When Life Is Wild, God Is Good

“Life is Wild, but God is Good” (V.B.S. Sermon) David Owens

Scripture Reading: Joshua 1:9 8.11.19

A. How many of you enjoyed a great week at V.B.S.?

1. I want to thank all the children for coming and the parents for bringing them.

2. I also want to thank all the workers and teachers.

3. My sermon today is a review of what we learned this week.

B. A few years ago, a church in Seattle, Washington was having a big kick-off Sunday.

1. They wanted to do something for their children’s program, so they brought in Barney the Dinosaur.

2. What they learned very quickly is that kids like Barney when he’s on TV or in the form of a stuffed animal, but when you bring in a live, 7 foot tall, Barney, he can be a little intimidating to kids.

3. In fact, the church had Barney scheduled for two weeks, they ditched him after the first week.

4. But before they did so, here’s one of the things that happened.

5. One little boy absolutely flipped out and his mom was teaching a Sunday school class, so she couldn't take him, so his dad stepped in and finally calmed him down.

6. But then during the worship, the little boy’s dad was supposed to help take the offering, so he put his son in a room next to the auditorium, saying to his son, “You stay here. I’ll be right back and you’ll be safe and OK.”

7. But what the dad didn’t know, that room was also Barney’s dressing room.

8. Right in the middle of the offering, Barney opened the door to that room and stood in the doorway looking at the little boy sitting in the room.

9. The little boy was trapped and went berserk, screaming so loudly that everyone in the auditorium could hear him.

10. Barney didn’t know what to do, so he tried to alleviate the situation by taking his head off.

11. That only made the boy scream, “He’s eaten someone. Barney has eaten someone!”

B. If we were to be really honest, we could make a huge list of things we are afraid of, and Barney might make that list.

1. Some of the things we are afraid of seem totally irrational, like a spider that is a thousand times smaller than us, but they still bring fear.

2. Other things that we fear might be more reasonable and realistic.

3. This week in our V.B.S., we have been talking about how life can get wild and we can become afraid.

4. But the most important thing we learned and need to remember is that even when life is wild and scary, God is with us and God is good.

5. Let’s review all the lessons we learned this week.

C. On Monday, we talked about how: When life is unfair, God is good!

1. We learned about the time when the Israelites were slaves of the Egyptians.

2. Life was very hard and they were mistreated with backbreaking labor and oppression.

3. The Israelites were destitute and they wondered if God abandoned His people?

4. For them, life was more than unfair, but thankfully God saw their suffering and He sent Moses.

5. When we find ourselves in hard situations and when life seems so unfair, we must never doubt God’s goodness and we must wait on God and depend on God for our ability to endure and overcome.

6. Remember: When life is unfair, God is good!

D. On Tuesday, we talked about how: When life is scary, God is good!

1. We learned about the plagues that God sent on Egypt to prove His power and to rescue His people.

2. The Israelites and the Egyptians went through a very scary and difficult time with the plagues, like the frogs, locusts, boils, darkness and death, but in the midst of the plagues they saw God do some unbelievable things.

3. The Egyptians, in particular, found out the hard way, that there is only one God.

4. That one true God is powerful and just and loving.

5. When we find ourselves in scary situations and our fears are getting the best of us, then we need to turn to God, because God is our Shepherd and His rod and staff give us comfort.

6. Remember: When life is scary, God is good!

E. On Wednesday, we talked about how: When life changes, God is good!

1. When God brought the Israelites out of Egpyt, God took them into the desert wilderness.

2. The Israelites were barely out of Egypt before they started worrying and wishing they could go back.

3. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Ex. 14:11-12)