WHAT CHURCH (VBS) IS ALL ABOUT
James 1:19-22
INTRO.- What is church all about? And what about SS and VBS?
I want to begin by sharing some stories I found which are about church, Sunday School and VBS.
ILL.- A Sunday School teacher asked her students, “Do you believe that story about Lot’s wife looking back and turning into a pillar of salt?”
One little boy said, “Sure I do. Just yesterday my mother looked back and turned into a telephone pole.”
ILL.- The assignment in VBS was to make stickers for the window panes in the classroom. The teacher
asked, “What did you learn from the work you did today?”
One boy said, “That if you get too much water on the stickers they won’t stick.”
ILL.- A mother asked her son, “What did you learn in VBS today? “That God created the world in eleven days.” “But that’s wrong.” “In that case, I didn’t learn anything.”
ILL.- Another SS teacher asked, “What do we learn from the story of Jonah and the whale?”
A little girl said, “We learn that people make whales sick.”
ILL.- A youngster went home after VBS and said to his father, “Today we heard a wonderful story from the Bible. The teacher said the Jews were chased out of Egypt by Egyptian tanks.”
“When they came to the Red sea, the Jews saw the Egyptian tanks coming after them so they built a
bridge and went over safely. But when the Egyptians kept coming, they blew it up with an atomic bomb and the Egyptians were destroyed.”
His father said, “Did the teacher really tell you the story that way?”
He replied, “No, but if I told you how he did tell the story, you’d never believe it.”
ILL.- One lady said, “In VBS my 5-year-old son Robby learned that God created Adam from the dust. One evening during his bedtime prayers, Robby said, ‘Thank you, God, for making my Dad look so cool. HE DOESN’T LOOK LIKE HE WAS MADE FROM DIRT.’”
ILL.- A VBS teacher said, “From the opening of our VBS we ask for volunteers to pray. One morning, a
first-grader enthusiastically waved his hand. Running to the front, he took a big breath as everyone bowed their heads for prayer and suddenly his voice boomed through the microphone: I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA....”
ILL.- Another lady said, “In our church’s VBS one of the 4-year-old boys rushed to his father at the close
of the evening activities and proudly announced that he had learned his Bible verse for the day, Psalms
46:1.”
“That’s great,” his father said, “Let me hear it.”
The little boy said, “GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH, AND OUR PRESIDENT’S IN TROUBLE.”
ILL.- Another lady said, “When I picked up my two boys from their last day of VBS, I asked if they would like to attend next summer.”
“Yes,” they said, “but next year it should be only four days.”
“I was puzzled so I asked why only four days.”
“My five-year-old said, ‘BECAUSE IT’S HARD TO BE GOOD 5 DAYS IN A ROW.’”
PROP.- I want to talk about what is important about church, Sunday School and VBS.
1- Loving
2- Listening
3- Living
I. LOVING
Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” With all your heart, soul and mind. I’d say that’s a lot of love, wouldn’t you?
ILL.- My daughter Holly is now 26-years-old and is expecting her first baby. And she was my first baby.
And a happy baby at that. When Holly was small she attended elementary school in Iberia, MO, where we lived. She rode the schoolbus almost every day. And I remember one day going down to the bus stop as she got off. She came running on that bus, yelling, “Daddy, Daddy, I missed you! I love you!”
Do I ever miss that time! But that time is long gone and I can’t bring it back. But Holly was a very
loving daughter.
ILL.- My son Shane is 20-years-old and lives in Cape Girardeau, MO and works for the Memco Barge Company. He’s visited here several times, the last being Easter. When I first moved to Southern Illinois I remember taking Shane calling with me. We called in the home of a shut-in couple and as we were about to leave I said, “Goodbye” and suddenly I felt 4-year-old Shane yanking on my hand. He said, “Dad, aren’t we going to pray for them?”
Shane reminded me of my spiritual responsibility. AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT YOU YOUNG PEOPLE SHOULD DO TO OR FOR YOUR PARENTS!
Whenever you see that your parents are not praying around the dinner table or not praying at all, or
whenever you realize they are not reading their Bible, or whenever you see that they are doing something they shouldn’t, YOU NEED TO REMIND THEM OF THEIR SPIRITUAL RESPONSIBILITIES!
Get on a chair and preach to them. Lecture them. Shame them. Get after them. AND ABOVE ALL, LOVE THEM!
I mentioned my daughter Holly and my son Shane. DO YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT FROM THEM MORE THAN ANYTHING?
First, I want them to be Christians and grow in their relationship to Christ. That’s what I want more
than anything. And secondly, I want them to love me!
I thrill to hear them say to me, “Dad, I love you. Thank you for being my dad.” And then to have them
hug me or kiss me just puts icing on the cake.
Young people, why don’t you do that for your parents? AND WHY DON’T YOU DO THAT FOR GOD WHO IS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER?
Don’t you realize that God loves to hear you say, “Father, I love you”? He does. He really does.
And you can love Him and express your love to Him every time we pause to pray in church, in Sunday
School and in VBS! Even if someone else is leading in prayer.
YOU CAN PRAY SILENTLY AND SAY, “Father, I love you. Thank you for being my father. Thank you for taking good care of me. Thank you for Jesus my Savior. Thank you for giving me good things. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I love you.”
Loving God as our Heavenly Father is what church, SS and VBS is all about. When we come together we must love Him, express that love and demonstrate that love by loving His children.
II. LISTENING
Church, SS and VBS are also all about listening to God.
ILL.- After the sermon, the small boy asked his father what the minister did all week. His father said, “A
minister is very busy. There’s much church work that has to be done. He has to visit the shut-in people and go to the hospital to visit and pray for those who are sick or having surgery. He talks to people who have problems. He must pray a lot for people. And of course, he must spend quite a bit of time preparing his sermon for the next Sunday. TALKING IN PUBLIC IS HARD WORK.”
His small son promptly replied, “LISTENING ISN’T EASY EITHER.”
And listening isn’t easy, is it? Of course, that all depends on the preacher, the sermon, the teacher, the
lesson, and so on.
ILL.- When I was very young my mom made me go to Sunday School and church. I liked Sunday School because it was more informal and we got to talk and do things. And most of the Sunday School teachers were nice, BUT THE MINISTER! He was strange!
Honestly, I didn’t know what to make of the minister. He seemed all right but he didn’t talk to us kids
very much. And he always wore a black suit, white shirt, and black tie, like some undertaker. PERHAPS
THAT’S WHY I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF HIM.
And I sure didn’t understand what he said in the pulpit. All I wanted to do during church was either
sleep or go to the back of the church where I could pass notes or talk to other kids.
BUT YOU DON’T WANT TO DO THAT, DO YOU? What a loaded question!
James 1:19, 21 “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
Verse 21 “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you which can save you.”
Young people, when you come to SS, Church and VBS, you should be quick to listen to what the teachers and leaders have to say. Why? Because they are trying to teach you about the two most important people in the world.
WHO ARE THEY? God and Jesus. God is our Heavenly Father who created everything and Jesus is our Savior who died on the cross in order to forgive our sins.
ILL.- Did you know that Elaine and I will have our first wedding anniversary on August 30th? That’s
right! We will be married for one year on August 30th. Before we got married, however, we had
known one another for 15 years. That made things easier, better and more comfortable for us. ISN’T
THAT RIGHT, DARLING?!
Young people, some day we’re going to be in heaven with God and Jesus for a long time and I think it
would be much better or more comfortable for us if we got acquainted with them before we got there.
How can we learn more about God and Jesus in SS, church and in VBS?
ILL.- How many of you know who Caren Moran is? Do you know that she knows everything about the sermon that I preached last Sunday? She knows the title of the sermon, the main points, the funny stories I told and all the stories I told. She knows it all. And that’s what her husband Wayne said too!
Caren, really does know all about my sermon. AND DO YOU KNOW WHY? Because she took notes! She wrote down everything she could while I was preaching.
And that’s one good way to learn more about God and Christ. Bring a paper and pen with you and write down whatever you can. Or at least, what you find interesting, a funny story, a certain Bible verse, etc.
That’s the way to listen and learn! And there’s at least one other way to listen and learn.
WHAT TIME DID YOU GO TO BED LAST NIGHT? What! You stayed up that late. No wonder you don’t learn anything in SS, church and VBS!
Whenever you don’t get enough sleep, you will be a sleepy head! And we’re not going to shoot
firecrackers in order to keep you awake in SS, church and VBS!
Stop staying up late on Saturday night. That will make you numb and dumb! And besides, you won’t make it to Sunday School and church!
ILL.- How many of you took a bath or shower either last night or this morning before coming to SS and
church? God doesn’t like stinky pits! That’s the pits!
James 1:21 “Get rid of all moral filth and evil...and humbly accept the word...”
ILL.- Have you ever heard that old saying, “Cleanliness is next to godliness?” It’s not in the Bible, but it’s a very good principle.
God wants us to be clean people! But He is more interested in internal cleanliness and than external
cleanliness! GOD WANTS YOU TO BE CLEAN ON THE INSIDE!
Perhaps you need to pray before coming to SS, Church and VBS, “God, make me clean so I can listen and learn and accept what You want to teach me.”
Why not pray that prayer? You might be surprised just how much you will learn about God and Jesus.
What SS, church and VBS are all about:
1- Loving
2- Listening
III. LIVING
ILL.- An older preacher owned a parrot which he really liked. the only problem was...the parrot cussed a lot. A lady in his church had an idea which she thought might help his parrot get over his cussing.
She said, “I have a female parrot and she is an absolute saint. She sits quietly on her perch and says
nothing but ‘Let’s pray.’ WHY DON’T YOU BRING YOUR PARROT OVER AND SEE IF MY PARROT WILL HAVE A GOOD INFLUENCE ON YOURS?”
The older preacher said it was worth a try and the next night he tucked his parrot under his arm and
headed for the lady’s house.
The preacher’s parrot took one look at the female parrot and chirped, “Hi toots, how about a kiss?”
The female parrot said, “MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!”
Young people, is it ever wrong to cuss or use bad words? Of course, it is! And that’s not a part of
Christian living.
Young people, can you imagine Jesus going around cussing? No and I can’t either. Bad language is
not a part of living the Christian life.
Of course, there are many things which are not a part of living the Christian life.
Col. 3:5 “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed...”
Col. 3:8 “But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”
God doesn’t want any of these things to be a part of our lives because they are not pleasing to Him and
they won’t help anybody else.
James 1:22 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. DO WHAT IT SAYS.”
Young people, it is not enough to just listen to God’s Word in SS, Church and VBS, we must also do what God’s Word says! God wants us to live by His Word!
ILL.- One time the governor of Massachusetts was running for a second term in office. One day, after a
busy day he arrived at a church barbecue. It was late afternoon and he had not eaten. As the governor moved through the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman who was serving the chicken. She put a piece on his plate and turned to the next person in life.
“Excuse me,” said the governor, “do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?”
“Sorry,” the woman told him. “I’m supposed to give one piece of chicken only to each person.”
“But I’m starved.” “Sorry,” said the woman. The governor then said, “Do you know who I am? I am the governor of this state.”
“Do you know who I am?” the woman answered back. “I’M THE LADY IN CHARGE OF THE CHICKEN. MOVE ALONG, MISTER.”
Young people, it doesn’t make any difference who you are, governor, president, or Bill Gates. When God says you get one piece of chicken, then that’s all you get. And whenever God says “do this” or “don’t do this” then we had better obey Him.
When we obey God and put into practice what His Word says that’s when we will blessed by Him and have the best life! Don’t you want the best life God has to offer?
CONCLUSION-------------------------------------------
ILL.- One Sunday when a family was going home after church the dad criticized the sermon, the daughter criticized the congregational singing, and the mother criticized the way the service was organized. But everyone had to be quiet after the little boy of the family said, “BUT IT WAS A PRETTY GOOD SHOW FOR A NICKEL!”
Young people, Church, Sunday School and VBS are all pretty good shows considering how little we really give back to God.
They are best shows around. And the best bargain around.
Church, SS and VBS are very good because they are all about:
1- loving God
2- listening to God
3- and learning to live the way God wants
