What happens if we give Love, Faith, and Hope?

Discussion: Hope in Jesus Christ

How does faith, love, and hope effect a Christian's life as described in 1 Thessalonians?

Paul gives us the answer.

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I Thessalonians 1:1-10 (ICB)

Paul starts the book of I Thessalonians by praising the church in  Thessalonica for their good works for the Lord.  Paul says that these good works were done because the Thessalonians had hope in Jesus Christ as their savior.  That hope led to faith that God wanted them to do good things for Him and for their neighbors.  That hope also led to love for doing good in the name of God and Jesus.  

Paul also goes on the remind them that the suffering they endured became a positive example for other Christians.

1 From Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
To the church in Thessalonica, the church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God’s grace and peace be yours.
2 We always remember you when we pray and thank God for all of you. 3 When we pray to God our Father, we always thank him for the things you have done because of your faith. And we thank him for the work you have done because of your love. And we thank him that you continue to be strong because of your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 Brothers, God loves you. And we know that he has chosen you to be his. 5 We brought the Good News to you. But we did not use only words. We brought the Good News with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with sure knowledge that it is true. Also you know how we lived when we were with you. We lived that way to help you. 6 And you became like us and like the Lord. You suffered much, but still you accepted the teaching with the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. 7 So you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Southern Greece. 8 The Lord’s teaching spread from you in Macedonia and Southern Greece. And your faith in God has become known everywhere. So we do not need to say anything about your faith. 9 People everywhere are telling about the good way you accepted us when we were there with you. They tell about how you stopped worshiping idols and changed to serving the living and true God. 10 And you changed to wait for God’s Son to come from heaven. God raised that Son from death. He is Jesus, who saves us from God’s angry judgment that is sure to come.

• 2-4 yr old Craft
• 5-12 yr old Craft

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Marble Maze

Materials:

• Cover of a shoe box
• Stock cards
• Scotch tape
• Scissors
• Stickers
• A marble

Preparation:​

1. On each strip paper, write "Faith" or "Love" or "Hope".
2. ​Tape down in a pattern similar to the image on the right.
3. After assembling, write "God" at the ending of the maze.

Start the marble at the beginning and tilt the box to get the marble to pass through "hope", "Faith", and "Love" to arrive at "God".

Credit: ​https://10minutesofqualitytime.com/marble-maze/

Hope, Faith, Love Plink

Materials:

• A Large box lid
• 7 skewers
• 10 bottle caps
• ​hot glue and glue gun
• Marble or something round of similar size
• Dice

​
Preparation:

1. Poke holes in a the same spot on each side of the long side of your box lid–7 times on each side.
2. Thread a skewer threw the matching holes.
3. Glue a bottle cap to each skewer at differing places along within the box.
4. glue three bottle caps at the bottm.
5. Label the bottle caps: Love, Hope, Faith

How to play:

1. Let your child know that 1-2= Hope, 3-4 = Faith, and 5-6 = Love.
2. Roll the dice. *Whichever number decides which bottlecap at the bottom the child will aim for.
3. Place the marble in the top tier bottle cap.
4. Your child then slides the skewer from right to left to align with the next tier down bottle cap.
5. Your child then twists the skewer to dump the marble into the bottle cap.
6. ​Repeat for each tier until the child gets to the bottom tier.  Here they must attempt to dump the marble into the bottlecap for which they rolled their dice at the beginning of their turn.

Prayer:

Dear Lord,

​Thank you for your love and care for us. Please let our faith be a wonderful example to those around us. Fill us with the power of Your Holy Spirit, that we may do as Christ did in all we do. Help us to always remember that Jesus is coming back one day. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.