Old Testament – Zephaniah 1
By the time King Solomon died, the Israelites were worshipping idols. This
worship included killing and burning children as sacrifices. This made God very,
very mad. King Josiah was a king who turned the Israelites back to God and made
them stop their evil behavior. Zephaniah lived during the life of King Josiah. In
these verses, Zephaniah has been shown by God that Israel will be punished for
their false worship. These verses also show what happens when Jesus returns a
second time to earth.
After King Josiah died, the Israelites turned back to worshipping idols. The
Israelites lost their wars and were made to leave Israel. Many of the people who
were taken away were killed by the Persians. Zephaniah was one of the people
who executed by the Persians. Zephaniah was faithful to God even when he was
killed for being faithful. Zephaniah’s life teaches us that faith in God has a high
cost.
Old Testament – Psalm 90
Psalm 90 is one of the songs not written by King David. It is the oldest psalm and
was written by Moses. He sings that God only is immortal, invisible and invincible.
Invincible means ruling over all. Moses asks God to show us His steadfast love
and mercy. Below is a hymn “Immortal, Invisible, Invincible God Only Wise.” It is
based on Moses’ hymn Psalm 90 and is sung by the Windsor Abbey Choir.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZA94ncis0g
New Testament – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
In our previous lessons we learned that Paul wrote this letter because the
believers living in Thessaloniki were having doubts. Everyone thought that Jesus
would have already returned. Also there were people in the church who were
saying that believers who had died hadn’t gone to heaven. So God gave Paul
these words so he could comfort and cheer up the Thessalonians. Here Paul
reminds us that we do not know when Jesus Christ will come again. Jesus had
told everyone that even He didn’t know when He would return again. Paul
reminds us that we are to always be doing the things that make God happy. Paul
also tells us that we should always comfort and cheer each other up.
New Testament – Matthew 25:14-30
Once again, Jesus has a hard story for us to hear. Is this a story about being
successful? No, it is not. This is a story of sharing and using what God has given
us to build up each other and His Kingdom. The two men who traded their money
used their gifts. As a result, there were results. The man who hid his money did
not use his gift. He only had excuses when his boss returned.
We also have gifts because made us to be special. We are to use our gifts as
a way of loving ourselves and celebrating why we are special. We are to use our
gifts to help others. We are also to use our gifts for Jesus’ sake. Today think of
what gifts you have and how you can use them . Make a list of your gifts and an
action plan while you listen to this story being sung below.
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