This summer we have read many writings of Isaiah and Paul. God spoke to Isaiah
and Paul. Isaiah and Paul were obedient and told their messages to everyone
while they lived. Even now hundreds of years after their deaths the words God
gave Isaiah and Paul still speak to us. Isaiah and Paul’s obedience to God should
make us want to be obedient to God. Obedience to God is doing what He wants.
Obedience to God is often hard. Isaiah and Paul lived difficult lives and were
killed as a result of doing what God wanted them to do. So we also need to know
God did not promise us easy lives. He promised us lives filled with victory even
when our lives are hard.
Old Testament – Isaiah 45:1-7
In these verses Isaiah tells Israel that God has chosen Cyrus The Great to be his
chosen servant to conquer nations and restore the exiled Israelites back to their
homeland. Isaiah died 86 years before Cyrus The Great was even born. Wow!
What a powerful future vision God gave Isaiah. Isaiah says God gives Cyrus his
authority to show He is the Almighty and All Knowing One.
Old Testament – Psalm 96
King David wrote this song when he brought the Ark of The Covenant up to
Jerusalem. This song (psalm) was sung before the Ark of The Covenant every
afternoon. Psalm 96 is a joyful psalm and it tells us to sing a new song. It reminds
us that God made the heavens and earth. It also says that God is always fair and
He will always do what is right. Listen to Psalm 96 sung below and memorize
verses 2 and 3.
New Testament – 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
The Book of Thessalonians was written in Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki still exists
today and is Greece’s second largest city. It is considered the “co-capital” of
Greece. So the Thessalonians lived in a very important city. Paul starts his letter
to them saying he always thanks God for them and always remembers them in his
prayers. Paul reminds the Thessalonians that God chose them and they received
the gospel and the Holy Spirit. As a result, they are examples of Christ-like lives.
See Thessaloniki in the below video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU0plZ193ek
New Testament – Matthew 22:15-22
Earlier Jesus had made the Pharisees mad by driving money changers out of the
temple and refusing to answer their questions. Now The Pharisees have come up
with a trap to trick Jesus. Remember Jesus and everyone in Israel lived under the
rule of Rome. It was death to say anything against Rome and the Emperor Caesar.
The Pharisees ask Jesus if it is legal for them to pay taxes. Jesus asks them to see
a coin. When they give him a coin, he asks them whose picture and saying is on
the coin. They said “Caesar.” Jesus then tells them to give to Caesar what
belongs to Caesar and to give what belongs to God to God. They go away amazed
at his answer.
Listen to Miss Kristen as she explains.
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