Sterling Severns Children's Formation, Rule of Life

Going Deeper: Exploration of Romans 3:1-20 with Your Children

Dear Parents:

Faith conversations with children can be full of wonder and curiosity. This guide is here to help you continue—or start—those conversations with your child about the big ideas we’ve been reflecting on Romans 3:1-20. The goal isn’t to arrive at perfect answers but to encourage your child to ask questions, reflect, and engage creatively. We want these conversations to be a fun and meaningful part of your family’s daily life.

As your family begins to build a “rule of life”—a shared rhythm that makes space for God—remember that this is a journey, not a sprint. You don’t have to use the whole guide at once. Here are some ideas to help spark creativity:

  • Pick just one question to explore this week.
  • Invite your child to respond through drawing or storytelling.
  • Think of a Jesus Follower your child enjoys spending time with. Maybe they can join in a conversation or share their thoughts.

Let’s take this journey one step at a time and enjoy the process!

Key Themes from the Sermon

1. Everyone Makes Mistakes (Romans 3:10)
We all make mistakes, and no one is perfect—that’s something Paul reminds us of in Romans 3. It’s okay to mess up. God knows we aren’t perfect, and He loves us no matter what. The important thing is to be honest when we make mistakes and trust that God will always help us start fresh.

2. God’s Treasure in Us (2 Corinthians 4:7)
Paul says that we carry God’s love like a treasure inside us. Even though we aren’t perfect, we are still very special to God. Like a clay jar with cracks, it’s sometimes through our mistakes that God’s love shines through us. God made us to share His love with the world, even when we don’t feel perfect.

3. We Are Loved Even When We Mess Up (Romans 3:3-4)
Paul also reminds us that when we aren’t faithful, God is still faithful. God’s love doesn’t depend on us getting everything right. Even when we make mistakes, God is always ready to forgive us and love us through it.

Reflection Questions for Children

These questions are meant to be fun, simple, and open-ended. Let your child share their thoughts and ideas. Feel free to add some hands-on activities like drawing or storytelling to make the experience more engaging.

  • God’s Treasure in Us: We learned that God’s love is like a treasure we carry inside us, even though we aren’t perfect. Can you think of something special you love that you’d want to share with a friend? How can you share God’s love with others this week?
    • Activity Idea: Draw a picture of a “clay jar” and talk about what treasures (like love, kindness, or friendship) God has placed in your heart.
  • Missing the Mark: Sin was explained as “missing the mark,” like aiming for something but not hitting it. Can you think of a time you tried to do something right but it didn’t go the way you planned? What did you learn from that? How do you think God feels about you when you make mistakes?
  • Feeling Loved by God: We sang Father Abraham in Sunday school, and it reminds us that we’re all part of God’s family. How does it feel to know you are loved by God, even when you make mistakes? What’s one way you can show someone else that they are loved by God too?
  • Making Mistakes and Being Forgiven: Everyone makes mistakes, and that’s okay! Can you think of a time when you made a mistake and someone forgave you? How did that feel? Remember, God forgives us too, and He helps us start fresh every time.

Spiritual Practice: Create a “Treasure Jar”

This week’s practice is hands-on and creative, designed to help children understand that they carry God’s love, even when they don’t feel perfect.

How to Do It:

  • Get a simple jar (or make one from paper) and label it “Treasure Jar.”
  • Throughout the week, encourage your child to put slips of paper in the jar with one thing they’ve done to show God’s love to others. It could be sharing a toy, helping a friend, or saying something kind.
  • At the end of the week, open the jar together and celebrate all the ways God’s love has shone through them.
  • Finish with a simple prayer: “God, thank you for helping us share your love with others. Even when we make mistakes, we know your love is always with us.”

Conclusion

Remember, these conversations are meant to be enjoyable and part of your family’s growing rhythm. Take it slow—there’s no need to rush through all the questions or activities at once. The important thing is creating space for your child to reflect and express their faith in their own way. As you build this “rule of life” together, celebrate the small moments and enjoy the journey.

Additional Reflection Guides on Romans 3:1-20

Going Deeper: Exploration of Romans 3:1-20 with your Teen
Adult Reflection Guide: Romans 3:1-20
tbc Church Business

A Note to Parents from TCCC Director Kristen OSullivan

Dear Parents,

I hope this finds you well. Or well enough considering. Please know you are doing enough. There is enough newness going on in every home that it is going to be a challenge, no matter what. Now IS the time to slow the pace, look deeply into today’s activity, and be present. Children everywhere are experiencing the same lack of routine, lack of academics, lack of socialization. So there is not a hill for them to slide down. It’s a level, inclusive field. Teachers will meet the children where they are. It will be ok.

Your children need your love, joy, and company. Be mindful to show delight on your face when they walk in the room, even if frustration or defeat is the reality. Fake it if you have to because they will remember how you felt. How your expressions and tone made them feel. Not the letters you practiced after breakfast, the dishwasher yet to be emptied (again), or the laundry forgotten in the washer (again).

…For tomorrow shall care for itself.

Struggle is universal. We all have bad: days, moments, meetings, failures, bedtimes, car rides, heartbreak, workouts, and illness. Every single one of us has a story. And no one gets out of life scot-free without the struggle. Two things: do not Compare Your Struggles and sometimes the best thing you can do is Compare Your Struggles. Here’s what I mean.

Daily bad days, pain, trials, and disappointments loom. For you, today may be one of the darkest hours or the deepest of melancholy. So go ahead, wallow in it. Wrap yourself up in it and live it. For two minutes a day.

Yep, all you get is two minutes each day. Scream, cry, whine, or kick people in the shin. Make these two minutes count. Go ahead and make some noise. Because you get two minutes and then you are done. Then it is time to move on and put a pin in it for tomorrow. Tomorrow if the pain is still there–go ahead; wallow in it. Wrap yourself up in it. For two minutes. 

And when the two minute timer goes off and you can’t stop the despair? If once the tears start, you can’t turn it off? Well, then it is actually time to compare. It is time to look over at the Joneses or toward the greener grasses and consider their two minutes. Have they lost a loved one? Are their children hungry or hurting? Are they alone? Are they at risk simply doing their job? Is their pain irreparable? Consider another, saying two prayers. One for others and one of gratitude. Then put a pin in til tomorrow. 

I know it’s not easy. But it is possible. Moving on daily may be tiny, but it’s a huge step you have to retake everyday. In this pandemic, you deserve your two minutes, to scream, cry, whine, or kick people in the shin. Allow it and then regard the two minutes of others. You will find humility and grace recognizing we all have bad: days, moments, meetings, failures, bedtimes, car rides, heartbreak, workouts, and illness. Your prayers for tomorrow are always at hand, but worry is wasted. 

Care not then for tomorrow. For tomorrow shall care for itself. The day has enough with its own grief. Matthew 6:34

Kristen

tbc Church Business, Media

Update: Nominating Committee Vote

Next Sunday, October 20, we will vote on recommendations for members of the Nominating Committee, who will nominate candidates for 2020 Officers, Deacons, and Committees, as well as an addendum about the Nominating Process. In preparation for that vote, we are releasing this podcast, which presents a few different perspectives. We hope that you will listen and give some thought to your options this week to inform your vote.

Our Officers, Deacons, and Committees help to manage all of the administration involved in the operation of a church, as well as leading us forward in Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, and Mission as we grow and follow Jesus together. We are grateful for all of those who serve in these roles, and all of the ways each member of our TBC family adds to the life of our church. We value your input and participation as we work to steward all of our resources – including members’ time and talents – well.

tbc Church Business

Holy Week 2019 in Pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessing the Bread, the Cup
For Holy Thursday

Let us bless the bread
that gives itself to us
with its terrible weight,
its infinite grace.

Let us bless the cup
poured out for us
with a love
that makes us anew.

Let us gather
around these gifts
simply given
and deeply blessed.

And then let us go
bearing the bread,
carrying the cup,
laying the table
within a hungering world.

 

 

 

Still
For Good Friday

This day
let all stand still
in silence,
in sorrow.

Sun and moon
be still.

Earth
be still.

Still
the waters.

Still
the wind.

Let the ground
gape in stunned lamentation.

 

 

Blessing for a Broken Vessel
For Holy Saturday

Do not despair.
You hold the memory
of what it was
to be whole.

It lives deep
in your bones.
It abides
in your heart
that has been torn
and mended
a hundred times.
It persists
in your lungs
that know the mystery
of what it means
to be full,
to be empty,
to be full again.

I am not asking you
to give up your grip
on the shards you clasp
so close to you

but to wonder
what it would be like
for those jagged edges
to meet each other
in some new pattern
that you have never imagined,
that you have never dared
to dream.

 

 

Seen
For Easter Day

You had not imagined
that something so empty
could fill you
to overflowing,

and now you carry
the knowledge
like an awful treasure
or like a child
that curls itself
within your heart:

how the emptiness
will bear forth
a new world
you cannot fathom
but on whose edge
you stand.

So why do you linger?
You have seen,
and so you are
already blessed.
You have been seen,
and so you are
the blessing.

There is no other word
you need.
There is simply
to go
and tell.
There is simply
to begin.

 

 

Blessings by Jan Richardson.