Filed under: Just for the kids!, Scripture, Uncategorized, Vertical Challenge
Homework for May 5, 2010:
unscramble: B L E S S I P O
Read: Matthew 17:14-27 and Mark 9:33-35
Scripture memory: “I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17
Did the goat yogurt taste different from what you're used to? Did you like it?
Only 2 more weeks of Vertical Challenge this year! Work hard on your memory verse & scrambled word. And don’t forget to read the scripture passage. Everyone who guesses the scrambled word will receive a gold chocolate coin. If you haven’t guessed it before and turn in your answer to me this week, you can win a bigger prize!
Hey, Vertical Challenge kids!
I am increasing the prizes for unscrambling the word! Beginning NEXT week, the first person to reply back CORRECTLY will win their choice of a Crocodile Dock foam standing figure for their bedroom, OR a Crocodile Dock poster! If you win, you must have your parents’ permission to pick one out (if they say “no”, you will still receive a piece of candy!). If you win, you may currently choose from : foam figures– Rocky, Flash, Blossom, or Tucker; posters– Belle, Tucker, Rocky, Jacques Le Croc, or Flash.
Will you choose Blossom? Or Tucker, Flash, or Chadder??
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1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you. James 5:1-6
How much stuff can you stuff this with?
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13Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. James 4:13-17
Life is like smoke from a match, quickly gone. Live today for God's glory.
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7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:7-10
Remember that last week we learned about some of the fruit of wisdom that comes from heaven? Do you remember what some of that fruit was? [let them list]
Do you remember from a couple of weeks ago that false wisdom that caused disorder and envy? This week we discover some of the fruit—some of the results of that false wisdom. We discover fights and quarrels— both physical and verbal conflicts. We discover our tongue being misused. We discover that our selfish ambitions lead to wounding others and coveting what they have.
James was writing this letter to a group of first century Christians. We don’t know what these fights and quarrels were about. It seems like James is bothered more by their selfish spirit and the bitterness of their quarrels than who was right and who was wrong. What do you think James would think about us twenty-first century Christians? Would he be bothered by our selfish spirit, our quarreling, our coveting what other people have, our impure motives? And did James know that our choices affect other people and not just ourselves?
There is a story in the Old Testament about someone who let his selfish desires and covetousness control him. And his poor choice led to some very serious problems for many other people…
Most of us have heard the story of the battle of Jericho. Remember that God told Joshua to have the Israelites march around the huge wall of Jericho one time a day for six days? And on the seventh day, they were to march around the wall seven times, blow their trumpets and shout, and the walls would fall down. Well, the Israelites obeyed God on this one and did exactly what he said, for this part anyway. Once the wall fell down, God told the Israelites to enter the city of Jericho and destroy it completely. They were not to leave anything alive or to take any plunder from the city, but to set it all aside for God. Well, this is where they messed up.
Well, not really they, but only one person. Achan. All of the Israelites obeyed what God told them to do, except Achan. Achan decided that some of the gold, silver and clothing from Jericho were worth keeping. He didn’t destroy them for God; instead, he hid them in his tent. “Out of all the treasure of Jericho, who would notice this little bit missing?” he thought. “I am just one man, taking just a tiny amount, what difference does it make? God will get most of it,” he justified. And so he told no one what he did.
So, the Israelites got ready to attack the next city, called Ai. It was a small city, more of a town really, and they weren’t too worried. Except, they didn’t win the battle! In fact, not only did the Israelites not defeat Ai, but many of their own men were killed! Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, couldn’t figure out how this could have happened! He sought the Lord’s answer.
The Lord replied that someone among the Israelites had kept part of the plunder from Jericho. He told Joshua to gather all of the Israelites and God would narrow them down to the guilty person. The next day, all of the Israelites gathered before Joshua. They each came before Joshua by tribes: Reuben, Simeon, Levi,… until the tribe of Judah was chosen. Then the tribe of Judah came before Joshua by clans, and God picked the clan of the Zerahites. Then the Zerahite clan came forward by families, and Zimris family was chosen. Zimris family came one at a time, and Achan was chosen.
Joshua told Achan that the guilt was narrowed down to him. Was Achan ready to confess? Achan did confess that he had taken some of the things devoted to God at Jericho. “I have sinned against the Lord!” he declared. “I coveted them and took them. They are hidden inside my tent.” Joshua sent people to Achan’s tent and sure enough, they found the stolen items!
Achan and all of his possession were taken outside the camp and stoned. Then, God told Joshua to take the army and attack Ai again. This time, they defeated Ai.
Unintended consequences. When Achan stole some wealth from Jericho, he was only thinking of himself. He coveted what he saw and disregarded God’s command. He certainly wasn’t thinking that what he did would affect other people. But his choice to seek his own pleasure caused the death of many fellow Israelites at the first battle of Ai. His choice caused the death of his entire family. And Achan’s choice led to his own death. Like Achan, so often we base our own decisions on what would make us—ourselves—happy. We covet—we wish we had what other people have. We fight and quarrel because of our desire to have more than we have. We ask things of God for the wrong motives. And we think only about what would make us happy, instead of considering others.
Wow, James sure convicts us here! What should we do? Let’s go back and remember what true wisdom that comes from heaven looks like. If we ask God for wisdom that is pure, peace-loving and considerate, and fill ourselves with true wisdom, then these results/fruits of our false wisdom won’t have any room left in our lives.
17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. James 3:17-18
Is our wisdom a mixture of purity, peace, consideration, submission, mercy, good fruit, impartiality, sincerity, and M&Ms?
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I was honored to hang out with you all last night… even if it was harder to quiet you all than it is the kids… raising my hand just didn’t work with you! Still, thanks for letting me come talk.
So, if any one was paying attention, I mentioned a good friend of mine, Joel Carillet, who writes a blog and takes some incredible photos from around the world. If you are interested in finding out more about the world beyond America, then check out his site (joelcarillet.com). Be warned– meeting faces and names and stories just might erase some of your (our) prejudice.
Check out the link on the left. Blessings.
7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
James 3:7-12
Clean or salty water?
What kind of person are you? Are you strong?
How do I know? I will only know that you are strong if you can show me. Can you lift something heavy? Okay, I believe you are a strong person because you showed me you could lift this heavy object.
Are you fast? . How do I know? I will only know that you are fast if you can show me. Can you beat the clock? If you can run from one end of the room to the other in under 10 seconds, then I will know you are fast.
What kind of person are you? Are you a generous person? How do I know? I will only know that you are generous if you can show me. Do you have something you can give away? What if I gave you three a piece of candy each? Are you generous? Can you show me?
What kind of person are you? Are you a considerate person? How do I know? I will only know that you are considerate if you can show me. Suppose an older person walked in to this room. How can you prove to me that you are considerate? Not bad, but are you only considerate to older people? How do I know you are considerate? Would you be considerate to a guest? Suppose a visitor walked in to this room, how would you prove to me you are considerate?
What kind of person are you? Are you a person who believes in Jesus, a person who has faith? How do I know? How can you prove to me that you have faith in Jesus? What can you do to show me?
The kind of words we use is important. We’ll find out more about that in some of our future lessons. What we say makes a difference. But what we do also says something about who we are. We can say, “I’m a baseball player” until we’re blue in the face, but saying “I’m a baseball player” doesn’t actually make us one. Until we actually go out on to the field, with a glove and catch and throw and hit the ball, do we become a baseball player.
That is how it is with our faith, too. It is important for us to say, “I believe in Jesus and what he did for me.” We actually use words like that to say what we call The Good Confession, which is something many people say before they get baptized. “I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and I take him to be my Lord and Savior.” That is important to say. But we don’t actually show that we mean it, until we, well, until we start showing it. Abraham showed his faith when he stepped out into the unknown, prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. Does anyone remember that story? We don’t actually prove that we are Christ-followers until we start showing it by what we do.
What about this woman, Rahab? Does anyone remember her story? Let’s look in Joshua 2. Well, after the Israelites left Egypt, they wandered in the desert for 40 years until they came to the edge of Canaan, the promised land. Joshua sent two spied in to Jericho to scope out the place, and they entered the city and went to the house of a woman who was a prostitute. Rahab hid the two spies when officials from the city came looking for them. Then, before helping them escape, she said to them, “Look, I know that God has given you people this land. I have seen how God took care of you in the desert, and have heard about what he did in Egypt. I know how God protected you from your enemies and gave you food to eat. I know that your God is going to destroy my city, Jericho. So because I have protected you, promise me that you will come and save me and my family when Jericho is destroyed.” So the spies promised and Rahab let them down the city walls on a rope from her window. Then she hung a scarlet cord from her window so they would know where to find her to rescue her. What an amazing faith she had. And how do we know she had faith? Well, she spoke it when she talked about the deeds God had already done. And she showed it by taking the risk of hiding the spies and helping them escape.
So James uses these two examples—of the Father of the faith, a great man—and a woman—a foreign prostitute, no less!—to show how faith becomes seen.
So how do I know you have faith? I see it in what you do, and in what you don’t do. I see that you have faith when you show me that you love God and you love your neighbor, when you show me you love people around you, both the lovable and the people who are different from you.
