Kids Are Cooking 2-23-15

The almost finished project.  The birds' nests awaiting their eggs.

Caleb & Franklin clowning around. 

Kristin & Ella focused.

Franklin

The cooking crew.

JJ

Sophia

Bible Session Notes from 2-23-15

Knowing God’s Will

My notes from speaker Jeremy Drew

·        Bible Drill: Proverbs 3:5-6

·        Bible Drill: Jeremiah 29:11

·        What is God’s will for our lives?

·        God’s will is different for each one of us.  How do we figure out what God’s will is?

·        Bible Drill: Philippians 4:6 - PRAY

·        Bible Drill: I Thessalonians 5:16-18 – To know God’s Will

o   Rejoice always

o   Pray

o   Give thanks

·        Bible Drill: Matthew 28:18-20 – God’s Will for all of us

o   Go & Teach Disciples

SUMMARY

We are ALL unique and God’s will is different for each of us.

We are ALL Christians and God’s basic will is the same for all of us.

Rejoice – Pray – Give Thanks – Go & Teach

Bible Session Notes from 2-16-2015

The First Commandment

Adapted From: Ten to Grow On By Sandra Klaus

·     

        Review:

o   How many commandments are there? 10

o   The 10 Commandments are found in the Old Testament and many are repeated in the New Testament.  In the New Testament, the 10 Commandments are summed up in how many simple commands? 2

o   What are they?

§  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind.

§  Love your neighbor as yourself.

o   What is the purpose of the Ten Commandments for us today? They help us please him and make us and those around us happy. 

·        Read Exodus 20:1-3

·        What is the first commandment? You shall have no other gods before me.

·        This means that nothing should be more important to us than God.  We shouldn’t worship God and anything else.  We shouldn’t worship God and money.  We shouldn’t worship God and people’s opinions of us.  We shouldn’t worship God and buddah.  We shouldn’t worship God and… you fill in the blank.

 

·        We should only have our eyes set on the one true and living God who created heaven and earth. No one came before him and no one will outlive him.  No one and nothing is greater than our God.  He deserves our worship and love.

·        Honoring, worshiping and loving God is the key to keeping the other 9 commandments.  If you truly have your eyes and heart focused on God, it makes not doing or doing the other 9 commandments so much easier. 

·        Why would we ever let anything become more important in our lives than God?  Maybe we get distracted and forget about God.  Maybe we get mad at God and stop listening to him.  Maybe we start looking at the things around us or the people around us, and those things and people become more important to us than God.  

o   Money

o   Work

o   Fun

o   Sports

o   Friends

o   Bad behavior

·        Sometimes we just choose to do what we want to do, no matter if it’s right or wrong, and that has now become more important than what God wants.  When we choose to do our own thing despite knowing what God says about it, then we are putting ourselves before God.  In essence, we are the “other god” that we are putting ahead of God in our own life.

·        The First Commandment clearly says that we should have no other gods before HIM, which means that NOTHING should be more important than God in our lives. The more we think about God, pray to God, listen to God, read His words in the Bible, and worship him by telling him in prayer, song, and our actions how wonderful He is, the easier it is to put him first. 

·        I’ve had a rough couple of weeks and I haven’t been gung ho chipper gal ready to take on the world.  This morning I realized that I had been trying to fix everything in my life on my own.  Yes, I’ve been praying and reading my Bible, but I’ve been “doing” the work of trying to figure everything out myself.  This morning I literally kneeled down with my face to the ground and just told God how wonderful He is and that I wanted Him to be in control.  I had become my own god by trying to fix everything myself.  I had failed at following the First Commandment! So, I told God I was sorry.  Guess what?  God forgave me.  Just like he does every time I mess up.  The Ten Commandments exist not as a measuring stick to see how well you are doing and whether or not you’re going to heaven or hell.  As we discussed last week, the Ten Commandments exist now to help us please God and make us, Him and those around us happier.  Today has been a much better day than any day of the past two weeks.  Praise Jesus!

·        What things have you made “other gods” in your life?

Bible Drill:

I John 2:15

Deuteronomy 6:5

Joshua 24:24

Joshua 22:5

Matthew 22:37

Mark 12:30

Luke 16:13

Deuteronomy 11:1

Deuteronomy 5:7

Luke 10:27

Joshua 23:11

Bible Session Notes from 2-9-15

Introduction to the Ten Commandments

Copied From: Ten to Grow On By Sandra Klaus

·        After leaving Egypt, the Israelites camped in the desert near Mount Sinai, waiting to hear God’s plan for them.  Suddenly bright lightning flashed through the sky, a rumbling thunder shook the earth, and the sharp blast of a trumpet pierced the air.  A thick cloud covered Mount Sinai.  The people ran away in fear.  They begged Moses to talk to God for them.

·        Moses met with God and listened as God spoke the Ten Commandments, the laws he wanted his people to follow. Later, God wrote these laws on two stone tablets and gave them to Moses.  He did not want the people to forget these important rules.

·        But the people of Israel couldn’t obey God’s laws perfectly.  They were born with sin in their hearts, just like we were.  Not one of us can keep God’s laws perfectly.  Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (KJV)

·        God knew we could not keep from sinning, but he loved us so much that even before the world began he though up a plan to help the Israelites and us.  God sent his only Son, the Lord Jesus, to live a perfect life here on earth.  Jesus followed God’s rules perfectly, so he didn’t have to be punished.  But, because he loves us, he took the punishment and death that we deserved for breaking God’s laws.

·        Before Jesus came to earth, God allowed people to make sacrifices of animals. The blood of the animals could not pay for their sin.  But it was a picture of the sacrifice Jesus would someday make on the cross.  God accepted these sacrifices for sin until Jesus came.

·        Even though the commandments were first given to God’s special people, the Israelites, they are good laws for us today. They are almost all repeated in the New Testament, along with further instruction on how we should live for God.

·        God’s laws are not simply a list of do’s and don’ts; they are the keys to our happiness and well-bring. The first four commandments describe our responsibility to God – to have no other gods, to make no idols, to honor God’s name, and to remember his day. The remaining six commandments describe our responsibility to other people – to our parents, to neighbors, and even to our enemies.

·        When Jesus came, he condensed the Ten Commandments into two: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matt. 22:37-39).

·        God’s laws are good.  They help us please him and make us and those around us happy.  But remember, not one of us can keep all the commandments.  Not one of us can be good enough to get to heaven.  The only way to get to heaven is by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, and receiving him as our Savior.  Jesus said, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).  If you’ve never believed Jesus’ promise and received him as your Savior before, you can do that today. 

Bible Session Notes from 2/2/15

The Word Is a Lamp

2/2/15

·       I read a quote awhile back that strikes me even today.  It said, “The person with an unread Bible has no advantage over the person who doesn’t own one.”

·       I have mentioned several times how blessed we are to live in a country where we are allowed to gather like this and talk about God and read our Bibles.  According to the US Department of State International Religious Freedoms Report for 2013 (http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm#wrapper), there are more than 10 countries listed who are restricting religious activity, barring persons from religious meetings, actively harassing, beating and imprisoning followers of various religions. This is not just an assault on Christians but other religions as well.  The point is you do NOT live in one of those countries listed!

·       With that in mind, I ask you, are you taking advantage of the opportunity you have been given?  Are you reading your Bible?

·       Why read the Bible?

o   God speaks to us when we read his word.

o   This is how we can know what God wants us to do, how to behave, and how much he loves us.

o   We get help in overcoming temptations.  We become equipped to handle life.

o   We discover God in a way that trains us how to share God with others

·       Proverbs 6:23 For these commands and this teaching are a lamp to light the way ahead of you.

·       Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (KJV)

·       Ephesians 5:15-17 Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

·       Are you making the most of every opportunity?  Do you understand what the Lord’s will is?

·       I have spoken to you many times about spending time reading God’s word.  ARE YOU DOING IT?

·       Sometimes we don’t do what we know we should be doing, because we do not have the tools or directions we need to do it.

·       Here is a simple daily Bible reading schedule you can follow.  http://sandstreams.com/haven/character/daily/s1.html