Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Get Reeled In- Week #3
We wrapped up our "Get Reeled In" series last week with a "fishy" story about Jonah. The first 2 weeks we learned from the New Testament, but for week 3, we took a look in the Old Testament. Here's how the story goes...
The city of Nineveh was crazy, it was wicked. They had totally just turned their backs on God and wanted nothing to do with Him. God decided that He was pretty much done giving this whole city their chances. They had had enough chances. He was pretty much going to annihilate them, wipe them out. He wanted Jonah to go and tell them this, knowing that some people maybe would have a change of heart. But He wanted Jonah to go in there and kind of be a prophet saying, “God’s ticked off. He’s done with you guys. Get ready because it’s going to get bad for you real quick. God’s going to wipe you out basically.”
For Jonah, probably like you and me, that wasn’t his idea of a good time. He thought they deserved to get wiped out even if they didn’t get any warning. He thought they were wicked and terrible. He didn’t want to be the guy going in there. He knew he’d get laughed at, he’d get beaten up, abused. It just wasn’t going to be a good thing so he decided, “I’m going to go the exact opposite.” He gets on this boat to go the opposite direction. This crazy storm comes up. The people on the boat are afraid they’re going to die. Jonah says, “It’s me. If you just throw me overboard I’m sure God will protect you.” So, they throw Jonah overboard. And sure enough the sea gets calm. But Jonah is in the ocean and this giant whale swallows him whole. The Bible says that Jonah was alive for three days in this fish and the fish spit him out on shore and then Jonah decided, “God, You got my attention. I’m in. I’ll go to Nineveh. You’re going to wipe them out anyway.” So he goes to Nineveh, tells them what’s going to happen. The leadership in Nineveh basically has this “Ah ha!” The light bulb goes off, their eyes are opened up. They realize, “God’s right. We’ve been wrong.” And they have this repentant heart and a change of attitude and a change of ways. God decides to spare the city of Nineveh.
Talk about a crazy fish story!!! But, there are some things we can learn from this story.... let's look at 3 of them:
#1 GOD HAS A PLAN
God had a plan for the people of Nineveh and a plan for Jonah, and he has a plan for you! Nineveh wasn't alot different from the world we live in today. There is plenty of craziness and wickedness going on.... but, just like Nineveh, His plan is for the hearts of people to be turned toward Him.
#2 WE HAVE A ROLE IN THAT PLAN!
God wanted to use Jonah, and He wants to use you and me! He has a special calling just for you and me. There are people that you can reach that no one else can and God wants to use you for His glory
#3 WE HAVE A CHOICE
Jonah had a choice if he was going to obey God. We always have a choice too.... the problem is, when we choose NOT to obey God's call, we miss out on the big plan God has for us. God's way and God's plan is always bigger and better than our way. So choose to obey God and fulfill the call He has on your life everyday.
The city of Nineveh was crazy, it was wicked. They had totally just turned their backs on God and wanted nothing to do with Him. God decided that He was pretty much done giving this whole city their chances. They had had enough chances. He was pretty much going to annihilate them, wipe them out. He wanted Jonah to go and tell them this, knowing that some people maybe would have a change of heart. But He wanted Jonah to go in there and kind of be a prophet saying, “God’s ticked off. He’s done with you guys. Get ready because it’s going to get bad for you real quick. God’s going to wipe you out basically.”
For Jonah, probably like you and me, that wasn’t his idea of a good time. He thought they deserved to get wiped out even if they didn’t get any warning. He thought they were wicked and terrible. He didn’t want to be the guy going in there. He knew he’d get laughed at, he’d get beaten up, abused. It just wasn’t going to be a good thing so he decided, “I’m going to go the exact opposite.” He gets on this boat to go the opposite direction. This crazy storm comes up. The people on the boat are afraid they’re going to die. Jonah says, “It’s me. If you just throw me overboard I’m sure God will protect you.” So, they throw Jonah overboard. And sure enough the sea gets calm. But Jonah is in the ocean and this giant whale swallows him whole. The Bible says that Jonah was alive for three days in this fish and the fish spit him out on shore and then Jonah decided, “God, You got my attention. I’m in. I’ll go to Nineveh. You’re going to wipe them out anyway.” So he goes to Nineveh, tells them what’s going to happen. The leadership in Nineveh basically has this “Ah ha!” The light bulb goes off, their eyes are opened up. They realize, “God’s right. We’ve been wrong.” And they have this repentant heart and a change of attitude and a change of ways. God decides to spare the city of Nineveh.
Talk about a crazy fish story!!! But, there are some things we can learn from this story.... let's look at 3 of them:
#1 GOD HAS A PLAN
God had a plan for the people of Nineveh and a plan for Jonah, and he has a plan for you! Nineveh wasn't alot different from the world we live in today. There is plenty of craziness and wickedness going on.... but, just like Nineveh, His plan is for the hearts of people to be turned toward Him.
#2 WE HAVE A ROLE IN THAT PLAN!
God wanted to use Jonah, and He wants to use you and me! He has a special calling just for you and me. There are people that you can reach that no one else can and God wants to use you for His glory
#3 WE HAVE A CHOICE
Jonah had a choice if he was going to obey God. We always have a choice too.... the problem is, when we choose NOT to obey God's call, we miss out on the big plan God has for us. God's way and God's plan is always bigger and better than our way. So choose to obey God and fulfill the call He has on your life everyday.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
"Get Reeled In"- Week #2
There's something fishy going on around here!!! We've been looking at different stories from the Bible that had to do with fish and seeing what we can take from those stories and apply to our own lives.
For Week #2, we discussed a familiar story, when Jesus Fed the 5,000 people. You can find this story in John 6. Basically, the story goes like this: There were a bunch of people hanging out with Jesus and following Him wherever he was teaching. It started getting late and people were getting hungry..... but there was no food. So Jesus goes up to Phillip, one of His disciples, and says, "What are we going to feed all these people?" (I think Jesus knew exactly what they were going to do... He just wanted to hear what Phillip would say!!) So, Andrew (another disciple) says that there is a young boy who has 5 barley loaves and 2 fish and he's willing to give it.... but, what good is that with this huge crowd?
Well, Jesus takes the food and blesses it and then the disciples pass out the food and the Bible says that everyone ate and were filled.... there was even bread and fish left over!!! Talk about a miracle!!
So, what can we learn from this story?
#1)WE LIVE IN A HUNGRY WORLD
Not just physical hunger... people are hungry for hope and encouragement.... you see classmates everyday that need something more... they are hungry for what we have. The people in this story were physically hungry... and our world is full of hungry people too!
#2)EVERYBODY HAS SOMETHING TO OFFER
YOU have something to offer! God created you to bring glory and honor to him, but also so you could share with other people who He is. You can give yourself, your possessions, your spiritual gifts......you all have something to offer. The young boy gave what he had... even if it wasn't enough in the natural... which brings me to our third lesson from this story:
#3) WHEN I GIVE IT, GOD MULTIPLIES IT
That young boy could've kept what he had for himself or maybe his family... they could've eaten and been filled... but, he was willing to give what he had. Jesus took that little bit he offered and multiplied into so much more! When we surrender our lives to God, He can take it and do so much more that we can even imagine! This great miracle was possible because this young boy was willing to give what he had.
Don't miss Week #3..... we're gonna talk about a REALLY BIG FISH!!!
For Week #2, we discussed a familiar story, when Jesus Fed the 5,000 people. You can find this story in John 6. Basically, the story goes like this: There were a bunch of people hanging out with Jesus and following Him wherever he was teaching. It started getting late and people were getting hungry..... but there was no food. So Jesus goes up to Phillip, one of His disciples, and says, "What are we going to feed all these people?" (I think Jesus knew exactly what they were going to do... He just wanted to hear what Phillip would say!!) So, Andrew (another disciple) says that there is a young boy who has 5 barley loaves and 2 fish and he's willing to give it.... but, what good is that with this huge crowd?
Well, Jesus takes the food and blesses it and then the disciples pass out the food and the Bible says that everyone ate and were filled.... there was even bread and fish left over!!! Talk about a miracle!!
So, what can we learn from this story?
#1)WE LIVE IN A HUNGRY WORLD
Not just physical hunger... people are hungry for hope and encouragement.... you see classmates everyday that need something more... they are hungry for what we have. The people in this story were physically hungry... and our world is full of hungry people too!
#2)EVERYBODY HAS SOMETHING TO OFFER
YOU have something to offer! God created you to bring glory and honor to him, but also so you could share with other people who He is. You can give yourself, your possessions, your spiritual gifts......you all have something to offer. The young boy gave what he had... even if it wasn't enough in the natural... which brings me to our third lesson from this story:
#3) WHEN I GIVE IT, GOD MULTIPLIES IT
That young boy could've kept what he had for himself or maybe his family... they could've eaten and been filled... but, he was willing to give what he had. Jesus took that little bit he offered and multiplied into so much more! When we surrender our lives to God, He can take it and do so much more that we can even imagine! This great miracle was possible because this young boy was willing to give what he had.
Don't miss Week #3..... we're gonna talk about a REALLY BIG FISH!!!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
"Get Reeled In"- Week #1
We started a new series last week called "Get Reeled In"! We are taking stories from the Bible that have to do with fish and seeing how they can relate to our lives today.
Last week, we talked about "Jesus And The Miraculous Catch Of Fish". The disciples went fishing... They fished all night long and caught nothing. Then Jesus comes up and He says, “Cast your nets on the other side of the boat and I promise you, you’ll catch fish.” So the disciples, even though they had already tried everything all night long and still caught nothing..... they chose to listen to Jesus and cast their nets on the other side of the boat. Then the Bible talks about how they caught so many fish that the boat actually began to sink!!
We learned through this story that Jesus CARES about everything we go through… even the little stuff. Jesus was concerned that the disciples had not caught any fish... he cared, because they cared!
Another thing we learned from this story is that Jesus is able to meet our every need! Jesus CAN do anything we need Him to do. Jesus can meet your needs, whatever it is... nothing is too small or too big for God!
And lastly, we see through this story that when we do what Jesus COMMANDS, amazing things happen in our lives. The disciples had a choice whether or not to do what Jesus told them to do. They could have said, "Jesus, we've been fishing all night... we've already tried throwing our nets on that side... no way, man!!" And then they wouldn't have experienced the miracle He had for them.
I love how we can learn from the amazing stories in our Bible! If you'd like to read this entire Bible story, you'll find it in John 21.
Last week, we talked about "Jesus And The Miraculous Catch Of Fish". The disciples went fishing... They fished all night long and caught nothing. Then Jesus comes up and He says, “Cast your nets on the other side of the boat and I promise you, you’ll catch fish.” So the disciples, even though they had already tried everything all night long and still caught nothing..... they chose to listen to Jesus and cast their nets on the other side of the boat. Then the Bible talks about how they caught so many fish that the boat actually began to sink!!
We learned through this story that Jesus CARES about everything we go through… even the little stuff. Jesus was concerned that the disciples had not caught any fish... he cared, because they cared!
Another thing we learned from this story is that Jesus is able to meet our every need! Jesus CAN do anything we need Him to do. Jesus can meet your needs, whatever it is... nothing is too small or too big for God!
And lastly, we see through this story that when we do what Jesus COMMANDS, amazing things happen in our lives. The disciples had a choice whether or not to do what Jesus told them to do. They could have said, "Jesus, we've been fishing all night... we've already tried throwing our nets on that side... no way, man!!" And then they wouldn't have experienced the miracle He had for them.
I love how we can learn from the amazing stories in our Bible! If you'd like to read this entire Bible story, you'll find it in John 21.
Friday, August 29, 2008
SYATP
Mark your calendars!!! See You At The Pole is right around the corner!! Wednesday, September 24 7:00am at your school flagpole
To learn more, check out this video:
To learn more, check out this video:
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