PACT for the second week of December

Faith Believing without Seeing Items needed: empty water or soda bottle, paper towel Do a simple experiment to show that things exist (air), even though we can't see them. Take an empty water or soda bottle and lay it down horizontally on a table. Carefully set a small wadded up ball of paper towel in the mouth of the bottle. (The ball should be about half the size of the opening.) Challenge kids to blow the ball of paper into the bottle.  Why is this so impossible? The bottle is already filled - with air. You’re trying to force more air into the bottle, but there’s no room for the air already inside to go except back out the mouth of the bottle, taking the paper ball with it. (For more fun experiments about air pressure go here.) Can you see air? No, but you can see the effects of air through the leaves blowing and limbs swaying. Can you see God? No, but we can see the things that He has made and see that He is at work in the world, answering prayers and helping people. Faith is believing in God, although we can't see Him. We believe that there is one true God who made the world and everything in it. We believe that He loves us and wants to have a friendship with us. What are some ways we can know about God? (we can look at creation and see that if there is a world, there must be a world maker, we can read in the Bible about Him and the miracles He did, we can talk to Him and He will answer our prayers, we can ask forgiveness and know that He will save us, etc.)   Where Is Your Faith? Rustle everyone to the dining room and climb up on the table. Tell them that the table is going to take all of you to the ice cream store (depending on the ages of your kids, you can pretend to start it as you would a car). Could this table drive us to the store? (No matter how much you believed that the table could drive you to the store, it can't!) Gather everyone out to the car and tell them the car is going to take you to the ice cream store (or wherever you choose). Could this car get us to the store? Yes.  Why? It has done so in the past. It has proven that it is reliable and able to make it to the store. Drive to the store and enjoy a treat. Talk about it. Does it matter what you put your faith in? Yes! No matter how much we believed that the table could get us to the store, it couldn't. We must put our faith in the right place. Students learned about Rahab's faith in the One True God, who created the world. There were many false gods that Rahab could have believed in, but they would not have saved her. It is not enough to have faith; we must put our faith in a reliable source - GOD! How do we know that Rahab had faith? (she hung the red rope outside her window just as the spies told her to do and she gathered her family into her house so they could also be saved) Faith in Action Students in the upper elementary classes were challenged to live out their faith each day. Maybe the whole family would like to join the challenge. Monday - God loves you; love Him back. Today's mission is to say, "I love you and show it by putting Him first today. Think about Him several times today. Tuesday - Today's mission is to show that you believe in prayer by PRAYING! Take five minutes in the morning to pray. Praise Him, thank Him, and ask Him for what you need. Wednesday - Do you believe the Bible is true? Show that you believe it by reading and obeying it today. Thursday - Do you believe that God will take care of your needs?  Show that you have faith in Him and give a tenth of your allowance as an offering to Him. Friday - Do you believe that Jesus is the way to heaven? Show that you have faith by telling someone, "Jesus is the way to heaven. Would you like to know more about Him?" Saturday - Are you glad that God saved you? Invite someone to church with you to hear the good news. We show that we have faith by the things that we DO.