There Was a Little House A Lesson for the Feast of Dedication
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Introduction Happy Sabbath. Today is a great day to begin preparing for the Feast of Dedication. A happy and wonderful day that will take place on Sabbath, December 21st. The Feast of Dedication talks about the rebuilding of His church AND building up your spiritual house. For this lesson, we focus on the spiritual house. Hmmm. Now what does that mean? Keep listening and you will see.
Parable • You see little ones, in the
bible, God would often use what are called parables to teach the people. What is a parable? Simply put, a parable is a short story used to describe important lessons that we should know about God and not only that, but how to obey Him. Pretty awesome right!
The Wise Man • Now that you know what a
parable is, can you think of any? What about the “Wise Man.” Let’s read about it in Matthew 7: 24-27. Does that sound familiar? It should. Think about the song, “The wise man built his house upon the rock and the rain came tumbling down……”
The Wise Man • That’s a great song.
It not only sounds good but it is a way for us to learn. Lets look at some key words and phrases in the song to see what they mean to us today.
Key Words & Phrases • Wise man = saint (a person who OBEYS the Lord)
• House = YOU and the type of life you live everyday
• Rock= JESUS CHRIST • Foolish Man = wicked person
(someone who DISOBEYS GOD)
• Sand = the world • Rain & Floods= temptations from
Satan & the troubles you may have in life
Breaking it Down • So we see in the song that
the wise man built his house upon the rock, which is Jesus.
• Who is Jesus Christ? • Where does He live? • What are some important
things that Jesus has done for us? Ex: He created you. Your turn?
Breaking it Down • We also learn that the foolish man
built his house upon the sand, which is this world. This is not good.
• Why? Because so many bad things are happening in this world. Many, many people disobey God. To disobey is to sin.
• Christ does not like it when we sin.
In
fact, He hates sin so much that one day, He is going to destroy this world with fire as well as all the bad people in this world.
• So who would you rather be? A wise
man (woman) or foolish man (woman)?
Breaking it Down • One key part to remember in the song
is that the rain fell and the floods rose up for both the wise man AND the foolish man.
• Remember that the rain and floods
represent the temptations from Satan as well as any troubles you might face.
• What is temptation? The desire to do something bad or wrong. In this case, to DISOBEY GOD.
• Who is Satan? • How can you disobey God?
Ex: stealing a piece of candy. Your turn.
Breaking it Down • What are some troubles that
you might face? Ex: I got made fun of as a child for not celebrating Christmas. Your turn.
• Both the saints and wicked
people will experience temptations from Satan and troubles in life, but they will handle it differently.
• That brings us to the second part of our lesson.
Lets Talk About the House • Why would God compare us
and our lives to a house? God often uses things in our lives that are very familiar and important to us so that we can better understand His truth.
Lets Talk About the House • Think about your home.
What comes to mind? This is where you have shelter and warmth and where you live with your mommy, daddy and siblings. This is where you eat, sleep and play. There is love and comfort in your home. In other words, your home is an important part of your life.
Lets Talk About the House • Now lets think of what you
need in order to make a home, a home. For example, you need windows. Your turn.
Lets Talk About the House • There’s something else.
In
fact, it is the MOST important part of the home in order for it to remain in place. You know what that is? The foundation! It is a solid and level layer of stone, brick or cement that is placed underneath a home to give it support.
Lets Talk About the House • Now you can see the
windows, the walls, the roof and doors but you cannot see the foundation of your home. However, without it, your home would collapse. It would not be able to stand. A good house has a good foundation. And with a good foundation, your home can withstand wind, rain and snow.
Putting It All Together • Lets connect a few dots.
Remember that I said a foundation is typically made of cement, stone or brick? Basically, it is a slab of rock. Now lets think of the song, “The Wise Man.” Who did we say was the rock? So the rock/foundation = Jesus. Now who did we say was like a house again? The house represents you and your life.
Conclusion • Just as a house needs a
foundation in order to remain and stand strong.
• YOU (house) need Jesus
(foundation/rock) in your life in order to remain and be strong.
• Why?
Jesus teaches us how to be good by obeying the 10 commandments & testimonies.
•
Conclusion • We cannot survive without Christ or
His commandments. And like a foundation, though we cannot see Him, Jesus is the most important in our lives.
• Without HIM things will not go well
for us and are lives will fall a part just like the foolish man who built his house on sand.
• Without Jesus we cannot be saved or go to heaven.
• Without Jesus we will be destroyed by fire with the rest of the bad people and this world.
Conclusion • By obeying God we become
strong. We can ignore that wicked Devil and not listen to him when he tries to get us to sin.
• And even if we may feel sad or
angry because of bad things in this world we will always be ok because we know that Christ is with us and will save us one day!
• So let us always be like the wise
man (woman) who built his house upon the rock. Amen