** Unlocked은 Keys for kids Ministries에서 지원받은 프로그램입니다. 원본으로 듣고 싶으신 분들은 홈페이지 Unlocked.org로 들어가시면 < September 25, 2022>에서 다시 들으실 수 있습니다.**
God Knows
• Emily Acker • Romans 8:18–39, Psalm 33:11, Genesis 50:20, Isaiah 55:6–13
God knows why things are happening the way they are in our lives and in this world. We can look at everything going on around us and wonder how it’s all going to make sense in the end. We can see bad things taking place and wonder if God might be surprised or if those bad things might mess up His plans.
But God is not surprised by anything that happens. Not in your personal life, the country you are living in, or anywhere in the world and beyond. He knows what the future holds, and He cares about every detail. He knows how everything is going to work out in the end, and He is intimately involved in the mess. Through Jesus, He offers healing and invites people to know Him, trust Him, and follow Him. He is good, and His love endures forever (Psalm 136:1).
God can take the bad and use it for good. He can transform even the horrible things into beautiful things. God knows what you are going to go through, and He has compassion on you. When you are suffering, He is grieving alongside you. And if you come to Him, He will comfort you, strengthen you, and even help you grow through your struggles.
We serve a God who is not surprised by anything. We can rest easier when we remember that God holds His people securely in love and He has promised to right every wrong. We can know that God is ultimately in control, and He is going to make things work out just how they are meant to work out in the end. On the last day, Jesus will return. The Risen King will restore His creation, and all His people will live and reign with Him forever. Nothing can stop His kingdom from coming. Even when we don’t understand what is going on, we can trust God because He is trustworthy. ⦁ Emily Acker
⦁ When is it hardest for you to trust God? In these times, we can look to Jesus, who revealed God’s deep love and kindness when He died on the cross. When we see hurt and confusion and corruption and violence in our world or in our lives, we can come to Jesus with all our frustrations, sorrows, fears, and questions. His goodness and love are sure, and He will reveal Himself to those who seek Him.
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Psalm 33:11 (NIV)
** Unlocked은 Keys for kids Ministries에서 지원받은 프로그램입니다. 원본으로 듣고 싶으신 분들은 홈페이지 Unlocked.org로 들어가시면 < September 23, 2022>에서 다시 들으실 수 있습니다.**
Stragglers
• Anna Gregory • Luke 15:10–32, Luke 19:10
I like to feed hummingbirds. As I was researching how to feed them well, I found
that many websites say to watch for stragglers at the end of the warm season. This year, we’ve had a couple stragglers. It’s November when I write this, and I am still putting out food and it’s still disappearing. I keep thinking these hummingbirds are lost and one day they’ll wish they were someplace warmer.
In Luke 15, Jesus tells a story about another straggler. The Prodigal son left home with his father’s money in his pocket. Now no one would tell him what to do—he was free to make his own choices. He did exactly as he wanted to…until he had spent every bit of his money. Alone, abandoned by his partying friends, he was hungry, thirsty, and had no place to sleep.
Then he found a job feeding pigs, which was about the lowest job anyone could find at that time. Pigs were seen as nasty, dirty creatures that would eat about anything. The Prodigal found himself feeding them pods. The hogs gobbled them up. The Prodigal stared at the pods, wondering what they tasted like. He might have been so hungry that he ate some. As his belly moaned and he could barely stand the smell of the pigs (or himself), he thought of his father. Realizing that maybe he could still be a servant in his father’s household—a place where he could have something to eat and somewhere to sleep—he started toward home.
As the Prodigal approached his father’s house, he found his father waiting. Most of us might assume he wouldn’t be welcome. (And in fact, his older brother grumbled and complained when he came back.) Yet his father hugged him close, offered him a bath, clean clothes, and food—and welcomed him back as his son. Not a servant, but his son.
Jesus welcomes us—rebellious stragglers though we are—into His arms and into His household. And He asks us to welcome fellow stragglers who are lost. Jesus will take them in, offer them new beginnings, a place in His family, and love that overwhelms. ⦁ Anna Gregory
⦁ Have you ever felt like the younger brother in this story: lost, dirty, and broken? Jesus invites you to bring these feelings to Him and rest in His love.
⦁ Have you ever felt like the older brother in this story: wary, suspicious, and perhaps jealous of outsiders coming into the church? You can bring these feelings to Jesus too and ask Him to help you extend His love and stragglers.
“For the Son of Man [Jesus] came to seek and save those who are lost.” Luke 19:10 (NLT)
