Introduce kids to the Savior of sinners. This is a series of audio podcasts for kids who want to meet with Jesus by using Meeting with Jesus: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. 

Yesterday we answered the question “Who is Jesus?”  Today we want to answer a second question: “What did Jesus do?”

Why is that important to ask? Well until you know what someone does, you won’t know what he or she can do for you.

For example, if you want to know how to do math, you don’t just walk down the street and ask the first person you meet. You ask someone who teaches math.

Or if you want to know how to swim, you ask someone who can swim themselves.

So we ask, “What did Jesus do?” and “What does Jesus do?” so that we can know what he can do for us.

I could give you a really long answer to this question, because Jesus did lots and lots and lots of things. But I want to keep this short and simple, so I’ll cut it down to the shortest answer possible. I’ll tell you what he did and then tell you what he still does! First of all, what did Jesus do?

Jesus lived and saved: Jesus lived about 2000 years ago. The Son of God became the Son of Man, lived on this earth and died on the cross to save sinners like us from our sins.

Jesus lives and saves: But this isn’t just past tense. Jesus still lives and Jesus still saves. He is as alive today as he was 2000 years ago and also just as able to save. He lives in heaven but can also come and live in our hearts too to save us from our sins.

We are dying and cannot save ourselves, but Jesus lives and can save us.

Why don’t you pray for the Lord Jesus to live in your heart and save you so you can live forever.

Know what Jesus did and does, so that you’ll know to ask him to save you and give you eternal life.

Listen to this episode on Living the Bible podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Spotify.

Introduce kids to the Savior of sinners. This is a series of audio podcasts for kids who want to meet with Jesus by using Meeting with Jesus: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. 

Many people don’t know who Jesus is or what Jesus did.

Is that such a big deal?

It’s a really big deal, because if we don’t know who Jesus is or what Jesus did, then we won’t know what he can be and do for us.

Imagine your Xbox or iPad freezes. No matter how hard you try, you can’t get it to work again. You decide you’ll have to just put it in the trash. As you walk sadly to the trash can outside, you see your next-door neighbor leaving in his car. You wave, he drives away, and you throw the gadget in the trash.

Did you know that your neighbor was a world expert at fixing broken gadgets? You didn’t, did you? If you had, you would have taken your problem to him and he would have fixed it right away.

It’s the same with Jesus. He can help people fix their greatest problem – their sin and their broken relationship with God. But most people don’t realize he can do that or how good he is at it. They certainly don’t realize that he repairs us and our relationship to God free of charge!

That’s why I say not knowing who Jesus is or what Jesus did is a really big deal. If we don’t know who Jesus is or what Jesus did, then we won’t know what he can be and do for us.

So, who is he? Let’s keep it simple and start with two simple truths about who Jesus is. Then tomorrow we’ll look at what Jesus does. So, who is Jesus? Here’s the short answer. Jesus is God and man. Here’s a bit of a longer answer.

Jesus is really and fully God: He’s as much God as our Heavenly Father is. As the Son of God, he’s always been God, is God, and always will be God.

Jesus is really and fully human: He’s as human as you and I are. He was not always human, but became human when he came to Bethlehem as a baby boy 2000 years ago. And he’s still really and fully human today in heaven. And he will be forever.

Why is it important to know who Jesus is?

If we know he’s God, we’ll know he can fix our biggest problems. His power can help us.

If we know he’s human, we’ll know that he understands our lives and sympathizes with us when we’re sad or anxious. His sympathy comforts us.

Knowing Jesus is God is empowering. Knowing Jesus is man is encouraging. 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I want to meet with you as both God and man. You are God and so I can bring my biggest problems to you to fix. You are human and so I can bring my biggest pains to you for sympathy and support. Amen.

Listen to this episode on Living the Bible podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Spotify.

Introduce kids to the Savior of sinners. This is the first in a series of audio podcasts for kids who want to meet with Jesus by using Meeting with Jesus: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. 

How many people have you met in your life? Try to count them. Start with your parents, then your brothers and sisters, your neighbors, your friends. Add up those you know from school, church, vacations, and so on. What number are you up to? Are you over a hun­dred yet?

You will meet even more people as you get older, go to different schools, play differ­ent sports, move to different houses, and do different jobs. You are going to meet so many people that eventually you will not be able to count them all or remember them all!

There are probably other people you would love to meet but they probably don’t want to meet you. Maybe it’s an athlete you admire, or a singer, or a politician. You think about them and hope one day to meet them, but they don’t know you and therefore don’t want to meet you.

But there is one person you must meet more than anyone else. And this person wants to meet with you too. And if you meet him, you will never forget him. His name is Jesus, and I want you to meet him because he is the most awesome person you can ever meet.

I really, really want you to meet with Jesus. That’s why I wrote a book for kids called Meeting with Jesus. It’s going to be published at the end of April 2020, but I thought I’d tell you a bit about it first and hopefully you’ll join me in meeting with Jesus.

But how do we meet with Jesus? Where do we meet with Jesus? We meet with Jesus by reading the Bible.

“But the Bible’s a tough book,” you might say, “It’s hard to read and understand.”

That’s why I wrote this book, called Meeting with Jesus, to help you read the Bible, understand it, and so meet with Jesus. Wouldn’t that be a great way to use the lockdown we’re all living through? We may not be able to meet with our friends, but quarantine can’t stop us meeting with Jesus.

So, here’s what I’m suggesting. Ask your Mom or Dad to get you the book, Meeting with Jesus. Over a number of weeks, it will take you through the whole life of Jesus – his birth, teaching, miracles, death, and resurrection – with short daily readings of just a few verses of the Bible a day. There’s also a brief question to answer each day. And maybe each day after breakfast, lunch, or supper, you can play the podcast together and hopefully not just you but the whole family can meet with Jesus.

So, what will we do until the book comes out at the end of April? Well, over the next couple of weeks on the Living the Bible podcast, I’ll be introducing you to Jesus and how to meet with him. I’ll answer questions such as “Who is Jesus?” “Why do we need to meet with Jesus?” “How do I know if I met with Jesus?” and so on. Then we’ll be ready to start the book at the end of April/beginning of May. Sound good?

One other thing, what age do you have to be? Well, you need to be able to write a little each day, so probably six or seven is a good starting age. But it’s good for kids up to, say, age twelve as well. If you’re younger than that, you probably can’t use the book, but you can still meet with Jesus through listening to this podcast.

And if you’re much older than 12, maybe in your twenties or thirties, or even sixties or seventies, remember you’re never too old to meet with Jesus and I hope this daily podcast will help you to do just that.

I look forward to meeting Jesus with you in Meeting with Jesus.

Listen to this episode on Living the Bible podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Spotify.

Wandering from the truth is extremely dangerous:

• It damages and even destroys the soul
• It increases sin and destroys the church’s witness

Let’s take a closer look at wandering from the truth and how we can prevent it and even reverse it. In James 5:19-20, the Apostle James wrote to prevent and reverse wandering from the truth. It was a special danger in these times because they were times of suffering for the faith.

WANDERING FROM THE TRUTH IS POSSIBLE

“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth” (19a) 

• Christians can wander from the truth: James addresses “brothers,” therefore he’s speaking to Christians.

• Wandering from the truth looks like this: It can be walking away from doctrinal truth or ethical truth. Our hearts, minds, and lives move slowly but increasingly away from theological and practical truths.

That’s scary. I want to help wanderers. Is there any hope for their return?

WANDERING FROM THE TRUTH IS REVERSIBLE

“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back” (19b).

• Christian wandering can be reversed: James is envisaging other brothers or sisters pursuing the wanderer.

• Pursuit of wanderers looks like this:  It involves knowing the person, watching out for a person, taking action early, having the courage to ask hard questions, persuading them of their error and danger, appealing to them to return to God’s truth in its entirety.

That’s comforting. What motives can I use to persuade them?

RETURNING TO THE TRUTH IS DESIRABLE

“Let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (20).

• Returning saves the soul: It saves the soul from a lot of trouble, but even from death, physical death and eternal death.

• Returning prevents lots of sin: When someone starts wandering from biblical doctrine or ethics, it’s usually evidenced in increasing sin in their lives. So when someone returns to the truth, multiple sins are prevented and therefore “covered.”

These are powerful motives aren’t they, both to stop and reverse our own and others’ wandering from the truth.

LIVING THE BIBLE

Pursue wanderers because of the spiritual benefits to the wanderer and church.

PRAYING THE BIBLE

Faithful God, we confess our unfaithfulness. We admit that suffering, especially suffering for the faith, tests our faith and sometimes we fail. We give up truth – both doctrinal and ethical truth – way too easily. Our hearts move away, then our minds, then our consciences, then our words, then our actions. Graciously forgive our wanderings and keep us from moving away from you in any way.

If we’ve wandered, send others to help us reverse course. If others have wandered, use us to help them reverse course. Give us the right spirit and words to pursue and bring them back

In so doing, save many souls and prevent lots of sin. Give living faith in testing times, because our great Savior had living faith in testing times and never wandered from the truth in the slightest. Accept his faithfulness when we have none to give. Amen.

Listen to this episode on Living the Bible podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Spotify. Index to Living Faith in Testing Times series.

When we lose confidence and passion in prayer we reduce the power of prayer.

• We don’t bring everything to God in prayer
• We don’t join with others in prayer
• We don’t see results in prayer

But the power of prayer can be restored in our lives. James 5:13-18 gives us two insights to increase our confidence and passion in prayer.

FAITH-FULL PRAYER IS A POWERFUL HEALER

• It can heal physical disease: “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (13-15a)

• It can heal spiritual disease: “And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (15b-16a).

Faith-less prayers are power-less prayers, but faith-full prayers are power-full prayers.

How do I know if my prayers are faith-full? Faith-full prayers are feeling-full prayers.

FERVENT PRAYER IS A POWERFUL FERTILIZER

• Fervent prayer is powerful: “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (16b)

• Elijah’s fervent prayer was powerful: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit” (17-18).

Cold prayers kill fruit, but hot prayers fill with fruit.

LIVING THE BIBLE

Pray full of faith and fervency for powerful results

PRAYING THE BIBLE

Lord, we confess that we lose confidence and passion in prayer. We doubt prayer works, and we become half-hearted or even quarter-hearted in prayer. We ask your forgiveness for this.

Use this passage to teach us that faith-full prayer is a powerful healer, and fervent prayer is a powerful fertilizer. And give us prayer that is both full of faith and fervency for powerful results.

We thank you for the perfect prayers of Jesus which were full of faith and fervency. We thank you that his perfect prayers atone for our far-from perfect prayers. Amen.

Listen to this episode on Living the Bible podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Spotify. Index to Living Faith in Testing Times series.

People pursue happiness in all the wrong places and in all the wrong ways. The results are:

• They cannot find happiness in their way of life
• They cannot imagine happiness in the Christian way of life

If this is true of you, I want to help you see that you are heading in the wrong direction, and I want to help you turn in the right direction. If you are a Christian and heading in the right direction, but you’ve slowed down, broken down, or you’re thinking of turning back, I want to confirm you in the right way and help you move forward with new momentum.

General Context

Remember the background to this passage. God is calling us to enroll in Wisdom University by highlighting the benefits of being a student in his school:

• The moral benefits of Christianity (Prov. 2:5-21)
• The material benefits of Christianity (Prov. 3:1-12)
• The emotional benefits of Christianity (Prov. 3:13-20)
• The social benefits of Christianity (3:21-35)

Last week we began to look at the emotional benefits of Christianity. There are a number of these—peace, love, excitement—but we decided to focus on happiness, as that’s the emphasis of this passage and that is the most common emotion that drives and motivates people. We laid out the series as follows:

1. God approves the pursuit of happiness
2. God re-directs the pursuit of happiness
3. God satisfies the pursuit of happiness.

In the first sermon last week, we saw that God gave the desire for happiness, approves of it, and addresses it in the Gospel. Now, we want to turn to the second sermon, God re-directs the pursuit of happiness. He doesn’t stop it or condemn it, but encourages it in a new way and direction. God does not say, “Stop wanting happiness!” but rather, “Get it in me.” We want to look at what that re-direction means and looks like.

For more, see my sermon notes.  Scroll down a bit further and you’ll find a one-page sermon summary infographic.

Sermon Notes

Infographic