Kamp Kids Book of John StudySample

Jesus knew His disciples were fearful. These poor guys were probably traumatized by watching their best friend and teacher die such a cruel death on the cross. Now, He has risen from the dead and they have seen Him walking and talking. I bet they were fearful of how the Jewish leaders were going to react and they might be wondering, "which one of us will they next try to kill?" Jesus joins them and twice tells them: “Peace be with you”. Jesus doesn’t want His followers to be afraid.  

Have you ever doubted Jesus? You are in good company. We see many great people in the Bible. like John the Baptist, asking, " Is this really you, Jesus?". Here we have Thomas (I want to know where he has been the past week) telling the disciples that unless he sees and touches Jesus, he refuses to believe. 

Jesus returns to the house and visits Thomas and Jesus reassures Thomas that it really is Him! Then Jesus talks to us. He says, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” That’s us! We are blessed when we believe without seeing. A lot of following Jesus is trusting what He says is true even when you don’t see how it can be. 

For example, I had a dream to take some of my students to Kids Across America Camp but didn’t see how that would happen. We didn’t have the money or resources and yet I trusted that if God was telling me to bring kids, He would provide. God doesn’t want us to just follow blindly. He has given us plenty of evidence to confirm that what He is saying is true. 

2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We walk by faith not by sight.” This just means that the Spirit of God should be the filter for our will (what we do), not our physical bodies (what we can see, touch, smell, hear, taste). If God tells us to do something but we let our physical bodies tell us “it can’t happen,” then we are not walking in faith. 

Questions:

1. What are some doubts you have had about God?

2. What are some areas in your faith you want to grow?