WHO WILL GO FOR US?

Isaiah 6:8

Isaiah was a prophet of God. One day, God asked him the question we are considering in this study. The same question comes to every friend of Jesus today. Will you answer and do what prophet Isaiah did? The message is divided into three parts.

1. PREPARATION TO RECEIVE GOD’S CALL: Isaiah 6:8.

Isaiah prepared himself to receive God’s call. He prayed for God to make him clean. It was only after then that he was able to answer God’s call. Children who will answer God’s call must:- (a) Be born again (b) Be clean in their hearts (c) Be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit (d) Be prayerful (e) Be always willing to work for God.

2. WHAT THE CALL OF GOD MEANS:

The will of God for every child is that, he should repent and turn away from his bad ways accept Jesus into your life to be your Saviour and Lord, and be born again. Have you answered this call? God’s purpose for calling to salvation is to serve Him by telling sinners about the love of Jesus. This is the only work that Jesus wants His friends to do for Him till He comes. If you are a true friend of Jesus, are you telling sinners about Jesus? There are so many bad and naughty children around you who need the Saviour.

3. HOW TO ANSWER GOD’S CALL: Isaiah 6:8.

After prophet Isaiah had been cleansed, he received the call of God. His answer to God was, “Here am I, send me”, what a wonderful answer! God expects you to answer in the same way and obey immediately. You can answer God’s call by: (a) Doing personal evangelism every day. (b) Distributing tracts and children magazine to sinners, and writing to our church fellowship and programmes (c) Praying for your friends and family members who are not yet friends of Jesus. (d) Living in obedience to God’s word so that others can follow your good example.

There are many ways you can tell others about Jesus; only make up your mind that you will obey. As you answer God’s call, you will enjoy the blessings of God in Jesus’ Name.

QUESTIONS:

1. What is the name of the prophet whom God called in our Bible passage?

2. How can a friend of Jesus prepare to receive God’s call?

3. What is the purpose of God’s call to children?

4.  How will you answer God’s call?

ACTIVITY: Children are to sing this chorus prayerfully. “Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord”

 ow will you answer God’s call?

HH

JESUS SAYS COME!

Text:Matthew 11:28; Revelation 22:17

God’s plan is that all human beings will be saved and not perish in their sin. Therefore, He sent His only begotten Son to come to the world and die for our sins. Jesus Christ is compassionate and calls everyone, small and great, young and old, rich and poor to come now unto Him and receive salvation. He is willing to save all who come out of sin and give them rest. His rest includes freedom from sin, healing, deliverance, abundance and everlasting life. Jesus is calling you today. He says "Come Now!". Will you obey? This message is in three parts.

1. JESUS IS CALLING YOU NOW: Matthew 11:28; Isaiah 1:18-19; John 3:16;

In order to take away our sins, somebody had to die for us. Thus God sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins. Jesus rose from death on the third day and gave us victory over sin and death. Today, He invites every sinful child to come to Him. All sinners including boys and girls must come to Jesus 'now'.

(a) He is the creator of all things (John 1:1-3) (b) He is the Saviour of the world (Matthew 1:21; Acts 4:12) (c) All power belongs to Him (Matthew 28:18) (d) He is the Son of God (John 3:16) (e) He is the Good Shepherd (John 10:14) (f) He makes His children overcomers (John 16:33) (g) He is the giver of life and power (Luke 10:19) (h) All that you need in this life is in Christ Jesus. (i) He is the only way to the Heavenly Father “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Answer the call of Jesus Christ and come to Him now. Those who come to Him will receive forgiveness and become God’s children.  They will not perish but have everlasting life. Delay may be dangerous. Tomorrow may be too late. Failure to come to Jesus 'now' is disobedience to God's call. Death may come or the rapture can take place anytime from now. Those who refuse Jesus’ call will be condemned on the last day… “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God”

(John 3:18).

2. HOW TO COME TO JESUS: Revelation 22:17; 1 John 1:7-9.

Our God is a loving Father and is willing to receive and pardon all who come to Him for salvation. This pardon does not come to us automatically. In other words, God does not force us to receive salvation. We must be willing to repent and accept the plan for our salvation. Jesus is still calling today. To answer the call of Jesus, the sinner must: (a) Know that he is a sinner (Psalm 51:3-5). (b) Confess his sins to God in sincere prayer and ask for forgiveness (1John 1:9; Psalm 51:1-2). (c) Turn away from all sins (1John 3:8-9). (d) Accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord (Acts 16:30-31). (e) Believe that he is saved and forgiven (John1:12; Roman 10:10-13). (f) Continue to follow and obey God’s word (Holy Bible). Never go back to sin again (John 5:14). As soon as these conditions are met, the sinner immediately receives forgiveness from God. There is no sin that God cannot forgive.

Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart today saying “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20). Jesus says come for “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”(John 6:37).  

3. BENEFITS OF COMING TO JESUS: Isaiah 1:19; Deuteronomy 28:1-13; John 1:12.

You become a bonafide child of God when you accept Jesus as your Saviour and Lord. You also have access to all the blessings and riches of His Kingdom. These include: (a) Peace in your hearts. (b) Joy. (c) Protection from every evil work. (d) Provision. (e) Favour with God and man. (g) Answers to prayers (b) All-round success (c) Victory. (d) Perfect healing and divine provision from God and (e) Living and reigning with Jesus forever. As you come to Jesus today, He will bless you abundantly and at last you will live with Him in heaven forever. Come to Jesus now!

QUESTIONS:

1. Who commands sinners to come to Him?

2. State five reasons why sinners must come to Jesus.

3. What steps should a sinner take to get to Jesus?

4. Mention three benefits of coming to Jesus.

SCRIPTURAL WATER BAPTISM

Matthew 3:17

     Our topic this evening is on “Scriptural Water Baptism” or water baptism as it is commanded and practiced in the Bible.

Water baptism takes place when a child who is born again is immersed in water in the Name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

     Water baptism is one of the important teachings laid down by our Lord Jesus Christ. Just like any of His teachings, water baptism must be faithfully carried out by the church.

     A child becomes a friend of Jesus when he accepts and sees himself as a sinner, confesses his sins, repents of them, forsakes them and by faith accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour.

     Jesus Christ commanded His disciples that those who have been saved should be baptized in water. Even from our Bible passage, we saw how Jesus Christ Himself was baptized in water. So children, it is a command of our Lord Jesus Christ which all his friends must obey. It is only the children who have been saved through faith in the saving power in the blood of Jesus Christ, that are qualified for water baptism. Water baptism is not an assurance of salvation. There are many examples of those who were baptized after they were saved in the Bible. (i)Those who gladly received the word of God and surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ (Acts 2:41). (ii) Believers at Samaria (Acts 8:12) (iii) The Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:38). (iv) Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:18) were all baptized after conversion.

     Children, some people teach that we cannot be saved without water baptism. This is wrong. The thief on the cross was saved, but had no opportunity to be baptized in water. Jesus assured him that he would be with Him in paradise. However, it is important that once you become a friend of Jesus, you must surrender yourself for water baptism in the Bible way. Water baptism without salvation is not according to the word of God. Baptism of infants and babies is wrong. This is because a baby or an infant does not yet know the difference from his right hand and left and he cannot say sorry for his sins.

     The Bible pattern of water baptism is by immersion (dipping in water) once. It is done in the Name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost.  There are some false teachers who dip in water three times and carry it out in the Name of the Son only. This is not according to the Bible. When a child is dipped in the water, he is identifying with Jesus’ burial and resurrection. Also, it is to show everybody that he now believes in Jesus.

QUESTIONS:

1.  What is water baptism?

2.  Mention some wrong methods of carrying out water baptism.

3. Water baptism is done in the Name of _________________,         _______________________, ______________________________.

4. What does it show when you do water baptism?

MEMORY VERSE: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (Matthew 28:19).

ACTIVITY: Saved children should be identified and prepared for water baptism.

THE TESTIMONY OF A CHILD OF GOD

John 1:29-51; 4:27-30

      A child of God is someone who has been saved from his bad and naughty ways. He is born again and is a friend of Jesus. He no longer steals, fights or tells lies. He has stopped living a bad life and now lives a new life pleasing God and Jesus. Testimony means telling others about the good things that God has done for you. As a child of God, you tell other children about how God forgave your sins when you said “sorry” and stopped doing them. That is the testimony of your salvation.

      In the stories from the Bible passages which we have read, there were people who gave testimonies of how they were saved and how they met Jesus.

      John the Baptist described Jesus as the Lamb of God, ‘the one who took away our sins’ to two of his followers (John 1:29, 35-37). Andrew was one of them. When they heard the testimony of John the Baptist, they left him and started following Jesus.

      Andrew having spent the night with Jesus went home to tell his brother- Peter, about Jesus. Peter also became a great follower of Jesus (John 1:40-42).

      Jesus found Philip in Galilee and said to him, “Follow Me” (John 1:43).

      Philip went to tell Nathaniel and brought him to Jesus. Nathaniel (Bartholomew) became a follower of Jesus.

      The Samaritan woman met with Jesus and her bad life was changed. She went and brought her sin partners and others to Jesus. Through her testimony, they believed and were saved (John 4:29-30).

      Sometime ago, there lived a girl called Gloria. She was a child of God. One day, she told her friend, Jessica about how she became born again. Jessica saw a great change in the life of Gloria. She too prayed to Jesus to forgive her and she was forgiven. Her life also became beautiful for Jesus.

      Friends of Jesus must not be ashamed of Jesus. You must share your testimony with others and also testify of the good things that God is doing in the lives of people so as to bring peace, joy and happiness to them. Do this in love, patiently and all the time. There are many children who want to love Jesus, but they do not know how. It is your duty to tell them. The Spirit of God will teach you how to do it. You need to be prayerful as well.

      A child who is not sure of his salvation and is doing bad things like being stubborn, disobedient, stealing must first turn away from them, ask for God’s forgiveness and ask Jesus to be his Lord and Saviour. It is only then that he has a testimony to share. As you obey the Lord, He will bless you in Jesus’ Name.

QUESTIONS:

1.   Who is a child of God?

2.   Explain the meaning of ‘testimony’?

3.   How did Andrew hear about Jesus?

4.   What happened to the Samaritan woman after her bad life was changed?

5.   How did Jessica become a child of God?

6.   How can you share your testimony?

MEMORY VERSE: “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (John 4:29).

ACTIVITY: A boy and a girl should share the testimony of how they became friends of Jesus.