God Created ... Series

Dr. Marty Baker

Stevens Creek Community Church Augusta, GA

July 11, 2004

www.stevenscreek.net

What Every Kid Should Know About the Bible

God Created

Over the last several weeks, it has been exciting to see the number of children involved in our church. If you were here for the musical in May, VBS or were involved in Camp Promiseland, you saw first hand the number of kids learning about faith in God here at The Creek. These children remind us of the great responsibility that we have been given. Many people say that children are our future and I would add, "The future is now."

In September we will be unveiling new plans for another building expansion. This expansion will once again focus on our children’s and educational ministries. This new expansion will stretch our faith and will call each one of us to a new level of commitment. When it is all said and done, our children and our community will know that Stevens Creek is a place for kids.

God has given us the great responsibility of influencing the next generation by instilling faith in their hearts at an early age. The Bible teaches that we should:

Proverbs 22:6

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

As a father of three children, I know that it is my responsibility to teach and train my children the core essentials of life. They need to know about God and his plan for their lives. They need to know about the Bible.

There is a series of children’s books designed to help your child keep up the pace in the public system called "What Your 2nd grader Should Know?" (or 3rd grader, 4th grader, etc.). Every time I run across that series I think, "Somebody needs to write a book on ""What Every Kid Should Know About the Bible."

I am not an author, but I have been prompted to address this thought. Over the next few weeks, I am going to focus on what I believe every child and every adult needs to know from the Bible. I realize that some of you do not have any children and you may think that this series does not pertain to you, but I believe that it will. If you will come with an open mind, a receptive spirit, and an open Bible, I believe that you will discover they keys to a vibrant spiritual life. Oh yes, there is one more key ingredient, you must come with simple faith ... Faith like a child would have. One day Jesus was asked the question, "Who gets the highest rank in God’s kingdom?" Listen to his response:

Matthew 18:2-4 (The Message)

2 For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room,

3 and said, "I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in.

4 Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom.

Over the next few weeks, we are going present several talks that will help you embrace the power of God’s kingdom. These messages will help you see God in new ways and they will help release faith in your life. You will encounter God as you study His Word. You will discover God, not in the complicated theories of religion, but in the simple faith of a child.

Some of you here today have a very complicated faith. You are trying to work your self into a relationship with God. Your relationship focuses on a lot of "give and take". You give God a little here and there and then you expect God to magically supply answers to your deep questions. A genuine spiritual life begins with a simple faith in God.

You say, "Where do we begin?" Let’s begin at the beginning.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God ....

Embracing the core essentials of life begins with understanding the fact that without God there would be nothing. He was and is and is to come. Listen to the words of ...

Revelation 1:8

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

God was here before anything that you see. He has always been and will always be. He is the first and the last. So, what do our kids need to know?

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God....

Our children need to know that ... (3 points)

1. God will always be there for them.

We live in a world that is constantly changing. Just when we get accustomed to a certain set of rules, we get a memo that says that the rules have changed. With every change life gets a little more complicated. This is true at school, at work and at home. It is important to reinforce to our kids that even though the world changes, God does not. He remains the same.