Level Up

Kids Sermon

So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. 1 Kings 19:19 NKJV

Elijah needed a replacement and God sent him to a young man named Elisha.

That meant that Elisha was going to have to leave everything he knew and follow Elijah so he could learn all he needed to learn to be a prophet of God.

Did you know that we are all called to follow God and do things for Him?

How can you prepare yourself to do things for God?

We can obey our parents, be careful to do all of our chores around the home as unto the Lord, do our best in school, serve others, and tell others about Jesus. As we learn to be faithful in all of these things, the small tasks we are called to do now, the Lord will continue to bless us and use us for greater things.

God has wonderful plans for our lives.

So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant. 1 Kings 19:21

When Elijah cast his mantle, the insignia of his office, upon Elisha, it was the call to the office of prophet. Though a mantle was simply a piece of clothing that went over Elijah’s shoulders, it meant that Elijah had the call of a prophet on his life. By casting his mantle onto Elisha, Elijah made it clear that the calling of God to be a prophet was now being passed on to Elisha.

So Elisha left his farm and followed Elijah for 7 or 8 years.

Have kids follow you through the church.

God is looking for people who are willing to follow Him and do what Jesus did. And if you chose to follow, He has wonderful plans for you.

That is why He says in Jeremiah 29:11, For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster. To give you a future and a hope.

Today we not only have your activity bags, but we also have a mini mantle for you to take home to remind you to follow God and serve him.

In my sermon today we will learn how to do that by Believing Big, Dreaming Big, and Representing Big.

PRAYER

Father, open my eyes to see Your Word.

Open my ears to hear.

Open my mind to understand.

And open my heart so I may receive Your Word today. AMEN

Today we are going to see how you can level up in your walk with God by looking at Elisha, the prophet who replaced Elijah.

Elisha wanted to go to the next level. He wanted to experience more of God’s power, strength, wisdom, provision and love. Elisha was not satisfied with the status quo.

We grow up with the goal of getting to the next level embedded deeply into each of us.

Just play Angry Birds or Candy Crush and you’ll see how important it is to get to the next level. Or my personal favorite, Hill Climb Racing, I have been trying for weeks to get to level 5 in the ice cave.

When we are born we are rooted on by our parents and grandparents to crawl. And then once we crawl we are cheered on to get to the next level so we can walk.

You get to kindergarten and you work to get to first grade. Then after 6 years you get to that next level. Middle School! And then High School! Always leveling up.

Then after high school you are encouraged to move to the next level, either get a job or go to college. Regardless of which choice you make, once again you are forced to go to the next level, to get through college or get that promotion at work.

The same thing holds true in just about every aspect of life.

In our relationships for example. When I met Debbie I knew I had to get to that next level. I had to become her friend, then I had to become her boyfriend, then engagement, till we got to the level of marriage.

Now after nearly 30 years we can almost read each other’s minds.

Even in our spiritual walk we are always being encouraged to get to the next level.

You give your heart to God through Jesus and then you are encouraged to grow, to mature, to get to a point in which you are not just getting by with the milk of God’s Word but rather feasting on the meat of His Word.