A Splink is a SIMPLE way to LINK your family together spiritually.
It’s a FREE weekly email packed with ideas to help connect your family. Splinks are creative ways of interacting with your children with family devotional starters and ideas for family time. Splinks can also help you use teachable moments to pass along spiritual truths and life lessons while making memories or just having fun together. No matter where you are, it can always be time for a Splink!
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Splinks for November 9th - November 15th
Racing Toward Jesus
Run a race or race different items (cars, lemons, potatoes, marbles, etc.) with a finish line. Cheer for the winners!
Paul, in the book of Philippians says that he was pressing toward the mark. Just as a runner presses toward the finish line, Paul tells Christ’s followers to press on to be like Jesus. Paul was a great preacher, missionary, and writer of the Bible, but he admitted that he was not perfect. He kept pushing forward to the goal of knowing Christ.
We will never be perfect or truly like Jesus until we get to heaven (1 John 3:2), but every Christian should make it his or her goal to know Jesus through the Bible and be like Him.
Do You Look Like Jesus?
Items needed: pieces of paper and pencils or crayons or markers
Draw self or family portraits. Determine whose portrait looks the most like the person being drawn.
Ask:
Do you look like Jesus?
Read Romans 8:29. (It says that God’s plan is for you to be like Jesus.)
You can’t look like the physical body Jesus had when He lived on earth. You can’t die on a cross or come alive again; you can’t heal people or do miracles. So how can you be like Jesus? (You can be kind and love people, you can help people, you can obey your Father, you can be nice to kids like He did, etc.)
Holy Spirit Balloon Illustration
Do a simple science experiment to show how Christ living inside can help you to be stronger.
Items needed:
Two balloons, not inflated (two paper/plastic cups will also work)
Candle or matches
Water
• Inflate one of the balloons and tie it off.
• Put about ¼ cup of water in the other balloon, inflate and tie it off.
• Light the candle (or light a match) and hold it under the balloon WITHOUT the water. (Very closely – it’s okay if the flame even touches the balloon).
• Hold the balloon WITH water over the candle or match.
Why does one balloon pop and one doesn’t? Why does the balloon with no water break in the flame? The flame heats whatever is placed in it so it heats both balloons. The rubber of the balloon without water becomes so hot it was too weak to resist the pressure of the air inside the balloon and popped.
Why doesn’t the balloon with water in it pop when heated by the flame? The water absorbs most of the heat from the flame, so the rubber of the balloon does not become very hot. Since the rubber doesn’t become hot, it doesn’t weaken, and the balloon does not break.
Ask:
How did filling the balloon with something (water) make it stronger?
How can you be stronger if you are filled with the Holy Spirit?
After Jesus died and came alive again, He told His disciples He would send someone to help them, to comfort them, and to guide them. That someone is the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that when a person becomes a Christian, God’s Holy Spirit comes to live inside.
You were born with a desire to sin, but the Holy Spirit can help you fight against sin. The Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible and He can use that to help you know the right way to live. Every time you say no to your own selfish way and yes to the Holy Spirit, you become stronger. He will help you to be more loving, peaceful, joyful, gentle, humble, and self-controlled. (See Galatians 5:22-23) Ask for His help every day. God can change you from the inside out.
