God is Good, All the Time

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life -your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God wants you to do it the best thing you can do for Him. Romans 12v1 (The Message)

Last Sunday, Pastor exalted us to rise up like Aaron and Hur who stepped up to serve (Exodus 17v12-13). I’ve been thinking about that a lot this week because this Saturday, I’m up to play the synth again. It’ll be my first time that I’ll be serving as a musician since I stepped down from the music ministry in January this year.

After service on Sunday, it brought to my memory Romans 12. I’ve been reading the NIV version so often that when I decided to check out another version – The Message, it impacted me so greatly that I had to do something about it. Now you know why I write.

Paul the great apostle in Romans puts a challenge to us to worship God beyond singing praises. He challenges us worship God through our life.

A Pre-Decision
In the second verse of Romans 12, Paul writes fix your attention on God. He didn’t write this because he thought it was good advise but it is a reminder from his last experience in Philippi.

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were thrown in jail and severely beaten because they delivered a slave girl from her ability to tell the future. Her owner was so mad that he had them arrested and thrown into jail. The Bible records that Paul and Silas were singing a robust hymn to God. I’m just wowed because I don’t know if I could still sing robustly if I had been severely beaten and thrown into a cell that was probably dark, cold and smelly.

Have you wondered how these two men could do that?

Observation – Don’t wait for the direst circumstance to arrive in your life before you make a decision to worship God.

We have this saying “God is good, all the time.” I don’t think we can say that if we don’t make a commitment to worship God.

A Pre-Requisite
In Romans 12v1, it reads “Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (NASB)

He’s made it so easy for us to worship Him because He included a pre-requisite. We can worship God and live our lives in HIS call because He’s pardoned us when He sent Christ to die for our sins on the cross.

So what does service got to do with worship? It has everything to do with worship. Even those who worship idols offer a sacrifice. Be it in paper money, food or by piercing themselves. The difference with us is that our sacrifice is no longer in animals but it is with our lives – the physical expression of what we are capable to do.

Often times, we don’t live up to God’s call for us because we spend too much time living it down. We forget that our faith is not based on key performance indexes (KPIs). We tend to live our Christian faith, most of the time, like we’re running on a performance treadmill. God doesn’t care about KPIs.

I could go on but I’m ending this week’s thought with a quote from a pastor because it says it all – “Don’t let what’s WRONG about you (or your circumstance) stop you from worshipping what’s RIGHT about God.”

And that is the reason why, my friends, we can enter God’s presence blameless anytime and every time declaring that “God is Good, All the TIME.”


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The Blood of Jesus

One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug of God at her heart. She responded to God’s call and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. The young woman had a very rough past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. But, the change in her was evident.

As time went on she became a faithful member of the church. She eventually became involved in the ministry, teaching young children. It was not very long until this faithful young woman had caught the eye and heart of the pastor’s son. The relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans. This is when the problems began.

You see, about one half of the church did not think that a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for a pastor’s son. The church began to argue and fight about the matter.

So they decided to have a meeting. As the people made their arguments and tensions increased, the meeting was getting completely out of hand. The young woman became very upset about all the things being brought up about her past. As she began to cry the pastor’s son stood to speak. He could not bear the pain it was causing his wife-to-be. He began to speak and his statement was this:

“My fiancée’s past is not what is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does it wash away sin or not?” The whole church began to weep as they realized that they had been slandering the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Too often, even as Christians, we bring up the past and use it as a weapon against our brothers and sisters. Forgiveness is a very foundational part of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If the blood of Jesus does not cleanse the other person completely then it cannot cleanse us completely. If that is the case, then we are all in a lot of trouble.

What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! End of case!!!

– Author Unknown


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Bound Together

Materials
A couple of spare belts in case there are too few belts in a group.

Activity
1. Divide the group into 2 or more groups
2. Ask all members in each group to remove their belts.
2. Within each group, the group must then fasten all the belts together so they form a single belt around the group. This may be a tight squeeze!
3. Have relay race or a series of tasks for the group to accomplish while bound together. Some possibilities are:

* Race across the room, pick up a coin from the floor and return it to you.
* Soccer style, kick a ball across the room and then back to you.
* Leave the room through a doorway (tight fit) and then return to the room
* Hop across the room as a group
* Everyone in the group remove their shoes
* Spin around in a circle three times
* Get on their knees
* Sing a song with hand motions. Everyone must sing and do the motions.
* Keep a balloon in the air for 2 minutes, by tapping it up as it starts to fall.
* THINK OF YOUR OWN TASKS

4. Have an observer to tick off the tasks as they are conpleted. Award the group that completes the most tasks in a specific time frame or that is the first to complete all the tasks.

Discussion
* How did you manage to get the belt to fit around the whole group?
* How is this belt like or unlike unity?
* What are some things we must do to create unity?
* In this case the belt serves as a restriction. Is unity restrictive or freeing?
* What are some of the benefits of unity? Some of the restrictions?
* How does unity affect our movement toward a goal and in accomplishing an objective.
* In what ways do the benefits of unity outweigh the restrictions?


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Great Truths from Children

GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT LIFE FROM LITTLE CHILDREN

* No matter how hard you try, you can’t baptize cats.
* When your Mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her brush your hair.
* If your sister hits you, don’t hit her back. They always catch the second person.
* Never ask your 3-year-old brother to hold a tomato.
* You can’t trust dogs to watch your food.
* Reading what people write on desks can teach you a lot.
* Don’t sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
* Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a tic tac.
* School lunches stick to the wall
* You can’t hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
* The best place to be when you are sad is in Grandma’s lap.


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I Doubt It?

Materials
Deck of cards
cards.jpg
Instructions
1. In this game the objective is to be the first to discard all of your cards. The person who goes first must discard his aces face down, the second two’s, third, three’s… through king’s. As the person places the cards down they must announce the quantity of cards being played (i.e. 2 aces, 1 two, 3 threes, etc.) If a person doesn’t have a card of the value he/ she is supposed to play, then he/ she bluffs. A person may also bluff at any time by including additional cards of another value in with the cards of the correct value they are playing. For example a person may only have two aces, but includes a six and calls out “three aces.”
2. At any time a player may shout “I doubt it.” The person that just played cards must turn them over and reveal them. If the revealed cards were a bluff and not 100% what they were claimed to be, the player picks up the entire discard pile. If he/ she was telling the truth, then the person who yelled “I doubt it” must pick up the entire discard pile.
3. The game continues until one player runs out of cards.

Discussion
1. What is the primary objective of this game? What are some of our objectives in life? What does winning mean to you?
2. What type of person is best at this game? Did anyone in this game get a reputation for dishonesty or for integrity? What reputation do you have with others? How did you get that reputation?
3. What elements of this game caused you to lie, misrepresent the truth, or stretch the truth? What things tempt you be less than honest in real life? What things tempt you to act against your normal character?
4. Are you known for your honesty, for your integrity? What actions in life build / destroy a persons character / reputation? Why is a good reputation important? How does our reputation affect our testimony?
5. Is TRUTH flexible? Why or why not? Is there such a thing as absolute truth? Why or why not?

Application
1. Stretching the TRUTH: How often in life do we try to gain benefit by either stretching the truth or by an outright lie. How many times do we sacrifice honesty and integrity to get ahead of others in the game of life. While in this game we might get away with it, Scripture tells us that a final judgement awaits us all and everything will be revealed. Are you ready for Judgement Day.
2. DOUBTS: All of us have doubts about God at one time or another, but that doesn’t mean we give up. We make choices the best we can not knowing what the next card in life holds for us. But we do know that God never bluffs. He always is true. And he wants us to be victorious, not in a card game but in life.

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The Other Side

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, “Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.”

Very quietly, the doctor said, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?”

The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side of which came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said, “Did you notice my dog? He’s never been in this room before. He didn’t know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing, I know my Master is there and that is enough.”

– Author Unknown


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Questions with Purpose

Things to consider when creating questions for Discussion

The best teachers:
1) have the greatest knowledge of the material,
2) have the strongest feelings concerning its importance, and
3) are the ones who are most consistently applying it to their lives.

By influencing thinking and feelings towards issues and Biblical Teaching you have a long-lasting impact on actions. You can directly influence actions, but it will be only temporary unless you also influence thinking and feelings.

You should have questions that fall into EACH of the THREE of the following areas:

1. To know – an appeal to intellect, knowledge
* What do you want them to understand more clearly? (This is usually as far as most groups get, but the next two elements are equally important.)

2. To feel – an appeal to emotion
* How do you want the group to feel? Challenged? Loved? Secure? Excited? This personalizes the input. They can study the cold facts and achieve the “knowledge” goal. But it takes the Holy Spirit using your effective introduction and the kinds of questions you ask to make them personally feel the truth as applied to them. Only when the heart is added to the thinking does real lasting change take place.

3. To do – an appeal for action
* What do you want them to specifically do as a result of this time? You motivate them to accomlish this goal through the conclusion and application time. This is the weakest part of most lessons. Often the application is either not planned or pushed out due to lack of time.

The best test of the effectiveness of your teaching is not what you do, but what your students do as a result of your teaching and how they apply the knowledge gained.

Parable of the Pencil

The Parable of the Pencil – Part 1

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box. “There are 5 things you need to know,” he told the pencil, “Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.”
pencil.jpg
1. You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone’s hand.
2. You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.
3. You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.
4. The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.
5. On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition you must continue to write.”

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in his heart.

The Parable of the Pencil – Part 2

But now the pencil lay on the dark wood table, feeling insignificant and rather sad. Beside him on the desk was a colourful tin can, filled with every kind of beautiful pen to be had. There were silver fountain pens and a neon felt tip marker. There was also a classy ballpoint whom everyone called Parker.

“What a loser,” they said of the pencil, as they observed his wooden frame.

“Don’t bother with him, he’s a nobody,” said Parker, “He doesn’t even have a name.”

Now the world was at war and their owner was a Soldier who was tasked to bring peace to the land. “What we need is a map,” the Soldier had said, at the desk across from his Officer the other night. “If someone can fly me over the city unseen, I can draw a map from the sky. The map will tell you where to go and how to win, and soon we’ll put an end to this fight.” The Officer had agreed and now the Soldier would fly, but first he discussed with his wife. “I’ll need something to draw with, something dependable… something that won’t fail me mid-flight.”

The Soldier looked at his dark wood desk, and observed all the pens in the can. He studied each one, their bodies all shimmering, and he weighed them all in his hand. “This one won’t work,” he said of a pen, “the ink might blot on the map. This one needs to be refilled every few hours, and this one will dry out without a cap.” He looked at each one and always found something wrong, or anticipated problems if he used it in the sky. “I need something that would work whatever the conditions, and I need it soon my dear wife.”

“Then take this pencil.” his wife finally said, handing him the frail and battered yellow thing. “It will write no matter what, it will write on a plane – it’s the best writing tool you can bring.”

The Soldier smiled, kept the pencil in his pocket, and took it with him on the plane. He finished the map and the map helped bring them peace… and the pencil has never been the same.

The Parable of the Pencil – Part 3

The pencil was now nothing more than a stub; what was left of his lead was now broken. His eraser was gone, his wood frame had split, and some time ago his metal ring had been stolen.

Now he stood before the Pencil Maker, and waited for him to say those 5 words.

“Well done, my faithful pencil,” the Pencil Maker said, “You have written what you were meant to write in the world.”

– Author Unknown

 


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Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah’s Ark

1. Don’t miss the boat.
2. Remember that we are all in the same boat.
3. Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.
4. Stay fit. When you’re 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
5. Don’t listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
6. Build your future on high ground.
7. For safety’s sake, travel in pairs.
8. Speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
9. When you’re stressed, float a while.
10. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
11. No matter the storm, when you are with God, there’s always a rainbow waiting.

noah.jpg


MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

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

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Not Always What It Seems

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room. Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel how could you have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him, she accused. The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die. “Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it.” “Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead.

Things aren’t always what they seem.”

– Author Unknown


MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

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

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