JAMM 8/24
Hebrews 4:12
Every week, Pastor Mike likes to read from the same BIG BOOK. Let’s see if you have been paying attention.
- Which book is it?
- Dictionary - book that defines words
- Cookbook - book that gives cooking recipes
- The Bible - book filled with God’s Word
- Textbook - book we study in school
The Bible is a book that is different from any other book. It’s special. It’s not because it is so big, or because it looks nice, or because it has great stories.
It is because the Bible, the Word of God is LIVING!
You know, you and I are also living and active. We eat, play, poop, and sleep. And like all living things, we need to breathe to stay alive. So, we need to make sure our nose, mouth aren’t blocked so we can breathe.
Well, did you know the Bible is also living? It needs to breathe. How does the Bible breathe? It breathes when you open it, read it, and do what it says. If you leave your Bible closed and not read it, it cannot breathe!
So let’s take our Bibles out today, if you have one, and open it to the book of Hebrews, which is towards the back of the Bible, right before the book of James.
We are going to read Hebrews 4:12A together and let the Bible breathe.
Remember, when we leave our Bibles closed it cannot breathe. When we open it and read it, we let it breathe. Imagine holding your breath for a long time! That isn’t good!
PRACTICE activity
Good job! Now imagine if you let your Bible breathe once a week on Sunday! That isn’t good! Because the Bible is living and active! It must breathe!
The Bible says it is living! Hmm… but what does that actually mean? Does that mean it’s an animal or a living creature? Does the Bible roar like a tiger or have teeth? Does the Bible also eat, sleep, and poop?
The Bible is living and active. Does active mean that it’s fast and powerful? Like a cheetah? What does it mean that the Word of God is living and active?
Well, another way to explain it is by looking at a mosquito.
Mosquitos are living creatures, but are they good for us? Does anyone here enjoy being around mosquitos? They give us bug bites, make us itchy, and even make people sick!
That’s not good!
In other words, they do not give us life. They take away our life. It’s not safe to be around a lot of mosquitos because if they bite us, they may hurt us and take life away from us.
Well, the Bible is different. It may not be a living creature but it gives us life. When we read and obey God’s Word, we have peace with God and joy in our hearts!
You see you and I are like light bulbs. We need power and electricity to shine our light. Without it, we are a dead lightbulb. So when we do not receive the life that only God can give they are spiritually dead.
Not only does the Word of God give us life, it is the ONLY thing that can give us true spiritual life.
Many things promise to give us life: money, friends, cool toys, video games, gaming PC. Even though God gives us these things for us to have fun, but they cannot give us eternal life.
We only have fun for a little while, but only God can give us eternal life! Joy that lasts forever! We will never get bored with God!
When God speaks to us, He gives us his Holy Spirit and gives us eternal life.
Let’s read John 6:63B. When I close my Bible before I finish reading the Bible verse, remember to hold our breath.
God doesn’t want to stop us from having fun or enjoying His gifts to us. God wants to give us more joy than we can ever know. He wants to live knowing how great His love is for us!
Life with Jesus is way more fun! Remember VBS this past summer? Wasn’t it so fun?
But do you know why life isn’t always fun? It’s not because we have a short recess time or because we need longer play time. It’s because of sin.
Sin separates us from Jesus, and when we are separated from Jesus we cannot receive the life He wants to give us.
When we disobey our parents, lie, or when we are not kind to our brother or sister or friend, we sin.
Sometimes others sin against us. Someone steals our toy or hits us or is not kind to us. They also sin.
Well, the Bible says we have all sinned! No one is perfect.
Read Romans 3:23
Read Romans 6:23
The result of sin is that we are dead without God. When we don’t deal with our sin, we cannot receive the life God wants to give us!
Who knows Minecraft?
In Minecraft, when we lose all our hearts, what happens? We die.
And when our hunger bar goes down, what happens to our hearts? When you lose all your hunger, your hearts start to decrease.
How do we fill our hunger in Minecraft, so that we can restore our hearts?
Can diamond armor, diamonds, enchanted books, heal us? Can money, riches, or cool toys heal us?
You need real food!
But what if you just hold the food in your hand. Will the food alone heal us? Will it fill us?
In the same way, if just hold our Bible does that give us life? Does holding your Bible teach you how much God loves you? No!
Read James 1:22.
When you have food in Minecraft, you must eat it! That is what fills us. If you have a Bible, you must open it and read it! Let the Bible breathe and give you life!
The Bible is like our spiritual food. Jesus said that we even though we need food to eat to live, we cannot have true life without reading the Word of God!
Read Matthew 4:4
Owning a Bible or just coming to Sunday doesn’t give us life.
Let’s return to Hebrews 4:12.
It also says the Bible is sharper than a sword. It’s a good weapon that takes away bad things. It finds and helps us defeat bad things in our hearts and minds.
Remember, sin separates us from God. When we disobey our parents, lie, or when we are not kind to our brother or sister or friend, we sin.
But God gives us His word to help us overcome it!
It is sharper than a sword and can help us take away sin in our lives if we let it breathe by reading it and obeying it.
Remember Jesus is alive and His Word gives us life!
Discussion Questions
- What makes you really excited? What gives you life?
- Why is the Bible so important to read?
- Can we have life without Jesus?
- What are ways we can be filled with the life that God promises?