Messages from Heaven Part 1, Monday

Hey kids, welcome to Junior's for Jesus.

Go grab your Bibles, we're gonna be digging in

and learning some really exciting stories.

Let's get started.

This week we're in a section entitled Messages from Heaven.

Yesterday we learned about the day of the Lord.

The day of the Lord is a big concept

that prophets like Joel talked about in the Bible.

It's a special day when God will show his power

and bring judgment to the world.

It's a day when God takes charge

and sets everything right.

The prophets warn the people

that if they didn't follow God's rules

and live in a way that pleased him,

then the day of the Lord would be a very scary time.

It's a time when probation or the day of salvation is over

and God will pour out his wrath on sin

and upon those who have chosen to reject him.

The prophets wanted the people to understand

that this day was a day of punishment

and that they needed to repent and turn back to God.

Our memory verse for this week is Amos chapter three,

verse seven, it reads,

surely the Lord God does nothing

unless he reveals his secret to his servants, the prophets.

Monday, pretend that you're old enough

to have a driver's license

and as you are driving one day,

you have a very serious accident.

Now you're in a courtroom standing before the judge.

According to this charge, the judge says sternly,

this accident happened on Saturday at 11 o'clock AM.

You were in a borrowed car

speeding recklessly through a children's play zone.

Your car hit one child who is still in a hospital

suffering from serious injuries

and witnesses say they saw you speed away

without stopping.

Do you plead guilty?

What would you say?

Would any excuse work?

How would you feel if the judge knew

that you claimed to be a Sabbath keeping Christian?

Where should you have been that morning at 11 o'clock?

Amos, the next minor prophet wasn't a judge

but his messages were given to him

by the judge of the whole universe

and like a judge, he fearlessly gave them to the people.

He even mentioned some of their sins

of which they should plead guilty before the judge.

There was no excuse for these sins.

Amos chapter two verses four and five.

Thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Judah

and for four, I will not turn away its punishment

because they have despised the law of the Lord

and have not kept his commandments.

Their lies lead to mistray.

Lies which their fathers followed

but I will send a fire upon Judah

and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

Amos lived in the kingdom of Judah

but his messages were for both the kingdoms

of Israel and Judah.

His home was in the small town named Tekewa

which was about 10 miles south of Jerusalem

in the wilderness of Tekewa.

How did he earn his living?

Amos chapter seven verses 14 and 15.

Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah,

I was no prophet nor was I a son of a prophet

but I was a sheep herder and a tender of sycamore fruit.

Then the Lord took me as I followed the flock

and the Lord said to me,

go prophesied to my people Israel.

About 150 years before the first Jeroboam

had made two golden calves for his people to worship

in Israel and he didn't want them to keep going to Judah

to worship God at the temple in Jerusalem.

From that time on,

they had gone deeper and deeper into idol worship

and by the time of Amos,

they were as wicked as the hidden.

Jeroboam the second was king of Israel at that time

and his kingdom was so rich,

its people didn't feel their need of God.

Amos chapter six verses three through six

woe to you who put far off the day of doom

who caused the seat of violence to come near

who lie on beds of ivory,

stretch out on your couches,

eat lambs from the flock

and calves from the midst of the stall

who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments

and invent for yourselves musical instruments like David

who drink wine from bowls and anoint yourselves

with the best ointments

but are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

Now let's apply it.

Does that mean it's always dangerous to be rich?

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