John 3:16-17
God loved the people of this world
so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him
will have eternal life and never really die. God did not send his Son
into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
This
morning, I taught the Sunday school lesson to 2nd and 3rd graders. The
topic was missions, based on the story in Acts 10 of Cornelius and his
encounter with Simon Peter. Although these 8-and-9-year-olds love to
get off topic, we talked about two primary points this morning…1) that
Jesus did not die for the sins of only the “clean” – or any particular
race, ethnic group, skin or eye color, or other distinguishing
characteristic; and 2) we are ALL missionaries!
In an effort to
explain “clean” and “unclean,” I turned to the book of Leviticus and
read the children a few of the laws of that day…how you were not to
touch a dead body…how pigs were considered off limits (they were
APPALLED that this meant no bacon!)…how people were not to handle
certain animals that crawled on the ground (which meant one little boy
would not have been able to go hiking this afternoon to search for
lizards and snakes!). One of the boys asked, “So what changed? Why
don’t we have to follow these laws today?” That was the perfect segue
to a discussion about Christ’s death on the cross to pay for our sins,
once and for all. With the blood of Jesus, we were ALL given the
opportunity to be “washed clean” forever!
The children and I
talked about discrimination…how Salvation through Jesus is available to
EVERYONE…not just a chosen few. We talked about how we can demonstrate
this to others – particularly by our words and actions. And I
emphasized to these young disciples that each of them is a
“missionary”…that others are watching their words and actions to see if
they line up with the teachings of Jesus. Some of the children are going
with their families to Peru this summer on a “mission trip.” I
stressed to all of the children that you do not have to travel to a
foreign country to do mission work for Jesus…there are plenty of
opportunities in our own backyards. So we all have work to do!
Here’s the thing for you and me…God so loved the world that He gave His only Son for ALL of us… so that everyone
who has faith in Him can have everlasting life. This is the best news
ever! There is not a single person on this earth who cannot spend
Eternity in heaven with Jesus if they call on Him to forgive their sins
and cover them with His blood.
AND…we are ALL missionaries.
You may not think of yourself in this manner, but you truly are “on a
mission” for God…or you should be. When I asked the children what their
“mission” was…they would say, “To tell others about Jesus.” I told them
repeatedly that this includes more than literally telling people about
Jesus. We minister to others and “witness” to them by our words and our
actions…how we worship God – and particularly by how we treat others.
If we honor Jesus’ commandment to love others as He loves us – and as we
love ourselves – He will be glorified. Others will see the awesome
power, grace and mercy of Jesus in our lives…and hopefully want this for
themselves.
I can think of nothing better than to hear someone
say to me, “How do I get what you have?” (meaning the peace and joy of
belonging to Jesus). God loved us enough to send Jesus. How will we
share that love with others, as He desired? Are you really ready to
feed his sheep and be a “missionary” for Him? Don’t you think it’s time
you were?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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