Children—Josh Costron
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All right. Does anybody else have one, Anna?
#17.
It's not alive in here.
You may need time for treating you.
Once I can.
Take this time.
Later you make a really good watching what she's, what she loves, what she does for Jesus, falling out for.
Anybody have one?
13.
#13.
In my place.
00:05:32
You'll take my land out, Bless me.
Somebody else?
Speak.
What I come and.
Feel kind of love.
All right, I think we'll take one more song and then we'll say reverse Jude.
#11.
Maybe the 1St?
With your anger.
When the strong tides left and the king was straight with a director.
Of her creation made.
And let's say.
We'll do anger, hold in the spring of death, and the water can go to your thickness, friend on the right. In time, you can never fail.
Fasten to the rock which can do round the ground and tea in the same doors. Love.
OK, this morning I'm going to do something a little bit different. I would like all of us children to stand up and we're going to say our verse together. Does that work?
So let's let's stand and we'll say our verse. It's Romans 623.
And I'll start it.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 623 Good job.
OK, let's, let's pray, and then we'll have a few words. Our loving God and Father, we do thank thee for thy love to us. We thank thee for our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners, our blessed Savior. And we just thank thee, our God, that we have opportunity again to speak to the little ones here. And we pray that there might be something for their hearts. And we pray for any who might be here.
Who are not saved yet. And we pray that they would realize that they're sinners and that they need a Savior and that they would accept the Lord Jesus today as their own personal Savior. We pray for clearness of mind and and that the thoughts expressed would be simple and understood. We asked for help. Commit this time into thy care, asking it in the worthy name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
00:10:07
Well, I mentioned I have a.
A few things that I want to show you this morning and I have a question for you children. Do any of you have a collection?
Is anybody collect anything?
I'd like to hear what you have.
To collect different kinds of stones and I like to collect just things I find like like in yards and stuff wonderful. Just like my son Jude. He he loves to collect rocks.
Glass bottles, glass bottles, wonderful. We have my wife's parents, they live out on a farm and they have a there's a lot of hills out there. And, and my kids, they go out and they dig in the hills and there's one area that they found some nice treasures in those in those hills. And actually they come across some old bottles of really neat. Anybody else?
Want to share?
Anything with us?
This little man over here.
Crystals. Crystals.
Help my brother. Wonderful.
It's a great collection.
All right. Well, I would like to speak about.
Valuables today and.
There's a lot of things that we put value in in this world.
And it's interesting, you know, that God has a collection and we'll speak about that in a little while here in a few minutes, but.
I have a few things here.
That a brother here had. He is built and I want to thank the brother in advance.
Brother Mark had asked me if there is a way I could incorporate this into my Sunday school and and give these away and.
Sure enough, it fits right in with what I want to speak about.
So we got a few things here.
Anybody know what this is?
What is this?
A chest, chest, a chest, a chest or a treasure box.
And what do you keep in it? I think that's an obvious question, but what do you keep in a treasure box?
Special things, special things.
Jewels, yes. So you might say that what you keep in a treasure box are things of value, things that are precious.
So I've got something here that might seem a little bit odd.
Does anybody know what these are? You can touch them.
Do you know what these are?
Are they rocks?
Clams, clams. These are oysters.
Pretty neat. Hey, you want to feel those?
Look at that.
Yeah, it looks like a rock, doesn't it?
Not that pretty.
These are and these are alive. These are alive oysters.
There you go. Yeah, we'll touch them.
See that?
They feel exactly like a rock, and I bet you and they come out of the ocean and I would bet you that if you really didn't, if you weren't really looking for one.
And happened to stumble on one for some reason on the shore, which they normally wouldn't be there I don't think.
You probably just think it's a rock because it looks exactly like one. It feels like one too, doesn't it?
Interesting. So within this there's a living thing.
So these oysters are unique, you know why Does anybody, can anybody tell me why oysters are very unique?
Jude.
00:15:02
Not too sure.
Anybody else?
There's something that is kind of, it's rare and that you you can, I would say they're hard to find.
I think you know.
Girls Pearls.
Our pearls valuable.
Yeah. So this here.
Is a string of real pearls. Now these are called freshwater pearls. I can't give these away, they don't belong to me.
But these are freshwater pearls, and some of them have been dyed different kind of metallic colors, but they're real. Did you know that these pearls come out of what is called a mollusk?
A muscle, then they don't come out of an oyster like that. These are farms that that means that they are.
They are made in a way. So the way a Pearl is made is that there's something that gets into that shell. Usually it's a bit of sand or.
It's a piece of organic matter, like food. I don't know a whole lot about oysters.
But so these pearls are a lot easier to get, but the rare ones are very valuable and they come out of oysters like this in the ocean. And so something gets in there and in order to protect itself.
The oyster within the shell starts to coat that piece of matter with a secretion that turns into.
A beautiful Pearl, and they're rare. And if you find one, whoever finds one is very fortunate because they are rare and they're worth a lot of money. Now I want to read a verse in connection with that, and this was mentioned yesterday in the in one of our reading meetings and Matthew's Gospel chapter 13.
Matthews Gospel, chapter 13.
And we will read from verse 44 again, The Kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field. The witch, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all thee half, and buyeth that field.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls.
Who, when he had found one Pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Well, a brother had made a few boxes here and I have to apologize in advance. I only have six of them. So I'm going to give these away and I might ask you some questions. And if anybody can is brave enough to maybe answer a question, I'd happily give you a box. But I also have something for all of you kids today.
So.
Here we find something of value.
We find a man that.
Found treasure in a field and also a merchant man who was looking for goodly pearls and he found one.
You know, again I say these things are rare. And he went and he sold all that he had.
Then he bought it.
Does anybody know who this might be Speaking of?
Jesus. Yes, the Lord Jesus.
He's the one.
That was this merchant man. And you know, I suppose you might say a merchant man is one who could put a proper value on what he's looking for. He's looking for something of value. And you know, I guess what I want to get across to you kids today is that you are all valuable, that the Lord Jesus has put a value on each one of you.
00:20:02
Individually, and you are all very unique. You know a Pearl.
Not one Pearl is is like the other.
And its value is based upon its size and what it looks like.
And it's kind of a picture of us because the Lord Jesus like this treasure, it's made-up of many different treasures. In this treasure box here I have many different things that are not alike.
And so God has put a value on each one of you.
Because you're very unique and God made you.
But more than that, because he put such a high price tag on you.
He went.
And he sold all that he had.
To buy you.
You know where he did that was at the cross. The Lord Jesus went to the cross and he was made sin for us, and he lay down his life.
That we might be saved.
This suggests to me something of the heart of God.
You know the Bible tells us that God is love.
God is love.
You know God and His love might bring before us the activity of His nature. That is how He acts towards us.
Can you imagine it?
That the Lord Jesus would sell all that He had to come.
Because he put a value on you and me.
And he didn't want us to perish in our sins, and so he gave his life at the cross.
And His precious blood can wash us from all our sins if we place our trust in our faith in the Lord Jesus.
He found this treasure hid in a field. I was thinking a little bit how this oyster, it's pretty ugly, you know? Doesn't look very nice, does it?
But God, I would say that a lot of people today who do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ think the thinks that the world looks pretty good. It's pretty attractive. But you know, if we look at the world through God's eyes, it's pretty defiling, you know, it doesn't look very nice. It's full of sin and corruption and violence.
But within it, there's treasure.
And you know God, what he's looking to do and he is doing today is that he is pulling out from the world, this ugly world treasures for his collection.
I mentioned earlier that that God has a collection.
He has a collection, and so perhaps if I opened up this oyster, there might be a beautiful Pearl within it. Now, supposing that I opened this up, do you think I would just close it back up and leave the Pearl in there and just throw it into the ocean and forget about it? No, I would. I would take that Pearl out. I'd clean it up a little bit and I would put it in my treasure box.
That's what God wants to do with you.
Because you're valuable.
So don't be deceived by the world, because you know what? The world.
It's not a very nice place.
And God wants to save you if you're not saved here this morning, and he wants to clean you up. He wants to wash you in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, his Son, which cleanses us from all sin.
And he wants to add you to his collection.
So you might say that God is seeking you.
We have a man who is looking for something in both instances in this chapter, and God is seeking sinners today to add to his collection.
The Lord Jesus said that the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Do you know Him as your savior?
And if you don't?
I would encourage you to come to Him. He knows your thoughts and He knows your heart. He knows all about you. He wants to save you this morning. Put your faith and trust in Him and He will save you. Easy's up. Well, I'd like to look at another portion and first, Peter.
00:25:25
First, Peter.
Chapter 2.
Adverse and to verse 3.
The Lord is gracious. The Lord is gracious, to whom, coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious.
Ye also, as lively stones or living stones, are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to OfferUp spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Verse 7.
Unto you therefore, which believe He is precious.
I said God has a collection and.
His collection is made-up of living stones.
I believe you have a stone collection, right? Yeah. And my son Jude, he has one too. I think Jack had one for a while.
And they would go about, and if they saw a stone that would catch their eye, they would gather that stone up, put it in their collection and keep it.
So in this little treasure box here I have what are called semi precious stones. These are all real stones, and with the exception of maybe a couple in here that have had some color dyed into them, they're all real.
And these are all special stones. Different colors, different shapes, different sizes.
And you know what? After the meeting, each one of you can come up and grab one if it's OK with your mom and dad, and you can keep 1 and add it to your treasure if you have one.
So God has a treasure box and He is adding living stones to it. We had in our meeting yesterday the House of God.
God is building something in this world. Matthew 16 tells us that.
Upon Peter's confession that Jesus is the Son of the living God, he was going to build his church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it.
So God is building a house, and within that house he is inserting special unique stones. But it's not a building like this. It's a building made-up of people.
It's his church.
Here we have.
The Lord Jesus spoken of as a living stone as well.
I wonder if you have built your life upon the rock. You know, sometimes we sing on Christ. The solid rock. I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
We sing that, don't we? And what that means is that if your life and your faith is not put within the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
You know, we've all been to the beach and you know what happens when a wave comes up. And if you've built a sand castle, that castle comes tumbling down because it's not built on solid ground.
The foundation is wiped away and doesn't last.
You know there's a verse in the 28th Psalm. I'm going to read it here.
I believe it's Psalm 28.
And.
Says this.
Unto thee verse one. Unto thee will I cry, Oh Lord, my rock.
And that's what the Lord Jesus wants you to do this morning too, is He wants you to cry out to Him.
And ask him to save you if you're not his already.
00:30:02
It's only unto Him because there's no one else and nothing else that can save us. Our parents can't do it. You're good if you're just trying to be good. That's not good enough.
It's faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
That famous verse, we all know it. John 316 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That's God's promise to you.
So in first Peter 2.
We have the Lord as being the living stone, and He is precious.
He is precious.
It says here unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious.
So God we read in Matthew 13.
About the Lord Jesus in picture placing a value on you.
And now I want to ask you.
Have you placed a value on Christ?
What does he mean to you?
Is he your savior?
Have you placed your faith and trust in Him?
And if so, you become part of his collection.
Part of this treasure of living stones.
And.
You might say it reminds me.
Of what someone had said once, that a seeking Sinner will always find a seeking Savior.
You know there's a verse that tells us to seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way in the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, for he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Are you seeking the Lord today?
I hope you are if you're not saved because the Lord is seeking you.
And he's placed a value on you and he wants to save you. He gave his life for you.
And you're precious to him and those who form part of his treasure box, those who are part of his house.
You are incredibly precious to the Lord, I want you to know that. And it just thrills my heart to think that I belong to Him.
That you can belong to him too, part of this wonderful collection that he is making in this world today.
My son one week ago today he asked me a very good question.
He said Dad, what is the most valuable thing in the world? I was in the kitchen making breakfast and he just came into the kitchen and asked me this. And I thought, wow.
That's random, but a very good question.
I want to ask you children today, what is the most valuable thing in the world?
Does anybody? I said I would be giving out some of these boxes so I better get to it. I think that people are the most valuable thing in the world because because God says that he cares even about the spouse and if he cares about the spouse, then why would he not care about us? Exactly. That's a very, very good answer. Thank you.
You have a little treasure box. Anybody else?
Well, he's not really in this world, I think. To me, Jesus is one of the most valuable things. I would agree, because we just read that unto you, therefore which believe He is precious.
There you go. Anybody else?
I think Jesus is the most valuable thing in the world in the world, because he died for us. Very good. Yes, Yes, he definitely is.
A precious person, if we believe on him. You know the world did not value the Lord Jesus the stone.
The Lord Jesus, the Living Stone was disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious.
The Bible. The Bible. God's Word? Yes, very precious.
00:35:06
1.
I was getting saved.
Yes, those are all very valuable things.
Let me just get these.
Grab these here.
There you go. OK, I'll get one over here.
This little guy.
I think it is.
People.
Good answers. I'm sorry because I don't have enough of these to go around, but you can all have one of these stones.
Well my those are all good answers.
My immediate answer to my son.
Was his soul.
So whether you're saved or you're not saved, we all possess something that is of infinite value that we cannot put a price tag on.
You cannot put a price tag on it. There's some pretty valuable things in this world.
Beyond which I can afford and many people in this world can afford.
And 1,000,000 billions of dollars. Pretty expensive, but guess what?
Nothing in this world will last. It's all going to perish and it's worthless.
But this one thing that each one of us possesses is a soul which will live on beyond this life.
Let's read a verse in Marks Gospel chapter 8.
Mark's Gospel, chapter 8.
Verse 35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life, for my sake and the Gospels.
The same shall save it, For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
You might have everything this world can give you, and guess what? If you die without Christ?
You have nothing.
The Bible tells us that we came into the world with nothing.
And it is certain that we will leave with nothing.
But what I'm here to tell you today is that if you place your trust in the Lord Jesus, you get everything.
You get eternal life. You get blessings, heavenly blessings that this world cannot offer you that will never be taken away. You receive an inheritance in heaven with Christ that will be yours forever.
And actually, you know what? Everything around you that you see, every created thing we will inherit with Christ. He gives us everything.
So what can we give in exchange for our soul? Nothing in this world lasts. Nothing is is worthy enough to make that trade, because if we die, we'll lose it all.
The most valuable person is the Lord Jesus. The most valuable thing you possess is your soul, and God wants to save your soul. Today. Now I have a Before we close here, I'm running out of time, I want to read.
A quick verse here in Malachi chapter 3 and make a little application.
Malachi Chapter 3.
Verse 17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.
00:40:02
And they shall be mine, saith the Lord, in that day when I make up my jewels.
I know this has reference to Israel in a future day, but I think as we as Christians can make application to ourselves that we are His special treasure. The church is a picture or is pictured in that Pearl, and it means it signifies the preciousness of the church to the heart of Christ. And God is coming. He's going to gather us up unto himself, the Lord Jesus.
This is coming back, might be today, and he's going to gather all his jewels, all his special treasure.
And take it home with himself.
That's a wonderful, wonderful thing, isn't it? And you know what? More than that while we're here.
We have one quick minute in Revelation.
Chapter 21, I believe.
Revelation chapter 21.
Verse 11, well verse 10 and to verse 10, the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God in her light, was like unto a stone, most precious, even like a Jasper stone, clear as crystal. A little boy, I think said that he had a collection of crystals.
Clear as crystal.
And in verse 18 it says in the building of the wall of it was of Jasper in the city of was pure gold like under clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was Jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony the 4th and emerald the 5th Sardonics the 6th, Sardius the 7th, crystallite the 8th, barrel the 9th, the Topaz the 10th the Chrysler process.
The 11Th, adjacent, the 12Th and Amethyst, and the 12 gates were 12 Pearls. Every several gate was of 1 Pearl.
Well, this is a picture of the of the church in a coming day in her glory. And I, I noticed that in the new translation, a different translation, it says that her shining was like unto the glory of God. And you know what, what God is doing with us today. You see this stone?
It didn't come out of the earth like this.
It's all round smooth, shiny.
And God has and, and men have put it through a process that has gotten it to this stage of beauty. Did you know that when your sins are washed away, you're you're sealed with the Spirit of God and God now can use you, But what he's doing with us today.
Is that he's knocking off all the inconsistencies and the jagged edges and all the rough marks, just like this stone when it came out of the earth didn't come out like this.
And he is making us more like his beloved son, and He's passing us through things that might be hard at times.
But He is forming the character of His son in us, so that we might be a light.
For Christ in this world, that we might represent him in this life and in the coming day.
Re going to reflect his glory.
These stones.
And we can do that now.
But not like that.
We're going to reflect him in a perfect way in the coming day.
It's hard to take it in, to think where we've come from and where he's taking us and what he's making us into.
But, you know, I had a marble collection when I was a young boy, and what I would do with those marbles is I would take them and I would look up to the light and I would gaze into that glass orb and I would notice all of its beauty within in a way that I could never have seen it without putting it to the light. And you know what? We're going to shine the glories of Christ as believers.
00:45:10
In the coming day.
You and I don't have any light in ourselves. None at all.
But God with what he's doing with us as Christians.
Is forming us and making us more like His Son. And in the coming day, in a perfect way, we're going to reflect His glory, reflect all His light, and the world will look on and see what he's done.
God's special treasure, the church.
Well, I would ask you again, kids, do you want to form, be part of that? Do you want to be a part of that treasure?
That God is collecting today.
Place your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus and receive the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's just pray. Lord Jesus, we thank Thee for Thy grace and my goodness and what thou art doing, and we just pray for blessing on the hearts of these young ones here today.
That they might be saved and walk for thy glory in this earth. And we ask it all in thy worthy name, Lord Jesus, Amen.
OK, kids.