Grand Prix Cars

Every year we have our AWANA Grand Prix at church where the kids make cars for a big race. Every person gets a kit to make a car, which includes a block of wood. From there each racer has some decisions to make: will they make their car fast, or will they go for design?

In past races I have focused my cars on design. Once car resembled the Florida Gators logo, and this past car was a replica of my Gator-themed pick up truck. Both of those cars were rewarded with 3rd place in design. 

Just as each contestant begins with a plain block of wood, so each person begins life with a clean slate, and we all have choices to make. Hebrews 11:6 says that God “is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” We each have to choose if we are going to seek God or not, and if we do, then we have another choice to make, and that is if we are going to obey Him. 

Some people explore who God is, but they never commit their lives to Him, and God does not reward those people. We must choose to submit to Him, repent, deny ourselves, and obey the Lord. At the Grand Prix, some cars are very fast, and yet they do not place; others have awesome designs, and yet they receive no trophy. But that is not how God works. He doesn’t just reward the richest, smartest, or most talented; He rewards all who diligently seek and obey Him. 

Back to School

I was walking through a store last night and I could not help but notice all of the back to school supplies. When I was a student I always enjoyed getting those new supplies, even though I didn’t necessarily enjoy school. Now that my school days are behind me, I still kind of wished I could get a few school supplies.

While I am glad that I don’t have to sit in a classroom anymore, my time of learning is not yet complete. We need to constantly learn new things as we adapt to our culture and its ever changing technology, job responsibilities, and language. But more than that, as Christians, we need to be constantly learning more about God and His Word.

You might be thinking that your days of learning about God ended when you graduated from AWANA or children’s church. If that is the case, then you need to go back to school. Give yourself a homework assignment to learn theology; write a book report over John; brush up on your (Old Testament) history.

Maybe you need some back to school supplies. Get a study Bible, a commentary, a journal, and pen. But whatever you do, make sure that you are spending time with God through prayer and reading His Word. The Spirit can’t wait to teach you!

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

II Timothy 2:15

AWANA Banquet Part 2

Last year after our annual AWANA Banquet I wrote about how impressive it was that even our youngest students learned enough of the Bible to be able to present the gospel to someone who is lost. And since we had another banquet last week there was something new that stood out to me.

Usually students will chose to recite a verse or two, but this year many chose to recite all 66 books of the Bible in order. As I stood there watching them I could not help but wonder how many adults cannot pronounce Haggai, how many don’t know where Zephaniah is, or how many think that Noah is a book of the Bible. And yet students of all ages were able to flawlessly recite all 66 in order with proper pronunciation.

Now don’t get me wrong; there is nothing spiritual about getting that last k in Habakkuk, and salvation does not come as a result of remembering if Micah or Malachi round out the Old Testament. But being able to quote passages is only one step in telling someone about Christ. If we cannot look those passages up and show them, then they can easily assume we are making verses up.

This is just food for thought, but if your Bible didn’t have a table of contents, could you find John 3:16? To know the books of the Bible in order shows a love for the content of its pages. We should desire to know it cover to cover—from Genesis to Jude.

I need to go find an AWANA student and see if that is right.

AWANA Banquet

As many of you know, our church has a ministry called AWANA, which stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed, and is taken from II Timothy 2:15: “Study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Last night was our annual AWANA Banquet where we recognize all the students for their hard work and faithfulness to studying God’s Word, and it was so refreshing to see over 200 children receive awards for their accomplishments. Members of each class were selected to recite Bible verses that they had learned, and several students were recognized, even receiving a standing ovation, for having given their lives to Christ during the AWANA year.

As I listened to our 3 and 4 year olds reciting verses I was reminded of a criticism I had heard growing up in Orlando, that these children don’t understand what these verses mean, so what is the point? The truth is, most of these 3 and 4 year olds probably don’t understand what these verses mean, but someday they will. I started out in AWANA when I was in 2nd grade, and I quoted a lot of verses back then that I didn’t understand. My motives were wrong; I just wanted prizes.

But those prizes are all gone now, and the memory of those verses is still with me. And the concepts that I could not grasp as a 2nd grader make sense to me today. That is what Paul was telling the young pastor Timothy to do (and the same command applies to all Christians today): study, and rightly divide it. What I studied as a 2nd grader I can properly interpret and apply today. Are you doing this today?

After the banquet I was able to share the gospel with a young man who was an admitted unbeliever,and I laid out God’s plan of salvation for him, using nothing more than the verses that the AWANA students had recited. That means that through AWANA our students have learned how to present the gospel, and I know that Paul would have been proud that they studied and divided the word of truth.

I know I was proud of them.

(Read Part 2)