July
Sabbath, July 3rd - And I will walk in freedom, for I have sought Your precepts. Psalm 119:45 (Berean) Christ our Banner
Sabbath, July 10th - while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13
Seashells: Deceiving and Being Deceived
Sabbath, July 17th - For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5 - Focus
Sabbath, July 24th - Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! Romans 11:33 - The Secret Things of God
Sabbath, July 31st - But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; Job 12:7
July 3, 2021
Christ our Banner
And I will walk in freedom, for I have sought Your precepts. Psalm 119:45 (Berean)
Materials: American flags (one to give to each child)
Have you ever thought about the American flag (or any flag) and what the colors and symbols on the flags represent? The United States flag is comprised of three colors, arranged in 13 stripes, and an array of 50 white stars on a blue background (a canton). Red: Signifies hardiness and valor. White: Signifies purity and innocence. Blue: Signifies vigilance, perseverance, and justice. Those are all admirable traits. Who wouldn’t want to have a country full of people who displayed hardiness, valor, purity, innocence, vigilance, perseverance, and justice?
The flag is not just a decoration. It’s a banner which flies over the country it represents. It also is lifted up during battle so that in the melee soldiers can keep track of which way to fight. It is a point around which soldiers will rally, or gather, so they can continue to fight as a single force, stronger and less vulnerable.
So isn’t it interesting that one of the names of God is Jehovah-Nissi which means God our Banner. It’s found in Exodus 17:8-15. And the description we just read about the flag applies to Jesus as well.
*For the Christian, Jesus is not just a decoration. We don’t just hang the label “Christian” on our lives and then go about our daily business. We identify ourselves as Christian and then conduct ourselves as Christians in everything. That’s the goal - to accurately reflect the character of our God through our thoughts, words, and actions.
*Jesus was lifted up, like a banner or flag is lifted up, when He was crucified. As His disciples, we are always mindful of the redemption He provided in dying for each of us. Knowing what Jesus did for us affects us and the decisions we make every day.
*Jesus, our Banner, draws His people together. We help and encourage each other. We are stronger together.
There will likely be a lot of flag waving tomorrow on the Fourth of July. Many people will not even think about what the flag represents nor the freedom that was won when the flag first flew over this country. In a similar way, there are many Christians who proclaim to be followers of Jesus who don’t know their Bible and don’t think about the freedom He purchased for us with His death on the cross. But freedom is not free; it comes at a great price. Our Founding Fathers who pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor were following the example of Jesus Christ who died for us.
As you celebrate the Fourth of July, think about our freedoms and what the flag represents. But also think about Jesus, Jehovah-Nissi, God our Banner. Think about the freedom we have because of Him and how we should live our lives.
July 10th
Seashells: Deceiving and Being Deceived
while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13
Materials: conch shell
Has anyone ever told you that if you hold a conch shell to your ear you can hear the ocean? Now, let’s just think about that for one moment. How in the world could that be possible?!! The ocean isn’t inside the shell. The shell doesn’t have a tiny speaker broadcasting the ocean sounds. There is no way you could actually be hearing the ocean when you hold a conch shell to your ear.
So why do people say that? Well, it kinda sounds like the ocean. Hmmm. So if something “sounds” like something, we just assume that’s what it is? What kind of logic and science is that?
Unfortunately in our world, there are too many people who see something, hear something, or taste something - and jump to the conclusion that it is a specific thing. And perhaps in many of those cases, it doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t hurt anyone. Or does it? If we get accustomed to coming up with a plausible explanation without having evidence and truth behind it, then we are much more easily deceived by someone who comes along with a plausible story they’re trying to sell us without evidence and truth.
And if they can convince someone that it is true - like hearing the ocean in the conch shell - then the person who has been convinced that it’s true walks happily down the road, spreading the same untruth (AKA lie) without ever realizing that it is a lie.
For instance, I recently read that it’s not the ocean; it’s the blood surging through the veins in your ears. That sounds plausible. And I might even have spread that tale to others . . . except, I decided to verify the information. Guess what?! That’s not true either, no matter how plausible it sounds. Nor is it true that it’s air whooshing around inside the shell.
In this world where pictures can be photoshopped so easily, sounds can be mimicked and tweaked so easily, and where many people are too busy to verify a story before they spread it, it is really hard to know what to believe. Even if you trust the person who is telling you something, did they carefully check their facts?
Paul exhorts us in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” That’s an important modus operandi in a world where “evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
And as for the seashell, what is it that you’re hearing when you put a conch shell to your ear? You are actually just hearing the ambient (background) noise around you resonating in the shell. You can produce the same effect with your hand or a cup.
Check it out at:
https://science.howstuffworks.com/question556.htm
July 17th
Focus
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5
Materials: magnifying glass, bottle of water, basin of water, spray bottle, bottle with multiple holes poked in it
If you were to use a magnifying glass, you can bend the light rays coming from whatever it is you want to see and focus them on your retina. This makes the thing appear bigger to you. But you can also use a magnifying glass the other way. (Try this at home only with adult supervision!!) On a bright, sunshiny day, you can focus the light of the sun on a piece of paper and it will get so hot that it will burst into flame. You have intensified the focus of the light and light energy to the point that the paper catches on fire.
In a similar way, if I want to move a bunch of water, it is not effective to use my hands. I can splash some of it toward you, but I can’t focus the molecules with enough energy to make them go to a precise point. However, if I get a bottle with a pop top or a spray bottle (or a water gun), I can focus the water with energy behind it to get it to go farther in a unified direction.
Let’s talk about focus in context of this verse in Romans: For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5
If your focus is on pleasing God, then you will expend your energy in a different way than if your focus is on yourself or pleasing another person. And really, you have to make a deliberate choice. Are you living your life in a way that glorifies and honors God? Is serving Him and pleasing Him your focus? Or are you making choices according to your wisdom, your wants, your desires, and your goals?
Let serving God be the focusing mechanism for everything you do. Be productive for our God to Whom we owe everything!
July 24th
The Secret Things of God
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! Romans 11:33
Materials: long strips of paper, tape, scissors, marker
Have you ever seen a Mobius strip? They are used in an advanced branch of mathematics called topology and are used in conveyor and pulley belts. It’s fun to construct your own. Take long strips of paper. Make a 180º twist in one end before taping the ends together. Now draw with a marker along the middle of the paper loop. Even though you’re on the outside of the paper, by the time you get around the loop, you are on the inside. Now cut with the scissors along the line you drew. Suddenly our two pieces of paper have become one complete loop. Now let’s try it again. Only this time, put a complete 360º twist in the paper before taping the ends together. This time when you cut the paper you get two intersecting loops. It’s fun to see what happens every time you increase the number of twists in the paper!!
The first time you see this done, you want to have it repeated because the brain doesn’t think that what just happened could possibly have just happened. And this is just paper! And the construction of the Mobius strip is repeatable. And yet, it takes our brains a while to figure out how this could possibly have happened!
Do you understand how coal put under incredible pressure turns into a diamond? Do you understand how a bee can take nectar from flowers and turn it into honey? We could get someone to explain these processes to us; people have studied them.
So extrapolate out a little bit. Do you understand how a caterpillar can go into a chrysalis, completely turn into goo, and come out a butterfly? Do you understand how the human brain works? Do you understand the universe with its black holes, wrinkles in time, and flexible time?
These are all observable, repeatable actions in our world. But when we start to consider our great God. How can we, who can’t even understand these “simple” things, ever begin to think we could understand God, how He thinks, and why He does what He does. We just have to sit back in awe and thankfulness for His mercy and love toward us. Our great and awesome God!! How incredible You are!!!
Resource: 77 Science Activities, DeYoung, Donald B., BakerBooks, 1982, “Mystery Loops,” pgs. 59-61.
Sabbath, July 3rd - And I will walk in freedom, for I have sought Your precepts. Psalm 119:45 (Berean) Christ our Banner
Sabbath, July 10th - while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13
Seashells: Deceiving and Being Deceived
Sabbath, July 17th - For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5 - Focus
Sabbath, July 24th - Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! Romans 11:33 - The Secret Things of God
Sabbath, July 31st - But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; Job 12:7
July 3, 2021
Christ our Banner
And I will walk in freedom, for I have sought Your precepts. Psalm 119:45 (Berean)
Materials: American flags (one to give to each child)
Have you ever thought about the American flag (or any flag) and what the colors and symbols on the flags represent? The United States flag is comprised of three colors, arranged in 13 stripes, and an array of 50 white stars on a blue background (a canton). Red: Signifies hardiness and valor. White: Signifies purity and innocence. Blue: Signifies vigilance, perseverance, and justice. Those are all admirable traits. Who wouldn’t want to have a country full of people who displayed hardiness, valor, purity, innocence, vigilance, perseverance, and justice?
The flag is not just a decoration. It’s a banner which flies over the country it represents. It also is lifted up during battle so that in the melee soldiers can keep track of which way to fight. It is a point around which soldiers will rally, or gather, so they can continue to fight as a single force, stronger and less vulnerable.
So isn’t it interesting that one of the names of God is Jehovah-Nissi which means God our Banner. It’s found in Exodus 17:8-15. And the description we just read about the flag applies to Jesus as well.
*For the Christian, Jesus is not just a decoration. We don’t just hang the label “Christian” on our lives and then go about our daily business. We identify ourselves as Christian and then conduct ourselves as Christians in everything. That’s the goal - to accurately reflect the character of our God through our thoughts, words, and actions.
*Jesus was lifted up, like a banner or flag is lifted up, when He was crucified. As His disciples, we are always mindful of the redemption He provided in dying for each of us. Knowing what Jesus did for us affects us and the decisions we make every day.
*Jesus, our Banner, draws His people together. We help and encourage each other. We are stronger together.
There will likely be a lot of flag waving tomorrow on the Fourth of July. Many people will not even think about what the flag represents nor the freedom that was won when the flag first flew over this country. In a similar way, there are many Christians who proclaim to be followers of Jesus who don’t know their Bible and don’t think about the freedom He purchased for us with His death on the cross. But freedom is not free; it comes at a great price. Our Founding Fathers who pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor were following the example of Jesus Christ who died for us.
As you celebrate the Fourth of July, think about our freedoms and what the flag represents. But also think about Jesus, Jehovah-Nissi, God our Banner. Think about the freedom we have because of Him and how we should live our lives.
July 10th
Seashells: Deceiving and Being Deceived
while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13
Materials: conch shell
Has anyone ever told you that if you hold a conch shell to your ear you can hear the ocean? Now, let’s just think about that for one moment. How in the world could that be possible?!! The ocean isn’t inside the shell. The shell doesn’t have a tiny speaker broadcasting the ocean sounds. There is no way you could actually be hearing the ocean when you hold a conch shell to your ear.
So why do people say that? Well, it kinda sounds like the ocean. Hmmm. So if something “sounds” like something, we just assume that’s what it is? What kind of logic and science is that?
Unfortunately in our world, there are too many people who see something, hear something, or taste something - and jump to the conclusion that it is a specific thing. And perhaps in many of those cases, it doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t hurt anyone. Or does it? If we get accustomed to coming up with a plausible explanation without having evidence and truth behind it, then we are much more easily deceived by someone who comes along with a plausible story they’re trying to sell us without evidence and truth.
And if they can convince someone that it is true - like hearing the ocean in the conch shell - then the person who has been convinced that it’s true walks happily down the road, spreading the same untruth (AKA lie) without ever realizing that it is a lie.
For instance, I recently read that it’s not the ocean; it’s the blood surging through the veins in your ears. That sounds plausible. And I might even have spread that tale to others . . . except, I decided to verify the information. Guess what?! That’s not true either, no matter how plausible it sounds. Nor is it true that it’s air whooshing around inside the shell.
In this world where pictures can be photoshopped so easily, sounds can be mimicked and tweaked so easily, and where many people are too busy to verify a story before they spread it, it is really hard to know what to believe. Even if you trust the person who is telling you something, did they carefully check their facts?
Paul exhorts us in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” That’s an important modus operandi in a world where “evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
And as for the seashell, what is it that you’re hearing when you put a conch shell to your ear? You are actually just hearing the ambient (background) noise around you resonating in the shell. You can produce the same effect with your hand or a cup.
Check it out at:
https://science.howstuffworks.com/question556.htm
July 17th
Focus
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5
Materials: magnifying glass, bottle of water, basin of water, spray bottle, bottle with multiple holes poked in it
If you were to use a magnifying glass, you can bend the light rays coming from whatever it is you want to see and focus them on your retina. This makes the thing appear bigger to you. But you can also use a magnifying glass the other way. (Try this at home only with adult supervision!!) On a bright, sunshiny day, you can focus the light of the sun on a piece of paper and it will get so hot that it will burst into flame. You have intensified the focus of the light and light energy to the point that the paper catches on fire.
In a similar way, if I want to move a bunch of water, it is not effective to use my hands. I can splash some of it toward you, but I can’t focus the molecules with enough energy to make them go to a precise point. However, if I get a bottle with a pop top or a spray bottle (or a water gun), I can focus the water with energy behind it to get it to go farther in a unified direction.
Let’s talk about focus in context of this verse in Romans: For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5
If your focus is on pleasing God, then you will expend your energy in a different way than if your focus is on yourself or pleasing another person. And really, you have to make a deliberate choice. Are you living your life in a way that glorifies and honors God? Is serving Him and pleasing Him your focus? Or are you making choices according to your wisdom, your wants, your desires, and your goals?
Let serving God be the focusing mechanism for everything you do. Be productive for our God to Whom we owe everything!
July 24th
The Secret Things of God
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! Romans 11:33
Materials: long strips of paper, tape, scissors, marker
Have you ever seen a Mobius strip? They are used in an advanced branch of mathematics called topology and are used in conveyor and pulley belts. It’s fun to construct your own. Take long strips of paper. Make a 180º twist in one end before taping the ends together. Now draw with a marker along the middle of the paper loop. Even though you’re on the outside of the paper, by the time you get around the loop, you are on the inside. Now cut with the scissors along the line you drew. Suddenly our two pieces of paper have become one complete loop. Now let’s try it again. Only this time, put a complete 360º twist in the paper before taping the ends together. This time when you cut the paper you get two intersecting loops. It’s fun to see what happens every time you increase the number of twists in the paper!!
The first time you see this done, you want to have it repeated because the brain doesn’t think that what just happened could possibly have just happened. And this is just paper! And the construction of the Mobius strip is repeatable. And yet, it takes our brains a while to figure out how this could possibly have happened!
Do you understand how coal put under incredible pressure turns into a diamond? Do you understand how a bee can take nectar from flowers and turn it into honey? We could get someone to explain these processes to us; people have studied them.
So extrapolate out a little bit. Do you understand how a caterpillar can go into a chrysalis, completely turn into goo, and come out a butterfly? Do you understand how the human brain works? Do you understand the universe with its black holes, wrinkles in time, and flexible time?
These are all observable, repeatable actions in our world. But when we start to consider our great God. How can we, who can’t even understand these “simple” things, ever begin to think we could understand God, how He thinks, and why He does what He does. We just have to sit back in awe and thankfulness for His mercy and love toward us. Our great and awesome God!! How incredible You are!!!
Resource: 77 Science Activities, DeYoung, Donald B., BakerBooks, 1982, “Mystery Loops,” pgs. 59-61.
