Sermon For VBS (Sidekicks)
Title: Celebrating God’s Immeasurable Power.
Introduction
Over the past few days, we have seen how immeasurable the power of God is. What we are going to do now therefore, is to relearn what we already have learned. We will try to review the power of God.
God’s Unlimited Power (Exodus 13:17-14:31)
We have the Israelites running from the Egyptian army and they found themselves along the shores of the Re
d Sea. They know that many of them will die with the raid to recapture them. They were already grumbling against Moses.
But God allowed it to happen so that He can show His unlimited power. He made a dry land in the midst of the Red Sea allowing the people to pass through it. The Sea was opened and indeed enabled them to pass through it. Right before their eyes, they saw God’s unlimited power.
God’s Unfailing Power (Genesis 12:1-3; 17:1-8)
The story of Abram tells us to trust in God especially in times that we need Him and in obeying his words. God told Abram to go to a place that he didn’t knew. He is already living in a pretty big city called Ur. But the story tells us that God wants him to be the father of a nation.This is why later on, Abram was called Abraham which means that he will be a father of many nations.
Abraham’s willingness to obey affirms God’s unfailing power. Like Abraham, we should not doubt God. He always know what’s the best for us and He will never fail us. He has the power to guide us, where ever we go.
God’s Unshakable Power (John 15:12-14)
In the movie Spiderman 3, Harry Osborne was dedicated enough to kill Peter Parker thinking that it was him who killed his father. However, his mind changed when his faithful servant told him that it was not Peter Parker who killed his father. The truth was that, he accidentally killed himself.
When he knew this, he helped Peter Parker in his battle with the Sandman. He sacrificed himself to prevent Sandman hurting Spiderman.
In the Bible, John 15:12-13 says, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” A true friend is someone who loves us all the time (Proverbs 17:17).
We have to remember that friendship is a two-way street, in good times and in bad times. Our relationship with God is the same. It is also two-sided. We can depend on Him to always be there for us. But on the other side, He also expect us to obey him. John 14:15 says; “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Turning to God only in times of troubles is not being in good friends. Loving him really means obeying his commands all the time, even in times where we are in trouble.
As long as Jesus is the foundation of our friendship, our relationship with our earthly friends will not be shaken because God’s power cannot be shaken.
God’s Unconditional Power (Jonah 1-3)
The story of Jonah reminds us that God’s love to people is unconditional. God instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh to proclaim God’s word for the people to repent from their sins. In the story, instead of going to Nineveh, he boarded a ship going to Tarshish. Jonah don’t want to go to Nineveh because he knows that the people there were evil and are living in wicked ways.
Jonah tried to run away from God’s command. But while aboard the ship, there was a storm in the sea and the sailors now are trying save the ship by throwing away their cargos in the sea. Then they found out that Jonah was trying to run away from God. And so they threw Jonah in the sea and there he was swallowed by a huge fish.
At the belly of the big fish, Jonah prayed to God. The fish spit Jonah into dry land, and there he decided to follow God and went to Nineveh. As a result, the people of Nineveh repented to God, believed in God, and stopped doing evil ways.
Jonah then realized that the power of God is unconditional. He didn’t know whether or not, the people will be repenting. Like Jonah, we can never run away from God. We have to understand that we have to obey him first and not rebel against Him. We have to allow ourselves to be used by God.
God’s Unbeatable Power (Isaiah 7:14; 9:2)
In the Old Testament, there was prophet named Isaiah who was sent by the Lord. He speaks the message of destruction for the Israel because of their disobedience. In his book, many of the things that he predicted came true.
Isaiah’s greatest prediction however was about the birth of the Messiah (Isaiah 7:14). The Messiah will be of the virgin birth and that he will be called Immanuel, which means “God with us”.
We were all sinners as what Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And that’s the reason why God sent Jesus to us, to pay for the penalty of our sins. And we can take advantage for this gift by repentance from our sins and accepting our Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts, recognizing Him as the Savior of our souls, the giver of life.
John 1:12 says, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God.” Jesus has the power to save us from our sins.
If we already believed in Jesus Christ as our Savior, He wants us now to tell others about Him. Isaiah never planned to become a prophet of God. But God chose him to be his prophet and he allowed himself to be used by God. So all we have to do is to let ourselves be used by God to tell others about the unbeatable power of God, the power that can forgive sins.
Source: Director’s Manual of Sidekicks VBS.
