A Wonderful Deliverance
Adapted from Religious Stories for Young and Old, Joel Beeke editor
Our Big Idea is God’s Creation Tells Us about Him” But how does God’s creation do that?
When we look at how beautifully He made the flowers or how majestic and mighty He made the mountains, they reflect His beauty and His majesty and might. But that is not all. But in today’s story, we will see another way God uses His creation to tell us about Himself: by His amazing, mighty, perfect control over it.
Our story takes place about 200 years ago just outside of Stralsund, a great city on the cold, northern coast of Germany. Stralsund was called the jewel of the Baltic Sea in those days. It was an important center for ship-building and trading. From Stralsund, it was easy to sail up to Russia for buy animal furs for coat-making; or, to other parts of Europe to sell fish and salt. The Kings of Sweden, Prussia and Pomerania fought each other for the great city. In battle after battle, they would send in their troops into Stralsund, leaving burnt-down houses and many people dead.
In a quiet little cottage on the edge of Stralsund lived an old woman named Bertha Schmidt. Without a doubt Bertha Schmidt had her share of sadnesses. Her husband had died and she herself suffered painfully in her old age. It would be easy to expect Bertha to be a sad old woman, fearful of what might happen next; but when you went to Bertha Schmidt’s house, you found nothing could
be further from the truth. Bertha Schmidt’s little cottage was a picture of quiet happiness. Why?
Because Bertha Schmidt was a woman who knew and loved God. She saw His goodness and care everywhere, in everything He created-- and so she trusted Him.
“Lord, thank you for this little cottage You have given me. Thank you for the beautiful flowers and vines that grow in my garden. I look at how beautifully and perfectly made each one is and they remind me of how beautiful and perfect You are. Thank you, Lord for my son, Karl, who planted this beautiful garden for
me and happily takes care of me every day. Even he is Your creation and his loving concern for me reminds me of how much You care for me! I may be a widow and I may have pain in my body, but everywhere I look I see how You have been so good to me. I praise You and thank You and trust You!”
God added to Bertha and Karl’s happiness later that summer. Karl fell in love with a wonderful girl and she was to marry him and live with him and his mother, Bertha, in her little cottage. And so a few months later, on a blustery winter’s day, Karl and his bride got married in a church in Stralsund; then, joyfully they returned home together to the cottage to spend their first evening in celebration.
The next morning should have been the bright beginning of their lives together, but it was not.
“Enemy soldiers are on the move!" spread the terrible news. "They are headed for Stralsund! They will be here anytime! Prepare your homes and families for the worst!"
In every house there was gloom; in every heart, fear and trembling. The day passed in dreadful suspense, and night closed in over the still watching, praying, fasting city. As night deepened, a terrific storm of snow and wind came which added to everyone’s worries.
But how was it within the widow’s cottage? Karl had for a while busied himself with barricading the doors and windows to offer some protection for himself, his new bride and mother from the soldiers. They sadly knew the truth, though. A few boards with nails in them were no match for the soldiers coming through. They would have no problem busting in or setting the whole cottage on fire.
Karl sank down into gloomy silence, while his young wife sat beside him, pale and trembling. But what about the aged widow? It would be easy to expect Bertha to be a sad old woman fearful of what might happen next, just like everyone else. But when you looked at that old woman right then, you found nothing could be further from the truth. Bertha Schmidt’s heart was a picture of quiet happiness. Why? Because Bertha Schmidt was a woman who knew and loved God. She saw His goodness and care everywhere in everything He created and she trusted Him. She sat with her eyes fastened upon a little hymnal, and seemed lost to all around her. After a while she raised her eyes, and a bright smile beamed upon her face, as she repeated these lines: “Round us a wall our God shall rear, And our proud foes shall quail with fear.”
“What is that you say, mother?” replied Karl, “is your faith as strong as that? Do you really expect God will build a wall round our poor hut, strong and high enough to keep out an army? I wish I could believe it right now. It is terrible to wait for the soldiers as worried and fearful as I am.”
“Has not my son read that not a sparrow falls to the ground without the will of our Father; that faith has stopped the mouths of lions, and turned aside the edge of the sword?”
Karl made no reply, and the little family sank again into a sad silence.
Just before midnight, there was a lull in the storm, and they heard the great town clock striking the hour of twelve. At the same moment, from the opposite direction, the faint sound of the drums and pipes of the enemy soldiers caught there watchful ears. The fatal hour had come! The little family drew closer together, holding hands. The color drained from the faces of Karl and his little
wife as they waited in fear. But what about the aged widow? It would be easy to expect Bertha to be a sad old woman, fearful of what might happen next, just like everyone else. But when you looked at the old woman right then, you found nothing could be further from the truth. Bertha Schmidt’s heart was a picture of quiet happiness. Why? Because Bertha Schmidt was a woman who knew and
loved God. She saw His goodness and care everywhere in everything He created and she trusted Him. Bertha Schmidt squeezed her son’s hand and again repeated: “Round us a wall our God shall rear, And our proud foes shall quail with fear.”
The music drew nearer, and now they could hear the sound of marching feet and the fire of guns. Soon shrieks were heard along with the crackling of flames and the crash of falling houses. All around them the soldiers were plundering and destroying Stralsund. They waited and waited for the soldiers to start in on their little cottage; but no one ever came, as if angels were encamping around it.
At long last, the music grew faint, the shooting stopped, and the sound of marching feet dwindled away. Everything became completely silent. Bertha, Karl and his wife sat there and kept listening. Finally after a few hours, Karl dared to open one of the boarded up window shutters and look outside. As he opened the shutter, to his amazement all he could see was snow! The storm in the night had dropped so much snow that it heaped up to the very top of the window!Cautiously Karl next opened the door, but here again a wall of snow met his view, and he had to dig his way through it to get to open air. Pulling himself through his tunnel of snow and up onto the ground he stood silent with astonishment and awe at the sight before him. Huge drifts of snow had completely encircled the cottage, and made it in appearance a mere mound of snow, with no sign that a cottage lay beneath it. Not even the steep roof or the chimney stuck out the top to give a clue of the little house that lay beneath the snow, like hidden treasure. It was exactly as his mother had believed: they had, indeed, been hidden by a “wall,” and had dwelled safely in the pavilion of the Most High.
Karl led his aged mother out to behold her “wall of faith.” The widow looked out upon the mounds of snow and rejoiced in her heart.
Bertha Schmidt was a woman who knew and loved God. Each day of her life she had seen God’s goodness and care everywhere in everything He created and she had trusted Him. But never had she seen anything like this! God had even created a snowstorm and used His complete control over it to save her little family and to reveal to them His mighty power and faithfulness to them. Bertha wept as she looked up to heaven and gently exclaimed, "Faithful is He who has promised. He also has done it.”
Our Big Idea is: God’s Creations Tell Us about Him
Our Scripture Verse is: Psalm 19:1-4
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
Bertha Schmidt and her little family got to see the heavens declare God’s glory and the skies proclaim the work of His hands in a most amazing way! But did her faith in God begin with that snowstorm? No, it did not. It began much earlier when Bertha heard the wonderful good news of salvation through Jesus. What is that good news? That though she and all people are sinners who deserve God’s eternal punishment for disobeying Him, their good Creator and King, God sent Jesus to bring salvation. He lived a perfect life and offered up His life as the perfect payment for the sins of all who willever turn away from disobeying God, confess their sins and trust in Jesus as their Savior. God promises to forgive all who do and to make them His own special people, who know Him, love Him and obey Him forever and ever.
Since the day Bertha Schmidt trusted in Jesus as her own Savior, God had been at work in her life. He filled her heart with His Holy Spirit, He gave her love and trust in Him. He helped her to see God’s goodness to her every day of her life in everything that He had created--from the flowers in her garden to the care of her son. Bertha could have looked at the hard things that had happened to her and be sad, but instead she looked around to see God’s goodness and let her heart be happy in Him.
Each day you and I have the same choice as Bertha. We can choose to trust in Jesus as our Savior. We can ask Him to forgive our sins and send His Holy Spirit to work in our heart—just like He did in Bertha.
Let’s praise our wonderful God who is Creator over all things and uses even things like snowstorms to take care of them! Let’s ask Him to work in our hearts that we might trust Jesus as our Savior, just like Bertha Schmidt did!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Big Idea 2- Lesson 1- The Day the Rain Spoke Sunday, August 22, 2010
The Day the Rain Spoke
2 Kings 17:1-18:46
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or languagwhere their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV) This is the Scripture Verse for our new Big Idea.
King David wrote these words thousands of years ago. David would look up at the twinkling stars shining out from the black velvet sky; or the radiance of the first beams of sunlight upon the dewy grasses; or the burst of colors splashed across the evening sky in a glorious sunset, and knew that revealed the glorious God who made them. Everywhere on the earth, he knew, people would see the same stars and sunrise and sunsets as he and he praised God for giving us the wonders of the skies to tell us about Him.
Our story today is about another time the Lord used the sky to reveal Himself to people. But this time it was not the stars or the sunrise or sunset that spoke about God: it was the rain.
Our story takes place about 2900 years ago in Israel up in Mount Carmel, a mountain range 1800 feet high, 16 miles long and 4 miles wide, right near the Mediterranean Sea.
The name “Mount Carmel” might not mean much of anything to you, but to the Israelites it was the closest thing they had to paradise. Mount Carmel was one of the only places in all of Israel where things stayed green and lush all year round. All of the rest of Israel was bone dry and almost rainless, except during the rainy season when grass and crops would grow. So, for as long as anyone could remember, men covered the mountain range’s rich and fertile slopes with vineyards (orchards of grapevines) and they named them Mount Carmel, “Vineyards of God,” because certainly God had blessed the mountains with so much fruitfulness.
But, oh my, something terrible has happened to Mount Carmel! Its beautiful mountainsides have lost their greenness. The grapevines are bare and dead; the trees look like withered, lifeless sticks; and instead of grass, there is nothing but dry, cracked mud! What could have brought this catastrophe?
The prophet Elijah knew. It all had to do with King Ahab's sin. “King Ahab,” Elijah said, “the Lord made you king over Israel. He has warned you to worship Him, but you have followed Baal, instead. You have called him the God of Rain and Lightning. You have made him a temple and offered him sacrifices. You have made altars for him on every hill and mountaintop—even Mount Carmel--and led My people to worship at them, too. Now the people do not even know Me, thanks
to your leadership. You worship Baal as the Giver of the Rain for your crops and the water for your thirst. You worship him as the Giver of Lightning and Fire you use to cook your food and burn your sacrifices. But I tell you, it is the LORD who is the Creator of all these things. He made all creation to tell about Him, including the rain and the lightning. You have not obeyed His commands. You do not listen to His warnings and have provoked Him to anger. So now He will let the rain speak for Him. So I tell you, ‘As the LORD , the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.’” (1 Kings 17:1, NIV)
And so for the next two years, the rainy season never came to Israel. Dry season followed dry season. Plants did not grow; the wells dried up; people died.
The prophets of Baal cried out to their “mighty" Storm God: “Bring us rain, O great Baal!” Ahab took sacrifices to the Temple of Baal and the people climbed to his altars on the high places of the hills and mountains. “We’re dying, Baal. Accept our sacrifices, hear our prayers. Send us rain!” But no rain came. Day after day the sun scorched the earth and a dry wind swept over the land, until now even Mount Carmel, the Vineyard of God, looked as withered and dry as a raisin.
“Why would Baal send no rain?” everyone wondered. Elijah knew. Baal was not the rain god. He was only an idol. They worshiped Baal as the Giver of the Rain for their crops and the water for their thirst. They worshiped him as the Giver of Lightning and the Fire they used to cook their food and burn their sacrifices. But it was the LORD who is the Creator of all these things! He made all creation to tell about Him, including the rain and the lightning. He was letting them speak for Him, since Ahab and the people would not hear any other way.
At last the LORD spoke to Elijah and said: “It’s time. Go to Ahab and present yourself to him. I am going to make it rain.” 1 Kings 17:17- 39 (NIV): So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
When [Ahab] saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"
"I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.
Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
But the people said nothing.
Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire-he is God." [You worship Baal as the Giver of the Rain for your crops and the water for your thirst. You worship him as the Giver of Lightning and Fire you use to cook your food and burn your sacrifices. But I tell you, it is the LORD who is the Creator of all these things! He made all creation to tell about Him, including the rain and the lightning. You have not obeyed His commands. You do not listen to His warnings and have provoked Him to anger. He has spoken to you by keeping rain from you these two long years and now He will let the fire speak for Him.]
Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire."
So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted.
But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping andmust be awakened."
So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.
Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. [Where was the god of rain and fire? Why didn’t he send his lightning bolt to light the sacrifice? ]
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD , which was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes [of Israel]. With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD , and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold [a half a bathtub’s worth of water] two seahs—seventeen liters--of seed.
He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."
"Do it again," he said, and they did it again.
"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD , God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD , answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD , are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."
Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!"
[There was no doubt now. Baal was only an idol. They had worshiped Baal as the Giver of the rain for their crops and the water for their thirst; as the Giver of the Fire they needed to cook their food and burn their sacrifices. But he was unable to give either! With their own eyes they had seen it was the LORD who was the Creator and Controller of these things. He made all creation to tell about Him, including the rain and the lightning and fire.] I Kings 17: 40- 45, NIV:
“Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!"
They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. [They had not obeyed the Lord’s commands for His Word or heeded to His warnings through the prophet Elijah, but they listened when the rain and even the fire spoke for Him. They would not serve Baal any more. They would return to the Lord and serve Him only! Now the same Creator who had withheld the rain from Israel would bring it back to her dry, parched land.]:
And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink—[celebrate!], for there is the sound of a heavy rain." So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. [He kneeled before the LORD, the true God over all creation, and asked for Him to send rain.]
"Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked.
"There is nothing there," he said.
[Seven times Elijah prayed to the Lord.] Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."
The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea."
So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' "
Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4 NIV)
For over two years the rainless skies had proclaimed that it was the LORD, not Baal who was God. Now as the driving rain soaked and quenched the thirst of the people, the animals and even the dry slopes of Mount Carmel, it proclaimed Him as God, too.
“The heavens declare the glory of God”… as do the birds in the sky, the insect buzzing among the flowers, the mighty mountains and the roaring sea. All were made by God and all tell us about Him. He has filled a of treasures for us to enjoy and from which to learn about Him.
What will we do when we see God’s creations? Will we remember to think about what each of universe full them tell us about God and praise Him; or will we forget Him when we look at them? Too many times, we—like the Israelites, like all people—forget the LORD. That’s because we are all sinners who have chosen to go our own way instead of following the LORD and His good ways. We deserve God’s eternal punishment for this. There would be no hope for us, if God had sent Jesus. You see, God sent His Son Jesus to live a perfect life and offer up His life as the complete and perfect payment for the sins of all who would ever say no to sinning, confess their sins to God and trust in Jesus as their Savior. God promises to forgive them and make them His very own special people who will know Him and enjoy Him forever. How kind the LORD is to us! Let’s praise this God, who has revealed Himself in His creation. And, who offers salvation to all who trust in Jesus.
Let’s ask Him to help us know Him better through His creations and always remember to praise Him.
Let’s ask Him to work in our hearts that we might trust in Jesus as our own Savior.
2 Kings 17:1-18:46
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or languagwhere their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV) This is the Scripture Verse for our new Big Idea.
King David wrote these words thousands of years ago. David would look up at the twinkling stars shining out from the black velvet sky; or the radiance of the first beams of sunlight upon the dewy grasses; or the burst of colors splashed across the evening sky in a glorious sunset, and knew that revealed the glorious God who made them. Everywhere on the earth, he knew, people would see the same stars and sunrise and sunsets as he and he praised God for giving us the wonders of the skies to tell us about Him.
Our story today is about another time the Lord used the sky to reveal Himself to people. But this time it was not the stars or the sunrise or sunset that spoke about God: it was the rain.
Our story takes place about 2900 years ago in Israel up in Mount Carmel, a mountain range 1800 feet high, 16 miles long and 4 miles wide, right near the Mediterranean Sea.
The name “Mount Carmel” might not mean much of anything to you, but to the Israelites it was the closest thing they had to paradise. Mount Carmel was one of the only places in all of Israel where things stayed green and lush all year round. All of the rest of Israel was bone dry and almost rainless, except during the rainy season when grass and crops would grow. So, for as long as anyone could remember, men covered the mountain range’s rich and fertile slopes with vineyards (orchards of grapevines) and they named them Mount Carmel, “Vineyards of God,” because certainly God had blessed the mountains with so much fruitfulness.
But, oh my, something terrible has happened to Mount Carmel! Its beautiful mountainsides have lost their greenness. The grapevines are bare and dead; the trees look like withered, lifeless sticks; and instead of grass, there is nothing but dry, cracked mud! What could have brought this catastrophe?
The prophet Elijah knew. It all had to do with King Ahab's sin. “King Ahab,” Elijah said, “the Lord made you king over Israel. He has warned you to worship Him, but you have followed Baal, instead. You have called him the God of Rain and Lightning. You have made him a temple and offered him sacrifices. You have made altars for him on every hill and mountaintop—even Mount Carmel--and led My people to worship at them, too. Now the people do not even know Me, thanks
to your leadership. You worship Baal as the Giver of the Rain for your crops and the water for your thirst. You worship him as the Giver of Lightning and Fire you use to cook your food and burn your sacrifices. But I tell you, it is the LORD who is the Creator of all these things. He made all creation to tell about Him, including the rain and the lightning. You have not obeyed His commands. You do not listen to His warnings and have provoked Him to anger. So now He will let the rain speak for Him. So I tell you, ‘As the LORD , the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.’” (1 Kings 17:1, NIV)
And so for the next two years, the rainy season never came to Israel. Dry season followed dry season. Plants did not grow; the wells dried up; people died.
The prophets of Baal cried out to their “mighty" Storm God: “Bring us rain, O great Baal!” Ahab took sacrifices to the Temple of Baal and the people climbed to his altars on the high places of the hills and mountains. “We’re dying, Baal. Accept our sacrifices, hear our prayers. Send us rain!” But no rain came. Day after day the sun scorched the earth and a dry wind swept over the land, until now even Mount Carmel, the Vineyard of God, looked as withered and dry as a raisin.
“Why would Baal send no rain?” everyone wondered. Elijah knew. Baal was not the rain god. He was only an idol. They worshiped Baal as the Giver of the Rain for their crops and the water for their thirst. They worshiped him as the Giver of Lightning and the Fire they used to cook their food and burn their sacrifices. But it was the LORD who is the Creator of all these things! He made all creation to tell about Him, including the rain and the lightning. He was letting them speak for Him, since Ahab and the people would not hear any other way.
At last the LORD spoke to Elijah and said: “It’s time. Go to Ahab and present yourself to him. I am going to make it rain.” 1 Kings 17:17- 39 (NIV): So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
When [Ahab] saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"
"I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.
Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
But the people said nothing.
Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire-he is God." [You worship Baal as the Giver of the Rain for your crops and the water for your thirst. You worship him as the Giver of Lightning and Fire you use to cook your food and burn your sacrifices. But I tell you, it is the LORD who is the Creator of all these things! He made all creation to tell about Him, including the rain and the lightning. You have not obeyed His commands. You do not listen to His warnings and have provoked Him to anger. He has spoken to you by keeping rain from you these two long years and now He will let the fire speak for Him.]
Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire."
So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted.
But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping andmust be awakened."
So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.
Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. [Where was the god of rain and fire? Why didn’t he send his lightning bolt to light the sacrifice? ]
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD , which was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes [of Israel]. With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD , and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold [a half a bathtub’s worth of water] two seahs—seventeen liters--of seed.
He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."
"Do it again," he said, and they did it again.
"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD , God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD , answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD , are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."
Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!"
[There was no doubt now. Baal was only an idol. They had worshiped Baal as the Giver of the rain for their crops and the water for their thirst; as the Giver of the Fire they needed to cook their food and burn their sacrifices. But he was unable to give either! With their own eyes they had seen it was the LORD who was the Creator and Controller of these things. He made all creation to tell about Him, including the rain and the lightning and fire.] I Kings 17: 40- 45, NIV:
“Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!"
They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. [They had not obeyed the Lord’s commands for His Word or heeded to His warnings through the prophet Elijah, but they listened when the rain and even the fire spoke for Him. They would not serve Baal any more. They would return to the Lord and serve Him only! Now the same Creator who had withheld the rain from Israel would bring it back to her dry, parched land.]:
And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink—[celebrate!], for there is the sound of a heavy rain." So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. [He kneeled before the LORD, the true God over all creation, and asked for Him to send rain.]
"Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked.
"There is nothing there," he said.
[Seven times Elijah prayed to the Lord.] Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."
The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea."
So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' "
Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4 NIV)
For over two years the rainless skies had proclaimed that it was the LORD, not Baal who was God. Now as the driving rain soaked and quenched the thirst of the people, the animals and even the dry slopes of Mount Carmel, it proclaimed Him as God, too.
“The heavens declare the glory of God”… as do the birds in the sky, the insect buzzing among the flowers, the mighty mountains and the roaring sea. All were made by God and all tell us about Him. He has filled a of treasures for us to enjoy and from which to learn about Him.
What will we do when we see God’s creations? Will we remember to think about what each of universe full them tell us about God and praise Him; or will we forget Him when we look at them? Too many times, we—like the Israelites, like all people—forget the LORD. That’s because we are all sinners who have chosen to go our own way instead of following the LORD and His good ways. We deserve God’s eternal punishment for this. There would be no hope for us, if God had sent Jesus. You see, God sent His Son Jesus to live a perfect life and offer up His life as the complete and perfect payment for the sins of all who would ever say no to sinning, confess their sins to God and trust in Jesus as their Savior. God promises to forgive them and make them His very own special people who will know Him and enjoy Him forever. How kind the LORD is to us! Let’s praise this God, who has revealed Himself in His creation. And, who offers salvation to all who trust in Jesus.
Let’s ask Him to help us know Him better through His creations and always remember to praise Him.
Let’s ask Him to work in our hearts that we might trust in Jesus as our own Savior.
What's The Big Idea? Big Idea 2- God's Creation Tells Us About Him
B i g I d e a 2
God's Creation Tells Us About Him
God made all things in the beginning of time for His pleasure. It brings Him pleasure when we enjoy His creations and know more about Him from them. Creations always tell you something about their creator. God’s creations show us that God is mighty, glorious, beautiful, good, wise, infinite, perfect and so much more.
God's Creation Tells Us About Him
God made all things in the beginning of time for His pleasure. It brings Him pleasure when we enjoy His creations and know more about Him from them. Creations always tell you something about their creator. God’s creations show us that God is mighty, glorious, beautiful, good, wise, infinite, perfect and so much more.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010 - Lesson 3 - The Man After God’s Heart
Psalms 19, 23, 24, 62; 1 Chronicles 29; 2 Samuel 5-6, 2 Samuel 15
Today, we will continue our unit on The God Who Reveals Himself. We are thinking about the ways that God has revealed Himself to us so that we might know Him. Does anyone remember what Big Idea we began looking at? Here’s the Big Idea Picture from the front of the folder to give you a hint.
Our Big Idea is
‘God Made Our Heats to Know & Love Him.”
Have you ever run and played too long outside on a hot summer’s day and gotten so thirsty that your mouth was all parched and dried out? As you ran back to the house panting from the heat, all you could think of was a glass of icy cold water to cool you off and wet your mouth. Remember what it feels like to have that first taste of water? You can hardly get it to your mouth fast enough. And when you do, it is so very, very cool and refreshing. All you want to do is say: “Ahhhhhhh!” asyou drink the rest.
That’s how the Sons of Korah felt about God when they wrote our Big Idea Scripture Verse:
Psalm 42:1-2. Let’s hear it again:
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
Can you imagine loving God so much and longing to know Him that much?! Today’s story is about a man who lived 3000 years ago who had a heart for God like that. In a little village, in the green, rolling hills of Judah, lived a good, old farmer named Jesse, with his sons. No one would have thought much of Jesse or his sons, especially the youngest son, who was just a shepherd boy. But the LORD, who looks at the heart and not at outward appearances or wealth or anything we might see, knew differently. For here in the heart of that littlest boy was something that pleased God so much that He gave him the highest compliment of all: He called him a man after His own heart. What did this boy have inside his heart that made him a man after God’s own heart? He had a heart full of desire to know and love God, the way the Lord wanted all people, to.
Who was this little shepherd boy? I bet you have a guess! It was none other than David. God had revealed Himself to David’s heart and gave him a great desire to know and love Him most of all. Everywhere David went and everything David saw, reminded him about the wonderful God he loved most of all. David would take out his harp and make up his own songs to sing to God. He sang: “The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it” (Psalm24:1).
When at night he was out with his father’s flocks, he would look up at the skies and think: “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 19:1).
During the day, he would look up at the blue sky and puffy white clouds as they touched the beautiful, grassy hills and he would say: “Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love!” (Ps. 36:5-6).
As he led his sheep to good grazing lands and led them to places to drink and protected them from fierce lions and bears with his long shepherd’s staff and his wooden rod with sharp, spiky nails, he sang, “The LORD is my shepherd, I will not be in need. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters….His rod and his staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:1-2, 4, NIV)
God had great plans for the little shepherd boy, David. God chose David over all the men of Israel to be king over His people and God blessed everything David did. David and his soldiers had to fight many bloody battles against Israel’s fierce enemies. God gave him victory over them all so that they fled back to their own countries and never bothered Israel again. He blessed David with a big family, a beautiful cedar palace in Jerusalem, and lots and lots of money. He gave all the people love and respect for David. His soldiers would do almost anything for him.
But what would all this victories and blessings and praise of the people do to David’s heart?
Would he forget what God had revealed to him in his heart? What was inside David’s heart then?
Would he stop loving and wanting to know God most of all? No, he would not! When all these good things happened to David, David just praised God more. He made up new songs to praise God who gave him all these blessings and who was the real King. He made plans to build the most beautiful Temple to which the Israelites could come to worship God. He had 16,000 men come and serve before the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant, each day offering sacrifices and praising God. David made 4000 of these men teachers and singers and musicians to sing praises to God and to teach the people also. Lyres and harps and flutes and trumpets and cymbals would blast out while the great choirs of men and all the people gathered would praise the Lord. David, himself, would lead them in praise to God, saying, “Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our Father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O LORD , is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you: you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name” (1 Chronicles 29:10-13).
David was a man who desired to love God with all his heart, but he was not a perfect man. He did many things wrong and many bad things happened to him. One of the saddest things in his life happened when he was an old man. His dearly loved son, Absalom plotted with some of his father’s closest friends and many of the people to kill David—his own father!- and make himself king in his place! David had to leave his beautiful palace and all his things and run away to the dry, desolate desert of Judah so that Absalom and his men would not kill him. As he ran away, some people yelled mean things at him and even threw rocks and hit him.
What was inside David’s heart then? Would he stop thinking about the God who had revealed Himself to him in his heart? Would he stop wanting to love and know Him most of all? No, he would not! David picked up his harp, even out there in the wilderness and sang this song, “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken….trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge. One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving” (Psalm 62:1-2,8,11-12). Maybe he did not have a palace or a son who loved him, or even people who loved him, but David had God and God was all he really needed.
After a while, one of David’s soldiers killed Absalom and David went back to be king in Jerusalem. He stayed there until he died. When he was very old and knew he would soon die, what was inside his heart then? What would happen to him when he died? Would God take care of him even in death? David wrote this: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6). David looked back over his life and all he could think to do was to praise God who had taken care of him and loved him in good times and hard times. And when he thought about what happened after he died, all he could think about was getting to finally see face to face the God he had loved in his heart his whole life.
Our Big Idea is: God Made Our Hearts to Know & Love Him
Our Scripture Verse is: Psalm 42:1-2
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
What about you and me? What do we have inside our hearts? God has also made our hearts to know and love Him, to seek after Him. Will we be like David and seek after Him? Will we turn away from our sins and trust in Jesus as our own Savior? God will help us if we ask Him. He will forgive us our sins and send His Holy Spirit to live in our hearts so we can know and enjoy God forever!
Today, we will continue our unit on The God Who Reveals Himself. We are thinking about the ways that God has revealed Himself to us so that we might know Him. Does anyone remember what Big Idea we began looking at? Here’s the Big Idea Picture from the front of the folder to give you a hint.
Our Big Idea is
‘God Made Our Heats to Know & Love Him.”
Have you ever run and played too long outside on a hot summer’s day and gotten so thirsty that your mouth was all parched and dried out? As you ran back to the house panting from the heat, all you could think of was a glass of icy cold water to cool you off and wet your mouth. Remember what it feels like to have that first taste of water? You can hardly get it to your mouth fast enough. And when you do, it is so very, very cool and refreshing. All you want to do is say: “Ahhhhhhh!” asyou drink the rest.
That’s how the Sons of Korah felt about God when they wrote our Big Idea Scripture Verse:
Psalm 42:1-2. Let’s hear it again:
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
Can you imagine loving God so much and longing to know Him that much?! Today’s story is about a man who lived 3000 years ago who had a heart for God like that. In a little village, in the green, rolling hills of Judah, lived a good, old farmer named Jesse, with his sons. No one would have thought much of Jesse or his sons, especially the youngest son, who was just a shepherd boy. But the LORD, who looks at the heart and not at outward appearances or wealth or anything we might see, knew differently. For here in the heart of that littlest boy was something that pleased God so much that He gave him the highest compliment of all: He called him a man after His own heart. What did this boy have inside his heart that made him a man after God’s own heart? He had a heart full of desire to know and love God, the way the Lord wanted all people, to.
Who was this little shepherd boy? I bet you have a guess! It was none other than David. God had revealed Himself to David’s heart and gave him a great desire to know and love Him most of all. Everywhere David went and everything David saw, reminded him about the wonderful God he loved most of all. David would take out his harp and make up his own songs to sing to God. He sang: “The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it” (Psalm24:1).
When at night he was out with his father’s flocks, he would look up at the skies and think: “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 19:1).
During the day, he would look up at the blue sky and puffy white clouds as they touched the beautiful, grassy hills and he would say: “Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love!” (Ps. 36:5-6).
As he led his sheep to good grazing lands and led them to places to drink and protected them from fierce lions and bears with his long shepherd’s staff and his wooden rod with sharp, spiky nails, he sang, “The LORD is my shepherd, I will not be in need. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters….His rod and his staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:1-2, 4, NIV)
God had great plans for the little shepherd boy, David. God chose David over all the men of Israel to be king over His people and God blessed everything David did. David and his soldiers had to fight many bloody battles against Israel’s fierce enemies. God gave him victory over them all so that they fled back to their own countries and never bothered Israel again. He blessed David with a big family, a beautiful cedar palace in Jerusalem, and lots and lots of money. He gave all the people love and respect for David. His soldiers would do almost anything for him.
But what would all this victories and blessings and praise of the people do to David’s heart?
Would he forget what God had revealed to him in his heart? What was inside David’s heart then?
Would he stop loving and wanting to know God most of all? No, he would not! When all these good things happened to David, David just praised God more. He made up new songs to praise God who gave him all these blessings and who was the real King. He made plans to build the most beautiful Temple to which the Israelites could come to worship God. He had 16,000 men come and serve before the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant, each day offering sacrifices and praising God. David made 4000 of these men teachers and singers and musicians to sing praises to God and to teach the people also. Lyres and harps and flutes and trumpets and cymbals would blast out while the great choirs of men and all the people gathered would praise the Lord. David, himself, would lead them in praise to God, saying, “Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our Father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O LORD , is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you: you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name” (1 Chronicles 29:10-13).
David was a man who desired to love God with all his heart, but he was not a perfect man. He did many things wrong and many bad things happened to him. One of the saddest things in his life happened when he was an old man. His dearly loved son, Absalom plotted with some of his father’s closest friends and many of the people to kill David—his own father!- and make himself king in his place! David had to leave his beautiful palace and all his things and run away to the dry, desolate desert of Judah so that Absalom and his men would not kill him. As he ran away, some people yelled mean things at him and even threw rocks and hit him.
What was inside David’s heart then? Would he stop thinking about the God who had revealed Himself to him in his heart? Would he stop wanting to love and know Him most of all? No, he would not! David picked up his harp, even out there in the wilderness and sang this song, “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken….trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge. One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving” (Psalm 62:1-2,8,11-12). Maybe he did not have a palace or a son who loved him, or even people who loved him, but David had God and God was all he really needed.
After a while, one of David’s soldiers killed Absalom and David went back to be king in Jerusalem. He stayed there until he died. When he was very old and knew he would soon die, what was inside his heart then? What would happen to him when he died? Would God take care of him even in death? David wrote this: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6). David looked back over his life and all he could think to do was to praise God who had taken care of him and loved him in good times and hard times. And when he thought about what happened after he died, all he could think about was getting to finally see face to face the God he had loved in his heart his whole life.
Our Big Idea is: God Made Our Hearts to Know & Love Him
Our Scripture Verse is: Psalm 42:1-2
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
What about you and me? What do we have inside our hearts? God has also made our hearts to know and love Him, to seek after Him. Will we be like David and seek after Him? Will we turn away from our sins and trust in Jesus as our own Savior? God will help us if we ask Him. He will forgive us our sins and send His Holy Spirit to live in our hearts so we can know and enjoy God forever!
Sunday, August 8, 2010 Lesson 2- Don't Pray!
Don’t Pray!
Adapted from The Streetlayer and Reverend Spurgeon
Religious Stories for Young and Old, vol. IV pp. 79-82
Today, we will continue our unit on The God Who Reveals Himself. We are thinking about the ways that God has revealed Himself to us so that we might know Him. Does anyone remember what Big Idea we began looking at? Here’s the Big Idea Picture from the front of the folder to give you a hint.
Our Big Idea is
‘God Made Our Heats to Know & Love Him.”
Story
Does anyone remember last week’s story? It was about how long, long ago, the apostle Paul revealed to the people of Athens that the Lord was the Unknown God was who they had once
offered sacrifices to, many years earlier. Paul told them about Him and about how through Jesus
they could receive forgiveness for their sins. Some of the Athenians turned to seek the Lord, the
true God and be saved.
Today’s story does not take place back in Bible times or in Bible lands. It takes place only about 125 years ago in London, England. London was one of the great cities of the world at that time. It was a busy, bustling, crowded city of tall, row houses connected together; of beautiful tiny gardens of magnificent roses and other flowers; and, of dirty, sooty air from all the coal people burned to heat their houses. The streets of London were not paved with black tar as ours are. They were cobbled streets, made of lots of heavy stone blocks. These blocks were laid down one by one, in neat rows on top of the ground to make a strong, sturdy road for bustle of people and horsedrawn carriages that filled the streets of London.
Our story is called The Streetlayer and Reverend Spurgeon. A reverend is the same thing as a pastor. And Reverend Spurgeon, you must know, was one of the greatest, most famous preachers, not only in London but all over the world. Thousands and thousands of people would jam into his church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, each Sunday to hear him tell about Jesus.
Many famous people, even the English prince himself, came to hear Mr. Spurgeon preach. You might think a man who was such a great preacher that even the prince, himself, wanted to hear him might be very, very proud. He might not want to talk to regular people, like you and me; and even more so, not lowly workers or servants. But Mr. Spurgeon was not like that at all. He was a very humble man who treated all people the same way. Why was this? Because like our Big Idea tells us, Mr. Spurgeon knew that God made every person from the lowest servant to the prince himself to know and love Him. He made each person with a heart that knew God existed and which was made to know and love Him. He knew that to know and love God was better than anything else that anyone –even the prince, himself!--could ever know or have. Every time he saw someone, he wanted to tell them about Jesus and encourage them to turn and seek Him. The other person in our story you need to know about is the Streetlayer. A streetlayer is a person who lays all those heavy stone on the dirt roads and makes them into cobblestone streets. Now this particular streetlayer was a largely cheerful man. As he pulled up damaged stones and laid down the new ones on the streets of London, he would sing in a loud, boisterous voice for all to hear and enjoy. But unfortunately, the Streetlayer did not always sing. If he smashed his hand between stones, his singing changed quickly to a bad temper. People would cringe as they listened to the awful curses that came out of the Streetlayer’s mouth. Far worse than even the Streetlayer’s curses was what was going on in the Streetlayer’s heart. Even though he, like every person, was a man God had made to know Him, love Him and enjoy Him, the Streetlayer, did not care to seek after God. God had even given the Streetlayer a wife and three children who loved God and wanted the Streetlayer to know and love God, too. But no matter what they did, the Streetlayer’s answer was always the same: “I will not pray!” He would never pray with them or join in their love of God. God, however, cared about the Streetlayer knowing and loving Him. And our story is about how one day, God used the Streetlayer’s bad temper, his refusal to pray, and Reverend Spurgeon to change him forever.
It all started when the Streetlayer sat down to eat lunch with his family. As they sat down to eat, the mother, boys and little girl prayed as usual before they began their meal. But also as usual, the Streetlayer refused to pray. His little three-year-old girl said, “Mommy, Daddy never prays with us; you must also teach Daddy a little prayer.” Well, this infuriated the Streetlayer and in a bad temper he said, “Say, you little rascal, don’t worry about me and my prayers! I will not pray!” and proceeded to thump her on the side of the head. How much that Streetlayer must have hated to pray if it made him angry enough to thump his beloved little daughter because of it! The next day the Streetlayer went to work as usual. He sang as usual; and he got angry and cursed as usual. But something was different that day. It was WHERE he worked. For the street he worked on that day was none other than Reverend Spurgeon’s street! All morning long, as Reverend Spurgeon was busy at home he would hear the loud singing of the Streetlayer; and then the loud cursing. “This is terrible! I must do something about this Streetlayer, but what?” thought Reverend Spurgeon. “If I tell him to stop cursing, he probably won’t listen to me. And what he needs even more than to stop cursing, is to know the Lord who made him. What shall I do?” As he thought, an idea came to him.
Reverend Spurgeon went out to the man and said in a friendly manner, “Good morning, sir. I am Reverend Spurgeon. What wonderful work you are doing on my street! It will be so much easier to travel on it was a result of your fine work. Everyone enjoys your cheerful singing as you work. But sir, your cursing is terrible! I suppose it shall be of no use to ask you to stop cursing, because you would not be willing or able to stop it. But, may I ask you something: Do you ever pray?”
“Oh, no, here come more questions about prayer!” thought the Streetlayer. Then he said to Mr. Spurgeon, ““Pray? No, I will not pray! That would never work for me, because you cannot pray and curse at the same time.”
“Now you must listen,” answered Reverend Spurgeon. “I shall give you three pounds in English money,nif you will promise me that you will NEVER pray in your whole life. I would offer you two pounds more if you will promise not to curse anymore, but I think you will not dare to risk that. Thus, understand this, the money is yours if you promise to never pray! As soon as you pray, you must promise me that you will give me back the three pounds.”
“What a strange request from a minister!” thought the Streetlayer. “Who would expect him to ask someone to promise to never pray?! Aren’t they in the business of trying to get people to pray? Strange request or not, three pounds is a lot of money. There is much a man like me could do with three whole pounds.”
The Streetlayer, being surprised, thought this over a few moments. Then he said, “Now, this sounds like an easy enough bargain. I can do this and easily earn the three pounds. Yes, I give you my word that I will not pray!” Reverend Spurgeon put the money in the Streetlayer’s hand and he eagerly put it in his pocket and went back to his work. The rest of that morning Reverend Spurgeon listened to the Streetlayer. He still sang somewhat, but not as loudly as before, and soon Reverend Spurgeon did not hear him curse anymore at all. What had Reverend Spurgeon done?! Had he really wanted that man to never pray? Didn’t he remember that this Streetlayer had a heart made by God to know and love Him? If this man would not pray, then how could he ever seek after God and know Him? Let’s see what happens. Perhaps there was more to this promise than first appears.
At noon, the Streetlayer went home to join his wife, two boys and little girl for lunch. Usually he came home singing or whistling, but not this time. He was too busy thinking about his promise to Reverend Spurgeon: “Never pray! Never pray! I will not pray!” Something about that promise bothered him. Deep in his heart he knew that there was a God and he should seek Him to know and love Him. He had made a promise to never speak to this God for three pounds. The Streetlayer lost his peace of mind. As the Streetlayer joined his family at the table for lunch, he noticed that the chair of his little girl was empty.
“Where is Mary?” he asked.
“She is in bed,” Mother replied. “She had such a severe headache this morning that I had the doctor come.”
“And what did he say?”
She replied, “He does not know yet whether it is meningitis or a brain concussion; he did ask whether she had a hard fall and had bumped her head. She must stay in bed and lie quietly with a wet cloth on her head.”
The Streetlayer did not answer. But he was thinking about what had happened the day before when he had given her such a hard thump. Was he to blame for his daughter’s illness? Did he thump her too hard? And why? Because his child prayed and she wanted her Daddy to pray, too! Again he thought of what he had promised Reverend Spurgeon: “Never pray, never pray! I will not pray!”
He did not say anything to his wife about his promise or the money, but it was as if those three pounds began to burn in his pocket. What had he promised, just for three pounds?! The Streetlayer was too upset to eat. He got up from the table and went to see his little girl.
“Good morning, dear, how are you? Do you have a headache? Get better quickly,” he said.
The child looked at him with large sweet eyes. She nodded a few times, and then said, “Hello, Daddy,” which nearly broke his heart! What if she died, it would be his fault! The Streetlayer went back to work, but he could hardly work. “Your fault, your fault,” hammered in his ears! “Never pray; never pray! I will not pray!” His fellow workers noticed how upset the Streetlayer was. They asked him what was the matter. He told them about the serious sickness of his little daughter. They all felt sorry for him.
“Would you believe,” one of them said, “this streetlayer is not nearly as hard as he looks. He has a mouth as sharp as a razor blade, and curses like a dragon, but when it comes right down to it, his heart, is as soft as wax.”
When the Streetlayer hurried home at the end of the day, his child was worse. The girl was lying in her little bed, delirious from fever. Mother was sitting at her bedside and was holding her warm hand.
They went and sat at the table, and the youngest child prayed. “Lord, bless this food, and will You please make Mary better?” Especially the last part of this little prayer cut through the heart of this Streetlayer. “Lord will You make Mary better,” continually repeated itself in his heart, while a voice within attacked him, saying, “That is praying, and you promised to never to do that. Remember: ‘I won’t pray! I won’t pray!’ Think about your three pounds.”
The Streetlayer got up from the table and went back to his daughter’s side. Her little face cringed from the pain she was suffering.
“Oh, Lord,” he began to pray; but, quickly he caught himself: “No! Prayer is not for me; not for me. I must not pray! I won’t pray! I won’t pray!”
He left his daughter and tried to find something to get his mind off of her and off of praying. He went to the barn, he went back to the house. He tried to read the newspaper. But, no matter what he did all he could think about was Mary and not praying. The wonderful God who made him and gave him a heart made to know and love God back was working in the Streetlayer’s heart.
“I cannot pray, but others can!” thought the Streetlayer, as he got ready for bed. “Wife, how is Mary now? You have also prayed for her to get better, haven’t you?” The Streetlayer’s wife could not believe her ears. Her husband asking if she had prayed!! Who would ever believe this?!
“What do you mean, husband? Why are you caring if I pray?” And then he told her everything—all that was weighing upon his heart, all that had happened with Reverend Spurgeon, the money, and the promise.
The next morning, the Streetlayer got up early and headed to Reverend Spurgeon’s street. But, instead of going to work, he went up and knocked on Reverend Spurgeon’s door. “Reverend Spurgeon, here are your three pounds back. I cannot keep my promise.” confessed the Streetlayer. He then told Reverend Spurgeon the whole story about his daughter and what the Lord had done in his own heart. Reverend Spurgeon, himself, came to see little Mary and pray for her. In the end, Mary got well. Best of all, the Streetlayer came to believe in the Lord had made him to know and love Him.
Our Big Idea is: God Made Our Hearts to Know and Love Him
Our Scripture Verse is:
Psalm 42:1-2
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
What about us? Do you think God made us to know and love Him, too? Yes, of course, He did.
Our hearts also were made to love and know Him best of all. We were made with hearts thirsy for God. We were made to meet with God!
But we, like all people, have chose to disobey God. We want to run life our own way. And what do we
deserve from our good and holy God? His eternal punishment! Oh, but how merciful God is too! To all who turn away from disobeying God—who repent of their sins– and trust in Jesus as their own Savior, God offers forgiveness for their sins!
And if we do, He will fill our hearts with His Holy Spirit so we can know and love Him forever! And then we will be truly happy and peaceful from deep within our hearts, living and enjoying God as God means for us to! Let’s praise this wonderful God who made us to know and love Him. Let’s ask Him to work in our hearts that we might have the incredible joy of knowing and loving Him, too.
Adapted from The Streetlayer and Reverend Spurgeon
Religious Stories for Young and Old, vol. IV pp. 79-82
Today, we will continue our unit on The God Who Reveals Himself. We are thinking about the ways that God has revealed Himself to us so that we might know Him. Does anyone remember what Big Idea we began looking at? Here’s the Big Idea Picture from the front of the folder to give you a hint.
Our Big Idea is
‘God Made Our Heats to Know & Love Him.”
Story
Does anyone remember last week’s story? It was about how long, long ago, the apostle Paul revealed to the people of Athens that the Lord was the Unknown God was who they had once
offered sacrifices to, many years earlier. Paul told them about Him and about how through Jesus
they could receive forgiveness for their sins. Some of the Athenians turned to seek the Lord, the
true God and be saved.
Today’s story does not take place back in Bible times or in Bible lands. It takes place only about 125 years ago in London, England. London was one of the great cities of the world at that time. It was a busy, bustling, crowded city of tall, row houses connected together; of beautiful tiny gardens of magnificent roses and other flowers; and, of dirty, sooty air from all the coal people burned to heat their houses. The streets of London were not paved with black tar as ours are. They were cobbled streets, made of lots of heavy stone blocks. These blocks were laid down one by one, in neat rows on top of the ground to make a strong, sturdy road for bustle of people and horsedrawn carriages that filled the streets of London.
Our story is called The Streetlayer and Reverend Spurgeon. A reverend is the same thing as a pastor. And Reverend Spurgeon, you must know, was one of the greatest, most famous preachers, not only in London but all over the world. Thousands and thousands of people would jam into his church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, each Sunday to hear him tell about Jesus.
Many famous people, even the English prince himself, came to hear Mr. Spurgeon preach. You might think a man who was such a great preacher that even the prince, himself, wanted to hear him might be very, very proud. He might not want to talk to regular people, like you and me; and even more so, not lowly workers or servants. But Mr. Spurgeon was not like that at all. He was a very humble man who treated all people the same way. Why was this? Because like our Big Idea tells us, Mr. Spurgeon knew that God made every person from the lowest servant to the prince himself to know and love Him. He made each person with a heart that knew God existed and which was made to know and love Him. He knew that to know and love God was better than anything else that anyone –even the prince, himself!--could ever know or have. Every time he saw someone, he wanted to tell them about Jesus and encourage them to turn and seek Him. The other person in our story you need to know about is the Streetlayer. A streetlayer is a person who lays all those heavy stone on the dirt roads and makes them into cobblestone streets. Now this particular streetlayer was a largely cheerful man. As he pulled up damaged stones and laid down the new ones on the streets of London, he would sing in a loud, boisterous voice for all to hear and enjoy. But unfortunately, the Streetlayer did not always sing. If he smashed his hand between stones, his singing changed quickly to a bad temper. People would cringe as they listened to the awful curses that came out of the Streetlayer’s mouth. Far worse than even the Streetlayer’s curses was what was going on in the Streetlayer’s heart. Even though he, like every person, was a man God had made to know Him, love Him and enjoy Him, the Streetlayer, did not care to seek after God. God had even given the Streetlayer a wife and three children who loved God and wanted the Streetlayer to know and love God, too. But no matter what they did, the Streetlayer’s answer was always the same: “I will not pray!” He would never pray with them or join in their love of God. God, however, cared about the Streetlayer knowing and loving Him. And our story is about how one day, God used the Streetlayer’s bad temper, his refusal to pray, and Reverend Spurgeon to change him forever.
It all started when the Streetlayer sat down to eat lunch with his family. As they sat down to eat, the mother, boys and little girl prayed as usual before they began their meal. But also as usual, the Streetlayer refused to pray. His little three-year-old girl said, “Mommy, Daddy never prays with us; you must also teach Daddy a little prayer.” Well, this infuriated the Streetlayer and in a bad temper he said, “Say, you little rascal, don’t worry about me and my prayers! I will not pray!” and proceeded to thump her on the side of the head. How much that Streetlayer must have hated to pray if it made him angry enough to thump his beloved little daughter because of it! The next day the Streetlayer went to work as usual. He sang as usual; and he got angry and cursed as usual. But something was different that day. It was WHERE he worked. For the street he worked on that day was none other than Reverend Spurgeon’s street! All morning long, as Reverend Spurgeon was busy at home he would hear the loud singing of the Streetlayer; and then the loud cursing. “This is terrible! I must do something about this Streetlayer, but what?” thought Reverend Spurgeon. “If I tell him to stop cursing, he probably won’t listen to me. And what he needs even more than to stop cursing, is to know the Lord who made him. What shall I do?” As he thought, an idea came to him.
Reverend Spurgeon went out to the man and said in a friendly manner, “Good morning, sir. I am Reverend Spurgeon. What wonderful work you are doing on my street! It will be so much easier to travel on it was a result of your fine work. Everyone enjoys your cheerful singing as you work. But sir, your cursing is terrible! I suppose it shall be of no use to ask you to stop cursing, because you would not be willing or able to stop it. But, may I ask you something: Do you ever pray?”
“Oh, no, here come more questions about prayer!” thought the Streetlayer. Then he said to Mr. Spurgeon, ““Pray? No, I will not pray! That would never work for me, because you cannot pray and curse at the same time.”
“Now you must listen,” answered Reverend Spurgeon. “I shall give you three pounds in English money,nif you will promise me that you will NEVER pray in your whole life. I would offer you two pounds more if you will promise not to curse anymore, but I think you will not dare to risk that. Thus, understand this, the money is yours if you promise to never pray! As soon as you pray, you must promise me that you will give me back the three pounds.”
“What a strange request from a minister!” thought the Streetlayer. “Who would expect him to ask someone to promise to never pray?! Aren’t they in the business of trying to get people to pray? Strange request or not, three pounds is a lot of money. There is much a man like me could do with three whole pounds.”
The Streetlayer, being surprised, thought this over a few moments. Then he said, “Now, this sounds like an easy enough bargain. I can do this and easily earn the three pounds. Yes, I give you my word that I will not pray!” Reverend Spurgeon put the money in the Streetlayer’s hand and he eagerly put it in his pocket and went back to his work. The rest of that morning Reverend Spurgeon listened to the Streetlayer. He still sang somewhat, but not as loudly as before, and soon Reverend Spurgeon did not hear him curse anymore at all. What had Reverend Spurgeon done?! Had he really wanted that man to never pray? Didn’t he remember that this Streetlayer had a heart made by God to know and love Him? If this man would not pray, then how could he ever seek after God and know Him? Let’s see what happens. Perhaps there was more to this promise than first appears.
At noon, the Streetlayer went home to join his wife, two boys and little girl for lunch. Usually he came home singing or whistling, but not this time. He was too busy thinking about his promise to Reverend Spurgeon: “Never pray! Never pray! I will not pray!” Something about that promise bothered him. Deep in his heart he knew that there was a God and he should seek Him to know and love Him. He had made a promise to never speak to this God for three pounds. The Streetlayer lost his peace of mind. As the Streetlayer joined his family at the table for lunch, he noticed that the chair of his little girl was empty.
“Where is Mary?” he asked.
“She is in bed,” Mother replied. “She had such a severe headache this morning that I had the doctor come.”
“And what did he say?”
She replied, “He does not know yet whether it is meningitis or a brain concussion; he did ask whether she had a hard fall and had bumped her head. She must stay in bed and lie quietly with a wet cloth on her head.”
The Streetlayer did not answer. But he was thinking about what had happened the day before when he had given her such a hard thump. Was he to blame for his daughter’s illness? Did he thump her too hard? And why? Because his child prayed and she wanted her Daddy to pray, too! Again he thought of what he had promised Reverend Spurgeon: “Never pray, never pray! I will not pray!”
He did not say anything to his wife about his promise or the money, but it was as if those three pounds began to burn in his pocket. What had he promised, just for three pounds?! The Streetlayer was too upset to eat. He got up from the table and went to see his little girl.
“Good morning, dear, how are you? Do you have a headache? Get better quickly,” he said.
The child looked at him with large sweet eyes. She nodded a few times, and then said, “Hello, Daddy,” which nearly broke his heart! What if she died, it would be his fault! The Streetlayer went back to work, but he could hardly work. “Your fault, your fault,” hammered in his ears! “Never pray; never pray! I will not pray!” His fellow workers noticed how upset the Streetlayer was. They asked him what was the matter. He told them about the serious sickness of his little daughter. They all felt sorry for him.
“Would you believe,” one of them said, “this streetlayer is not nearly as hard as he looks. He has a mouth as sharp as a razor blade, and curses like a dragon, but when it comes right down to it, his heart, is as soft as wax.”
When the Streetlayer hurried home at the end of the day, his child was worse. The girl was lying in her little bed, delirious from fever. Mother was sitting at her bedside and was holding her warm hand.
They went and sat at the table, and the youngest child prayed. “Lord, bless this food, and will You please make Mary better?” Especially the last part of this little prayer cut through the heart of this Streetlayer. “Lord will You make Mary better,” continually repeated itself in his heart, while a voice within attacked him, saying, “That is praying, and you promised to never to do that. Remember: ‘I won’t pray! I won’t pray!’ Think about your three pounds.”
The Streetlayer got up from the table and went back to his daughter’s side. Her little face cringed from the pain she was suffering.
“Oh, Lord,” he began to pray; but, quickly he caught himself: “No! Prayer is not for me; not for me. I must not pray! I won’t pray! I won’t pray!”
He left his daughter and tried to find something to get his mind off of her and off of praying. He went to the barn, he went back to the house. He tried to read the newspaper. But, no matter what he did all he could think about was Mary and not praying. The wonderful God who made him and gave him a heart made to know and love God back was working in the Streetlayer’s heart.
“I cannot pray, but others can!” thought the Streetlayer, as he got ready for bed. “Wife, how is Mary now? You have also prayed for her to get better, haven’t you?” The Streetlayer’s wife could not believe her ears. Her husband asking if she had prayed!! Who would ever believe this?!
“What do you mean, husband? Why are you caring if I pray?” And then he told her everything—all that was weighing upon his heart, all that had happened with Reverend Spurgeon, the money, and the promise.
The next morning, the Streetlayer got up early and headed to Reverend Spurgeon’s street. But, instead of going to work, he went up and knocked on Reverend Spurgeon’s door. “Reverend Spurgeon, here are your three pounds back. I cannot keep my promise.” confessed the Streetlayer. He then told Reverend Spurgeon the whole story about his daughter and what the Lord had done in his own heart. Reverend Spurgeon, himself, came to see little Mary and pray for her. In the end, Mary got well. Best of all, the Streetlayer came to believe in the Lord had made him to know and love Him.
Our Big Idea is: God Made Our Hearts to Know and Love Him
Our Scripture Verse is:
Psalm 42:1-2
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
What about us? Do you think God made us to know and love Him, too? Yes, of course, He did.
Our hearts also were made to love and know Him best of all. We were made with hearts thirsy for God. We were made to meet with God!
But we, like all people, have chose to disobey God. We want to run life our own way. And what do we
deserve from our good and holy God? His eternal punishment! Oh, but how merciful God is too! To all who turn away from disobeying God—who repent of their sins– and trust in Jesus as their own Savior, God offers forgiveness for their sins!
And if we do, He will fill our hearts with His Holy Spirit so we can know and love Him forever! And then we will be truly happy and peaceful from deep within our hearts, living and enjoying God as God means for us to! Let’s praise this wonderful God who made us to know and love Him. Let’s ask Him to work in our hearts that we might have the incredible joy of knowing and loving Him, too.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Lesson 1- The Unknown God - August 1, 2010
Did you ever wonder how we know who God is and what He is like? He is so great, and we are so small. He is so wise and knows everything, and we are so foolish and know so little. He is invisible, and we do not have eyes that can see Him or hands that touch Him. How could people like us EVER know someone like Him? Well, we could never know Him, if it was just up to us; but, it is not. God is not just great, wise, all-knowing and invisible. He is also the God who reveals Himself to us. He wants us to know and love Him, so He reveals Himself to us so that we can. God reveals Himself to us in different ways. Over the next few months, we are gong to be learning what those ways are as we study “The God Who Reveals Himself.” Today, we will be looking at the first way in which God reveals Himself to people in their very own hearts.
Our story today takes place about 2600 years ago on the other side of the world in Athens, Greece. Athens was one of the cities in the world at that time. It was a city of many, many beautiful white stone temples and buildings. People came from all over to study at its great schools. People in Athens loved to think about things and they loved to worship gods. People loved to think about things and worship their gods so much, that many of them would spend a good part of each day just discussing the great ideas that came into their heads, or making sacrifices and having wild parties to honor their gods. But even though they spent so much time thinking about important things and worshipping their gods, could there really be another god…the TRUE God? Yes, there was. It was the Lord. He had made them for Himself to know Him. Deep in their hearts they knew that He was really there.
But shh….listen…do you hear that? There is a problem in Athens today…Listen! It’s terrible! People are crying….people are dying! They are saying, “May the gods help us! May the gods help us! Who can stop this plague? Who can stop this plague?”
A terrible plague, a deathly sickness, has been spreading through Athens, killing hundreds, even thousands of people! The leaders of Athens have gathered together to figure out what to do. A man named Nicias has been called in for advice: “Tell us, Nicias, what should we do?” “I believe that our city lies under a terrible curse,” Nicias told them.
“I believe a certain god has placed this curse upon us because of what King Megacles, our king, did to the soldiers of Cylon who surrendered to him. He promised to save any of their soldiers who surrendered in the war, and then he killed them anyway!” “Yes, yes, what you say must be true!” the others responded. “But who is the god who is angry? We have hundreds of gods as you know, and we have sacrificed to them all; yet, the plague hasn’t stopped.”
Could there be another god, the TRUE God? Yes, there was! He made every person to know this deep inside their hearts.
“I believe there is another god,” Nicias said. “One that we do not know, who is angry. I do not know His name, but I know that He exists. We must make a sacrifice to Him.”
“But how can we sacrifice to a god we don’t know?” the others asked.
“We need the man called Epimenides, from the island of Crete,” NIcias told them. “He will know what to do.”
“Then go…go, quickly, Nicias! Our people are dying,” they urged him.” Every moment counts!”
Nicias hurried away down the road to the harbor and took the fastest ship for Crete. Before long, Nicias arrived back with Epimenides. As the two men entered Athens, they both noticed signs of the plague everywhere: the stench of sickness and dead bodies; the wails of people mourning over their dead, loved ones; all of the graves.
But this was not all that Epimenides noticed: “Look at all these gods!” he exclaimed, blinking in amazement. There were rows and rows and rows of idols along both sides of the road leading into Athens. Still other gods in the hundreds stood all along the hillside.
“Yes, Athens is filled with gods. Several hundred at least,” Nicias replied. “Yet they are not enough. There is one god that still is angry about King Megacles’ terrible deed. Even though I do not know his name, I know that He exists. You are our only chance to help us make an offering to him and to stop the plague.”
Could there be another god, the TRUE God? Yes, there was! He made every person to know this deep inside their hearts.
Nicias brought Epimenides to the leaders of Athens. “What must we do, Epimenides? How can we stop the plague? How can we find this Unknown God?”
“Meet me tomorrow, at the break of dawn,” Epimenides said. “Bring a flock of sheep of all different colors, stonemasons with their tools, and a large supple of stones and mortar to the grassy slope where you have put all the rest of your gods, Mars Hill. Make sure that all the sheep are very healthy and that they are very, very hungry.”
The leaders all agreed to Epimenide’s strange request: “We will do what you ask.” The next morning, the leaders of Athens met Epimenides on Mars Hill with everything he had asked for. Many of the people of Athens also came to watch and hope.
“Very good, very good,” Epimenides said, as he looked at the sheep. The sheep were indeed hungry as Epimenides had asked. “Don’t let any of them eat until I say so.” This was not an easy job. The men had to hold back the flock, which kept trying to lower their heads and nibble the grass.
Epimenides prayed to the Unknown God: “Great Unknown God! I do not know Your name, but I know You exist. We want to make a sacrifice to You. These sheep are our offering to You to stop the plague. If You will forgive us and help us, even though we do not know You, please accept these sheep. Show Your willingness to forgive us by causing any sheep that pleases You to lie down upon the grass instead of grazing. Those You choose we will sacrifice to You—confessing that we don’t even know Your name.”
Then Epimenides assigned a man to each sheep. He told them to watch their sheep carefully to see if they ate or lay down.
“Release the sheep!” he ordered. As soon as the shepherds released the sheep, they eagerly spread out across the hillside and began to graze.
“This is madness!” one man said. “These sheep are straining to get that grass! It would truly be an act of god for sheep as hungry as these to not eat!”
He had hardly finished speaking when someone shouted: “Hey, look! My sheep isn’t eating. He’s lying down!” Soon others were saying the same thing. All over the hillside, sheep were lying down.
“It’s a sign from the Unknown God! These are the sheep to sacrifice!”
Epimenides had the stonemasons come and make a stone altar on the place where each sheep laid down. On each stone they carved the words: “To an Unknown God.” Then he had the sheep sacrificed upon them.
Could there really be another god, the true God? Yes, there was: the Lord. He made all people to know this deep inside their hearts.
Within a week the plague had stopped completely! The people of Athens were overjoyed and grateful to this Unknown God. Day after day, they brought flowers and made sacrifices to him on the stone altars.
Then they prayed to Him, “Unknown God, even though we do not know Your name, we know You exist. Thank You for showing Your greatness and mercy by accepting ourmsacrifices and stopping the plague.”
So Laertes wrote the story of the plague; so the stones stood in remembrance of the Unknown God. Six hundred years passed. After a while, people didn't think much about the plague nor the Unknown God who had stopped it. The people went back to worshipping their idols. Some people even began to remove the stone altars to the Unknown God. But even though the people forgot Him, the Unknown God did not forget them. He was the only true God: the Lord. He had made the people of Athens--like all other people--to know and love Him. In their hearts, they knew He existed; but they chose to reject Him and worship other gods. But the Lord is very merciful. He sent the apostle Paul to Athens to tell the people who He was and how they could turn to Him and be saved.
As Paul walked through the maze of hundreds of gods and goddesses in Athens, he was sickened. “These people have so many gods they worship, yet not one is the true God, who made them to know Him. I must tell them about Him!” he thought. Continuing on, he came upon the small, abandoned stone altar with the words, “To an Unknown God,” carved on it. “This is how I will tell them about Jesus. He is the Unknown God they know deep down in their hearts exists, but have never found.”
Paul began to speak to everyone he met about Jesus: how He lived a perfect life, died on the cross for the sins of all who believe in Him, and was raised from the dead. A crowd soon gathered around him and listened to Paul. They had never heard anything like this before. “What are you talking about?! We have never heard about a god like this! Tell us more.”
Paul continued, “I can tell by all of your hundreds and hundreds of gods that you are seeking to find God. But the true God you are looking for is the one you call, “The Unknown God.” I want to tell you about Him. The Athenians listened with breathless eagerness. They strained their ears so that not a single word might escape them.
Paul continued: “The God you worship as the Unknown God is the creator of heaven and earth. He made the stars, the clouds, the plants, the trees; yes, He made everything that you see and enjoy. He made all people, too. He made them for Himself: to know Him and to enjoy Him. He placed in their hearts a desire to seek after Him and know Him. He did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us (Acts 17:27).”
I hope you will turn and seek after this True God, because one day He will come upon the clouds of heaven. The Lord Jesus, who rose from the dead, shall come to judge all the world.”
Many of the people of Athens laughed at the idea of a god who died and rose from the dead. These people left and kept worshipping their gods of stone. They wanted a god to worship, but not one like this. They liked the wild parties they had in honor of their gods. They like a god that would do what they wanted him to do. They knew in their hearts that Paul was speaking about the true God, but they didn’t want to believe.
But some listened to Paul and stayed. They were truly seeking after God. Like thirsty bodies wanting a drink of water more than anything else, so these people desired to know this true God. Paul told these people more about Jesus and they believed. They turned from their idols began to follow the Lord, the true God.
Our story today takes place about 2600 years ago on the other side of the world in Athens, Greece. Athens was one of the cities in the world at that time. It was a city of many, many beautiful white stone temples and buildings. People came from all over to study at its great schools. People in Athens loved to think about things and they loved to worship gods. People loved to think about things and worship their gods so much, that many of them would spend a good part of each day just discussing the great ideas that came into their heads, or making sacrifices and having wild parties to honor their gods. But even though they spent so much time thinking about important things and worshipping their gods, could there really be another god…the TRUE God? Yes, there was. It was the Lord. He had made them for Himself to know Him. Deep in their hearts they knew that He was really there.
But shh….listen…do you hear that? There is a problem in Athens today…Listen! It’s terrible! People are crying….people are dying! They are saying, “May the gods help us! May the gods help us! Who can stop this plague? Who can stop this plague?”
A terrible plague, a deathly sickness, has been spreading through Athens, killing hundreds, even thousands of people! The leaders of Athens have gathered together to figure out what to do. A man named Nicias has been called in for advice: “Tell us, Nicias, what should we do?” “I believe that our city lies under a terrible curse,” Nicias told them.
“I believe a certain god has placed this curse upon us because of what King Megacles, our king, did to the soldiers of Cylon who surrendered to him. He promised to save any of their soldiers who surrendered in the war, and then he killed them anyway!” “Yes, yes, what you say must be true!” the others responded. “But who is the god who is angry? We have hundreds of gods as you know, and we have sacrificed to them all; yet, the plague hasn’t stopped.”
Could there be another god, the TRUE God? Yes, there was! He made every person to know this deep inside their hearts.
“I believe there is another god,” Nicias said. “One that we do not know, who is angry. I do not know His name, but I know that He exists. We must make a sacrifice to Him.”
“But how can we sacrifice to a god we don’t know?” the others asked.
“We need the man called Epimenides, from the island of Crete,” NIcias told them. “He will know what to do.”
“Then go…go, quickly, Nicias! Our people are dying,” they urged him.” Every moment counts!”
Nicias hurried away down the road to the harbor and took the fastest ship for Crete. Before long, Nicias arrived back with Epimenides. As the two men entered Athens, they both noticed signs of the plague everywhere: the stench of sickness and dead bodies; the wails of people mourning over their dead, loved ones; all of the graves.
But this was not all that Epimenides noticed: “Look at all these gods!” he exclaimed, blinking in amazement. There were rows and rows and rows of idols along both sides of the road leading into Athens. Still other gods in the hundreds stood all along the hillside.
“Yes, Athens is filled with gods. Several hundred at least,” Nicias replied. “Yet they are not enough. There is one god that still is angry about King Megacles’ terrible deed. Even though I do not know his name, I know that He exists. You are our only chance to help us make an offering to him and to stop the plague.”
Could there be another god, the TRUE God? Yes, there was! He made every person to know this deep inside their hearts.
Nicias brought Epimenides to the leaders of Athens. “What must we do, Epimenides? How can we stop the plague? How can we find this Unknown God?”
“Meet me tomorrow, at the break of dawn,” Epimenides said. “Bring a flock of sheep of all different colors, stonemasons with their tools, and a large supple of stones and mortar to the grassy slope where you have put all the rest of your gods, Mars Hill. Make sure that all the sheep are very healthy and that they are very, very hungry.”
The leaders all agreed to Epimenide’s strange request: “We will do what you ask.” The next morning, the leaders of Athens met Epimenides on Mars Hill with everything he had asked for. Many of the people of Athens also came to watch and hope.
“Very good, very good,” Epimenides said, as he looked at the sheep. The sheep were indeed hungry as Epimenides had asked. “Don’t let any of them eat until I say so.” This was not an easy job. The men had to hold back the flock, which kept trying to lower their heads and nibble the grass.
Epimenides prayed to the Unknown God: “Great Unknown God! I do not know Your name, but I know You exist. We want to make a sacrifice to You. These sheep are our offering to You to stop the plague. If You will forgive us and help us, even though we do not know You, please accept these sheep. Show Your willingness to forgive us by causing any sheep that pleases You to lie down upon the grass instead of grazing. Those You choose we will sacrifice to You—confessing that we don’t even know Your name.”
Then Epimenides assigned a man to each sheep. He told them to watch their sheep carefully to see if they ate or lay down.
“Release the sheep!” he ordered. As soon as the shepherds released the sheep, they eagerly spread out across the hillside and began to graze.
“This is madness!” one man said. “These sheep are straining to get that grass! It would truly be an act of god for sheep as hungry as these to not eat!”
He had hardly finished speaking when someone shouted: “Hey, look! My sheep isn’t eating. He’s lying down!” Soon others were saying the same thing. All over the hillside, sheep were lying down.
“It’s a sign from the Unknown God! These are the sheep to sacrifice!”
Epimenides had the stonemasons come and make a stone altar on the place where each sheep laid down. On each stone they carved the words: “To an Unknown God.” Then he had the sheep sacrificed upon them.
Could there really be another god, the true God? Yes, there was: the Lord. He made all people to know this deep inside their hearts.
Within a week the plague had stopped completely! The people of Athens were overjoyed and grateful to this Unknown God. Day after day, they brought flowers and made sacrifices to him on the stone altars.
Then they prayed to Him, “Unknown God, even though we do not know Your name, we know You exist. Thank You for showing Your greatness and mercy by accepting ourmsacrifices and stopping the plague.”
So Laertes wrote the story of the plague; so the stones stood in remembrance of the Unknown God. Six hundred years passed. After a while, people didn't think much about the plague nor the Unknown God who had stopped it. The people went back to worshipping their idols. Some people even began to remove the stone altars to the Unknown God. But even though the people forgot Him, the Unknown God did not forget them. He was the only true God: the Lord. He had made the people of Athens--like all other people--to know and love Him. In their hearts, they knew He existed; but they chose to reject Him and worship other gods. But the Lord is very merciful. He sent the apostle Paul to Athens to tell the people who He was and how they could turn to Him and be saved.
As Paul walked through the maze of hundreds of gods and goddesses in Athens, he was sickened. “These people have so many gods they worship, yet not one is the true God, who made them to know Him. I must tell them about Him!” he thought. Continuing on, he came upon the small, abandoned stone altar with the words, “To an Unknown God,” carved on it. “This is how I will tell them about Jesus. He is the Unknown God they know deep down in their hearts exists, but have never found.”
Paul began to speak to everyone he met about Jesus: how He lived a perfect life, died on the cross for the sins of all who believe in Him, and was raised from the dead. A crowd soon gathered around him and listened to Paul. They had never heard anything like this before. “What are you talking about?! We have never heard about a god like this! Tell us more.”
Paul continued, “I can tell by all of your hundreds and hundreds of gods that you are seeking to find God. But the true God you are looking for is the one you call, “The Unknown God.” I want to tell you about Him. The Athenians listened with breathless eagerness. They strained their ears so that not a single word might escape them.
Paul continued: “The God you worship as the Unknown God is the creator of heaven and earth. He made the stars, the clouds, the plants, the trees; yes, He made everything that you see and enjoy. He made all people, too. He made them for Himself: to know Him and to enjoy Him. He placed in their hearts a desire to seek after Him and know Him. He did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us (Acts 17:27).”
I hope you will turn and seek after this True God, because one day He will come upon the clouds of heaven. The Lord Jesus, who rose from the dead, shall come to judge all the world.”
Many of the people of Athens laughed at the idea of a god who died and rose from the dead. These people left and kept worshipping their gods of stone. They wanted a god to worship, but not one like this. They liked the wild parties they had in honor of their gods. They like a god that would do what they wanted him to do. They knew in their hearts that Paul was speaking about the true God, but they didn’t want to believe.
But some listened to Paul and stayed. They were truly seeking after God. Like thirsty bodies wanting a drink of water more than anything else, so these people desired to know this true God. Paul told these people more about Jesus and they believed. They turned from their idols began to follow the Lord, the true God.
Big Idea 1 Family Discussion Questions- Sundays, August 1,8, and 15 2010
Big Idea: God Made Our Hearts to Know and Love Him
Understanding the Big Idea
1.Who is the most loving enjoyable, and wonderful person?
God is.
2. What does in mean to be the most loving person?
To be more patient, kind, humble, not easily angered, protecting, trusting, rejoicing in good, hoping,
persevering, forgiving person there will ever be.
3. What does it mean to be the most wonderful person?
Full of wonder—The person who amazes you more than anyone else with all the great things He does and thinks.
4.Why will there always be more of God to know?
Because God is infinite. That means He is so great that no person can ever know all of Him.
5. What do all people know deep inside their hearts?
That God is the only true God.
6. What is the only way that we can be truly happy and peaceful?
When we know, enjoy and seek to know God.
Big Idea Story Connection Questions
1.Why did Nicias think there was an Unknown God?
The witness of his heart that God made him to know and love Him.
2. Why did some of the people Paul spoke to not believe in Jesus?
They chose to not believe (suppress) the truth God had placed in their hearts about Him.
Life Application Questions
1.What did God place in our hearts to know about Him?
A witness of who He is.
2. How can knowing God help God’s people be joyful even in very hard times?
Even when the situations around them are hard or sad, God still comforts them in their heart by His Spirit. He helps them trust in His good plans and His love for them. He reminds them that one day their troubles will be finished and they will get to live forever happy with Him in heaven.
3. How can we know God?
By turning away from our sins and trusting Jesus as our Savior.
Gospel Question
God is the most wonderful person that we can ever know, what must happen if we are to know Him?
All of us are sinners who have chosen to rebel against God. Our sins separate us from Him and we deserve His forever punishment. We can never deserve to know and enjoy God on our own. But, if we confess our sins and ask His forgiveness through Jesus, God will forgive us. He will send His Holy Spirit to live in our hearts and we can know and love and enjoy Him as He made us to. Then one day, we will live with Him in heaven, knowing and enjoying Him as much as people possibly can.
ACTS Questions
1.What is something we can praise God for because of this Big Idea?
Praise God for being the most wonderful, most enjoyable, most loving person we can ever know.
2. What are sins we can confess to God because of this Big Idea?
That we all choose to rebel against Him and many times do not want to know Him.
3. What is something we can thank God for because of this Big Idea?
We can thank God that we can know Him, still, when we trust in Jesus as our Savior.
4. What is something we can ask God for because of this Big Idea?
We can ask God to work in our hearts and help us to turn to Him and to know Him and love Him more and more.
Scripture Verse
How does our Big Idea fit in with our Scripture Verse, Psalm 42:1,2 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, The living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
Our souls pant and thirst for God because He made us to know and love Him, the most wonderful person we can ever know.
God is the most loving person, the most enjoyable person, and the most wonderful person we can ever
know. He is so great that there will always be more of Him to know. God made every person to know
deep inside their heart that He is the only true God. He made us only able to be completely happy and
peaceful when we love, enjoy, and seek to know Him.
Understanding the Big Idea
1.Who is the most loving enjoyable, and wonderful person?
God is.
2. What does in mean to be the most loving person?
To be more patient, kind, humble, not easily angered, protecting, trusting, rejoicing in good, hoping,
persevering, forgiving person there will ever be.
3. What does it mean to be the most wonderful person?
Full of wonder—The person who amazes you more than anyone else with all the great things He does and thinks.
4.Why will there always be more of God to know?
Because God is infinite. That means He is so great that no person can ever know all of Him.
5. What do all people know deep inside their hearts?
That God is the only true God.
6. What is the only way that we can be truly happy and peaceful?
When we know, enjoy and seek to know God.
Big Idea Story Connection Questions
1.Why did Nicias think there was an Unknown God?
The witness of his heart that God made him to know and love Him.
2. Why did some of the people Paul spoke to not believe in Jesus?
They chose to not believe (suppress) the truth God had placed in their hearts about Him.
Life Application Questions
1.What did God place in our hearts to know about Him?
A witness of who He is.
2. How can knowing God help God’s people be joyful even in very hard times?
Even when the situations around them are hard or sad, God still comforts them in their heart by His Spirit. He helps them trust in His good plans and His love for them. He reminds them that one day their troubles will be finished and they will get to live forever happy with Him in heaven.
3. How can we know God?
By turning away from our sins and trusting Jesus as our Savior.
Gospel Question
God is the most wonderful person that we can ever know, what must happen if we are to know Him?
All of us are sinners who have chosen to rebel against God. Our sins separate us from Him and we deserve His forever punishment. We can never deserve to know and enjoy God on our own. But, if we confess our sins and ask His forgiveness through Jesus, God will forgive us. He will send His Holy Spirit to live in our hearts and we can know and love and enjoy Him as He made us to. Then one day, we will live with Him in heaven, knowing and enjoying Him as much as people possibly can.
ACTS Questions
1.What is something we can praise God for because of this Big Idea?
Praise God for being the most wonderful, most enjoyable, most loving person we can ever know.
2. What are sins we can confess to God because of this Big Idea?
That we all choose to rebel against Him and many times do not want to know Him.
3. What is something we can thank God for because of this Big Idea?
We can thank God that we can know Him, still, when we trust in Jesus as our Savior.
4. What is something we can ask God for because of this Big Idea?
We can ask God to work in our hearts and help us to turn to Him and to know Him and love Him more and more.
Scripture Verse
How does our Big Idea fit in with our Scripture Verse, Psalm 42:1,2 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, The living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
Our souls pant and thirst for God because He made us to know and love Him, the most wonderful person we can ever know.
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