Fully Alive Family Devotional - Week 12

Opening Prompt 

Tell me what you learned about God this week?

Let me share with you what I learned about God this week…

Focus: God has given me a new identity in Christ Jesus! 

• Tell: Tell your child about the time when you first accepted God’s grace. This is a great time to share a brief testimony of how you accepted the grace of Jesus and started a relationship with God. 
• Share: Share what the world thinks are the most important identity markers (name, race, job, etc). Share why being a son or daughter of God is more important than all of those things. 
• Ask: How would you describe yourself to someone else who has never met you?
  
  

Read this Scripture with your family:

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1:1-2

Talk about this devotional thought:

This is Paul’s introduction to the letter he is writing (The letter that we will be studying for weeks to come). Paul here introduces himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. He is a worker sent out to share the news of Jesus! 

In these two short verses, we see Paul reminding the church in Ephesus of two important things: 

1. Who they are
   1. He addresses them as “saints”, which means that they belong to God and have chosen to live a life that looks different for God! 
2. What Gifts they have been given. 
   1. Grace, which is a gift that we could never deserve and did not earn
   2. Peace, which is the feeling of safety and security that only comes from belonging to God. 
      
      

Questions to Ask 

• Everyone wants to belong somewhere! Why is it important that we belong to Jesus?
• What is an example of you experiencing grace (or getting something you didn’t earn)?
• How would you describe the peace that God gives us?

(Tip for parents: Let kids answer freely. There’s no rush to correct everything. The goal is conversation, not perfection.)

Prayer

Each day this week, pray this short prayer together: 

“God, thank you for loving me. Thank you for giving me a new identity! Thank you for forgiving me and showing me grace when I mess up over and over again. Help me to live for you today. And help me to feel your peace today.”

Monthly Memory Verse 

“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” Ephesians 1:13