How many of you are new to this classroom today?
Sometimes we are in situations where we are the “new person” and we have to get to know new people. Sometimes that can be really exciting and sometimes that can be kind of scary – one of our neighbors who is a little girl who is around 12 said that she went to San Clamente to do Junior Lifeguards – has anyone done that before? Junior Lifeguards? Well she went there with her sister and her sister was in a different group. and her group had an odd number of kids in it – so she wasn’t matched up with another girl, she was often matched up with a boy and she didn’t know anyone
do you think she liked that a lot? do you have to trust your partner in Junior Lifeguards? is meeting new people a great skill to have?
What is the best way to get to KNOW someone?
How about knowing God, how can we know God?
God said in the Bible that He will never leave us – what is JOSHUA 1:9???
Knowing God is with us gives us confidence in facing future situations.
Planning for your future, remembering the consequences of what happened last time you made a bad choice or the rewards for making good choices, well, this is called using discernment – asking God first, remembering what you know is right in the Bible and using the Bible as your tool to guide you through life. Using your past to help you with your future plans – based on what God guides you to.
No matter what – God is our GOOD SHEPHERD and He will guide us through all the bumps and bruises of this life – and will lead us to still waters and restore our souls – it says so in Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house
of the Lord Forever.
David was a shepherd for sheep
and he knew God was his shepherd,
David knew he had to care for his sheep or they would die,
he trusted that God would provide the same safety and care for him
He led his sheep to water,
so they could drink
He trusted that God would never
let him go thirsty
He led his sheep to places
that were safe
where they were least likely to get hurt
He knew that God would guide Him
to safe places too
David had been extremely
brave and killed lions and bears to protect his sheep
God helped him do that
and he had no reason to fear,
David won and defeated them
with God’s power and might
His comfort was in God alone
He prepared food for his sheep and
knew God would do the same for him
He kept his flock clean
and cared for their needs
God would cleanse us of our sins
and provide us more than we could ever imagine
He had confidence in God, such confidence that he knew that God’s goodness and Mercy
mercy means showing kindness, and practical help to those in need, forgiving those who have wronged them and showing compassion to those who are suffering.
so David knew that even in his suffering and sin that God would always be with him and never leave him alone
He would never be alone. Not for one second, God would always be there
and then he gets excited, super excited
cause now he focuses on Heaven and what glory he will be surrounded in. no sin, no sadness, just the best play date for eternity at God‘s house
for ever. How amazing is that!
God is always close by to help you make choices, make good decisions and help guide you through the rough patches of life.
He promises that if you ask Him, Matthew 6:33 and Philippians 4:6-7
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
What do you feel confident doing?
What was David confident in when we read Psalm 23?
I think about David defeating Goliath – we all know that amazing battle from the Bible – it’s one of our favorites because a young teenager defeats a massive Giant!
Most researchers and Bible notations place Goliath’s height at about 9’ 5” -9’ 9” by using the short Hebrew cubit of 17.5 inches. However, this cubit wasn’t a standard unit of measure during this time. The more accurate cubit would have been the long cubit, which would have been between 20.4 and 20.625 inches.
Using the longer, more probable cubit, Goliath would tower somewhere between 11 feet and
11 feet 2 inches. This is almost twice the size of an average human by today’s standards. We don’t know exactly how tall David was, but the average range during his lifetime is thought to be between 5’ 5” to 6’ 5”.
A cubit is an ancient unit of length traditionally measured from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger
Why is 1.618 called the golden ratio?
1.618
The golden ratio, also known as the divine proportion, is a mathematical ratio 1.618 that appears frequently in nature and art, it represents the beauty and perfection of God’s design.
How can we know what path God wants us to take?
David spent most of his life in war and defending his people. His greatest enemy wasn’t Goliath, but his best friend’s dad – King Saul, who was very, very jealous of the success and fame that David got from winning so many battles.
David had become a local celebrity and many songs of praise were written about him. The fame made King Saul crazy and he wanted to kill David.
David was given a chance to kill King Saul in a cave – Did David kill him?
nope, he spared the life of God’s annointed King – he loved King Saul, even though King Saul was so mean and nasty and wanted to kill him. Can you imagine this? Can you imagine loving someone and being obedient to God in this situation?
David’s history with God, the many, many times that God proved his love for David, how many times he helped David win so many battles with lions, bears, giants, massive armies, all the examples of God’s saving power – made David submit to God’s authority instead of HIS OWN – he considered God to be HIS GOOD SHEPHERD
God knows our futures.
Do we know our futures?
God knows what is best
Do we know what is best?
We must always have confidence in God that HE will show us the next right thing to do in our lives and plan a future that is focused on Jesus – be active and busy for Jesus and He will guide us.
We will pray, we will read our Bibles, we will sing and worship Jesus, we will encourage our families to do devotions together, we will know Jesus better by doing these things, and the more we make Jesus our friend, the easier it will be to hear and know what His will is for our lives, just like David.
According to PSALM 23 what are some reasons we can be confident about God’s help in the future?
What are some of the good things God has given you or your family in the past?
What are some of the good things you hope will happen to you in the future?
What are some of the bad things that kids your age might worry about happening in the future?
What do you know about God that can help you not worry about things that might happen in the future?
What is another word for confident?
How do confident people act?
How does confidence help a person who is worried about something?
How can you show that you are relying on God’s presence?
What is Romans 8:28
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