Change in Paul's life - you can't fake it CHILDREN'S SERMON

Sermon Outline

Change in Paul’s life; change in your life; You Can’t Fake it!

Scripture:  Acts 14:9-10

Introduced 2009

Sermon Outline

Original challenge:  Here’s a blank piece of paper.  No matter what you do – how long you stare at the sheet of paper – it doesn’t just become something else.  You can pretend it is more than a blank piece of paper, but it just sits there – still.  A plank piece of paper.  You could even write on it and say it’s something else … but until someone changes it – it remains a blank sheet of paper.  (Make 2-3 different shapes with it while talking)

2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:  old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.”

What were the old things in Paul’s life?

a)     Acts 8:1 – Being okay with sin (okay with Stephen’s death)

b)     Acts 9:2 – Desiring to do wrong especially against Christians – almost like a bully

Acts 9:5 – Jesus Himself changed Saul.

c)      Acts 9:20 – He (Paul) preached God/Christ in the synagogues or wherever he was at.

d)     There was a change in Paul’s life, though the other Christians had not seen this change, so they did not believe.  Not until they saw the change!

e)     Acts 14:9-10 – Paul, changed by God, healed others rather than killing them.

God calls us to live a different life than the world.  We can’t pretend we’ve been changed and try to force it; we can’t say we’ve changed and not mean it; God knows the heart.  Instead – by faith – we realize God has changed us.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.  Old things ARE passed away, behold all things are become new!

Illustration:  One way to live as the new creature of God is to cleanse our mind.  (at this illustration, take a very large, clear see-through bowl.  Leave it empty.  Take a small, clear cup and place it in the middle of the bowl.  Then, have two pitchers of water.  One pitcher is full of clear water.  One pitcher is filled with dirty water; before the service, use food coloring to make the dirty water a yucky color.  Fill the clear cup with the dirty water.  Tell the children about the old life.  When it is time to talk about the new life, pour the new pitcher of water into the same cup.  Let the cup overflow; notice how the water in the cup is becoming purified.  Since the cup is in the clear glass bowl, it is okay to over run the water.  The bowl will catch the excess.  Practice until it is easy to do so; when done – just drain all water.  You may use the clean water as an illustration of the Word of God that cleanses our hearts and minds when we meditate on it.)

Alternative Plan:  (still implement the main lesson above, but in this order below)

Part 1 – We can’t fake who we are. 

·         From here, make a cup and a dog or cat using origami.  You must practice origami for this lesson.  When you make the cup or dog, do so quickly and with confidence.  Tell the children you will make more another time.  The point here is to illustrate how you, an outside agent, re-created the paper into something else; so too, only God, our outside agent, can re-create us into His image.

Part 2 – Paul was who he was by God’s grace.

·         Here go over the OLD Paul.

·         Here go over the NEW Paul

·         Use flashcards from any popular children’s curriculum to graphically show the change.

Part 3 – We have CHANGED, but we must take care of our mind.  Our mind is taken care of, our thought life.  This is the battlefield for our mind.  (proceed to the illustration of the cup and bowls above.)

Sermon Outline Creation Date:  2009.  Again, this was part of a sermon creation from the men’s fellowship retreat that I was on.  I created these outlines during our quiet time; for whatever reason, the Holy Spirit was treating me to a little clearer thinking.

Again, adopt these ideas and practices into your ministry as you see fit.  Both origami and a little improvisation on the illustration, done with confidence, will go a long way to illustrating these points.  Be prepared for questions or even for the children to want you to do more.  Just explain you will have more illustrations, etc. to do the next week and that you will follow through.

                                  

Praise the Lord!

Mountain of God or Mountains of Sin - Sermon Outline

Sermon Outline

Mountain of God or Mountain of Sin

Scripture:  Ezekiel 6 and varies

Introduced May 2011

Sermon Outline

Introduction:  Mountains are often linked to worship; for some reason, mountains are linked to Holy worship … or profane worship … even in people’s minds.  In one episode of Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls goes into the mountains to be close to God after a traumatic experience in her life.

Mountains rise … they get higher … they bring the worshipper closer to Jehovah … or, closer to sin … depending on the object of the worshipper.

A.  The Mountains of Israel became Mountains of Death – Ezekiel 6.  God, through Ezekiel, were condemning the people of Israel for their sin.  These were the warnings.

1. God will bring a sword against Israel.  6:3  In other words, they worshipped idols.

2. God’s heart was broken with their whorish ways.  6:9  God’s heart was broken with their whorish ways.  They had impure hearts.
   
   Some individuals in different denominations have written about how God’s heart needs ‘comforting’ or ‘consoling’.  Although it is very difficult to defend the idea that God’s heart needs some sort of comforting … we do see from this verse that there are times when God feels emotions which He may choose to rectify through chastising His kids.  One of the emotions he feels is a broken heart because of the whorish ways of man.  This makes sense as the Holy Ghost, Himself, also expresses emotions depending on how we relate to Him.
1. Ephesians 4:30 – Grieving the Holy Spirit
2. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 – Quenching the Holy Spirit
3. Genesis 6:3 – He strives with man
4. Revelation 22:17 – He convinces sinners to come to Christ

3. People of Israel committed evil abominations.  6:11 They had unclean hands.  In other words, the mountains of Israel, during the exile time of Israel, were evil.  [Side note:  For a thorough discussion of these evil abominations, consider reading the Preachers Outline and Sermon Bible or a good commentary on the “high places” the Israelites had built.  However, be careful with discussing this with your Bible study or congregation.  Some of the unfruitful works of men are not worth discussion, especially if they will inflame the passions of weaker Christians.]

B.  The Mountains of Israel Were to Be God’s Holy Mountain – The Mountain of Zion

1. His foundations is in the holy mountains.  Psalm 87:1
2. God is holy; that is why we worship at His holy hill.  Psalm 99:9
3. God’s mountain is sometimes expressed as His dwelling place.  Psalm 43:3
4. From God’s holy mountains does He answer the psalmist.  Psalm 3:4
5. Psalm 24 – Only some may dwell in the Holy mountain/hill of God.

C.  Only Some May Dwell in the Holy Mountain of God

In the pages of Ezekiel 6, we see that the mountains are described as very sinful and troublesome.  It makes sense, then, that God “cleanses” His mountains and the places of Israel in order to cleanse out the people’s sins. 

Then we notice throughout the Psalms that there are tons of places that speak about how God dwells in holy mountains.

We come, however, to Psalm 24 and we realize that if we are to be close to God and able to dwell with Him in His holy mountains (which means, metaphorically, to dwell on high with God) – there are certain requirements.  They include:

1. Clean hands.
2. Pure heart.
3. Not lifting his soul unto vanity (some commentators suggest the translation should be not lifting his soul unto idols.  This is not a contradiction of the Scriptures; we learn in Isaiah 44:9 that they who make graven images are vanity.  Vanity and idol false worship are linked in the Old Testament.)

Charles Spurgeon suggests that another way to look at this section of Psalm 24:4 is to see that two descriptions are characteristic of those who can live with God: 

1)     Abstain from evil doing [clean hands]

2)     Abstain from evil thought [pure heart]

Conclusion / Decision / Invitation:

The mountains of sin or the mountains of the LORD … to which are we attaining?  As noted, mountains “rise”.  Are we continually seeking higher and higher pleasures of sin … or are we seeking the highest Divine Being – God Himself?  A great blessing is promised to those seeking Him (Psalm 24:5)

What if you are currently living for the mountains of sin?  Ask the LORD to cleanse you … let His cleansing work surround you and accept his chastisements if that is what will be necessary.  Then, begin the continual, daily work of living a Holy life.  Know that you cannot, on your own, attain to His holiness.  Rather, He has already done this for you – Ephesians 1-3.

Sermon Outline Creation Date:  2011.  Mountains of sin or Mountain of God.  This particular sermon has a literary device in it that may not be readily apparent to the reader or hearer.  I do not know how effective it will be … however, please note that in the first half of the sermon – we describe what the Israelites were not.  Notice the words in italics match that which is preached in section C, clean hands, pure hearts, idols.

Section B. of this sermon is optional … however, I thought it would be a great bridge between Section A & C since if the hearer knew nothing of the Lord – the hearer might not understand the holy nature of God and His ways.

Tip:  If you use Microsoft Word, consider taking the bare essence of the outline and placing it in the header of the document which will appear on every page of the sermon.  When it prints out, you can look at your outline at any time during the sermon and you will sound like you thoroughly know your content to your hearers.  May the Lord Jesus be praised!