You hold up a $20 dollar
bill and ask if anyone wants it. They will all raise their hands
and beg for it. Then you crumple the bill up and say well it is not
perfect anymore do you still want it? The kids will still raise there hands. Then
put it on the ground and step on it and rub it into the ground. Ask
again if they want it. They will still raise there hands. Now,
rip it a little and ask again. This time tell them this bill is
crumpled, stepped on, and torn...do you still want it. The kids
will still raise there hands and you explain from there that the bill
represents their lives. They started out new and crisp and clean,
but over the years they become crumpled, and stepped on and torn up (give
examples about some of the sin in their life) but that God still wants you. No
matter how crumpled up, stepped on and torn up you are God still wants you.
There was a time in our world
during both the First and second World Wars, when men and women who served
their country would go off and many times would be gone four or five years
before they ever came home. We're told that a good Marine serving his country
went off to fight. When he left, his wife was expecting a child. That child
was born, and that child was a beautiful little girl.
Because this was a special home, the
mother would never let the little girl forget her father.
Every day she talked of the girl's father and showed her pictures of
her father. She talked about the father's love and care for her, and about how
someday her father would come home.
When the little girl was 4 years
old, she was playing in the front yard. A man came to the gate. She looked up.
She looked into his eyes with love, and he looked into her eyes with love.
Then she said, "Daddy, you're for real. Daddy, you are for real!"
-- Richard H. Flick, "Memorial Service for Heather Gillan,"
Preaching Today, Tape No. 71.
Matthew 18:10
"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I
tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in
heaven. 11 [11] The Son of Man
came to save what was lost.} 12 "What do you think? If a man owns a
hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine
on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds
it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the
ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven
is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.
Top
Ten Ways to know that someone cares for you.
They :
1.
Give you life
2.
Provide for your needs: (daily bread)
3.
Show you the way.
4.
Find you when you are lost.
5.
Bring you back home to the safety of the fold/barn.
6.
Correct you when you insist on going the wrong way.
7.
Love you enough to show you they care.
8.
Rejoices when you come home.
9.
Not be willing to let you go off and die.
10.
Willing to tell you no so
that you may live to have a yes.
Who’s Your Daddy?
A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in
Gatlinburg, TN. One morning, they were eating breakfast at a little
restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet, family meal. While they were waiting for
their food, they noticed a distinguished looking, white-haired man moving from
table to table, visiting with the guests.
The professor leaned over and whispered to his wife, I hope he doesn't come
over here." But sure enough, the man did come over to their table.
"Where are you folks from?" he asked in a friendly voice.
Oklahoma," they answered. Great
to have you here in Tennessee," the stranger said. "What do you do
for a living?"
I teach at a seminary," he
replied.
Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I've got a really great story for you." And with
that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the
couple. The professor groaned and thought to himself, "Great... Just what
I need...another preacher story!"
The man started, "See that mountain over there? (pointing out the
restaurant window.) Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy
born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every place he
went, he was always asked the same question, 'Hey boy, Who's your daddy?'
Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask
the same question! 'Who's your daddy?' He would hide at recess and lunchtime
from other students. He would avoid going in to stores because that question
hurt him so bad.
When he was about 12 years old, a
new preacher came to his church. He would always go in late and slip out early
to avoid hearing the question, 'Who's your daddy?' But one day, the new
preacher said the benediction so fast he got caught and had to walk out with
the crowd.
Just about the time he got to the Back door, the new preacher, not knowing
anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, Son, who's
your daddy? The whole church got
deathly quiet. He could feel every eye in the church looking at him. Now
everyone would finally know the answer to the question, 'Who's your daddy.'
This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him &using
discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the following to that
scared little boy..." Wait a minute!' he said. 'I know who you are.
I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God.'
With that he patted the boy on his shoulder and said, Boy, you've got a great
inheritance. Go and claim it. With that, the boy smiled for the first time in
a long time and walked out the door a changed person. He was never the same
again. Whenever anybody asked him, 'Who's your Daddy?' he'd just tell them,
'I'm a Child of God.'"
The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said, "Isn't that a
great story?" The professor responded that it really was a great story!
As the man turned to leave, he said, "You know, if that new
preacher hadn't told me that I was one of God's children, I probably never
would have amounted to anything!" And he walked away.
The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress over
&asked her, "Do you know who that man was who just left that was
sitting at our table?" The
waitress grinned and said, "Of course. Everybody here knows him. That's
Ben Hooper. He's the former governor of Tennessee!"
Someone in your life today needs a reminder that they're one of God's
children! The grass withers and
the flowers fall, but the word
of God stands forever." ~~Isaiah