Song: Are You Washed In The Blood?
Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you washed in the blood
In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless, are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Lay aside your garments that are stained with sin
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb
There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean
O, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!
Are you washed in the blood
In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless, are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Scripture Memory for the week:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)
Suggested Catechism Question:
What is faith in Jesus Christ?
Faith in Jesus Christ is acknowledging the truth of everything that God has revealed in his Word, trusting in him, and also receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel.[1]
Devotional 1 – Nic at Night
Read: John 3:1-8
For Adults: How is someone born again?
Older Children: Why does Nicodemus come by night?
Younger Children: What position did Nicodemus have?
Family Application: “Nicodemus was afraid, or ashamed to be seen with Christ, therefore came in the night. When religion is out of fashion, there are many Nicodemites. But though he came by night, Jesus bid him welcome, and hereby taught us to encourage good beginnings, although weak. And though now he came by night, yet afterward he owned Christ publicly…By our first birth we were corrupt, shapen in sin; therefore we must be made new creatures. No stronger expression could have been chosen to signify a great and most remarkable change of state and character. We must be entirely different from what we were before, as that which begins to be at any time, is not, and cannot be the same with that which was before. This new birth is from heaven, ch. 1:13, and its tendency is to heaven. It is a great change made in the heart of a sinner, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It means that something is done in us, and for us, which we cannot do for ourselves. Something is wrong, whereby such a life begins as shall last for ever.” [2]
Pray: Save us O God and make us born again.
Meditate: Write this week's memory verses on a whiteboard in your home and/or on index cards that each family member can carry with them during the week.
Devotional 2 – A Naïve Teacher
Read: John 3:9-15
For Adults: Go back and reread Numbers 21. What surprised you?
Older Children: Why does Jesus humiliate Nicodemus?
Younger Children: Is Jesus comparing himself to a snake?
Family Application: Everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus and abundantly so. Whether it is the sinfulness of priests, prophets, and kings that point to the future Prophet, Priest, and King that is perfect or that the judges failed we have the perfect Judge in Christ Jesus or any other manner of things. Ultimately when we are faced with such a malady that sin does affect us and such a great Savior, we are forced into a decision to either submit or deny. “And as there, he that beheld the serpent, though but with a weak squint-eye, yea, but with half an eye, was cured. So here, if we look upon Christ with the eye, though but of a weak faith, we shall be saved.”[3]
Pray: Lord help us to cast our eyes to You, the Lamb slain for us.
Meditate: See if anyone in the family can quote this week's memory verse. Make new note cards of any of the cards from Day 1 that may have been lost.
Devotional 3 – Reality Revealed
Read: John 3:17-21
For Adults: How do you reconcile the judgement of Jesus with this?
Older Children: What does it mean to practice the truth?
Younger Children: What is the relationship of evil and light?
Family Application: “3:17 to condemn the world. Jesus elsewhere says that judgment does attend His coming into the world (9:39; 12:31). His point is not that He will not judge, but that the time has not yet come. The world was already under threat of judgment before He came, but with His coming, salvation becomes a reality offered to a hostile world (12:47; Matt. 23:37; Rom. 5:8). 3:18 Unbelief is not the only basis for condemnation, but it constitutes the climax of rebellion by resisting even God’s gracious offer of salvation in Christ. Jesus comes into a world that is already condemned because of its rejection of God’s self-revelation (Rom. 1:18–32); and apart from the faith that unites one to Christ, individuals remain under condemnation for their sins (John 3:36).[4]
Pray: God help us to love you and live in the light.
Meditate: See again if anyone in the family can quote this week's memory verse. Talk about any ways that this verse has encouraged or taught you this week.
[1] New City Catechism, Question 30.
[2] Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary, Jn 3:1.
[3] Trapp, John. A Commentary on the Old and New Testament, vol. 5, 352.
[4] The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version, 1858.
Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you washed in the blood
In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless, are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Lay aside your garments that are stained with sin
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb
There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean
O, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!
Are you washed in the blood
In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless, are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Scripture Memory for the week:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)
Suggested Catechism Question:
What is faith in Jesus Christ?
Faith in Jesus Christ is acknowledging the truth of everything that God has revealed in his Word, trusting in him, and also receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel.[1]
Devotional 1 – Nic at Night
Read: John 3:1-8
For Adults: How is someone born again?
Older Children: Why does Nicodemus come by night?
Younger Children: What position did Nicodemus have?
Family Application: “Nicodemus was afraid, or ashamed to be seen with Christ, therefore came in the night. When religion is out of fashion, there are many Nicodemites. But though he came by night, Jesus bid him welcome, and hereby taught us to encourage good beginnings, although weak. And though now he came by night, yet afterward he owned Christ publicly…By our first birth we were corrupt, shapen in sin; therefore we must be made new creatures. No stronger expression could have been chosen to signify a great and most remarkable change of state and character. We must be entirely different from what we were before, as that which begins to be at any time, is not, and cannot be the same with that which was before. This new birth is from heaven, ch. 1:13, and its tendency is to heaven. It is a great change made in the heart of a sinner, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It means that something is done in us, and for us, which we cannot do for ourselves. Something is wrong, whereby such a life begins as shall last for ever.” [2]
Pray: Save us O God and make us born again.
Meditate: Write this week's memory verses on a whiteboard in your home and/or on index cards that each family member can carry with them during the week.
Devotional 2 – A Naïve Teacher
Read: John 3:9-15
For Adults: Go back and reread Numbers 21. What surprised you?
Older Children: Why does Jesus humiliate Nicodemus?
Younger Children: Is Jesus comparing himself to a snake?
Family Application: Everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus and abundantly so. Whether it is the sinfulness of priests, prophets, and kings that point to the future Prophet, Priest, and King that is perfect or that the judges failed we have the perfect Judge in Christ Jesus or any other manner of things. Ultimately when we are faced with such a malady that sin does affect us and such a great Savior, we are forced into a decision to either submit or deny. “And as there, he that beheld the serpent, though but with a weak squint-eye, yea, but with half an eye, was cured. So here, if we look upon Christ with the eye, though but of a weak faith, we shall be saved.”[3]
Pray: Lord help us to cast our eyes to You, the Lamb slain for us.
Meditate: See if anyone in the family can quote this week's memory verse. Make new note cards of any of the cards from Day 1 that may have been lost.
Devotional 3 – Reality Revealed
Read: John 3:17-21
For Adults: How do you reconcile the judgement of Jesus with this?
Older Children: What does it mean to practice the truth?
Younger Children: What is the relationship of evil and light?
Family Application: “3:17 to condemn the world. Jesus elsewhere says that judgment does attend His coming into the world (9:39; 12:31). His point is not that He will not judge, but that the time has not yet come. The world was already under threat of judgment before He came, but with His coming, salvation becomes a reality offered to a hostile world (12:47; Matt. 23:37; Rom. 5:8). 3:18 Unbelief is not the only basis for condemnation, but it constitutes the climax of rebellion by resisting even God’s gracious offer of salvation in Christ. Jesus comes into a world that is already condemned because of its rejection of God’s self-revelation (Rom. 1:18–32); and apart from the faith that unites one to Christ, individuals remain under condemnation for their sins (John 3:36).[4]
Pray: God help us to love you and live in the light.
Meditate: See again if anyone in the family can quote this week's memory verse. Talk about any ways that this verse has encouraged or taught you this week.
[1] New City Catechism, Question 30.
[2] Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary, Jn 3:1.
[3] Trapp, John. A Commentary on the Old and New Testament, vol. 5, 352.
[4] The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version, 1858.