INTRO.- What is church, Sunday School and VBS all about? One thing for sure, it’s the place to learn about God and His Word.
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, Psalm 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.” (a present help 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 a few things that are important about church, Sunday School and VBS.
1- Loving
2- Listening
3- Living
I. LOVING
ILL.- One time a father told his little girl, "I love you when you’re good." She replied, "I love you all the time, Daddy."
I think this is very true of our Heavenly Father. He loves us when we’re good, but He also loves us when we’re not so good. He may be grieved over our wrongdoing, BUT HE STILL LOVES US.
ILL.- God loved the prodigal son before he ever became a prodigal. And God also loved him when he was in the hoglot, hungry and hurting. God loved him even though he had sown his wild oats and was paying for it.
ILL.- Max Lucado wrote, "God loves you just the way you are. If you think His love for you would be stronger if your faith were, you are wrong. If you think His love would be deeper if your thoughts were, wrong again. Don’t confuse God’s love with the love of people. The love of people often increases with performance and decreases with mistakes. Not so with God. He loves you right where you are." Praise Him!
I John 4:8 "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
I John 4:16 "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."
I looked up the words "God is love" and found 74 different combinations in the N.T. Surely this should tell us something about the character of God! If God is anything at all, HE IS LOVE!
But this love business is a two-way street. It’s not enough just for God to love us. There must be some loving on our part. ONE-WAY LOVE ISN’T A COMPLETE LOVE.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
ILL.- My daughter Holly is now 29 years-old and has two children: Hope and Caleb. Holly was my first baby. And a happy baby at that. When Holly was small she attended elementary school in Iberia, MO. She rode the schoolbus almost every day. And I remember one day going to the bus stop to meet her. She got off the bus and came running to me, 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.- When I first moved to Southern Illinois in 1984 I remember taking my 4 year-old 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 Shane yanking on my hand. He said, “Dad, aren’t we going to pray for them?”
Shane reminded me of my spiritual responsibility. Out of the mouths of babes come all kinds of things, truths, uninhibited truths.
ILL.- My son-in-law, Chris Santasiere, said that their daughter Hope who is almost three years old will see other children running in their church and say, "You stop that running! My daddy said you shouldn’t run in the church!" Out of the mouths of babes.
Don’t be surprised if your child, grandchild, or some other child calls you on your lack of spirituality.
ILL.- Elaine and I had Austin Sandy and Taylor Haun in our car the night we went to play miniature golf after church. Austin said, "That wasn’t a sermon you preached tonight." He went on to say, "You’re speeding." "Hey," I said, "I’m just trying to keep up with Etola!" Out of the mouths of children come all kinds of words and thoughts.
ILL.- DO YOU KNOW WHAT MY TWO CHILDREN DO NOW THAT THRILLS ME? Besides being Christians, living the Christian life and going to church faithfully, every time we conclude a phone call, they say, "I love you, dad." Makes my heart sing!
Brothers and sisters, Do you realize that God loves to hear those same words from us? “Father, I love you”? God has expressed His love to us in many different ways and at different times. Why would He not want to hear those words from us?
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! 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 AIN’T EASY EITHER.”
And listening isn’t easy, is it? Of course, that all depends on the preacher, the sermon, the teacher, the lesson, etc.
James 1:19 “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
When our children come to SS, Church and VBS, they will learn 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.- Hoagy Carmichael, (the songwriter, singer, pianist - "Georgia on my Mind," "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening") once decided to take up golf. Lessons were arranged with an instructor. At the first session Carmichael was patiently shown the basics of the game: how to hold the club, how to stand, how to swing, etc.
Finally, after a half hour of this, the instructor felt Carmichael was ready to drive a few balls toward the first hole. The ball was teed up. Hoagy stepped up to it, swung, then watched the ball sail down the fairway, bound onto the green and roll into the cup--a hole in one!
The instructor was dumbfounded. Hoagy turned to the still speechless instructor. "OK," he said casually, "I think I’ve got the idea now."
Brothers and sisters, we all know that learning doesn’t come that easily whether it’s golf or God. We don’t automatically hit a hole in one in golf nor with God. Learning takes time, effort, energy, concentration, work, etc. This holds true for the teacher and the student.
ILL.- Old Boy’s Law: "you don’t learn anything the second time you’re kicked by a mule." There are some things we don’t need to learn over and over, that is, the negative and nasty stuff of the world. But when it comes to God, Christ, and their word, we need to learn all we can.
ILL.- It is said that we learn:
1% through taste
1.5% through touch
3.5% through smell
11% through hearing
83% through sight
How can we learn more about God and Jesus in SS, church and in VBS? And how can our children learn?
We who teach must do our best. We must study, prepare, pray and befriend our students; children and otherwise. We must be ourselves and yet be involved with our students...show concern for them. These things make for a good teacher and for good learning.
ILL.- One of the best Sunday School teachers I had as a youth was at the First Baptist Church, Webb City, MO. I don’t recall his name, but I remember his face, his smile, his actions, his humor. You could tell that he loved his class of boys. I don’t remember what I learned about the Bible, but I learned about living and loving. He demonstrated love to us. THEREFORE, I CONCLUDE THAT I LEARNED A LOT FROM HIM!
Now as far we listeners are concerned, what can we do to learn?
James 1:19 “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
We should be quick to listen. We should come prepared to listen, learn, participate. I’ve known some students who needed to learn to be slow to speak and others who should have spoken.
In my classes I invite participation. I love discussion. I love sharing. I like to lead, but I love it when people participate, because that’s when everybody learns. Good learning involves both listening and speaking.
If you want to learn, come prepared by reading your lesson or Bible text and also by writing down questions or comments to share with the class.
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. Listening to God through His Word is what church, SS, and VBS is all about! What else?
III. LIVING
Church, Sunday School, and VBS are also about living the Christian life.
ILL.- An old 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 old 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!”
I’ve never heard a cussing parrot but I’ve heard a lot of cussing people. And some who claimed Christ as their Savior.
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.”
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.”
It doesn’t make any difference who we are, governor, president, Bill Clinton 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! Church, SS, and VBS are about learning to live the way God wants.
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!”
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
