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Look on the Fields
The air conditioner is running full blast. The ceiling fans whirl overhead.
Condensation on tall glasses of sweet tea run down and puddle on the table.
The slather of golden butter melts and dribbles off Grandma's steaming hot,
yeast rolls. The chair is soft and comfortable, very comfortable. Put you to
sleep comfortable.
His voice is jarring and almost alarming. "Look on the fields. The harvest is
ripe". We smile and nod our head in agreement. Some probably offer a hearty
"Amen. Preach it, Brother." But the house is cool, the fields are hot, the ice
tea is refreshing and the harvest is grueling. There's not a trace of comfort in
the fields; only tedious, back breaking work.
As we see the events of the middle East unfold on the news, it is as if we
can see The Master bend over the banister of heaven and whisper to the church,
"Look on the fields."
It is very easy to get comfortable. It is easy to get wrapped up in things that make
us feel good. It is easy to lose sight of the purposes of God
for a believers life when we live in a society that is luxury crazed. With the
heart of a shepherd, The Master points "Look on
the fields."
The murder and rape on the news is alarming. So we shut our ears. The divorce
rate is staggering but we accept it as the norm. Children are rebellious so we
blame the schools or we switch the TV channel with a Scarlett O'Hara type promise to think about
it tomorrow. But The Master insists, "Look on the
fields."
It is time for the church to look around. Stop, Look and Listen. It is time for you to see the needs
of people around you; Time to hear the cry; Time to feel the pain. Yes, it makes
you
uncomfortable to see, to feel and to touch. But God hasn't called you to be comfortable. He has called
you to comfort the afflicted. He hasn't called you to lick salty butter off
light, fluffy, yeast rolls. He has called you to be salty so you can take people to the
living water where they can be refreshed.
Yes, we live in dark times. A boy in my church was killed by a stray bullet
from
a drive-by-shooting. Divorce has ripped the hearth and heart of people I love.
Alcohol has chained and robbed too many in my community for me to sit
comfortable. These are signs of dark times. Dark times have hit your
community. Its time to take a look. It's time to feel the pulse of your
community. "Look on the fields".
Dark times call for a timely light. He has called you to be a light so you
can show people "The Way." Sometimes the light is an intense spotlight like the
one Saul of Tarsus experienced. Sometimes it is a little candle like the light Nathaniel
experienced., The quiet "Come and See" offered by a concerned party. The lights are different for different people with
different needs. That's why there is no rule book outlining seven steps.
No Ten Commandments for letting your light shine. There is a common element
found in every light. It is always fueled
by love. It is fueled by a love for the Lord of the harvest and a love for the
people He loves. Always remember, for love to be God's kind of love it must be a
verb.
Extreme heat is
exhausting. So we make excuses to stay where it is cool. "Don't get involved,"
so we look the other way. "Nobody will notice. Nobody ever appreciates anything
I do, "we complain. The need is so great, my little bit can't make a
difference. Why bother," we mutter. So we take another sip of sweet tea from our tall glass,
while the ceiling fan drones and hums and our neighbor down the street wonders
"Where is God?"
| You've got homework!
It's a brand new school year. New friends. New teachers. New
opportunities. New chance to share your faith with people that
need Jesus.
School starts soon or for some it has already started. but before you go
back you've got
homework! Your assignment is to get ready for school. I'm not
talking about the mad dash to find the right backpack or a shiny
new pencil--I'm talking about a shiny new set of ABCs.
Before you start school you need to:
- Attitude Adjustment Expect to have a great school year.
Expect to learn a lot and enjoy learning. Guard your
attitude, if you catch yourself complaining or whining
adjust your attitude to line up with scripture.
- Believe God to help you. God wants to go to school with you.
He wants to help your learn. He wants to help you select the
right friends. He wants to help you resist sin. Believe God will
fulfill His promises in your life.
- Connect with heaven through prayer. Bring your
request, your needs to Him in prayer, but do more than that,
spend time worshipping and loving on Him. Make prayer a
daily discipline.
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GLOW IN THE DARK
(You must
leave the object in the light for it to glow.) There is great spiritual
darkness all around us, yet scripture promises us that where sin abounds, grace
is greater. As believers we have a responsibility to let our light shine. Even
the smallest light shatters the darkness like one of these.
Maybe you’ve seen one of
these before. (Show the glow in the dark object.) Audrey’s teacher
wanted everyone to memorize their scriptures, so she offered them a special
prize. She showed the class the little figure of a girl posed on bent knees with
folded hands. She said, “Everyone who memorizes all their scriptures for four
weeks will win one of these for a prize.”
Audrey learned her memory verse each week and carefully
quoted every single verse to her teacher. Audrey really wanted to earn one of
the praying hand figures with its black, shiny stand.
As the teacher passed out the awards to each recipient she
explained. “This will glow in the dark only if you leave it in a place where it
can get sunlight.” Then she emphasized, “I want you to let your light shine like
this little praying child. If you pray every day, God will help you be a light
for Him. The love of God will shine through you like a light. This world is dark
with sin and confusion. The world needs the light of God’s love to bring them
hope. God wants you to shine in the dark.”
Audrey put the little praying figure in her Bible and then
inside the nightstand beside her bed when she got home. It fell out of her Bible
and into the drawer. She had almost forgotten about the prize until one night
her friend was spending the night with her. She was digging in the drawer for a
deck of playing cards when she found the figure again.
Excited she clicked off the light as she explained to her
friend, “Look at this. It glows in the dark.” But it didn’t glow. Audrey could
hardly wait to tell her teacher that her praying child didn’t glow in the dark.
Audrey pulled the prize from her pocket and explained,
“Mine doesn’t work.
“Did you leave it in the sunlight?”
“It was in my dresser drawer all week.”
“That explains why it won’t glow. You must leave it in the
sunlight and then it will glow in the dark. Try it!”
Before leaving for school the next day Audrey stood the
figure on her window still and opened the blinds so it would get plenty of
light. When Audrey went to bed that night she noticed a light on her window
still. It was only then she remembered her glow in the dark prize. She sat up to
get a better look, just as her teacher had promised the little figure glowing in
the dark. (Turn out the lights to demonstrate.)
You are not too young to shine for Jesus. Your friends need
to know Jesus and His love.
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see our good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
If you want your light to shine, you must spend time in the
“SON" LIGHT! Now think about it a minute, “How do you spend time in the Son light?”
Not sunlight, Son light. That’s right, by talking to God, spending time reading
the Bible and loving and worshipping Him.
There are no shortcuts. If you are going to shine for Jesus
you must spend time with Him. You must read your Bible and pray. You pick up
habits from the people you spend time with. You pick up mannerism from people
you spend time with. When you spend time with Jesus going to church, listening
to Christian music and thinking about scriptures you will become more like
Jesus.
When we spend time with the Son of God, we will want to be
more like Him and do things that please Him. That desire will produce good
works, when people see the good things you do they will recognize Jesus in your
life. If you’re not glowing in this dark world, maybe it’s because you’re not
spending time in the SONLIGHT! We have the "Glow in the Dark Stars" and the
story of Moses and his glowing face.
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Candle to Salt
Has it happened to you? It's late
at night. You're home alone and the power goes out right in the middle of a
really good show. You peer out the window but the street is dark without a
street light shining anywhere up or down the street. What little moon there must
be in the sky is hidden by clouds because there doesn't seem to be any light
coming from the sky either. You stumble toward the closet to find a flashlight.
You stub your toe on a chair. Dancing around holding your toe you stumble on
something, but you don't know what you stumbled on because you're too busy
trying to see your injuries. Even with that experience you still don't really
know what darkness is unless you have
experienced darkness so real you can almost feel it.
I'm talking a darkness even darker
than the kind you experience camping on a moonless night. Greater than the darkness that
keeps you in your tent until you can find a flashlight. The uneven ground and
protruding roots or even trees themselves are dangerous obstacles when it is
really dark. Or the darkness that comes after a hurricane leaves you without
power inside a house with board covered windows.
I am talking about the darkness
of sin.
Sin
produced darkness. A darkness that caused Adam and Eve to hide. A darkness that
produced shame. Sin produced a darkness that even today prevents people from seeing things as they really are.
It produced a darkness that makes people think sin is good. A darkness that
blinds people as to what is right and what is wrong. Sin produced a darkness so
thick that only the love of God could penetrate it. That's why God sent His Son into the world. He knew that in
the darkness of sin people would need a light.
Bill Wilson an incredible minister to dark areas of New
York City tells a wonderful story that happened to him one Christmas several
years ago.
It was the day of their big toy give-away. On that Sunday
they give every child that attends a toy. For many children that toy would be the only
toy many children would receive for Christmas. The attendance was always high and the
excitement matched the numbers. Bill Wilson was driving one of the routes. At
one stop a little child held out a tiny package, wrapped crudely in crumpled
paper. “You give me presents, I want to give you something,” the child
explained. Bill smiled, thanked the child and moved the bus back onto the busy
highway, putting the tiny package on the dash of the bus.
But the child began to clamor, “No, I want you to open it
now.” The child was so insistent that he felt he had no choice but to find a
place to move to the side of the busy traffic and open the package.
As Pastor Wilson pulled off the highway, all the children
gathered around the front to watch Bill Wilson open his tiny package. It was a
miniature baby Jesus in a manger. The kind that comes with a nativity set,
without all the other pieces. It was obviously something the child had found in
the garbage. It was dirty and the paint was chipped.
Again Pastor Wilson thanked the child and started to put
the gift on the dash. Again she was persistent. She rescued the figure and
cupped the tiny Jesus in her hands to make it dark around the tiny figure. Look,
did you see it? “Jesus shines in the dark.” Sure as her words the tiny figure
glowed in the darkness of her hands. The figure was made of material that caused
it to glow in the dark.
And Praise God, He does! Jesus shines in the dark.
There is no situation too dark that the light of God’s love will not shine in
it.
That brings us to our responsibility as a Christian.
(Move to the candle and light it.)
Jesus said in Matthew
5:14-16 (KJV) Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill
cannot be hid. {15} Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel,
but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. {16}
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father which is in heaven. "This little light of mine, I'm
gonna let is shine" is more than a song. It is our responsibility as a believer. If you are a believer that light
is in you. Don't hide it. Let it shine.
(Blow out the light) What happens if we don't let our light shine. Some
people may never see the light of God's love unless you show them. (Pour out the
salt) We are not only called to be light. We are called to be salt. Salt is a
preservative. Salt makes people thirsty. You know the drill. You eat potato
chips and then you want something to drink.
We are supposed to be salty Christians. By that I mean, our testimony
and the way we live should make people want to know Jesus. But what happens if
we are not salty Christians? Without Jesus people will be lost for all eternity.
That puts a big responsibility on our shoulders. Be a light. Be salty. Share
Jesus with your friends. It's only polite to share good things with your
friends.
Candle to Salt $14.99 |
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 Magic Light Bulb
This magic light bulb is a strong illustration to teach children to
share their faith or let their light shine at school or where ever they
go.
Use this amazing light bulb that lights up in your hand. Easy to use. Comes with gospel dialogue or patter.
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Pray for Your Teacher
Encourage children to pray for their teacher
now and at various times throughout the year.
Here are some suggestions to help them pray
for their teacher. Children have amazing insight. Ask them for prayer
suggestions for their class.
Put these suggestions on a transparency and
project them for the class to see during prayer time or incorporate them into a
personal prayer and have the children echo the prayer after you.
1. Father in the name of Jesus, please give my
teacher the strength and wisdom to be the teacher you have called her/him to be.
2. Help my teacher not to be totally stressed
from all the tasks that she/he must do as teacher. There is so much pressure on
teachers to get so much accomplished. Please help my teacher to use their time
wisely. Send people to help my teacher accomplish more.
3. Help my teacher to be a good teacher and to
make learning fun.
4. I pray for students in my class that have
discipline problems. Please give my teacher the wisdom to deal with them. Help
these students to make better choices. If there are problems in their
lives that are causing these problems, please bring solutions to these problems.
You are bigger than any problem they might have.
5. I pray that your peace, your love, your
kindness will fill my class. Help me to be a good student. Help me not to be
lazy, but to do my best. Help me to be a light in my class by the way I act and
the things I say. I pray that the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ will shine
to students in my class that don't know you. I pray that their eyes will be
opened and they will see and respond to the need to make Jesus Lord of their
lives.
Whether you are in public or private school
this should be a great year for you. But only you can make it great. That's
right. You decide whether this school year will be great. In our next newsletter
we'll give you suggestions to help your class have a great school year.
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Inspire you children to share their faith with their friends and
neighbors with the Farmer Bliss story and inspire and equip your
teachers with the Make the Bible Come Alive CD or DVD. The Farmer
Bliss story as told on the Make the Bible Come Alive CD or DVD is a
great story to share with your class. This story of a bankrupt farmer
saved by the wonderful prince is a parody of our redemption and
responsibility to share what we have with others.
Make the Bible Come Alive $5.95 |
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Follow
the Light
Loggerhead
turtles spend most of their lives in the water, but they are not born in
the water. The mama loggerhead crawls onto a moonlit beach, almost
dragging her heavy body through the sand. With her back legs she digs a
hole above the water line and lays her eggs on the beach. She lays almost
100 leathery ping-pong sized eggs. She covers the eggs with her back legs
and heads back to the refreshing waters to swim and eat. She lays them and
leaves them.
God
put a special alarm clock in the turtles. In about 60 days the tiniest
cutest little turtles will hatch out of their eggs at night. Now how do
they know to hatch out at night? God made them and He knew that in the
daylight more predators could see them and eat them. Birds, crabs and
lizards love to gobble the tiny turtles before they reach the water.
As
the turtles hatch one by one they head for the water. But how can they
find the water? Some people believe they see the reflection of the
moonlight on the water and trudge through the sand toward the light. But
environmentalist have noticed in recent years the turtles instead of
heading toward their soothing water home, they are traveling toward the
bright lights of buildings and roadsides. All the bright lights of homes,
roadways and business along the beach are confusing the newborn turtles.
Many of the newborns are crushed as they try to cross highways. They are
confused by the bright lights. They don't know which light to follow.
Sometimes
the lights can be confusing to people too. The bright lights of stardom and
popularity can be very appealing. Some people would rather be popular than
godly. Sometimes people follow the bright lights of drugs and alcohol,
only to end up in a dark lonely gutter. Jesus said "I am the light of
the World." Are you following Jesus? If you're not obeying His Word
you're not following Him. Jesus and obedience to His Word is the only
light that will lead you to abundant life. Following Jesus is the only
road to real joy and fulfillment in life. Every other light leads to
destruction.
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