Thursday, April 24, 2014

Sparks Highlights 4.23.14



  So is Easter just about bunnies, eggs and chocolates?   Just like is Christmas about Santa, lights and presents?  No.   At Christmas, we celebrate Jesus coming to earth in human flesh – God Incarnate – born as a baby.  He grew up to become a man just like we do, but He was no ordinary man as we have been studying the last few weeks.  He is God Himself and is our Savior.   He can be trusted as our Savior because of all the amazing attributes that He and He alone has that allows Him the claim to be our Savior.    At Easter, He was sacrificed on the cross – sacrificed as the Lamb to accept the penalty of death for our sins.  However, just as He claimed though, He conquered that death because He is God Almighty and rose Himself the third day – our Resurrection Sunday.  This time of year known as Easter – or better yet to be known as Resurrection time, or instead of Easter Sunday be celebrated as Resurrection Sunday - is our remembrance of that time.  God wants us to remember things – He wants us to have remembrance times because it helps us be thankful for the past and for the future.   We who trust in that death of Jesus as the penalty of our sin and place our faith in the Resurrected Jesus who conquered death and sin, we can be thankful for our past and its forgiveness by God and the future of a new, eternal life to be spent with Him.  We just have to have true faith in Him and surrender our old ways and old life for new life, reborn life for us through Him.  We have learned the past few weeks that Jesus can be trusted as that Savior from the death of our sins.  Ask your Sparkie why and how He is, then ask your Sparkie about the specific events that led to the Resurrection that we celebrated on Easter Sunday – Resurrection Sunday.
You are welcome to join us anytime at Sparks!    You can also check out the AWANA program at           www.fbc.littletonil.org.    
Mrs. Jennifer Schroeder, Mrs. Carol Sheley, Mrs. Barb Stein.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Sparks Highlights 4.16.14



   We have been learning over the last few weeks why Jesus can be trusted as our Savior.  Now, when we put our faith in Him as our Savior – what comes next?    We are told in John 3:16 that if we believe in Jesus as our Savior we will have everlasting life.  But Jesus also claims that unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  The belief is more than just accepting that Jesus is who He says He is – it is about surrendering your life to Him.  When we truly put our faith in Him and understand to truly take to heart why Jesus gave His life for us on the cross, that belief is confessing our sin, turning our life to Him to let Him lead us and change us.  That is the being Born Again that Jesus is talking about in John 3 where we were studying tonight.  Your Sparkie’s butterfly is just an example of that change.  Caterpillars are a living being that changes itself into a butterfly – it metamorphoses in the cocoon to become a butterfly.  It is still the same living creature – it just looks different and acts different as a butterfly – it is born again in a sense as new appearance.  That is just like us when we let Jesus change us – we are still the same living creature, but when we are born again by our surrender and His changing us – we are the same living creature, but we act different – and look different to others when they see that change.  What a great time to make a change in your life, if you haven’t already – be spiritually born again this spring season – when the physical world around us is sprouting new life, so can you in Christ Jesus.    What an amazing thought as we head into Easter - Resurrection Sunday this coming week!   

We have breakfast at the church at 8:30 AM – come celebrate Christ’s Resurrection with us!
You are welcome to join us anytime at Sparks!   

 You can also check out the AWANA program at           www.fbc.littletonil.org.    

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Sparks Highlights 4.9.14




****Sparks Highlights****    We have seen the amazing attributes of our Savior Jesus – He is Holy, He is Powerful, He is our Provider, He is our Teacher, He is our Healer,  He is also our Shepherd, and tonight, we learned how He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.   God the Father proclaimed Him publicly at the time of Jesus' baptism as His Son of whom He was well pleased – so God told us who Jesus was – and Jesus proclaims the bold statement that He is the only way, truth and the life.  He is the only means of salvation, He is the only means to Heaven, He is the only means to God.  Jesus in John 14 tells us that He is the only means or way to the father – He is the Way.  Throughout the New Testament, teachings dealt with sin and its penalty, and the Bible describes Jesus as the very word of God in the flesh – He is the truth.  Our key Sparkie verse John 3:16 tells us that God gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life – He is the Life.  There are a lot of false teachings out in the world that people can make it to heaven – get to God - by good works, by spirituality, by living by rules, by religion, by self-proclaimed prophets such as Mohammed, Buddha, Joseph Smith.  These are all false beliefs.  Jesus is the ONLY truth and ONLY way to God, and therefore the ONLY life.   We can trust Him as our Savior because of whom He says He is.  He is the only person to have claimed He would rise from the dead – and He did just as He said!  We are looking forward to celebrating that on Resurrection Sunday.  And, He can make those claims of who He is because He showed Himself to be holy and without sin, powerful as our creator and in control of all, provides us our very substance, teaches the truth, heals our every infirmity – particularly our sinful heart, shepherds us and at the same time was the sacrificial lamb for our sin penalty. But most significant of all, He can be our Savior because God says He is and that He is the only way, only truth, and only life.
You are welcome to join us anytime at Sparks!    You can also check out the AWANA program at           www.fbc.littletonil.org.    
Mrs. Jennifer Schroeder, Mrs. Carol Sheley, Mrs. Barb Stein.