Romans 1:16

Thursday:	Good Soldier
Bible Lesson:	We should endure the world's contempt when living our faith and when sharing our faith. (Jeremiah and the Cistern)
Memory Verse:	Romans 1:16, I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Introduction: Ashamed

What does it mean to be ashamed? Have you ever been ashamed? What do you usually do when you're ashamed? (Accept answers.) Did you ever hide because you were ashamed? Adam and Eve hid from God in the garden, when they were ashamed, because they realized they were naked.

What if you're not ashamed? If you're not ashamed of something, do you hide it then? (No.)

Explanation: Romans 1:16

[Show the verse and read it aloud.]

We should be treating the gospel – the good news about Jesus – like we're proud of it, not like we're ashamed of it. Why aren't we ashamed of the gospel? Because it's how God saves us. Who remembers Monday's verse? (Let a volunteer recite Ephesians 2:8-9.) The Bible says that we are saved through faith, but what is our faith in? Today's verse tells us that it is the gospel – the good news about Jesus, the good news that he died, that he was buried, that he raised to life again, to set us free from the death that is the punishment for our sin – that good news is the power, it's how God saves us, if we believe it. That's what we put our faith in. And since that's so special, we shouldn't be ashamed: we should be telling everyone, because it can be salvation for everyone who believes. The verse says that salvation is first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. Who knows what a Gentile is? A Gentile is anybody who's not a Jew. So if salvation is for the Jew and for the Gentile, it's for all of us.

Game: Clapping

Demonstrate for the children how to clap once for each syllable while talking. Do this while saying the verse through one time, with the reference. Now have the children do it with you. Repeat two or three times, until the children can clap and say the verse more-or-less together in what passes for unison. Encourage them that they're doing well, but let's see if we can do even better at staying together and all saying each word at the same time, and all clapping at the same times. Repeat until they get it right, or time runs out. Optionally, after a few times through, divide the children into two groups, and alternate the two groups in a competition to see which group can stay together better.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.