Okay, that was fun! Jamie's baby made his appearance this week so I got to teach!
Thanks, Max..I already love you:)
Since Jamie had asked everyone to do a work of art that displayed an attribute of God and I kind of knew no one would do it except Bubbah...I was ready.
I had the verses flash up behind me on the big screen. Each time I said a "key word"(like CSLewis) James, the tech guy would switch the verse...I didn't even mention the verses, just let the teens read 'em. (Thanks so much James!)
Eph 2:10
For we are God's workmanship
I had Bubbah come up with his artwork displaying the Glory of God.
It was really neat. Then I had Bert come up and stand on the other side of me...
Bubbah designed this art. He took thought and care and made it.
Now here we see Bert. Like Bubbah's art, he is awesome.
Unlike Bubbah's art, this amazing work of art called 'Bert'..(pose Bert!)...
can see and feel and jump and even reproduce.
One thing we know for sure when we see Bubbah's art is that there was an artist.
I think when we look at Bert, who is also an amazing work of art, that he definitely
was designed and created by an amazing Artist!
Then I had the guys sit down.
Luke12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.
Now Bubbah would you mind if I borrow your art? As some of you know a few of us are taking salsa dancing classes together and I'd like to have Taylor(he's about 6' 8"!) come up here and dance on Bubbah's art....You don't mind, do you, Bubbah?
Of course, his face dropped and I explained that Bubbah really cares about his art.
and God really cares about us, His art. He created trees and birds and all of everything we see but most of nature is a completed work on display for us to see. Their purpose is to glorify God.
Rom1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
C.S. Lewis realized that there must be a God oneday while he was staring at a tree.
(Here I directed everyone's attention out the window to a big Canary Island palm tree and right on cue it did some sort of waving palm branch dance that made all the kids gasp. It was great!)
Then I talked a bit about bunny and how she can do tricks but she's a finished work of art, beautiful and sweet.
Isa 64:8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
We are different. We are still on the table turny thingy spinning like a clay pot.
(Here a bunch of ceramic kids corrected me, "It's called a 'wheel.'")
How can I be God's work of Art? How can I let Him shape me?
We all know the usual ones....Praying, studying Bible, Fellowshiping, and serving are all ways...
But I what to talk about another way God shapes us..
Hard stuff and bad stuff..difficult stuff in our lives.
Pot on wheel... molded, dripped on, pressed and pushed... and spinning! (Here I spinned around a bit, glad I have a wireless mike :)
Then I headed into 4 examples:
Me and Eric have been married for almost 25 years and we decided to write down our '8 greats,' Eight experiences in our marriage that were super awesome and not including child birth or wedding day. When we compared our notes, guess what? it was really surprising how many of them were really tough, hard times! Then I told them the story of a snow storm, a traffic jam, a mountain road on a precipice and too much coffee. As I'm describing the road; bright, white not a tree or bush anywhere, one girl yelled "and you had to pee!"
Then I said, "and thankfully Eric had eaten a whole can of Pringles!"
Taylor started yelling, "Enough said!"
Then I told the story of another traffic jam, me- huge and pregnant and wanting out of that car so we drove up the back side of a mountain on a dirt road and discover that there was an eclipse of the moon and a comet that night!
Hard difficult situations that we remember as some of our 8 greats, wow!
My next example was Paul and how he talked about a 'thorn' that was given to him.
2 Cor 12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
We never find out exactly what this was but he prayed to have it gone.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
But in the end, he realizes that God's grace is sufficient.
9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Paul trusted the hard and bad stuff is making him into God's poem, a beautiful pot.
Then there's the rich young ruler.
Luke 16:13"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
He thought he had no hard or bad stuff, he thought he was perfect! Done! But Jesus showed him $ was above God in his life. He walked away sad and that's what he really needed. Jesus could see his pride and self-sufficiency and gave him some words that gave him some hard stuff and let him see the bad stuff in his heart.
Jesus had super 'hard stuff' but no 'bad stuff'...
Mat.26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
26:42 He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
He was sinless and had never missed the mark. But the cup He drank for you and me was the only way to bring us into the eternal light of life.
He is the perfect Artist, willing to suffer for us.
Heb. 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God
Our Suffering Artist giving everything for us, His poem, His vase, His work of art.
Set your goal, your heart, your life, in the hands of this amazing Artist.
Let's be willing to suffer...so that He can mold us.
1 peter 5:10
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast
You know how artists put their art on display for all to see?
He wants to make you that kind of sculpture,
showing others what the Artist has done.
Sometimes that might mean hard stuff in our lives or getting rid of bad stuff in our lives.
I'm asking you to be willing to be shaped by Him.
Oh Jesus, thank you so much for suffering for us. For giving Your life and drinking that cup to free us from the bad stuff inside us. Lord, we want to be your poems, your works of art, shaped by You. Help us to look at the hard things that happen to us as Your hand molding us. God please use us in other people's lives to show them You, the Great Artist who suffered for them.
We love you, Jesus. Amen
Thanks, Max..I already love you:)
Since Jamie had asked everyone to do a work of art that displayed an attribute of God and I kind of knew no one would do it except Bubbah...I was ready.
I had the verses flash up behind me on the big screen. Each time I said a "key word"(like CSLewis) James, the tech guy would switch the verse...I didn't even mention the verses, just let the teens read 'em. (Thanks so much James!)
Eph 2:10
For we are God's workmanship
I had Bubbah come up with his artwork displaying the Glory of God.
It was really neat. Then I had Bert come up and stand on the other side of me...
Bubbah designed this art. He took thought and care and made it.
Now here we see Bert. Like Bubbah's art, he is awesome.
Unlike Bubbah's art, this amazing work of art called 'Bert'..(pose Bert!)...
can see and feel and jump and even reproduce.
One thing we know for sure when we see Bubbah's art is that there was an artist.
I think when we look at Bert, who is also an amazing work of art, that he definitely
was designed and created by an amazing Artist!
Then I had the guys sit down.
Luke12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.
Now Bubbah would you mind if I borrow your art? As some of you know a few of us are taking salsa dancing classes together and I'd like to have Taylor(he's about 6' 8"!) come up here and dance on Bubbah's art....You don't mind, do you, Bubbah?
Of course, his face dropped and I explained that Bubbah really cares about his art.
and God really cares about us, His art. He created trees and birds and all of everything we see but most of nature is a completed work on display for us to see. Their purpose is to glorify God.
Rom1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
C.S. Lewis realized that there must be a God oneday while he was staring at a tree.
(Here I directed everyone's attention out the window to a big Canary Island palm tree and right on cue it did some sort of waving palm branch dance that made all the kids gasp. It was great!)
Then I talked a bit about bunny and how she can do tricks but she's a finished work of art, beautiful and sweet.
Isa 64:8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
We are different. We are still on the table turny thingy spinning like a clay pot.
(Here a bunch of ceramic kids corrected me, "It's called a 'wheel.'")
How can I be God's work of Art? How can I let Him shape me?
We all know the usual ones....Praying, studying Bible, Fellowshiping, and serving are all ways...
But I what to talk about another way God shapes us..
Hard stuff and bad stuff..difficult stuff in our lives.
Pot on wheel... molded, dripped on, pressed and pushed... and spinning! (Here I spinned around a bit, glad I have a wireless mike :)
Then I headed into 4 examples:
Me and Eric have been married for almost 25 years and we decided to write down our '8 greats,' Eight experiences in our marriage that were super awesome and not including child birth or wedding day. When we compared our notes, guess what? it was really surprising how many of them were really tough, hard times! Then I told them the story of a snow storm, a traffic jam, a mountain road on a precipice and too much coffee. As I'm describing the road; bright, white not a tree or bush anywhere, one girl yelled "and you had to pee!"
Then I said, "and thankfully Eric had eaten a whole can of Pringles!"
Taylor started yelling, "Enough said!"
Then I told the story of another traffic jam, me- huge and pregnant and wanting out of that car so we drove up the back side of a mountain on a dirt road and discover that there was an eclipse of the moon and a comet that night!
Hard difficult situations that we remember as some of our 8 greats, wow!
My next example was Paul and how he talked about a 'thorn' that was given to him.
2 Cor 12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
We never find out exactly what this was but he prayed to have it gone.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
But in the end, he realizes that God's grace is sufficient.
9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Paul trusted the hard and bad stuff is making him into God's poem, a beautiful pot.
Then there's the rich young ruler.
Luke 16:13"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
He thought he had no hard or bad stuff, he thought he was perfect! Done! But Jesus showed him $ was above God in his life. He walked away sad and that's what he really needed. Jesus could see his pride and self-sufficiency and gave him some words that gave him some hard stuff and let him see the bad stuff in his heart.
Jesus had super 'hard stuff' but no 'bad stuff'...
Mat.26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
26:42 He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
He was sinless and had never missed the mark. But the cup He drank for you and me was the only way to bring us into the eternal light of life.
He is the perfect Artist, willing to suffer for us.
Heb. 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God
Our Suffering Artist giving everything for us, His poem, His vase, His work of art.
Set your goal, your heart, your life, in the hands of this amazing Artist.
Let's be willing to suffer...so that He can mold us.
1 peter 5:10
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast
You know how artists put their art on display for all to see?
He wants to make you that kind of sculpture,
showing others what the Artist has done.
Sometimes that might mean hard stuff in our lives or getting rid of bad stuff in our lives.
I'm asking you to be willing to be shaped by Him.
Oh Jesus, thank you so much for suffering for us. For giving Your life and drinking that cup to free us from the bad stuff inside us. Lord, we want to be your poems, your works of art, shaped by You. Help us to look at the hard things that happen to us as Your hand molding us. God please use us in other people's lives to show them You, the Great Artist who suffered for them.
We love you, Jesus. Amen
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