Discussion Questions:
- Talk about things that make you feel hopeful. Discuss the difference between simply hoping something good happens, and having hope in Jesus.
- Make a rainbow to hang in your window this week.
All around the world, people have started making beautiful rainbows. They're hanging them in windows, or drawing them with chalk out in the driveway, or sharing online for all the world to see. Rainbows are very pretty, but why are people doing this now? What does it mean?
It's a symbol of hope. Whenever someone sees a rainbow they are reminded there's hope.
We talked on our very first episode about the word "unsettled" and how we're all going through a confusing thing. By now, I'm sure you've heard about the coronavirus and you know that there are hard things people in charge are trying to figure out to keep us all safe. And sometimes it's hard. I'm sure it's hard for you to miss your friends, playing sports, going to dance classes, or whatever your favorite things are. I get it. It's hard for me too. I miss my friends and going to church.
But we have hope that this won't last forever. And I think it's really great that people, including lots of kids, are making rainbows to remind everyone that there's hope.
You want to know what's even better though? We have an even greater hope. We have hope that goes way beyond viruses and getting back to normal. We have hope that isn't just in doctors and scientists and other grown-ups figuring out what to do to keep us safe. We have hope in Jesus.
The very first time God ever put a rainbow in the sky was after Noah and his family got off the ark. It rained for forty days and forty nights. And they were stuck on the ark for a long time the rain stopped! Imagine how hard it was to be stuck on a boat for so long! Imagine all they were missing about fresh air, sunshine, and dry land. And I bet while they were waiting, Noah and his family held on tight to the hope that God had a plan and everything would be okay.
And he did. And God put a rainbow up in the sky as a symbol of his promise to never destroy the earth with water again. Whenever Noah saw a rainbow again, I bet he didn't remember the rain and the ark and feel afraid. I bet he remembered that he could trust God and have hope for the future.
Let me tell you another cool story about rainbows. This one is in the book of Revelation at the very end of the Bible. Now remember, we call them Bible stories, but they're all true. And the book of Revelation tells us what is going to happen someday when Jesus returns to rule forever and always.
Revelation was written by Jesus's friend and disciple John long after Jesus returned to heaven. It was a vision God allowed him to have of both heaven and the future. John tells us that in heaven he saw this ...
"...there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne...." (Revelation 4:2-3)
Did you catch that? What surrounds the throne? A rainbow! And who do you think is sitting on the throne? Jesus, of course.
The throne of Jesus is surrounded by a rainbow. The symbol we look to as a reminder of God's promises and hope. And we know our very best hope is in Jesus.
Jesus came to Earth to save us from our sins. Our sins separate us from God. God can't be near sin. It's dirty and God is perfectly pure and clean. And sin also has to be punished. God can't just look the other way and pretend we don't do bad things. The Bible tells us that the punishment for sin is death. That's why Jesus's death on the cross is such a big deal. He was taking our punishment. And because he came back to life, he didn't stay dead, means that he defeated that punishment of death forever. We can live on heaven someday with God, and we can be friends with him now, if we admit that we're sinners and need help, and we ask Jesus to forgive us and be in charge of our lives. When we pray that, the dirtiness of our sin is taken away! We're clean inside and a new life begins. Sometime we'll talk about what it means to be a new creation.
For now, I want to focus on the hope we have in Jesus. Whenever you see a rainbow, I want you to not just have hope that things will someday get better. I want you to remember the promises of God himself, and that Jesus is sitting on his throne. We have hope now because Jesus is with us in hard things and in good things. He promised that we aren't alone. And we have hope because someday we can live with Jesus forever in heaven.
I want to wrap up today with this Bible verse. It's Romans 15:13, "I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
This week you can make your own rainbow, and as you work on it, I want you to remember that verse. I'll read it one more time for you. "I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
Let's pray.
No comments:
Post a Comment