The Treehouse Ep9: Ebenezer (BFB 3)

What is the first thing that comes to mind when I say the word "Ebenezer"? How many of you said Scrooge?? That's the first thing my son says! And honestly, it's the first thing that comes to mind for me too. Ebenezer Scrooge is, of course, the main character in A Christmas Carol. Just as a side note: Muppets Christmas Carol is hands-down my favorite version of that story.

But I'm not here today to talk to you about Muppets and Scrooge. Nope. I'm going to tell you what an Ebenezer is. It's not just a grumpy old guy who doesn't want to share his money. That's only in in the Christmas story. In the Bible an Ebenezer is something else entirely.

Let's grab our Bibles and look at 1 Samuel, chapter 7. Think back to last week and what we learned about the Ark of the Covenant. It was a very special, very holy chest where God himself would send his Spirit to be among the people. Not just anyone could touch it, only the priests. And even they had to follow special rules and be very respectful. This wasn't like some cool pirate's chest anyone could take and have the treasure inside.

But sometimes the Israelites would stop obeying God, start making very bad choices, and then get into battles with other people. In this case, it was the Philistines. They battled with the Philistines a lot. It's safe to say if you're reading about Philistines in the Bible, they're bad guys. And sometimes the Philistines would win against the Israelites and they would take the Ark of the Covenant. The funny thing is wherever the Philistines put the Ark of the Covenant people would get really sick, and even start dying! They moved it around a few times until they finally decided they didn't want the special golden box of Israel's God, and they gave it back. But the Israelites still weren't safe from the Philistines.

And here in 1 Samuel 7, the Israelites realized that God had allowed them to be punished because they had sinned against him. They had even started worshiping other gods. Gods that weren't real! The Israelites felt very sorry for being unfaithful to God, for forgetting what he had done for them, for not doing what was right.

So Samuel tells the people first to destroy all the places where they were worshiping the fake gods. After they did that, he gathers everyone together outside of a city called Mizpah. Once they were all gathered together, they drew water up from a well and poured it out before God. They went all day without food and they confessed their sins to God.

But when the Philistines heard that all of Israel had gathered together, they decided to get their army ready and head towards them to attack. Let's read what happens next, 1 Samuel 7:7-13 "The Israelites were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching. “Don’t stop pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel. So Samuel took a young lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered him.

Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them.The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way.

Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!”

So the Philistines were subdued and didn’t invade Israel again for some time. And throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the Lord’s powerful hand was raised against the Philistines."

That was another really cool miracle God did for the Israelites! Because they were coming to God truly sorry for being unfaithful, and completely trusting that the only way they could be saved was with God's help, God again showed his faithfulness. He scared away the Philistines with thunder! I bet that was some really loud thunder. Like the kind of thunder that shakes your whole house and makes your dog start barking.

Did you catch the Ebenezer? It's a stone. The name actually means "stone of help". Of course, the stone itself didn't do anything. It's just a rock. And even in the story, Samuel didn't use it to kill anyone or trip somebody or even hide behind it. But the stone acted as another reminder of God's faithfulness. Samuel is putting up another memorial so everyone can remember that God has been faithful to help his people whenever they cry out to him.

You wanna know what else is cool? Some of the names of Jesus are 'Rock of Ages', 'Stone of Israel', or even simply 'Rock'. Jesus is our "stone of help."

There's a song we sometimes sing called "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". It was written 262 years ago! That means it was written even before the Declaration of Independence. And so some of the words in it are old-fashioned and kinda confusing. We don't really talk the same now as people did then.

Let me give you the words for the second verse.
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

Did you hear Ebenezer again? Now, if you're just singing this at church one day and you don't know the story of Samuel and the Philistines, you're going to start wondering what Ebenezer Scrooge has to do with Jesus. The answer is....nothing really. But now you know that an Ebenezer is a stone that helps us remember God's faithfulness. The second verse of "Come Thou Fount" is talking about making our own memorials to remember how God has helped us and kept us going. It also talks about how we have hope to arrive at home in heaven with God. And we have that hope because of Jesus. Jesus came to save us even while were lost in our sin. He rescued us on the cross, his own blood covering our sins. We're going to talk more about that next week!

Isn't that amazing? We are rescued from danger, just like the Israelites were rescued from the Philistines. And we can lift an Ebenezer too. It doesn't have to be a stone. Maybe you can draw a picture, or take a picture to help you remember when God has helped you. Maybe you can save something from your schoolyear to remind you how God stayed with you when you felt worried about a test, or left out from your friends. I think we all should take time to think about how God is helping us now, and raise an Ebenezer so we can always remember how God was with us even when we had to stay at home all the time.

So now you know what an Ebenezer is! And when Christmas rolls around and you watch the Muppets, or Mickey Mouse, or whatever version you like, you can remember that an Ebenezer actually helps remind us of God's faithfulness.

Let's pray.

The Treehouse Ep8: River Crossing (BFB May 2)

Discussion Questions

•  When the priests started into the river they stepped into the water and their feet got wet but when they got to the middle of the river, the ground was dry under their feet and everyone walked across the riverbed without getting their feet wet. How did that happen?  Can you see how complete God is when He does something for us? There is no detail that He doesn’t see.
• Did the priests say that this was a bad idea or that they didn’t want to try it? Why were they obedient? They were obedient because God had been faithful.
• Can you think of other things that remind us that God is always faithful?
• Rainbows - God’s promise
• Sunrises - every day starts with one
• Spring - new life
• The Bible - God’s guidebook for us
• Why is it important to be faithful? Who has been faithful to you? Are you faithful? Why or why not?

Transcript 

Do you remember last week what story I said might be the most important one in the Old Testament? The story told over and over again? It's the story of God delivering the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, and how they crossed the Red Sea safely. Well, today's lesson happened forty years later and has another great God miracle in it.

Let me fill in a bit of the backstory before we jump in. After the Israelites were miraculously saved, they needed to travel back to Canaan. Canaan is known as the Promised Land, and it's where the Israelites lived before they were slaves in Egypt. But along the way, they began to grumble and complain. And there was one teensy little problem with just going back home....in the hundreds of years since they'd left Canaan, other people had taken over the land. Cities with big protective walls had been built. The Israelites couldn't just barge in and announce that this was actually their land. So they sent in twelve spies. The Israelites were made up of twelve tribes, so they selected one man from each tribe to go into the Promised Land as a spy and scout things out. Those spies sneaked into the land and looked all around. They saw incredible fruit growing, the grapes were so large they had to carry one bunch on a pole between two men! They called it "a land flowing with milk and honey".

One of the spies, named Caleb, told the people to listen to what Moses had to say. Caleb said, “Let’s go now and take possession of the land. We should be more than able to conquer it.” But the men who had gone with him said, “We can’t attack those people! They’re too strong for us!” (Numbers 13:30-31)

When the rest of the Israelites heard how afraid the spies were they rebelled against Moses and God. To put it simply--they lost their minds! They started totally freaking out! And they refused to even try to go into battle and take back the Promised Land. Remember how I told you that God is always faithful to his people, but sometimes he has to punish them? Well, when you talk back to your parents, and lose your minds, and don't obey....do you get punished? That's how God felt about his children, the Israelites. And he had to punish them. You might get sent to your room or be grounded or something. The Israelites had to wander in the desert for forty years.

Now, God is faithful so he took care of them in the desert. This is when he started providing manna for them to eat, and he made water come out of a rock so they could drink. The Bible tells us that even the soles of their shoes didn't wear out. Yes, God took very good care of them while they were in the wilderness. He didn't leave them on their own, even if he was punishing their disobedience.

And when the time was right, God made a way from them to enter into the Promised Land so they could begin taking it back. This is the story we're going to talk about today. It's been forty years, and even their leader Moses has passed away in the wilderness outside of the Promised Land. A new leader is chosen by God. His name is Joshua, and it's the book of the Bible named for him where we read what happens next.

In the book of Joshua, in chapters 3 & 4, we find that the Israelites are finally ready to go back home. But in order to get there, they must cross the Jordan River. Now rivers can sometimes shrink down and be small, like when it hasn't rained in awhile. But sometimes rivers can swell and overflow the banks, like during a rainy season. And in Joshua 3:15 we read that the Jordan River was in a flood stage. Imagine what it's like when a road gets flooded over and the high water signs get put up. Have you ever driven on a road like that, maybe before the signs are posted? It's a little scary, isnt it? You're not sure your car will make it through the water or if it's too deep. Imagine what it would be like to have to walk through a river that's flooding over its banks. Can you picture the water flowing fast? Can you hear what it sounds like? What it would feel like?

So here the Israelites are finally ready to enter the Promised Land and it looks like they're stopped by water. Again. Only some of the people facing the Jordan River now would've experienced the parting of the Red Sea when they left Egypt as children. Remember, it's been forty years. So many of the people had been born in the wilderness and grown up out there. And some were still just children, like you. But do you think they remembered the story of what God had done in parting the sea? Do you think maybe they hoped he would do something about the water now?

Let's read on and see what kind of faith the people had. Joshua commanded all the priests to travel ahead of everyone else. They were carrying the Ark of the Covenant. Let's pause for a moment to explain what that is. An ark isn't always a big giant boat carrying animals. That was only for Noah. An ark is a vessel--it can be a ship, or it can be a box. It's something which can hold and carry things. And the Ark of the Covenant was a very special chest which held the slabs of stone with the Ten Commandments written on them in God's own handwriting, as well as jars with manna inside. Most importantly, the Ark of the Covenant was where God in the form of the Holy Spirit would settle.It was a very holy, very special chest, and it could only be carried with long poles by the priests. If anyone else even touched it, they would die. So, the Ark of the Covenant was a big deal. No wonder Joshua wanted to have it go first. He wanted to be sure that the Israelites were following God into the Promised Land and not just going into this new journey on their own.

So four priests are carrying the Ark of the Covenant. Let me read to you directly from the Bible. This is Joshua 3:15-17, "...reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground." (Joshua 3:15-17)

Now, let's keep going with Joshua 4:1-7: When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

When the people finished crossing and the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant crossed over into the Promised Land, the water came rushing back and continued flowing like a flood as it had been before! God stopped the water again for his people.

Did you notice that the priests just stepped into the water? They had faith that God was going to act. They trusted his faithfulness. And what do you think about those stones God told Joshua to command the people to gather?

They couldn't just grab a stone from somewhere on the other side of the river, or even just anywhere on the riverbed. God told them to pick up stones from where the priests were standing. These stones were to help the Israelites always remember what God had done for them. The stones were there so their children and grandchildren would ask and want to know why. God was helping the people to remember his faithfulness to them.

Can you think of something most churches have to help us remember God's faithfulness? How about a cross? The cross was where God's ultimate act of faithfulness took place. He allowed his only son, Jesus, to die as payment for our sins. That's a very important thing to remember!

Today, I want you to think about some ways God has been faithful to you and your family. Maybe you've never seen a flooding river be stopped at your toes, but I bet if you try you can think of some other things. And we can always think about and thank God for Jesus and the cross.

Let's pray together.

Treehouse Ep7: Remember Miracles (BFB May 1)

Discussion Questions: 

• How does a miracle show God’s power?
• Why is it important to remember the things God did for people who lived so long ago?
•  Can you tell me about a time when God did a miracle for his people and why that is special to you? Do you think God cares about us the same way today? 
• Why is it important to be faithful? Who has been faithful to you? Are you faithful?
• Does your family have any traditions? 
• Feel free to talk about traditions that don’t seem to have a God-connection, such as the birthday person gets to pick out where they eat dinner, etc.
•  Talk about what each person likes about your special traditions.

All thismonth we're going to be talking about remembering. Specifically, we're going to dig deep into remembering the faithfulness of God. Now, I always try to define words as I use them so we can all try to learn together. Faithfulness is another one of those kinda big, kinda churchy words. We say it a lot, but sometimes we forget to think about what it means.

If someone is faithful that means you can trust them to be there for you and to do what's right. You might have a dog that always waits to greet you when you get off the school bus--that's a kind of faithfulness. You might have a grandmother who always sends you a birthday card with a few dollars in it--that's a kind of faithfulness. Your parents are faithful to take you to soccer practice, and to pick you up again! We see faithfulness all around us everyday in all the ways we consistently do the right thing.

When we talk about God being faithful,we can look at how his love never runs out. He's always ready to forgive us. He's always ready to help us get through something that's really hard or scary. And a lot of times we see God doing miracles that show that he's faithful to take care of his people.

This month we're going to look at a few of those stories with exciting miracles that showed God's people that he was faithful to them. He wasn't going to forget about them, or get bored and go do something else, or give up on them because they kept messing up. God continued to do what was right for his people, even when they didn't do what was right. Now--I will tell you this--God punishes sin. And sometimes bad things happened to God's people either because of their sin, or because of the sin of other people. We live in a world where bad things still happen because there is so much sin in the world. So, God's faithfulness doesn't mean everything is always sunny and easy. Sometimes, I really wish it did. We all wish that from time to time. But it's in the hardest things that God shows up and his faithfulness means the most

Okay, so today we're going to read one of the Psalms. A psalm is like a poem or song written to God. There's a whole book of them in the Bible. It's the biggest book of the Bible, in fact. And a lot of the worship songs we sing have words taken right from the psalms! Also, I don't know why there's a P at the beginning of the word, but you know how that goes sometimes. Silent letters and all that.

So, this is Psalm 77. The beginning of it is kinda sad. Actually, it's very sad. The writer of this psalm is very frustrated and even scared. Do you ever feel frustrated and scared? I definitely do. And it's good to know that even people who wrote the Bible felt that way. Their words tell us  what to do when we feel that way. I'm going to read the first 12 verses. If you want to follow along, pause the podcast for a minute to grab your Bible. We're reading Psalm 77, starting with verses 1-12.

I cried out to God for help;
    I cried out to God to hear me.
2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
    at night I stretched out untiring hands,
    and I would not be comforted.

3 I remembered you, God, and I groaned;
    I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.[b]
4 You kept my eyes from closing;
    I was too troubled to speak.
5 I thought about the former days,
    the years of long ago;
6 I remembered my songs in the night.
    My heart meditated and my spirit asked:

7 “Will the Lord reject forever?
    Will he never show his favor again?
8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
    Has his promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
    Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
    the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will consider all your works
    and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

Okay, so like I said, this writer is feeling really scared and uncertain. Remember that word we learned a few weeks ago, "unsettled?" I'd say he's definitely feeling unsettled! He's afraid that God is going to stop being faithful to him and his people. That's a really big fear. So what does he decide to do?

In verses 11 & 12, he says, "I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your words and meditate on all your mighty deeds." He decides to remember everything that God has done. He's going to remind himself of all the ways God has been faithful in the past. All the times God showed up in a big way to take care of his people.

So let's go back to Psalm 77 and see what the writer is thinking about....Picking up at verse 13.

Your ways, God, are holy.
    What god is as great as our God?
14 You are the God who performs miracles;
    you display your power among the peoples.
15 With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
    the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

16 The waters saw you, God,
    the waters saw you and writhed;
    the very depths were convulsed.
17 The clouds poured down water,
    the heavens resounded with thunder;
    your arrows flashed back and forth.
18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
    your lightning lit up the world;
    the earth trembled and quaked.
19 Your path led through the sea,
    your way through the mighty waters,
    though your footprints were not seen.

20 You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Maybe the most important story, the one told over and over and over and over again throughout the Bible is the story of God rescuing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. If you attended Vacation Bible School at Bloom Baptist Church last year then you spent an entire week learning all about that story. I know because I was the teacher. But in case you didn't, you can find out all about that in the book of Exodus, chapters 5-14. It's a bit of a long story with ten plagues and all this crazy stuff happening that showed God's power to Pharaoh, the Egyptians, and all the Israelites. But the big finale ending happened as the Israelites were finally leaving Egypt. They started to leave Egypt and suddenly the Egyptian army began chasing them. In order to leave Egypt, they had to get past the Red Sea. Moses raised his arms and God parted the waters! And not just a little bit either. There were walls of water on either side, the ground was dry beneath their feet as they left. Thousands of Israelites were able to pass through, but when the Egyptians arrived and tried to follow, the water came crashing down on them. This was a huge, mighty miracle. God kept them safe through each one of the scary plagues, and then brought them safely through the Red Sea away from harm.

Throughout the rest of Exodus and the next several books of the Bible, the Israelites are told to remember again and again. Remember the Lord your God. Remember how he delivered you from Egypt. Remember how he kept you safe. God even told the people to have certain festivals and celebrations every year to remember. He wanted his people to never forget his power and his faithfulness.

When life is frustrating, scary, or unsettling like it was for the writer of Psalm 77, it's really easy to forget everything God has already done. Sometimes it seems like all we can think about is what's happening now, what we don't like or don't understand, or what makes us afraid. God knows that. He knows that we have trouble remembering.....which is why it's commanded so many times and why he gave people traditions to help them remember. Sometimes he even commanded them to create memorials to help them remember. We're going to look at two of those stories in the next two weeks.

Anyway, we have those traditions. Every year at Christmas we remember when Jesus came as a baby. Every year at Easter we remember when he died for our sins and rose again so that we can all have eternal life. Every time someone is baptized we remember that we are all new creations in Christ.

And when we feel worried or afraid, we can remember the miracles of long ago. Think back through your favorite Bible stories. You'll see over and over again how God was faithful to take care of his people even in some really hard times. God is never going to forget about us or get bored or give up!

Our memory verse for this month is Psalm 77:11, "I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago." As we each work on memorizing this verse, let's also take time to remember the stories of God's faithfulness, and to thank him for being faithful to us now. Look for all the ways God is showing you his faithfulness.

Let's pray together.

The Treehouse Ep06: Trees

You should know by now that the name of this podcast is Bloom Kids Treehouse, and the logo for Bloom Kids has a big ol' tree on it. And a cute fox. The fox is just for fun. The tree, however, was chosen to be a symbol for our ministry.

A symbol is something, usually a picture, that stands for something else. So like McDonald's has the big golden arches, Batman has the Bat Signal, Disney has the big curisve D. You guys see them everywhere and don't even think about it. Well, we wanted a symbol for Bloom Kids, too.

The name Bloom Kids comes from our church, Bloom Baptist, and the church has that name because it's in Bloom township in Ohio. But I really like the word "bloom". It makes me think of flowers and spring time. Have you noticed flowers blooming? Our neighbors have been nice enough to let my kids come in their yards and pick some very beautiful tulips, hyacinths, and bluebells. Our apple tree is all covered in pretty white blossoms. Our lilac tree is getting ready to burst into delicious smelling purple flowers. I love when spring comes and everything blooms.

The Bible often talks about people like we're plants. Sometimes we're like seeds planted in the earth and waiting to see if we grow or if we're duds. Sometime's we're like branches on a vine and are only growing fruit if we stay connected. I mean, have you ever seen a tree branch cut off from a tree grow fruit? Yeah, me neither. And sometimes people are compared to trees.

In Jeremiah chapter 17, the prophet Jeremiah takes a few verses to talk about wisdom from the Lord. Most of the time, Jeremiah had to tell people that they were not listening to God and bad things were going to happen. And most of the time, people didn't believe him or told him to be quiet and go away. But Jeremiah was right. Bad things did happen to God's people because of their disobedience. So, I think we will be wise if we stop and consider his words.

This is what the LORD says:

“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,

who rely on human strength

and turn their hearts away from the LORD.

6They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,

with no hope for the future.

They will live in the barren wilderness,

in an uninhabited salty land.

7“But blessed are those who trust in the LORD

and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.

8They are like trees planted along a riverbank,

with roots that reach deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat

or worried by long months of drought.

Their leaves stay green,

and they never stop producing fruit.

9“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,

and desperately wicked.

Who really knows how bad it is?

10But I, the LORD, search all hearts

and examine secret motives.

I give all people their due rewards,

according to what their actions deserve.”

So let's go back to the beginning of this section here, verse 5. Jeremiah tells us that people who trust completely on human strength and wisdom are cursed. It's not that God is in heaven blasting out curses and lightning strikes on anyone who doesn't listen to him. It's that there is always a consequence to our choices. Always. And if you choose to not obey God and instead do only what you, or your friends, think is right, the result is usually more trouble for yourself. It might seem to make sense to you to do whatever you want, or what makes you feel happy but if God has said that it's sin, then it will hurt you in the long run.

Jeremiah says those people are like stunted shrubs living in the wilderness. Some plants are meant to grow in the desert, like a cactus. But most plants, if they don't have good fresh water to drink up, then they don't grow very well. They stay small and shriveled up, and they eventually just die for lack of water. What do you think a person who is like a stunted shrub is like? Do you think they have a lot of joy and happiness? Do you think God uses them to do really exciting things? Do you think the fun that they do have leads to goodness, or do you think it leads to trouble? We'll ponder that for a minute as we look at the next set of verses.

In verse 7, we read that people who put their trust and confidence in Jesus are blessed. This doesn't mean that bad things never happen to Christians. Bad things happen to everyone. But if your hope and confidence is in Jesus you can still have peace and joy when bad things happen. You can trust that God isn't going to leave you on your own to figure life out. You can have confidence that God will help you, even when life is hard. Someone who doesn't trust in Jesus but only trusts themselves, doesn't have anwyhere to go when life is hard. If they can't figure out what to do or make themselves feel better, then that is it. That's the end of the story. But if you trust in Jesus, you're never on your own.

Jeremiah says that those people are like trees planted by a riverbank with roots that dig down deep in the water. A tree that has a good constant source of water can grow really healthy and strong. If a few weeks or months go by without rain, it's still okay. The roots go down deep where water can still be found, and the tree can stay alive. What do you think a person who is like a tree planted by the river is like? Do you think they have joy? Do you think they have wisdom and a good sense of what to do even when things are hard? Do they get to do exciting things for God?

Let's look at the last part where Jeremiah lays a solid truth-bomb on us. He writes, "the heart is deceitful of all things". To be deceitful means to lie or to trick. Human hearts left on their own are deceitful. They can trick us into doing things that feel good for a minute, but hurt us later on. Sometimes those things are small--like sneaking a cookie before dinner, but then you feel really guilty about it. And sometimes those things can be really big--like lying to your parents or doing things you know you're not allowed to because other kids are telling you to. And the result of that can be really painful. It's really important that we trust Jesus above anything else--even our own hearts!

But let's look at the next verse, "But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

There's actually several Bible verses that tell us that God examines our hearts. You know what an examination is. It's more than just looking. Think about when a doctor examines a patient. They're looking for signs that a person is healthy, or sick. And if a person is sick, they're looking to find out where and why. God is examining our hearts. He sees all the places where our hearts are sick, and where they're healthy and growing. And if we trust in Jesus, he helps our hearts to become healthier and stronger. Our hearts don't have to stay deceitful, sick hearts. Remember we talked about having beastly hearts last week and being made into new creations? As we trust Jesus more and more, and as our relationship with him grows and becomes more and more important to us, our hearts change. We still shouldn't just run off and follow it down some happy trail; we need to still be sure that our hearts are trusting Jesus. But if we have hearts that trust him, God sees that and he rewards us.

Does that reward happen right now? Well, no. Sorry for that bit of bad news. We're used to getting rewarded right away. You take a test, you get a good grade, there's your reward. With God, sometimes we have to wait a long time for the rewards because they're being stored up for us in heaven. And sometimes we have to wait to have God show us the reward. The reward might be sitting right there in front of your face--but you don't see it as a blessing yet. It helps if we pray and ask God to give us eyes to see his rewards and blessings. He doesn't actually give us new eyeballs, but it's like he gives us eyes inside our hearts to see like he does.

So, this brings me back to the beginning. Why did we pick a tree for the Bloom Kids symbol? Because we are praying all the time that you kids will grow up to be strong, healthy trees planted by the riverbank. We want you to be rooted in Jesus. We hope that you'll trust Jesus and put all your confidence in him, even when life is hard, and even when you're tempted to follow your heart down a different path. We want to have a whole forest of kids that have grown up strong in Jesus! Whenever you see the Bloom Kids tree, I want you to remember that people are praying for you, and that you can grow up to be a strong, mighty tree.

The Treehouse Ep5: Tale as Old as Time

Discussion Guide

• Can you think of any other movies or fairy tales that remind you of Jesus? Cinderella is one, maybe Aladdin....
• What does it mean to be new on the inside?
• Can you think of any animals that transform? Talk about how butterflies and frogs don't just grow bigger, but go through significant changes. We experience that kind of transformation through salvation

Episode Transcript 

Over the last several weeks, my family has been watching a lot of Disney movies together. Three cheers for, Disney +! We've watched Toy Story, Cars, Sleeping Beauty, Lilo & Stitch, Tangled, and we have a list of more we want to watch. On that list is one of my very favorite movies, Beauty & the Beast. When I was six or seven years old the animated movie came out and it was one of the first movies I ever saw in a movie theater. But just a few years ago, the one of with real people came out and I saw it a bunch of times in the theater! Because as long as you have a babysitter, you can go to the movies as much as you want when you're a grown-up.

And I want to tell you that one of my favorite things about Beauty and the Beast is that it reminds me of Jesus. I know, you probably think that's crazy but once I tell you why, I think you'll agree with me. 

In the story of Beauty & the Beast, a prince is cursed and turned into a beast. He's cursed because he was selfish and unkind. An old woman had come to his castle to ask for shelter from a storm, and he laughed at her and turned her away. As is usually the case in fairy tales, the old woman was actually an enchantress and she turned him into a hideous beast. All of the castle servants were turned into objects-- a candlestick, a tea pot, a clock, for example. And they were doomed to stay this way forever unless the beast could learn to love and be loved in return before all the petals fell from an enchanted rose. 

So that's literally the first five minutes of the movie. And you want to know what else? That's also the first few chapters of the Bible. Stay with me here. I'm not crazy. 

When God created the world, it was perfect. It was beautiful and everything inside of it lived in perfect harmony. Adam and Eve weren't afraid of animals, animals weren't afraid of them, fruit and vegetables simply grew from the land because God created it to grow. Imagine how perfect it was. 

But then the serpent tricked Eve into doubting God's goodness and truthfulness, and she ate the fruit which was forbidden. The one thing that she was not allowed to eat. And then, she gave it to Adam and he ate it also. Sin entered God's perfect creation. And it was not perfect anymore. God had to punish Adam and Eve for disobeying him. He also had to cast them out of the garden. In fact, in Genesis 3, we read about the curses God placed on man, woman, and the snake. Unlike a fairytale, this story is completely true. And because Adam and Eve were cursed, we are all cursed too. Our desire to sin, our habit of sinning, has been passed on from parents to children and parents to children and parents to children all the way back to Adam and Eve. The curse--the consequence of sin--has been passed on too. 

No, we don't look like hideous beasts like in Beauty and the Beast. Not on the outside anyway. I've seen most of you kids, and you're all pretty cute actually! But the Bible tells us that God looks on the inside of a person and judges them there. He doesn't care if you have all  your teeth or if you're missing a few, he doesn't care if your hair is blonde or brown, if your eyes are blue or green. He cares about what your heart looks like. And our hearts are beastly. 

We all know that we can be selfish, mean, and rude sometimes. And sometimes we hurt someone's feelings and don't even feel bad about it....at least for a little while. We sometimes lie or cheat or take things that aren't ours. We can feel jealous and want what someone else has, or the attention that someone else gets. There are lots of things we do every day that show how beastly our hearts really are. Don't get me wrong--I know most of you who are listening and you're good kids. But the Bible does say that no one is good enough to get to heaven on their own. Without Jesus, our goodness just isn't enough. Because even if we're good most of the time, we all have sometimes when we can be just like beasts. 

In Beauty and the Beast, the prince must learn to love and be loved in return. You know, the whole only-an-act-of-true-love-can-save thing. We see this in a lot of fairy tales and Disney movies. And most of the time, when we think of true love with think of romance. You know, like boyfriends and girlfriends and weddings and kissing. If you're anything like my son, you're now making a yucky face. 

Did you know that only an act of true love can save us from the curse of sin? No, seriously. It's true. The truest love of all has nothing to do with boyfriends and girlfriends and kissing. That should make you feel better if you think all that mushy stuff is kinda gross. The truest love of all is from God. God actually is love. All the feelings of love that we have are because of him. Even the love you feel for your parents or a brother or sister or your puppy dog. God gave us hearts that can feel love, and brains that can choose to love someone even when they hurt your feelings or make you mad, and he gave us people and things to love. He did all of this because he is love itself. 

And because of that love, he had to do something to remove that curse. God had to make a way for us get rid of those beastly hearts and be able to really love him. Take a second and think about what God did for us. Do you have a guess? Go ahead and say it out loud. 

Did you say Jesus? If you did, you get a gold star and a thousand points. Don't get too excited, the points don't count for anything. 

Yes, Jesus! Do you remember learning this verse? John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

God loved us, all of us, anyone he has ever made including you and me. He loved us so much that he gave up Jesus. Jesus is God's only son and he loved him so very much. It wasn't easy for God to give us Jesus. And it wasn't easy for Jesus to take the punishment for our sins on the cross. But because they loved us so much they made that sacrifice so that we don't have to live with the curse of sin anymore. We can be whole and beautiful inside instead of beasts! 

An act of true love has saved us! 

So in Beauty and the Beast, spoiler alert, the beast learns to love and be loved and blah blah blah, and he transforms back into a person! But do you think he was the same selfish person inside? I don't think so! He looked the same on the outside as he was before--a handsome prince and all that fairytale stuff. But on the inside, he was a new person. He was a better person. Kind, loving, gentle, generous because he had learned to love. 

So when we ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins and take away our beastly hearts so we can live like him and love like he does, we are made into new creations! We look the same on the outside, but inside we are new. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (NIV) Or, another way of saying it is this: This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (NLT). 

At Bloom Baptist Church, the name of the class for kids in first, second, and third grades is "New Creations". This is why! Because of Jesus we can be made new inside. We can start a new life without a beastly  heart that is cursed. Yes, we'll still sin and need forgiveness from Jesus, but that curse has been broken! Isn't that so awesome??

And so  now you know why Beauty and the Beast reminds me of Jesus. A curse, true love, and a new life. It's pretty cool how we can find Jesus and the gospel in all sorts of place is we look for him, even in our favorite movies. 

The Treehouse Ep4: Rainbows

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.

Dig Deep Ep01: The Gospel of Sheep

This week's lesson for the kids came from Luke 15. This may be my favorite chapter of the Bible, which is a little odd because my favorite book of the Bible is actually John. But I digress. There are actually three parables that Jesus tells in Luke 15--the parable to the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the prodigal son. Jesus tells each of these stories to drive the point home that God never gives up on us. With the kids, I focused on The Prodigal Son. I wanted to talk to them about God's love and ready forgiveness when we mess up. I wanted them to know that no matter how angry we get at them sometimes, God is always there for them. And that no mistake or bad choice is too big for God to forgive them and still love them.

But for us tall people, I want to zero in on the sheep. The story of the lost sheep in Luke 15 spoke to me very deeply when I was in college. I had made a string of poor decisions that left me pretty emotionally bankrupt when the bottom fell out. When I turned to come back to God, I found that He was ready and waiting for me, just like the father in the prodigal son. I further discovered that I was the one sheep that needed rescuing. Jesus came for me. Just as he does for all of us. The salvation won at Calvary is good for once and for all, but it was also personal and individual. The moment that sinks in is a powerful one.

This led me on a bit of a sheepy rabbit trail through Scripture. I often take one word and look up all the verses I can find on it. So, when you start following sheep through the Bible you find that there's a lot of imagery related to these woolly creatures. For example, this verse in Isaiah, "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." (Isaiah 40:11)

Available for download here. 

The first time I read this verse as a young twenty-something, it was the idea of Jesus holding me safe in his arms that spoke to me. I even created a screen name based on that--remember AIM and screen names?? But this verse, even fifteen years later, still speaks to me every time I read it. Especially in times like we're living in right now where the world feels upside down and uncertain. This time, I'm not living in the mess of my own bad choices, but I am living in a time full of messy emotions and circumstances out of my control. Yet there is safety and security in Jesus. Not the safety and security that looks like "health and wealth prosperity gospel." But the safety and security of knowing that eternity is settled. The safety and security of knowing that I not in this anxious time alone. The safety and security of knowing that I am chosen, wanted, loved, and held by the same Creator who holds the stars in place, and the Savior who died to set me free. Whew. Exhale for a minute and let that sink in.

Now that I'm a parent, I have to say that the next part of the verse actually means even more to me. Let me read it to you again, "He gently leads those that have young." Jesus is gently leading us as we go through the journey-- not just of covid-19, not just of life, but also of parenthood. Notice that it specifically says "gently." Jesus isn't barking out commands. He's not berating us when we mess up. He's not shaming us when we are selfish or unstable or overbearing. Now, I don't want to paint Jesus as this snuggly teddy bear of a guy who doesn't take sin seriously. He isn't validating our toxic behaviors because he's sympathetic and a nice guy. No. We all have our moments and we all need grace to begin again and do better. Jesus holds us accountable to repenting and seeking his forgiveness. His leadership is always faithful, it's always wise, it's always what we need, and it's always for our good....and the good of our children.

We are not parenting alone. We need to know that. We need to believe that. We need to rest in that. When you're overwhelmed by this non-stop twenty-four-seven-no-break-from-the-kids-life that we're living, rest in Jesus. When you've lost it real bad on the kids and it's just past breakfast, remember that the risen Savior is ready to forgive you and give you His strength of spirit and patience to carry on. When it's late at night and you can't sleep because the news is scary, and your kids are worried, and you don't know how to soothe anyone's feelings because your nerves are raw....listen in the quiet for Jesus. He's gently leading those that have young.

So, no matter where you find yourself today, there's some gospel truth to hold onto. If you are the sheep separated from the fold and in need of rescuing, Jesus is on the move already. He never rests when one of his beloved is away from the safety of the flock. He never wearies of search and rescue missions.

If you are feeling anxious and afraid of the wolves howling at your door, remember that you are held safely in his arms. The Christian life doesn't mean that we are exempt from hardship and suffering. We know that all too well already. But settle deep within yourself the gospel-truth that Jesus endured hard things out of his deep, abiding love for us, and when we walk the road marked with suffering, we are not alone.

If you are a mama or papa sheep at a loss with your lambs, remember that Jesus is already ahead of you. He's gently leading you up rocky crags, and down into lush valleys, and to streams of life-giving water. There's nowhere you step that he hasn't already been. There's no danger ahead of you that he doesn't know about. And he's shepherding our young as we go along. I regularly pray for Jesus to fill in the gaps in my parenting. What I mean is that, the times when I really let my kids down or mess up or blow up, that God in his permanence and security would stand in stark contrast. That my kids can see God in the fabric of our lives, including and especially in the holes I make as an imperfect parent in need of a savior.

As you talk about Luke 15 with your kids this week, take time to make it personal. Remind them again that Jesus loves each one of them, that He is ready to forgive, and that we all are in need of that saving love and grace. It seems like a good way to prepare for Easter.

Let's pray.