Introduction
I’m sad to
say that I won’t be posting a lesson again until April 10th as I am
leaving shortly on a mission trip to Mexico. However, I don’t want to leave you
without some instruction while I’m gone especially considering we will be
celebrating Easter while I’m gone. Part of our missions objective in Mexico is
sharing the Gospel with those who are yet unbelievers. As you know, this is
also the official Mission of this ministry everywhere around the world. I have
often asked you to share the link to my lessons with as many people as possible
and many of you have faithfully done so. Thank you! Let me remind you again
that this ministry does not solicit or accept financial donations to avoid even
the lightest suspicion of any conflict of interest. Therefore, you are free to
share the link to my lessons without fear that I might have some kind of ulterior
motive—you can be assured that there is nothing in it for me.
Easter is
the grand story of God providing the means for humanity to be reconciled to
Him. Sin has caused us to be relationally separated from God. The most important
thing for all of humanity is the means to restore that relationship with God. Therefore,
God sent Jesus Christ to die on a cross and rise from the dead to make the path
of reconciliation with God a reality. However, when we speak of the “Gospel,”
it is much more than just the Easter story even as the Easter story is the
central focus of the Gospel message. Nevertheless, the “Gospel” in its entirety
is so much more. However, we have a difficult time sharing the Gospel because
we don’t always know where to start. Therefore, I have provided the gospel
message below thinly veiled in the form of a children’s story that you can
share. I have also provided the Gospel message straight from the Scriptures if
you would prefer to share that.
Because I Love You
Long ago in
a land far away and unlike any you’ve ever seen, there lived a wise man named
Shaddai. Shaddai was a large man with a tender heart. He had bright blue eyes
and a long thick beard. When he laughed, which is something he did often, his
cheeks would lift until his eyes became half-moons of joy.
When he
sang, which is something else he did often, everything stopped to listen. Tall
aspens would bend. Squirrels, butterflies, and birds would pause. Even the
children would turn when they heard his voice. And well they should. It was for
them he sang.
And for the
children, Shaddai had built a wonderful village. It was more than any child
could dream. The children plunged into the sky-blue pond. They squealed as they
soared high on the swings hung from the apple tree branches. They scampered
through the meadows and giggled in the orchards. The sun never seemed to set
too early, and the cool night sky always brought a quiet peace. And, most of
all, Shaddai was always near.
When
Shaddai wasn’t in the meadow with the children or in the orchards with the
children, he was in the workshop—with the children. They loved to be with him
while he worked. They loved to smell the sawdust, hear him sing, and watch him
carve a chair out of a log or make a table out of a tree. They would gather
around him and take turns pressing their tiny hands flat against his great big
one.
Every night
he would gather the children on the grassy meadow and tell them stories. Fascinated,
the children would listen as long as Shaddai—or their weary eyes—allowed.
The
children loved Shaddai. And Shaddai loved the children. He knew each one by
name, and he knew everything about them. He knew Daphne was friendly and
Spencer was shy. He knew Paladin was curious. When one of them called his name,
he dropped whatever he was doing and turned. His giant heart had a hundred
strings—each held by a different child. And Shaddai loved each one the same.
That’s why
he built the wall.
The wall
was a high stone fence surrounding the village. Shaddai had built it, rock upon
rock. The wall was so tall it stood high above Shaddai. Even if he stretched
his arms as high as he could, he still couldn’t touch the top of the wall. He
spent days building it. And as he built, he did not sing.
A deadly
forest stood outside the village. As Shaddai built the fence, he would often
pause and look into the dark forest. It was no place for the children Shaddai
loved.
“Beyond the
wall is danger,” he would tell the children in solemn tones. “You were made for
my village, not for the terrible land beyond. Stay with me. It’s safe here.”
But in his
heart he knew it was only a matter of time.
The day he
placed the final stone on the wall, he returned to his shop, took a long aspen
branch, sat down at his bench, and carved a staff. Shaddai stood the staff in a
corner. “I’ll be ready,” he told himself.
Sometime
later a boy ran into Shaddai’s workshop. The sandy-haired child with searching
eyes and restless energy brought the Maker both joy and concern.
“Shaddai!”
In one
motion the Maker dropped his hammer and turned. “What is it, Paladin?”
The boy
spoke in spurts as he gasped for air. “The wall…I found a…hole. It’s a big
opening, sir.” The boy’s hands stretched to show the size. “Someone could crawl
through it.”
Shaddai
pulled over a stool and sat down. “I knew it would be you, Paladin, my child. Tell
me, how did you find it?”
“I was
walking along the wall searching for—”
“Holes?”
Paladin
paused, surprised that Shaddai knew. “Yes, I was looking for holes.”
“So you
could see out into the forest?”
“I was
curious, Shaddai. I wanted to know why you won’t let us go out there. Why is it
so bad?”
Shaddai
motioned for the boy to come to him. When Paladin came near, the Maker cupped
the small face in his hands and lifted it so the boy would look directly into
his eyes. The urgency of the look caused Paladin’s stomach to feel empty.
“Paladin,
listen to me. The lands out there are not for you. They are not for me. A
journey into the forest will hurt you. You were not made for those lands. Let
your feet carry you to the many places you can go—not to the one place you can’t.
If you leave here, you will not find the way back.”
Paladin
spoke softly. “You will fix the hole then?”
“No,
Paladin, I created the hole because I love you so much.”
“But you
just said you don’t want us to leave.”
“I don’t
want you to leave. I want you to stay with me, but I did make the opening when
I built the wall.”
“But if you
don’t fix it,” said Paladin, “the children might leave.”
“I know,
Paladin. But I want the children to stay because they want to, not because they have
to.
Paladin
didn’t understand. Uncomfortable, he turned to leave. He needed to think about
Shaddai had said. As he entered the sunlight, he looked back into the shop. There
sat Shaddai, leaning backward, still watching.
Paladin,
was confused. Part of him wanted the safety of Shaddai’s shop, while another
part drew him toward the fence. He looked again into the shop. Shaddai was
standing now—not moving, but standing. His large hand stretched out to the boy.
Paladin
turned quickly away, as if he hadn’t seen. He walked fast as he could,
aimlessly at first, then purposely toward the fence.
“I won’t
get too near,” he said to himself. “I’ll just peek out.”
Questions
came as quickly as his steps. Why do I
want to do what Shaddai doesn’t want me to do? Why am I so curious? Is it so
wrong to want to see beyond the fence?
By now Paladin was at the hole. Without stopping to think,
he lay on his stomach and squirmed through just far enough to stick his head
out the other side.
“I’ll just
take a quick look,” he told himself. “What could be wrong with that? Shaddai
said he made the hole because he loved us. I wonder what he’s keeping from me?”
As if his
knees were moving on their own, Paladin crawled farther. Soon he was through
the hole and on the outside of the wall. He rose slowly to his feet. For
several moments he didn’t move. He wondered if something would come out of the
trees to hurt him. Nothing did. He relaxed his shoulders and sighed. “Hmmm…It’s
not so bad,” he said aloud. “It’s nice out here. What was Shaddai worried
about?”
Paladin
began walking into the forest. Twigs snapped beneath his bare feet. Sweet
flowers scented the air. I don’t see any
scary creatures, he thought. The trees were so thick he could barely see
the sky. “Just a few steps into the woods,” he said aloud, “to see what it’s
like.”
After a
dozen more steps, he stopped. He liked the wilderness. “Nothing to fear here.” For
the first time in his young life, he believed that Shaddai was wrong. “Just
wait until I tell the others.” And he turned to go back through the hole.
But the
hole was gone!
He stopped
and starred. He saw only a solid wall. Paladin ran to the wall. Was this the
spot where he crawled through? Or was it somewhere else? He couldn’t remember.
He ran a dozen steps one way and then a dozen steps the other. Nothing.
Suddenly he
heard a strange sound in the woods behind him. He swung around, but he saw
nothing. Paladin looked into the forest. Now it no longer seemed friendly. It
was dark and threatening, as if it were about the destroy him.
Desperately,
Paladin searched the wall. He couldn’t climb over; he could break through. There
was no way home.
“If you
leave here, you will not find the way back.” Shaddai’s words rang in his mind.
The boy’s
eyes were wide with fear. He sat on the ground and hugged his knees to his
chest and began to cry.
As Paladin
huddled there, lonely and afraid, he remembered something else Shaddai had
often said. “I love you so much.” Does he
love me enough to come and find me? wondered the boy. Will he hear me if I call to him?
“Shaddai,
Shaddai! I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you! Please, come help me.”
Paladin’s
plea had been heard by the one who loved him, even before it was spoken. For as
the boy left Shaddai’s workshop, the Maker had watched him as long as he could.
When Paladin was out of sight, Shaddai turned, not to take up his work but
removed his apron. He hung his tools on the wall. Then he reached into the
corner and took the staff, the one he’d carved after he finished the wall.
Even before Paladin had reached the
wall, Shaddai had left the shop. Even before Paladin had asked for help,
Shaddai was on the way to give it. Even before the hole in the wall had closed,
Shaddai opened another. His strong hands pulled away the rocks until he could
see into the forest.
With his
staff at his side, Shaddai crawled through the hole. He left the village he’d
made and set out in search of his child.[1]
Stephen and the Sanhedrin
Acts 7:2-53
2To this he replied: “Brothers
and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham
while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3‘Leave
your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’
4“So
he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his
father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5He
gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But
God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land,
even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6God
spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be
strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. 7But
I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they
will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’ 8Then
he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of
Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the
father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
9“Because
the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But
God was with him 10and
rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to
gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over
Egypt and all his palace.
11“Then
a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our
ancestors could not find food. 12When Jacob heard that there was
grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13On
their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned
about Joseph’s family. 14After
this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in
all. 15Then
Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16Their bodies were brought back
to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of
Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
17“As
the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our
people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18Then ‘a new king, to whom
Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’ 19He dealt treacherously with our
people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn
babies so that they would die.
20“At
that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was
cared for by his family. 21When
he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her
own son. 22Moses
was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and
action.
23“When
Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24He
saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and
avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25Moses thought that his own
people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26The
next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to
reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each
other?’
27“But
the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made
you ruler and judge over us? 28Are you thinking of killing me
as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29When Moses heard this, he fled
to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
30“After
forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning
bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31When he saw this, he was amazed
at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: 32‘I
am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses
trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
33“Then
the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are
standing is holy ground. 34I
have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their
groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to
Egypt.’ 35“This
is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and
judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the
angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36He led them out of Egypt and
performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the
wilderness.
37“This
is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like
me from your own people.’ 38He
was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount
Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.
39“But
our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their
hearts turned back to Egypt. 40They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods
who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we
don’t know what has happened to him!’ 41That was the time they made an
idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what
their own hands had made. 42But
God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon
and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
“ ‘Did you bring me sacrifices and
offerings
forty years in the wilderness,
people of Israel?
43You have taken up the
tabernacle of Molek
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into
exile’ beyond Babylon.
44“Our
ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness.
It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45After
receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when
they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in
the land until the time of David, 46who enjoyed God’s favor and
asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47But
it was Solomon who built a house for him.
48“However, the Most High does
not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
49“ ‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build
for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
Has not my hand made all these
things?’
51“You stiff-necked people! Your
hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You
always resist the Holy Spirit! 52Was there ever a prophet your
ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of
the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him—53you
who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed
it.”
Peter and the Crowd
Acts 2:22-39
22“Fellow Israelites, listen to
this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders
and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This
man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you,
with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24But
God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it
was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25David
said about him:
“ ‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26Therefore my heart is glad and
my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
27because you will not abandon me
to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see
decay.
28You have made known to me the
paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your
presence.’
29“Fellow
Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was
buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30But he was a prophet and knew
that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on
his throne. 31Seeing
what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not
abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32God
has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33Exalted
to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy
Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34For David did not ascend to
heaven, and yet he said,
“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
35until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.” ’
36“Therefore
let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified,
both Lord and Messiah.”
37When
the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the
other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38Peter
replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. 39The
promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom
the Lord our God will call.”
Paul’s Message to the Philippians
Philippians 2:6-11
6Who,
being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to
his own advantage;
7rather,
he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And
being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore
God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and
every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Application
During my time away in Mexico doing
what I can to care for those in need and sharing the message of God’s love, I
am asking that you take the next two weeks and share the Gospel with as many
people as you can. You can tell them your own personal story of salvation which
is a great way to share the Gospel or you can forward the link to this site so
they can read it themselves. Please share this site with as many people as
possible over the next two weeks while I am gone. In this way, we will be
ministering together in and through the power of the Holy Spirit. I look
forward to seeing if we successfully add new countries to the list of countries
around the world already accessing the lessons with you every week.
Finally, I respectfully ask that
you pray for safe passage for me and my girls and that we would serve with
humility and share the gospel with courage. Furthermore, please pray that Jesus
Christ is glorified in all our words and deeds.
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