Ready Set Move (VBS Family Sunday)
Jason White

SERMON AUDIO

 

We are all on a journey to follow Jesus here, there, and everywhere (Hebrews 12:2). On this journey, we BELIEVE who Jesus is, DO what Jesus says, LOVE who Jesus loves, SHARE what Jesus did, and GO where Jesus leads.

 


 

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SERMON TRANSCRIPT

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All right, everybody say good morning pastor Baldo Good morning all my hairy headed little friends. Look at all that beautiful hair out there. I'm so jealous,man. All right, parents. It's okay. You can say it to say good morning, Pastor Baldo. Thank you Thank you see the first time I don't think very many of your parents were participating kids. And that's what today is all about you guys brought your parents to church today. And so look at your parents and say you got to participate. Now look at your other parent if somebody else has written and say you got to participate to. That's right, you guys have got to help me because listen, even though you guys were here all week, and I was here all week, and a lot of our amazing volunteers were here all week, your parents weren't here. So they didn't get to hear a lot of the great Bible stories and all of the things that we learned today. And so we're gonna make sure that they learn everything that you guys got to learn this week, and I am going to need your help to help teach them what it is that we learned Deal. Deal odd. Here we go. Everybody say ready, set, move at it. That's what it was all about was ready, set move. All week long. We have been learning about getting ready and set to move where it is that Jesus leads us on this journey of life. And so we're learning to trust him. That key verse that we used all week long was Hebrews 1112, verse two, and most of you guys even memorized it. And you could say it right? But let's all say it together. Because your parents weren't here say let us keep looking to Jesus say he is the one who started this journey of faith. And he is the one who completes the journey of faith. Hebrews 12 two this is what we have been talking about all week long learning to trust Jesus with where it is that he leads us on this journey of life. And so we're going to quickly just kind of recap what we learned each day of the week and put it all together because what we were learning come straight out of God's Word. And God's word is not just of course, for our kids, it's for us as adults. And so everything that they were learning applies to our lives as well. And so I hope that we all have our listening ears on and our hearts open to what Jesus wants to say to us through His Word this morning. Everybody say day one. On day one, we learned about how Jesus had 12 men who followed like, literally follow Jesus around everywhere for about three years. During his earthly ministry. Kids, what were those guys names? The 12 Watt, disciples, right? Everybody say disciples. And so all of these disciples follow Jesus around and they move wherever he would move, and they would follow him. And he he taught them and they got to watch him do miraculous amazing things. And there was this one time in scripture where we learned about how they followed him to a place called sesor. Ria Philippi. Everybody say Cecil, Rio Philippi. Now say it like this Saturday? Yeah. Philippi Yeah, I don't really know it. Just fun to say it that way, you know, right. And so they followed him to this place. And this really amazing moment happened while they were there. Jesus asked them a super important question. Does anybody remember what question he asked them? No one. Well, let's put it up on the screen. He asked them in Matthew 1613. Who do people say the Son of Man is now who's the Son of man? Jesus, right, Jesus, he was referring to himself. Basically, he was asking them, Hey, dudes, Who do people say that I am? Right, because they've all been watching him teach. They've all been watching him do these miracles. And so he's like, I know people are talking about me. What are they saying? Who do they say that I am? In in Matthew 1614. Here's what they said. Some say now turn to your neighbor on the left and say, John the Baptist, turn your neighbor on the right and say others say Elijah, turn around to someone behind you and say still others say Jeremiah. And then turn to someone in front of you and say, or one of the prophets. You Yeah, they're saying it could be any one of these things. These are all the things that people are saying about you, Jesus, and that's okay. But Jesus really wasn't concerned with when everybody else was saying about him, he was actually concerned with what they thought about him. And this was just leading them into making it more personal. So the very next verse, He flips it on them and says, But what about you? Everybody say, but what about you? Say Who do you say that I am? That's right. He asked them and guess who spoke up kids who spoke up. Peter, everybody say, Peter, Peter spoke up. And he said, what Matthew 1616, you are the Messiah. Everybody say, You're the Messiah. You are the Son of the living God say Jesus is the Son of the living God. So Peter, and the disciples believed this to be true about Jesus. They had watched him, they saw him up close, they knew what he was teaching, they saw the miracles that He did, they taught, they watched his character, and they're like, this dude doesn't ever do anything wrong, right. And so they knew that he was more than just a man, He was God in the flesh, he was Jesus's or he was God's Son. And this really is where it all starts. If we're going to follow Jesus, and you're going to follow Jesus, you have to believe who he is, you can't really go on a journey with Jesus, if you don't really believe who he said that he was. And that was our bottom line for the day. Everybody say, believe, who Jesus is. In it really is the starting place. Because the moment we believe the moment we put our faith and trust in Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, He comes to or he forgives us, first of all, and then he comes to live in us. So now he can actually be our guide in this life. And then he gives us strength for the journey that we go on with him. And he empowers us to carry out the things that he's going to be asking us to do. And so that is the first thing that we learned right off the bat, because that's where every thing starts. We've got to believe who Jesus is. Everybody say day one. Done. That's right. We're on day two already. Can you believe it? I asked if you could believe it. You're supposed to say no. Okay, thank you. My wife is participating. Thank you, honey, I love you so much. The rest of you not so much. Okay. Everybody say day two. All right, we learned about how Jesus taught some amazing truths to His disciples about the way he created them to live about the way he created us to live, the things that He created us to do. And what we really learned is that we can trust that Jesus's ways really are the best ways. He's the one who created us. He's the one who knows how he created us to live best, and the things that He created us to do. And so even when sometimes it doesn't make sense to us, or we get confused about these things, it may not seemed like the best thing for us, it's always gonna be the best thing for us. And he gave us a really super helpful way to kind of picture what it is that he was talking about. In Matthew chapter seven, verse 24, it says this, Jesus was teaching him and he said, Everyone who hears my words and puts them into practice is like a wise man. He builds his house on the rock, everybody say the rock, the rain comes down, the water rises, the winds blow and beat against the house, but it does not fall. It is built on the rock. He goes on in verse 26, and 27, though it says, But everyone who hears my words, and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man. He built his house on the sand, the rains come down, the water rises, the winds blow and beat against the house, and it falls with a loud crash. Right? So Jesus gives us this super, really helpful picture to think about. And so what we talked about on that day is how Jesus is teaching us is that when we follow Him, we're like a house that was built on the rock. And it looks pretty steady. And all the above got a good foundation there. But he said, if we don't listen to what he says, and do what he says and trust him with that, then we're like a house that's built on the sand. And that doesn't really look so stable, either. But Jesus was really trying to help us get this picture in our head of what happened. And we talked about on that day, how, man, it was just a real bummer that we were inside because it's kind of hard to feel the rain and see how these houses would hold up in the rain. It was kind of hard to feel the wind because we've got walls up and we couldn't really experience that. But we found a way around that didn't we kids? Didn't we kids? How did we find our way around that? Yeah, we found a way to create some rain, didn't we with one ofthese? And we said that whenever you do this, it really does feel like it's actually raining inside, right? I mean, doesn't it feels like that's rain. I mean, it kind of feels like it's raining in here, doesn't it? All right. I mean, it really y'all want some more? Okay, so I mean, sometimes there's a downpour and it really rains hard. I mean, you just, you can't control sometimes it's a mist. Sometimes it's a downpour. Right. So that was one thing. And the other thing we said the wind was a little bit hard. But we found a way around that too, didn't we? And so, you know, we could say it's getting kind of windy in here. I mean, we're storms that really blows like, I mean, it kind of feels windy, doesn't it? I mean, that feels like the wind. I mean, does that that film windy? I mean, that feels kind of windy. Right? So yeah, it's, it's it works. I mean, I mean, Jesus really wants us to feel these things. I mean, it's different. You just not only think about it, but when you picture it, and you begin to feel these things. And so I'm gonna need a couple of volunteers up here to help me here, right here. Okay, on the front row. And one of you two girls, both of y'all both y'all can come on up, it's fine. This thing, it may take both of you to hold this, I want both of you to come hold this over here like this, put it right there. All right, one of you get on this side, one of you get on this side, you're gonna hold it or you got it. It's kind of heavy. Now where's my water gun? Alright, so here's the water gun. You know how to use this. Pump it right here. So you're gonna come over here, and let's be from, let's put you in the back over here on this side. All right, so let's come right over here. And I want you to just start blasting that. I mean, it says that the rains came down. And I mean, this house is just getting pounded, and all of a sudden the winds begin to blow. So pull the trigger right here. Oh, my gosh, okay, stop. You destroyed my house. Why did you do that? Huh? I mean, I have to live in that. Okay. That was rude. Totally rude. Okay, no, it was part of the story. All right. And so Jesus said that it came down or the crash, I mean, all of this stuff. And if you can just picture that if we're living our lives, and we're not trusting Jesus's words, we're kind of opening our lives to destruction like this. There's consequences to those things. It's not God punishing us. It's just He created us to live a certain way and function best and he knows. And when we don't follow His ways, we open ourselves up to the consequences that come with not trusting him with those ways. But we sit over here and you guys can come over here. All right, and let's start blasting this house with some water and they start blowing it, that if you listen to what Jesus says, Go ahead, you can blow up. I mean, it's, it's pretty firm. And stop. You can stop. Good job, everybody. Give him a round of applause. It's amazing. Amazing. Ah, thank you very much. And this is like, you know, when we listen to Jesus's words, when we're trusting Him with our lives, then we're all built on a firm foundation. He is our rock. All right. And so this led us kind of into the bottom line for the day. So when we believe who Jesus is what we learned on the first day, then now we can actually for the bottom line, on the second day, do what Jesus says Everybody say, do what Jesus says. Now, you can't really do that if you don't follow what we learned on the first day, because Jesus says, apart from me, you can do nothing, right. We have to have him in our lives, to be able to have him as our guide, and then give us strength to carry out the things that he's asking us to do. But when we do believe in Jesus, then we can actually do what he says on this journey that we have everybody say day two. Done. Alright, day three, everybody say day three. We continue to follow disciples as they follow Jesus on this journey of life with him. And they followed him all the way to the cross. And we learned on that day how Peter did something that he said he would never do, even if everybody else did it around him. What did Peter do that day? Yeah, heard some of you guys say it, he denied Jesus. And he he did it two times, right. Know how many times three times right and then what happened after the third time? Yeah, let me hear your best rooster crow. That's pretty good. Or there's some might be some real live roosters in here. I don't know. I can't stop. Alright, so he felt really bad. I mean, Peter really felt bad when he denied Jesus. He had said he never would. And he did. And I mean, God's word tells us that he wept bitterly. I mean, he He was so saddened by this. But we learned on that day about this amazing moment that Peter and Jesus got to experience after Jesus died. And after he rose from the dead, he actually met them on the Sea of Galilee, when the disciples had been out all night long doing what kids? That's right. They were fishing, and they caught so many fish all night long, didn't they? No, they didn't catch any fish, did they? All right. But then Jesus is on the shore, and they didn't know it was Jesus. But then this guy calls out and says to do what? cast their nets on the right side of the boat. And they did and fin what happened? Yes, they got tons and tons and tons of fish. And then they knew it was who on the shore, Jesus. So they take off running to the shore, maybe Peter swimming, and all the above, and they finally get there. And they get to have breakfast with Jesus right there on the beach. amazing moment. But what we really learn is how Jesus and Peter had this really intimate moment together, because during that time, and John 2115, we hear Jesus or see Jesus saying, Simon, who was Peter, son of John, he says, Do you love me? And he says, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And then what did Jesus say Feed my sheep, Feed my lambs, right? And this happened two more times. Do you love me? And he goes, Yes, Lord, to know that I do. Do you love me? Yes, we already. And he said, We'll feed my sheep. And so on that day, we learned that this was Jesus's way of telling Peter what, that he still love to him. He wasn't mad at him, he wasn't upset with him, he had forgiven him, and he was actually going to use him as part of His kingdom work. Now, just because he had messed up didn't mean that he was going to have to go sit on the sidelines, and you can't participate anymore. He said, I have a special mission for you. I want you to care for those who were now part of going to be part of my church. And that kind of led us into seeing Jesus love Peter, the way that he did in that moment led us to our bottom line for that day. And that was everybody say, Love who Jesus loves. Right? So when we believe who Jesus is, he comes to live in us. And He empowers us to do what he says. And he also gives us strength and power to love who Jesus loves. And I mean, thank goodness, that's only some people. And there's just a few people out there that we have to love, right? No way because Jesus loves who? Every one. Everybody say everyone. All right. And so sometimes it's not always easy to love every one. But with Jesus in our lives, he can help us to love those who he loves. All right, everybody say day three. Done. Yeah, we only have two more days to go. Everybody say day four. So day four, we continue to follow the disciples as they follow Jesus after He had been raised from the dead, he continued to appear from before them. And we read about this one time where he met with him just before He ascended back to heaven. And he basically told them, that he had this super special mission for them that he was going to tell them that he wanted to go tell, he wanted them to go tell everybody about Jesus about him, here, there. And everywhere. He said, You're gonna be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria, and all the way to the ends of the earth. Right. And so this was his special mission for them. But he didn't say to go out and do it right away. He actually told them to do what? Wait, everybody say, Wait. Say I don't like to wait. I said to say I don't like to wait. And you are not participating.That's fine. Somebody else want to come up here and do it. I'm just kidding. Just kidding. Alright, so much grace. So he says to wait, so guess what the disciples do? They wait right? And he told them to wait for the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter one, verses four and five. He says, wait for the gift. My father promised you have heard me talk about it. John the Baptist baptize with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Everybody say Holy Spirit. Alright, so they waited until God sent the Holy Spirit and this was on the day of Pentecost, and they were all together. And all of a sudden there was all this commotion and these different things happening and people were wondering what was going on. And then someone stood up who who stood up again in this moment. Peter, the same guy we've been talking about over and over again the same guy that said You're the Messiah, you're the Christ, the Son of the living God, the St. Peter who denied Jesus three times the same one that Jesus forgave and said, You and I are good and gave a special mission to, and he stands up. And here's just a little bit remember of what it was that he said to them. He said, fellow Israelites, listen to this. Jesus of Nazareth was a man who had God's approval. God did miracles, wonders, and signs, everybody say miracles, wonders and signs. He did all of those among you through Jesus. He said, you yourselves know this long ago, God plan that Jesus would be handed over to you. And with the help of evil people. He said, You put Jesus to death. You nailed him to the cross, but God raised Him from the dead. And so he says, God raised the same Jesus back to life. We're all witnesses of it. So he says, Be sure of this. All you people of Israel, you nailed Jesus to the cross. But God has made Him both Lord and Messiah. And when Peter finished this amazing speech in front of them, all of the people felt what? Broken they felt sad, didn't they? They were like, oh, no, we did nail Jesus to the cross. We missed who it was that he was. And so in Acts, chapter two, verse 37, we hear that they say, brothers, what should we do? Like, we've come to realize that we've made a mistake. And Peter tells them this. He said, All of you must repent, which means to turn to Jesus and believe in Him and be baptized. He says, In the name of Jesus Christ, and then your sins will be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And so on that day, how many people believed in Jesus and were baptized? They invited remember 3000? If I say, 3000, oh my gosh, 3000 people, can you imagine how long we would be here to baptize 3000 people. But that would be amazing, right? And so 3000 people were baptized, and they believed in Jesus. And it was amazing. But it really wasn't Peter doing it. It was Jesus doing it in and through Peter, because what had happened, they believed in Jesus, he now sent the Holy Spirit. And so the Holy Spirit was in Peter, he wasn't just following like physical Jesus around and watching him and doing whatever he was like, Now Jesus lives in me. And he's guiding me on what to say. And he's given me strength in this moment to tell all of these people and open up their hearts and minds to receive me. And all of those people did that. And so what we learned that day, and our bottom line was that, basically, Peter stood up and shared what Jesus had done for them. And when we follow Jesus, that's how he's going to lead us to, to share what Jesus did everybody say, share what Jesus did. And so when you and I believe in Jesus, and he comes to live with us, He becomes our guide, and gives us strength to be able to do what he says, to be able to love who he loves. And also as he leads us to share with those who don't know him what it is that he has done, everybody say day four, done. Alright, day five, this is our last day everybody say day five. I and this is the first time that we actually began to talk about someone other than one of the 12 disciples and we said it was another guy whose name also starts with the P. Anybody remember? Paul, right? It was Paul. Everybody say, Paul. I am Paul was a guy who didn't follow Jesus. At first, he really did not like Jesus. He didn't believe in who Jesus was. He did bad things to followers of Jesus. And then all of a sudden, his life was transformed and changed how, what happened to Paul? He believed in Jesus eventually, but he I heard somebody else say it over here. He was blinded by the light, Jesus got his attention, and he really became blind. And then he heard Jesus talking to him. And then eventually he learned that he had a special mission for him after he came to believe in Him. As a matter of fact, in Acts chapter nine, verse 15, when Jesus was talking to a guy named Anand is everybody say, Anna NYAS. And he was talking to him about helping Paul out, he told him that this man is my chosen instrument, everybody say, instrument. This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim My name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. And so this is exactly what Paul did. Wherever Paul went, he began to tell other people and share with them about what Jesus had done for them what he had done in his own life and how he changed His own life dramatically. And there were so many people who came to believe in Jesus and new churches were planted. And we still have a lot of the letters that Paul wrote to those churches, even in our Bibles today. And it all happened because Paul was willing to go wherever Jesus was leading him, which led us to our bottom line for that day, which was this, everybody say, go where Jesus leads. So if we're going to follow Jesus, and we trust him, he's going to lead us to go and go share with other people and do what it is that he says. And we said, sometimes, that even may be like the apostle Paul, he may send us to a faraway country where there's some people who haven't ever heard about Jesus there to share what he did for them. But other times, it might be that he just leads us to go right across the street, to our neighbor's houses, or to someone at the lunch table, or someone at the school we go to, or the camps we go to this summer, to share with them about what Jesus did. And to love them the way that he leads us to love as well. The important thing is to just be looking for where Jesus is leading you. And when he tells you to go to trust him and go because you don't have to do that alone. Jesus is going to be with you. And he's going to give you strength to go wherever it is that he's asking you to go. Alright, everybody say day five, done. Let's recap really quickly. Day one, everybody say believe who Jesus is. Day two, everybody say do what Jesus says. Day three, everybody say love, who Jesus loves. Day four about I say, share what Jesus did. Day five, I say go where Jesus leads. So this is what your kids and your grandkids learned all week. And as you can see, this doesn't just apply to your kids. This applies to each and every single one of us. We each are responsible for coming to believe who Jesus said that He ultimately was, apart from Him, we can do nothing. And it all starts there. And when we enter into that relationship, and we begin this journey with Jesus, it applies to all of us to do what it is that he says to love the people that he loves to share with others, what it is that he did for them and to go wherever it is that he will lead us. And so my hope and my prayer is that all of us, not just our kids will be open, to getting ready, and to get set and to move. However, Jesus is going to lead us to go and do all of these things that we talked about today. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you for coming here. Thank you for teaching us. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being willing to die for us. Lord Jesus, we are so grateful for your love and your mercy. And as we enter into this journey with you by believing in you, we pray that you will work in us and through us to be able to do what you say to do. Lead us to love others this week. Show us right now put it in our mind who you want us to share. What you did with is maybe a family member. Maybe it's a neighbor, maybe it's a friend or a co worker or our boss or someone else but we're open to you, leading us and showing us who you want us to share you with this week. We're open to where you want us to go. Lead us and give us strength to be able to do what you're asking us to do in Jesus name. And everybody says a man