What a marvelous thing to be in Awana tonight! My first venture out since surgery. The kids met here, ate and played and then we loaded up the vans headed for church. They were awesome. The room was filled with 34 middle schoolers all for the purpose of learning God's word! Amazing!
I'm sure you are familiar with the scripture 2 Timothy 2:15 which says, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." That's exactly what AWANA is meant to do. It stands for "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed." These kids (and leaders) work hard to learn these verses to "hide thy word in my heart that I might not sin against Thee." Psalm119:11. That requires at times memorizing a paragraph of scripture in an unfamiliar version of English, then understand and be able to explain the meaning of it. We teach them how those passages apply to everyday life-theirs. It's all about studying the word of God. Tough job-great payoff. I am so glad to be a part of such a great program and privileged to be teaching these incredibly hard working kids.
While I thought on the verse of studying to shew ourselves approved, I came upon another verse. 1 Thessalonians 4:10b-12 "But we beseech you, brethren that you increase more and more; and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing." Study of the word of God gives you a quiet spirit. A contentment and peace. A willing spirit comes from the study of God's goodness and grace. I'm not willing to buy what I'm not familiar with. I'm not willing to believe the word of someone I don't know. Ah, there we are! Do you know Him? If you don't, you can by accepting Jesus as your Savior. Then you continue to know Him better by reading His word.
Good works follow true believers in Christ. You become aware of people who don't know Him and of people who have not. Then you begin to minister out of the well of grace God has given you. We are His witnesses. God in return promises we will not lack. I know that to be true.
God can be tested. He's not afraid of you "trying out" His word. If you have faith as a mustard seed God says you can move a mountain. So, study the Bible today and see what God teaches you!
In Christ,
Jamie
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Hi Jamie, My name is Kim Anderson and I work at Awana headquarters in Chicago. I read your blog post about Awana and I'm so glad your year is off to a great start! I'd love to talk with you about your middle-school ministry and hear how you and your church are using Trek. You can reach me at kima@awana.org and perhaps we can set up a few minutes to talk this week.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Kim