"Do not just hear the Word of God and think hearing is enough. DO what it says!" James 1:22

Friday, October 29, 2010

Luke 11:13

Lesson 12 Memory Work

"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
Luke 11:13

Thursday, October 28, 2010

What will God do...

Acts 9:31-11:18
During our Wrap Up of Lesson 11 today,
I reminded my class or our very first day of CBS.
See this post here... First Day Activity

And to help Mrs. McKain's class better understand
what some of my class might have felt
with that first day activity,
everyone was lined up and then
"selected" to stand in two different groups.
Neither group was "labeled" as good or bad
but the students could tell by my bodily expressions
which group was the group you "wanted" to be in.
(It's amaizng how our body language
speaks sometimes so much louder than our actual words.)
I will explain this activity later in my post.

Through Peter, God healed Aeneas as we read in Acts 9:34.
God healed Aeneas because He loved Aeneas.
Through Peter, God raised Tabitha from the dead
because He loved Tabitha.

The students were asked if God decides NOT
to heal someone or just lets someone die,
does this mean He doesn't love them?
Absolutely not.
So why do we not see more of God's healing?

Was God trying to get Aeneas's attention?
(Many of the students thought "yes.")
Acts 9:35 says "All those who lived in Lydda
and Sharon saw him (Aeneas) and turned to the Lord."
Hmmm... think about that.
Consider whose attention God was trying to get.

What about Tabitha?
Did God bring her back to life just to get HER attention?
In Acts 9:42 we read how her resurrection became
"known all over Joppa, and many people
believed in the Lord."
Again, whose attention did God actually get?

I have no doubt God got the attentions of Aeneas and Tabitha
just as He certainly got the attention of Mr. Robert Mouser
who generously shared
his resurrection story with us this morning.
But think of the many people in Lydda, Sharon, and Joppa
(as well as New Albany, Indiana)
whose attentions were directed to the Lord
because of these amazing miracles. 

God's love for us is so strong, He will do
EXTREMELY POWERFUL THINGS
just to get our attention
so that we know how much He loves us.

In Acts 10:14, when the Lord told Peter
to kill and eat unclean animals,
Peter said, "Surely not, Lord!
I have never eaten anything not pure and not clean!"
Jews thought about talking to Gentiles
the same way Peter thought about eating something unclean...
"Surely NOT!"

God kept some things like certain animals,
certain people, and certain activities OUT of the
Jewish people so they would be different, set apart, clean and
PURE.
"He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth."  Isaiah 53:7

Jesus is referred to as "the Lamb of God."
In the Old Testament, a lamb from each family was given
to God as a way to say "I'm sorry for my sins."
Not just any lamb!  It had to be the BEST lamb.

"When anyone brings from the herd or flock
a fellowship offering to the LORD
to fulfill a special vow or as a freewill offering,
it must be without defect
or blemish to be acceptable."  Leviticus 22:21

Jesus decided to say "I'm sorry" for YOUR sins (and mine.)
He is the perfect, PURE Lamb
and the last Lamb to be given as a sacrifice.

"[ Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All ]
The law is only a shadow
of the good things that are coming
—not the realities themselves.
For this reason it can never,
by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year,
make perfect those who draw near to worship."
Hebrews 10:1-3

For Jesus to have come into our world (and our lives,)
He had to come from a clean and pure people.
With certain restrictions,
God kept the Jewish people a clean and pure people.
In Acts 10:9-16, God was explaining to Peter
these restrictions were "lifted"
("the sheet was immediately taken back to heaven" verse16)
or no longer necessary since Jesus had now come into the world.

At first, being with the Gentiles was very uncomfortable
for Peter, just like our activity earlier
was a bit uncomfortable for the students.
How blessed we are that God doesn't "pick and choose"
who to give the gift of Salvation!!!
God wants ALL people to know how much He loves them.
That is why He sent Peter to talk to the Gentiles.
And THAT is why He sent His one and only Son, Jesus.

God's love for us is so strong, He will do
EXTREMELY POWERFUL THINGS
just to get our attention
so that we know how much He loves us.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Lessons 9 and 10

Acts 8
Our Acts Lessons 9 and 10 Wrap Ups came from Mrs. McKain.  Here is God's message through her...

"Acts 8:
Does everyonek know what a seek and find puzzle is?
What do you try to do?


What are these (instructions-they tell you what to do), What is this box (that is where all the letters are for the words), What are the words at the bottom (that is where it tells you what you are looking for).


In the box of the letters all the information we need to find the words are there, we just have to be able to sort out what exactly we need. But to really make sure our answers are right we need to know what words we are searching for. Think if we were only given the square box, we would have no directions, and no words to find. We wouldn't know what we were looking for, or what really we were to do.


Imaging the bible as a seek and find. All the information is there but sometimes we need some guidance; maybe that is our pastor, your mom or dad, or Mrs G, or maybe someone else.


Philip was sent by God to the eunoch to help him understand the meaning of what he was reading. Philip asked if he understood what he was reading and the eunoch replied, how can i without a teacher. We must have someone help us understand and we can help others understand. When God gives you the faith to believe and the knowledge to understand what He has done, He wants you to share what you have learned and know.

Philip was given an amazing gift, he knew the scriptures. Know that God wants you to use your gifts to help others as well. We need to lead people to Life's Instruction book- THE HOLY BIBLE. We should be like the words at the bottom of a seek and find, there to guide people to the one and only Jesus Christ.


Acts 9:1-30
Acts 9:Obey God Even When It Doesn't Make Sense


Divide kids into 4 groups. Give each a sheet of cardstock.
If they ask questions say only the directions the group was given.


Directions:
Group 1: Draw and color an oval, or like a round race track
Group 2: Draw 2 giant hills side by side
Group 3: Draw a long, straight road along the bottom of the board and draw a tall, skinny building at the beginning and end of the road, and a tall skinny building in the middle of the road
Group 4: Draw the body and 2 legs of a stick man


Thank you for following my directions. It may not make any sense to you but we will find out later how it will all fit.

We learned about a man named Ananias who got a special assignment from God to go to Saul. Ananias go the job because he was a disciple. Now Ananias was called to go to Saul and to heal him.

Do you guys remember who saul was?

-Christian killer, stoning and stephen, blind...


Ananias was a little scared to go see him and told God (v13-14). The Lord then reassured him saying (v15-16). Instead of Ananias continuing his questions and doubts, HE WENT. Not only did Ananias go, but approached Saul as BROTHER... much like we would say hey buddy whats up!


Ananias didnt have to go, he could have told God to find someone else, or completely have ignored God. But he didn't he went!


Ananias go directions that didn't make much sense to him, but he was given a choice either to do, or ignore what God asked him to do. Let's look at our posters together to understand a little better what Ananais did...


(representative from each group, in no order to come and describe their groups directions.)


What clues does this give us about what Ananias did?
-Went through cities, through mountains, tried to go fast, walked...


(move kids around to where posters say OBEY)


What does the posters tell you he did now?


OBEY OBEY OBEY


It is clear Ananais obeyed what God had told him to do, even though he had no idea why. He trusted God and went.


Are there teimes when it is hard for you to obey?
-mom and dad, school

What are some of the things God asks you to do?


What should we do when God asks?


Homework: TO LOOK UP JEREMIAH 42:6"

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Isaiah 53:5

Lesson 9 Memory Work

"He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed."
Isaiah53:5

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Bestest Pasta and More

This recipe was created when I was
looking to "change it up" with smoked sausage.
It was a HUGE hit with everyone in the family.
I asked what we should call it and
one of the children piped up and said,
"Momma's Bestest Pasta!"


Momma's Bestest Pasta
1/2 to 1 tsp basil leaves, crushed
1/4C parmesan cheese, grated
1 lb smoked sausage, sliced in coin size pieces
8oz cooked bowtie pasta
2C fancy shredded mozzerella cheese

In large skillet, combine all ingredients except noodles. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Place cooked pasta in a 9x9 dish and pour liquid mixture over noodles. Top with mozzerella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until mozzerella cheese is melted.

Note: Sometimes I will thicken the sauce with 1TBsp of corn starch and sauce before pouring over noodles.

Serve alongside salad with Veggie Veggie Dip (recipe follows) and ranch toast (recipe follows.)


Veggie Veggie Dip:
3 TBsp ranch powder
3/4C skim milk
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped

To the ranch powder, wisk small amount of milk at a time. Once powder and milk are mixed well, add chopped veggies. Use to dip other veggies into or add small amount to desired salad. Makes 16oz.


Ranch Toast:
2 sticks margarine, room temperature
3 TBsp ranch dressing powder
bread slices

Mix ingredients well. Spread butter mixture generously over both sides of bread slices. Lightly broil both sides. Serve toasty warm.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Spelling Bee

Acts 6-7
Do we BELIEVE what we KNOW is TRUE?

Today in class, we had a
Spelling Bee.
This was no ordinary Spelling Bee!
The students had to spell words such as dog, cat, and me!
And believe it or not... some of them failed... big time.
Hmmm... do we BELIEVE what we KNOW is TRUE?
But I'll tell you more about that later in the post.

After the Spelling Bee,
the students watched a little play put on by
2LD (Little Lego Dude) and the people of Barbieville.
2LD was crazy about spelling.
He just LOVED words and he really enjoyed spelling them.
But the people of Barbieville didn't believe in spelling words.
So... they bombarded 2LD with marshmallows.
Sad, I know.  he he he
But 2LD... he just kept right on spelling...
until...he was so covered in marshmallow goo that he disappeared.

Sound like a familiar story?  A bit like Stephen's story?
I asked the classes if anyone had every seen the movie
Akeelah and the Bee.  Excellent movie!!!
Akeelah spelled much bigger and more complicated
words than dog, cat, and me.
She was goooood.
She won the state competition with the word
P-U-L-C-H-R-I-T-U-D-E.
She knew everything about words...
how to spell them, where they originated (or came from,)
and even how to use them in a sentence!
I asked the students how they thought
Akeelah knew how to spell so many large words.
Someone said because she had the Holy Spirit within her
but we don't know that for sure.
God can do many great things through people
who don't even know who His Son is.
Then someone said... because she STUDIED.
Yes!  Akeelah studied ALOT.  
You can say she treated words like they were her FRIENDS.
And she SPENT TIME WITH HER FRIENDS.

How did Stephen know so much about
all those people from the Bible?
Those stories were at least 400 years old!
He studied.  And he did even more than that...
He spent time with HIS FRIEND, JESUS.
But the Jewish leaders studied God's Word also.
What was different?
The Jewish leaders did not SPEND TIME WITH JESUS.
They did not KNOW Jesus as their FRIEND.

Stephen KNEW HE WAS RIGHT because he KNEW Jesus.

Earlier, I shared with you a bit about our Spelling Bee.
Each time a student spelled a word correctly,
I threw a marshmallow at them, told them the answer was wrong,
and told them to sit down.
It only took two or three students having to sit down
before the other students tried to spell their words
incorrectly or backward or just plain goofy.

Do we BELIEVE what we KNOW to be TRUE?

I was somewhat surprised at how the students
began to think they had to "guess" at the spelling
 or spell it to "please" me.
They couldn't figure out why I would say
the correct spellings were wrong.
So they tried to change the spellings.

Stephen didn't change.
I'm sure he was frustrated with the Jewish leaders
for not believing the Truth of Jesus Chist
when HISTORY pointed directly to Jesus.
But he never changed his story
(like the students were changing their spellings.)
Stephen KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
And he was willing to die for it.

At the end of the movie, "Akeelah and the Bee,"
Akeelah says, "You know that feeling where everything feels right;
where you don't have to worry about yesterday or tomorrow;
where you feel safe and you know you're doing the best you can?
There's a word for that feeling.
That word is LOVE.  L-O-V-E.

I know that word.  I know that feeling.
I know and believe in LOVE because I know Jesus
as my Savior, my King, and my FRIEND.
And I know Jesus loves me.
Stepen knew and believed in Jesus' love.
Stephen wanted the Jewish people to know that same Love.

What do YOU believe to be TRUE?
Do you KNOW what you BELIEVE is TRUE?
Do you KNOW Jesus and His love?
Have you trusted Him as your Savior today?

It is my prayer that each and every person who reads
this blog as well as every CBS student
will spend time getting to know Jesus better
so that they can be blessed to know and trust Him
or know and trust Him more.
"To me, living is Christ and
to die is gaining even more life with Him."
Phillipians 1:21

Monday, October 4, 2010

Phillipians 1:21

Lesson 8 Memory Work

"For to me, to live is Chirst and to die is gain."
Phillipians 1:21

We've got Spirit! How 'bout YOU?!

Acts 5
Mrs. McKain sent me a copy of her
Weekly Wrap Up
for Lesson 7 of last week's CBS.
Because I had to miss our gathering,
I regrettably had to miss God's fantastic message
through Mrs. McKain.
Here's what she had to say to the students...


"Some people get excited about things I don't understand at all,
like watching pro baseball on TV or golf.
But there are some things
that I get excited about that other's don't,
such as UK Wildcats and when there is tennis on tv.
We do not all get excited about the same things,
but we should all be excited about being Christians.
Life is filled with good and bad things.
What would everyone see about us
(as Christians) that would be exciting?
Wwe know we are going to heaven.
We are kind to one another, etc.

Why do you think the apostles' lives were exciting?
They got to tell people about Jesus.
They healed people, etc.

The apostles were not the only people excited,
but the people were too.
They brought all their sick and scared people out onto the streets
so they could see the apostles and be healed.

The joy they experienced is like no other
becuase it comes from only One Source.
That Source is GOD!!
The apostles got to witness people coming to Christ,
and performed miracles.
God's power is amazing.
That power that he gave the apostles
has not only helped the people in the Bible, but it helps us too.
Think about all the people in heaven...
that is because the apostles got excited after Jesus' death and
decided they were going to do what they were told to do.
We are all here studying because of them.

Luke descibes the apostles as rejoicing because
they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
Day after day in the temple courts and from house to house
they never stopped teaching and proclaiming
the Good News that Jesus is Christ (acts 5:41-42)

The apostles were so excited
to be preaching the Word of Jesus Christ
that they risked their lives.
Just earlier they had been arrested
and told never to speak in the Name of Jesus again,
but they returned to the same spot and
continued to spread the Word.
Nehemiah says the joy of the Lord is our strength.
We can be excited that we have the joy becuase God
 has given us the power to do so.

Are those around us seeing that joy for the Lord?

If the apostles could be rejoicing at such a scary time,
don't you think we could rejoice now?
Try this week to show people that you are excited
to be a Christian and you want everyone else
to experience the Joy of the Lord."   -Jessica McKain

Jessica also added,
"Everyone should be able to see
the excitement that we have (as Believers.)
We wear the sports teams shirts
and colors we like to let people know.
We should show that we are Christians as well."



It is my prayer that people around us and in our lives will see
-without a doubt-
exactly what "team" we are on
and that our "team Spirit" will shout our
enthusiasm for the Lord!

"At that, Jesus rejoiced in Spirit and said,
'I praise You Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because You have hidden these things from the
well educated "know-it-alls" and
revealed them instead to young Believers.
Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.'"
Luke 10:21