Come Follow Me 2026 · Week 38
Family Activities
September 14–20 - Isaiah 1–12
This week's one thing
When we turn back to God, He cleanses us completely and becomes our salvation.
Opener: The Rope Across the Ditch
Stretch the rope between two chairs so it's taut across the floor. Tell the family: 'Imagine this is a wide ditch, and you've wandered to the wrong side. The rope is your way back. You can grab it and pull yourself across, but you have to actually grab it.' Let anyone who wants to mime grabbing the rope and pulling themselves to the other chair. Then ask: 'What happens if you see the rope but just stand there looking at it?'
God offers us the rope every time we've wandered, but coming back requires us to reach for it, which is what Isaiah calls repentance.
Scripture Story
Isaiah is sitting in the temple when something impossible happens. The whole room fills with light and smoke, and he sees the Lord sitting on a throne so high it fills the space above him. Around the throne, great winged beings called seraphim are calling out to each other: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!' Isaiah's legs go weak. He says out loud, 'I am ruined. My lips are unclean, and I live among people with unclean lips, and I have just seen the King.' But then one of the seraphim flies down holding a burning coal from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touches it to Isaiah's lips and says, 'Your guilt is gone. Your sin is taken away.' Isaiah stands there, clean, when he had been dirty a moment before. Then he hears the Lord's voice: 'Whom shall I send?' And Isaiah, still catching his breath, says, 'Here am I. Send me.' What do you think Isaiah was feeling when the coal touched his lips and he realized he was clean?
Discussion Questions
Little Kids (ages 4–7)
- If you got your favorite shirt covered in mud, what would you need to make it clean again? Who can clean our hearts when we make mistakes?
- Isaiah heard angels singing 'Holy, holy, holy.' If you could sing one thing to Heavenly Father right now, what would it be?
Big Kids (ages 8–11)
- Isaiah said his lips were unclean before God cleaned them. Why do you think he felt that way just from being near God, even before he had done anything wrong that day?
- After God cleaned Isaiah, Isaiah immediately said 'Send me.' Why do you think being forgiven made him want to go do something instead of just feeling relieved and going home?
Teens
- Isaiah 1:18 says God will make sins 'white as snow,' but it comes right after God tells the people to stop their empty religious performances and actually do good. What's the difference between using repentance as a reset button and using it the way Isaiah seems to mean it?
This Week's Challenge
Isaiah said 'Here am I, send me' right after being forgiven. This week, each person picks one specific person outside the family to serve in a concrete way before Sunday. Write the person's name on a slip of paper and put it somewhere visible. On Sunday, share what you did and what it felt like.
Song Suggestions
The Clean Paper Heart
Ages 3-10~10 min- 1
Step 1: Fold a piece of paper in half and cut out a heart shape so you have two identical hearts when you unfold them.
- 2
Step 2: On one heart, use dark crayons to scribble and mark it up, covering most of the white with messy color to show how it feels when we make mistakes.
- 3
Step 3: Hold up the clean heart next to the messy one. Talk about how Jesus makes us feel like the clean heart, then write or draw something you want to do for someone on it and keep it somewhere you'll see it.
God told Isaiah that even if our sins are as dark as scarlet, He can make us white as snow, and the clean heart is what He sees when we repent (Isaiah 1:18).
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