Sparks Highlights 1.27.16

****Sparks Highlights****   The last two weeks we have learned of the salvation people had as the obeyed God. Their salvation did not come from their obedience, but that God showed Himself great to save them from certain death in a fiery furnace and at the mouths of lions.  Tonight, we studied someone who didn’t obey God right away – in fact he ran the opposite direction of where God wanted him to go.  Jonah was given a task directly by God and Jonah chose not to obey.  He ended up in the belly of a big fish, and it was there that he repented of his sin. God again showed His greatness and mercy in that Jonah was saved from certain death.  Read about it in the book of Jonah and ask your Sparkie how Jonah got swallowed by the big fish.  Even though we sin, God shows us His greatness and mercy in that when we repent of our sin, he forgives us and saves us from the penalty of our sin which is death.

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. Barb Stein.

Sparks Highlights 1.20.16

****Sparks Highlights****   Last time in Sparks, we learned about the three Hebrew friends that God saved from the fiery furnace – how about being saved from the mouths of hungry lions?!  Again, a Hebrew young man by the name of Daniel obeyed God.  There was a law in the land that no one could bow or pray to anyone but King Darius.    Daniel knew he was to pray only to God, so he continued to do so.    The Bible describes that he purposed in his heart to obey.  When you purpose in your heart to do something, it means you put that ideal above all else, no matter what the cost.  That is exactly what Daniel purposed – to obey God.  And when he was found out that he was obeying God rather than King Darius, by punishment of that law, he was thrown into the lions’ den.  God shut the mouths of the lions and Daniel was unharmed.  God again was able to prove Himself – obey and trust Him, and He will save.  He will save and show that he is mighty and powerful.  Read about this other exciting story of God’s salvation of His people in Daniel Chapter 6! 

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. Barb Stein.

Sparks Highlights 10-28

   Despite knowing that God was taking care of every need – the miraculous  exit from Egypt, parting the Red Sea, providing food and water in the desert, the nation of Israel still didn’t trust God and they disobeyed.  God promised them a land flowing with milk and honey in the Promised Land – where He was leading them.  In that promised land, though, lived other people that would need to be conquered by the Israelites.   They sent out 12 spies and ten out of the twelve were fearful and persuaded the people to be fearful.  Only two of the spies (Joshua and Caleb) trusted God, knowing that God would provide their victory.  Because of the people’s disobedience, God said that none of them would enter the Promised Land, but only Joshua and Caleb with the children of those that disobeyed – the rest would wander around the wilderness for forty years and die there.   When that forty years had passed, Joshua was given the command to lead them.  By obedience to God, the Israelites then were able to enter the enemies’ territories and have many victories, but when they disobeyed, God did not allow the victories.   Tonight we learned about one of the amazing victories they had by conquering the city of Jericho – the victory was not by strength or might, but by pure obedience to God.  Ask your Sparkie why we made horns tonight!  The Hebrew name Joshua means “God saves or God rescues, or God is salvation” in which Joshua is another figure in the Old Testament who is a picture of Jesus Christ and His salvation for us.  As we work our way through the Old Testament, we continue to see how God saves His people and He continues to save us today. You can read about this in the book of Joshua in the Old Testament.  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. Barb Stein.

Sparks Highlights 9.23.15

  Again, after the flood, the people on the earth began to sin and do what was right in their own eyes.  Yet, again, one man named Abraham and his wife Sarah, were found to be faithful to God.  God promised great things to Abraham as he was obedient to God – including the fact that Abraham would be the father of a great nation.  This would seem impossible because Abraham and Sarah were very old without any children.  God fulfilled that promise in the birth of Isaac.  When Isaac was young, as a test of Abraham’s faith, God told Abraham to sacrifice his own son.  This seemed so improbable to Abraham, because after all, he was old and God promised him to be a great nation.   Out of great faith and obedience to God, though, Abraham obeyed.  He believed God’s promise to him even though the situation seemed improbable.  He took his son to the place God commanded and began to prepare Isaac as a sacrifice.  How puzzling it must have been to Isaac, but Isaac trusted his father and was obedient – obedient to the point of understanding his own father would sacrifice him.  He did not struggle, but obeyed even unto the point of death.  When God saw Abraham’s obedience, God halted the sacrifice and provided a substitute for Isaac. A ram was caught in the thicket and Abraham sacrificed the ram in place of Isaac, a substitute  – so Isaac wouldn’t have to die.  God provides us today the substitute for our own eternal death – that in his own Son Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ willingly laid down his life on the alter as a sacrifice for our sins.  The Bible states, like Isaac, he didn’t struggle – he willingly layed down.  Jesus Christ was like the ram who died in Isaac’s place.  Jesus Christ died for our sins so we wouldn’t have to.  He didn’t stay dead, as the ram stayed dead, because He conquered the power of death when He rose from the grave.  In order to enjoy that freedom from eternal death, we must have faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins and be obedient to God, trying to live for Him by being repentant of our sins and turning away from them.  This can be found recorded in Genesis 17-21.  Tonight their decorated photo albums are to remind them of how God is faithful to all generations.  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. Barb Stein.

Sparks Highlights 9.16.15

  After Adam and Eve’s disobedience, and thus the first sin, things to continued to get much, much worse. In fact, their own son Cain murdered his brother Abel and sin continued to be passed down through all the generations thereafter.  Genesis 6:5 says “then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth…”  That sounds a lot like our world today.  Genesis goes on to say that God was sorry that he made man on the earth and that He was grieved in His heart.  Sin grieves God’s heart – it did then and does today.  God purposed to destroy all creation – with a flood, but Genesis says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  God made a way to save Noah and his family from that destruction and death.  He instructed him to build an ark for his family, two of every kind of animal and for any man that would turn from his sin and have faith by stepping in the ark for salvation from the flood.  No other man made that repentance and so every living creature outside of the ark when the flood waters came was destroyed.  Noah and his family were saved from death because of their faith and obedience to God.  You see, the ark and the salvation that it gave to the living creatures inside is a picture of Jesus Christ and the salvation He provides us from the destruction and death from our sins.  Turning to Jesus and turning from your sinful ways and putting full faith in Him will save you from the destruction and death of your sins.  After the flood, God made a promise – covenant – with Noah that He would never again destroy the earth with flood waters.  He did that with the sign of a rainbow which we can still see in these days.  Let your Sparkie tell you all about this.  You can read of this in Genesis chapters 5-9.  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. Barb Stein.