Children—Josh Stewart
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There's a lot of children here already, so we can go ahead and get started with the Sunday school for today.
I think we'll begin with singing some.
Some songs from this little hymn book here. So anyone has one they would like to request, we can try to sing it.
Graham.
Number one, OK.
Number one.
Almost persuade.
OK, we'll have another one now.
Sophia.
Number six, and I should mention that in the last page of this hymn book, is children's hymns and choruses, but.
Good with whatever ones you want to give out number six.
God in mercy.
All right, let's have another one. ISA 41.
Very nice.
Around the.
All right, let's have another one. Jewel 47.
47 This song even has your name in it. Very nice. OK #47.
00:10:04
When he cometh. When he cometh.
OK, let's have one more Betsy.
#43 that is a nice short one, thank you.
Wondering.
Sky, according to you.
OK, thank you. Tell you what, with that rain coming down, it's sure nice to be on the inside of the door. All right, now it's time for the memory verse. If you learned a memory verse and you'd like to say it.
I have some things in this bag, and maybe I'll give you one if you are brave enough to say your memory verse, but make sure that you at least mostly know it before you volunteer.
All right.
Who would like to start and if you could tell me where the verse is found that would be great.
Joshua, we had it over one sitter that repented more than over 99 just persons which need no repentance.
Good job. Do you know what verse where that's found?
Luke 15 is at verse 7. All right? Very good.
Would anyone else in this area here like to say it before we move on?
Joy shall be in heaven over once, and of that repenteth more. Thou were 99 just persons with need no repentance. Luke 15, verse seven. Very good.
All right.
Thanks, Lisa. There you can hold the microphone. Joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner that repenteth or the other 99 that need no repentance. All right. Good job.
00:15:00
Oh boy.
This is there's going to be a lot of volunteers this morning.
So I shall be over one Sinner that repentance over the.
99 that need your repentance, Luke.
15-7 Good job.
Luke 15 Seven joy shall be in heaven over the 99.
One Sinner that needs repentance over 99 just persons that need not repentance.
Luke 15, seven.
Joyce, he'll be in heaven over one Sinner without repenteth more than over 99 just persons with need no repentance. Luke 15, seven.
Anyone else here would like to try it?
Graham.
George shall be in heaven over one Sinner that were Princess more than over 99 just persons that need.
Which need no repentance. Luke 15, seven. Very nice.
All right. And if you eat these candies, just put the wrapper in your pocket or give it back to me so we don't leave it on the floor.
Joy, Joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner that repenteth more than over 99 just persons which need number repentance. Luke 15, seven. Very nice. Anyone else over here?
You can hold the You can hold it. Luke 15, seven.
Joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner that that repetitive over 99 portions that don't need.
What? What? 15-7?
Joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner that repenteth, and more than over in 99 just persons which need no repentance. Luke 15.
Joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner that repents more than over 90 and nine just persons which need no repentance. Luke 15. Seven. Very good. OK over here.
Joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner that repenteth over 99 just sinners that need no repenteth.
Luke 15, seven.
All right, anybody else over here want to try?
You want to try and make it.
John, please. Luke 15, seven. Luke 15, seven.
Joy so be in heaven over one single that repentance, that repentance more than warden.
Over 99 / 99 just persons. Just persons.
That that leaves no repentance. John Freeze. Luke 15, seven. Luke 15, seven. OK, anybody else want to try?
You don't have to know it perfectly. Anyone else want to try over here?
Luke Swift, Luke 15, seven. And joy shall be in heaven over once in another that repented Luke 15 seven.
Okay, over here.
Joyce shall be in heaven over one Sinner. I repented.
Over 99 trespassers that need no repentance, Luke.
15157 Very nice. Anyone else here?
Luke 15 Seven joy shall be in heaven.
Over.
One Sinner that repenteth more than 99 just persons who.
Which need, which need no repentance.
Luke 15, seven.
Anyone else?
In heaven over one Sinner that repenteth over 99 just persons, and Nina Repetit Luke 15, seven.
00:20:05
OK.
And if I didn't get to you and you want to say it after, just feel free to feel free to come on up. Oh, boy. OK, what's something out of the bag there? But hopefully it'll still be a surprise.
OK, we have one more over here.
Yeah, OK. Luke 15, seven.
Joy shall be in heaven, in heaven, over one Sinner, now in one Sinner.
Any Francis more than more than over 90 and nine more money 9%.
Repentance. Repentance 15737. All right, OK.
All right, that is quite an interesting verse. Joy in heaven over one Sinner that repenteth, rather than over 90 and nine just persons which need no repentance.
Can somebody tell me what repentance is?
Graham.
Wow.
This is a hard one.
The painting means.
Here, let me. Let me come back to you, OK? The word repent has the word pent in it. And when you say someone is pensive, what does that mean? Has anyone ever heard that say Aiden looks pensive over there?
Does anyone know what pensive means?
Never heard that word. Maybe that's an old word that we don't use very often. Maybe someone who's older can tell us. Pensive.
Anybody.
Deep in thought. Thank you, Mr. Smith. There you are.
Deep in thought to penta is to think, and to repent is to change your thought.
And what God wants the Sinner to do is to change his thoughts, to change his thinking, because, you know, each one of us is born into this world as a Sinner. We have a nature that can only sin.
And what God is looking for in each of us, boys and girls and all of us in this room, is that we would have a change of thought.
Not just in our minds, but in our hearts, as well as to God and as to ourselves. He wants us to take His side, to think the way He thinks.
And you know, there were 99 sheep in this chapter, Luke 15, that were safe in the fold.
And I believe he's comparing these 99 sheep to the leaders in Israel who didn't think that they were bad.
They thought they didn't need to change anything, they were on the right track.
They didn't realize that they were lost.
And so they felt like they didn't need repentance.
Was there joy in heaven?
Over those leaders who didn't think they needed to change.
No, but one Sinner, and maybe there's one here. I think there's probably over 99 people in this room. If there's one person here today who turns from their sin, who turns to God, who changes their thinking.
There's going to be a party in heaven today. There is going to be joy in heaven. Isn't that amazing that we can do something that will cause joy in heaven? I want to speak a little bit about repentance and we'll maybe get to that in a minute. But first I have another question.
Can anyone remember?
What the address yesterday was about, I know that the children were not in the children's meeting for that meeting. So there's no, there's no excuse.
Mr. Rule had an address. What did he speak about? I see ASA gardening very good. Excellent.
00:25:05
He spoke about gardening and he talked about a number of different things in the Bible that have to do with gardening and how God has a garden and how we have a garden. And he talked about a number of things that are needed in a garden, and we just experienced one of them, which is.
I wanted to turn to a chapter that speaks about gardening.
And it's in Matthew chapter 13. It's called the Parable of the Sower. So I'm going to be looking for some volunteers to read a few verses if you have your Bible.
Matthew, Chapter 13.
And verse three, who can read Matthew 13 verse 3?
Jack.
And he spake many things into him in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to show very good. A sower went forth to sow.
What is a sower?
Sophia, maybe it's like somebody that sews clothes. That's what I was hoping you would say. That's what I thought this was talking about. And I was very confused when I was your age as to why this man was called a sower. But thank you for answering that. The word sow can mean when we spell it SEW can mean so enclosed, but when it's spelled sow.
It has to do with putting planting seeds.
Putting seeds in the ground.
So a sower is a planter. He's someone who plants seeds. So a sower went forth to sow is not talking about somebody who gets their needle in their thread and they go and they begin to.
Sew clothes. It's talking about someone who takes seeds and what they would do.
In the old days they would take a bag like this and they would fill it up.
With good seed.
And they would actually go ahead before they got the seed and they would actually till up the ground.
And make it good for seed.
They would use maybe a plow to start with and turn over the sod. Then they would use a cultivator to break it up into little pieces. That dirt had to become little pieces of dirt such that the seed would find a place to go such that it would grow. Then they would take a bag not exactly like this, but probably a big heavy bag that would be over their shoulder full of seed.
Then a sower would go out to sow.
Reach in that bag, get a handful of seed and he would sling it out like that and that seed would he would be an expert at that and that seed would go and become a uniform. If I did it, it would probably end up with one big lump of seeds in one spot, but these guys knew what they were doing. They could throw that seed since it was a fine uniform.
The deposition of seed over that good ground. That's what a sower would do. Now I've got some seed in this bag.
That I found at the store the other day.
See that? Does anyone know what kind of seeds these are?
Sunflower, sunflower seeds. Very good. All right, sunflower seeds. I'll show you kids what these look like. These particular kinds are dill pickle sunflower seeds.
So.
That's what they look like. If you want to try one of these later, I'll let you try 1.
All right, so if you were to plant one of these, maybe not the dill pickle kind, but the regular kind, you might actually have a sunflower that would grow.
All right now.
It also says.
In the word of God, that the seed that God plants is good seed.
It says in verse.
18 that the seed is the word of the Kingdom. The seed is the word of God. This book that we're reading today, God is using this word and he is planting a seed.
00:30:08
And it is called the good seed in another place. Now I have another kind of seed here.
This is also called sunflower seeds. Freshly roasted sunflower seeds and lightly salted and they are good. Would anyone like to test that out and tell me if they're good?
Are they good all right? Anyone else want to try 1?
Anybody else want to try a seed?
All right, Now, this would not actually be the seed that you would sow in the field because it wouldn't survive, I think, because it doesn't have the protective layer on it. But.
It's good so that you can.
Test it and make sure it's good seed.
So this is actually inside of the outer piece that we saw on the other seeds.
All right, you want to try one? All right.
So he would reach into his bag.
He would sow that seed in this field.
OK, now we're going to read what happened with that seed.
Who would like to read?
Verse 4.
Matthew 13, verse four. Can I get a volunteer please? All right, Avery.
And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them all right.
So what we find in this parable is that not all of the seeds.
Fell in a good place. So what I've brought in here today. I scoured our campus here to find some different things.
What I have to start with is.
Bin #1.
Want you children to look at this and tell me what you think about this kind of ground.
How does it look to you?
Look pretty good.
How does it work?
Smart Marcus. It looked good, but he touched it and guess what? Very hard. I stepped on it with all my weight yesterday.
What's the problem with it being hard? Anybody.
You know what's the problem with it being hard? Because if it's too hard, then the seeds will be able to grow. That's right, the seeds will not be able to grow because what will happen with the seeds when they land on it?
You know Avery.
That's right, the seeds will stay on the surface.
And as it says here.
It says here that the birds came and devoured them up.
Every person in this room has a heart and your heart.
Is like a piece of ground and God is looking to sow His seed in your heart.
And I hope that your heart is not like this piece of ground. It looks good.
But when you touch it, you find out that it's packed down. This is what's called wayside ground. It's the ground where the people walk and the wagons ride and the horses ride and it gets packed down. And when the seeds land on it, they can't sink down in and they can't take root and they're laying right there on the surface. And then it says the fowls of the air came and devoured them up.
Now I'm going to read from the Lord. Jesus explains this parable to his disciples.
What he meant when he said that?
Verse 18 Hear ye, therefore, the parable of the sower.
When anyone heareth the word of the Kingdom, and understandeth it not.
Then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. So the Lord Jesus says that taking seed.
00:35:00
As I'm about to do here.
And casting it on the wayside.
Is like someone who hears the word and doesn't understand it. Now I don't think what the Lord meant when he said understand it is that the message was too complicated. That's not the point, wasn't it? The gospel is too hard for them to understand. It's that they never understood that it was for them.
It was a nice message.
But they didn't understand that this is God speaking to you.
Very important when we hear two very good gospel messages the last two nights.
But you know what? God is speaking to you. You are a Sinner. There's a real heaven, there's a real hell where you will go.
And God is speaking to you. We don't get saved in a group, we get saved individually.
And each one of us needs to be real with God, that this is for me. God loves me. He sent his Son to die for everyone, yes, but He also sent his Son to die for me and to be real with God and to understand that this is for me. That is the problem with the wayside ground.
It's hearing it but not really understanding that it's for me. So I hope each one of us.
In this room, really understand that God's word, that the gospel message is for us.
Well, let's read verse five. Who can volunteer to read?
Verse 5.
OK, Kira saw your hand.
Some fell upon Stony places where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no dependence of earth.
Nice job. OK, we have now another kind of ground.
And for most of these I had lots of.
Great.
Things to find around this camp.
We have another kind of ground here.
So the last one, Marcus pointed out to us that it was too hard.
But now we've got another kind of ground if we look at it. Is that hard?
Very quickly, it's actually soft on the surface, but you know what? Down deep, if you look through the sides of this container, what do you see down there? Stone, stones. There's dirt on the surface, but underneath is what?
The deep, the dirt is not very deep on the top, is it?
See that some dirt on the top but underneath is rocky ground.
If you think seeds are going to grow very well in this.
Nope, they will not.
And that is exactly what the Lord Jesus said in his parable.
The seeds it says in verse five that Kira read to us they had not much earth and they sprung up because they had no depth of earth and I should have had a read verse six as well which says.
And when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away.
So seeds, when they grow, they grow up, but they also grow down and the plant has a root.
And the reason why it's important for the seed to have depth of earth is to give room for that root to grow and that there's not enough depth of earth, there's not enough soil for the root to be in, and it can't get water. And when the sun comes out, the sun is very hot. And that plant that sprung up then becomes begins to wither.
00:40:04
And die. And we'll read about what the Lord Jesus said about that.
Kind of ground he said in verse 20, But he that received the seed into Stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and Anon with joy receiveth it. Yet hath he not root in himself, but dearth for a while. And when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
What I believe this brings out to us is that there are it is possible to hear the word of God and understand that it's for me, but that we don't let it get down deep in US. There's no depth of earth. It doesn't reach our conscience. Maybe we think I want to be a Christian too. This is going to be great. We're going to get to go to heaven. I want to be a Christian too.
But we don't understand it. It has to go deep in US, deep in our heart. It has to reach our heart and our conscience. We have to realize that it's not just about going to heaven.
It's about the issue of sin, and that was talked about in the two gospel meetings. We have to realize that the reason why we need a Savior is because of sin, because of those things that we have done that have separated us from God.
And the word is good. Seed needs to have depth. That root needs to go down deep into our conscience and our heart.
And so.
That seed that falls on the Stony ground, it springs up and it's like someone who hears the gospel and they're so happy immediately.
You know, it's when we really deeply understand the gospel and we come to terms with it. The first reaction, really.
Is that there's sorrow to realize our sin and to realize what it costs God to save us, that he sent his Son to die on that cross, that awful cross for our sins.
And then when we realize next is the depth of his love and what He has done, and then we realize his plans for us in the future and the deliverance that we have and the freedom that we have, then there's joy.
But when there's joy quickly, without the depth, without the conscience, then it's like this plant that grows up in the Stony ground. Well, I hope that no one in this room is like that. Well, then we have another kind of ground.
Verse #7.
Who would like to read verse #7 I think I saw Marcus.
And and some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them. OK, very good. Now believe it or not.
I had a hard time at Carrollton finding thorns. They did a really good job at this place, but I did manage to find some thorns.
OK, does this look like a good place to plant seeds in your garden?
Nope, I would agree with that.
One of the things that we have to do in a garden is weed. Get rid of the thorns, get rid of the weeds. Not a good place.
And also, these are not very nice to touch, are they?
Yep, I had a hard time finding thorns here, but I did finally manage to find one. So make sure you don't touch the thorns. They they don't feel too nice. All right, Thorny ground the sower when he cast out his seed. The thing with the seed is it doesn't all fall in one place. Some of the seed falls here and some falls here.
And some falls.
On the thorny ground.
Now we're going to read about what the thorny ground is.
Verse 21. Verse. Sorry. Verse 22. Maybe I'll get a volunteer to read this.
Verse 22 got a lot of boy volunteers to read verses over here. Can we get it over here?
Now he who receives seed among the thorns is he who hears the word and cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of which is choked the world, and he becomes unfruitful. All right.
00:45:12
The next kind of ground.
The Lord, Jesus explained, is like someone who understands it, who receives it. But then there are other things that grow up alongside that seed, that choke it out.
And he explains what those things are.
The care of this world, the deceitfulness of riches.
Meeting over at 10:00 OH.
All right, we're going to move fast. I didn't realize that we were behind on time.
It's very important that we don't allow other things in our life to distract us.
To make it so that we don't pay attention to what God is saying to us. And finally we have one more kind of ground.
And that is?
What kind of ground would you say that is?
It's like soil. Yeah, that's good.
Would you say that's bad ground for growing?
What kind of ground would you say that is?
That is the good ground. Very nice. OK.
There are no thorns in it, there's no stones underneath, there's no it's not packed down like the wayside and the good seed.
Falls in that ground as well.
And when that seed falls into that ground, it's understood. It reaches the heart, it reaches the conscience.
There's no distractions there to make someone say I'll put it off. Well, I'll think about it later. I'll trust the Lord Jesus later in my life. No, it's received, it's believed, and it bears fruit. Some 30 fold, some 60 fold, and some 100 fold. Well, I hope that this lesson has helped to you.
That when we hear the gospel as we had it last night and the night before that we make sure that our heart isn't like the wayside ground, the Stony ground, or the thorny ground. That we make sure it's like the good ground. And what I meant to say earlier was that I think the good ground is a repentant heart. It's a heart that is turned over and tilled up.
There's joy in the presence of the angels of God over one Sinner that repenteth.
And so even for us as believers.
I'll say one more thing before I close. It says that it brings. When the seed falls in good ground, it brings forth fruit. Some 30, some 60, some 100. That means that one seed.
In its lifetime would produce 30 fold 30 more seeds, or 60 more seeds, or 100 more seeds.
Why are some only produced 30 versus 60 versus 100?
I think we need to look no further than this very chapter to see what it is that can cause us to be less fruitful than we ought to be. The same things.
The stones packing down the thorns. It's important that even if you are a believer that we don't allow those things in our garden to hinder the fruitfulness for God.