Sermons4Kids

[Soldier4Christ]

God Is Omnipresent

"The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." (Proverbs 15:3)

"Pretend I'm there and behave accordingly!"

Those were the words of a note Annie received in sixth grade. Her mom had gone on a long trip and had left that note to remind her that – even though she was gone – she expected Annie to act the same way she would have if her mom were still there.

Pretending her mom was watching her made Annie act differently. Sbe did her homework. She practiced the piano. She obeyed her teacher. She cleaned her room. She knew if Mom found out that she did wrong, she was in big trouble.

Did you know that God is always watching? He doesn't go on vacation, and He never sleeps. He is in the United States of America, and He is in Africa, and He is in church, and He is in your bedroom – all at the same time. God is omnipresent – everywhere at one time. His eyes are everywhere, seeing the good and seeing the bad.

David, one of the many men God used to write down His words, said in Psalm 139: 7, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" In other words – is there any place where we can hide from God? David's answer: no.

A child of God cannot hide from Him. God is watching us when we are scared. He protects us when we are in trouble. He holds our hand when we need help. He hears us when we cry. He is happy when we rejoice. He also knows when we sin, and He loves us too much to let us get away with it.

Know that God is there – and behave accordingly!

God is everywhere, seeing everything.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Knows His Creation

"He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names." (Psalm 147:4)

Molly loved to visit her grandma on her farm in Missouri. Because Grandma lived so far away from all the city lights, Molly could see many more stars there than she could at her house in the city. She would lie in the grass on a summer night, just staring into the sky. It seemed like the longer she looked, the more stars there were. Millions and billions and trillions of stars.

The Scripture says that God, the Creator, knows the number of the stars. And not only that, but He also knows all of their millions and billions and trillions of names! His knowledge of His creation is infinite.

The God who created each of the stars created you, too. He knows your name, too. And He knows you – from the inside out. He knows all of your thoughts, good and bad. He knows your fears and your desires. He knows what makes you cry. He knows what you love most. He knows things about you that you don't even know yourself! He knows all this – and He loves you.

God's knowledge of His creation is both infinite and personal.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Is Our Shepherd

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters." (Psalm 23:1-2)

One spring afternoon, a tourist named Peter was riding a bus through the countryside in Scotland. Up and down the steep green hills, woolly sheep and their little lambs grazed. Many of the lambs were playing. Peter smiled as he watched them leaping and kicking the air with their tiny hooves.

Another passenger on the bus pointed out a circle of large, weathered stones on the side of a hill. "Look, a sheepfold!" he said. A kind shepherd had built that sheepfold long ago. He wanted his lambs to have a safe place to sleep at night, a place where he could watch over them.

God's Word tells us that He is our Shepherd. Every person who places his trust in God's Son, Jesus Christ, is one of His sheep. Our good Shepherd cares for us always. He watches over us day and night. He promises to give us everything that we really need to be happy and content. What more could a sheep want?

God is our Shepherd Who cares for us and gives us everything that we need.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Is Immutable

"For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." (Malachi 3:6)

When was the last time you used the word immutable in a sentence? It probably wasn't recently! But can you guess what immutable means?

If you guessed not changing, you're right. If something is immutable, it is the same all the time. Of course, human beings (including you) are not immutable. Sometimes you do right, and sometimes you do wrong. You grow and you change. Your looks and likes change.

But God doesn't change. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ [is] the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." Think of it:

» The same God who created the universe listens to your prayers.
» The same God who protected Noah on the ark protects you.
» The same God who gave Moses the power to part the Red Sea gives you strength.
» The same God who gave Solomon wisdom gives you wisdom.

You know that the Bible is full of wonderful stories – true stories of battles and courage and love. And God weaves all these stories together to make one magnificent story of deliverance. But did you know that the same God who wrote these stories wants you to be part of His wonderful story?

God is not a myth (a character who existed in a pretend world). God is real; He really is the same God who has always been. And He is the God who will always be. Count on it: God will always be God. He is immutable.

If God did everything He said He did in the Bible, what do you think He wants to do for you? Maybe you should ask Him about it.

God never changes.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Wants You To Love Him Most

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 23:37-38)

What is an idol? You have probably heard about them in missionary stories, and you've read about them in the Bible. An idol is a piece of wood or stone shaped like a person or an animal, and people worship it. Right?

That is one kind of idol. But there are other kinds, too. An idol is anything that we love more than God. An idol could be a person, an object, a hobby, a goal, or a desire. God commands us to love Him first. And first means most. God wants to be our highest love.

If we really knew and understood our God, we would have no trouble loving Him most. He is so worthy of our love. He is mightier, wiser, kinder, and more beautiful than any being we can imagine. His love for us is deeper and stronger than we can even begin to understand. He is perfectly holy, and yet He is merciful and forgiving. No one else could ever come close to being like Him. He is, as His Word says, "altogether lovely."

It is only when we take our eyes off our God that other things seem more important to us. What is taking first place in your heart?

God wants and deserves to be our highest love.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Wants You To Know You're Saved

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life..." (1 John 5:13)

Have you asked Jesus to be your Savior from sin? Do you ever wonder whether you have really believed on Him? Do you know that you have eternal life with Him in heaven when you die someday? Some people spend a large part of their lives doubting and wondering whether they are really saved.

God does not want you to live in doubt. One of the books in His Word is written just so that true believers can know that they are saved. The book of 1 John gives us some tests to see whether we have really come to know God. Here are some questions you can ask yourself: Do I obey God's Word? (1 John 2:3). Do I love other Christians? (1 John 2:9-10). Do I have a hatred for worldly things – wrong desires, pride, selfish pleasure? (1 John 2:15). Do I believe that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 2:22-23). Do I have consistent habits of sin in my life, or do I give up sin with God's help? (1 John 2:29, 1 John 3:9).

Believe God's Word when He says that all those who call upon His name in faith will be saved (Romans 10:13). That includes you! Pray about these questions from 1 John, and ask God to show you whether they are true in your life. Remember, God wants you to know that you belong to Him. He wants you to love Him and serve Him with joy and peace in your heart.

God wants us to know that we are truly saved.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Is Angry with Sin

Psalm 7:11b " ...God is angry with the wicked every day"

Is God angry with my sin right now?

When you hear Bible stories, do you ever wonder why God sometimes sends terrible judgments on people who sin? He is holy, and sin displeases Him so much that He is angry with sin. Is it right for God to be angry?

When we get angry about something, our anger is usually not right. We get angry because someone hurts our feelings or keeps us from getting our way. But God's anger is never this selfish kind of anger. His anger is righteous. God would not be perfectly holy if He were not angry with sin.

But everyone sins. Does this mean that God is angry with everyone all the time?

The anger that God has toward sin is often called wrath in the Bible. But God does not have this wrath toward everyone. Ephesians 2:1-9 tells us that people who have never put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation are "children of wrath." But people who have been saved by grace through faith in Christ receive mercy, grace, and kindness from God.

Which kind of person are you? Even if you are a "child of wrath," God still loves you. He is waiting for you to accept the grace and forgiveness He offers you in Christ.

God is angry with the sin of people who have never put their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Is a Tenderhearted Father

"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him." (Psalm 103:13)

One day Laurie and her sister Caroline came home from school, and both of their parents met them at the door. Their dad never came home from work in the middle of the day. They knew something must be wrong.

"Girls," said their dad without his usual smile, "I have some sad news. Your grandpa died this morning."

They sat down on the couch, their daddy in the middle with an arm around each of them. And Laurie and Caroline cried. Caroline looked up finally and noticed a tear rolling down her daddy's cheek. She could hardly believe her eyes! She had never seen her daddy cry before. "He must really miss Grandpa too," she thought. Later she realized that her dad was crying, not just because he missed Grandpa. He was crying for his daughters because they were sad.

Did you know that God is just as tenderhearted as a loving father? He feels every painful thing that you feel. He wants you to draw near to Him and let Him comfort you.

Maybe you do not have an earthly father in your home protecting, providing, and tenderly caring for you. God wants you to enjoy that special father-child relationship with Him alone. He promises in His Word to be a Father to the fatherless child (Psalm 68:5).

God is a tenderhearted Father who shares His children's griefs and longs to comfort them.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Brings Good out of Sadness

Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Will I trust God to bring good out of the sad time I'm going through?

One day, I brought home a bright red helium balloon. I was so proud of it! I could hardly wait to get it out of the car and begin playing with it. But no sooner had my feet touched the pavement of our driveway than it slipped out of my hand and went floating away toward the clouds. I was disappointed and angry. It wasn't fair! I had lost my balloon before I even had a chance to play with it.

But my dad had an idea. "I'll get my binoculars," he said. "Let's watch your balloon till it's out of sight." We stood out in the backyard, my dad and I, for a long time that evening. We passed the binoculars back and forth, tracking the red balloon's flight into the sky. What fun we had! That evening that had begun so sadly ended up filled with laughter and joy. It was one of my favorite times spent with my father.

God, our Father, sometimes allows things to happen in our lives that seem very bad to us. Things might happen that hurt and disappoint us and make us want to scream, "It's not fair!" But God has wonderful plans for those painful times. He may want to teach us something new about Himself. He may want us to come closer to Him. We get to know Him better as we pray and trust Him in times of suffering. He causes all things to work together for good to us if we are His children. Maybe someday you will look back on your saddest time as the best time you ever spent with your Father.

God brings good out of His children's pain and suffering.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Wants To Change You

"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son." (Romans 8:29)

One October day, Brandon was on an airplane flying to Vermont. As the plane dipped its wings over Lake Champlain, Brandon looked out his window. What a sight! All around the misty water below were acres and acres of maple trees that had changed color. Brandon had never seen trees wearing any brighter shades of red, orange, and gold.

If you have become a Christian by trusting Jesus Christ to save you from your sin, God wants to make a glorious change inside of you – an even more beautiful change than the colored leaves of fall. He wants to make you just like His Son, Jesus Christ! Can you imagine what that would be like? You would love God with all of your heart. You would be full of joy. You would be confident in God even when bad things happened. You would be kind and gentle – even toward your brothers and sisters. You would never be selfish. You would never disobey. You would always hate sin.

Long ago, before you ever asked God to save you, He was planning to do this beautiful work in you. His Spirit who lives in you will show you the things that need to change. Will you cooperate with God as He works?

God wants to change you to be like His Son, Jesus Christ.

[Soldier4Christ]

Before There Was Anything Else, There Was God

"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." (Psalm 90:2)

One of Martin's favorite school activities was Show and Tell Day. One time, he took his most valued treasure: a very old Indian stone. His dad had told him that Indians who lived in Florida long before the colonists settled in America had used the stone as a hammer. Every time Martin held the stone, he thought about how old the stone was.

What is the oldest thing that you have ever held or seen? Maybe you have an old baseball card, an ancient coin, or an antique piece of furniture. Can you think of anything or anyone even older than these things? The Bible verse that you read today tells you that before the mountains were formed and the earth was created, God existed.

In fact, the verse says that God is everlasting: He has always existed, and He will last forever. That is hard to imagine, isn't it? God has always been and always will be. When you try to imagine how long eternity will be in the future, it almost hurts your brain. God will not only live eternally in the future, but He has lived eternally in the past. None of us can do that!

This eternal God knows all about you, and He has given you His Word (the Bible) in order for you to learn more about Him. Today, thank your God for being the Eternal God and continue to get to know Him by reading His Word!

God has always existed, and He will never die.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Wants You To Love Him with All Your Mind

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy...mind." (Mark 12:30)

Have you ever had someone ask, "What are you thinking about right now?" Sometimes when you're asked, you may be thinking about something totally unimportant or something that would sound silly to share out loud. At those times, it may be embarrassing to answer the question.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit might speak to our hearts and ask, "What are you thinking about right now?" Not because He doesn't know, but because He wants us to notice our own thoughts. And sometimes we are embarrassed to answer Him. Why? Because we're thinking selfish thoughts, vain thoughts, worried thoughts, proud thoughts – thoughts that have nothing to do with Him.

God wants us to love Him with our minds. How do we do this? We love God with our minds by thinking about Him and His things. Have you ever really thought about the meaning of a Bible verse that you're memorizing? Have you ever tried to think of all the ways that you could obey that verse? Have you ever thought about the character traits of God and what they mean to your life? Have you ever thought about the words to a Christian song or a hymn?

Ask God to show you when you are thinking about the wrong things. Ask Him to help you turn your thoughts to Him and love Him with all of your mind.

God wants His people to love Him with all their minds.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Knows Each of His Children

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27)

Annie has two best friends, and she does everything with them. She has sleepovers at their houses, roller-skates with them during recess, swims with their families in the summertime, and does just about every single thing that she can with them. Annie knows what classes her best friends like in school; she knows what their favorite games are to play; she even knows what kinds of food they like. Annie loves spending time with her friends, and the more she knows about them, the more she enjoys being with them.

God knows each one of us completely. 2 Timothy 2:19 says that God knows all His children. Not only does He know the things our family and our friends know, but He also knows things that no one else knows. When there are things that you don't want anyone else to know, God already knows and is willing to listen to you talk about them. When you are excited or sad about something, God already knows and wants to hear about it. Just like you enjoy spending time with your best friends, you should enjoy spending time with God. God loves you more than anyone else ever could.

God knows everything about you!

[Soldier4Christ]

God Allows Evil for His Reasons

"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." (Genesis 50:20)

Thrown into a pit.

Bound with rope and sold into slavery in a far-off land.

Sentenced to life in prison for something you didn't do.

Forgotten for two years by the man who promised to help you.

You would probably have a hard time rejoicing if these things happened to you. In fact, you would probably wonder why God allowed all these horrible things to take place in your life.

All these things happened to Joseph – his brothers sold him into slavery, Potiphar threw him into prison for something he didn't do, and for two years the cupbearer forgot to mention Joseph's unfair treatment. But throughout all these events Joseph never said anything against God. He didn't get mad! He didn't get bitter! He didn't even try to seek revenge on his brothers or the other people who harmed him! Joseph understood that God's way of working everything for the good. God even used the evil acts of Joseph's sinful brothers to bring about great good for the entire world.

Wow! Isn't God incredible? He can take the sins of those around you and turn them into something good. We really do have a great God! We should thank God for the painful things that are happening to us and tell Him that we are looking forward to seeing how He is going to use them for His good!

God uses everything – even evil – for His glory.

[Soldier4Christ]

God Is All-Wise

"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33)

Do you know someone you consider to be very wise? Wise people always seem to give good advice about a problem, and they always seem to make good choices. When you take questions to a wise person for advice, you are confident that the person will give you a very good answer.

But no matter how wise a person may be, God is far wiser. The apostle Paul tells us that God's wisdom and knowledge are so deep, no man could ever even begin to understand them. Sometimes we show that we cannot understand God's wisdom because we question why He made us a certain way or why He allows certain things to happen in our lives.

Even though we don't understand God's ways sometimes, we can still believe in His wisdom. God has all knowledge and all wisdom, and He's always doing the very best thing in our lives.

Don't doubt God when His plan for your life doesn't seem to make sense to you. Trust Him, knowing that He is all-wise and all-knowledgeable.

God is all-wise, and He is bringing the best things for me into my life.