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"Mighty Kids" (Lesson 6) "Sarah Delivers a Child"

3/29/2015

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This is the sixth lesson of our "Mighty Kids" series for Children's church. This is a free resource anyone is welcome to use. See http://www.ibteens.net/ibteen-resources.html for more information. 

 "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
12  Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable."

"Also Sarah," the Bible says.  That statement is not only a blessing to every woman, it is a blessing to us all.  I'll explain how it is a blessing to us all in a moment, but first let me explain how it is a blessing to every woman.  This statement is a blessing to women because, up to this point, we've only seen the power of faith displayed in Men: Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham.  Enoch's wife was never mentioned.  Noah's wife was never mentioned.  Finally, here we have a record of God blessing a woman through her faith.

In the Bible days, women were really given little attention.  It was the men who generally ruled everything, and the women were like servants to the men.  In many countries today women are still treated like that, and some of them give very little value to women.  But the Bible gives hope to all women.  The Bible says, first of all, that in God's eyes the value of men and women are equal "  Galatians 3:27 says "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

Then, there is something special about women that makes them very important to us all--they can have children.  You know, none of us would be here if we didn't have a mother who carried us in her belly.  Men can't have babies by themselves!  The Bible tells us that having a baby, and raising that child is the most important role a woman has on this earth.  1 Timothy 2:15 says "she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."  How many of you girls like playing with baby dolls?  You dress them up, change their diapers, pretend like you are feeding them...  If you don't now, didn't you used to?  God puts that in a woman's heart to want to care for babies.  If God has a plan for you to have a baby one day, that is the greatest blessing He can give you (we understand that some women are not able to have babies, and that's okay.  God has a purpose for them, too, and he will bless them in different ways).

Well, God promised Abraham that he would have a child and many, many grand children; but his wife, Sarah, wasn't having any children.  The Bible says she the time came when she was "passed age" of having children (there comes a time when women are too old to have children), and Sarah began to wonder about God's promise.  She got to be ninety years old, and God said "Now, I'm going to give her a child."  She had a hard time believing that, and it even made her laugh; but God gave her a child, and from that child the whole world was blessed because from that child came another child, and then a grandchild, and a great-grandchild, and a great, great, great, great...all the way to a woman named Mary.  And Mary had a child you might know named... That's right, "Jesus."  Jesus was the greatest blessing for the entire world because through Jesus we can all be saved and go to Heaven.  That is why the whole world was blessed by those two words, "Also Sarah."  And this is why Sarah was added to the list of mighty men (and women) of great faith.
Let's pray...

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"Mighty Kids" (Lesson 5) "Abraham Looks For A City"

3/18/2015

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This is the fifth lesson of our "Mighty Kids" series for Children's church. This is a free resource anyone is welcome to use. See http://www.ibteens.net/ibteen-resources.html for more information. 

"By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.   (Hebrews 11: 9,10)

I
n our previous lesson, we talked about Abraham obeying God.  God had told him to leave his family who was surrounded by people that worshipped idols.  God told Abraham that He would show him where to go, and so Abraham packed up and moved by faith. 

When Abraham came to the city of Bethel, in a country that was called Canaan, God told him that one day He would give that land to Abraham's "seed."  That word "seed" means his children, or his children's children, or his great, great grandchildren...and on and on.  This made Abraham so happy, the greatest blessing he could have received is knowing that his seed would be blessed.  After hearing this good news, Abraham built an altar (this altar was probably a pile of rocks carefully put together in order to mark this special place where God talked to him so that he and his children could always remember this promise), and the Bible says he "called upon the Lord" there. 

Not a lot of time had passed before Abraham had to move because there was no food in the land.  He wandered around it seemed, back and forth, his whole life.  He didn't ever possess the land, his sons didn't, and even his grandchildren didn't.  You might wonder how Abraham was able to keep trusting that God would fulfil His promise.  

Well, Abraham's seed did eventually live in that city, years after he died.  And it is still an important place to many people to this day (especially a city called Jerusalem).  It is in the same country where Jesus was born and where He died on the cross.  However, In the book of Hebrews, the Bible talks about the city "whose builder and maker is God."  The Bible also explains it as a city that is "not built with hands."  This city is the city promised to all who are born again (put their faith in Jesus like Abraham did and become "children of God" or "Abraham's seed").

Can anyone tell me what this city is that I'm talking about?  It is Heaven!  The Bible talks about a city that everyone who is saved will live in one day.  That city is called "New Jerusalem."  If it is a city that God built, can you imagine how wonderful it must be?  As long as we are on this earth, we will have to endure bad things; but never forget that all God's children (seed of Abraham) have a home in Heaven where one day all will be made perfect!  While we are on Earth, we are just travelers passing through until we get to our eternal home in that same city that Abraham was looking for!

Let's consider a few things about Heaven: 

1.  Does God want His people to be happy or sad? 
When Jesus came, He had compassion on many.  He wanted to heal people from their sickness and pain.  So in this perfect city that God has built, do you think He will allow any sickness or pain?

Revelation 21:4 "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

2.  You know how God made some foods that you really like (even if there are some others that you don't like)?  How much do you think you will enjoy the food that is in Heaven?  The Bible gives us some clues that we might eat and drink in Heaven:

Jesus said before He died, "Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God."
(Mark 14:24)

3.  We also like looking at beautiful things.  What are some of the prettiest things we can see?  Don't you think that in that perfect city there will be even more beautiful things than that?

The streets are made of gold and the gates are pearl:

Revelation 21:21  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.


The foundation of the city is made out of precious stones: 

Revelation 21:19  And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20  The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

I don't even know what most of those stones look like, and I sure can't imagine how glorious Heaven will be, but the most important thing is that Jesus will be there!  So much more could be imagined about Heaven, but everything about that city will just have to be accepted by faith, like Abraham did.  By faith I know that I will be able to live there, and it will be great!  I hope that you will be there too.  If you don't know if you have ever become part of "Abraham's seed," I hope you will let us show you how.  Let's pray.
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"Mighty Kids" (Lesson 4) "Abraham Obeys God"

3/4/2015

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This is the fourth lesson of our "Mighty Kids" series for Children's church. This is a free resource anyone is welcome to use. See http://www.ibteens.net/ibteen-resources.html for more information. 

"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went."  (Hebrews 11:8)

Many years had gone by since the Great Flood (over three hundred).  Through Noah's son, Shem, ten generations were born (this means that Shem had children, and his children grew up and had children, and those children grew up and had children...ten times).  It is not clear how many people were still serving the Lord at this time, but once again the majority of the world had turned from God.  They started sinning, and began doing the things they wanted to do, and they forgot about God.

The Bible tells us that even Shem's great, great, great...(nine times) grandson, Terah, had come to accept the worship of false gods, and lived in a place where people did not love the true God.  Apparently Terah had at least one son, however, whose heart still sought the Lord.  It was this son, Abraham, that God called out and decided to bless.  "I want you to leave this place," God said.  "Leave your family and head toward a place that I will show you, and I will bless you."

Now Abraham had a wife, Sarah, and they were apparently taking care of their nephew, Lot (Lot was the son of Abraham's brother that had died).  Imagine Abraham going to his Father and saying, "Dad, we shouldn't be in this place, and all these people are worshiping false gods.  The true God, Jehovah, spoke to me and said we need to leave."  And then imagine him telling Lot, "I know you have grown up here, and I know you are happy,  but we are going to have to pack up everything we own and get out of here."  Both Abraham's dad and Lot surely asked "Where are you moving?" Abraham had to say "I really don't know."  He no doubt got the same response any of us would get if we told people that we were moving but didn't know where we were going, "Are you crazy?!"  That is always how it goes when you do something by faith.  

So, let me tell you what I think this story means for us today.  You see, we live in a wicked world.  Even most of the people who say they believe in God and Jesus are really living for themselves and doing wicked things.  They are serving false gods that will make them happy.  The Bible says that we don't belong in this world.  We have another home waiting for us that is out of this world, if we will just choose to step out in faith and believe what God says.  God has given us all the instructions we need right in the Bible and we are supposed to believe it and obey it.

Of course, when we tell people that we are not part of this world anymore, but instead we are seeking a home in Heaven, they think we are crazy.  We show them the Bible and tell them that they can come too, but many don't want to believe.  They want to keep living in the world and serving their false gods. 

According to our verse in Hebrews, did Abraham obey God or disobey Him?  He obeyed!  You are not going to understand everything the Bible says.  In fact, there are a whole lot of questions that will never be answered in this life.  Just like Abraham, we need to just step out in faith.  God will show us what to do next.

The Bible says that the only way we can get to Heaven is by having faith in Jesus.  Do you believe that Jesus was God's Son, that He was here on Earth to die on the cross as payment for our sins, and that He was buried in a tomb for three days, but then He rose from the grave and went to Heaven to prepare a place for all His people?  You may say, "That sounds crazy!"  But many have put their faith in that truth, believed the Bible, and have continued following Him, and they have seen the blessing of God in their life.  They keep reading God's Word, trying their best to do what it says, and they patiently wait for the day that they will get to be in Heaven with the Lord forever.  I hope you will be one of those people.  Let's  pray.


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"Mighty Kids" (Lesson 3) "Noah Prepared An Ark"

2/27/2015

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This is the third lesson of our "Mighty Kids" series for Children's church. This is a free resource anyone is welcome to use. See http://www.ibteens.net/ibteen-resources.html for more information. 
Lesson 3 - "Noah Prepares The Ark"

"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." (Hebrews 11:7)

Enoch, you remember, walked with God as did his great, great, great, great, granddad Seth.  But unfortunately this family seemed to be the only ones walking with God. Everyone else did what they wanted to do, and the Bible says it got so bad that EVERY imagination of man’s thoughts of his heart were CONTINUALLY evil.  Everything they did or thought was against God.  They did what made the devil happy and made God sad and upset.

Normally, God lets us choose what we want to do.  If we choose to follow Him, then He blesses us, but if we chose to go our own way and do evil, then He lets us “reap what we sow.”  When a farmer plants corn into the ground, he is “sowing” corn.  When it grows up and he cuts down the corn so he can eat it or sell it, then he is “reaping” the corn.  Now, if you sow an apple seed in the ground, what will you reap? Apples.  If you sow some tomato seeds what will you reap?  Tomatoes.  This is how God made it.  It's a law of nature.  The law of reaping and sowing also applies to us.  If  we do what is right, good things happen to us; but if we do what wrong, bad things happen.

Well, by the time Enoch was take to Heaven, and his children had lived many years, people had sown so many bad things in this world that there was apparently nothing "good" any more that could become of it.
  The Bible says that the people were continually thinking about and doing bad things.  Also, the people were very violent.  They didn’t have any problem killing anyone they didn't like.  Do you know who they probably wanted to kill more than anyone else?  Seth’s family…Enoch’s family…people who loved God and hated evil.  That is how it usually goes.  People who like to do bad things don't like people who only want to do good things.  Many times, they will even want to do God's people harm.  Well, here is where God chooses to steps in.  God says, “You all may have chosen to hate Me, and to do only the things you want to do, but I will not let you hurt the only family that loves me.  I am going to destroy the entire world except for the people who still love me.  I will protect My people!”


The Bible says that Noah, Enoch's great grandson, found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  Grace is when God gives us something we do not deserve.  Noah was no doubt a sinner like everyone else who has ever lived, except Noah loved God and actually wanted to do right.  Apparently, when Noah's parents died, there would be no more people that loved God and wanted to do right, so God chose to use a great flood to destroy every living thing on Earth, except for Noah, Noah's family, and many of the animals that were living at that time.  After the flood, Noah and his family would start everything all over.

Imagine it with me.  One day, Noah was out working (probably building something) and somehow God told him to build a huge ark--a boat.  God said to make it bigger than anything Noah had ever seen.  Then, imagine God telling Noah that He was going to destroy the whole world with a flood, and only those who are in the huge boat will survive.  How do you think Noah would feel?  Building this boat would take many, many years.  People would laugh at Noah and his sons who were building this crazy, giant boat so far away from the water.  "How do you plan on getting that thing to the water, Noah?" they probably mocked. "Hahaha!  You are crazy, old man!"  The Bible says that Noah was a preacher, and you could imagine that he preached to the people about the coming flood, but no one would listen.  In fact, they just thought he was crazier than ever.  They probably even hated Noah, since he wouldn't do the bad things they liked to do, and preached against them.

This story is such a great picture about how we are to live out our Christian faith.  God will one day destroy the world again, the Bible says.  This time, though, it will be with fire.  Those who have trusted in God and His Son, Jesus, and have believed what the Bible says, will be saved and taken to Heaven; those who hate God, and only love to do bad things, will be destroyed one day in Hell.  Are you going to laugh at Christians and tease them about the way they are living for the Lord? Are you going to mock them for what they believe?  Or are you going to decide to "get in the boat?"  God will save you like He saved Noah and his family if you will just believe and chose to receive Jesus as your Savior.  He is the "Boat" that will save you when the rest of the world is destroyed.

I hope you have found grace in the eyes of the Lord!  Let's pray.

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"Mighty Kids" (Lesson 2) "Enoch  Pleases God"

2/13/2015

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This is the second lesson of our "Mighty Kids" series for Children's church. This is a free resource anyone is welcome to use. See http://www.ibteens.net/ibteen-resources.html for more information. 

Lesson 2 - "Enoch Pleases God"

"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." Hebrews 11:5

After Adam and Eve’s son, Abel, was killed by his older brother Cain, they had another son whose name was Seth.  Seth was a godly boy who grew into a godly man.  He raised godly children, and the Bible says, “Men began to call upon the name of the Lord.”  This probably means that none of Cain’s children served the Lord, nor did the other children or grandchildren of Adam and Eve—they all only cared only about themselves.  But Seth taught his children to love the Lord and to be good.

Seth’s great, great, great grandson was named Enoch, and this is the mighty man we are talking about tonight.  Enoch, the book of Genesis says, "walked with God."  In our text in Hebrews 11,  we read that Enoch “pleased God.”  I hope that pleasing God is what every child here wants to do!  When the world is wicked all around you, and people are mean and hateful and selfish, I hope you want to please God.  If someone in your family or the people who call themselves your friends choose to do bad things and try to get you to do them too, I hope you will choose to “please God.”

Now, I want to tell you something very amazing.  In the beginning, people used to live to be almost 1,000 years old.  You would be lucky to see someone in our day live to be 100 years old, but can you imagine living to be 900?  You could see your great, great, great, great… grandchildren, and sit them on your lap, and tell them exciting stories about all the things you have seen in your lifetime.  And you would be very smart, too, and very wise…and perhaps very wrinkly, don't you think?

It is true. They lived a very long time.  Adam lived to be 930 years old.  Seth was 912 years old when he died.  The person that lived the longest was Methuselah (the son of Enoch, about whom we are speaking tonight).  Even though people were able to live so long back then, they still died eventually.

But there was something special about Enoch.  The Bible says that Enoch never did die. Can you believe that?  It is true.  The Bible says that he walked with God, and pleased Him, and POOOF! He was gone.  He disappeared to be with God in Heaven.  Amazing isn't it?  You might say, “That is impossible.  Everyone dies, and  no one just disappears.” Well, that is normally the case, but not for Enoch.

Besides Enoch, there is another guy name Elijah who lived many years later.  He did not die either, but God just took him up to Heaven.  And of course you know that Jesus died, but then He was able to rise from the dead and live again.  Then, after walking around and talking to many people for some time, He was taken up to Heaven like Enoch and Elijah.  These are the only records of people who were able to go to Heaven without ever dying.  But now I'm going to tell you something very, very exciting.

The Bible says that one day, the Lord will come for all His people.  He will come in the twinkling of an eye and he will snatch them up to be with Him in Heaven.  We do not know when He will come, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if we saw that day and we did not have to die?  Wouldn't it be great if we just disappeared and went to Heaven to be with the Lord?

Wouldn't you like to be around when God snatches His children up to Heaven?  Are you sure?  Perhaps someone here is not ready for that day.  Maybe you know that if God came to get His children that you would not go with Him.  Are you “walking with the Lord” like Enoch?  Do you “please God?” 

The Bible says that we can't please God if we have not been saved.  Romans 8:8,9 says "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you..."  The only way we can please God is to walk with Him by having His Spirit in us.  The Bible goes on to say in verse 11,  "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." 

That means you can have the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead and that snatched up Enoch and Elijah.  If you have that Spirit in you, you don't have to worry about death.  If you have that Spirit in you, then you can walk with God.  You can please God.  And you can one day go to Heaven to be with the Lord forever.  If you want to please God and know that you are walking with Him today, we would love to show you how from God's Word.  Let's pray.


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    Bro. Rocky

    Currently serving as the pastor at Iola Baptist Temple in Iola, KS. 

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