Bon air United Methodist Youth Page
Sparta TN 38583
A Story of Samson for kids...
They forgot about God. They forgot about doing what pleases him. They didn't want God to rule over them, and so God sent the Philistines to rule over them instead.
The Philistines made their lives miserable.
It wasn't that God didn't love his people. They needed to know what life would be like without him.
40 years went by.
And then one day, a woman was out working in the fields. She had her back to the hot sun when someone came up and touched her on the shoulder.
Maybe it was the bright sunshine, or maybe it was something else entirely, but when she looked up, she saw a man so full of light, he frightened her!
"Do not be afraid!" the man said. "I have come with good news. You are going to have a son!"
Well, this was BIG news! The woman had never been able to have children.
"You must not drink any wine, or strong drink," the man continued, "and when your son is born, you must never cut his hair. He is going to be a Nazirite, a person set apart for God. He is going to save your people from the power of the Philistines."
Now, never getting a haircut seems like an odd thing to command, but her son was going to be dedicated to God. You always give your best to God. Back in those days, the people would choose a sheep from their flocks to offer as a gift to God. It was always the best of the flock, without any spots or anything wrong with it at all. It was as perfect as perfect could be. Maybe by never cutting her son's hair, he would be like one of those lambs, as perfect as the day he was born.
Well, anyway, this sort of thing - mysterious strangers appearing with news from God - doesn't happen every day, so the woman ran to tell her husband, a man named Manoah.
"A man came to me today - and I think he was an angel!" she said. "He didn't tell me his name, or where he was from, but he said we are going to have a son!"
Then Manoah prayed, "Please God, send this man back to us to tell us what to do!"
The next day, the woman was out in the fields again, sitting in the bright sunshine. She looked up - and there was the man again!
She ran to tell her husband. "The man is back!"
Manoah ran out to the fields, and there was the man standing there. He WAS frightening to see!
"Are you the man who told my wife we are going to have a son?" Manoah asked.
"I am," said the man.
"What should we do?" Manoah asked.
"You must do just as I told her. Your wife must not drink any wine or strong drink, and when your son is born, you must not touch a hair of his head."
And then Manoah said, "Please sir, don't go. Let us cook you a young goat for dinner."
"You may prepare a goat if you wish, but burn it as an offering to God."
"What is your name?" Manoah asked the man.
"I cannot tell you. It is a name of wonder!"
So Manoah did as the man said, and he burnt a goat as an offering to God, the "God of Wonders."
And then an amazing thing happened.
The man stepped into the fire that was rising up from the altar - and went up into heaven in the flames!
Manoah and his wife really HAD been talking to an angel!
found the story at: http://www.essex1.com/pages/paul/bible42.html
Youth Devotional
Bible Reading: Matthew 25:31-46
Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Matthew 25:34
BELINDA CARLISLE topped the charts a few years ago with the hit song, “Heaven Is a Place on Earth.” Nice song. Nasty theology.
You overhear a girl on a bus talking to the guy beside her. “You know what I think?” she says. “I think heaven is what you make it. I think it’s a state of mind.”
You may also have heard the flip side. “Listen,” says the dude in the donut shop, “No hell can be worse than what I have already been through.”
It’s true that some human experiences can be such a riot that you can’t imagine anything better or higher. It’s also true that some experiences are so tormenting that you wonder how hell could be any hotter. But the Bible teaches that a real heaven and a real hell exist.
Jesus told his followers he was going to prepare a place for them (see John 14:2). The apostle John provides some details about heaven, describing it as a place in the presence of God where there will be no more death or tears or pain (see Revelation 21:4). It’s a place where God’s people will serve him, be in his presence, and reign with him forever (see Revelation 22:3-5).
God’s Word is just as clear that the future holds punishment for evildoers in a place we dub hell (see Matthew 25:41). John also describes in Revelation the punishment waiting the ungodly (21 :8). The Bible says a whole lot about the subject of hell, addressing the subject over and over in utterly severe terms, like a truck without brakes on a steep hill blasting its horn to warn of a danger that can’t be stopped.
Unfortunately, not enough people heed the Bible’s warnings of hell or its promise of heaven. But like the writer of Hebrews says, “We must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. The message God delivered through angels has always proved true, and the people were punished for every violation of the law and every act of disobedience. What makes us think that we can escape if we are indifferent to this great salvation that was announced by the Lord Jesus himself?” (Hebrews 2:1-3).
If you have trusted Christ, your future is heavenly-and will be in a totally real place where you will enjoy God’s presence forever. For those who refuse Christ, the future will be just as sure-but in a totally real place where God will be absent forever.
REFLECT: Doesn’t the Bible give enough reasons to pray and share Christ now so others may also find their home in heaven? What do you think?
PRAY: Pray for your friends who don’t believe in heaven-or hell.
Daily youth Devotional is from www.josh.org
Today's Family Devotional
THE ROAD TO GLADNESS
PEOPLE WHO LOVE WHAT’S GOOD AND HATE WHAT’S WRONG TEND TO BE MORE SATISFIED WITH LIFE.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Psalm 45:1-7.
Verse of the Day: “You love what is good and hate what is wrong. Therefore God, your God, has given you more gladness than anyone else” (Psalm 45:7, TLB).
Dad pointed out the car window to the high fences and stone towers of the prison they were passing on their way to a farm auction miles away from their home in the city.
“Look,” he told his daughters, Pam and Stephanie, who sat in the back seat.
“What’s that?” Pam asked.
“It’s a prison,” Stephanie answered her younger sister’s question, the tone of her voice implying, Don’t you know anything?
The sight of the prison made Dad think of something. “Hey, girls,” he said, “who do you think has more fun in life: people who love God and try to do right, or people who like to do wrong?”
“That’s easy,” Stephanie said, still gazing at the high prison fence topped with razor wire. “People who like to do right.”
“Why?” Dad asked.
“Because they don’t have to go to prison,” Stephanie answered.
“What about people who don’t get caught doing wrong? They don’t go to prison. Do you think they’re happier than people who do right?”
Stephanie thought about that. “I guess so,” she said, although she hated to admit it.
“Uh-uh,” Pam disagreed. She thought of a boy in her class at school. “Jimmy Masters is always doing bad things, and he gets away with it all the time.”
“Do you think that makes him happy?” Dad asked.
Pam shook her head vigorously, causing her ponytail to flap back and forth behind her head. “He’s never happy. He doesn’t like anybody, and nobody likes him.”
“Do you think he’d be happier if he tried doing right?” Dad asked.
“Maybe,” Pam answered with a cheerful shrug. “He wouldn’t be so mean all the time, and he might make friends with someone.”
Dad smiled. “You know what, Pammy? I think you’re right. I think that’s one of the reasons God wants us to do right. People who love what’s good and hate what’s wrong tend to be happier and more satisfied, because they experience the blessings that come from doing good-the way God intended in the first place.”
TO DISCUSS: Who do you think has more fun and happiness in life: people who love God and try to do right, or people who like to do wrong? Explain your answer.
TO PRAY: “Lord, we want to love what is good and hate what is wrong. That way, we’ll experience the satisfaction that you promise.”
We had a guess speaker at our curch on May 24,2015. Her name is Debbie Haston and she is a friend of our pastor. She had a wonderful message for us and I'm going to put some of the highlights of her message on her for everyone to enjoy.
It was based off of the story of The Children of Gad and Reuben. From Numbers 33 in the bible. They were so close to the promise land but setting because they where tired and decided that where they were was good enough for them.
The Lord always has a plan for you and a Prosper even though it can be hard to see sometimes. There is HOPE and God will not harm. You must move forward.
People are like cows in that they will travel to the gate but then will stop because they dont know what they will find on the other side. What they have is good enough.
REMEMBER: Nobody can go back and start a new beginning...BUT you can start on a new ending.
God will give you all of his goodness. But when you fail from time to time as we all do. We all grow tired or scaried God still loves us and will cast it into the sea of forgetfulness.
OUR LORD HAS SOMETHING JUST FOR YOU <3
YouVersion Bible App
This is an awesome app for everyday bible reading. It has daily reading, verse of the day and my favorite. Plans so you can read daily on one topic (ex:UNCOMMON Role Models)
I have completed 4 plans this month and working on 2. Its so easy to keep on track with this app. I have it on my phone and tablets so I can read it anywhere.
Verse of the day:
Ephesians 4:1-3 KJV
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthly of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one...