Friday, December 22, 2017

The Light of the World

This year our church published a book of daily Advent devotionals written by various members of our church. The book was entitled "Songs of the Season" and writers told about their favorite Christmas carols and how those carols had brought a greater understanding of the season.

I thoroughly enjoyed the devotionals and reflected on how each carol had blessed the Christmases of my own life. I also reflected on various carols and tried to decide what might be my favorite. One song kept coming to my mind, The only problem was that it wasn't really a song that we traditionally think of as related to the Christmas season. That song was "The Light of the World Is Jesus."
 
 The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin,
 The Light of the world is Jesus;
 Like sunshine at noonday,
 His glory shone in,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
   
 Come to the Light, 'tis shining for thee;
 Sweetly the Light has dawned upon me.
 Once I was blind, but now I can see:
 The Light of the world is Jesus.

At this time of year, we see lights everywhere that remind us of the coming of the true Light that John tells us about in the prologue to his Gospel. There are trees adorned with lights, streets that are lined with lights, homes and businesses are outlined with lights. One of the favorite activities of the season is to drive around and look at all of the beautiful lights. Each Sunday of the Advent season, we light candles on the Advent wreath.

I wonder how many of us remember that the lights of this season are a symbol of the one true Light, Jesus, who brought light into the darkness of this world? As we light the candles on our advent wreath, the four candles remind us that Jesus brings hope, love, joy, and peace into the world. It is true, "The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin, the Light of the world is Jesus!"

During this season, may each and every one of us know the joy that Jesus, the Light of the World, brings.

Friday, November 17, 2017

THANK YOU!

I recently received a beautiful card in the mail. It was a "Thank You" card sent to me from a friend that I had given a gift. It really made me feel good that they took the time to go and buy a card and send it to me to say "Thank You." It also made me feel good that they were appreciative of the gift that I had given to them. Sometimes people forget to say "Thank You" when someone does something nice for them.

In chapter 17, Luke tells of  a day when Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem when he met ten men who were afflicted with the terrible disease of leprosy. When they saw Jesus, they called out to him, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"

Jesus, moved with compassion, said to them,  “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were healed of their leprosy.

One of them, when he saw that he was healed, stopped and went back praising God with a loud voice.  He threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.

Jesus said to him, "Didn't I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except you?"

God does so much for us! Every day he provides everything we need; food, clothing, and a place to live. The greatest gift he has given us is that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Do we ever forget to say, "Thank You?" Let's stop right now and say "Thank You" and ask God to help us remember to thank Him every day.

Dear Lord, you give us everything we need and much more besides, but we often forget to say "Thank You." We thank you now and ask you to help us to remember to give thanks every day for all the gifts you give us. Most of all, we give thanks for the gift of eternal life. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

A New Social Media Editor for Sermons4Kids

Effective October 1, 2017, Ami Watson became the Social Media Editor for Sermons4Kids . You have probably already noticed the improvement in the quality and frequency of our posts on Facebook and Twitter. I thought it was about time I introduced her and told you a little bit about her.

Ami lives in Tennessee and is a wife and mom of a twelve-year-old son. For the past five years she has been a Children's Church Pastor in her home church, so she knows first-hand the type of  things that will be helpful to you in your ministry to children. She is also a second grade teacher at Alldardt Elementary School and is in her thirteenth year of teaching, so, she has a lot of experience communicating with the children.

Ami is actually no stranger to the Sermons4Kids ministry. She has created and shared with us twenty-two PowerPoint presentations to go with some of our lessons. They are available on the Sermons4Kids website for your download and use. These presentations are a good example of the creativity Ami brings to our ministry.

Ami looks forward to interacting with you on Facebook. So, if you aren't already a follower, visit our Facebook page today and get to know her better.

Welcome, Ami. We are happy to have you on board and we look forward to the contribution you will make to the Sermons4Kids ministry.

Thursday, September 14, 2017

When the Storms of Life Are Raging

Over the past several weeks, natural disasters have brought devastation to various parts of our country. First it was Hurricane Harvey bringing destruction to the Texas Coast. Then it was Irma hitting the Florida Keys and the coastal areas of Florida. As these storms brought their destruction, a large area of Montana is being ravaged by wildfires. These disasters have brought with them loss of homes and natural resources, destruction of property, and even loss of life. William Long, administrator of FEMA, predicted that the recovery from Harvey would take many years before we returned to normal. Federal and state agencies, community groups, non-profit relief agencies, and many others have joined together to reach out to those in need.

It is important that we ask ourselves, "As Christians, what is our response to these disasters and how do we reach out to those in need?" Here are some practical ways that we can help.

PRAYER — As followers of Christ, we need to fix our eyes on the God who promises his presence in the storms of life. We must, as individuals, and in concert with fellow believers, pray for the victims of these disasters.

GIVE — We can help both the relief workers and the victims by providing clothing, blankets, and food. Donations of money can be applied where they are needed most, but choose your channel for giving carefully. Make certain that your donation will go to those who need it rather than to an organization will use the funds for personal use.

VOLUNTEER — Some of us might be in a position to volunteer to work for organizations such as the American Red Cross or the Salvation Army. Many churches are sending ministry groups to help by fixing damaged drywall, flooring, roofs, and clearing debris.

One thing we must remember, this is not a short-term problem. These storms have produced major damage and we must be prepared to be involved long-term.

Heavenly Father, you are present with those who suffer from these natural disasters. We pray that those affected may feel your healing presence. You are in the hands of those who reach out to help those in need. We pray for those first responders in their courageous work. Help us to be faithful to pray for those who are suffering. Help us also to reach out in any way we can to help relieve their suffering. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Getting the Stain Out

It almost never fails. It seems that every time I get a new shirt, I manage to get a stain on it the very first time I wear it.  This seems to be especially true if I eat Italian food. Spaghetti sauce always seems to find its way onto my new shirt.

When this happens, I go straight to the laundry room and get out the spray and wash and spray it on the stain. Next, I pour some laundry detergent on the stain and put the shirt in the washing machine to soak. I will try everything I can find to get that stain out. I have tried new, intensified Tide.  Their TV commercial says, "Dirt can't hide from intensified Tide."  I have also tried new Blue Cheer, and Clorox II.  I have even tried to Shout it out, but nothing I do seems to work.

A life stained with sin is a lot like a spaghetti-stained shirt.  There is nothing that we can do to remove the stain. Some think that if they go to church, they will get clean, but the stain is still there.  Some think that if they get baptized, they will be clean, but getting baptized won't get the stain out either.

I may never get the stain out of my favorite shirt.  Perhaps it is hopeless, but it is not hopeless to get the stain of sin out of our lives.  You see, the blood of Jesus can wash away even the worst stains in our life.  The Bible says, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."  Perhaps you have tried everything to get the stain out of your life, but have you tried the one thing that will?  Have you tried Jesus?

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Teaching Like Jesus Taught

The past several weeks our Sermons4Kids lessons have focused on the parables of Jesus. When Jesus wanted to teach people a lesson, his lesson quite often begins with, "The kingdom of heaven is like ______".  You can fill in the blank! Matthew 13:34 says, "Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable." Later in that chapter, after telling several parables, Jesus asked his listeners, "Have you understood all these things?"

"Yes," they replied. And that is why Jesus taught using parables!

When I first began teaching children, I spent most of my preparation time looking at the things around me. When something caught my eye, I would ask myself, "How could I use that to teach the children something about Jesus?" Almost all of my lessons began by showing the children an object and asking things such as what is it, how does it work, and what can it do for us? Then I would segue into the Bible lesson by saying something like, "That reminds me of something that happened in our Bible lesson today."

Jesus taught in parables, object lessons, and stories so that people would understand what he was trying to teach them.  Wouldn't it be a good idea for us to teach the same way? I have seen many teachers lose the children because they didn't engage their imagination in that first few minutes of the lesson. The right object will get you off on the right foot to learning about Jesus.

If that's not the way you're teaching, try it!

Saturday, May 06, 2017

Fond Memories of Days Past

Some of you who are reading this may not know that I am a retired school teacher. I taught music in El Paso and Clyde Texas while also serving as Minister of Music in local churches. What wonderful memories I have of those days. Those memories are brought to mind at this time of year as we receive announcements of graduation, wedding invitations, birth announcements, and other notices of milestones in the lives of former students.

A couple of week's ago I attended a voice recital at Hardin-Simmons University and was thrilled to see three of my former students.  All three were majoring in music. A couple of days later I attended a concert presented by our local Civic Orchestra at the invitation of the principal trombonist who is also a former student of mine graduating from college with a major in Music this month.  Just a week later, I attended another voice recital at Hardin-Simmons to hear a former student present a solo recital.

Today, as I browsed my Facebook page, I was delighted to see a photo posted by another one of my students. The photo is of my students singing a song we used to sing in the first-grade music class at Clyde Elementary. A Thanksgiving song called "Five Fat Turkeys Are We."  It goes like this:


The children in the picture are now in college. A couple of them are studying to become teachers and one of them is in nursing school. I was blessed with some wonderful children when I was teaching, but the real joy comes in seeing what they have become as adults.

Thanks for the memories, kids!


Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord

On Easter Sunday 2017, “60 Minutes” ran a story about two doctors, Dr. Sanduc Ruit and Dr. Geoff Tabin, who have helped reverse blindness in more than 4 million around the globe. The doctors work in Burma, also known as Myanmar, performing surgery on people who have lost their sight due to cataracts.

Dr. Ruit uses a technique that requires no stitches. The surgery involves making a small incision and the lens inside the eye which has become cloudy is removed and replaced with an artificial lens. The two doctors started a lens factory that produces the artificial lens implants — for a fraction of the cost in the United States — and they have a hospital in Nepal that has trained hundreds of doctors and nurses in their technique.

The surgeons have operated in more than 20 countries, including North Korea and Ethiopia, and restored sight to 150,000. Four million others have regained their vision through surgery performed by doctors trained by the duo.

“For these advanced cataracts, I'm performing the same quality of surgery that I would be doing in America,” says Tabin, a professor at the University of Utah Medical School in Salt Lake City.

I find this story quite interesting since my wife and I have both had cataract surgery on both eyes and I can attest to the miraculous improvement the surgery made in our vision and we were nowhere near blind. The people these doctors are operating on are literally blind!

We cannot help but think of the healing power of Jesus when we hear stories such as this. We are reminded of the story of Blind Bartimaeus who sat begging on the streets of Jericho when he heard that Jesus was passing by. As Jesus passed by, Bartimaeus began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus replied.

Bartimaeus answered, "I want to see."

"Your faith has healed you," Jesus said — and immediately, Bartimaeus received his sight.

Jesus was filled with compassion for the physical needs of people, but he was even more concerned with their spiritual needs. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you and I would point others to the one who said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)

Friday, March 03, 2017

Lent—What's It All About?

Just as the month of February brings thoughts of Valentine Day and love to my mind, the month of March brings the season of Lent to my mind. Being a teacher at heart, I thought this would be a good time to take a little quiz to see how much we know about what Lent is all about. Here are some questions about the traditions of Lent and their significance. The correct answers can be found at the end of the blog, but don't peak before you finish the quiz!

1. The original meaning of  the word Lent is ______________________.
A. Easter
B. Fall
C. Spring

2, Lent begins on ________________.
A. Ash Wednesday
B. Good Friday
C. Maundy Thursday

3. The purpose of lent is ________________________________________.
A. to increase in God's favor
B. to examine oneself and grow in holiness
C. to seek the approval of others

4. Lent lasts for _________ days.
A. 2-3
B. 21
C. 40

5. Lent helps us to remember _________________________.
A. the end of John the Baptist's ministry
B. the period that Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness.
C. the transfiguration of Jesus.

6. The reason people give up something during lent is ___________________.
A. to show off for their friends
B. to deny self
C. to lose weight

7. On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a _______________.
A. white horse
B. chariot
C. donkey

Well, now you may check the answers at the bottom of this blog.  How did you do?  I hope that, if you did well, your heart doesn't swell with pride.  If it does, you have missed the true meaning of Lent. Lent is not a season where we earn God's approval by our good works and personal sacrifice. In fact, it is the opposite. It is a time when we strive to grow in a deeper knowledge of God's love and prepare our hearts for a deeper understanding of the miracle of his grace poured out on Easter.

Answers: 1. C 2. A 3. B 4. C 5. B 6. B 7. C

Sunday, February 12, 2017

The True Meaning of Love

The month of February is synonymous with love. Valentine Day is definitely a favorite holiday of children.  I remember the excitement I felt in my childhood as I addressed cards to all of my classmates.

As a child, Valentine Day was not so much about "love" as it was about "like." It was a time to give friends a card to let them know that I liked them and receive cards from friends to say that they like me too. And of course, I looked forward with great anticipation to those valentines that might come with a chocolate kiss or a heart-shaped lollipop attached.

As a teacher of children, Valentine Day provides us with a great opportunity to teach them about the true meaning of love - the love that we learn about in God's Word. Probably the best definition we find for love is found in the "love chapter" of the Bible. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-6 tells us that “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever.”

Of course, there are many other verses in Bible that teach us about love.  Here are a few:

  • Hebrews 13:1-2: “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers.”
  • 1 John 3:11: ”For this is the message you heard from the beginning: we should love one another.”
  • John 13:34-35: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
  • 1 John 4:8: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
  • 1 John 3:16-18: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lie down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."
  • John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

It is easy for children, and even adults, to love friends and those who show love and kindness to us. Jesus, however, went much further than that. Jesus taught us that we should love our enemies and those who persecute us.

  • Matthew 5:43-45: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.

What a wonderful world it would be if we would practice the kind of love that Jesus taught us. The love of true children of the Heavenly Father!

Thursday, January 19, 2017

The KISS Principle for Effective Children's Sermons

I am often asked for the secret to a successful children's sermon.  It really isn't a secret at all. We have all heard of the KISS principle — Keep It Simple S*****! No! No! I would never say that! Even small children know that the final word that most people use in the KISS principal is not a word that we should ever use in addressing one another. When I was teaching school, a child came to me one day and whispered, "David said the S word." Even to this child, the word S***** was not a nice word. So, here is my KISS principle: Keep It Short & Simple.

I have heard teachers deliver a great children's sermon only to spoil its effectiveness because they didn't know when to quit. I knew a pastor one time who was famous for his eighteen-minute sermons. When people asked him about it, he explained, "Few people ever hear anything you say after eighteen minutes."  If the adult attention span is eighteen minutes, how long do you think the attention span of a six-year-old is? My guess — about five minutes.

My usual format for a children's sermon is to begin with an object that can be used to illustrate the truth of the lesson. I like to use an object because it is a good way to get the children's attention right off the bat. It is best if it is an object that the children are familiar with because that helps to get the children actively engaged in the lesson.  After the introduction and a brief discussion of the object, the teacher should segue into the spiritual application of the lesson by saying something like, "You know that reminds me of something that Jesus said in our Bible lesson today."

A good example of this technique is a recent lesson called "A Recipe for Happiness." In the first part of the lesson we talk about what a recipe is and actually follow a recipe to create a tasty trail mix treat.  We then segue into the lesson by saying, "Did you know that Jesus gave us a recipe for living a happy life?" The application then is a lesson on the beatitudes.

Finally, it is important for the teacher to be on the child's level. The most common place for the children's sermon is on the chancel steps. If the children are seated on the steps, the teacher should be seated there as well. If you are in a classroom setting and the children are in chairs, the teacher should also be seated. It is also important to use vocabulary that is on the level of the children. We adults sometimes use theological terms that we use every day, but children don't understand.

Sermons for adults often fit into the mold "Three Points and a Poem." A really effective children's sermon should have one main point that you really want the children to take home with them. So, when you meet the children at the chancel steps, remember KISS. KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE.