INTRODUCTION
• Slide #1
• What a great week of Vacation Bible School! We had over 40 children at VBS each evening. I want to thank everyone who played a part in this ministry opportunity.
• Today we have enjoyed the young people who helped lead worship. I hope as you looked at these you people you realized that they are the future and providing programs for them is an investment in the future!
• Today I want to give everyone a taste of what we taught the children during the past week at VBS.
• Each day we had a Bible Point (or theme), a Bible Story, a Treasure Verse (Bible Memory passage) along with Hot Bible Adventure stories along with snacks, games, singing, and crafts.
• Today I want us to examine the Bible Point and Treasure Verse from each day.
• The VBS Theme was Fiesta which means celebrate. Because of Jesus, our live should be a celebration!
• Let’s begin our Fiesta Adventure today!
• SLIDE #2
SERMON
I. JESUS IS OUR FRIEND.
• One of the reasons that we can celebrate is because Jesus is our friend!
• It is important for ALL of us to realize that Jesus is our friend; Jesus is not someone who is looking for and hoping that you will fail in life.
• Can you imagine what life would be like without friends?
• The Bible story used to illustrate this was found in Luke 5:17-25, it is the story of the paralytic that Jesus healed.
• This man was not able to walk and some friends tried to get him in front of Jesus, but the crowd was so large they could not get their friend to Jesus. Then they decided to lower him through the roof in a hole they made so the paralyzed man could be lowered into the house in which Jesus was teaching.
• Jesus of course heals to man and the crowd was in awe of Him because of it.
• This man would have been trouble had it not been for a couple of friends who were there for him to help him.
• Our key verse for this day was part of John 15:15. Jesus was speaking to His disciples and He told them they were not slaves, but His friends.
• SLIDE #3
• True friends are always there for you through thick or thin. Jesus is someone that you can trust will be there in your corner; He is with you during both the good times and the bad!
• It is important to realize that Jesus is not your enemy or adversary; we MUST understand that He only has our best interests at heart.
• When God gave us His Word, He did not do so to enslave us, but He gave it to us so that we could have freedom within the boundaries He sets for our protection.
• True friends will not always tell you what you want to hear, they will tell you what you NEED to hear.
• The world is getting to be a lonely place for many; people will let you down, but Jesus is the friend who will never fail you, who will not forsake you, who will always care for and love you!
• Let us look at a second reason we can celebrate!
• SLIDE #4
II. JESUS IS OUR LIFE.
• The Bible story used to help the children understand this concept was the story of Jesus raising His friend Lazarus from the dead in John 11:1-44.
• Jesus had been given word that His friend Lazarus was sick and Jesus did not get into a hurry to see him because Jesus knew what He was going to do with the situation.
• For Lazarus, Jesus was his life.
• There are many thing in which we give our lives. For some money, power and prestige is their life. For some, entertainment and pleasure is their life.
• We need to understand that Jesus is our life!
• What does that really mean?
• SLIDE #5
• Our treasure verse in Deuteronomy 6:5 says: “and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart.”
• If Jesus is going to be our life, it has to start with loving Him with all your heart. WE all know what we love; we know what our lives are really about.
• We wanted the children to understand that before Jesus can be our life, we must love Him.
• Think about the things you give your life to; you love what you give yourself to. Those who farm do it because they love it. I do what I do because I love it. You will never make Jesus your life until you love Him.
• When you make a decision to give your life to Jesus, Jesus is supposed to be what your life is all about.
• This bible point is all about investment. IF you do not invest yourself in Jesus, He will not be your life.
• SLIDE #6
• Luke 12:34 (NASB) 34“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
• Where is your treasure? You will find your heart where your treasure is.
• The third reason we can celebrate is…
• SLIDE #7
III. JESUS IS OUR LEADER.
• If Jesus is our friend and if He is our life, then Jesus needs to be our leader.
• We used the story of Jesus choosing His first disciples in Matthew 4:18-22.
• I want to read this passage.
• SLIDES #8-9
• Matthew 4:18 - 22 (NASB) 18Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19And He said* to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
• When Jesus called the disciples, they immediately dropped what they were doing and followed Jesus.
• The treasure verse used was Matthew 4:19
• SLIDE #10
• It is so important for us to understand the concept of Jesus being our leader. Jesus is the one who should be the one we follow. Too many of us do not allow Jesus to be our leader.
• In order for a person to be a leader, they need someone to follow.
• If we belong to Jesus, Jesus is the one we need to follow. Where He leads, we need to follow.
• If we are not allowing Jesus to be our leader, we are not one of His followers.
• Following means that we drop our agenda and take up the agenda of Jesus.
• In the church, we MUST allow Jesus to be our leader so that we stay on track with what we are called to do.
• I believe many of the problems that happen in the church come as a result of people putting their personal agendas over than agenda of Jesus.
• If Jesus is you leader, you will follow Him!
• The fourth reason we can celebrate is…
• SLIDE #11
IV. JESUS IS OUR SAVIOR.
• Jesus died for our sins and rose again. In John 19:17-20:29 gives the account of Jesus dying on the cross and rising again from the dead on the third day.
• Our treasure verse for this day was found in John 14:19.
• SLIDE #12
• Since I live, you also will live.
• Jesus is the one who died for your sins.
• Sin keeps us from God’s presence and the only way for us to be able to stand before God is to have our sin debt paid for.
• If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then you have to admit that there is no other way to be saved than through the blood of Jesus.
• I saw a tee shirt that said something to the effect, that if I am good enough, then why did He die on the cross.
• If you could be saved by being good enough, then God would not have had to send His Son.
• Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
• But we find in Romans 5:8 the following truth.
• SLIDE #13
• Romans 5:8 (NASB) 8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
• God did not wait for you to be perfect, He did not wait until we cleaned up our act, while we were yet sinners or while we will still hostile toward God, He sent His Son to die for us!
• SLIDE #14
• Peter tells us in Acts 4:12 (NASB) 12“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
• Jesus wants to be your savior! Do you really want to go to heaven? If you do, then you need to make Jesus your savior!
• The fifth reason we can celebrate is…
• SLIDE #15
V. JESUS IS OUR HELPER.
• The great thing about our Lord is the fact that once we give our lives to Him, once we make Him our savior, He does not sit back and forget about us. When we give our lives to Him, the work just begins!
• The bible story we used was found in Acts 9:1-19. This was Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus.
• When Paul was confronted by Jesus, Paul changed and allowed Jesus change Him.
• It can be a fearful time for us when we give our lives to Jesus. So many things change, it can seem like we are all alone at times.
• The treasure verse for this day was found in Hebrews 13:6
• SLIDE #16
• “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear.” Hebrews 13:6
• It is so good to know that Jesus is our helper so we do not have to live in fear.
• When you face difficult situations, Jesus is there to help you. When we are trying to live our lives for Jesus, we are not left alone to be on our own.
• Jesus is there to walk with us; He is there to help us to stand strong.
• We need to understand that we do not have to do it alone.
• We have a tendency to run from God when we struggle. We need to realize that Jesus wants us to lean on Him in both the good times and the bad.
• What better helper can you have than the Son of God?
CONCLUSION
• We had a great week of VBS!
• WE enjoyed having your children; we thank you for the opportunity to spend time with them.
• I hope we were able to have a positive impact on them.
• SLIDE #17
• We have a great many reasons to celebrate!
• If you would like to make Jesus your friend, your life, your leader, your savior, and your helper, you can come forward this morning at make Him all He wants to be in your life.
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