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Children's Sermon
INTRODUCTION:
A.
You have had to sit through
many sermons aimed at your parents
B.
They will have to sit through
this one - just for you
C.
Always told that YOU need to be
like the ADULTS
1. The
Bible commands us to train you to be MATURE
Eph
6:4, "And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring
them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
2. Then,
after also dealing with other relationships, (slave/master, etc.) God tells us
WHY.....
Eph 6:10-13, "Finally,
be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His
might. Put on the full armor of God,
that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
places. Therefore, take up the full
armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the
evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."
3. The
older are to teach the younger......because of maturity
a. we have been where you are
b. and seen much of life that you haven't
D.
But, did you know that the Bible teaches
that we ADULTS need to learn to be more like YOU?
Mat 18:1-4, "At that time the disciples came to Jesus,
saying, 'Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' And He called a child to Himself and set him
before them, and
said, 'Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children,
you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven
'Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven.'"
E.
Reason for this lesson is to
tell you how important you are to the church here
1. What
the church of the future will be like depends on YOU
2. Don't
wait until you get older to start taking your service to Christ seriously
F.
Paul wrote to Timothy, a young
preacher
1 Tim 4:12, "Let
no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love,
faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe."
1. Timothy
was not a child, but he was young
2. Some
people will always overlook you because you are younger
a. not God....you are important to Him
b. you are important to the church
YOU ARE
IMPORTANT BECAUSE OF YOUR HUMILITY
A.
Remember Matthew 18:4, Jesus
said, "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
1. Today,
your friends, and possibly some adults are telling you
"YOU
HAVE RIGHTS"...."STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS"
"YOU
DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOUR PARENTS"
2. But
God said....Eph 6:1-4, "Children, obey your parents in the
Lord, for this is right
HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with
a promise), THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH
YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.
And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up
in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
a. explain passage
b. parents are not
always right
1) need to be humble
enough to say, "I'm sorry"
2) but you need to obey
"BECAUSE THIS IS RIGHT"
3) "COMMANDMENT
WITH A PROMISE"-
"THAT
IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH"
c. look around at your friends who rebel
against their parents (they also rebel against God)
d. they wind up hooked on drugs, or dead from drinking
and driving, or in jail, or without an education or job prospects....
e. Do
you want to have a happy life, "AND
THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH?"
God said, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right HONOR YOUR
FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU
MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.
BE HUMBLE....SIMPLY TRUST IN GOD.....BE
THE EXAMPLES FOR US....AND YOUR FRIENDS.
YOU ARE
IMPORTANT TO GOD
A.
God chose the parent/child
relationship to REVEAL HIMSELF
B.
Do you care about God?? What does your life show God??
1. What
is important is not what your parents believe you to be
2. Or
what your friends think you are
3. BUT
WHAT DOES GOD THINK OF YOU??
Prov 20:11, "It
is by his deeds that a child distinguishes himself If his conduct is pure and
right".(what
a child DOES shows what kind of person he/she is)
THEREFORE…..
Prov 6:20-23, "My
son, observe the commandment of your father (do what he says), And do not forsake (don't leave) the teaching of your mother; Bind them
continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck. When you walk about, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; And when you
awake, they will talk to you. For the
commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is light; And reproofs (correction) for discipline are
the way of life,"
C.
When you were small - parents
always saying "NO" - physical dangers
1. Teaching
you HOW to get around in the PHYSICAL WORLD
2. How
to feed yourself, dress yourself, live independant of
them
3. You
may help with a younger brother or sister now...so much to learn…….(they are watching you)
D.
When you got a little older you
begin to feel more "grown up".....but
your parent's job is only half done.
1. You
may have learned the physical dangers and HOW to get around in the PHYSICAL
WORLD......BUT......
2. You
need to know about the spiritual dangers
3. How
to live in God's spiritual world.....not destroyed by Satan in his
4. How
to feed yourself spiritually, etc....and to be able to live on your own
5. THINK
ABOUT IT.... Your parents want you to go to heaven……....listen to them......
6. The
wisest man....Solomon said:
Prov 12:1, "Whoever loves discipline loves
knowledge, But he who hates reproof (hates being
corrected) is stupid."
Prov 13:1, "A
wise son (child) accepts his father's
discipline, But a scoffer (thinks his parents are wrong, or stupid, or
don't understand) does not listen to
rebuke (to the parents correction)."
Prov 15:5, "A
fool rejects his father's discipline, But he who
regards reproof (being corrected) is
prudent (wise, smart)."
Prov 23:19, "Listen,
my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the
way."
YOU ARE TO RESPECT
YOUR PARENTS
Who do you respect? God?? Your Parents?? Your friends??
Eph 6:1-3, "Children,
obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the
first commandment with a promise), THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT
YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH."
Satan wants you to follow him.......he
uses your friends, they are of the world.......
God wants you to follow Him.......He
teaches you through your parents.....
Eph
6:4, "And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring
them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
God commands you.......
Lev 19:3, "Every
one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am the LORD your
God."
AND YOUR PARENTS HAVE THE GOD-GIVEN DUTY
TO PUNISH YOU WHEN YOU DON'T RESPECT AND OBEY THEM
Prov 13:24, "He
who spares his rod (=ROD OF CORRECTION; I.E. SPANKING) hates his son, But he
who loves him disciplines him diligently."
Prov 19:18, "Discipline
your son (YOUR CHILD) while there is hope, And do not
desire his death."
Prov 23:13, "Do not hold back discipline from the
child, Although you beat him with the rod, he will not die."
Your parents
have the right (the duty) to FORCE YOU to obey----and PUNISH YOU if you
don't!!
parents must obey
God
What is
the result of disobedience??? What does
God feel??
LISTEN…
Deu
21:18-21, "If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey
his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen
to them, then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the
elders of his city at the gateway of his home
town. And they shall say to the elders
of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us,
he is a glutton and a drunkard.' Then all the men of his city shall stone
him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all
Rom
ADVICE
FROM A FRIEND.....ME
(YOU CAN
COME TO ME)
A.
One of the most common
complaints from kids..... "MY PARENTS DON'T TRUST ME"
1.
Most valued trait of any
relationship....TRUST...
2. I
know a young man personally who at 13 (even earlier) he was slipping out of the
house at night
.....lying
about where he was during the day
....skipping
school
.....always
lying to cover up his rebellion.......
HE
COMPLAINED TO ME..."My parents don't trust me!"
3. If
you complain that your parents don't trust you
......be
honest with yourself
......have
you earned that trust??
4. If
your parents always lied to you
.......took
drugs and hid it from you
....slipped
out after you went to bed .....and lied about it in
the morning.
....was having an affair & lying about it WOULD YOU TRUST
THEM??
B.
Here are a few suggestions if
you want your parents to trust you
1. BE CAREFUL WITH THE TRUTH
Always
tell the truth, no matter how difficult the situation, or how tempted you are
to lie, or how much trouble you think you will avoid by lying....You may "get away" with it at the moment,
but you know you have lied; and God knows you have lied; and sooner or later
others will know....and loose respect for you.
a. Prov. 6:16-19
.... lying is an abomination (extreme hatred) to God
b. Rev. 21:8.....all liars will have their
place in the lake of fire (Hell)
2. BE
CAREFUL WITH YOUR PROMISES
Eccl.
5:2-6 deals with making promises to God and not giving much thought to these
promises.....but this is good advice in our dealing with others. Don't be so free and easy with promises that
you don't keep. And if you make a
promise....do all that is within your power to keep them.
3. BE
CAREFUL WITH YOUR FRIENDS
If
we choose friends that are untrustworthy we suffer in two ways:
a. they will influence your behavior
(1
Cor
b. their reputation
will cause others to wonder about us
Psa 40:4, "How blessed is the man who has made
the LORD his trust, And
has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood."
C.
I want to talk to our young
people who have not obeyed the gospel
1. It
is a serious thing to reach the age of accountability......
a. If
you can understand this lesson.....and care about what God thinks of you
.....understand
that following God is necessary for you to go to heaven
.....and it bothers you to do wrong
b. When
you reach this point in life you must make a choice
.....Follow God or Satan
.....No choice = following Satan
c. If
you die in this condition you will go to Hell
d. God
doesn't want this to happen....sent Jesus to die for you
2. For
you to accept His forgiveness you must:
a. Believe
the gospel...that Jesus is the Son of God, etc.
Mark
DO YOU
BELIEVE??
b. Repent
(change your attitude....follow God...His word....from now on)
Acts 17:30, "Therefore having overlooked the times of
ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent,"
DO YOU
WANT TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT??
I DIDN'T
SAY ARE YOU SURE YOU WILL DO WHAT IS RIGHT!!
ARE YOU
WILLING TO WORK HARD AT FOLLOWING JESUS??
c. Confess Jesus as
the Son of God
Rom 10:9-10, "if
you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God
raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved;
for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with
the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
.....you are making a vow to follow
Jesus......because He is the Son of God.....
ARE YOU
READY TO CLAIM HIM AS YOUR SAVIOR??
TO UNASHAMEDLY EXPRESS YOUR BELIEF IN HIM??
d. Then
you are ready to be Baptized....wash away your sins
Mark 16:16, "He
who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has
disbelieved shall be condemned."
WHAT ARE
YOU WAITING FOR??
SATAN HAS
YOU NOW!!
THE LORD
PLEADS WITH YOU TO COME TO HIM!