Family Worship (Nov 23)

Have you ever played a game where you thought someone forgot about you? Maybe you were waiting to be picked for a team, or waiting for your turn in a game, and it felt like it took forever. Waiting can be hard—especially when things around us don’t seem fair. Sometimes kids think, “Why do they get what they want and I don’t?” or “Why does it feel like following Jesus is harder for me than for other people?”

In Malachi, God’s people were feeling the same way. Some of them got frustrated and started blaming God. Others trusted God even when life was difficult. But the most important part of the story is this: God never forgot the people who trusted Him. He wrote their names down in His “scroll of remembrance,” which means He treasures every act of faith, even the tiny ones. God remembers His children—and He always keeps His promises.

Malachi 3:16–18 (NIV)
16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. 17 “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

Discussion Questions

1. Why do you think God wanted His people to know that He was listening and remembering them?
2. Can you think of a time when trusting God felt hard? What did you learn from that moment?
3. What does it mean to be God’s “treasured possession”? How does Jesus show us that God keeps His promises?

Activity: “The Remember Jar”
Supplies: A jar, small pieces of paper, pens or crayons.

Instructions:
Together as a family, decorate a jar and label it “The Remember Jar.”
Have each family member write or draw one way God has been faithful—times He helped you, protected you, answered a prayer, or taught you something. Put them in the jar.

Talk about how this is like God’s “scroll of remembrance.” God never forgets His children or their faith in Him. Whenever someone in your family feels discouraged or forgotten, pull a paper from the jar and remember together how faithful God has been.

Prayer
Father, thank you that you see us, hear us, and remember us. Help our family trust you even when life feels hard or unfair. Thank you that through Jesus we are your treasured children. Keep our hearts close to you and help us grow as faithful followers. Amen.

Memory Work

New City Catechism
47. Does the Lord’s Supper add anything to Christ’s atoning work?
No, Christ died once for all. The Lord’s Supper is a covenant meal celebrating Christ’s atoning work; as it is also a means of strengthening our faith as we look to him, and a foretaste of the future feast. But those who take part with unrepentant hearts eat and drink judgment on themselves.

Memory Verse
Colossians 1:16b-17 (CSB)
All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.