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Ed from Awana was our speaker Sunday. He was down to earth and great to listen to, even the second time around (two services). He extended his right hand and said “the purpose of teaching is to take the student…” then he extended his left hand “and the Word of God and bring them together” as he said this, he brought both hands together and clasped them. Good stuff. Later in the message he extended both arms and twirled his hands slightly as he said, “We want to teach as much of the Word as possible” then moving both hands center and down to the floor, “And go as deep as possible” finally he pointed both hands in the air as he twirled both hands “to as many children as possible!” Those two visual illustrations tell us what our goals are in children’s ministry!
Today’s Scripture reading is 2 Samuel 5; Amos 9; Mark 13
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.podbean.com - Archives can be found at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Today’s thought comes from Genesis 12:1-3 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Ever heard of the Abrahamic Covenant? It is one of the most important covenants in the Bible. A covenant is a contract or agreement between two parties, in this case it is between God and Abraham. Usually a contract is an agreement where party “A” agrees to perform one action and in exchange party “B” agrees to do another. In contracting, I (Party A) might agree to build you a house if you (party B) agree to pay me $100,000 dollars. This is what we call a conditional covenant. If one of us breaches the contract it may become null and void. That’s what courts and lawsuits are all about… failure to perform. (I want my money back because you didn’t build me a house like you promised!) In the Genesis 12 case, however, we have what we call an unconditional covenant. An unconditional covenant is an agreement where Party A (God) agrees to do something for party B (Abraham and his descendants) and expects nothing in return from Party B. Party A just does it out of the generosity of his heart! In the business world, unconditional covenants are rare! We see unconditional covenants illustrated by the relationship parents have with their children. Parents decide to care for their children and raise them regardless of whether or not their children ever give them anything back at all (except a lot of love and joy). So what is this unconditional covenant that God made with Abraham? “I will make you a great nation… I will bless those that bless you and curse those who curse you; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed!” What was Abraham’s part? Well he messed it up! He didn’t trust God as he should have. God promised that the great nation would come through Sarah. Sarah didn’t have children until 90! So Abraham took a concubine and another wife! Yet even though Abraham messed up God remained faithful because He made an unconditional promise! To understand prophecy we must understand the importance and influence of the Abrahamic Covenant. At 90 Sarah had a son named Isaac. Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons which became the 12 tribes of Israel. Eventually one of the twelve, Judah, became the grandfather of King David. From David’s line came Jesus Christ. And today every nation on the face of the earth has been influenced by Christian values and the message that Jesus is the Savior.
Dear Father. Thanks for the promise you made to Abraham. I have been blessed by it. Thank you for making it conditional on your faithfulness to perform and not on our performance! You have chosen to bless us because you love us, not because we are such “good” people! Thanks for your love!
My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
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