Faith Over Fear
Hello Werb’s Kids and Parents!
How are we all doing? Things in the news are changing every day and some of us might be worried and fearful about what the future holds. None of us have ever experienced anything like this before and so it is “into the unknown” as Elsa from Frozen would say! (I'm expecting you now to be singing “Into The Unknown” from Frozen 2)
One thing we do need to remember is that we are in this together and although our fears may be stronger than ever, we need to hold onto our faith and this is what we are going to talk about today!
I find when I’m most fearful, worship helps me sing words of truth over myself to help me face my fears and worries. Worship helps remind me who God is and how He is bigger than anything I’m scared of.
There are playlists on Spotify (Adults and Kids) and the same on Youtube (Adults and Kids) that you can access during this time. I encourage you to push back the furniture, make some space, and dance your heart out for God!
I’ve loved being sent videos and photos from some of our families this week! Please remember to keep connected so that we can see what you’re up to and how you’re doing Werb’s At Home by using the hashtags ⧣werbsathome and ⧣werbskids on social media. If you would be happy to share your videos with the wider church and spread some joy, please do let me know.
Love Amy
FAITH OVER FEAR!
In the whole of the Bible, the words “Do Not Fear” appear 365 times! That’s one for every day as there are 365 days in 1 year!
God knows that we get scared and He understands but He does not want us to remain fearful. He tells us, “Do Not Fear”, not because there’s nothing to be afraid of but because of who He is. Not only that but God shows us how to not be afraid and that’s by putting our trust in Him.
God wants you to talk to Him about your fears. Talk to Him now and share what you are afraid of. Once you’ve told God about how big your fears are, don’t forget to tell your fears how big your God is! Sometimes we need to remind ourselves and the fears that we face that they are not bigger than our God. God is still in control even when things seem crazy and chaotic.
Why not make a list of the things you might be afraid of or things others might be afraid of?
Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
Heights
Spiders
Illness
Bugs
Death
Getting fat
Getting old
Talking to people
Walking outside
Someone finding out that they've told a lie
Water (for those who can’t swim)
Once you have your list, PLAY A GAME: Either take it turns to mime a fear and get others to guess what it is OR using play dough/salt dough, create something that represents that fear.
Fear is natural and common, and it's good to know your fears so that you can deal with them and overcome them. But what we need to remember is that there are some good fears and some bad fears.
A Good Fear, for example, is being scared of getting run over by a car which results in us taking care when crossing the road. Also, having fear of pain and hurting ourselves means that we are careful and keep ourselves safe when we’re using sharp knives or scissors. Being scared of making people ill means that we’ll stay distant from elderly people and those who are older in our own families to help keep them safe from getting the virus.
A Bad Fear though is something that could stop us from doing good things. For example, fear of talking to people could mean that you don't try to make new people welcome, or, if you’re fearful of what people think about you then you’ll never be able to be yourself around others.
A good fear stops you doing something silly like hurting yourself but a bad fear stops you doing something good or something that you know you should do or something that God wants you to do.
Using the list you made, can you work out which are good fears and which are bad fears?
Just because something is a good fear doesn’t mean that we need to get so scared that this then ruins our lives. God wants to give us His courage and strength to work through these fears.
I think God wants to talk to us about fear and how we can face it by having faith.
FAITH MEANS WE TRUST IN GOD BUT WE STILL HAVE OUR PART TO PLAY.
You would wear a seatbelt in the car not because you don’t trust God but because you know it will keep you safe.
You would use oven mitts to get something really hot out of the oven not because you don’t trust God but because you know it will stop you getting burnt. You have smoke detectors in your house not because you don’t trust God but because you know it will keep you safe if there was ever a fire.
Therefore, we need to follow the best guidelines from the government and those in charge about the coronavirus not because we don’t trust God but because we know it will keep us and those we love safe as we are trying to prevent spreading this illness to those people who are at risk of getting seriously ill.
Staying inside and washing our hands are still the best ways for us to join in the fight against the virus. Being indoors may not be the most fun right now but it does mean we can help prevent and stop the virus from hurting people.
All ages:
In the Bible there is a guy called Daniel who has to trust in God at a very scary time. Check his story out in the video below!
How much of the story do you remember?
If you are under 5, draw a picture of something you remember about the story.
If you are older than 5, why not not create your own storyboard to remind yourself what happens in the story and use THIS template to help.
Why not send me or your church friends your pictures when you’re done!?
If you need to remind yourself of the story before you draw, you can read the story in the Jesus Story Book Bible: Daniel and the scary sleepover on page 152. Another great Bible to use is The Lion First Bible (available on Amazon) which has the story of Daniel on page 272.
Alternatively, you can read the book of Daniel in your own Bible! HERE is a link to chapter 6 in the Message version in case you need it.
For those aged 0-7:
How do you think Daniel felt about the new law? Can you pull a face to show how he felt? What did Daniel choose to do? Did he follow the law or keep talking to God? Would you carry on praying to God if you knew praying would get you thrown in with the lions?
Even though praying to God would get Daniel into trouble, he decided it was a bad fear to worry about the new law and instead it was important to keep praying and talking to God.
Daniel was put in the lions’ den because he loved God more than the new law. He was put into a very scary situation. How do you think he felt when he was put in the lions’ den? Can you pull a face to show how he felt?
I bet Daniel was super scared because it’s definitely a good fear to be afraid of a lion as they could have eaten him. But I think Daniel faced his fear by talking to God. I think he spoke to God knowing that he could trust Him and could ask Him to protect him. But, like we said before, I’m sure Daniel had some choices to make. I’m betting that Daniel didn’t get too close to the lions either in order to be sensible in the situation!
Daniel would stay at a distance and not touch or try to pet the lions not because he didn’t trust God but because he knew it would keep him safe!
God kept Daniel safe from the lions! And what is amazing is that because of Daniel’s faith, the King then told the whole nation to trust in God! Daniel’s faith became infectious as people saw how good his God is.
Learn this verse: “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” - Psalm 56:3
For those aged 8 and above:
Daniel was dedicated to following God's will (even if this put his life at risk!) and God rescued him from the lions' den and kept him safe.
God may require us to make difficult decisions when we follow Him, but He promises to give us the strength, courage and faith we need to face whatever comes.
You’re unlikely to ever be in an actual lions’ den but in our world today, right now we need to stay inside. This may be tough and you will be missing your friends and family but as we’ve talked about before, staying inside is to protect us and those who could get really sick from this virus. If you’re really struggling, think of other ways you could stay in contact with friends by writing letters or talk to your parents about ways of phoning or talking to friends.
But most importantly, just like Daniel, we need to keep talking to God. Can you remember how many times each day Daniel spoke to God? How often do you talk to God?
Remember, this doesn’t need to be anything fancy! It can be like a conversation you would have with your best friend. Be honest and open. Share the good, the bad and everything in between - God wants to know! You don’t need to use any fancy words but talk to God now about how you feel now and don’t forget to then listen to what God is saying back. He wants to talk to you.
PARENTS: this is a great opportunity to use the prayer journal we started in the session ‘Warriors Not Worriers’. Ask the questions what do I want to tell God today? What does God want to tell me today?
CRAFT IDEAS!
Make a lion mask!
Get creative and think about how you could make your own OR if you need some help, you could make THIS easy one or try THIS more detailed one!Make a den!
With a parent’s permission, use furniture and blankets to make a den for you to climb in.
If you have a garden, create a mini den outside using sticks and leaves for the bugs outside.
HERE is some help should you need it.Make a stage, some puppets and retell the story!
HERE are the characters you need to cut out and colour in! If you have any cardboard in your recycling, you may wish to stick them to the card to make them a little bit stronger and more sturdy! Don’t forget to make a stage or backdrop to help retell the story.Daniel dared to be different and God protected him. If you choose to be different for God, He will stand by you too. Make sure you ask permission first but you could find an old t-shirt or old bag and make it new and make it different by using pens or any sewing equipment you have at home.
WARNING TO PARENTS: depending on what your children use to decorate the t-shirt, don’t wash them and maybe just let this from now on be their Art shirt!
NEW SONG!
Listen to this song. It’s called “Our God” and is written by Chris Tomlin.
Listen to it carefully and focus on the lyrics in the chorus:
“Our God is greater! Our God is stronger! God, You are higher than any other! Our God is Healer! Awesome in power! Our God!”
What does this mean for us and what we face today? How does singing this song make you feel?
When I sing this song it fills me with confidence and strength from God. I’m reminded that there is nothing bigger or stronger or higher than God. It also reminds me that He’s a healer and so I’m then reminded to pray for those who are ill and need healing.
LET’S PRAY!
As mentioned above, let’s spend some time asking God to heal the world from the coronavirus. You can use GOOGLE EARTH to pray for the world! You can search for countries and see where they are in the world so that you can pray for them better.
As well as praying for the UK and all that’s happening here, there are some countries that are really struggling with the coronavirus that need our prayers.
China (where the virus originated)
Italy
Spain
U.S.A
South Korea
Iran
PUT SOMETHING INTO ACTION: PRAY!
Praying regularly definitely helps so if you’d like to print out a map to put up in your house, you could colour in a country every time you pray for it! HERE is a map outline and HERE is a link to some maps with all the countries labelled if you need it.
Edited and adapted by Amy Farrar from several sources including energize.com
