Choose Friends Carefully

Read and Explain God’s Word

1. Spend time reading Matthew 7:15-20 with your family.

1. 1. What is the title of this passage in the Bible?
   2. Who are the main characters?
   3. Are there any words or phrases that are repeated? What are they?
   4. If a wolf is dressed up as a sheep, is it really a sheep or is it still a wolf? Why or why not? (v.15)
   5. When you look at a tree or a bush, how can you tell what kind of tree it is just by looking at it? (vv.16, 20)
   6. Do all trees make the same kinds and quality of fruit? (vv.17-18)
   7. What happens to trees that bear bad fruits? (v.19)

Show God’s Word

2. Who is your best friend? What do you like about them? What words do they use? What choices do they make? What are their actions like?
3. This passage talks about trees and fruits, but what else could trees and fruit represent?
   1. The tree is actually a P_ _ _ _ N
   2. The fruit is actually a person’s W _ _ _ S, C_ _ _ _ _ S, and A_ _ _ _ _S
   3. Bad fruit are actually words, choices, and actions that are B _ D
   4. Good fruit are actually words, choices, and actions that are G_ _ D in God’s eyes.
4. What does God say good fruits (‘God fruits’) look like in the life of a Christian? (See Galatians 5:22-23)
5. Look in the Bible at these passages. What do they tell us about a person’s;
   1. Words: (Proverbs 15:1-2)
   2. Choices; (Galatians 6:7-8)
   3. Actions: (James 2:14-18)

Apply God’s Word

6. Look at your own life. What are your words, choices and actions like? Do you have more good fruits or bad fruits (ie-Do your fruits look like Jesus)?
7. Look at the words, choices, and actions you listed in question 5. Take some time now to repent, telling God about the “bad fruits”, and ask God to help you, by His Spirit to have words, choices, and actions that are “good fruits”. Take some time now to pray, and ask God to help you make good fruit with your words, choices, and actions.
8. We can learn how to produce good fruit like Jesus by reading the Bible. The more we know God’s Word, the better we can live out God’s Word in the wisdom He gives us! Use the Grow Up In Christ planner and schedule the time you need, to spend time with Jesus. Remember- as you get close to Him, He will get close to you and give you the strength you need to live faithfully! Share your plan with your family, friends, and the Hope Kids team (hkids@hopeottawa.ca)
9. Take time this week to memorize Proverbs 12:26 to remind you to love others like Jesus loves you!  “One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
10. We can only bear good fruit if we have the help of the Holy Spirit through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. But, to have this, you must put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. To become a believer in Jesus, we have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the only Saviour. God sent His only Son, Jesus, to come to earth and die for our sins, so we can be saved and have a personal relationship with Him. To accept this gift from God, we must believe that Jesus died for us so that we can be God’s child too. We first must repent of our sin (turn away from it) and believe in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. When we do this, we put our faith in Him as our Lord and Saviour. If you want to begin a personal relationship with Him, and put your faith in Him alone, all you need to do is;

• A_______  (Admit) that you have done wrong and ask God to forgive you for disobeying Him.
• B_______ (Believe) that God sent Jesus to take the punishment for your sin. Trust that you are forgiven because Jesus made you right with God.
• C______ (Choose) to spend your whole life depending on God’s power to help you say no to sin, and to worship God only. Rely on God to help you tell others that God is your leader and the most important person in your life.