Jesus said, Your heart will be where your treasure is, Matthew 6:21
**This week I have spent time reading and thinking about “treasures”. The bible has a lot to say about treasures and how we will obtain them and what we will do with them. In the book ”Christ’s Object Lessons” by EGW chapter 8 it talks about the Hidden Treasure..check it out it’s a good read and it will keep you focused on the proper care of a treasure. Our goal should be on the treasures we are storing in Heaven. Again I have included some devotional/object lessons on Treasures.
This past weekend the team and I were in Palm Coast SDA Church. It was a great blessing to share our ministry and Sabbath with the children and adults in that area. It’s always amazing how God works when we allow Him to show us what and where He wants us to go and do. I trust you had a great week too.
*Treasure in Heaven
May 01, 2017 07:00 am
Treasures stored on earth do not last. Our precious possessions here can be stolen by thieves, eaten away by rust or moths, or destroyed by fire or storms. Jesus said, Your heart will be where your treasure is, Matthew 6:21. Worrying over our possessions here can turn our minds away from heavenly things.
The treasure you store in heaven is really the only thing you possess, and it cannot be stolen or destroyed. Fire, flood, thief, moth, or rust cannot touch it, because God is keeping it safe. Our character is what we take from this life. Everything that we do or say that leads another person to reach toward heaven, every effort we put into forming a character like Jesus, is treasure we are storing in heaven.
*Kingdom of Heaven Object Lesson
You could teach this as a two-part lesson or present them together. For supplies you need a shoebox decorated to look like a treasure box, change or paper money, a shallow tub of dirt, fake pearls.
Scatter the dirt in the tub and hide the pearl in the soil. Place the tub at your teaching station. Put the coins or money inside the box and hide the box in your room.
Say: “Let’s read the verse together. Let’s read it normal first, then let’s read it “under water style.” (That’s just rubbing your fingers over your lips, up and down.)
After you read the passage say, “Wow! Jesus is teaching us about the Kingdom of Heaven. In the first part he’s telling us about the attitude we should have about finding his kingdom. We should be willing to give everything to have it. Let’s pretend that I gave all my money, all my treasure just to buy a deed to this room. That means everything in the room is mine! Guess what? There is a treasure here!” (Bring out the treasure box and show it to the kids.)
“Look inside guys. We’ve got all kinds of treasures here. Thank goodness I bought this room or I wouldn’t have this box of goodies.”
*Treasure in Heaven Bible lesson: Luke 12:32-40
Children’s sermon idea: Show the children some “treasured” items that are broken, moth eaten or rusted. Include a picture or drawing of something that was stolen. Remind the children how most of our earthly “treasures” don’t last. Explain how Jesus said we could live life His way and actually have treasure in heaven that would last for ever.
Object lesson items: Worn out, moth eaten or rusted items; some representation of a stolen item;
For dramatic effect: Consider have a garbage can that you can throw discarded items into.
Children’s sermon: Good morning children. This morning I want to show you some of my favourite treasures. Look at this nice watch. This watch cost me a lot of money and it used to be one of my favourite little treasures. But a while ago I discovered it wasn’t working. It is completely broken and it can’t be fixed. I might as well throw it into the garbage. Look at this nice sweater. It was one of my favourite sweaters that I’ve been keeping safe in a storage closet. I was sure it was safe and sound, but look at this hole! Do you know what made this hole? Yes. It was a moth. Moths seem nice and gentle but they actually love to eat the material that this sweater is made of. Now my nice sweater is worthless. I might as well throw it out. Look at this wrench. I bought this a while ago but I left it outside in the rain and now it is so rusted up and it doesn’t work at all. I’ll throw that out too. Now I have one last item to show you. (Hold up a picture of an item that was stolen) Can you tell what this is a picture of? That’s right. It’s a picture of my favourite baseball mitt. I only can show you a picture because the real baseball mitt was stolen from me. I left it on a park bench for a few minutes and when I came back it was gone! Someone had stolen my nice baseball mitt.
In our bible lesson today in Luke chapter 12, Jesus warns us that our earthly treasures don’t last forever. They can break down, rust out, get eaten by moths or can even be stolen. Because they don’t last, we certainly don’t want to spend all our time and energy worrying about those sorts of things. However, Jesus said that we could actually make treasures in heaven that will last forever. He said that when we live life Jesus’ way (Showing love to others, feeding the poor, telling others about Jesus and his love, etc.) we actually are storing up real treasure in heaven. I don’t know exactly what that treasure looks like but Jesus made it clear that these would be wonderful treasures that would last forever.
Children’s prayer: Heavenly Father, Help us not to spend too much of our lives worrying about fancy treasures here on earth. Help us to live life Jesus’ way and have true treasure in heaven. In Jesus’ name – Amen!
Important Calendar Updates:
June 4-24 (3 weeks) Summer Camp @ Camp Kulaqua please check it out on the website.I hope I will see you there.
Single Parent Retreat 75% off the registration fee until May 31. (then it will be 50% off)go to the Camp Kulaqua website under events and register NOW.I know you will be blessed if you attend.Let me know if you have questions?
Tomorrow I am flying to spend some time with my family in North Dakota. I am looking forward to the break and seeing family I do not see very often. Please keep me in your prayers.
Here’s hoping you have a great rest of the week. I will lift you up in my prayers, you and your family/ministry. The Lord has great plans for you, today and in the future. Please let Him guide your ways.