Romans and 2 Kings

Romans 14:11 connects well with this Sunday's (4/30) EKIDZ lesson from 2nd Kings 18 and 19.

The verse says...

“for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."”

The lesson title is God is glorified by protecting Judah. 

It is the story of the Hezekiah and Judah's battle against the Assyrians.  

The Assyrians mock God. 

The prophet Isaiah and King Hezekiah trust God. 

God wins the battle. 

The lesson book makes this connection:  "Years later, Sennacherib's (king of assyria) own sons assassinated him while he was worshipping his god (2 kings 19:37).  Where now is the boasting of Sennacherib and Rabshakeh?  It was silenced just like all those who set themselves against the Lord (Romans 14:11).

It is very similar to last week's lesson about Elijah and the prophets of Baal.

2 Kings 18:1-8

Judah worshiped idols and false gods.

 Second Kings 18:4 says they were worshiping "the bronze serpent that Moses had made."

2 Kings 18:28-35

The Assyrians threaten Judah.  

The Assyrians defy God. 

"Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”  2 Kings 18:35

2 Kings 19:32-34

God wins!!

2015-11-01 CM Preview from Faith Church on Vimeo.

Child/Teen Protection Update

At the April 9th IMPACT service, Pastor Duke talked about some updates to our Child/Teen Protection Policy.  HERE is a PDF of the policy. Here are some of those changes highlighted in bold with an explanation of the change in italics. Introduction:  Any changes to this policy will be submitted to the pastors, approved by the pastors and deacons and communicated to the church.

Changes to this Child/Teen Policy are made through the pastors and deacons, not constitution amendments. These changes will be communicated through the church website, bulletin announcements and other means. The policy by which changes were made was not clearly stated in the previous document and the nature of ministry requires leadership to make changes that best reflect changing ministry programs and facilities.

II.A.2.  Every staff member (paid or non-paid) who works with minor children or teens will have a background check every five years.

In the past, there was only an initial background check done on an applicant with yearly ministry affirmation forms. These yearly ministry checks will continue to happen with every fifth year's check including a formal background check. This change is meant to reflect the recommendation of other ministries and legal recommendations. 

III.A.1.B. & III.A.2.A.  Individuals may be asked to show their pick up receipt when entering or in the children’s ministry area.

Any adult in the EKIDZ area MAY BE ASKED by a safety team member or EKIDZ worker to show their child 's pick up receipt. Adults WILL NEED TO show their child pick up receipt to pick up their child from the classroom. 

III.A.2.B.  Changes to restroom practices to reflect changes in the building.

There were several policies modified to reflect the current EKIDZ wing. These policies in the previous document were written with the previous building layout in mind.

Standard Policy: Membership is required for Bible-teaching ministry at EBC. Issue 1. Special Exemption for non-Bible teaching ministries Non-members may serve in specific ministries such as UPWARD, Sonshine and other such ministries under the leadership of authorized Emmanuel members when the following conditions are met: 1.  An APPLICATION FOR PAID/NON-PAID MINISTRY has been received and the applicant has been approved for ministry. 2.  Background and Reference Checks for those who are not church members serving in non-Bible teaching roles need to be completed. Note: Service is limited to one year in the chosen ministry. Individuals may reapply for ministry in subsequent years.

The biggest change in this section is the addition of UPWARD to the wording.  UPWARD states it is "a community-based kids sports program most frequently hosted by a church.  Children and volunteers of any faith - or no faith - participate in Upward Sports."  At Emmanuel Baptist Church we make it a point to let everyone know that we do UPWARD as a ministry of our church for the glory of God.  All adult volunteers go through an application process and when they don't have a church home we make an effort to partner them with an Emmanuel Baptist Church member or make other accommodations. This section has always included SONSHINE to allow non-members to serve during our carnival and/or Bible school in specific, non-Bible teaching roles that are determined by the SONSHINE leadership team.  These include but are not limited to roles like puppets, snack helpers and technology personnel.  

He is Risen! And We Need to Share It with Others!!

He Is Risen!  He Is Risen Indeed!!!

This morning in our EKIDZ ministry we did a resurrection egg hunt.  

The younger ones are looking for eggs in their classrooms.

The older ones are looking for eggs in the 400 hallway and classrooms.

Now if you ask your 1st - 5th grader what we did in class this morning, we may get a copy of different responses...

Some might say "we did an Easter egg hunt."

Others might say "Nothing."

I want to let you know what we did and how you can use it to talk to your child/children.

First, we sang the same worship songs during the service.  Because of the expectation of more people this Sunday morning, we did not have the kids in the service during the singing, which is what we usually do.  

Second, we did the Easter egg hunt.  

Finally, we had our children's lesson and here is what we did during this time.

Foundational Truths (You can find more details about these truths in several different languages at www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl/whowillbeking/)

• God is sovereign, which means he is the king/boss.  He is a good king/boss.  He is the perfect, all-powerful, all-knowing, loving king/boss of the world.
• People are sinners, which means we want to be the king/boss.  We say "no" to him by not obeying Him as king/boss and we pretend to be our own king/boss.
• Jesus is the Savior, which means he is the only who can make our relationship with God right.  He is the only who did what was needed to take the wrath of God and

Specific Truths about Jesus, our Savior:

 

Here is a pdf of the picture cards that we sent home with the kids this morning:  lifeyourway.net/printables/easter-story-cards.pdf
Here is a pdf resource with all kinds of plans, invite cards/posters and other things to do a resurrection egg hunt in your neighborhood
www.familylife.com/~/media/Files/FamilyLife/PDFs/2015/Contact-ResEggsActivity.pdf

Check drodgersjr.blogspot.com tomorrow, Monday, to read why this has been an awesome Holy Week.  I was going to write about it this morning but I wanted to wait and see what God was going to do this Resurrection Sunday.

The Pastor Said What?

Tomorrow's sermon is from Romans 13;12 -14

12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

The sermon doesn't focus on verse 13 but it is part of the message.

Now, parents of 4th and 5th graders, I don't want you to freak out.  I want you to read these two personal stories about Josiah and me.  I genuinely believe God provided these two talking points to help me have TWO examples to share with you about talking with your child about sex.

Story One:

Earlier this week, Josiah is reading the book Shaken by Tim Tebow.  It is book about going through challenging times.  The book contains stories of many different people's struggles in life.  As Josiah was reading he came across the word "molested" and asked me what that means.  Josiah and I have already talked about fundamental character qualities and facts about puberty.

We talk about God's special design for sex between and husband and wife, not a mom and dad OR a man and woman.  What happened in the story from the book is that someone took this very special thing and corrupted it and used it in a way that was wrong and sinful.

Story Two:  

This morning Josiah and I went to The Daughter Project breakfast fundraiser.  On the way there we talked about what sex trafficking was.  Once again, we had already talked about sex at an appropriate level for him.  So my conversation about the Daughter Project and sex trafficking was basically this: 

Sex trafficking is when sinful people take what God has designed as a special thing between a husband and wife and twist it and use it for profit. 

If you haven't had the talk with your son or daughter yet, I would encourage you to check out the resources that have been posted on this blog related to The Talk.  Click HERE.

If you need some help talking to your kids about the text and specifically orgies and sexual immorality, think basics.  

The sermon text contrast light and darkness.  God's design and Man's sinfulness.

"Orgies and Drunkenness" are people's attempts to check out of the realities of life. 

"Sexual immorality and sensuality" are perversions (twistings) of what God made for human order and flourishing. 

I know when topics like these come it in church it is easy to think that we need to shield our kids from these words and topics.

But I always come back to the fact that I would RATHER have my kids hear these words and topics under my instruction or in the church building where they are talked about Biblically THAN hearing their friends or Hollywood telling my kids about these topics.  

On a Final Note:
For the IMPACT service tonight, we are going to have something for the kids up through 5th grade.  The biggest reason for this is because Pastor Duke is going to take a couple of minutes to talk through the child/teen protection policy.   While we believe the sermon on Sunday morning will help them pursue holiness, we also don't believe they need to be part of the update and potential discussion in the evening service.

This Sunday Night!! - 04.09.17

This Sunday night is our Monthly IMPACT service.
A part of the service will be an update on our Child/Teen Protection Policy.
We would love to have you there.

We are going to be offering a special Sunday Night time for the 1st through 5th graders also.

It is going to involve songs, games, Bible teaching, and Bible memory.

"Lord I Lift Your Name On High

1 Corinthians 15:3-4