November 20, 2016 - Moses Learns To Delegate

TONY & MICHELLE PAWLAK

MEMORY VERSE

Two people are better than one. They get more done by working together. If one person falls, the other can help him up. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10a

Have you ever been in charge of something?  There is so much to do isn’t there?  You are the one responsible to make sure everything gets done so you had better get started, right?  If you are the Children’s Pastor at your church you have to get all the chairs and classrooms set up, prepare a lesson for every class, get all the crafts and snacks ready, get the worships songs chosen and get them ready to be projected on the wall at the proper time so everyone can worship, practice the songs because you are going to have to lead worship, get all the kids checked in and checked out, and make sure ever you solve every argument, fix every problem, and everything else that might happen is taken care of!  This is what it takes to be a leader, you have to do EVERYTHING….right? WRONG!!!!

If you actually tried to do all of this you would either wear yourself out or explode.  God never called anyone to be everything at once, he created us to be a body: different parts doing different jobs.  A good leader knows how to delegate: share the work with people he/she trusts to get it done well.  A leader is the head of a team and chooses his/her teammates according to the gifts that God has given them. They appoint people to be teachers, tech people, security guards, people in charge of snacks, etc.…  Surely there was nobody in the Bible that ever made the mistake of trying to do everything themselves…right?  Wrong.

Last week we talked about how God kept His promise that He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel by bringing their descendants out of Egypt and putting them on their way to the Promised Land in Canaan. 

Afterwards, God had to rescue them from Pharaoh one last time by parting the Red Sea and allowing the Israelites to

escape.  At that time, Moses found that he was the leader of somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 million people!  The people all started looking to Moses to be their teacher, their judge, their problem solver, and God’s messenger to them.  It was a big job!  Moses would often be working from dawn till dusk solving problems and teaching lessons.

One day Jethro, the father of Moses’ wife, came to visit. 

He listened joyfully as Moses told him all about how God had freed them from Egypt through the Ten Plagues and parting the Red Sea.  Jethro was very happy to see that God was taking care of Moses and his people.  The next day, Jethro watched as Moses sat as the judge for all the people all day long.  Afterwards, Jethro came to Moses and said, “What are you doing?  Why are you trying to do all this by yourself?”  Moses answered him, “The people come to me to fix their problems, settle their disputes, and teach them about God.”

“It isn’t good that you’re doing this all alone, Moses.  You’re going to wear yourself out!  Listen to me, I have some really good advice you should take.” Jethro said.  “You should continue being the people’s teacher and the messenger between them and God.  However, you need to find others

to help you judge the people, solve problems, and settle disputes.  Find men that are honest and can be trusted and put them in charge of the people.  Put some over a thousand people, some over a hundred, some over fifty, and some over ten. These people will help you share the load and take care of the smaller problems.  Only if there is a problem too big for them will they bring it to you to solve.  Otherwise, you will wear out and the people won’t have any leader!  

Moses saw how wise his father-in-law’s advice was and decided to take it.  We should do the same thing if God ever puts us in charge of something.  We, as Christians, are meant to work as a team, not try to do everything by ourselves.

November 13, 2016 - The Shema

TONY AND MICHELLE PAWLAK

MEMORY VERSE

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." 

Deuteronomy 6:4

Have you and your friends ever played a new game?  What is the first thing you always do? Look at the rules, of course!  Rules are very important to make sure everyone gets along and plays fair. This is as true in running a country as it is in playing a game.  God, in all His wisdom, knew this as well.

Two weeks ago we left off with Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt after God showed His power with the 10 plagues.  So you would think that everything would be smooth sailing now, right?  Wrong!  

After the Israelites left Egypt, the Egyptians went to Pharaoh saying, "What have we

done?  Why have we let our slaves go?  Who will do all the work now?  Let's go and get them back!"  So Pharaoh, with his heart hardened, rounded up all his horsemen and chariots and went after the Israelites.

God had led the Israelites through the wilderness appearing in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  He had led them until they reached the Red Sea and could go no further.  When the Israelites saw the Egyptian army

coming, they knew they were trapped so they turned to Moses saying, "Why did you bring us out here to die?" 

Moses calmed the people saying, "Do not be afraid.  After today, you will never see this Egyptian army ever again! Watch how the Lord will deliver us today."  Then God told Moses to stretch his hand over the sea.  When Moses did this, the water parted and a dry path through the sea appeared for the Israelites to walk through.  God also moved the pillar of cloud to stand between the Israelites and the Egyptians.

After the Israelites had gone through, God lifted the cloud and the Egyptians ran after them through the Red Sea.  Then God let the water go and it flooded over the Egyptian army; drowning them all! Finally, the Israelites were free from

Egypt once and for all.

After this, Moses led the people to Mount Sinai where he had seen the burning bush.  There, God gave him the 10 Commandments to give to the

people.  However, when the people heard the thunder and lightning and the voice of God, they were afraid.  So God told Moses to have them go back to their tents while He spoke with Moses.  Afterwards, Moses came down from the mountain and gave the people the Law which God had Given him.  Here is how it started:

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road,

when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

This is called the Shema by the Jewish People.  Shema means "Hear" or "Listen."  God

knew that the Israelites were about to start a new nation and needed the rules that He was giving them.  The people of Israel still believe this today!

November 6, 2016 - Review Week

TONY AND MICHELLE PAWLAK


This week was a review week and had no new lesson.  However, we will be giving 1/2 point for every Bible Memory Verse  (12 in all) you can say from memory in class next Sunday.  If you can do all 12, you will get 10 POINTS toward 2nd quarter.

October 30, 2016 - The Ten Plagues

TONY AND MICHELLE PAWLAK

MEMORY VERSE

 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Exodus 6:8a

What was the hardest job that God ever gave you to do?  Did you think it was too hard?  Did you think that you were ready for it?  Last week we talked about how Moses felt that very same way.  However, God knew that He had prepared Moses and that, with God's help, Moses could accomplish the work God gave him to do.  After all, God Himself was going with Moses...

Last week we left off with Moses and his older brother Aaron were going back to Egypt to confront the Pharaoh about the horrible way he had been treating the Children of

Israel.  When they arrived, God told them to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go into the wilderness and have a feast to worship their God.  Pharaoh, however, had a very hard heart and refused to let the people go.  

"You people are just lazy and don't want to do your work!" Pharaoh said to Moses. " So I am going to make their work even harder."  The Israelites were making bricks for Pharaoh and he would make sure they had the straw they needed to do the job.  "Now I will make them go and get their own straw and they had better make just as many bricks as they did before!"  So now the children of Israel had to do twice

as much work in the same amount of time!

Moses went to God and asked, "Why did you send me here?  All I've done is make their lives even harder!"  But God told Moses to go back to Pharaoh while he was down by the Nile River and tell him once again to let the people go.  Moses

did so but Pharaoh refused.  So Moses told Aaron to use his staff and turn the entire Nile River to blood.  This made all the fish die and the water stink.  The Egyptians could no longer even drink the water from the river and had to dig wells to find clean water.  This was the first plague that God sent on Egypt. However, the Pharaoh had sorcerers that could do the same thing using witchcraft.  So Pharaoh ignored Moses warning and went home.

So God had Moses and Aaron cause millions of frogs to come out of the Nile river and go everywhere!  This was the second plague. The sorcerers could also do the same thing but they couldn't get rid of the frogs.  The Pharaoh called to Moses and Aaron and said he would let the people go if they would get rid of the frogs.  So the

next day all the frogs died and the people piled them up in huge stinky mounds.  When Pharaoh saw that the frogs were gone, he hardened his heart again and wouldn't let the people go.  

So God had Aaron strike the ground with his staff and all the dust of the ground turned

into gnats.  This was the third plague God sent.  The gnats were so bad that once again Pharaoh promised to let the people go if God would get rid of them.  However, once the gnats were gone, Pharaoh broke his promise again.  

So God, through Moses and Aaron, sent plague after plague on Egypt and each time Pharaoh would make a promise and then break it.

 Also, each time God sent a plague, He was showing that he was stronger than all of the false Egyptian gods.  

Finally, God decided to send one more horrible plague.  He gave Moses special instruction to tell the people of Israel.  Each family was to take a perfect lamb that had nothing wrong with it and sacrifice it to God.  This was to be called the Passover Lamb.   They were to eat the lamb's meat that night but the blood had another purpose.  God told them to put the blood of the lamb on the two

doorposts and the mantle of the door of every Israelite house.  Then they were to go inside their houses and wait.  They all kept their sandals on and were dressed so they could leave in a hurry.  God also told the Israelites to ask their

Egyptians neighbors for their silver and gold.  He touched the Egyptians' hearts so that they were willing to give the Children of Israel whatever they asked for.

That night, God sent the Angel of Death over Egypt to go into every house and take the life of the firstborn son of every family.  When the Angel came to a house that had

the blood on the door frame, God told him to pass over it and not hurt anyone.  This is why the people of Israel celebrate Passover today.  

That night, every Egyptian family lost their oldest son, including the Pharaoh himself.  When the Pharaoh realized that even his own son had died, he knew he was beaten.  He called Moses and

Aaron and told them to take their people and leave Egypt.  So the people went to their neighbors to ask for their gold, silver, and clothes, and then walked out of the country with all the treasures of Egypt!  Finally, the Israelites were

free.

Today, God can still call us to do great things that we can only accomplish if God helps us.  We must learn to trust God and obey His commands.  If we do these things, there is no limit to what God can do through us.