Category Archives: Teaching Illustrations

Youth Illustrations: Ken’s favorite Quotes, Anecdotes, Real-Life Events, Modern Parables, Sermon Illustrations, Jokes, Humor and other stories to add a little punch to your Bible Studies, Sermons, Youth Ministry talks and Children’s sermons.

WHY GOD MADE HUGS

Everyone was meant to share
God’s all-abiding love and care;
He saw that we would need to know
A way to let these feelings show.

So God made hugs – a special sign,
And symbol of His love divine,
A circle of our open arms
To hold in love and keep out harm.

One simple hug can do its part
To warm and cheer another’s heart.
A hug’s a bit of heaven above
That signifies His perfect love.

“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love another. If you
have love for one another, then everyone will know that you’re my disciple.”

(John 13:34,35)

Dividing Souls

Two boy scouts went on a nature hike in the hills picking up hickory nuts along the way. They quickly filled their small pails and started to fill their pockets and shirts.

When they couldn’t carry any more nuts they walked down the country road until they came across a cemetery. One of the boys decided the cemetery would be a good place to stop, rest, and divide out the nuts.

The two boys sat in the shade of a large oak tree. They unloaded their pockets and pails dumping all the nuts in a large pile. While dividing their bounty, two of the nuts rolled away and came to rest near the road. The boys continued to divide the nuts among them. “One for you. One for me. One for you. One for me”

As they were doing this, a young boy happened to pass by and hear their voices. He looked into the cemetery but could not see the boys as they were hidden by the tree. He hesitated a moment and then ran back to town.

“Father, Father,” he yelled as he entered his house. “The cemetery. Come quick!!!” “What’s the matter?” the father asked. “No time to explain.” the boy frantically panted. “Follow me!!!”

The boy and the father ran up the country road and stopped when they reached the cemetery. They stopped at the side of the road, and fell silent for a few moments. Then the father asked his son what was wrong. Do you hear that? He whispered.

Both listened intently and heard the Scouts. “One for me. One for you. One for me One for you.” The boy then blurted out, “The devil and the Lord are dividing the souls!!”

The father was skeptical but silent. A few moments later the Scouts completed dividing out the nuts. One Scout said to the other: “Now as soon as we get those two nuts down by the road we’ll have them all.”

1 Peter 5:8: Peter warns the believers who are under persecution to be on the alert because our “adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

There is a struggle between God and the Devil, but the Devil Will Not Win

  • 1 John 3:8: “The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil.”
  • Hebrews 2:14: “Christ took on human nature that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil.”
  • Colossians 2:15: “God disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him.”
  • Mark 3:27: “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.”
  • Revelation 20:10 says one day the warfare will be over: “The devil . . . [will be] thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone . . . and will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (See Matthew 8:29; 25:41)
  • James 4:7: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you!”

Heaven’s Grocery Store

As I was walking down life’s highway many years ago
I came upon a sign that read, “Heavens Grocery Store”.

When I got a little closer,
the doors swung open wide
And when I came to myself,
I was standing inside.

I saw a host of angels.
They were standing everywhere.
One handed me a basket and said
“My child, shop with care.”

Everything a human needed
was in that grocery store
And what you could not carry,
you could come back for more.

First I got some Patience.
Love was in that same row.
Further down was Understanding,
You need that everywhere you go.

I got a box or two of Wisdom
and Faith a bag or two.
And Charity of course
I would need some of that too.

I couldn’t miss the Holy Ghost
It was all over the place.
And then some Strength and
Courage to help me run this race.
My basket was getting full
I remembered I needed Grace,

And then I chose Salvation for
Salvation was for free
I tried to get enough of that
To do for you and me.

Then I started to the counter
To pay my grocery bill,
For I thought I had everything
To do the Masters will.

As I went up the aisle I saw
Prayer and put that in,
For I knew when I stepped outside
I would run into sin

Peace and Joy were plentiful
The last things on the shelf.
Song and Praise were hanging

Then I said to the angel “Now how much do I owe?”
He smiled and said “Just take them everywhere you go.”

Again I asked “Really now, How much do I owe?”
“My child ” he said, “God paid your bill a long time ago.”

The Level Of God’s Perfection

An illustration

In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning-disabled children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire school career, while others can be mainstreamed into conventional schools.

At a Chush fund-raising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out, “Why is the perfection not in my son Shaya? Everything God does is done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. Where is God’s perfection?

The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father’s anguish, and stilled by the piercing query. “I believe,” the father answered, “that when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that he seeks is in the way people react to this child.” He then told the following story about his son:

One afternoon, Shaya and his father walked past a park where some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball. Shaya asked, “Do you think they will let me play?” Shaya’s father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya’s father understood that if his son was chosen to play it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging.

Shaya’s father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shaya could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said “We are losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning.”

Shaya’s father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play short center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shaya’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya’s team scored again and now with two outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on base, Shaya was scheduled to be up.

Would the team actually let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly let alone hit with it. However as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at least be able to make contact.

The first pitch came and Shaya swung clumsily and missed. One of Shaya’s teammates came up to Shaya and together they held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shaya. As the pitch came in, Shaya and his teammate swung at the ball and together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shaya would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond the reach of the first baseman. Everyone started yelling, “Shaya, run to first. Run to first.” Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered down the baseline wide-eyed and startled.

By the time he reached first base, the right fielder had reached the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman who would tag out Shaya, who was still running. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher’s intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the Third baseman’s head. Everyone yelled, “Run to second, run to second.” Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases toward home.

As Shaya reached second base, the opposing short stop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, “Run to third.” As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming, “Shaya run.” Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a “grand slam” and won the game for his team.

“That day,” said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face,
“those 18 boys reached their level of God’s perfection.”

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Robert May worked in the advertising department of Montgomery Ward, the 2nd largest department store chain in America at the time.

In 1939, he was asked to create a children’s book for Christmas about an animal to give as a gift to their customers. But the year proved difficult, as May’s wife died from cancer. The future was bleak as he was forced to raise his young daughter alone. On September 1st, 1939 World War II broke out, bringing an uncertain future, and dark times for the whole world.

As Robert sat down to write, he was inspired by his daughter’s love for a deer at the local zoo. He created Rudolph, a shiny-nosed reindeer as a symbol for himself and his young daughter that happier times were coming.

When the story was released for Christmas, It was an instant hit. 2.4 million copies of the children’s book were given as gifts. They would have given away even more if there hadn’t been wartime restrictions on the use of paper.

The story of Rudolph the red-nosed reeindeer was made into a song, and then into a movie as well. The movie has been broadcast every year since 1964, making it the longest-running Christmas TV special in the history of television.

It is perhaps a fitting story for 2020, as the world struggles with Covid-19.

A terrible storm threatened to cancel Christmas. Rudolph, a young reindeer with a bright red nose, felt left out, alone, isolated. But in the midst of the gloom, Rudolph found his purpose and shined brightly in the darkness. And in doing so, he made a joyful Christmas possible for everyone.

If you are feeling alone, isolated.
If the future seems bleak.
Remember the story of Rudolph.

God created you with a purpose.
Embrace your special God-given talents.
You too can shine the light of His love this Christmas
And bring a little joy to the whole World.

As you remind everyone that they are not alone.
A bright future lies ahead
The “Light of the World” came
That all might have hope and future
In the accepting embrace of God’s Love.

Guiding Others – A Story of Two Horses

Are we guiding others?

This tale reminds us that we must care for one another, not only with their needs, but also by guiding others along the right path in life.

Two Horses

On a forgotten country road, there is a field, with two horses in it.

From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse. But if you look closer you will notice something quite interesting.

One of the horses is blind.

The horse’s owner has chosen not to have him put down. Instead he has built a safe and comfortable barn for him to live in.

This alone is pretty amazing. But if you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell. The sound is coming from a smaller horse in the field.

Attached to the smaller horse’s halter is a copper-colored bell. It lets the blind friend know where the smaller horse is, so he can follow.

If you take a moment to stand and watch these two friends, you’ll see that the horse with the bell is always checking on the blind horse. The blind horse listens for the bell.  He then slowly walks to where the other horse is, trusting he will not be led astray.

Each evening the horse with the bell returns to the shelter of the barn. On the way, he will occasionally stop to look back. He is making sure that the blind friend isn’t too far behind to hear the bell.

We all need people we can depend on when we face struggles in life. Sometimes we are the guide. And sometimes we need others to guide us. Listen for my bell and I’ll listen for yours.

Scriptures on Helping Others and Guiding Others

Helping Others

  • Hebrews 6:10 – “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”
  • Luke 6:38 – “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
  • Matthew 25:44-45 – “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ ” He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'”
  • Isaiah 58:10-11 – “Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.”

Guiding Others

  • Ephesians 4:2 – “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:11 – “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
  • Galatians 6:2 – “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
  • 1 Corinthians 12:25 – “There should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.”
  • Philippians 2:3-5 – “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”
  • Proverbs 12:26 – “The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray.” (NLT)
  • Proverbs 17:17 – “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (ESV)
  • Proverbs 18:24 – “Some friends don’t help, but a true friend is closer than your own family.” (CEV)
  • Luke 6:31 – “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.” (NASB)
  • Romans 15:1 – “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.”
  • Isaiah 58:10-11 – “Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.”

Puppies for Sale


A shop owner placed a sign above his door that said: “Puppies For Sale.”

Signs like that have a way of attracting young children. Soon a young boy appeared under the store owner’s sign.

“How much are you going to sell the puppies for?” he asked.

The shop owner replied, “Some are thirty dollars, some are more.”

The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out some change. After counting it, he said, “I have two dollars and thirty-seven cents” he said. “Can I please look at them?”

“Well, I’m afraid I can’t sell you one of these puppies for a two dollars and thirty-seven cents. You’ll have to save your money and come back next time we have more puppies for sale.”

About that time, the store owner’s wife brought out another puppy that had been hidden in the back of the store. It was smaller than the other puppies, and had a bad leg. It couldn’t stand up very well, and when it tried to walk, it limped.

Immediately the young boy pointed to the limping puppy and said, “What’s wrong with that little dog?”

The shop owner explained. The veterinarian had examined the little puppy and discovered it didn’t have a hip socket. It would always limp. It would always be lame.

“Oh I wish I had the money to buy that puppy!” exclaimed the boy with excitement. “That’s the puppy I would choose!”

The shop owner said, “Well that puppy is not for sale, son. But if you really want him I”ll give him to you. No charge.”

The young boy got upset. He looked straight into the store owner’s eyes, pointing his finger, and said; “I don’t want you to give him to me. That little dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs and I’ll pay full price. In fact, I’ll give you $2.37 now, and 50 cents a month until I have him paid for.”

The store owner was perplexed. “You don’t want to spend your money on this little dog, son. He is never going to be able to run and play with you like other puppies.”

To his surprise, the little boy reached down and rolled up his pant leg to reveal a badly twisted, crippled left leg. The leg was supported by a big metal brace. He looked up at the shop owner and softly replied, “I don’t run so well myself, and the little puppy will need someone who understands!”

The man was now biting his bottom lip. Tears welled up in his eyes. He smiled and said, “Son, I hope and pray that every one of these puppies will have an owner such as you.”

We ALL need someone who understands!

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

 

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

  • Do you enjoy shopping? Why or why not?
  • How much money did you spend yesterday?
  • Where did you spend it?
  • What did you spend it on?
  • What is something that you have bought recently that cost a lot of money?
  • What is the most valuable thing that you own?
  • What is the most expensive thing you’ve ever bought?
  • Have you ever bought something second hand (i.e. used)? Would you pay full price for it?
  • When we are told that God bought us at a price and that price was his most valuable possession, his Son, how does that make you feel?
  • If someone trades their most valuable possession for something else, what does that tell you about the thing that they traded for? How valuable is it?

Scripture says that we were “bought with a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Corinthians 7:23) Jesus paid a very high price for you when he went to the cross. He did it because he loves you and wants you to be with him. And he understands what you are going through. As it says in the book of Isaiah, he was the “Suffering Servant” who “bore our iniquities.” He took all of the pain we deserve upon himself. (See also 1 Peter 2:24)

You may feel like an outcast, a nobody. You may think nobody likes you, that nobody wants you. You may be suffering, going through difficult times. Through all of that, you can be sure that Jesus understands. He knows exactly how you feel.

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • Do you belong to Christ?
  • What should our response be, knowing that we were bought at a high price?
  • How can we glorify God with our bodies, our actions, everything we are and do?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • Knowing that you are God’s most valuable possession, how does that make you feel?
  • What can you do this week to show your gratitude to God for what he has done for you?

SCRIPTURES

  • Isaiah 53:5 – “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
  • 1 Corinthians 6:20 “you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” (NIV)
  • 1 Corinthians 7:23 “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.” (NASB)
  • 1 Peter 2:24 – “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” (NIV)

Born to Fly

Once, there was a blizzard high in the mountains. A nest, near the summit, broke apart in the fierce winds. A single eagle’s egg fell out and slid down the side of the mountain on the snow. Miraculously, it was not broken as it careened down rocky slopes all the way into the valley below.

It came to rest, unscathed, in the tall grass near a nest of prairie chickens. The prairie chicken mother noticed the egg. Thinking it was one of her own that had fallen out, she picked it up and put it in her nest.

In time it hatched with the prairie chicks and grew up among them. The young eaglet grew very large and very powerful. Though he certainly didn’t look like a Prairie Chicken he acted like one.

He scratched in the dirt for seeds and insects to eat. He clucked and cackled. And he flew in a brief thrashing of wings and flurry of feathers no more than a few feet off the ground. After all, that’s how prairie chickens were supposed to fly.

One day, the little eagle and his prairie chicken siblings were out chasing bugs in the grass. A huge shadow fell over the land. They all looked up and saw the majestic sight of an eagle soaring high in the cloudless sky. Hanging with graceful majesty on powerful winds, it soared with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.

One of his “brothers” said, “I see that look in your eyes. You could never fly like that. The eagle is the greatest of all the birds. YOU ARE A PRAIRIE CHICKEN.”

For a moment, the little eagle thought he would bolt up out of the prairie chicken world and do great aerial exploits with the eagles. Then the thought passed. “You’re right,” he said. “I’m just a prairie chicken.”

He returned to looking for seeds and grubs, pecking out a mere existence. The eagle spent his whole life looking up at eagles, longing to join them among the clouds. It never once occurred to him to lift his wings and fly. The eagle died thinking it was a prairie chicken.

You can fly like an eagle or dig around in the dirt like a prairie chicken. Don’t listen to those around you. You were created to fly. Your full potential is waiting. Life with all its excitement is ready to be seized. It is time to give up your small ambitions. It’s time to take a leap like an eagle, to stretch your wings, to rise above the mountains and soar through the clouds.

Choose to fly!

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Make it Practical

  • What are some of the things we hear from others around us?
  • What are some of the labels people place on us?
  • What are some of the positive and negative messages we hear today?

Make it Spiritual

You were born to fly. But some of you think and act like prairie chickens because the world keeps telling you that’s what you are. God created you “a little lower than the angels.” Do you ever feel like there’s something more to life than what you are experiencing? Look up! Lift your wings and fly! God wants you to be all that you were created to be. The apostle Peter writes in I Peter 1:14, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.” In other words, “Stop living like eagles who think they are prairie chickens.” You are no longer ignorant. You know who and what you are. You are born again through the living and enduring Word of God. Now live that way. Spread your wings and fly.

  • What are some of the things the Bible says about us?
  • What are some things God says about us?
  • How should these things influence the life that we live?

Make it Personal

  • What messages do you hear that have the greatest impact on you?
  • How can we respond to the messages of the world around us?
  • How do we respond the messages from God?
  • Name one piece of advice you think God would give you today.

Scripture Verses

 

  • 1 Corinthians 2:9 – “However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’— the things God has prepared for those who love him.” (NIV)
  • Isaiah 40:31 – “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (NIV)
  • Ephesians 3:20 – “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (NIV)
  • Mark 10:29-30 – “‘Truly I tell you,’ said Jesus, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for My sake and for the gospel will fail to receive a hundredfold in the present age — houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, along with persecutions — and to receive eternal life in the age to come.'” (NIV)
  • Psalm 84:11 – “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” (NIV)
  • 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.” (NIV)
  • Psalm 8:3-8 – “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild,
    the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.” (NIV)
  • Hebrews 2:7 – “You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor.” (NIV)
  • 1 Peter 1:14 – “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.” (NIV)

How to Catch a Monkey

“What are we doing tomorrow?” the young hunter asked his uncle.

“Let’s catch some monkeys.” the uncle replied.
 
“Monkeys?” the young hunter asked excitedly.
 
“Yes,” the uncle said with a smile, “And if you catch one you can take him home as a pet.”
 
And so, the next morning, at the first hint of dawn they set off from their hut and into the jungle. After some time, they came to a coconut tree and the uncle sat upon the ground.
 
“It’s time to prepare the monkey trap,” he said.
 
He then picked up a freshly fallen coconut, cut a small hole in the top, and drank the refreshing coconut water. He passed the coconut to the young hunter, along with a knife. “Make the hole bigger, but not too big.”
 
He then placed a small, fragrant orange in the hollowed-out coconut and chained the coconut to a tree. The young hunter and uncle retreated to hide in the nearby bushes.
 
It wasn’t long before the chains made a loud, rattling sound. The young hunter peeked his head out of hiding. And then he saw it. A panicked monkey was desperately trying to free his hand from the coconut.
 
The uncle explained, “As long as the monkey keeps its fist wrapped around the orange, he will never escape. The monkey merely needs to let go. But he is too focused on the orange to realise the path to freedom.”
 
That which is true of monkeys is also true of people.
 
What is it that you’re holding onto that’s keeping you from freedom in your life?
 
It’s time to let go!

Visions of Christ

Refining our gifts, skills, talents and abilities, striving for excellence, is a very important and noble task, that gives Christ more to work with. But regardless of our level of ability, everything we have is to be used for His glory so that others see a vision of Christ when they look at us. This story and Object lesson reminds us that we must live a life that is so close to Christ, that like those in Antioch, we are called Christians – “little Christs”.

Object Lessons

Instead of displaying an object lesson for the youth to learn from, we will be providing a variety of objects for youth to use as object lessons. They will be creating the object lessons.

  1. Collect a variety of small items from your office or home. A pencil, a piece of paper, a sticky note, a stapler, a sugar packet, a thumb tack, an envelop, a letter opener, a coin, a key, a ring, a bottle cap, a ruler, a knife, a shoe lace, a breath mint, a piece of candy, a cup, a plate, a napkin, a nail file, a name card, a clothes pin, a screw, a nail, a paper clip, a magnet, a towel, a battery, a toothbrush, a comb, and just about anything else you can find. Use whatever you have available. Make sure you have enough items for the entire group to each have a different item with a few to spare.
  2. Ask the youth to each take one item that represents something about God. What truth about God or Christ does it bring to mind? What is something about God it could represent?
  3. Let the youth share what the item represents about God or what it reminds them of in relation to God.
  4. After all the youth have shared, tell the following story.

An Illustration

In the 18th century there was a German sculptor by the name of Johann Heinrich von Dannecker. Legend says that he could almost bring stone to life with his skills as a sculptor.

At the height of his career, he decided to do something very special with his gift. He dreamed of shaping a piece of lifeless stone into a statue of Christ that would come to life as a witness to his world.

He chiseled, scraped and polished the marble for almost 2 years. When he was convinced that his statue carried the likeness of his Lord, he wanted to test the statue on eyes that would not lie.

So he went out to the street, and brought in a young girl. He took her into his studio, and he set her down in front of the shrouded sculpture. Uncovering it, he asked her, “Do you know who this is?” “No, sir!” she replied. But he must be a very great man. And Dannecker knew that he’d failed. The statue was good enough for kings and nobles, but it wasn’t good enough to be a testimony of Christ.

He was discouraged. He was disheartened. He was depressed. But he knew that he had to try again. So he set his hand to the task. It took him six years this time, every day, painstakingly, shaping, carving and polishing. Finally, once again he felt he was done. And again, he brought in a child as his first critic.

He took off the shroud, and asked her gently, “Who is that?” Legend has it that tears came to her eyes as she recognised Jesus. It was enough. Dannecker had finished his task. He had created his masterpiece. He had given visible shape to his faith.

Later, to a friend, he told the secret of those last six years. It was as if, he said, Christ had joined him daily in his little room. He felt the nearness of his Lord. He sensed the glory of his Presence. All Dannecker had to do, really, was to transfer the vision of Christ that he received to the block of marble.

I am not sure if the story is true, but it is a powerful story with a profound message. And…

There’s more to the story.

Some years later, the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte saw Dannecker’s work. He was so impressed, he sent for the sculptor and offered him a commission. “Make me a statue of the goddess Venus.” It was considered an incredible honor to be chosen as the creator of such a work of art! Who could refuse? But you know what? Dannecker did! He refused the commission. He gave up that honor.

And you know why?

His responded to Napoleon: “A man who has seen Christ can never employ his gifts in carving out a pagan goddess!”

Take it to the Next Level

Make it Spiritual

  • What are some of the gifts, talents, skills, and abilities that we have in our group?
  • How can these be used to teach others something about God? How can they be used to bring Glory to God?

Make it Personal

I think the true secret to making Christ come to life in my lifes, to be truly Christlike, is to spend lots of time in His presence and to project the very presence and nearness of Christ in my personal life.

Like Johann Heinrich von Dannecker many of us have failed at times, some of us decidedly more toward the disastrous rather than the masterful. But I truly believe that if we keep our hearts focused on Him, that like with Danneker, God can use our labours of love, our gifts, talents, skills, and abilities to touch the hearts of others all over the world and open doors to sharing the gospel.

Make it Practical

  1. List some of your talents, skills, abilities and gifts.
  2. How could these be used to bring Glory to God?
  3. What is something you can do this week to be more Christlike, to let others see a vision of Christ in you this week?
  4. If everything you did, was done for God’s benefit, was done to please Him, glorify Him, would your actions change? Would you do things differently?
    • Would you speak to people differently?
    • Would you treat others differently?
    • Would you do different things?
    • Would you do things differently?
    • If God were your employer, your teacher, your parent, your constant companion would anything change?

Scripture

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” – 1 Peter 4:10-11

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive and inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” – Colossians 3:23-24

In the The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-28), 3 servants were given 5 talents, 2 talents and 1 talent respectively. In those days talents referred to money. But today when someone speaks of talents, we think of the great scientists, artists, musicians, actors and athletes. From the story we learn that God has given us each different talents and abilities that he expects us to use for his benefit.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

Like the Baobab Tree

baobab-treeWe don’t always get what we want in life. We sometimes wish we were taller, smarter, more beautiful, healthier, richer, or thinner. Things might not go the way we planned – we could be cut down in our jobs, blown over by situations, our lives turned upside-down.

Like the Baobab tree…

One of the most amazing and stunning trees that grow on earth is the Baobab tree. Native to mainland Africa, the island of Madagascar, and Australia, these striking trees can have a trunk diameter of between 7 and 11 meters and grow 5 to 30 meters in height. Some people call the Baobab the ‘upside-down tree’ as the branches of some Baobabs resemble roots.

Legends describe the Baobab as among the first trees to appear on the land. When it saw the height of the palm tree, it cried out to the gods to be taller; when it saw the red flowers of the flame tree, it was envious for flower blossoms; when it saw the fig tree with its delicious fruit, it too prayed for fruit as well. The gods became angry with the tree, pulled it up by its roots, then replanted it upside down to keep it quiet.

The Baobab looks like this for a reason. In the wet months water is stored in its thick, fire-resistant trunk – up to 120,000 litres – for the nine dry months ahead. Some trees are believed to be thousands of years old.

Besides being traditionally tapped for its water; every other part is used. The bark is used for cloth, rope, dye, used to treat fever and protect against malaria. The leaves are used in soup and medicines. The fruit is nutritious to eat and high in vitamin C and calcium and eaten to protect against illness. Sometimes people even live inside of the huge trunks.

Many references mention the exceptional resilience of this tree, noting that even after the entire tree is cut down or blown over in storms, it simply resprouts from the root and continues to grow.

Take It to the Next Level

James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

We often wonder why we have to face trials. If God was really good, why not spare us the pain and agony of having to go through difficult and sometimes traumatic experiences? We are often misguided to think that the victorious Christian life will be hassle-free and once we accept Christ as our Lord and live according to his ways, nothing bad will happen to us.

What we don’t realize is that abundant life God promises comes through maturity. If we never grow to full maturity, how can we expect to enjoy God’s plan and purposes for us? And how do we become mature? Through trials.

It is in trials that we develop our trust and faith in God. The strength to persevere. It is because God is good that he, like a loving parent, nurtures us. We learn to walk by stumbling, falling over, getting up and trying again. If God came by to pick us up every time we fell, we’d never learn to walk!

So the next time you face a harsh environment, a bully, get ridiculed for what you believe in, if your family isn’t perfect (and whose is anyway), if When nothing seems to go our way, look up to the Baobab tree.

The life experiences we gain from struggling in the harsh environments we grow up in prepares us for spiritual maturity when the time is ripe. Not just for ourselves, but for the friends and loved ones that surround us.

While it’s not the prettiest on the outside, it’s magnificence comes from what it has on the inside. It is a life-giving tree, supporting people with the water it has stored, a source of nourishment and healing.

If your life is “upside-down,” it’s time to make it “tree-mendous”!

What Faith Can Do – Kutlass

Verse 1:
Everybody falls sometimes
Gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes and make a new beginning
Anyone can feel the ache
You think its more than you can take
But you are stronger, stronger than you know
Don’t you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the silver lining

Chorus:
I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do

Verse 2:
It doesn’t matter what you’ve heard
Impossible is not a word
It’s just a reason for someone not to try
Everybody’s scared to death
When they decide to take that step
Out on the water
It’ll be alright
Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing

Bridge:
Overcome the odds
You don’t have a chance
(That’s what faith can do)
When the world says you can’t
It’ll tell you that you can!

God’s Embroidery – What’s your Perspective?

Many times our lives seem like a mess and it’s often our mothers who come to our rescue. We don’t always see the wisdom in the things they tell us to do and sometimes we think that we’re smarter than they are. But we often forget that many times, they see life through the lens of their rich life experiences. Often, it is only later, when we look back, that we appreciate their wisdom and guidance. What is true of mothers, is even more true of God.

God’s Embroidery – An illustration

When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. I told her that it looked like a mess from where I was. As from the underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat. She would smile at me, look down and gently say, “My son, you go about your playing for a while, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side.”

I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother’s voice say, “Son, come and sit on my knee.”

This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.

Then Mother would say to me, “My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing.”

Many times through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, “Father, what are You doing?” He has answered, “I am embroidering your life.” I say, “But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can’t they all be bright?”

The Father seems to tell me, “‘My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side.”

Author Unknown

A Learning Activity

  1. Ask the youth to imagine a big clock on the ceiling, the kind with hands on it.
  2. Ask the youth to then imagine the second hand moving around the clock in a clockwise direction.
  3. Ask everyone to reach out their hand and finger and point at the clock, and move their hands in a circle in the same direction the clock hand would be moving. (Demonstrate this for the group to see)
  4. Ask the youth to slowly lower their hand and finger to chest level, all the time still pointing at the celing and rotating their hand in the same direction.
  5. Now ask them to look at their finger and to tell you if their finger is rotating clockwise or counterclockwise?
  6. The answer: counterclockwise!

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

 
Make it Spiritual

  • What changed during the activity? – The youth’s finger has NOT changed it’s direction during the activity, but the perspective has changed.
  • Have there been experiences in your life that seemed messy, chaotic, without any apparent plan? Explain.
  • What are some of the lessons your mom has taught you? Did some of them seem to make no sense at the time?
  • Are there some things in the Bible that you once found difficult to undertand?
  • What are some ways that a mom or parents have a different perspective from a child or youth?
  • What lessons from your Mom or from the Bible now make sense because you have a different perspective?
  • What are some ways in which God has a different perspective from us?
  • What do you think some of the famous Bible personalities might say about this lesson? Jonah swallowed by a fish? Joseph sold into slavery? Israelites marching around Jericho and blowing trumpets? The disciples at Christ’s crucifixtion? Paul on the Road to Damascus? Moses in front of the red sea?

Make it Spiritual

  • What are some of the lessons for life we can learn from this story and the activity?

Make it Personal

  • Maybe there are some things in life that you don’t understand now. Maybe there are some things that look messy and without a plan. What is an area of your life where you need to trust in God’s perspective on things?
  • Take a moment this week to thank God for having a plan for your life, and working things out for your good.
  • Take a moment this week to thank your mother for also having a plan to raise you well and to help you to have the best things in life, for having faith in you and putting all those things in place so that one day you might be amazed and delighted at God’s plan for you.

Scriptures

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; …” – Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” – Psalm 139:16

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” – Proverbs 16:9

“But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him'” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

 


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Life

Stay away from Anger.
It hurts only You and nobody else.
If you are right, then there is no need to get angry,
and if you are wrong then you don't have any right to get angry.

Patience with family is love,
Patience with others is respect,
Patience with self is confidence and
Patience with GOD is faith.

Never think hard about the past, it brings tears.
Don't think more about the future, it brings fear.
Live this moment with a Smile, it brings cheer.

Every test in our life makes us bitter or better,
every problem comes to make us or break us,
The choice is ours whether we become victims or victorious.

Search for a beautiful heart not a beautiful face.
Beautiful things are not always good, but good things are always beautiful.

Do you know why God created gaps between fingers?
So that someone who is special to you comes
and fills those gaps by holding your hand forever.
Never forget this advice!

Happiness keeps You Sweet, Trials keep You Strong,
Success keeps You Glowing,
and But Only God keeps You Going!

When you don't
give up, you cannot fail.

Jim Checkin’ In

A minister passing through his church in the middle of the day,
Decided to pause by the altar and see who had come to pray.
Just then the back door opened, a man came down the aisle,
The minister frowned as he saw the man hadn’t shaved in awhile.

His shirt was kinda’ shabby and his coat was worn and frayed.
The man knelt, he bowed his head, then rose and walked away.
In the days that followed, each noon time came this chap,
Each time he knelt just for a moment, a lunch pail in his lap.

Well, the minister’s suspicions grew, with robbery a main fear,
He decided to stop the man and ask him, “Watcha’ doin’ here?”

The old man, he worked down the road. Lunch was half an hour.
Lunchtime was his prayer time, for finding strength and power.
“I stay only moments, see, ’cause the factory is so far away;
As I kneel here talking’ to the Lord, this is kinda’ what I say:
“I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I’VE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHER’S FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.
I DON’T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.
SO, JESUS, THIS IS JIM CHECKIN’ IN.”

The minister feeling foolish, told Jim, that was fine.
He told the man he was welcome to come and pray just anytime.
Time to go, Jim smiled, said “Thanks.” He hurried to the door.
The minister knelt at the alter, he’d never done it before.
His cold heart melted, warmed with love, met with Jesus there.
As the tears flowed, in his heart, he repeated old Jim’s prayer:
“I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I’VE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHER’S FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.
I DON’T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.
SO, JESUS, THIS IS ME CHECKIN’ IN.”

Past noon one day, the minister noticed that old Jim hadn’t come.
As more days passed with out Jim, he began to worry some.
At the factory, he asked about him, learning he was ill.
The hospital staff was worried, but he’d given them a thrill.
The week that Jim was with them, brought changes in the ward.
His smiles, a joy contagious. Changed people, his reward.
The head nurse couldn’t understand why Jim was so glad,
When no flowers, calls or cards came, not a visitor he had.

The minister stayed by his bed, he voiced the nurse’s concern:
No friends came to show they cared. He had nowhere to turn.
Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up and with a winsome smile;
“The nurse is wrong, she couldn’t know, that all the while
Everyday at noon He’s here, a dear friend of mine, you see,
He sits right down, takes my hand, leans over and says to me:
“I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, JIM, HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP, AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN.
I ALWAYS LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY, I THINK ABOUT YOU EACH DAY,
AND SO JIM, THIS IS JESUS CHECKIN’ IN.”

[Circulating on the Internet]

New Year Resolutions from the Dog

  • Try to understand that the cat is from Venus, and I am from Mars.
  • I will try to leave the cat alone, once in a while.
  • I will no longer be beholden to the sound of the can opener.
  • Call PETA and tell them what that surgical mask-wearing freak does to us when no one is around.
  • Take time from busy schedule to stop and smell the behinds.
  • To always scoot before licking.
  • Grow opposable thumb; break into pantry; decide for MYSELF how much food is *too* much.
  • January 1st: Kill the sock! Must kill the sock! January 2nd – December 31st: Re-live victory over the sock.
  • I will NOT chase the damned stick unless I see it LEAVE HIS HAND.
  • Next time I fart I will not whimper – so that someone else gets the blame
  • I will worry less about things I can’t eat and play with
  • To smell more things that look interesting
  • To pick more fights with shoes and pillows
  • To take more opportunities to forget what I am doing and nap instead
  • Pay more attention to fallen cactus to avoid owies on the walk.
  • To hog the bed; stretch & spread out; hog the covers.
  • Stretch out on the couch in such a way where there’s no room for peoples or the pets
  • Only reserve kisses for times after making a public display of licking my butt or burping.
  • Counter surf more discreetly.
  • Have my way with the roll of toilet paper. Drag and decorate DIY style throughout the house. Martha Stewart would be proud.
  • Greet strangers with gusto. (Notice ME!)
  • Wag more, bark less.
  • Have a torrid one-night stand with a street mutt.
  • I will stay out of the trash, off the counters, and certainly never eat snacks from my boy’s backpack.

Flight Instructions for 2013

Welcome to Flight #2013, We are prepared for take off into the New Year. Please make sure your Attitude and Blessings are secured and locked in an upright position. All self destructive devices should be turned off at this time. Should we lose Altitude under pressure during the flight, reach up and pull down a Prayer. Prayers will automatically be activated by Faith. Once your Faith is activated you can assist other passengers. There will be NO BAGGAGE allowed on this flight. The captain has cleared us for takeoff. Destination GREATNESS!! Have a Blessed New Year Friends .

The Pilot

Just got this from a friend via email and thought I’d share it with you.

A priest was on a long flight home after a Church Conference.

The first warning of approaching problems came when the ‘Fasten Your Seat Belts’ sign flashed on. After a while a calm voice said, “We shall not be serving beverages at this time as we are expecting a little turbulence. Please make sure your seat belt is fastened.”

The priest looked around the aircraft and saw that many of the passengers were becoming apprehensive. Later, the voice on the intercom said, “We are so sorry that we are unable to serve meals at this time… The turbulence is still ahead of us.”

And then the storm broke.

The ominous cracks of thunder could be heard even above the roar of the engines. Lightning lit up the darkening skies, and within moments that great plane was tossed around like a cork in a celestial ocean. One moment it was lifted on terrific currents of air, the next it fell as if about to crash.

As the priest looked around he could see that nearly all the passengers were alarmed – except one little girl!

She sat calmly, feet tucked under her, looking at pictures in a book, oblivious of the turbulence around her. Sometimes she would close her eyes, and then she would go back to her book.

The storm blew over.

When the plane landed and the passengers were disembarking, the priest approached the little girl and asked her why she was not afraid like the other passengers.

The little girl replied, “Cause my Daddy’s the pilot and he’s taking me home.”

There are many storms that buffet us…
Physical, mental, financial, domestic and other storms that can darken our skies and throw us into turmoil.

Like the little girl, let us always remember:
Our Father is the Pilot.
He is in control… He will take us Home… Don’t worry!

Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus

Scan of the Newspaper Editorial "Yes, Virginia,There Is A Santa Claus"

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O’HANLON.
115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

[Source: Written by Francis P. Church, Editor of the NY Sun in 1897 and is supposedly the most reprinted newspaper editorial ever. Image source: Wikipedia]

Take it to the Next Level

 

Yes Virginia there is a God

Millions of little people around the world believe in Santa. Of course, most are children, but it speaks much of childlike faith.  They may be too young to understand the implications of a real life Santa that knows whether what every child in the world wants for Christmas and whether they are deserving or not to receive it, and can deliver all those gifts in a single night. (see Is There a Santa Claus)

As children grow up, they often outgrow Santa.  A rational person could not truly believe in such a man and what he supposedly is able to do.  Unfortunately, the same is often true of the belief in God.  While a literal St. Nick did exist, the claims of who he is and what he does have been exaggerated over the years.  Could the same be true of God?  On what basis do we base our belief in God?

Perhaps the editorial holds an answer to that question.  You find it not in the Sun, but in the SON – the Son of God. Christmas is the celebration of His birth.  And it is not because it is written in a newspaper, but because it is written in the Word of God that we trust that it is true. And, as the editorial states, “The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.” Some things must be taken in Childlike faith.

Scripture references from the Bible

“Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'” – John 20:29

“However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him'” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

‘Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.'” – John 18:37

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’ – Matthew 18:2-3

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The Tablecloth

He remembers it well…

On Tuesday, the 21st of December that year, the pastor went over to his church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high.

The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor,and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home. On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area. Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet.

“Pastor,” she asked, “where did you get that tablecloth” The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were… These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria. The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth.

The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was force to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. She was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a house cleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood,continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn’t leaving.

The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike. He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety, and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride.They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

Supposedly a True Story.

[Source Unknown]

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The Lighthouse Keeper

Once upon a time, not too long ago, in a place not too far away, there was a lighthouse keeper. This lighthouse keeper was a very kind man, liked by all the people. In his lighthouse he kept large reserves of fuel to keep the light shining, warning ships of impeding danger, and directing them to safety. The lighthouse was located next to a road that connected several cities, but some distance away from where most of the people lived.

One year, there was something exciting go on in one of these cities that attracted people from all around. The event was in all the newspapers and everyone wanted to get involved. You couldn’t hardly talk to a person without it coming up in the conversation. Even the lighthouse keeper wanted to get involved so he sat up a small gas station with his fuel reserves to accommodate the people involved in the events.

Many times he donated his fuel to such a worthy and exciting cause. He was able to help dozens of people. Eventually however, he ran out of fuel and it would be several days before his delivery truck would arrive. During this time a violent storm came upon the shores in which he had to burn the lights in the lighthouse not only during the night, but also during the day. The lighthouse ran out of fuel and the keeper had no reserves to fall back upon. As a result, the light went out and a ship with hundreds of people ran upon the rocks, killing almost all aboard. The keeper failed his primary task of saving lives of those aboard the ship because he used his resources to help those in non-life threatening situations.

As you can probably guess, the lighthouse represents the church and the event represents a social or moral issue. Our goal as a church does not exclude these, but we must never take away from our primary purpose of making disciples of all the nations! Often these issues are just symptoms of the real problem–lack of a relationship with Jesus Christ. Let’s make sure we treat the problem!


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Burdens

Burdens

 
I took a burden to the Lord
To cast and leave it there.
I knelt and told Him my plight,
And wrestled deep in prayer.

But rising up to go my way
I felt a deep despair,
For as I tried to trudge along,
My burden was still there!

Why didn’t you take my burden, Lord?
Oh, won’t you take it please.
Again I asked the Lord for help,
His answering words were these:

My child, I want to help you out
I long to take your load
I want to bear your burdens too
As you walk along life’s road.

But this you must remember,
This one thing you must know. . .

I cannot take your burden
Until you let it go.

Author: Betty Curti

Take it to the Next Level

Children may live a carefree life, but as we grow older we are increasingly burdened with responsibilities. In the teenage years there is often a struggle to balance responsibilities and the freedom of youth. Sometimes as a teen, the changes associated with life seem overwhelming. Youth are struggling with personal identity, relationaships, finding meaning and a purpose for their existence, and independence.

Some of the burdens common to youth (in no specific order) are:

  • Mature Relationships in the home, among friends, at school or work, with the opposite sex – How should I relate to others?
  • Acceptance of his / her body – Am I comfortable in my own skin?
  • Sexual Identity – How do I relate to the opposite sex?
  • New ways of thinking / understanding / wisdom – How should I choose?
  • Emotional Independence – How do I feel?
  • Financial Independence – How do I pay for it?
  • Vocational Choices – What career should I pursue?
  • Personal Values – What is ‘Right’ for me?
  • Personal Discipline / Sin- How do I control my behavior and habits?
  • Personal Identity – Who Am I?
  • Increasing Responsibilities – Can I handle this?
  • Personal Ministry – How do I serve God?
  • Personal Loss – How do I deal with loss?
  • Life’s Disappointments – How do I deal with disappointments in life and from other people?
  • Dealing with Change – How do I adjust?
  • Coming to terms with the Past, Present, and future – How do I respond?

Typical Youth Responses to burdens

  • Complain
  • Stress
  • Doubt
  • Despair
  • Withdrawal
  • Cling
  • Trust
  • Avoidance
  • Escape
  • AND MORE!

Truths for Dealing with Burdens

  • God is in control and has a purpose for everything
  • God will not give you more than you can handle together with Him. He will help us to bear our burdens.
  • God uses circumstances to build our character.
  • We need to trust God, and place our burdens into His loving care, and leave it there.
  • We need to Focus on God and not our problems.
  • We need to help others carry their burdens.

Scripture References

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” – Psalm 55:22 (NIV)

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah” – Psalm 68:19

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:22

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” – John 14:27

“And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” – Luke 11:46

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” – 1 John 5:3 (NASB)

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,” – Hebrews 12:1

Removing the Hooks

The fishermen had let their lines down into the water when Dan noticed a school of dolphins had come alongside and were swimming in the boat’s wake.  He immediately shouted for the lines to be drawn in.  The fisherman hurriedly reeled in thier lines but it was too late–one of the dolphins had been snared.  He dove deep, trying to get away from the hook, then came to the surface to relieve the pain.  Time and again he dove, erach time driving the hook deeper into his mouth.  After a long while the dolphin was finally exhausted and simply swam next to the boat.  Dan moved to the side of the boat near the dolphin and then experienced one of the most amazing moments of his life  The dolphin moved close to the boat and then turned over on his side, exposing the lodged hook protruding from his mouth.  Dan reached out and gently removed the hook.

God desires to use each of us to love and reach out to other youth in such a way that they come to understand that there is “someone in the boat” who is willing and able to remove the force destroying their lives.  As we love them and tell them of the life Christ can provide, the Holy Spirit will work with us, bringing them to a place where they will allow God to “remove the hook.”  When youth hold out the hook (their hurts and needs) we need to be ready to share with them how God can change their lives.

Trading Places

In Chuck Coleson’s book, The Body, he told the story of a priest named Maximilian Kolbe, who died in the place of another prisoner at Auschwitz.

The story begins in 1939, the year Germany invaded Poland. Father Kolbe was then presiding over a Franciscan order he’d founded near Warsaw. A hard-working priest, Father Kolbe expressed a love, enthusiasm, and sense of humor that endeared him to his brethren.

But in February of 1941, the Nazis arrested Kolbe and charged him with publishing unapproved literature. They sent him to Auschwitz, and the 47-year-old monk nearly died from the back-breaking work.

Despite the brutal conditions, Father Kolbe ministered to his fellow prisoners. He prayed with them, heard their confessions, and comforted their souls.

But that ministry ended one hot July morning. An inmate had escaped, and the angry soldiers lined the prisoners up. “The fugitive has not been found!” the commandant screamed. “Ten of you will die for him in the starvation bunker.” The prisoners trembled in terror. A few days in this bunker without food and water, and a man’s intestines dried up and his brain turned to fire.

Commandant Fritsch walked among the rows of prisoners, stopping before certain men, making them open their mouths and stick out their tongues. He was choosing them like one would choose a horse. His assistant, Palitsch, followed behind. As Fritsch chose a man, Palitsch noted the number and stamped a mark on the prisoner’s filthy shirt. Soon there were ten men — ten numbers listed neatly on the death roll. The chosen groaned, sweating with fear. One of them-a Polish farmer named Franciszek Gajowniczek- couldn’t help a cry of anguish. “My poor wife!” he sobbed. “My poor children! What will they do?”

The ten were forced to remove their wooden shoes, a Nazi tradition for those who were about to be executed.

Suddenly there was a commotion in the ranks. A prisoner had broken out of line and was calling for the Commandant. This was suicidal! A prisoner was never permitted to leave the ranks, let alone address a Nazi officer. It was cause for execution. Fritsch had his hand on his revolver, as did the officers behind him. But he broke precedent. Instead of shooting the prisoner, he shouted at him. “Halt! What does this Polish pig want of me?”

The prisoners gasped. It was their beloved Maximilian Kolbe, the one who shared his last crust of bread, who comforted the dying, who gave up his own blanket and encouraged them with prayer. Not Maximilian! The frail man spoke softly, even calmly, to the Nazi butcher, “I would like to die in place of one of the men you condemned.” Fritsch stared at the prisoner. #16670.

“Why?” snapped the Commandant. Kolbe sensed the need for flawless diplomacy. The Nazi never reversed an order; so he must not appear to be asking him to do so. He knew the Nazi dictum of destruction: the weak and the elderly first. He would play on this well-ingrained principle. “I am an old man, sir, and good for nothing. My life will serve no purpose.” His ploy triggered the response Kolbe wanted. “In whose place do you want to die?” asked Fritsch. “For that one,” Kolbe responded, pointing to the weeping prisoner who had bemoaned his wife and children.

Fritsch glanced at the weeping prisoner. He did look stronger than this used up #16670 before him. The Commandant nodded to his assistant and the change was noted. Kolbe bent down and removed his wooden clogs, then joined the group of condemned prisoners. As he did, #5659 passed by him at a distance, led by the soldiers. On the man’s face was an expression of astonishment, an expression that did not yet reveal gratitude. But Kolbe wasn’t looking for gratitude. If he was to lay down his life for another, the fulfillment had to be in the act of obedience itself. The joy must be found in submitting his small will to the will of One more grand.

The ten condemned men were stripped naked and left in a dark cell with no windows, food, or water. As the hours and days passed, the camp became aware of something extraordinary happening in the death chamber. Past condemned prisoners had spent their dying days attacking one another, crying out in pain and exasperation, clawing the walls in a frenzy of despair. But now, coming from the death cell, those outside heard the faint sounds of singing. Things were different this time. The condemned prisoners had a shepherd to gently lead them through the shadow of the valley of death, pointing them to the Great Shepherd. Perhaps it was for this reason that Kolbe was the last to die.

On August 14, 1941, four prisoners were still alive in the bunker, and it was needed for new occupants. A German doctor named Boch walked down the stairs of the death cell with four syringes in his hand. When he swung open the bunker door, there, in the light of his flashlight, he saw Maximilian Kolbe, a living skeleton propped against one wall. His head was inclined a bit to the left. He had the remnants of a smile on his lips. The doctor quickly snuffed out the lives of the other three unconscious prisoners, then turned to insert the syringe into the arm of the last one. In one moment, Maximilian Kolbe was dead.

So it was as a Catholic priest that St. Maximilian accompanied his wretched flock of nine men condemned to death. It was not a question of saving the life of the tenth man – that was part of the story, but there was much more. He also wanted to help those nine to die with dignity. From the moment the dreadful door clanged shut on the condemned men, he took charge of them, and not just them but others who were dying of hunger in cells nearby, and whose demented cries caused anyone who approached to shudder. It is a fact that from the moment he came into their midst, those wretched people felt a protective presence, and suddenly their cells, in which they awaited their final end, resounded with hymns and prayers. The SS themselves were astounded: “So was haben wir nie gesehen” – We never saw anything like it before, they said.

And what of Franciszek Gajowniczek? He died in Poland in 1995 – 53 years after Kolbe had saved him.

But he was never to forget the ragged monk. After his release from Auschwitz, Gajowniczek spent the next five decades paying homage to Father Kolbe.

A few years ago, the 94-year-old Pole visited St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church of Houston. His translator on that trip, Chaplain Thaddeus Horbowy, said: “He told me that as long as he… has breath in his lungs, he would consider it his duty to tell people about the heroic act of love by Maximilian Kolbe.”

Take It to the Next Level

 

Make it Spiritual

I think the greatest tragedy is that while Franciszek Gajowniczek spent his whole life honoring the man who died on his behalf, we ignore the One who made an even greater sacrifice for us and saved our lives for now and eternity.

There are many things I take for granted in my life – clean running water, electricity, fresh air, and I happen to live in a country with fantastic food that’s always conveniently available any time of the day or night.

Ironically, the things we most likely take for granted the most are the things we should be most thankful for – simply because they’re always there. Continuously. Without fail.

It’s often the same in our spiritual lives. The most basic, foundational things we’ve experienced are the things we take for granted the most. Things like God’s grace, His blessings, His provision. You know how it is, life gets in the way. Urgent things take priority and somehow, God gets pushed out of the picture. We don’t even seem to thank Him or talk about Him te way we used to. We lose the joy of our salvation.

It’s only when something happens, like a power outage or a busted water pipeline do we realize exactly how important these things are in our lives; how essential they are for our existence.

Here’s the thing, why do we wait for something to happen before we realize how important God needs to be in our lives? Why not save ourselves the pain of discovering how far we’ve gone before we come back? Surely we don’t want to be like one of the people Jesus referred to when he told the parable of the sower:

“The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”
Matthew 13:22 (NIV)

If we ever want to be effective followers of Christ, we need to keep our focus on God. Rather than starting the day running through all the things we need to do and ending it exhausted but satisfied we finished everything, we need to start the day focused on God. Starting with gratitude for the life He gave us to enjoy. The privilege of serving Him through our work, the testimony of his grace that we have, through our studies, our worship, our music, whatever.

We’ll all find we end up with a different outlook. A satisfaction that comes not from a job or a test well done, but from a pleasure that we served our Creator well.

“We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.”
Hebrews 2:1-3 (NIV)

Franciszek Gajowniczek spent his whole life honoring the man who died on his behalf. How much more should we honor a God who made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. The One who took our place and received the punishment we rightfully deserved.

Make it Practical

  • Why is it sometimes hard to pay attention to something?
  • What are some of the reasons that youth and adults tend to forget about what Christ has done for them?
  • What does it mean to drift away?
  • What are some ways that we drift away from God like the Hebrews?
  • What attitudes or actions might indicate that a person was drifting away from God?
  • What advice would you give someone who is drifting away from God?
  • In what ways can we pay greater attention and give God greater significance in our lives for what he has done for us?
  • What is the solution for someone who has drifted away?

Make it Personal

  • When have you drifted away? Why did you drift away? How did you get back to where you belonged?
  • What are some ways that your life has drifted away today, or fails to give God the place he deserves? How can you get it back to where it needs to be?
  • What habits or practices can you put in place today that will help keep you from drifting away from God?
  • What are some ways you can keep or return your focus on God this week?

Scripture References

Matthew 13:22 (NIV)
“The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

Hebrews 2:1-3 (NIV)
“We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.”


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Bible Lessons from the Olympics: Never Give Up

Runner’s World (8/91), told the story of Beth Anne DeCiantis’s attempt to qualify for the 1992 Olympic Trials marathon. A female runner must complete the 27-mile, 385-yard race in less than two hours, forty-five minutes to compete at the Olympic Trials.

Beth started strong but began having trouble around mile 23. She reached the final straightaway at 243, with just two minutes left to qualify. Two hundred yards from the finish, she stumbled and fell. Dazed, she stayed down for twenty seconds. The crowd was ticking—2:44, less than a minute to go.

Beth Anne staggered to her feet and began walking. Five yards short of the finish, with ten seconds to go, she fell again. She began to crawl, the crowd cheering her on, and crossed the finish line on her hands and knees. Her time? Two hours, 44 minutes, 57 seconds.

Hebrews 12:1 Reminds us to run our race with perseverance and never give up.

Source: Terry Fisher, San Mateo, California, quoted in Preaching Resources, Spring 1996, p. 69.

Bible Lessons from the Olympics: Go for the Gold, Go for God

“…I run to win that which Jesus Christ has already won for me. Brothers and sisters, I can’t consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:12-14

Going for the Gold!

That is the aim and aspiration of the vast company of athletes who assemble every four years from all over the world to take part in the Olympic Games. For them, to stand on the winner’s podium, be hailed as a hero, with the strains of their home country’s national anthem ringing in their ears, emotion etched on their tear stained faces, would make all the sacrifice and strenuous effort worthwhile.

You know, the Christian life is no different. Paul sees it as a race! It is not a 100 yard dash. It is a marathon cross-country. Of necessity, we are to abandon our own selfish ambitions so that we may wholeheartedly pursue the goal that is set before us. Nothing must hinder or hamper our steady progress. It is not a spectator sport but one of active participation by all. Down the straight, round the bend, over the hurdle, in the final analysis, consistency is what really matters.

There will be frustration as we strive to attain spiritual fitness. Many tears may be shed as we county the cost of getting rid of the excess baggage. The pain barrier must be broken if we are to keep on going. But, even though we may not all be winners by nature, with the spiritual instincts of the new man reigning within, we can conquer all and cross the finishing line in triumph.

Awaiting us is Christ, the One who has gone on before. No greater incentive can be given; no other motivation should be required. That’s why we pull out all the stops, with every fibre of our being, stretching all the sinews, as we keep the end in view. What an exhilarating prospect.

Let’s go for the gold…and go for God!

This was Paul’s thinking. It was his game plan. And, he stuck rigidly to it. Like him, we want to be there at the end. Paul shows us how to do it in Philippians 3:12-16. He leaves us a few tips that are designed to enhance our performance in the race ahead:

Be realistic – know where you are at
Be single minded – learn the art of concentration
Be forward looking – resist the temptation to look back
Be a plodder – don’t be a dropout on the last lap
Be sensible – know the rules and stick to them

Winning moves. Yes! Absorb them and get yourself down to the track!

Author: Sam Gordon

Get "Go for the Gold" Youth Bible Study SeriesGo for the Gold
Need an evangelistic Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series with an Olympic Theme?

What is salvation all about? What does it mean to be saved? This sports themed Bible Study / Camp Curriculum uses the Olympic Flag to introduce the concepts of sin (black circle), forgiveness (red circle), purity (white background), spiritual growth (green circle), heaven (Yellow Circle) and (Baptism) blue circle.
-> Tell me about “Go for the Gold”

Get "Destined to Win" Youth Bible Study SeriesDestined to Win
Need a Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series on “Running the Christian Race”?

The race as a metaphor for the Christian life is used in several places in the Bible. This series is a great follow up for new Christians or to re-emphasize the basics of our spiritual Journey in the Faith. This Bible Study / Camp Curriculum has a sports theme and is great for athletes as well as a tie in to the youth Olympic Games.
->Tell me about “Destined to Win”

Bible Lessons from the Olympics: Running by Faith

Ryan Hall - Running by FaithOlympic Marathon Runner Ryan Hall

 

I read an article today in the New York Times about an exceptional runner. His name is Ryan Hall. You’ve got to read it to believe it.

At the 2011 Boston Marathon, Ryan Hall ran a personal best of 2 hours 4 minutes 58 seconds. No other American has run faster. What’s more surprising is the fact that he coaches himself, running alone instead of with an elite training group in Northern California. Well, he’s not necessarily alone.

You see, after finishing second at the 2011 United States half-marathon championships, Hall went to drug testing, a standard procedure. Asked on a form to list his coach, he wrote: God.

“You have to list the name of a real person,” a doping official said. “He is a real person,” Hall responded.

2008 Beijing Olympics

Just a couple years earlier on August 24, 2008, Hall reached the starting line of the Olympic marathon in Beijing. Hall was considered a medal candidate. But he felt sluggish and when the gun sounded, his race plan crumbled. Dejected, Hall finished 10th in 2:12:33. He was unable to watch a replay of the race for three years. Emotionally scarring, he called it.

Eventually, that defeat in Beijing changed from deflating to liberating for Hall. He embraced risk and lost his fear of failure.

“I don’t see failure as a negative thing at all anymore, which is a huge shift for me,” he said. “I just see that as part of my training, my process, learning, experimenting, getting it wrong so that I can get it right.”

“Sometimes, you have to fail your way to the top,” Hall said in his open, easy manner in March. “Thomas Edison found a thousand ways not to make a light bulb before he got it right.”

2012 London Olympics

And he’s well on his way. Of the 29 fastest marathon performances in 2011, Hall’s was the only one by a runner from a country other than Kenya or Ethiopia. His next marathon will come August 12th at the London Olympics. Hall firmly believes he could challenge the East Africans for a gold medal.

“It’s going to take a special day,” Hall said of his gold medal chances. “But I feel like I went for it, regardless of how the race goes. I’ll always look back on this as a season of joy. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t. That’s part of the fun of life, taking some chances and seeing what happens.”

Faith Based Training

Some elite runners seem taken aback by Hall’s faith-based training.

“So he really thinks God is saying, ‘Run 10 times 1,200 meters today,’ or ‘Take tomorrow off’?’ ” said Dathan Ritzenhein, who finished ninth in the marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, one spot ahead of his countryman Hall. “Wow.”

Take It to the Next Level

 

It’s uncanny that Ryan chose the marathon as his sport of choice. It’s very much like our walk with Christ. We’re not meant to be fireworks, putting on a big show, burning bright in a blaze of glory then fizzling out. We’re meant to be lamps, being consistent, burning slowly so that we can light the world for generations to see. Are we burning out in our zeal for God? Or are we pacing ourselves for the spiritual journey ahead? In this race, we’ll experience disappointments, failure, uneven roads, missed opportunities and losses. God is not asking us to be perfect right away. It’s part of the journey. It’s only when we’re authentic Christians that we can be great witnesses for God. When we can be real with God in our struggles and real with the people around us that we can be true witnesses for Christ.

Failure

What we don’t often realize is that failure is part of our Christian walk. In stumbling and failing we do grow strong. We become the kind of person God wants us to be. That’s where true victory lies. Not in winning, but in the building of our character. That’s what God is more concerned about. When we fall, we get tired, and feel like giving up because we failed or felt we failed God through our own weakness, that’s when we need to come to Him even more. Rather than blame God for “failing us” or when things don’t always go our way, we need to pause and look at the bigger picture from God’s perspective. Instead of asking, “Why God?” We need to ask, “What do you want me to learn through this?” It’s okay to not understand what God wants to show us. We don’t need to have it all figured out. All we need to do is trust Him. That in his divine, big picture plan for us, failure is necessary. It’s okay to be disappointed, to be real with God. But let’s not stay in that place and wallow forever. We have a God we can draw strength from. To hope in. To wait upon. And he’s always willing to renew us and give us what we need to push on to the next leg of our spiritual race.

“Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:27-31 (NIV)

Witnesses

People see the power of our God working through us, in our character, in our speech, conduct, integrity, wisdom, perseverance, kindness, and faithfulness. How can we be a great witness for God is we behave no differently from the standards of the world? We need to set ourselves apart. To be in the world, but not of it – participating in the affairs of the world, but not sticking to what the world believes is “right”. We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard – the standard of the cross. We have to be Christians “where we live”, in our offices, schools, bands, sports, squads, homes, and community. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing, whether we’re running, playing football, studying, working. Our lives have to reflect God’s character in this world. That’s really what’s going to make people who don’t have a personal relationship with God sit up and go, “Wow. I want me some of that!”

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)

Scripture Verses for Bible Study

  • Isaiah 40:27-31
  • Matthew 5:14-16

Discussion

  1. Think about a time when you failed. How did you feel?
  2. Looking back at that failure, did you come out of the situation bitter or better?
  3. What are some of the lessons you have learned from failures in your own life?
  4. What are some important Biblical lessons to remember when you face future failures?
  5. What words might come to mind if people were to describe you?
  6. How would others describe the role of God in your life?
  7. How can you reflects Christ’s character in your family, among your friends, in your school, to the world?
  8. How can you be a more authentic Christian among those around you?

Get "Go for the Gold" Youth Bible Study SeriesGo for the Gold
Need an evangelistic Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series with an Olympic Theme?

What is salvation all about? What does it mean to be saved? This sports themed Bible Study / Camp Curriculum uses the Olympic Flag to introduce the concepts of sin (black circle), forgiveness (red circle), purity (white background), spiritual growth (green circle), heaven (Yellow Circle) and (Baptism) blue circle.
-> Tell me about “Go for the Gold”

Get "Destined to Win" Youth Bible Study SeriesDestined to Win
Need a Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series on “Running the Christian Race”?

The race as a metaphor for the Christian life is used in several places in the Bible. This series is a great follow up for new Christians or to re-emphasize the basics of our spiritual Journey in the Faith. This Bible Study / Camp Curriculum has a sports theme and is great for athletes as well as a tie in to the youth Olympic Games.
->Tell me about “Destined to Win”

Bible Lessons from the Olympics: Determination

Johnny Fulton was run over by a car at the age of three. He suffered crushed hips, broken ribs, a fractured skull, and compound fractures in his legs. It did not look as if he would live. But he would not give up. In fact, he later ran the half- mile in less than two minutes.

Walt Davis was totally paralyzed by polio when he was nine years old, but he did not give up. He became the Olympic high jump champion in 1952.

Shelly Mann was paralyzed by polio when she was five years old, but she would not give up. She eventually claimed eight different swimming records for the U.S. and won a gold medal at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

In 1938, Karoly Takacs, a member of Hungary’s world-champion pistol shooting team and sergeant in the army, lost his right hand when a grenade he was holding exploded. But Takacs did not give. up. He learned to shoot left-handed and won gold medals in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics.

Source: SermonIllustrations.com, February 2000

God has called each of us to fulfill a purpose in life.  Whatever tragedy you have gone through, whatever trial you have faced, whatever obstacles have stood in your way, the key to moving ahead is to never give up.  God has not called you to something he will not equip you to accomplish.  God has not called us to fail, but to trust in Him for victory.  You cannot fail if you are fulfilling God’s will for your life.  God doesn’t call us to results, but to obedience to the tasks he has set before us.

“One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:1-21)

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Need an evangelistic Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series with an Olympic Theme?

What is salvation all about? What does it mean to be saved? This sports themed Bible Study / Camp Curriculum uses the Olympic Flag to introduce the concepts of sin (black circle), forgiveness (red circle), purity (white background), spiritual growth (green circle), heaven (Yellow Circle) and (Baptism) blue circle.
-> Tell me about “Go for the Gold”

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The race as a metaphor for the Christian life is used in several places in the Bible. This series is a great follow up for new Christians or to re-emphasize the basics of our spiritual Journey in the Faith. This Bible Study / Camp Curriculum has a sports theme and is great for athletes as well as a tie in to the youth Olympic Games.
->Tell me about “Destined to Win”

Bible Lessons from the Olympics: Sports’ Highest Honor

A String of Ducklings

In the 1992 Olympics Henry Pearce of Australia was competing in the single scull rowing event at the 1928 Olympics. He was leading when a duck and her string of ducklings came into view up ahead. They were on a collision course and Pearce reckoned that his scull would cut the string in two and sink a few ducklings in the process, so he pulled in his oars. When the ducks passed, Pearce again bent his back to the task. There’s a happy ending to the story. Pearce won. Usually, acts of sportsmanship result in defeat. Remember Leo Durocher’s pronouncement, “Nice guys finish last”?

A Broken Rudder

It happened a couple of years ago in the marathon tandem kayak racing event at the world championships in Copenhagen. Danish paddlers were leading when their rudder was damaged in a portage. British paddlers, who were in second place, stopped to help the Danes fix it. The Danes went on to defeat the British by one second in an event that lasted nearly three hours. But there’s a happy ending to this story too. According to The Wall Street Journal, the British kayakers won what many people regard as the highest honor in sports. They became the winner of the Pierre de Coubertin International Fair Play Trophy.

The trophy is named for the founder of the modern Olympic Games, and it has been awarded annually for the past 28 years to people in sports who have demonstrated nobility of spirit. It is big news in Europe, but it has not been given much recognition in the United States. In the past, the trophy has gone to a Hungarian tennis player who pleaded with officials to give his opponent more time to recover from a cramp, and to a high school basketball coach who forfeited the Georgia (US) state championship after he found out that one of his players was scholastically ineligible.

A Broken Bolt

The first trophy went to an Italian bobsledder named Eugenio Monti for a gesture that exhibited a touch of class. In the two-man bobsled event at the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics, Monti was the leader after his final run. The only one given a chance to beat him was Tony Nash of Great Britain. As Nash and his teammate got ready for their final run, they discovered that a critical bolt on their sled had snapped at the last moment. Monti was informed of the problem and immediately took the corresponding bolt from his own sled and sent it up to Nash. Nash fixed his sled, came hurtling down the course to set a record and won the gold medal.

Source: Bits & Pieces, October 15, 1992, Page 4-6

As a Christian, our Highest Honor is to appear before God and have him proclaim, “Well Done, my good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:23)

Other related Bible Verses

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12)

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25:21)

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:28-29)

“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)

Get "Go for the Gold" Youth Bible Study SeriesGo for the Gold
Need an evangelistic Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series with an Olympic Theme?

What is salvation all about? What does it mean to be saved? This sports themed Bible Study / Camp Curriculum uses the Olympic Flag to introduce the concepts of sin (black circle), forgiveness (red circle), purity (white background), spiritual growth (green circle), heaven (Yellow Circle) and (Baptism) blue circle.
-> Tell me about “Go for the Gold”

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Need a Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series on “Running the Christian Race”?

The race as a metaphor for the Christian life is used in several places in the Bible. This series is a great follow up for new Christians or to re-emphasize the basics of our spiritual Journey in the Faith. This Bible Study / Camp Curriculum has a sports theme and is great for athletes as well as a tie in to the youth Olympic Games.
->Tell me about “Destined to Win”

The Value of Time

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who has failed his exam and has to repeat a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who has given birth to a pre-mature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE DAY, ask a daily wage laborer who has eight kids to feed.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask someone who is on his deathbed.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who has missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who has won a silver medal in Olympics.

Whether we are in our youth, in the prime of life, or in our golden years, we must all remember to treasure every moment we have…

Get "Go for the Gold" Youth Bible Study SeriesGo for the Gold
Need an evangelistic Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series with an Olympic Theme?

What is salvation all about? What does it mean to be saved? This sports themed Bible Study / Camp Curriculum uses the Olympic Flag to introduce the concepts of sin (black circle), forgiveness (red circle), purity (white background), spiritual growth (green circle), heaven (Yellow Circle) and (Baptism) blue circle.
-> Tell me about “Go for the Gold”

Get "Destined to Win" Youth Bible Study SeriesDestined to Win
Need a Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series on “Running the Christian Race”?

The race as a metaphor for the Christian life is used in several places in the Bible. This series is a great follow up for new Christians or to re-emphasize the basics of our spiritual Journey in the Faith. This Bible Study / Camp Curriculum has a sports theme and is great for athletes as well as a tie in to the youth Olympic Games.
->Tell me about “Destined to Win”

Bible Lessons from the Olympics: Champions Never Quit

“Let me win.  But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
Special Olympics Oath

“Champions are not those who never fail, they are those who never quit…Men love winners.  They want to be identified with winners. Men open a newspaper and turn directly to the sports page because it features winners, while the front page usually features losers…Champions are the right man, in the right place, at the right time.  Timing is all important.

God has an eternal clock which was started from the beginning of time to make you become a champion for Him.  To become a  champion, you must see yourself  as a champion.  Hanging on to the fear of failure, the sins of others and past mistakes will keep you from becoming a champion.  Champions are made, not born.  Many champions start with severe handicaps in life, but in making the effort to overcome, they find the ability to continue until they have excelled beyond those even without handicaps.

The athlete, the farmer and the soldier all have different ways of winning.  Each of them does his training, plowing or exercising in private, and they show their abilities in public…The fainthearted never win, they wilt.  They start well, but fade before they finish…

Joshua was a member of the championship team.  He could hardly stand to see other men who didn’t feel the way he did, and finally issued the challenge that lives on forever:

‘Choose this day whom you will serve,
but as for me and my house,
we will serve the Lord’

I’m proud to be on Joshua’s team!”

Source: Edwin Louis Cole,  “Courage – Winning Life’s Toughest Battles”

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What is salvation all about? What does it mean to be saved? This sports themed Bible Study / Camp Curriculum uses the Olympic Flag to introduce the concepts of sin (black circle), forgiveness (red circle), purity (white background), spiritual growth (green circle), heaven (Yellow Circle) and (Baptism) blue circle.
-> Tell me about “Go for the Gold”

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Need a Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series on “Running the Christian Race”?

The race as a metaphor for the Christian life is used in several places in the Bible. This series is a great follow up for new Christians or to re-emphasize the basics of our spiritual Journey in the Faith. This Bible Study / Camp Curriculum has a sports theme and is great for athletes as well as a tie in to the youth Olympic Games.
->Tell me about “Destined to Win”

Bible Lessons from the Olympics: The Power of the Cross

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
– 1 Corinthians 1:18 (KJV)

Author Unknown*

In 1967 while taking a class in photography at the University of Cincinnati, I became acquainted with a young man named Charles Murray who also was a student at the school and training for the summer Olympics of 1968 as a high diver. Charles was very patient with me as I would speak to him for hours about Jesus Christ and how He had saved me. Charles was not raised in a home that attended any kind of church, so all that I had to tell him was a fascination to him. He even began to ask questions about forgiveness of sin.

Finally the day came that I put a question to him. I asked if he realized his own need of a redeemer and if he was ready to trust Christ as his own Saviour. I saw his countenance fall and the guilt in his face. But his reply was a strong “no.”

In the days that followed he was quiet and often I felt that he was avoiding me, until I got a phone call and it was Charles. He wanted to know where to look in the New Testament for some verses that I had given him about salvation. I gave him the reference to several passages and asked if I could meet with him. He declined my offer and thanked me for the scripture. I could tell that he was greatly troubled, but I did not know where he was or how to help him.

Because he was training for the Olympic games, Charles had special privileges at the University pool facilities. Some time between 10:30 and 11:00 that evening he decided to go swim and practice a few dives. It was a clear night in October and the moon was big and bright. The University pool was housed under a ceiling of glass panes so the moon shone bright across the top of the wall in the pool area. Charles climbed to the highest platform to take his first dive. At that moment the Spirit of God began to convict him of his sins. All the scripture he had read, all the occasions of witnessing to him about Christ flooded his mind. He stood on the platform backwards to make his dive, spread his arms to gather his balance, looked up to the wall and saw his own shadow caused by the light of the moon. It was the shape of a cross. He could bear the burden of his sin no longer. His heart broke and he sat down on the platform and asked God to forgive him and save him. He trusted Jesus Christ twenty some feet in the air.

Suddenly, the lights in the pool area came on. The attendant had come in to check the pool. As Charles looked down from his platform he saw an empty pool which had been drained for repairs. He had almost plummeted to his death, but the cross had stopped him from disaster.

* According to the Cincinnati Post, University of Cincinnati officials have checked out this story, which has been posted many times on the Internet under the title of The Power of the Cross. “UC spokesman Greg Hand said two Charles Murrays attended UC then. One left UC before ’67 and another was not enrolled at the time. Neither were divers. Still, Hand is not ready to call the story fiction. ‘I’m of the opinion that maybe the names were changed in this story,’ he said. The university swimming pool in Laurence Hall is housed in a room whose west wall is made entirely of glass panes, a fact which substantiates a key part of the story. ‘It’s one of those things where you kind of hope it is true,’ Hand said.”

Get "Go for the Gold" Youth Bible Study SeriesGo for the Gold
Need an evangelistic Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series with an Olympic Theme?

What is salvation all about? What does it mean to be saved? This sports themed Bible Study / Camp Curriculum uses the Olympic Flag to introduce the concepts of sin (black circle), forgiveness (red circle), purity (white background), spiritual growth (green circle), heaven (Yellow Circle) and (Baptism) blue circle.
-> Tell me about “Go for the Gold”

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Need a Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series on “Running the Christian Race”?

The race as a metaphor for the Christian life is used in several places in the Bible. This series is a great follow up for new Christians or to re-emphasize the basics of our spiritual Journey in the Faith. This Bible Study / Camp Curriculum has a sports theme and is great for athletes as well as a tie in to the youth Olympic Games.
->Tell me about “Destined to Win”

Finishing Strong in the Race of Life

Billy Graham, Chuck Templeton and Bron Cliffort launched out of the starting block like Olympic gold medalists in 1945. Why haven’t you heard of Chuck Templeton and Bron Cliffort? The answer may surprise you.

Chuck Templeton

All three of these young men rose to prominence in their middle twenties. One seminary president after hearing Chuck Templeton, a brilliant, dynamic preacher – called him the most gifted, talented young preacher in America. Templeton and Graham became very close friends and preached together with the Youth for Christ Organisation. Most observers thought that Templeton would be the one to go to the top. One magazine wrote a feature article calling Templeton the “Babe Ruth of evangelism.”

Bron Cliffort

Bron Cliffort was another gifted, young fireball evangelist. Many believed that Cliffort was the most gifted, powerful preacher to come up in the church for many centuries. People lined up for hours to hear him preach. When he went to Baylor University to give a discourse, they actually cut the ropes of the bells of the tower. They wanted nothing to interfere with his preaching. For two and half hours the students of Baylor sat on the edges of their seat as he gave a dissertation on “Christ and the Philosopher’s stone” At the the age of twenty-five, Cliffort touched more lives, influenced more leaders, and set more attendance records than other clergyman in American history. National leaders yielded for his attention. He was tall, handsome, dashing, intelligent and sophisticated. Hollywood actually tried to cast him in the role for the famous movie, THE ROBE. He seemed to have everything.

What happened?

By 1950, Templeton had left the ministry. He pursued a radio career. He became an announcer and a newscaster, telling the world that he no longer believed Jesus Christ was the son of God. He became an atheist. By 1950, this future Babe Ruth of preaching was not even in the ball game.

By 1954, Cliffort had lost his family, ministry and health. Eventually he lost his life because of his addiction to alcohol. Financial irresponsibility left his wife and their two Downs-syndrome children penniless. This once famous preacher died of cirrhosis of the liver at the age of thirty-five in a rundown hotel on the edge on Amarillo. He died unwept, unhonored, and unsung. Some of the pastors from Amarillo, Texas, got together and collected enough money to buy a cheap casket. They shipped his body back to the east coast, where he was buried in a pauper’s cemetery.

In 1945 all three of these young men with extraordinary gifts were preaching for the purpose of multiplying the church by thousands of people. But within ten years only one of them was still on track for Christ.

In the CHRISTIAN Life it’s not how you start as a youth but it’s how you finish.

* Will you finish strong for Christ?
* Will you be a multiplier for Him throughout your life?
* What will keep you from being one who leaves the race?

Joshua 24:15
“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

2 Timothy 4:7
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
For more information on FINISHING STRONG, read the book by the same title by Steve Farrar.

Get "Go for the Gold" Youth Bible Study SeriesGo for the Gold
Need an evangelistic Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series with an Olympic Theme?

What is salvation all about? What does it mean to be saved? This sports themed Bible Study / Camp Curriculum uses the Olympic Flag to introduce the concepts of sin (black circle), forgiveness (red circle), purity (white background), spiritual growth (green circle), heaven (Yellow Circle) and (Baptism) blue circle.
-> Tell me about “Go for the Gold”

Get "Destined to Win" Youth Bible Study SeriesDestined to Win
Need a Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series on “Running the Christian Race”?

The race as a metaphor for the Christian life is used in several places in the Bible. This series is a great follow up for new Christians or to re-emphasize the basics of our spiritual Journey in the Faith. This Bible Study / Camp Curriculum has a sports theme and is great for athletes as well as a tie in to the youth Olympic Games.
->Tell me about “Destined to Win”

Parable of the Donkey

 

There is an ancient story about a father and his son walking along a road one day with a donkey.  Soon they met a man who told them how foolish they were to walk when they had a donkey that could be ridden.  So the  father and son hopped on.
 
They hadn't gotten very far when another man criticized them for both riding the donkey.  They were too heavy for it,  he contended and
were being inhumane.. so the boy got off.
 
It wasn't long before a third traveller accused the father of being inconsiderate because he made his son walk while he rode donkey.  So the two switched places.
 
Soon they met another person who thought the son was not being thoughtful of his father who was so much older than he.  When last seen, the two were trudging down the road carrying the donkey.
 

Moral of the story?

 
Too often we live our life trying to live up to other's expectations.  If you are trying to meet all the expectations of others, you will end up carrying a needless burden  of guilt and inadequacy.
 
Don't base your life on the expectations of others… be all that GOD created you to be… Jeremiah 29:11-14


MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

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The Cure

The day is over, you are driving home. You tune in your radio. You hear a little blurb about a little village in India where some villagers have died suddenly, strangely, of a flu that has never been seen before. It's not influenza, but three or four fellows are dead, and it's kind of interesting, and they're sending some doctors over there to investigate it.

You don't think much about it, but on Sunday, coming home from church, you hear another radio spot. Only they say it's not three villagers, it's30,000 villagers in the back hills of this particular area of India, and it's on TV that night. CNN runs a little blurb; people are heading there from the disease center in Atlanta because this disease strain has never been seen before.

By Monday morning when you get up, it's the lead story. For it's not just India; it's Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and before you know it, you're hearing this story everywhere and they have coined it now as "the mystery flu". The President has made some comment that he and everyone are praying and hoping that all will go well over there. But everyone is wondering, "How are we going to contain it?"

That's when the President of France makes an announcement that shocks Europe. He is closing their borders. No flights from India, Pakistan, or any of the countries where this thing has been seen.

And that's why that night you are watching a little bit of CNN before going to bed. Your jaw hits your chest when a weeping woman is translated from a French news program into English: "There's a man lying in a hospital in Paris dying of the mystery flu." It has come to Europe. Panic strikes. As best they can tell, once you get it, you have it for a week and you don't know it. Then you have four days of unbelievable symptoms. And then you die.

Britain closes it's borders, but it's too late. South Hampton, Liverpool, North Hampton, and it's Tuesday morning when the President of the United States makes the following announcement: "Due to a national security risk, all flights to and from Europe and Asia have been canceled. If your loved ones are overseas, I'm sorry. They cannot come back until we find a cure for this thing."

Within four days our nation has been plunged into an unbelievable fear. People are selling little masks for your face. People are talking about what if it comes to this country, and preachers on Tuesday are saying, "It's the scourge of God."

It's Wednesday night and you are at a church prayer meeting when somebody runs in from the parking lot and says, "Turn on a radio, turn on a radio." And while the church listens to a little transistor radio with a microphone placed close to it, the announcement is made. "Two women are lying in a Long Island hospital dying from the mystery flu." Within hours it seems, this thing just sweeps across the country. People are working around the clock trying to find an antidote. Nothing is working. California. Oregon. Arizona. Florida .Massachusetts. It's as though it's just sweeping in from the borders.

And then, all of a sudden the news comes out. The code has been broken. A cure can be found. A vaccine can be made. It's going to take the blood of somebody who hasn't been infected, and so, sure enough, all through the Midwest, through all those channels of emergency broadcasting, everyone is asked to do one simple thing: "Go to your downtown hospital and have your blood type taken. That's all we ask of you. And when you hear the sirens go off in your neighborhood, please make your way quickly, quietly, and safely to the hospitals."

Sure enough, when you and your family get down there late on that Friday night, there is a long line, and they've got nurses and doctors coming out and pricking fingers and taking blood and putting labels on it. Your wife and your kids are out there, and they take your blood type and they say, "Wait here in the parking lot and if we call your name, you can be dismissed and go home."

You stand around scared with your neighbors, wondering what in the world is going on, and that this is the end of the world. Suddenly a young man comes running out of the hospital screaming. He's yelling a name and waving a clipboard. What? He yells it again! And your son tugs on your jacket and says, "Daddy, that's me."

Before you know it, they have grabbed your boy. "Wait a minute, hold it!"

And they say, "It's okay, his blood is clean. His blood is pure. We want to make sure he doesn't have the disease. We think he has got the right type."

Five tense minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses, crying and hugging one another — some are even laughing. It's the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week, and an old doctor walks up to you and says, "Thank you, sir. Your son's blood type is perfect. It's clean, it is pure, and we can make the vaccine." As the word begins to spread all across that parking lot full of folks, people are screaming and praying and laughing and crying.

But then the gray-haired doctor pulls you and you wife aside and says, "May we see you for a moment? We didn't realize that the donor would be a minor and we need … we need you to sign a consent form."

You begin to sign and then you see that the number of pints of blood to be taken is empty. "H-h-h-how many pints?"

And that is when the old doctor's smile fades and he says, " We had no idea it would be a little child. We weren't prepared. We need it all!"

"But … but …."

"You don't understand. We are talking about the world here. Please sign. We — we need it all — we need it all!"

"But can't you give him a transfusion?"

"If we had clean blood we would."

Can you sign? Would you sign? In numb silence you do. Then they say, "Would you like to have a moment with him before we begin?" Can you walk back? Can you walk back to that room where he sits on a table saying, "Daddy? Mommy? What's going on?"

Can you take his hands and say, "Son, your mommy and I love you, and we would never ever let anything happen to you that didn't just have to be. Do you understand that?"

And when that old doctor comes back in and says, "I'm sorry, we've — we've got to get started. People all over the world are dying."

Can you leave? Can you walk out while he is saying, "Dad? Mom? Dad? Why? Why have you forsaken me?"

And then next week, when they have the ceremony to honor your son, and some folks sleep through it, and some folks don't even come because they go to the lake, and some folks come with a pretentious smile and just pretend to care. Would you want to jump up and say, "MY SON DIED! DON'T YOU CARE?

Is that what God wants to say? "MY SON DIED. DON'T YOU KNOW HOW MUCHI CARE?"

"Father, seeing it from your eyes breaks our hearts. Maybe now we can begin to comprehend the great love you have for us. Amen."


MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Heaven’s Mail Room

 

An Illustration of Prayer

The angel Gabriel was giving a newly arrived Christian a tour of heaven.  The two of them were walking side by side inside a large mailroom filled with other angels.

Gabriel stopped in front of the first section and said, “This is the Receiving Section.  Here, all the petitions sent to God in prayer are received.”
The Christian saw that the section was a very busy one with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous sheets of paper from all the people of the world.
They resumed walking until they reached the second section.  Gabriel told the Christian, “This is the Packaging and Delivery Section.  Here, the blessings of God in answer to prayers are packed and delivered to the those who are praying on earth.”
The Christian saw how busy it was.  There were a great many angels working in that room because countless blessings were being packed and delivered to earth.
Finally, at the farthest corner of the room, they stopped at the last section.  To the surprise of the Christian, only one angel was there and he was idle.
“This is the Acknowledging Section,” Gabriel told the Christian.
“How is it that no work is being done here?”
“That’s the sad thing,” Gabriel answered.
“After people on earth received the blessings they asked for, very few of them bother to send their acknowledgments.”
“How does one acknowledge God’s blessing?” 
“Simple,” Gabriel answered.  “Just say, ‘Thank you, Lord.'”

Variation – An object Lesson or Children’s Sermon on Prayer

This could easily be converted into a sermon for kids, or an object lesson for youth on “answered prayer.”   Collect a bunch of postcards and write prayers to God on them. “Dear God…  A Prayer… then sign it with a name.  Then in another box have deliveries that match the different requests.  (Note some of the deliveries might be different than the actual request because God provides what we truly need and not what we think we need.)  Finally, have an empty box for the messages of Thanks.  To create a more balanced perspective on prayer, have messages of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (A.C.T.S.) Adoration is simply praise to God for who he is.  Confession is an acknowledgement of sin. Thanksgiving is of course a response to answered prayer and for the blessing of God in life.  Supplications are requests.  Many times we only see prayer as requests. The simplest definition of prayer is “Talking to God” so have lots of messages that are simply conversations with God.  Have only one or two of thanks.  Close by giving the children or youth postcards and asking them to write notes of thanks to God and fill up the last box.

Scriptures for For Famous prayers in the Bible

  • Abraham, for Sodom – Genesis 18:16-33
  • Daniel – Daniel 9:1-19
  • David – 2 Samuel 7:18-29; 1 Chronicles 17:16-27
  • David’s Confession – Psalms 51:1-17
  • David’s Thanks – 2 Samuel 7:18-29
  • Deborah – Judges 5:1-31
  • Elijah’s at Mount Carmel – I Kings 18:36-39
  • Ezra – Ezra 9:5-15
  • Habakkuk – Habakkuk 3:2-19
  • Hannah – 1 Samuel 1:9-20; 1 Samuel 2:1-10
  • Hezekiah – 2 Kings 19:14-20:3
  • Hezekiah when Sick – Isaiah 38:2-8
  • Hosea – Hosea 6:1-3
  • Jabez – 1 Chronicles 4:10
  • Jacob – Genesis 32:22-32
  • Jehoshophat – 2 Chronicles 20:1-30
  • Jeremiah – Lamentations 3: 21-26
  • Jesus – Matthew 6:5-15: Luke 11:1-13; John 17
  • Job – Job 1:20-21; 3; 42:2-6
  • Jonah – Jonah 2:1-9
  • Jude’s Praise – Jude 1:24-25
  • Moses – Exodus 15:1-18;  33: 12-23; Numbers 14:13-19
  • Nehemiah – Nehemiah 1:4-10
  • Paul – Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 1:15-23; 3:14-21; Philippians 1:9-11; Collosians 1:9-14; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, 2:13-17
  • Paul, Knowing God’s Will – Colossians 1:9-12
  • Paul, Partners in Ministry – Philippians 1:3-11
  • Paul, Spiritual Growth – Ephesians 3:14-21
  • Paul, Spiritual Wisdom – Ephesians 1:15-23
  • Solomon, dedication – 1 Kings 3:5-15; 8:14-61
  • Stephen at His Stoning – Acts 7:59-60
  • Tax Collector’s Prayer – Luke 18:13

 

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Blessed through Prayer

A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to a small, desert like island.

The two survivors, not knowing what else to do, agreed that they had no other recourse but to pray to God. However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.

The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land, and he was able to eat its fruit. The other man’s parcel of land remained barren.

After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife. The next day, another ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the land. On the other side of the island, there was nothing. Soon the first man
prayed for a house, clothes, more food.

The next day, like magic, all of these were given to him. However, the second man still had nothing.

Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that he and his wife could  leave the island. In the morning, he found a ship docked at his side of the island. The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island. He considered the other man unworthy to receive God’s blessings, since none of his prayers had been answered.

As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from heaven booming, “Why are you leaving your companion on the island?”

“My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them,” the first man answered. “His prayers were all unanswered and so he does not deserve anything.”

“You are mistaken!” the voice rebuked him. “He had only one prayer, which I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of my blessings.”

“Tell me,” the first man asked the voice, “What did he pray for that I should owe him anything?”

“He prayed that all your prayers be answered.”

For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but those of another praying for us.


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Some Youth are Like Potatoes

Some youth like to tell others what do do, but don’t want to soil their own hands.
They are called “Dic Taters.”

Some youth never seem motivated to participate, but are just content to watch while others do the work.
They are called “Speck Taters.”

Some youth never do anything to help, but are gifted at finding fault with the way others do the work.
They are called “Comment Taters.”

Some youth are always looking to cause problems by asking others tovagree with them. It is too hot or too cold, too sour or too sweet.
They are called “Agie Taters.”

There are youth who say they will help, but somehow just never get around to actually doing the promised help.
They are called “Hezzie Taters.”

Some youth can put up a front and pretend to be someone they are not.
They are called “Emma Taters.”

Then there are those youth who love and do what they say they will. They are always prepared to stop whatever they are doing and lend a helping hand and bring real sunshine into the lives of others.
They are called “Sweet Taters.”

In any group of people, whether it be a group of youth or a group of adults, you will find the the various members of the tater family. This is also true of the family of God – the church.  There will always be people who want to control, who stir things up and agitate, who are quick to proved negative comment. Then there will be those who will simply watch and do nothing, or hesitate to do something.  There will be those who pretend to be something they are not. The Bible calls them hypocrites.

Fortunately, in spite of all these, there will be those who accept the call of God to live the life he has chosen.

  • Instead of dictators, they will yield to God.
  • They will not be content to watch God at work but will join God in His work.
  • Their comments will edify rather than tear down.
  • Instead of agitators, they will be peacemakers.
  • Rather then hesitate, they will boldly step out in faith.
  • They will be imitators of Christ, and people will know them by their sweet spirits.

And God will use such youth, to change the world!

So, what kind of “tater” are you?


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Thank You God for My Dad

Dear God,

Thanks for giving me a daddy. You knew just what I’d need! In case you need to make daddies for other kids, I thought you might like to know what I like best about the one you sent me:

A good dad …

  1. knows everything (like how to tie shoes and drive a car)
  2. is really smart (he even knows where the wind goes after it blows through the trees)
  3. has a forgiving heart (for when I mess up)
  4. is loaded with patience, patience, patience (he probably won’t need it, but just in case…)
  5. has a comfy lap and a big laugh (you understand about that, don’t you?)
  6. tells me all about you and your son.

Your friend,

A Kid

P.S. I almost left out the best part! A good dad has real strong arms (to catch me when I fall. He says you’re just like that, too.)

[Source: Max Lucado, What Makes a Good Dad]


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Dad Is

 

A dad is a person
who is loving and kind,
And often he knows
what you have on your mind.

He’s someone who listens,
suggests, and defends ~
A dad can be one
of your very best friends!

He’s proud of your triumphs,
but when things go wrong,
A dad can be patient
and helpful and strong.

In all that you do,
a dad’s love plays a part ~
There’s always a place for him
deep in your heart ~

And each year that passes,
you’re even more glad,
More grateful and proud
just to call him your dad!

Thank you, Dad…
for listening and caring,
for giving and sharing,
but, especially, for just being you!

Author Unknown


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The Mother of Mother’s Day

Attributed to Paul Harvey?

Anna May Jarvis, quote: “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. You give your mother a box of candy and then go home and eat most of it yourself….”

Anna May Jarvis, quote:
“A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red….”

Anna May Jarvis, still quoting now:
“You ought to give her something useful, something permanent. A lot of mothers are sleeping on mattresses that are as hard as rocks. Maybe she needs new eyeglasses, comfortable shoes, a pair of slippers, or better lighting fixtures. Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing. . . .”

What about flowers, Anna May?
“Flowers are about half dead by the time they’re delivered.”

And Anna May goes on to say that she won’t rest “until Mother’s Day becomes the personal family Memorial Day it was intended to be.”

If anyone had the right to speak out against the commercialization of Mother’s Day, it was Anna May Jarvis. That second Sunday of thoughtfulness each and every May was Anna’s idea in the first place. Anna May Jarvis was the Mother of Mother’s Day. Anna May Jarvis, born May 1, 1864.

She was a minister’s daughter, described as a quiet, studious girl in school who liked everyone and whom everyone liked. Anna was just two weeks forty-two, working for a life insurance company in Philadelphia, when her mother died on the second Sunday of May, 1906. Friends noticed a change in Anna in the months following that unhappy occasion. No longer the gentle, easygoing woman they knew, Anna became obsessed with but one desire: to see her mother and motherhood honored annually throughout the world. After more than a year of careful planning, Anna arranged the first Mother’s Day church service-May 10, 1908-at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday school. Anna worked hard to promote her idea. A year after that first memorial service in West Virginia, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years passed. West Virginia made Mother’s Day a statewide observance. One year later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation from Congress-a document recorded as Public Resolution 25-to establish the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day forevermore.

And it had all begun with Anna. But Anna, now fifty years old, was not content with her victory. She retired from her job at the insurance company to spend her remaining thirty-four years, and her entire fortune of over a hundred thousand dollars, campaigning against the commercialization of the day she had founded in honor of motherhood. She interrupted florists’ conventions to express her remorse at their “profiteering”; wherever there was a forum for her cause, she spoke out. Then one day, when she was too old and too tired to speak out, she was placed penniless, deaf and blind in a West Chester, Pennsylvania, sanitarium. She died there in November of 1948; she was eightyfour.

And if the story of the woman who invented Mother’s Day is made even more poignant, it is by the fact that she, Anna, would never benefit from that time of remembrance. For Anna May Jarvis-the Mother of Mother’s Day, who devoted her life and her fortune to its reverent observance-was never married and was never a mother.


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Eulogy for an Owl

As told by Paul Harvey

His name was Walter Elias, a city boy by birth, the son of a building contractor. Before Walter was five, his parents moved from Chicago to a farm near Marceline, Missouri. And it was there on the farm that Walter would have his first encounter with death. Walter was only seven that particular lazy summer afternoon not much different from other afternoons. Dad was tending to farm chores, Mother was in the house. It was the perfect day for a young fellow to go exploring. Now just beyond a grove of graceful willows was an apple orchard. There Walter could make-believe to his heart’s content: that he was lost, which he never was, or that he had captured a wild animal, which he never had.

But today was different. Directly in front of him, about thirty feet away, perched in the low-drooping branch of an apple tree and apparently sound asleep-was an owl. The boy froze. He remembered his father telling him that owls rested during the day so they could hunt by night. What a wonderful pet that funny little bird would make. If only Walter could approach it without awakening it, and snatch it from the tree. With each step, the lad winced to hear dry leaves and twigs crackle beneath his feet. The owl did not stir. Closer . . . and closer . . . and at last young Walter was standing under the limb just within range of his quarry. Slowly he reached up with one hand and grabbed the bird by its legs. He had captured it!

But the owl, waking suddenly, came alive like no other animal Walter had ever seen! In a flurry of beating wings, wild eyes and frightened cries it struggled against the boy’s grasp. Walter, stunned, held on. Now it’s difficult to imagine how what happened next, happened. Perhaps the response was sparked by gouging talons or by fear itself. But at some point the terrified boy, still clinging to the terrified bird, flung it to the ground- and stomped it to death. When it was over, a disbelieving Walter gazed down at the broken heap of bronze feathers and blood. And he cried.

Walter ran from the orchard but later returned to bury the owl, the little pet he would never know. Each shovelful of earth from the shallow grave was moistened with tears of deep regret. And for months thereafter, the owl visited Walter’s dreams. Ashamed, he would tell no one of the incident until many years later. By then, the world forgave him. For that sad and lonely summer’s day in the early spring of Walter Elias brought with it an awakening of the meaning of life. Walter never, ever again, killed a living creature. Although all the boyhood promises could not bring that one little owl back to life, through its death a whole world of animals came into being. For it was then that a grieving seven-year-old boy, attempting to atone for a thoughtless misdeed, first sought to possess the animals of the forest while allowing them to run free-by drawing them. Now the boy too is gone, but his drawings live on in the incomparable, undying art of Walter Elias . . . Disney. Walt Disney.

The death of an owl gave us the Wonderful World of Disney, but the death of Christ gave us something so much greater. Walt could not bring the little owl back to life, but God did indeed bring Christ back to Life and life with him will be so much greater than any world that Disney could dream up.

 


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Easter Candy

  • 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are made for Easter each year.
  • Each day, five million marshmallow chicks and bunnies are produced in preparation for Easter.
  • 16 billion jelly beans are made for Easter
  • 63 percent of Americans would most like to receive a chocolate bunny on Easter morning, followed by marshmallow bunnies (10 percent).
  • The world’s largest jar of jelly beans weighed 6,050 pounds.
  • 75 percent of kids are willing to do extra chores for extra Easter candy
  • According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest Easter egg ever made was just over 25-ft high and made of chocolate and marshmallow. The egg weighed 8,968 lbs. and was supported by an internal steel frame.
  • 88 percent of adults carry on the Easter tradition of creating Easter baskets for their kids & 90 percent of adults hope for their own treat from the Easter Bunny. Who wouldn’t want chocolate?!
  • The first chocolate eggs were made in Europe in the early 19th century and remain among the most popular treats associated with Easter.
  • Kids first grab for chocolate bunnies (76 percent) when checking out their Easter baskets, followed by marshmallow treats (18 percent), malted milk balls/eggs (17 percent) and jelly beans (16 percent).
  • When it comes to knowing which types of bunnies please the palate, the majority of Americans say a solid chocolate bunny (42 percent) first and foremost, followed by a hollow chocolate bunny (21 percent), marshmallow bunny (10 percent) and other types of Easter bunny candy (9 percent).
  • Red jelly beans are kids’ favorite.

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Easter Legend of the Dogwood Tree

Many years ago, a dogwood tree grew on a hill outside Jerusalem. In those days, the dogwood tree was as tall and mighty as an oak, and this tree was the tallest of all the dogwoods, and extremely proud of its strength.

“Something wonderful is going to happen to me,” it said to anyone who would listen. “I’ll probably become the mast that holds the big sail on a grand ship, or the main timber supporting a great house.”

Unfortunately, the huge old dogwood was cut down to become the cross to which Jesus was nailed. The tree was horrified. All its dreams of glory were smashed, and it groaned in agony as two boards from its trunk were nailed together.

Jesus took pity on the tree, even as he carried it to Calvary. “You will never be put to such use again,” He told it. “From this day on, your shape will change, even as will the world. You will become slender and sway easily with the breeze. And instead of acorns, you will bear flowers in the shape of a cross… with two long and two short petals. In the center of the outer edge of each petal, there will be nail prints… brown with rust and red with bloodstains to show the world how you have suffered.”

“Last of all, the center of your flowers will be marked as though with a crown of thorns to remind people forevermore, that you and I spent our last moments together.” And so it was. And so it is.

Take it to the next level
While this story is a fanciful legend, the flower of a dogwood tree could be used as an object lesson or Children’s sermon to remind us of the real story behind Easter

 

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Whitney Houston

whitney-houston.jpg
Description

As youth look at the story of Whitney Houston’s life, they can will find hope and look towards persevering in their own spiritual walk to leave a legacy that glorifies Christ.

“Whitney”


Illustration


When I first heard the news about Whitney Houston’s death, I couldn’t quite believe it. I was sitting with my band in between services at our church and I thought it was a hoax at first. Then the news reports of her death came flooding in confirming her passing. Whitney was an iconic celebrity and despite her struggles, I thought of her as a believer. She never kept her faith in God a secret, but she never really used her celebrity status and influence to strongly promote it.

Her Christian roots certainly were there. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston and grew up singing in church. It wasn’t long before her gifted vocals found her international fame.

After being signed to Arista records in 1983, she soon became one of the most successful female artists of all time, selling 170 million records worldwide and winning six Grammys, and was even christened the “Queen of Pop”. In 1996, she starred in “The Preacher’s Wife” and sang the soundtrack, which became the best-selling gospel album of all time.

Sadly, her success brought it’s own challenges. Her behavior reportedly changed drastically in the late 1990’s, when colleagues complained she would arrive hours late for interviews, photo shoots and rehearsals. There were also reports of canceled concerts and talk show appearances.

She revealed the abuse she faced in her troubled marriage to Bobby Brown who she later divorced. Her struggles with substance abuse and drug addiction also came to light. Sharing about it, she said, “The biggest Devil is me. I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy.”

However, in 2009, she returned with the album “I Look To You”, which had a strong gospel theme and alluded to her continuing faith in spite of the spiritual battles she faced. At this time, she was attending a Pentacostal church called the The Perfecting Church and she explained the unusual name in this way, “It says we don’t come to God perfect. We come as we are and He helps us from there.”

She spoke fondly of the people supporting her through this difficult time in her life, “It’s a blessing to have a mother that is very strong and family that surrounds me that constantly tell me they love me. But it’s your belief, your faith and your determination.” She said, “I’ve got some good saints out there that pray for me constantly. You’ve got to have that. It’s not easy.”

Whitney Houston sang a hymn at what was to be her last performance, “Jesus Loves Me” two days before she died. Later at her memorial service at her former church, New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, Pastor Joe Carter told the congregation, “We thank God for the gift of her unique voice. Others live to be 80 or 90 years old, but when they’re gone they leave us with nothing to remember. Whitney left us so many wonderful memories. We remember, we rejoice for that phenomenal one of a kind gift… What I remember best is her singing the praises of Jesus Christ.”

Despite the years of her spiritual battles, she spoke about her faith throughout her career, “The changes that we go through, the transitions that we go through, the tests that we go through, being a mother, becoming a single mother — it all had its ups and its downs, but for the most part, I kept my faith and I kept my head up and I took my time.”

Only God knows if we truly belong to Him or not and though some may wonder about Whitney Houston and all the other influential celebrities gone before, I’m reminded that Whitney echoed the words of Paul the Apostle to “fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith”.


Take It to the Next Level


  1. How have we used our gifts to honor God?
  2. When we’re successful, do we lose sight of the God that brought us the success?
  3. Are there things we struggle with in our lives that distract us from God?
  4. What are some ways we can overcome these obstacles and continue to “keep the faith” in God?
  5. Do you sometimes feel that you’re not good enough or not perfect enough to approach God?
  6. Only you and God knows whether you have personally accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. Have you made that decision yet? What’s preventing you from making that decision now?Choose today to give your life and gifts to Christ.

Application


As we remember the life of Whitney Houston, let us remember that our spiritual walk is a journey of constantly being perfected. The mistakes that we make, trials we encounter, and struggles we wrestle with are all part of growing in Christ. God never called perfect people to serve Him. It’s not difficult to look at the lives of Moses, Abraham, Paul the Apostle, Simon Peter, even David and not see the many times they failed and stumbled. One thing they did though was they never lost sight of the God they served.

We may never feel like we’re “good enough” to enter into God’s presence, let alone serve Him. But God never called perfect people, He called the weak, the foolish, the broken, the meek, the humble, the despised, the insecure, and even the sinful to be his examples, to be the testimonies of His grace and faithfulness.

So, don’t let your past determine your future. Make a decision to serve God with everything that you have, warts and all. Honor Him with the gifts and talents He gave you and always remember to fix your eyes on Jesus. He’s not just the Author, He’s the FINISHER of your faith. (Hebrews 12:2)

2 Tim 4:7-8
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”


Teaching Note


Please Note: The focus and the intent of this illustration is not to question the salvation of Whitney Houston. As mentioned in the illustration, only God is sure of anyone’s salvation. We only know ourselves if we made that choice, and only He knows for others. (Matthew 7:21) Actually it is a current topic in some online discussions about Whitney and her life and legacy as a Christian and performer. This discussion about Whitney’s life and faith, can be used as an opportunity to speak to our students about being sure of their own faith. It can be used as an opportunity to remind them to run the race to the end, to keep the faith, and to return to their faith if they have strayed.


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The Pear Tree and the Seasons of Life

pear-tree.jpg

There was a man who had four sons.

He wanted his sons to learn not to Judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the Winter, the second in the Spring, the third in Summer and the fourth son in the Fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent and twisted. The second son said, no it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful; it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree’s life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all seasons are up.

If you give up when it’s Winter, you will miss the promise of your Spring, the beauty of your Summer and the fulfillment of your Fall.

Author Unknown

Love youth not for what they are now, but for what they can become. As a children’s song reminds us, each is a promise, a possibility, a great big bundle of potentiality. Only God knows the plans he has for us, but we know that those plans are for our good.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11


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Balancing the Books for a New Year

For the past year, take
All the suffering,
All the pain,
All the heartache,
All the rejection,
All the misunderstanding,
All the evil we encounter,
All the hatred directed at us,
All the malice we endure,
All the sadness,
All the tears,
All the sleepless nights,
All the fear,
All the doubt,
All the worry,
All the confusion,
All the perplexity,
All the sickness,
All the broken dreams,

And then add it all up, total it up to whatever fantastic sum it may come to. Multiply it a 1000 times and more.

Now place on the other side these things . . .

The Word of God,
The promises of God,
The love of God,
The power of God,
The plan of God,
The wisdom of God,
The kindness of God,
The sovereignty of God,
The grace of God,

And then add to that the death of the Son of God with its infinite transforming power toward us who believe, and then add to that the resurrection of the Son of God who came forth from the tomb undefeated, alive from the dead, holding the keys of death and Hell in his hand, who is now declared the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Factor all that in, and then add to it the indwelling Holy Spirit who is the down payment on all the promises of God and the guarantee of our salvation. Now put that sum on the other side of the ledger.

You do the figuring. Which is greater? Your sorrows or the vast and immeasurable promises of God, made in his Word, guaranteed by the Spirit, and purchased for us in the death and resurrection of our Lord?

With that in mind, the past year has been a very good year.
Next year promises to be just as good or even better.

 


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How Time Flies

When as a child I laughed and wept, time crept.
When as a youth I waxed more bold, time strolled.
When I became a full-grown man, time ran.
When older still I daily grew, time flew.
Soon I shall find, in passing on, time gone.
O Christ! wilt Thou have saved me then?

~Henry Twells

What will you do in the coming New Year?
Will Team creep, stroll, run, fly or be gone?
You really don’t know how much time you have…
But whatever time, make it count for God!
Have faith in God for what he will do for the New Year in your life!

“Life is short. Eternity is significant.” ~Unknown
“Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.” ~Philip Yancey


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My Little Boy’s Dad

I may never be as clever as my neighbor down the street.
I may never be as wealthy as some other people I’ll meet
I may never have the fame that other men may have
But I’ve just got to be successful as my little boy’s dad.

There are certain dreams I cherish that I’d like to see come true,
There are things I’d like to accomplish before my working days are through
But the task my heart is set on is no mere passing fad
I’ve just got to be successful as my little boy’s dad.

It’s the one job I dream of, the task I think of most
for if I fail my little boy I’ve nothing else to boast
For all the wealth and fame I’d gather, my fortune would be sad
if I fail to be successful as my little boy’s dad.

I may never come to glory, I may never gather gold
And men may count me as a failure as my business life is told
But if my little boy can just grow up godly then I’ll be glad
Then I’ll know I’ve been successful as my little boy’s dad.

Source Unknown

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Bible Riddles: What am I?

WHO AM I?

God made Adam out of dust,
But thought it best to make me first;
So I was made before the man
According to the Lord’s Holy Plan.

My whole body God made complete,
Without arms or hands or feet.
My ways and acts did the Lord control,
But in my body He placed no soul.

A living being I became,
And Adam gave to me a name.
Then from his presence I withdrew,
For this man Adam I never knew.

All my Maker’s laws I do obey,
And from these laws I never stray.
Thousand’s of me go in fear,
But seldom on the earth appear.

Later, for a purpose the Lord did see,
He placed a living soul in me.
But that soul of mine the Lord had to claim,
And from me took it back again.

And when this soul from me had fled,
I was the same as when first made;
Without arms, legs, feet, or soul,
I travel on from pole to pole.

My labors are from day to night,
And to men I once furnished light.
Thousands of people, both young and old,
Did by my death bright lights behold.

No right nor wrong can I conceive,
The Bible and it’s teachings I can’t believe.
The fear of death does not trouble me,
Pure happiness I will never see.

Up in Heaven I can never go,
Nor in the grave or Hell below.
So get your Bible and read with care,
You’ll find my name recorded there.

What am I?

Answer: A Whale

 


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Scarred Arms

Every night, the young mother rocked her young 3 year old daughter to sleep and each night the same conversation took place between mother and daughter.

The young mother would first tell a story, then say a prayer for her daughter, and finally hum a lulaby.

The daughter would then respond by touching her mother’s soft hair and saying, “Mommy, your hair is so pretty. I love your hair.”

She would stroke her mother’s cheek and say, “Mommy, your face is so pretty. I love your face”

Finally, the little girl would point at her mother’s arms and say, “But Mommy, your arms are ugly. I don’t love your arms.”

This bedtime ritual went on night after night. Then one evening, after the little girl had once again told her mother that she did not love her arms, the mother decided it was time to tell her daughter the story of her scarred arms.

The mother gently explained, “When you were a baby, there was a fire in the nursery. You were trapped in your crib and would have surely burned to death. But I heard you crying, ran into the room, and had to reach through the flames in order to save you from the fire. The fire burned mommy’s arms very badly and that is why my arms are so ugly.”

The child thoughtfully nodded. A couple minutes passed. The mother assumed that her daughter was probably too young to understand.

Then the little girl began her nightly ritual and began by touching her mother’s soft hair.
“Mommy, your hair is so pretty. I love your hair.”

As usual, she stroked her mother’s cheek and said, “Mommy, your face is so pretty. I love your face”

Then, for the first time in the little girl’s life, she reached down and began to gently caress her mother’s arms and said, “Mommy, your arms are prettiest of all. I really love your arms.”

Jesus is just like that mother with disfigured arms.

He has reached through the fires of hell to rescue you from the crib of death.

His scarred arms are beautiful because they reveal how much he loves you and what it cost him to save you from the flames.


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Unfinished

david.jpgMichelangelo is famous for his work as a sculptor and painter. Although he started 44 statues, he finished only 14. He is best remembered for his sculptures of David and also of Moses. But 30 of his sculptures are left unfinished.

As creative as Michelangelo was, he is surpassed by a more awe-inspiring sculptor. This creator has more works than you can count. You are one of them. Scripture says, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” (Ephesians 2:10)

With the Creator claiming us as His workmanship, why do so many of us feel unfinished? Why do so many people feel like chunks of stone waiting for the right person to recognize the potential inside of us?

Paul prayed for the saints at Philippi, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)

Are you confident that God is sculpting you, molding your character, shaping you to be like His Son? Are you as confident as Paul that God is a faithful, persistent Creator that will not stop until His work in you is complete? Or do you listen to that internal voice of condemnation that thrives on doubt, fear and discouragement?

Spend some time yielding your life to the Master to shape and mold you, to renew your mind, to complete the good work for which He has created you.


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A to Z to Achieve Your Dreams

Avoid negative sources, people, places, things and habits.
Believe in yourself.
Consider things from every angle.
Don’t give up and donate give in.
Enjoy life today, yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come.
Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their riches.
Give more than you planned to.
Hang on to your dreams.
Ignore those who try to discourage you.
Just do it!
Keep trying no matter how hard it seems—it will get easier.
Love selfless if u loves.
Make it happen.
Never lie, cheat or steal; always strike a fair deal.
Open your eyes and see things as they really are.
Practice makes perfect.
Quitters never win, and winners never quit.
Read, study and learn about everything important in your life.
Stop procrastinating.
Take control of your own destiny.
Understand yourself to better understand others.
Visualize it!
Want it more than anything.
X-celerate your efforts.
You are unique of all God’s creations, nothing can replace you.
Zero in on your target and go for it!

Author: Unknown


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Visit from Jesus

Ruth went to her mail box and there was only one letter. She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address.

She read the letter:

Dear Ruth,

I’m going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I’d like to stop by for a visit.

Love Always,
Jesus

Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. “Why would the Lord want to visit me? I’m nobody special. I don’t have anything to offer.”

With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets. “Oh my goodness, I really don’t have anything to offer. I’ll have to run down to the store and buy something for dinner.” She reached for her purse and counted out its contents. Five dollars and forty cents. “Well, I can get some bread and cold cuts, atleast.” She threw on her coat and hurried out the door.

A loaf of french bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of milk…leaving Ruth with grand total of twelve cents to last her until Monday. Nonetheless, she felt good as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked under her arm.

“Hey lady, can you help us, lady?” Ruth had been so absorbed in her dinner plans, she hadn’t even noticed two figures huddled in the alleyway. A man and a woman, both of them dressed in little more than rags. “Look lady, I ain’t got a job, ya know, and my wife and I have been living out here on the street, and, well, now it’s getting cold and we’re getting kinda hungry and, well, if you could help us, lady, we’d really appreciate it.”

Ruth looked at them both. They were dirty, they smelled bad and, frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of work if they really wanted to. “Sir, I’d like to help you, but I’m a poor woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I’m having an important guest for dinner tonight and I was planning on serving that to Him.”

“Yeah, well, OK lady, I understand. Thanks anyway.” The man put his arm around the woman’s shoulders, turned and headed back into the alley. As she watched them leave, Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her heart. “Sir, wait!”. The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them.

“Look, why don’t you take this food. I’ll figure out something else to serve my guest.” She handed the man her grocery bag. “Thank you lady. Thank you very much!”

“Yes, thank you!” It was the man’s wife, and Ruth could see now that she was shivering. “You know, I’ve got another coat at home. Here, why don’t you take this one.” Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it over the woman’s shoulders. Then smiling, she turned and walked back to the street…without her coat and with nothing to serve her guest. “Thank you lady! Thank you very much!”

Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her front door, and worried too. The Lord was coming to visit and she didn’t have anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door key. But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox. “That’s odd. The mailman doesn’tusually come twice in one day.” She took the envelope out of the box and opened it.

Dear Ruth

It was so good to see you again. Thank you for the lovely meal. And thank you, too, for the beautiful coat.

Love Always,
Jesus

The air was still cold, but even without her coat, Ruth no longer noticed.

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ ~Matthew 25:40

 


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Ladder of Achievement

Our attitude determines our results. What often seems impossible is possible when God is added to the equation. Do we focus on the impossibilities or the possibilities?

__________100% — I did!
_________90% — I will
________80% — I can
_______70% — I think I can
______60% — I might
_____50% — I think I might
____40% — What is it?
___30% — I wish I could
__20% — I don’t know how
_10% — I can’t
0% — I won’t

Author Unknown

 


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The church = Trophies of Grace?

I sometimes wonder if there is a place for grace in the church today? Churches get berated for “cheap grace.” But grace was anything but cheap. It was costly. it doesn’t matter if you are a youth that doesn’t know better, or a seasoned youth worker that should know better. We all fail and we all need grace. It is only through grace that anyone is saved.

“The church is more than a group of people who have all been born again. The church consists of God’s trophies of grace…

Throughout eternity, God will be glorified because He has extended His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. We certainly didn’t deserve His grace, yet He *chose* to extend loving grace toward us on the basis of His own loving nature.

Unlike their Father, performance-based Christians accept other people according to their conduct. One walking in grace accepts people on the basis of unconditional love. This doesn’t suggest a blanket approval of all behavior, but grace allows one to accept and love others regardless of ther actions.

Legalists set out to change what people *do.* Grace looks beyond what others do and affirms them for who they *are*, encouraging them to live up to their identity.

Legalists heap guilt and shame on those who fail to measure up. A gracious Christian loves unconditionally.

As you extend grace to Christians who stumble and fail, you will be amazed at the impact it has on their life. A Christian who has fallen doesn’t need condemnation. He probably already has enough self-condemnation to cause him to feel crushed under its weight. Condemnation of a believer *never* comes from God…

Legalism separates Christians, but grace draws us together in a love relationship. We are one in union with Christ.”

Source: Steve McVey “Grace Walk” Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR


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Not Yet

“I want you to know that I haven’t always looked like this.

You see, there was a time when I was just clay. The Master came and He pounded me, and He pounded me so long and so hard. I said, “Let me alone; LET ME ALONE!” And He looked at me and He smiled and said, “Not yet.”

Then the pounding was finished. He took me and put me on the wheel. And the wheel went round and round and round. I was getting dizzy. I cried, “Let me off this wheel! LET ME OFF!” And the Master just smiled and said, “Not yet.”

He came and He picked me up. He took me toward an oven. He shut the door and turned the heat up high. I thought to myself, “I’m going to burn to death in here.” I started pounding on the walls of the oven. I kept shouting, “Let me out. Let me out. LET ME OUT!” Through the window I could see the Master’s face, and He was looking with great compassion in His eyes. He said, “Not yet.”

Finally, the door opened and…Whew! It felt so good to be taken out of the oven. He took me and put me on the shelf. I watched Him get a brush and some paint. He started dabbing me and dabbing me and making little twirls here and there. The fumes were getting to me. I started to gag and I said, “Stop that! Stop that! STOP THAT!” And He just smiled with His love and said, “Not yet.”

Then He took me again and He started walking toward the oven. I said, “Oh, no! Please No! I’ve already been in that oven!” He put me in the oven and He said, “Shut the door.” He turned up the heat twice as hot. I said, “Let me out. LET ME OUT! I’m going to suffocate in here. I’M GOING TO SUFFOCATE IN HERE!” And I saw Him looking through the window and a tear was trickling down His cheek, but there was a smile on His face. He said, “Not yet.”

Finally, when I felt the very breath leaping out of me, the door opened and it was cool. The Master came and very gingerly He picked me up and put me on the shelf. He said, “There! Would you like to see yourself?” I said, “Yes!” He said, “Here, take a look in the mirror.” And I looked and I looked again. I said, “That’s not me. I’m just a lump of clay; I’m just a pot.”

He said, “Yes, that’s you; but you see the process of pain was necessary. You see, if I hadn’t pounded the clay, you would have dried up. If I hadn’t subjected you to the stress of the potter’s wheel, you would have crumbled. If I hadn’t put you in the oven, you would have cracked. If I hadn’t painted you, you wouldn’t have any color in your life. But it’s the last oven. The second experience there gave you the hardness to endure the troubles of life. Now I want you to know exactly what I had in mind all along. You are finished – changed!”

I turned to the Master and I said something I never thought I’d hear myself say. “Thank you for the ordeal of suffering. Thank you for the process of pain. Now I am ready for the challenge to serve you with my life of Glory.”

Author unknown

“I went to the potter’s house, and he was working there at his wheel. Whenever a clay pot he was working on was ruined, he would rework it into a new clay pot the way he wanted to make it.” -Jeremiah 18:3-4

Our youth face many trials, but each trial and decision builds character and strength for our youth to become the leaders God wants them to be, to fulfill the purposes for which he created them, and to face the difficulties in life that lie


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Overexpecters

“When you stop achieving long enough to think about it, our world is full of overexpecters. They are in every profession, most of the schools, many of the shops, and (dare I say it?) in all the churches…

Because nobody screws up enough courage to tell overexpecters where to get off, these things keep happening:

  • The little child loses his love for art because he is told time and again to stop coloring outside the lines. Parents are often overexpecters.
  • The wife erodes in her joy around the house because she never seems to please the man she married. Husbands are often overexpecters.
  • The gifted and competent employee gets an ulcer because the boss finds it next to impossible to say two monosyllabic words, ‘good job.’ Employers are often overexpecters.
  • The once-dedicated, motivated pastor in a small church finally decides to change careers because he realizes he will never please his people. Church members are often overexpecters.
  • The high school athlete chooses to hang it up at midseason because he knows that no matter what, he’ll never satisfy. Coaches are often overexpecters.
  • And, yes, congregations get tired of being beaten and bruised with jabs, hooks, and uppercuts from pulpits. Preachers are often overexpecters…

I frequently think of Jesus as the Model. He promised people ‘rest’ if they would come to Him, not an endless list of unrealistic expections. He even said His yoke would be ‘easy’ and His burden ‘light.’ He was something else. Still is!”

 

Source: Charles R. Swindoll- “Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life”

Do we live according to expectations or purpose. Expectations come from outside ourselves. But purpose comes from within – knowing why we are here, what we were created for, and fulfilling that role in everything we do.

 


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He Couldn’t Sing, So He Whittled

Description
Just got this great teaching / sermon illustration for Zig Ziglar’s Newsletter. Would be great for a youth sermon or youth talk and addresses a common concern among today’s youth. Many are asking “What is my gift and how can I develop it and use it?” This illustration of a famous whittler provides a fresh perspective on gifts.

Here it is…

He Couldn’t Sing, So He Whittled

Antonio was a lad who lived in Cremona, Italy, during the 17th century. Cremona was a musical town where great acclaim was bestowed on those who could sing or play. Unfortunately, although Antonio wanted recognition for his musical talents, his friends called him “squeaky voice” when he tried to sing. He tried to play the piano and the violin, but his skills were limited.

As Antonio walked through the streets of Cremona with his friends, he listened to their beautiful voices. Unfortunately, the only thing he could do was whittle on a block of wood with his knife. One day, while sitting at the edge of the street, whittling, watching and listening to three of his friends play and sing beautiful songs, he noted that the people passing by frequently dropped coins into their hands to reward their efforts. One gentleman stopped longer than any of the others and even asked them to repeat a song. When they finished, he dropped a coin into the hand of the singer, then moved on down the street. Much to their shock, the boys discovered it was a gold coin, which was quite a bit of money to give a street singer. But the man who gave it could afford to do so. His name was Amati and he was identified as the greatest violin maker in all of Italy.

That evening at home, Antonio thought about Amati and decided that he, too, wanted to become a violin maker. The next morning he went to the home of Amati and persuaded him to let him be his apprentice. For many years Antonio learned from the master and in due time his work became known throughout the whole world.

Antonio’s last name was Stradivari. To this day, musicians still make music from his violins, which now sell for six figures plus.

Take it to the Next Level
If you don’t have the talent you want, use the talent you have and find a way to develop it and refine it.


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Sermon from a Salmon

“Years ago I got a sermon from a salmon.

Here’s how it happened. While riding on a ferryboat to Galiano Island in British Columbia, I struck up a conversation with Mr. Thompson, a dignified and friendly gentleman who served as the Chief Clerk for the City of Vancouver.

I said, ‘I’ve heard that after a salmon is spawned, it will swim out into the ocean, and that after an extended time something happens inside the brain of the salmon, and it will then have the overwhelming urge to return to the place where it was spawned. The salmon will swim along the coast, find the right harbor, the right river, the right stream; and finally it will get back to the very spot where it started out. How in the world does the salmon do all that?’ I added, hoping it would taken as a joke, ‘After all, the salmon is underwater all the way, and it has no periscope.’

Mr. Thompson chuckled, thought a bit, then replied, ‘Yes, that is true, but it is even more remarkable than that. An experiment was recently carried out in which salmon eggs were removed from the stream where they had been laid and were put into another stream some distance away.’ Thompson then added with a questioning grin, ‘When the salmon grows up and swims out to the ocean and finally swims back home, which location will it swim to? Will it swim to the place where the eggs were laid–or to the place where they had been moved to?’

I paused for a moment, then I gave what I thought was the only sensible answer, ‘The salmon will swim back to the place where the eggs had been transported, of course. That’s where the salmon actually turned into a fish and got to know its environment.’

‘Wrong!’ said Mr. Thompson. ‘The salmon will swim back to the original place where the eggs were laid.’

I was dumbfounded then, and I still am, by the uncanny built- in guidance system of the salmon.

What a sermon on the guidance of God! If God provides such a marvelous guidance for a fish, there is certainly nothing fishy about believing that He can provide guidance for us. We are far more important to God than any fish. We are created in God’s own image.

God only knows how much we need His wise and loving guidance as we try to find our way through the jungle of ‘this world.’ And, thank God, He has personally promised His guidance.”

SOURCE: Donald Russell Robertson “Dear You” 1989, Word, Inc.


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Are Your Youth Part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed?

I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed.
I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure.
I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning,
smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity.
I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear.
I cannot be bought, deluded, or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ.
I am a disciple of Jesus.
I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me.
And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me–my banner will be clear!
–Source unknown

[Updated with a video. Thanks Alex]


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When I Say “I am a Christian”

By Carol Wimmer

When I say . . . I am a Christian
I’m not shouting “I am saved.”
I’m whispering “I get lost”
That is why I chose this way.

When I say . . . I am a Christian
I don’t speak of this with pride.
I’m confessing that I stumble
and need someone to be my guide.

When I say . . . I am a Christian
I’m not trying to be strong.
I’m professing that I am weak
and pray for strength to carry on.

When I say . . . I am a Christian
I’m not bragging of success.
I’m admitting I have failed
and cannot ever pay the debt

When I say . . . I am a Christian
I’m not claiming to be perfect.
My flaws are too visible
but God believes I’m worth it.

When I say . . . I am a Christian
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
which is why I seek HIS name.

When I say . . . I am a Christian
I do not wish to judge.
I have no authority
I only know I’m loved.

Copyright 1989 Carol S. Wimmer. Permission is granted to send this to others, with attribution, but not for commercial purposes.


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Whose Hands?

Source unknown

A basketball in my hands is worth about $19.
A basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is worth about $33 million.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A baseball in my hands is worth about $6.
A baseball in Mark Mcquire's hands is worth $19 million.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A tennis racket is useless in my hands.
A tennis racket in Venus Williams' hands is a Wimbledon Championship.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal.
A rod in Moses' hands will part the mighty sea.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A sling shot in my hands is a kid's toy.
A sling shot in David's hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends whose hands it's in.

Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches..
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God's hands will feed thousands.
It depends whose hands it's in.

Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse.
Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will produce salvation for the entire world.
It depends whose hands it's in.

As you see now it depends whose hands it's in.
So put your concerns, your worries, your fears,
your hopes, your dreams,
your families and your relationships in God's
hands because

It depends whose hands it's in.


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Give me back my bite

There is an old eastern story about a snake that lived on a path on the way to a famous temple in India.

Many people would walk along the path to worship, and the snake would often bite people with his poisonous bite.

One time a swami was on his way to the temple and the snake jumped out to bite him, but before the snake could bite him the swami put the snake into a trance and ordered him to stop biting people.

“It is not right to bite people with your poisonous bite,” the swami told him. “From now on, you shall not bite anyone.”

A few months later the swami was passing that way again, and he notice the snake lying in the grass beside the path. The snake was all cut and bruised and was in an awful state.

“Whatever has happened to you, my friend?” the swami asked. “Since you have put your spell on me,” the snake explained, “I have been unable to defend myself. Give me back my bite.”

“You foolish snake,” the swami answered. “I told you not to bite anyone. But I never said that you couldn’t hiss!”

This story contains an interesting truth. It seems today that many verses in the Bible are taken out of context to advocate or reject things the Bible never intended. Furthermore, sometimes in trying to avoid extremes we go too far and also avoid things that are perfectly ok or even right to do. “You shall not judge” does not mean we accept sin. “Forgive” does not mean we put ourselves back in an abusive situation. Sometimes it’s not so easy to draw the line between good and bad in life. It’s sometimes even more difficult to draw the line between good and best. There are some things that are clearly right and some things that are clearly wrong, but there are also some things that lie between. I am not advocating situational ethics but clearly “Not everything is beneficial” in life. And in those gray areas, God had has given us His Spirit in our hearts so that we can know the truth in any situation, if we will only seek God’s will.

 


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Teaching a Dog to Whistle

Attributed to Sharon L. Bowman, Lake Tahoe

An older boy named Joey, his dog, Buster, and his younger buddy, Brian, are standing on the lawn in front of Joey’s house. Joey turns to Brian and says boastfully, “I taught Buster how to whistle.”

Brian looks at the dog for what seems like an eternity, then looks at his friend, and says, “Show me.” So they both look at the dog. The dog just stands there wagging his tail with his tongue hanging out.

“Okay, Buster, go to it, boy. Whistle!” Once again, the dog does nothing. This goes on for several minutes. Each time Buster, the dog, is commanded to whistle, he looks at the boys, wags his tail, and sits there.

Finally, Brian turns to Joey in disgust and says “Hey! You said your dog could whistle. Well, we’ve been here ten minutes and he hasn’t whistled once!”

Joey looks at his younger buddy, Brian, with a grin on his face and says, “Of course he can’t whistle. I told you I taught him how to whistle. I didn’t say he learned it.”


Food for thought: “Are we simply teaching, or have our youth learned the things of God?


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The Cave

An adventurous youth was hiking through the German forest when he saw a dark opening in a cliff indicating a deep cave. With the excitement of adventure, the youth decided to go exploring. He carefully made his way into the opening and not too far from the entrance, he saw a flickering light in the passage far ahead. A typical teenager, ever curious, he had to see what was inside the cave.

As he rounded a corner in the passage the youth was surprised to find a very old man with a large stack of music scores in front of him. The old man was rubbing the musical notes off of the paper and tossing the blank sheets aside.

The youth was astonished when he recognized the old man as Mozart. He’d seen pictures of Mozart in his music class and even a bronze statue of the man. But it couldn’t be. Mozart was dead. After watching for a couple more minutes he pointedly asked, “I know it’s impossible, but are you Mozart?”

The old man slowly looked up and and with lifeless eyes replied, “Yes, I am Mozart”,

The astonished youth had to clarify “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?”

Again the reply was “Yes, I am he.”

“But, you’ve been dead for centuries. What are you doing sitting here rubbing notes off of the sheet music?” the youth asked.

Then old man looked up with an intent gaze and said,
“Decomposing!”

——

Take it to the Next Level
ARGH! I know – a very BAD Joke. But as a New Year begins I wonder if it reflects the life of many youth today. Is their life moving toward the creation of a “Masterpiece” in the Master’s Hand, or is life slowly decomposing – falling apart as they are tossed aside. Blank stares staring back from a forest of people around us. Blank Sheets of paper tossed aside and hidden from view. Last year might have been a masterpiece or a failure. But every day is blank piece of paper and it is up to us whether we will compose a masterpiece, or sit decomposing. Instead of trying to erase the past, create a fantastic future.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

“…Each man’s work will become evident” and the quality of each man’s work will be tested. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15

 


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The Little Match Girl

A New Year’s Story by 
Hans Christian Andersen

It was very, very cold. It snowed and it grew dark. It was the last evening of the year, New Year’s Eve. In the cold and dark a poor little girl, with bare head and bare feet, was walking through the streets. When she left her own house she certainly had had slippers on, but what could they do? They were very big slippers, and her mother had used them till then, so big were they. The little maid lost them as she slipped across the road, where two carriages were rattling by terribly fast. One slipper was not to be found again, and a boy ran away with the other. He said he could use it for a cradle when he had children of his own.

So now the little girl went with her little naked feet, which were quite red and blue with the cold. In an old apron she carried a number of matches, and a bundle of them in her hand. No one had bought anything of her all day – no one had given her a copper. Hungry and cold she went, and drew herself together, poor little thing! The snowflakes fell on her long yellow hair, which curled prettily over her neck – but she did not think of that now. In all the windows lights were shining, and there was a glorious smell of roast goose out there in the street – it was no doubt New Year’s Eve. Yes, she thought of that!

In a corner formed by two houses, one of which was a little farther from the street than the other, she sat down and crept close. She had drawn up her little feet, but she was still colder, and she did not dare to go home, for she had sold no matches, and she had not a single cent. Her father would beat her, and besides, it was cold at home, for they had nothing over the them but a roof through which the wind whistled, though straw and rags stopped the largest holes.

Her small hands were quite numb with the cold. Ah! a little match might do her good if she only dared draw one from the bundle, and strike it against the wall, and warm her fingers at it. She drew one out. R-r-atch! how it spluttered and burned! It was a warm bright flame, like a little candle, when she held her hands over it; it was a wonderful little light! It really seemed to the little girl as if she sat before a great polished stove, with bright brass feet and a brass cover. The fire burned so nicely. It warmed her so well, the little girl was just putting out her feet to warm these, too, when out went the flame. The stove was gone – she sat with only the end of the burned match in her hand.

She struck another. It burned. It gave a light – and where it shone on the wall, the wall became thin like a veil, and she could see through it into the room where a table stood, spread with a white cloth, and with china on it, and the roast goose smoked gloriously, stuffed with apples and dried plums. And what was still more splendid to behold, the goose hopped down from the dish, and waddled along the floor, with a knife and fork in its breast – straight to the little girl he came. Then the match went out, and only the thick, damp, cold wall was before her.

She lighted another. Then she was sitting under a beautiful Christmas tree. It was greater and finer than the one she had seen through the glass door at the rich merchant’s. Thousands of candles burned upon the green branches, and colored pictures like those in the shop windows looked down upon them. The little girl stretched forth both hands toward them – then the match went out. The Christmas lights went higher and higher. She saw that now they were stars in the sky – one of them fell and made a long line of fire.

“Now some one is dying,” said the little girl, for her old grandmother, the only person who had been good to her, but who was now dead, had said, “When a star falls a soul mounts up to God.”

She rubbed another match against the wall. It became bright again, and in the light there stood the old grandmother clear and shining, mild and lovely.

“Grandmother!” cried the child. “Oh, take me with you! I know you will go when the match is burned out. You will go away like the warm stove, the nice roast goose, and the great glorious Christmas tree!”

And she hastily rubbed the whole bundle of matches, for she wished to hold her grandmother fast. And the matches burned with such a glow that it became brighter than in the middle of the day. Grandmother had never been so large or so beautiful. She took the little girl up in her arms, and both flew in the light and the joy so high, so high! and up there was no cold, nor hunger, nor care – they were with God.

But in the corner by the house sat the little girl, with red cheeks and smiling mouth, frozen to death on the last evening of the Old Year. The New Year sun rose upon the little body, that sat there with the matches, of which one bundle was burned. She wanted to warm herself, the people said. No one knew what fine things she had seen, and in what glory she had gone in with her grandmother to the New Year Day.

 


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Thanksgiving Stories Quotes and Truths

Stories, Quotes and Truths that reflect on the Meaning and History of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln

A few powerful words from Abraham Lincoln who, in the midst of the Civil War, in 1863, established the annual celebration of Thanksgiving.

.lincoln.jpg.. Abraham Lincoln was a man who learned to face discouragement and move beyond it. Did you know that it was Abraham Lincoln who, in the midst of the Civil War, in 1863, established the annual celebration of Thanksgiving?

Lincoln had learned how important it is to stop and thank God in the midst of great difficulties.

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that [the gifts of God] should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens . . . to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”

George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

In 1789, The First American President, George Washington acknowledged the providence of Almighty God and gave thanks for God’s Blessings and favor.

washington.jpg“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted’ for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

(signed) G. Washington

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Commonly referred to by his initials JFK, He was the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” John Fitzgerald Kennedy

 

Samuel Adams – Thanksgiving Proclamation

samuel_adams.jpg“That all the People may with united Hearts on that Day express a just Sense of His unmerited Favors:
–Particularly in that it hath pleased Him, by His over ruling Providence to support us in a just and necessary War for the Defense of our Rights and Liberties;
…by defeating the Councils and evil Designs of our Enemies, and giving us Victory over their Troops
–and by the Continuance of that Union among these States, which by his Blessing, will be their future Strength & Glory.”

Samuel Adams on behalf of the Continental Congress, November 3, 1778, calling for a day of Thanksgiving during the Revolutionary War of the future “United States of America”

 

William Bradford on Thanksgiving

William Bradford was governor of the Plymouth colony at the first American thanksgiving in 1621.

He wrote the following in “Of Plimoth Plantation”

“They begane now to gather in ye small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; fFor as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which yey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion. All ye somer ther was no want. And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c. Besids, they had about a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corn to yt proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not fained, but true reports.”

Famous American Thanksgiving Quotes – Quotes from Famous Americans on Thanksgiving

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

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Thanksgiving Thoughts and Illustrations

Thanksgiving Thoughts and Illustrations for Inspiration and Reflection

How to Observe Thanksgiving – Do you count your blessings or your crosses?

ABC’s of Thanksgiving – Thanksgiving is many things to many people. In this short poem, the author identifies something to be thankful for using each letter of the Alphabet.

Worship and Worry – Is Thanksgiving missing from your Prayer life? Worship and worry cannot live in the same heart!

Everyday Thanksgiving – While we set aside Thanksgiving Day as a celebration of all the things we have to be thankful for during the past year, this poem reminds us that there are things to be thankful for each and every day of life.

Christ’s Banquet Table – When you think of Thanksgiving and the abundant feast, you should also consider the feast that God has laid before you in Christ.

Autumn – These thoughts from Charles Swindoll on Autumn in our lives are perfectly suitable for Thanksgiving Reflection.

Leftovers When it comes to Giving Thanks in your life, Does God only get your leftovers?

Thanksgiving Dinner – Reaching out to others who are less well of is one way of giving Thanks to God for his blessings

Be Thankful – Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.

With Heart and Hand and Voices – Surrounded by tremendous adversity, thanksgiving will deliver you

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

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Athlete’s 23rd Psalm

An Athlete’s Twenty-Third Psalm
By Teri Burton

The Lord is my Coach;
I shall never be defeated.
He trains me to run His way,
With purpose in every step.
He conditions my mind and my body
To be pure for the sake of His glory.
Yes, though I face tough competition,
I can run and not get tired; for You are with me.
Your Word and Your Spirit, they energize me.
You prepare a strategy before me in the presence of my opponents;
You crown my head with victory;
My heart’s inspired!
Surely confidence and victory will be with me all the days of my life.
And I shall look up to my coach forever.

 

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A Father’s Anguishing Decision – Sacrifice of a Son

After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the church’s preacher once again slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit, and gave a very brief introduction of his childhood friend. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit to speak.

“A father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific Coast,” he began, “when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright, and the three were swept into the ocean.”

The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story. He continued, “Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life….to which boy he would throw the other end of the line. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian, and he also knew that his son’s friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. As the father yelled out, ‘I love you, son!’ he threw the line to his son’s friend. By the time he pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beyond the raging swells into the black of night. His body was never recovered.”

By this time, the two teenagers were sitting straighter in the pew, waiting for the next words to come out of the old man’s mouth. “The father,” he continued, “knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus, and he could not bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son. How great is the love of God that He should do the same for us.” With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room.

Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man’s side. “That was a nice story,” politely started one of the boys, “but I don’t think it was very realistic for a father to give up his son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian.”

“Well, you’ve got a point there,” the old man replied, glancing down at his worn Bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face, and he once again looked up at the boys and said, “It sure isn’t very realistic, is it? But I’m standing here today to tell you that THAT story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His Son for me. You see….I was the son’s friend.”

Author Unknown


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Lessons from the Geese

Fact: As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird following. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock adds 71% to the flying range than if each bird flew alone.

Lesson: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier when they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

Fact: Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back in formation to take advantage of the “lifting power” of the bird immediately in front.

Lesson: If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go.

Fact: When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at point position.

Lesson: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership — interdependent with each other.

Fact: The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
Lesson: We need to be sure our honking from behind is encouraging, not something less helpful.

Fact: When a goose gets sick or wounded, two geese drop out of formation and follow him down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is either able to fly again or dies. Then they launch out on their own, with another formation, or catch up with the flock.

Lesson: If we have as much sense as the geese, we’ll stand by each other like that.

Prayer: Lord, help us to remember to strive together as we travel on our faith journeys, whether in our families, small youth groups, or as youth leaders, so that we, like the geese, can ‘increase our flying range’ in the tasks you set for us. Help us to be willing to take turns in these tasks, to know when to learn something new or take time to be refreshed. Make us willing to take a moment or two from a busy day or hour to encourage and listen to our fellow travelers, to support them in their need. Most of all, Lord, help us to listen to your voice as you guide us on our way. Amen.

 


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A Father’s Support – 1992 Barcelona Olympics

I wrote this a long time ago in 2007 – “A Father’s Support

But recently a video has been getting attention on Youtube with a similar use of the story.

Here’s my original, followed by the Youtube video.


In the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona Derek Redmond of Great Britain was on the way to fulfilling his lifetime dream of winning a gold medal in the Olympics.

He had earned a spot in the semifinals of the 400 meter race, and as the gun sounded to start the race, Derek got off to a great start. He was running the race of his life, and the finish line was in sight, when suddenly he felt a stab of pain in his right leg. He fell face first onto the track with a torn hamstring.

The race was over for Derek. He struggled to his feet before the medical team could reach him. Though every runner had passed him, he began hopping forward, tears of pain and disappointment streaking his face, determined to finish the race.

Suddenly, a man plowed through the security guards on the sidelines and ran onto the track. He raced up to Derek and hugged him, “You don’t have to do this,” Jim Redmond told his weeping son. “Yes I do,” Derek answered. “Well, then,” his father said, “we’re going to finish the race together.”

Derek’s father gripped his son around the shoulders, and they faced the finish line, resolutely waving off the security men who hovered around them. They limped and hopped together, Derek’s head sometimes buried in his father’s shoulder, and stayed in Derek’s lane all the way to the end.

The watching crowd gaped at first at the unusual scene. Then one by one, they rose to their feet, and began cheering and crying at the son’s determination and the father’s support.


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Lessons from the 2010 Youth Olympic Games

In 1st Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul writes:

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

While the Olympic Games as we know them today were not practiced at during Paul’s time, in the ancient city of Corinth they did hold athletic competitions. Paul used these sports events to teach the Corinthians about God!

With the first Youth Olympic Games taking place in Singapore in less than 3 days, sporting events can once again be used to draw comparisons between athletics and sports and spiritual truths. As your youth are drawn to the sporting events of the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, here are some spiritual truths that you can use for your youth meetings, youth cell groups, youth Bible Studies, or youth sermons:

Run for the heavenly prize

Just as the young Olympic Athletes must exert his or her greatest possible efforts to gain the prize. In the same way, as Christians, we must exert out greatest possible efforts to that to spread the Gospel, straining for the heavenly prize that lies ahead.

Avoid anything that might prevent us from achieving the goal

To achieve that goal and to receive the trophy, Olympic Athletes are forced to refrain from many things. These things are not necessarily bad, but they might hinder them in the pursuit of their goal. In the same way, as Christians, we must refrain from things that hinder us in one way or another one to being effective in the ministry of spreading the Gospel.

Work for an eternal glory

All effort of an Olympic Athlete is directed to receive a crown that will not last. This was especially true in the days of Paul, because athletes did not receive medals like today’s Olympians, but only a wreath of laurel. Only the champion received it and there were no awards for second or third place. The champion, received honor that lasted until another became a champion, and then it was forgotten little by little. While we do not work for our salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9), the Christian’s effort in the Gospel will be rewarded with an eternal glory in heaven.

Compete according to the rules

Another truth from the life of a young Olympic Athlete is mentioned by Paul when he said:

“Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. (2 Timothy 2:5)(NASB)?

There are rules in each Olympic competition, and anyone who violates them is disqualified. In the same way, as Christians, God has established rules that are written in the Bible. We fall short every time we break one of those rules. But through Christ we can all become more than victors.

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Go for the Gold

Need an evangelistic Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series with an Olympic Theme?

What is salvation all about? What does it mean to be saved? This sports themed Bible Study / Camp Curriculum uses the Olympic Flag to introduce the concepts of sin (black circle), forgiveness (red circle), purity (white background), spiritual growth (green circle), heaven (Yellow Circle) and (Baptism) blue circle.
-> Tell me about “Go for the Gold”

Get "Destined to Win" Youth Bible Study Series
Destined to Win

Need a Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series on “Running the Christian Race”?

The race as a metaphor for the Christian life is used in several places in the Bible. This series is a great follow up for new Christians or to re-emphasize the basics of our spiritual Journey in the Faith. This Bible Study / Camp Curriculum has a sports theme and is great for athletes as well as a tie in to the youth Olympic Games.
->Tell me about “Destined to Win”

The Boat in the Window

A young teenage youth spent many hours building a little sailboat, crafting it down to the finest detail. He then took it to a nearby river to sail it. When he put it in the water, however, it moved away from him very quickly. Though he chased it along the bank, he couldn’t keep up with it. The strong wind and current carried the boat away. The heartbroken youth knew how hard he would have to work to build another sailboat.

Farther down the river, a man found the little boat, took it to town, and sold it to a shopkeeper. Later that day, as the youth was walking through town, he noticed the boat in a store window.

Entering the store, he told the owner that the boat belonged to him. It had his own little marks on it, but he couldn’t prove to the shopkeeper that the boat was his.

The man told him the only way he could get the boat was to buy it. The youth wanted it back so badly that he did exactly that.

As he took the boat from the hand of the shopkeeper, he looked at it and said, “Little boat, you’re twice mine. I made you and I bought you.”

In the same way, we belong twice to Someone. He both created us and paid a great price for us. With the blood of His Son, we have been redeemed and reunited with Him. His Son gave His life to get us back.

Edited from Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice. Copyright 1994 by Youth Specialties, Inc.

 


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A single-minded Tom Edison

“Little strokes fell great oaks.”–Benjamin Franklin

The February 1998 issue of Success magazine contains an excerpt from a story that the magazine printed 100 years ago. The article, “A single-minded Tom Edison,” contains an interview with Thomas A. Edison, the great inventor.

Here is part of the conversation Theodore Dreiser had with Edison:

“Dreiser: ‘What’s the first requisite for success?'”
“Edison: ‘The ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly. . .'” “You do something all day long, don’t you? If you get up at 7 and go to bed at 11, you have put in 16 good hours, and it is certain with most men that they have been doing something all the time. The only trouble is that they do it about a great many things, and I do it about one. If they applied it in one direction. . .they would succeed.’

In that short interview, Edison reveals one requirement for achieving success: focus.

Does your life have focus?

“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” (Philippians 3:13)

But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)


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Managing Priorities

A while back I was reading about an expert on the subject of time management. One day this expert was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, he used an illustration I’m sure those students will never forget:

As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.” Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Next he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes.” Then he said, “Really?”

He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he smiled and asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was onto him. “Probably not,” one of them answered.

“Good!” he replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Is this jar full?” “No!” the class shouted.

Once again he said, “Good!” Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, “What is the point of
this illustration?”

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!”

“No,” the speaker replied, “that’s not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.”

What are the big rocks in your life? A project that YOU want to accomplish? Time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause? Teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all.

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The Shoebox

A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years.
They had shared everything. They had talked about everything.
They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little
Old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had
Cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but
One day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said
She would not recover.
In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took
Down the shoe box and took it to his wife’s bedside.
She agreed that it was time that he should know what was
In the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls
And a stack of money totaling $95,000.

He asked her about the contents.
‘When we were to be married,’ she said, ‘ my grandmother told me
The secret of a happy marriage was to never argue… She told me that
If I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll.’

The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two
Precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two
Times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with
Happiness.

‘Honey,’ he said, ‘that explains the dolls but what about all of this money?
Where did it come from?’
‘Oh,’ she said, ‘that’s the money I made from selling the dolls.’

 


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Easter Auction

Years ago, there was a very wealthy man who, with his devoted young son, shared a passion for art collecting. Together they traveled around the world, adding only the finest art treasures to their collection. Priceless works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and many others adorned the walls of the family estate. The widowed elder man looked on with satisfaction, as his only child became an experienced art collector. The son’s trained eye and sharp business mind caused his father to beam with pride as they dealt with art collectors around the world.

As winter approached, war engulfed the nation, and the young man left to serve his country. After only a few short weeks, his father received a telegram. His beloved son was missing in action. The art collector anxiously awaited more news, fearing he would never see his son again.

Within days, his fears were confirmed. The young man had died while rushing a fellow soldier to a medic. Distraught and lonely, the old man faced the upcoming Easter holidays with anguish and sadness. The joy of the season, a season that he and his son had so looked forward to, would visit his house no longer.

On Easter morning, a knock on the door awakened the depressed old man. As he walked to the door, the masterpieces of art on the walls only reminded him that his son was not coming home. As he opened the door, he was greeted by a soldier with a large package in his hand.

He introduced himself to the man by saying, “I was a friend of your son. I was the one he was rescuing when he died. May I come in for a few moments? I have something to show you.”

As the two began to talk, the soldier told of how the man’s son had told everyone of his father’s love of fine art. “I’m an artist,”said the soldier, “and I want to give you this.” As the old man unwrapped the package, the paper gave way to reveal a portrait of the man’s son. Though the world would never consider it the work of a genius, the painting featured the young man’s face in striking detail.

Overcome with emotion, the man thanked the soldier, promising to hang the picture above the fireplace. A few hours later, after the soldier had departed, the old man set about his task. True to his word, the painting went above the fireplace, pushing aside thousands of dollars of paintings. And then the man sat in his chair and spent Easter gazing at the gift he had been given. During the days and weeks that followed, the man realized that even though his son was no longer with him, the boy’s life would live on because of those he had touched. He would soon learn that his son had rescued dozens of wounded soldiers before a bullet stilled his caring heart. As the stories of his son’s gallantry continued to reach him, fatherly pride and satisfaction began to ease the grief. The painting of his son soon became his most prized possession, far eclipsing any interest in the pieces for which museums around the world clamored. He told his neighbors it was the greatest gift he had ever received. The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. The art world was in anticipation.

With the collector’s passing, and his only son dead, those paintings would be sold at an auction. According to the will of the old man, all of the art works would be auctioned on Easter day, the day he had received his greatest gift.

The day soon arrived and art collectors from around the world gathered to bid on some of the world’s most spectacular paintings. Dreams would be fulfilled this day; greatness would be achieved as many would claim “I have the greatest collection.” The auction began with a painting that was not on any museum’s list. It was the painting of the man’s son. The auctioneer asked for an opening bid. The room was silent.

“Who will open the bidding with $100?” he asked.

Minutes passed. No one spoke. From the back of the room came, “Who cares about that painting? It’s just a picture of his son. Let’s forget it and go on to the good stuff.” More voices echoed in agreement.

“No, we have to sell this one first,” replied the auctioneer. “Now, who will take the son?”

Finally, a friend of the old man spoke. “Will you take ten dollars for the painting? That’s all I have. I knew the boy, so I’d like to have it.”

“I have ten dollars. Will anyone go higher?” called the auctioneer. After more silence, the auctioneer said, “Going once, going twice. Gone.” The gavel fell.

Cheers filled the room and someone exclaimed, “Now we can get on with it and we can bid on these treasures!” The auctioneer looked at the audience and announced the auction was over.

Stunned disbelief quieted the room. Someone spoke up and asked, “What do you mean it’s over? We didn’t come here for a picture of some old guy’s son. What about all of these paintings? There are millions of dollars of art here! I demand that you explain what’s going on here!”

The auctioneer replied, “It’s very simple. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the son…gets it all!”

Just as those art collectors discovered on that Easter day, the message is still the same-the love of a Father-a Father whose greatest joy came from His Son who went away and gave his life rescuing others. And because of that Father’s love…whoever takes the Son gets it all.

 

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Easter Holiday

Easter Holiday

Easter holiday is a celebration of the resurrection of Christ!
Jesus Christ, The Son of God bled and died for us in a sacrifice.

This spring day’s celebrated, generally in the month of April.
All of the bright and pretty colors, of the Easter outfits with frill.

Women and children will wear their Easter bonnets.
In the spring, you’ll hear the various musical sonnets.

April will bring many rain showers.
That’ll bring us various beautiful flowers.

One special flower for this day is the Easter lily.
Its color is white, and yet snowy & milky.

The birds will sing their songs of praise.
As we begin to feel the warmth of the sun’s rays.

As we say “Goodbye” to the winter’s gloom,
The flowers and trees have already begun to bloom.

All of life’s beauty, The Lord created, for us all to share.
Spring breezes begin to flow, sending fragrances through the air.

The winter’s thawing will let the rivers, lakes, and streams rise and flow.
The beauty of the Earth will make us all feel aglow!

Farmers and gardeners will start to hoe.
And then they’ll begin to sow.

On Sundays, we’ll hear the various church bells ring.
Let’s be grateful for the LORD, let’s rejoice and sing.

If it wasn’t for the Lord, we wouldn’t have anything!

Author unknown

 

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Worst Defeat

It was a dark and dreary day in 1916, a day well suited to the most brutally devastating rout in all of American football history.

One look at the two teams showed trouble ahead.

On the Georgia Tech side were semi-human monsters, gorilla-like behemoths trained by John Heisman, the man football’s highest award was later named after. Heisman was a fanatic. He would not let his Yellow Jackets use soap or water because he considered them debilitating. Nor could they eat pastry, pork, veal, hot bread, nuts, apples, or coffee. His reason? “They don’t agree with me,” he growled, “so they’d better not agree with you.” The Yellow Jackets, with eight All-Southern players, were intent on building their reputation. They lured lowly Cumberland to the game with a $500 guarantee.

The Cumberland team had several players who had never played football before. The official who accepted the offer had long since graduated and left the team in the hands of the team manager. Even the trip to Atlanta had been a disaster: Cumberland arrived with only 16 players. Three were lost at a rest stop in Nashville.

The game began. Georgia Tech scored 63 points in the first quarter, averaging touchdowns at one-minute-and-twenty-second intervals. Even after such a lopsided start, the rest of the game was filled with tension and drama! No one questioned who would win, of course. But could Cumberland players be convinced to finish the game? The manager, George Allen, paced the sidelines, exhorting the team to “hang in there for Cumberland’s $500.” They did, and with it collected the honor of the worst loss in American college football history: 222-0.

Cumberland also left posterity one of its most memorable football plays. A Cumberland kickoff returner fumbled, probably from sheer weariness. He yelled to a teammate, “Pick up the ball!” Replied his teammate, “Pick it up yourself! You dropped it!”

Cumberland was only in the game for the money. But Georgia Tech was in the game to WIN!
Cumberland was in the game to simply survive. But Georgia Tech was in the game to Win!

Cumberland was disorganized, but Georgia Tech organized everything to Win!
Cumberland was unskilled, but Georgia Tech developed their skills to Win!
Cumberland functioned as individuals. But Georgia Tech was a team united to win!

When it comes to the game of life, why are you in the game?

Are you focused on simply acquiring riches?
Or are you focused on living the Victorious Christian life?

Are you focused on simply surviving the game?
Or do you want to leave a legacy, to build your reputation as an ambassador of God?

You need to choose your goals in life carefully.
It is possible you may achieve your goals, yet lose the game.

Maybe the reason you feel defeated is because your goals are not the right ones!


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Ah, Dearest Jesus

Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Make thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for Thee.

My heart for very joy doth leap,
My lips no more can silence keep,
I too must sing, with joyful tongue,
That sweetest ancient cradle song,

Glory to God in highest heaven,
Who unto man His Son hath given
While angels sing with pious mirth.
A glad new year to all the earth.

Martin Luther


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I am the Christmas Spirit

I enter the home of poverty and cause
pale-faced children to open wide
their eyes in wonder.

I cause the aged to remember
their youth… and to laugh.

I cause eager feet to climb dark stairways
with filled baskets, leaving behind hearts
amazed at the goodness of the world.

I cause the prodigal to pause and
send to an anxious family some little
token of love.

I enter dark prison cells, causing scarred
manhood to remember what might have
been and pointing to better days ahead.

I enter the homes of pain, and there lips
that are too weak to speak simply
tremble in silent, eloquent gratitude.

In a thousand ways, I cause this weary
old world to look up into the face of
God and, for a few moments, forget
everything that is small and wretched.

You see, I am the Christmas Spirit.

Author unknown

 

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The Real Jolly Ole St. Nick

LONG BEFORE the bright red suit, the rotund figure, and the flying reindeer, the mythical Santa Claus was a real person named Saint Nicholas.

The real St. Nicholas was the bishop of Myra (modern Turkey) and a follower of Christ in the Fourth century. He became famous for his love for children and his generosity. Over the years, stories of his kindness grew. Different nations added their own national elements to the images surrounding St. Nicholas.

But how did St. Nicholas, the follower of Christ, become a jolly fat man who slides down chimneys to leave gifts for children?

Until the 1800s, the image of St. Nicholas was one of a tall, thin man wearing a bishop’s robe and riding a white horse. Washington Irving offered a new image in 1809 that was expanded by Clement Clark Moore in his 1822 poem, “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas.”

Moore was a professor at the General Theological Seminary in New York. On Christmas Eve in 1822, New York lay under a blanket of snow. Moore had been helping Jan, his grounds keeper shovel snow. Jan was a Dutchman, a tubby little man with a white beard, twinkling eyes, and rosy cheeks. That evening, Jan was driving Mr. Moore in a horse-drawn sleigh to buy a turkey from a Manhattan market an hour away when Moore got the idea for the poem.

As the snow continued to fall, Moore sat in the sleigh and composed the poem. That night, he read it to his family, who loved it. The next year one of his children took it to Sunday School to be read. The teacher, impressed by the poem, took it to the local paper, the Troy (NY) Sentinel that published it anonymously on December 23, 1823.

For 15 years Moore denied authorship because, as a scholar, he felt it was too embarrassing to acknowledge authorship. The published poem was an instant success. Thomas Nast, cartoonist with Harper’s Weekly sketched drawings of Moore’s St. Nicholas. That image is the most prevalent to this day.

As for the name Santa Claus, it is the English pronunciation of the Dutch word for St. Nicholas, Sinterklass. American children adopted the Dutch pronunciation. But with the American accent, it came out Santa Claus.

The red suit came from a German artist, who remembered that the bishop’s robe was red. The flying sled and reindeer were from Russian origin.

Still, his real name is St. Nicholas. He wasn’t the stubby little man in a bright red suit with flying reindeer. He was a follower of Christ who lived out his faith with a lot of love and a bountiful generosity.

by Stephen James
[Christian Single, December 1994, p30-31]

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Be Thankful

Author, source unknown

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,
because it means you’ve made a difference.

It’s easy to be thankful for the good things. A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.

For lots of youth ideas for Thanksgiving, search for “Thanksgiving” in the search box in the top left of this webpage

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The Mask I Wear

Description
This Halloween mask related study encourages youth to take a look at the masks we wear everyday, not just on Halloween and to expose what is underneath to God so that he can transform us so that we reveal his glory!

Read the Poem “The mask I wear”
Author unknown

Don’t be fooled by me.
Don’t be fooled by the face I wear
for I wear a mask. I wear a thousand masks
masks that I’m afraid to take off
and none of them are me.
Pretending is an art that’s second nature with me
But don’t be fooled, don’t be fooled.
I give you the impression that I’m secure
That all is sunny and unruffled with me
within as well as without,
that confidence is my name
and coolness my game,
that the water’s calm
and I’m in command,
and that I need no one.
But don’t believe me. Please!

My surface may be smooth but my surface is my mask,
My ever-varying and ever-concealing mask.
Beneath lies no smugness, no complacence.
Beneath dwells the real me in confusion, in fear, in aloneness.
But I hide this.
I don’t want anybody to know it.
I panic at the thought of my weaknesses
and fear exposing them.
That’s why I frantically create my masks to hide behind.
They’re nonchalant, sophisticated facades to help me pretend,
To shield me from the glance that knows.
But such a glance is precisely my salvation,
my only salvation,
and I know it.

That is, if it’s followed by acceptance,
and if it’s followed by love.
It’s the only thing that can liberate me from myself
from my own self-built prison walls.

I dislike hiding, honestly
I dislike the superficial game I’m playing,
the superficial phony game.
I’d really like to be genuine and me.
But I need your help, your hand to hold

Even though my masks would tell you otherwise
That glance from you is the only thing that assures me
of what I can’t assure myself,
that I’m really worth something.
But I don’t tell you this.
I don’t dare.
I’m afraid to.
I’m afraid you’ll think less of me, that you’ll laugh
and your laugh would kill me.
I’m afraid that deep-down I’m nothing, that I’m just no good
and you will see this and reject me.

So I play my game, my desperate, pretending game
With a facade of assurance without
And a trembling child within.
So begins the parade of masks,
The glittering but empty parade of masks,
and my life becomes a front.
I idly chatter to you in suave tones of surface talk.
I tell you everything that’s nothing
and nothing of what’s everything,
of what’s crying within me.
So when I’m going through my routine
do not be fooled by what I’m saying
Please listen carefully and try to hear
what I’m not saying
Hear what I’d like to say
but what I cannot say.

It will not be easy for you,
long felt inadequacies make my defenses strong.
The nearer you approach me
the blinder I may strike back.
Despite what books say of men, I am irrational;
I fight against the very thing that I cry out for.
you wonder who I am
you shouldn’t
for I am everyman
and everywoman
who wears a mask.
Don’t be fooled by me.
At least not by the face I wear.

author unknown

Take it to the Next Level

  • At Halloween, children often wear obvious masks. But the truth is people of all ages are wearing masks every day, not just on Halloween. What are some of the masks that adults often wear? What are some of the masks that youth wear?
  • Have you ever pretended to hide your true feelings? Why did you hide your real feelings? How is hiding your feelings like wearing a mask?
  • Have you ever pretended to be something that you weren’t? To go along with the crowd? To gain acceptance from other youth? Because you were afraid someone might not like the true you? Because you feared rejection if they saw the real you? What are some other reasons youth might wear masks?

 

Taking off the Masks
Wearing a mask brings certain comforts, but it also may hinder our personal growth. As long as we wear the mask we don;t have to deal with the underlying problem. But when we are truly able to confront the truth about ourselves we will find true freedom. We can find healing. We can find an answer to the weaknesses that plague us.

Scripture
2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

Some key truths from this verse and the Life of Paul:

  • Paul did not need to hear kind words from his friends. His life and ministry was already reflecting God’s glory.
  • Paul revealed his weaknesses. And in doing so, he also revealed the reality and the power of Jesus. Paul was weak, but the Spirit of God was constantly at work in him. Jesus is not revealed in a person by their human perfection but rather by God transforming us into His image.
  • Paul’s life was not one of “see how good I am.” On the contrary, his life was “see what God is doing in a sinner (Paul referred to himself as the chief of sinners).” We are all sinners with all the ugliness of sin, bent and twisted out of shape, far from being the persons we want to be, or that God intends us to be (Romans 3:23).
  • Our transformation comes from the Holy Spirit. God is in the process of working His transformation in us. “We are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

 

The truth is, when we take of the masks and are honest with ourselves and God he takes our fears, our weaknesses, our sinful ugliness and transforms us to look like Him. When we fail to do so we put on a mask and we no longer reflect the love, grace and joy of Christ. One of the names that Jesus called the pharisees was that of a hypocrite, or a whitewashed tombstone. The word comes from the Greek word “hypokrites” and was a technical term for a stage actor who usually wore a mask and acted a part.

Matthew 23:27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”

Making It Personal
What are some of the masks you wear? Why? How would things change if you were to take off this mask and let God deal with the true fears and issues that lie underneath? What is a real way that you can take off this mask? Is there someone you can talk in honesty that can help keep you accountable? Say a prayer to God to help you to deal with the underlying issue so that you can more fully reveal his likeness and glory in your life!

Variation
Provide Halloween masks or carnival masks for the entire group of youth. If possible, you can give youth some heavy paper (paper plates work well) and rubber bands and ask them to create a mask before the lesson. Later at the “Making it personal” stage of the lesson, have youth add a symbol or some words to indicate the mask that they want to remove so that God can work on that area of their life.

For a lesson which complements this one see Masks

 

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The Old Tree

Once upon a time there was a leafy tree in a field. Leaves grew densely on the tall branches. The roots were deeply into the ground. The tree was the most remarkable among the rest.

The tree then became the home for some birds. They built their nests and they lived on his branches. The birds made holes on him, and they hatched their eggs within the greatness of the tree. The tree felt so delighted because he was accompanied as he walked through his long lasting days.

People were grateful for the presence of the tree. They often came over and sheltered under him. Under his branches, they sat down and opened their picnic baskets. “This tree is very useful,” that’s what the people said every time they went home from shelter. The tree was very proud hearing those compliments.

However, time went on. The tree was beginning to be sick. His leaves and twigs were falling, then his body became thin and pale. The greatness he used to have was fading away. Birds felt reluctant to build their nests there. No one would come to sit under the tree to shelter anymore.

The tree wept, “Oh God, why is it so hard for me? I need friends. Now no one would come close to me. Why do you take all the glory I used to have?” The tree cried loudly, so it echoed throughout the forest. “Why wouldn’t you cut me down, so I don’t have to bear this suffering?” The tree kept on crying, and his tears were running down his dry body.

Seasons came and went, but his condition had not changed. The tree was still feeling lonely. His branches became drier and drier. Every night the tree wept and cried, until the morning broke.

“Cheep…chirp….cheep” Ah, what was that noise? Oh, it’s a little baby bird who has just pipped from the egg. The old tree woke up from his daydream.

“Cheep…chirp…cheep”, the noise became louder and louder. There was another baby bird. Not long after that, the tree became noisy because of the birth of new baby birds. One…two…three…and four baby birds have been born to this world. “Ah, He has answered my prayers,” exclaimed the old tree.

The day after, there were many birds flying to the old tree. They were going to build new nests. The dry branches have turned out to attract their attention to nest there. The birds felt warmer to stay inside the dry branches instead of their place before. The number of birds was increasing and there were more kinds of them. “Wow, now my days are brighter with their presence here”, murmured the old tree gladly.

The old tree was back to cheer again. And when he looked down, his heart was flowing with joy. There was a new little tree growing near his roots. The new tree seemed to smile at him. The tears of the old tree has grown a little tree who would continue his devotion to nature.

Only God knows the plans he has for us. Do not despair!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11

Author Unknown, Source Unknown


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Bible in 50 Words

God made
Adam bit
Noah arked
Abraham split
Joseph ruled
Jacob fooled
Bush talked
Moses balked
Pharaoh plagued
People walked
Sea divided
Tablets guided
Promise landed
Saul freaked
David peeked
Prophets warned
Jesus born
God walked
Love talked
Anger crucified
Hope died
Love rose
Spirit flamed
Word spread
God remained


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I Took a Piece of Plastic Clay

I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day,
And as my fingers pressed it still,
It moved and yielded to my will.

I came again when days were past–
The bit of clay was hard at last;
The form I gave it, it still bore,
But I could change that form no more.

I took a piece of living clay
And gently formed it day by day,
And moulded with my power and art
A young child’s soft and yeilding heart.

I came again when years were gone–
It was a man I looked upon;
He still that early impress wore,
And I could change him nevermore.

Author Unknown


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Calling All Teachers

Once upon a time, there was a church staff looking for teachers for children and preschoolers and youth.

And some adults said, “I don’t want to leave the sweet fellowship and study in my adult class.” (But the drug pusher on the street said, “Not even the threat of jail will keep me from working with your children.”)

And some adults said, “I could never give the time required to plan and go to teachers’ meetings.” (But the pusher, the porno book dealer, and the movie producer said, “We’ll stay open whatever hours are necessary everyday to win the minds of the kids.”)

And some adults said, “I’m unsuited, untrained, unable to work with children, preschoolers or youth. (But the movie producer said, “We’ll study, survey, spend millions to produce whatever turns kids on.”)

So, the adults stayed in their classes and enjoyed the sweet fellowship and absorbed the good Bible Study, and could go out of town often on the weekend and were available to do whatever was good to do on Wednesday or Sunday nights instead of teachers’ meetings.

And when Sunday came, the children came to their classes and no one was there except the church staff going from one room to another trying to assure them that someone would surely come to teach them some Sunday soon. But no one ever came, and the young children soon quit coming because they had gone to listen to others who did care about the things they did and what went into their minds….


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Can I Borrow $25?

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his young son waiting for him at the door.

‘Daddy, may I ask you a question?’

‘Yeah sure, what it is?’ replied the man.

‘Daddy, how much do you make an hour?’

‘That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?’ the man said angrily.

‘I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?’

‘If you must know, I make $50 an hour.’

‘Oh,’ the little boy replied, with his head down.

‘Daddy, may I please borrow $25?’

The father was furious, ‘If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don’t work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.’

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down , and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.

‘Are you asleep, son?’ He asked.

‘No daddy, I’m awake,’ replied the boy.

‘I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier’ said the man. ‘It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $25 you asked for.’ The little boy sat straight up, smiling. ‘Oh, thank you daddy!’ he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

‘Why do you want more money if you already have some?’ the father grumbled.

‘Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,’ the little boy replied.

‘Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.’

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness..

We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love. If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

Source: Circulating through email


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What are grandmas for?

Grandmas are for stories about things of long ago.
Grandmas are for caring about all the things you know…
Grandmas are for rocking you and singing you to sleep.
Grandmas are for giving you nice memories to keep…
Grandmas are for knowing all the things you’re dreaming of…
But, most importantly of all, Grandmas are for love.

Author Unknown

Images of Mother

4 years old: My Mommy can do anything!
8 years old: My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 years old: My Mother doesn’t really know quite everything.
14 years old: Naturally, Mother doesn’t know that, either.
16 years old: Mother? She’s hopelessly old-fashioned.
18 years old: That old woman? She’s way out of date!
25 years old: Well, she might know a little bit about it.
35 years old: Before we decide, let’s get Mom’s opinion.
45 years old: Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?
65 years old: Wish I could talk it over with Mom

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Love Passed By

“A small child waits with impatience the arrival home of a parent. She wishes to relate some sandbox experience. She is excited to share the thrill that she has known that day. The time comes; the parent arrives. Beaten down by the stresses of the workplace the parent often replies: “Not now, honey, I’m busy, go watch television.” The most often spoken words in the American household today are the words: go watch television. If not now, when? Later. But later never comes for many and the parent fails to communicate at the very earliest of ages. We give her designer clothes and computer toys, but we do not give her what she wants the most, which is our time. Now, she is fifteen and has a glassy look in her eyes. Honey, do we need to sit down and talk? Too late. Love has passed by.”

Author: Robert Keeshan, better known to America as Captain Kangaroo.


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The Red Rose

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away. As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.

He asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents and a rose costs two dollars.”

The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose.” He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers.

As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, “Yes, please! You can take me to my mother.”

She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.

The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother’s home.

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Giving Blood

A little boy was told by his doctor that he could save his sister’s life by giving her some blood. The six-year-old girl was near death, a victim of disease from which the boy had made a marvelous recovery two years earlier.

Her only chance for restoration was a blood transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the illness. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor.

“Johnny, would you like to give your blood for Mary?” the doctor asked.

The boy hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled, and said, “Sure, Doc. I’ll give my blood for my sister.”

Soon the two children were wheeled into the operating room – Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and the picture of health. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned. As his blood siphoned into Mary’s veins, one could almost see new life come into her tired body.

The ordeal was almost over when Johnny’s brave little voice broke the silence, “Say Doc, when do I die?” It was only then that the doctor realized what the moment of hesitation, the trembling of the lip, had meant earlier.

Little Johnny actually thought that in giving his blood to his sister he was giving up his life! And in that brief moment, the final decision that he had made was the greatest love of all… the unconditional sacrificing love..


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Is it enough?

Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 

As I was getting ready to start my day today I began thinking about this story in the Bible where Jesus was at a house in Capernaum. So many people from the area had heard he was there and they began to show up in droves. The house was full as well as all around the outside of the house and Jesus was preaching the word to them.

While he was preaching some men showed up (four to be exact) and they were carrying a paralytic. They tried their best to get this man to Jesus because they had heard of his great healing power. They truly believed that Jesus could heal their friend. They just had one problem, trying to get through the crowd was like trying to cut through a stone wall. They’re were just way to many people and I’m sure none of them wanted to move out of the way. They all came to see the man that everyone was talking about. Maybe he would perform some miracle. They were not about to miss a miracle all because they took some time to let a paralytic and his friends through.

These men were not about to give up though instead they worked their way to the top of the house onto the roof. They began to dig a hole in the roof until finally they broke through. Slowly they lowered their friend down to the ground right in front of Jesus.

I can’t help but wonder what was going through the mind of the owner of this house. I mean if it was my house I think I would have been really mad because these guys just tore my roof apart but we don’t know because the owner is never mentioned. Maybe his anger was deterred by his curiosity. Maybe he was more anxious about seeing how Jesus would respond to the man who was lowered in front of him.

I’m sure everyone around was filled with excitement as this paralytic was put before Jesus. Now they would all get what they came for A Miracle! I’m sure the room got quiet as Jesus looked at this man and his friends. You could probably hear a pin drop as Jesus looked at the paralytic and said with all confidence “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

I can almost sense the mood change in the crowd after he said those words. I can imagine some of them feeling upset because all he said was your sins are forgiven. What your sins are forgiven! where’s the miracle?! we came here to see a miracle and all your offering is forgiveness. What if the story ended there? What if all Jesus did was forgive the man? I wonder what the outcome would have been then. They probably would have drug him from the house and stoned him to death. But it didn’t end there. Most of us know the ending. Jesus heals the man, he gets up and takes his mat and goes home and the people praise God.

The story just makes me wonder though…what if all Jesus had to offer us was that one act on the cross. What if all he ever did for us was offer his forgiveness? Would that be enough or would we like some of the people in the story above need more. I mean how much is enough? So many of us are happy Christians as long as we feel God is doing things in our lives or as long as we feel God is providing or giving us stuff. But what if all that stopped today. What if for whatever reason God just stopped giving. Would the cross still be enough? He really doesn’t have to give us anything else. But is what was already given enough?

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Robbie Heverling (robhev@yahoo.com)
Used by Permission


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The “WHY” of It All

He carried His cross despising the shame
To the place of the skull, Golgatha by name
And there with two thieves, His friends’ hopes all lost,
Was man’s greatest error now hung on a cross

He held back His power, His glory was veiled
He silenced His tongue as accusations were railed
He submitted His body to torture and pain
And saw through it all a glorious gain

Oh what sight could hold Him, this King of all Kings
What glory awaited that only shame brings?

The One who spoke galaxies, wisdom and life
Laid aside all His power without any strife
And WHY would He do it? The question looms large
Accept accusations, absorb every charge

The smoke finally clears as the veil rips away
And eyes filled with tears see truth bright as day
Humbled and willing I bow to my knee
Jesus! Oh Jesus! You did it for me…..

By Cindy Blackamore
03-31-09
Used by Permission

 


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Palm Monday

The donkey awakened, his mind still savoring the afterglow of the most exciting day of his life. Never before had he felt such a rush of pleasure and pride.

He walked into town and found a group of people by the well. “I’ll show myself to them” he thought.

But they didn’t notice him. They went on drawing their water and paid him no mind.

“Throw your garments down,” he said crossly. “Don’t you know who I am?”

They just looked at him in amazement. Someone slapped him across the tail and ordered him to move.

“Miserable heathens!” he muttered to himself. “I’ll just go to the market where the good people are. They will remember me.”

But the same thing happened. No one paid any attention to the donkey as he strutted down the main street in front of the market place.

“The palm branches! Where are the palm branches!” he shouted. “Yesterday, you threw palm branches!”

Hurt and confused, the donkey returned home to his mother.

“Foolish child,” she said gently. “Don’t you realize that without Jesus, you are just an ordinary donkey?”

Just like the donkey who carried Jesus in Jerusalem, we are most fulfilled when we are in the service of Jesus Christ. Without him, all our best efforts are like “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) and amount to nothing. When we lift up Christ, however, we are no longer ordinary people but key players in God’s plan to redeem the world.

Edited from Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice. Copyright1994 by Youth Specialties, Inc.

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The Old Fisherman

Author and source UNKNOWN

Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to out patients at the clinic.

One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly awful looking man. “Why, he’s hardly taller than my eight-year-old,” I thought as I stared at the stooped, shrivelled body. But the appalling thing was his face — lopsided from swelling, red and raw.

Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, “Good evening. I’ve come to see if you’ve a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and here’s no bus till morning.” He told me he’d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success, no one seemed to have a room. “I guess it’s my face…I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments . . .”

For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me: “I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning.” I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch. I went inside and finished getting supper. When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us. “No thank you. I have plenty.” And he held up a brown paper bag.

When I had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn’t take long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury.

He didn’t tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other sentence was preface with a thanks to God for a blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving him the strength to keep going. At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the children’s room for him. When I got up in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and the little man was out on the porch.

He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favour, he said, “Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I won’t put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair.” He pause a moment and then added, “Your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don’t seem to mind.”

I told him he was welcome to come again. And on his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen. He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they’d be nice and fresh. I knew his bus left at 4:00 a.m. and I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us.

In the years he came to stay overnight with us there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden. Other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these, and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious. When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbour made after he left that first morning.

“Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by putting up such people!” Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice. But oh! If only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear. I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to God.

Recently I was visiting a friend who has a greenhouse, As she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms. But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket. I thought to myself, “If this were my plant, I’d put it in the loveliest container I had!” My friend changed my mind. “I ran short of pots,” she explained, “and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn’t mind starting out in this old pail. It’s just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden.”

She must have wondered why I laughed so delightedly, but I was imagining just such a scene in heaven. “Here’s an especially beautiful one,” God might have said when he came to the soul of the sweet old fisherman. “He won’t mind starting in this small body.”

All this happened long ago — and now, in God’s garden, how tall this lovely soul must stand.

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b)


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Generic

You may remember seeing cans of grocery items in your local store during the 1970s and 80s which had plain white and black labels. They were marked simply “Peaches” or “Peanut Butter” or “Soup,” and below that was a statement that the item was “suitable for its usual use.” The idea was that brand names were unimportant. Any can of generic “peaches” was as good as any other… they were all the same.

Today, society is selling another generic… religion. I’m sure you’ve heard it said: “Well, isn’t it enough just to believe in God? Aren’t all religions the same, anyway?” Today, many people have a generic “God” suitable for the usual uses, Christmas and Easter, funerals, and weddings.

Even the name of their “God” is generic. A cab driver I once rode with said, “Did you ever notice that people who aren’t Christians call God ‘God’ but the ones who are, call Him ‘Lord?'” The world’s “religion” is aware that there is some kind of God out there, but doesn’t acknowledge him as Creator, King or Savior, nor do they surrender to His Lordship.

Jesus says specifically that a generic faith will not do, “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:17-18) And the Apostle Peter said it again, when he was arrested and brought in front of the high priests and scribes: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

Don’t buy into the generic. Salvation has a brand name, “Jesus Christ.” No substitute will do.

Source unknown – circulated by email

 


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