the moment and see what improvements you can make.
If you got between 25 and 40:
You are a faithful person. When you promise to do something, you do it and you do it well.
When you make a commitment you stick to it and you put your friends first. Being a faithful friend sometimes means telling people things that they don't want to hear, and you are able to do that as well. Well done! Keep it up!
We can also link being faithful to being being reliable.
And not just in the little things but also in the bigger things. Are you good at this? Or are you only important to be reliable and faithful in important big things?
What do you think? I think we should be reliable and faithful in all things.
Faithfulness also means reliability – if we are faithful that means that we will do things as well as we can and keep our promises.
Today we looked at Jonathan and David. Two faithful friends in the bible.
You might want to go back and look at the story again from our service this morning or check out THIS video which helps explain their friendship!
I think this is such an amazing story about friendship.
Jonathan stuck by David, his friend, even at the hardest moments. He was faithful to David and helped keep him safe because his father was so jealous of him.
Jonathan even valued his friendship more than being King.
His dad was king and so Jonathan would have been next in line but David had been chosen instead. Jonathan valued his friendship above everything else and so made sure David was looked after even when his dad wanted to hurt him.
Jonathan was a faithful friend even when things got tough for David. He was a friend through the good and the bad!
Jesus too was a GREAT friend but he had some friends that he was closer to than others. Remember he had the 12 disciples and then within them he had 3 best friends who he was even closer with.
So do you think you are a good friend?
Are you reliable? What could you do to be better?
It’s so important to show others what it means to be a good friend. Have a little think now about what it means to be a good friend and then go deeper below!
GO DEEPER!
SPARKS (Preschool)
What do you remember about our story today?
It was about 2 special friends called David and Jonathan.
They were FAITHFUL FIRIENDS who cared for each other and tried to never let each other down. They were loyal and very good friends even when things were hard.
What do you think it means to be a good friend? Can you name some things you do when you’re a good friend?
God is always our faithful friend. He will always be there for us in every good and bad time.
God wants to be your friend, just like he was friends with people in Bible. Can you think of any other people in the bible who were God’s friend?
Just like these people we can talk to God about everything!.
As you play today or this week remember that God is with you and say this prayer reminding yourself that God is your friend and to help you be a better friend to those around you.
“Dear God,
Thank you that you are
our friend and never let us down.
Thank you that you are with me when I have fun.
Thank you for my friends and that we can have fun playing together.
Help me to be a good listener and a good friend.
Amen.”
FLAMES (KS1)
Are you able to recall what happened in the story?
What made David and Jonathan such faithful friends?
What do you think makes someone faithful?
Think about the other words we used before: loyal, never let you down, constant, true, committed and trustworthy etc.
If you are struggling think about what makes someone a good friend.
You could do this fun activity whilst you think about it; you’ll need a pile of sticks or twigs, some paper, some pens and cellotape.
As you think about the good qualities in your friends, so what you like about their friends, what they have learned from their friends and so on.
Things like being a good listener, being generous, kind, funny, intelligent, honest etc.
Write each of these things on a piece of paper and then attach them to the sticks/pipe cleaners using tape.
Build a tall 'friendship tower' by Sticking these together to make tall structure!
You’ll see that the tower will be stronger the more good qualities you can name. Let this be a reminder that the more good qualities there are in a friendship, the better (taller!) the friendship can be.
Look back over those qualities and see which ones you would see in yourself. Are there any that you think you don’t have?
Take some time and close your eyes and think of a way that you are faithful and a good friend.
Now think of a way that you need to be more faithful to others, to your duties or to God.
You might decide you need to be faithful in feeding or looking after your pets, or faithful in tidying your room, or faithful in reading the Bible and praying.
Grab some paper and make yourself a promise card. Whatever thing you think you need to be more faithful in write or draw that thing on your card.
Make a little table inside or on the bottom and name the boxes the days of the week.
(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday)
Every time you are faithful that day in completing your thing put a tick in the box! But if you don’t manage it then leave it blank. See how often you can be faithful and if you can fill all the boxes with ticks!
BLAZE (KS2)
How well can you remember the story? Could you act it out now??
Jonathan and David were faithful to each other and were amazing friends. God too is an amazing faithful friend.
Choose one or two of these passages and look at these questions:
When we work what should our attitude be?
How hard should we work?
Should we work just as hard when we are being watched as we do when we are alone?
Why should we be faithful in what we do?
Who do you work for at home or at school?
Do you need to be more faithful in the way you work?
Proverbs 27:6 and Galatians 6:1
What does the writer of Proverbs mean when he talks about the “wounds” you might get from a friend?
Why might you sometimes need to say something to your friend that isn't nice to hear?
What sort of things might your friends do that are wrong?
If your friend is doing something you know is wrong, what should you do to help them?
Colossians 4:14 and 2 Timothy 4:10
What does Paul say about Demas in the two passages? What has changed?
Demas had been a faithful friend to Paul. Why had he stopped being a friend?
Do you think Demas was still being faithful to God?
What lessons can we learn from Demas?
How can we make sure that we stay faithful?
We see in some of these passages the importance of faithfulness in friendship.
We too need to be faithful in our friendships.
Take some time and close your eyes and think of a way that you are faithful and a good friend.
Now think of a way that you need to be more faithful to others, to your duties or to God.
You might decide you need to be faithful in feeding or looking after your pets, or faithful in tidying your room, or faithful in reading the Bible and praying.
Grab some paper and make yourself a promise card. Whatever thing you think you need to be more faithful in write or draw that thing on your card.
Make a little table inside or on the bottom and name the boxes the days of the week.
(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday)
Every time you are faithful that day in completing your thing put a tick in the box! But if you don’t manage it then leave it blank. See how often you can be faithful and if you can fill all the boxes with ticks!
FUN ACTIVITIES + CRAFTS!
For those who LOVE colouring and activity sheets check these out:
Can you see faithfulness in you?
Create your own binoculars using 2 loo roll tubes and some string. Don’t forget to decorate!
Use your binoculars to look for faithfulness. What does it look like? What are you looking for? Can you see it in yourself and those around you?Friendship craft
Make something for a friend. What do your best friends like? How can you show them you really care about them but that you promise to be faithful and loyal to them?
Here’s some ideas:make some cookies
make them a bracelet or necklace
write them a letter or make a card
buy them a gift or give them something special that belongs to you
God is always faithful to us. And in the bible he was faithful too especially to Noah.
You probably know the story of Noah’s Ark and know about the rainbow promise God makes. This rainbow symbolises God’s faithfulness. So let’s make a rainbow!
HERE is a great website with several different craft ideas.
WORSHIP + PRAYER
Listen to this song all about what a great friend Jesus is.
Can you make a list of why Jesus is such a good friend?
Let me help you start - he’s faithful and won’t ever let us down. He will be our friend forever.
Thank God for his friendship and how reliable he is. Now think about how you can be a great friend like Jesus.
Created by Amy Farrar using several different sources including energize.net
