The Mission | the Unfolding Story of God's Redemptive Purpose (Family Devotional)Sample

CONNECT

Prepare:

• Strips of colored paper
• Pens, markers, or crayons
• Clear tape

Give each person a strip of paper and ask them to write or draw a blessing they have received from God. Examples could be your family, your friends, your home, the food you eat, your health, Jesus, or anything you are grateful for. If any family member wants more strips, they can have as many as they need.

After everyone is done, take one strip, loop it around, and tape the ends together to form the first link of your chain. Take another strip, loop it through the first link, and tape the ends of the paper together to form the second link. Continue adding strips in the same way until you’ve created a “chain of blessings” that represents all the ways God has blessed your family.

You may keep the chain and add to it every day, writing down or drawing whatever blessing you have received that day. Watch your chain grow and see how much God has blessed your family.

READ THE WORD

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation . . . and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:1–3

It is very interesting how the first chapters in the book of Genesis—from the stories of Adam, Cain and Abel, Noah, to the Tower of Babel—narrate human sinfulness. Yet in chapter 12, instead of speaking against mankind, God declares a blessing, that through Abraham, all families on earth will be blessed. But God’s plan was bigger than Abraham: to bless all nations through him. And this is not just to bless us so that we have good things around us. It is more than fruitfulness, fullness, abundance, peace, prosperity, long life, a thriving land, and a growing family. Above all, it is life lived in harmony with God, experiencing His glory through the Holy Spirit (Galatians 3:14).

HUDDLE

Parent/s to Kid/s

2–6 years old

• What promise did God give Abraham?
• Think of a blessing God has given you and tell your family about it.

7–12 years old

• What do you think is God’s greatest blessing to you?
• How can you be a blessing to your family and your community?

Kid/s to Parent/s

• How has God blessed you?
• What can we do as a family to join God’s mission and bless other nations?

God’s promise to Abraham shows His heart for the world. Through Jesus, who came from Abraham’s family, we now receive His salvation, which is God’s biggest blessing to us. But God’s plan to bless doesn’t just include us; He wants us to share it so that others can know Him, too. When we share God’s love—helping someone in need or praying for others—we can join in His mission to bring His blessing to the nations.

PRAY

Dear God, thank You for the promise to Abraham, to bless him and the nations through him. Thank You for sending Jesus on His mission to die for us on the cross. Today, we are restored to You because of it and we become recipients of Your blessing to Abraham as well. Teach us to run this mission with You, to courageously tell others about You, and to obediently go when You tell us to. Give us the heart to always be a blessing to others. In Jesus’ name, amen!