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God Loves you a ton!! No matter how people treat you, or how you feel, God's love is Firm, True and Powerful!! Below are some facts about God, but if you have any questions or comment, please write us!! We'd love to hear from you! (No attachments, please.) Thanks! God is the Most Powerful! Love for God is to Obey God Jesus Calms Troubles Jesus Died to take away Your Sins God is the Most Powerful! WOW! - Who here learned that God burned up all that water along the altar when no one else could do it? Great learning! God's pretty powerful, isn’t He! (Read from the Bible, the book of 1 Kings, Chapter 18, verses 18 - 40.) Well, I've got some news for you, God, Who is so powerful, Loves you!! In fact, He loves you soooo much that He wrote you a whole book of His love for you!! It is call the Bible. Let me tell you three facts about the Bible.
Let me show you - If we open to the first book, Genesis, we read how God made everything so that you would have a world to live in. Lets read - (Genesis chapter 1 of the Bible.) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And God saw that it was good. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. Here God made the oceans!!!!!!! Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. This was when God made the plants! And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. And God saw that it was good. This is when God made the sun, moon, planets and stars! And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. This is when God made the animals, birds and fish and all the rest! But most importantly, God made something great and dear to His heart, God made people. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth." So God created man; male and female he created them, and it was very good. You see how much Love and Care God has for you! What Powerful Love God has for each of you!! -- Oh, it is sooo exciting! The fact that God made you is sooo special!! God made your eyes, your nose, your ears, your hair, and loves you incredibly!! The Bible says about God - For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16 So God knows you and loves you just the way you are!! Do you know that? God says in His book of Jeremiah - The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. 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 Jeremiah 31:3 Another proof that God loves you is that He sent
His only Son Jesus down to Earth to show you His
love. When Jesus was here, he did many special things for us. When He was asked how he could do them, Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matt 19:26 God tells us in the Bible two special facts about Himself - God always was and always will be, and that He never changes. -
Well, I know that God is the only one true God!! But you are the only true God." Jer 10:10A God is sooo powerful! And I am sooo glad He loves me and you sooo deeply!! Love for God is to Obey God Have you ever known the right thing to do but decided to do the wrong thing instead? That is called not obeying, or disobeying. Has your mother ever told you to be quiet but you kept on talking? Have you ever been told to clean your room, and you didn't do it. Well, we all have disobeyed. In fact, God tells us that "all have sinned." Rom 3:23 So what does God do with us when we disobey Him? He chases us, He punishes us, He corrects us. God wants us to come back to Him and to love Him. We learned that "Love to God is to obey His commands." God did not give up on Jonah, instead God caught Jonah in the belly of a fish! (Read chapters 1-3 in the book of Jonah in the Bible.)
Then Jonah obeyed God and did what God asked him to do. God was happy. And because Jonah obeyed God, Ninevah was not destroyed. You see, Ninevah had disobeyed God, too. And when Ninevah stopped disobeying God and started loving God instead, then God did not punish Ninevah either! That is just the way it is with you and me. When you obey God, your life is blessed, and the lives of the people you live with are blessed, too. - So always obey God! But how do we know what God thinks and wants you to do? How do we know God's commands? By reading His Word, the Bible. The Bible is God's Word for you! And the Bible says, "Here is what it means to love God. It means that we obey His commands." 1Jn 5:3 Jesus Calms Troubles Today we learned that Jesus' friends had troubles. They were in the middle of a storm and they were scared! (Read Chapter 8, verses 23-26 in the book of Matthew in the Bible.)
Who is this Jesus that the winds and the waves obey Him? Jesus is God, the One who made all of Nature. God made all the oceans, land, plants and animals. That is why the wind and the waves obey Him. Who is Jesus? Jesus is God in the flesh. Flesh is skin (point to skin and stretch). The Bible says, "God became flesh and lived with us." Now that's hard to understand, but I'll make it simple. The Bible says, "God is Spirit. " Jn 4:24 Now you cannot see Spirit. Though it is very real. It is kind of like air. You can hear it. (Breathe in the microphone) You cannot see it, but you breathe it. But without air you would die. See this balloon? Think of this as just flesh. It is small and floppy. -- But with God's Spirit in it, it becomes alive. (Blow it up - touch the outline) Now you still cannot see the air, but you can see the shape, and where the air is. That's how God came to be seen. Instead of being invisible, God put on flesh so that people could see Him stand in the boat, and hear Him tell the waves to be quiet, and the wind to be still. While Jesus was walking on this earth, Jesus showed love to everyone. He healed everyone who came to Him, He fed 5,000 people at one time, Jesus cast out demons, and He taught everyone who was with Him how much God loves them and that God wants us to trust Him, and to do what He says. Best of all, Jesus, Who is God, became a man so that He could die on the cross and take the punishment for your sins and mine. After Jesus died on the cross, He rose from the dead and walked on the earth some more, teaching some more and then went up to heaven. Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God the Father. So Jesus is still alive, and listens to each word you say and eagerly waiting for you to talk to Him! How can we talk with Jesus? By reading His Words in the Bible. And by talking to Him out loud, or in your thoughts. - Like this "Jesus, I love you! Jesus, thank you for lunch! Jesus, what a beautiful flower you made! Jesus, why is my mom sad? "No sound_________" I was just asking God to bless you all." And how does God answer you? By saying "I love you" in a special way in your heart and head. By showing you in your thoughts and heart something you didn’t realize, or know before. By being gentle and kind, sweet and tender. God never hurts. Jesus wants you to talk to Him and tell Him how you are feeling, or what you are thinking. When someone hurts you, tell Jesus. Ask Him to help you, and He will help you. When you are sad, tell Jesus Christ and ask Him to comfort you. He will comfort you. When you have questions or things you do not understand, ask Jesus and He will teach you. If you scrape your knee, ask Jesus to make it all better. - Watch what Jesus does! Seek Him. And always share your joy and happiness with Jesus, for He loves to see your smile, and be happy with you, too!! So, read Jesus' Words in the Bible, and talk to Him, for He loves you the most!! Jesus Died to take away Your Sins So far we have learned that God is the most powerful, that to love God is to obey His commands, and that Jesus is God. Tonight we learned that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. (Luke chapter 23, verses 26-49 of the Bible.) We will discuss three things- What is sin? What is a command? How can we have clean hearts on God's standard? What is sin? Sin is anything you think, say or do that is not obeying God's commands. What is a command? A command is a rule, not a "wish". A command is something fixed, and unchangeable. When God commands something, it must be obeyed. If you mother wants you to set the table, she may say, "Would you please set the table?" You have the choice and can say, "May I please do it later?" But when God commands, He doesn't say "Would you please do this?" No, they are Commands, that means that God says, "You must do this." God has given us 10 commands, and then two more. These commands are found in the Bible in the book of Exodus, chapter 20. Some of them are:
Everyone in this room has broken at least two of God's commandments, and probably more of them. Breaking one of God's commands is sin. God's Word tells us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Rom 3:23 Fall short means to not make the mark - Here are two measures. A yard stick, and a ruler. The yard stick is how holy God is. God is Holy, holy, holy. God is perfect, pure, clean and pure Love. God has nothing false or bad in Him. And because He is soooo holy, God can only have those who are clean come into His presence. The ruler is much shorter, and we might get that far in holiness if we try really hard, but we are still three times too short of God's standard. That is what sin does. And there is NO way we cannot sin. God also knows that we cannot make the mark of holiness only by ourselves. God cares that we cannot make the mark, so He made a way for us to make the mark, or goal. God made a way for us to reach Him. How can we have clean hearts on God's standard? Who knows how God made a way for us to make the mark? (does someone say Jesus?) That's right!! - "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8 Let's do an example here - Here is a heart. It represents your heart and my heart. It is big, and full. However, what we think, say and do, and our attitudes changes our heart. The Bible says, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1Sam 16:7 I need some volunteers (7- 2 from each group)- Bring the bowl around, and have them stick on the sins. How does the heart look now? What color is it? What does God see? Is it dirty with sin? How does God feel about it? (sad) Does God want it to stay dirty? How can we get it clean? We can only use God's way!! Jesus Christ. Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jn 14:6 Jesus Christ died on the cross to take the punishment that we deserve for all of these sins, and more. If we give Jesus all of our sins, our heart will be clean. Does anyone want to help put these sins on the cross? We can do it right now!! When we give Jesus Christ our sins, God promises that "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Isa 1:18 (show both sides of the heart) as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Ps 103:12 To all who received Him, to those who believed in Jesus' Name, God gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12 This means that when we give Jesus Christ our sins, God will make us His Child forever and will put His Holy Spirit in you and me. Jesus says, "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. John 14:16-18 Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. Hebrews 13:5 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 Jesus says, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." John 10:27-30 Only by being God's child can you or me live a life pleasing to God. And that is what God wants us to do. If you want to be God's Child, then you can tell this to God right now! Dear God, I know that You are holy and right. I know that Your Son Jesus Christ died on the cross to take away my sins. God I know that I have sinned, I have done many things wrong. I have disobeyed my mom or dad, I had said wrong things, I have not treated other people like I should, and I have thought bad things, too. I am sorry for doing these wrong things. I am sorry for hurting my family, myself, other people, and most of all, You. Please forgive me by the blood of Jesus Christ's death on the cross. In Your Word, the Bible, You say that "as far as the east is from the west, so far has You removed my sins (Ps 103:12), and that You remember then no more. Thank You for forgiving me!! Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I would life for You forever and always!! In Jesus Christ's Name I pray, Amen!! If you have prayed this prayer, or have questions, please let us know so we can help you at - Comments Page Please bring me to Friendship with God. I want to write to You! |
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