Thursday, February 21, 2013

Keep HOPE alive -- February 21, 2013

"HOPE" was the focus of our two stories.  Each story took place in Babylon about 500 BC.  Daniel and his friends had been sent from Judah to Babylon when King Nebuchadnezzar captured the Southern Kingdom.  Ezekiel was in Babylon to make sure the transplanted Jews did not forget God.

The first story from Daniel 1 tells the story of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego undergoing training to serve the Babylonian Empire.  They asked to be served vegetables and water instead of the king's lush meal offerings.  From paintings from the time period, male beauty meant chubbiness and big muscles.  Going vegetarian wasn't normally the way to accomplish that.  Daniel and his friends wanted to show that God would take care of them.

The video we saw to illustrate this was "Stand Up" from the VeggieTales Rack, Shack, and Benny. 
It's a really catchy tune.

Our second story was from Ezekiel 37:1-14.  It was a vision that God gave Ezekiel about a valley of dry bones coming to life.  It represented the prophesy that God's people would be freed from their captivity and go back to Jerusalem.  It was a message of hope.

We watched a video that showed us The Valley of Dry Bones.


We did not have time to watch a second video about this passage.  It's from The Wiggles called "Dem Dry Bones". 

It's much more kid-friendly.

Jerusalem fell to the Babylonian army because the Jews had forgotten God and had instead worshiped the gods of pagan nations.  The way for us to not face God's discipline is to do what He tells us to do.

We finished with one final video:  Fellowship of the Unashamed

It finishes like this:  "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.  I must go until He returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He stops me.

And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.

My colors will be clear."

Make it a great week!

Loyally yours,

Darren Bayne

"Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it."  Bill Cosby

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