Pinky Promise?
Do you keep your promises?
In the next part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us about what it means to make a promise and keep it!
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We’re still looking at Jesus’ famous teaching, THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
Today we’re still looking at the sermon on the mount Jesus’ famous teaching and he talks in Matthew 5v33-37 about what it means to keep a promise.
Now for those who are unsure a promise is like a statement that you want to be true and you will ’promise’ to keep it as something that’s true.
But promises can be hard to keep and we don’t always stick by them.
God however ALWAYS keeps his promises and he made a lot of them which we see in the bible. Let’s take a look at just a few
Philippians 4:19: My God will supply all my needs.
This promise means that God knows what we need. Things we actually need not just want. God looks after us and always will. We can trust God to provide for us in the future.
1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, He will forgive our sins.
We all do things wrong. But if we say sorry to God, he will always ALWAYS forgive us. We can never do anything so bad that God won’t forgive us for it – that is amazing! When we feel guilty, we just have to say sorry.... and that is the end of it!
Joshua 1:9: I am the Lord your God, and I will be with you to help you wherever you go.
God promises to help us when we need it. Where do you need help right now? God is always with us! If we need God to help us we only have to ask him.
Romans 8:28: We know that God is always working for the good of those who love him.
Sometimes things go all wrong and we get very upset. It often helps to know that God knows all these things, and even while things are bad, we know that God is doing something special.... and one day we will understand!
THIS LINK has even more of God’s promises from the bible, it’s amazing! God’s promises are amazing and he will never EVER break it.
Today we’re thinking about the promises that we make and how we can be better at making these and whether we should or not. How do people show that they REALLY mean a promise – what do people say to show that their promise is a REAL promise?
Do you make pinky promises or do you say I swear it on… and then name something really important to you?
In Jesus’ day – and right up until recently – people used to swear by someone’s name to show that they really meant what they said. These days when people go to give evidence in a court they will swear on the bible or something of big importance to prove that when they speak it will be the truth.
“You have heard that it was said
to our people long ago,
‘When you make a promise, don’t break your promise.
Keep the promises that you make to the Lord.’
But I tell you, never make an oath.
Don’t make an oath using the name of heaven, because heaven is God’s throne.
Don’t make an oath using the name of the earth, because the earth belongs to God.
Don’t make an oath using the name of Jerusalem, because that is the city of the great King.
And don’t even say that your own head is proof that you will keep your oath. You cannot make one hair on your head become white or black. Say only ‘yes’ if you mean ‘yes,’ and say only ‘no’ if you mean ‘no.’ If you must say more than ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ it is from the Evil One.”
What did you think of this passage? It’s a little tricky to get our head around but it’s all about what it means to make promises or oaths.
In this passage what does Jesus say about making promises?
He uses the word oaths which is like an even BIGGER promise that someone makes.
Jesus said we should be honest in everything we say – so if we say “yes” everyone knows we will do what we have said yes to!
Jesus is saying that instead of making promises we should just be true to what we say in the first place. We need to be trustworthy and truthful at all times so that we don’t need to make promises because people will believe us anyway!
“Do not swear at all – let your yes be yes and your no be no.”
Are you good at being truthful or do people struggle to trust you?
Promises are ways that we try to prove how honest or truthful we are but actually we don’t need them to prove how honest or truthful we are.
God can help us to be honest and tell the truth.
GO DEEPER!
SPARKS (Preschool)
Do you know what a promise is?
All sorts of people make promises.
Why don’t we spend some time having fun ressing up. Dress up as Kings or Queens. If you don’t have a play dress or jacket to put on why don’t you make a crown.
What promises do Kings and Queens make? They promise to rule their people well and to look after people.
Do Kings and Queens keep their promises? Most of them try, but sometimes they make mistakes and people are unhappy.
Do yo make promises? Are you good at keeping them? Maybe you promise to eat all your dinner or tidy up your toys. But do you keep these promises?
Here’s a few more of God’s promises:
He promises to give us the things we need.
He promises he will always be with us.
He promises that he has a plan for us – he knows what will happen to us.
He promises that we will be his children.
We learnt this morning that God also makes promises but the difference is he ALWAYS keeps them.
Finish now by saying this prayer.
“Dear God,
Thank you that you
keep your promises.
Thank you that you are always good to us and
care for us.
Help me to keep the promises I make and
help me to be a good truthful person who
others can trust
Amen.”
FLAMES (KS1)
What have you learnt this morning about promises?
Is there anything that has really stuck out to you?
Let’s look now at a story all about promises from the bible. As you look at this story think about who makes the promises and who keeps them.
In Genesis we meet a man called Abraham.
When Abraham was quite young, God made him a promise. This promise was that God was going to make him the leader of a huge family – an enormous family! There was only one problem – Abraham hadn’t got any children. But he trusted God.
Abraham got older. He still trusted that God would give him a huge family... but he still didn’t have any children.
As he got older and older Abraham started to think that maybe God’s promise wouldn’t come true.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust God but that as Abraham got older he new it would be more and more unlikely that he’d actually be able to have a baby with his wife.
When Abraham was 100 years old – his son was born. Abraham had to wait a number of years but God did keep his promise!
How do you think Abraham felt when he finally had his son? Would it have been hard for him to trust God for all that time?
God did keep his promise to Abraham. Abraham’s son was called Isaac.
Isaac married and had twin boys, Jacob and Esau.
Esau married three women and had 5 sons.
Jacob married 4 women and had 12 sons and at least 1 daughter.
Can you work out how many children and grandchildren and great grandchildren and great grandchildren Abraham had in total!?
Can they see how God’s promise to Abraham came true? These descendants and those in Abraham’s family kept marrying and having children meaning today there are millions of Jews all part of Abraham’s family.
It took a long time, but God kept his promise to Abraham.
God will help us too keep our promises but like we said this morning God wants us more than anything to be truthful people.
Think now about the last time you told a lie.
You might want to go say sorry to the person you lied to and make it right.
Finish by making the promise below. This is an okay promise to make because it says we will try our best to do these things and even if we get it wrong remember this promise from God: he will always forgive us.
make a promise now to God that you will try to be more truthful and more honest.
BLAZE (KS2)
Was there anything that surprised you about Jesus’ teaching about promises?
Jesus teaches us about how important our words are and how we need to stand by what we say.
Do you remember this phrase that we talked about before?
“Let your YES be YES
and your NO be NO.”
How would you best explain this?
This phrase is all about truth. Jesus wants us to be people that are truthful and honest.
Have you ever made a promise that you have broken?
What was the promise and why did you break it?
What caused you to break your promise?
Think about how you could have kept the promise – or why it was a silly promise to make?
Sometimes we make promises we know we can’t keep or just because we are human we forget or it was a silly thing to try and promise in the first place.
But God isn’t like us. He never ever breaks any of his promises.
Can you name any of God’s promises you know?
Remembering God’s promises helps us when we are struggling or facing hard times. It helps us remember who God is and the truth about him.
Here are few you might want to remember:
God loves you more than you know.
There is nothing you can do to stop God loving you.
God will never give up on you or let you down.
God is faithful and trustworthy
Instead of keeping promises all the time Jesus wants us to be truthful.
Here are some helpful things to remember about promises:
We shouldn’t promise to do something every day – only say that you will try to do it.
Wee must write myself a note so that we don’t forget to pray for people when we promise to do so.
We shouldn’t make promises when we’re angry with people.
God will help us too keep our promises but like we said this morning God wants us more than anything to be truthful people.
Think now about the last time you told a lie.
You might want to go say sorry to the person you lied to and make it right.
Finish by making the promise below. This is an okay promise to make because it says we will try our best to do these things and even if we get it wrong remember this promise from God: he will always forgive us.
make a promise now to God that you will try to be more truthful and more honest.
FUN ACTIVITIES + CRAFTS!
For those who LOVE colouring and activity sheets check these out:
Create a rainbow
You could get create and do this however you want. When we look at the rainbow it reminds us to the story of Noah and the promises God makes to him and his future people.THIS WEBSITE has 22 ways you could make a rainbow so why not pick one or a few options and have fun creating some lovely rainbow art! I particularly like numbers 1, 4, 5, 11 and 18!
Create a promise jar.
This is a great idea to help you remember the promises that God makes to us.
THIS WEBSITE shows what it should look like but you might want to use the COMPASSION WEBSITE I mentioned before to gather the promises you want to put in the jar.
WORSHIP + PRAYER
Sing over yourself the promises of God and remember that he will never ever let you down.
Created by Amy Farrar using several different sources including energize.net
