Five Things God Uses to Grow Your Faith
Andy Stanley
Imagine how different your outlook on life would be if you had absolute confidence that God was with you. Imagine how differently you would respond to difficulties, temptations, and even good things if you knew with certainty that God was in all of it and was planning to leverage it for good. In other words, imagine what it would be like to have PERFECT faith.
Leader Resources
Completing This Study as a Group
Purchase one Five Things Study Guide for each person in the group.
Pre-Read (optional) the upcoming chapter to prepare for the group conversation.
Watch the video online or via the Five Things DVD.
Discuss the video as a group using the session questions located in the Five Things Study Guide.
Leader’s Guide & Tips
An exhaustive Leader's Guide is located in the back of the Five Things Study Guide. Additionally, if you find yourself as the lead facilitator of the discussion questions, here are three things to consider:
CULTIVATE DISCUSSION
It is the ideas of everyone in the group that make a group meeting successful. Your role as the leader is to create an environment in which people feel safe to share their thoughts.
STAY ON TRACK
While you want to leave space for group members to think through the discussion, make sure the conversation is contributing to the topic being discussed that session. Don’t let it veer off on tangents. Go with the flow, but be ready to nudge the conversation in the right direction when necessary.
PRAY
This is the most important thing you can do as a leader and as a group. Pray that God is not only present at your group meetings, but that he is directing them.
Five Things That God Uses to Grow a Child’s Faith
After you became a Christian, what were the defining moments in your faith journey? What contributed to your growth? When adults tell their stories, five things come up again and again. Did you know that God can use these same things in the life of your child? As parents, we have the incredible opportunity to watch faith begin and grow in our children’s lives. Review the following tips. Consider how you can create environments for your child’s’ faith to grow.
1. Practical Teaching
How the Truth of the Bible Comes Alive in a Child’s Life
Read together from an age-appropriate Bible and talk about what it means to practice what you learn.
Attend KidStuf together each month and grab a Take-Out kit to discuss the Big Ideas together as a family.
Matthew 7:24–27: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
How can you engage with your child on biblical truths?
Tip: Talk with your child about what he or she is learning in Waumba Land or UpStreet using the monthly Parent Card or weekly emails.
2. Private Disciplines
How a Child Learns the Importance of Spending Time with God by Reading the Bible and Praying
Mealtimes and bedtimes are great opportunities to prioritize prayer with your child.
Once your child learns to read, he or she can spend time reading the Bible on his or her own.
Psalm 119:11: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
How can you create habits of reading the Bible and praying with your child?
Tip: Memorize a verse together with your child. Celebrate when you’ve finished.
3. Providential Relationships
How God Uses Other People in a Child’s Life to Shape His or Her Faith
In addition to you, your child’s friends, teachers, coaches, and small group leaders can impact his or her faith.
Proverbs 13:20: “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”
How can you prioritize time to have wise voices speak into your child’s life?
Tip: Join a small group with other families with children.
4. Pivotal Circumstances
How a Child Sees God in the Midst of Situations That Happen in Life
From hurt knees to hurt feelings, from feeling scared to trying new things, and from sharing toys to experiencing a loss, life circumstances will provide great teaching opportunities.
Proverbs 3:5–6: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
How can you seize opportunities to guide your child to see life from God’s perspective?
Tip: Memorize a verse together with your child. Celebrate when you’ve finished.
5. Personal Ministry
How Opportunities to Serve Others Strengthen and Stretch a Child’s Faith
Selfishness will come easy, but selflessness takes work. Serving others provides opportunities for a child’s faith to be expanded beyond himself or herself.
Acts 20:35: “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
How can you plan ways for your child to serve others?
Tip: Consider ways your family can serve someone together.