Gospel for God's Children - Sunday, July 5, 2020

Kids love the bright-colored fruit stickers that smell like oranges, watermelons and strawberries.  Women who want to “try before they buy” appreciate the perfume samples handed out in the stores or tucked inside a magazine.  It's technical name is micro fragrance or microencapsulation, but it is popularly known as "scratch 'n' sniff."  How does it work?  The idea is to keep a fragrance contained until someone wishes to smell it.

The people who make scratch 'n' sniff products start with a tiny plastic capsule, too small to see.  The scent is enclosed in the capsule by mixing perfume oil with water to form tiny droplets.  These drops are sprinkled on a surface and then coated with plastic.  The droplets are sometimes heated and sometimes left alone until they have set in the plastic.  Then a coat of resin is applied which sticks the whole thing to paper.  When the paper is scratched,  or a sticky seal is broken, the capsules release the fragrance. 

The idea was developed in the 1960's by the 3M company.  At one time there was even a scratch 'n' sniff movie.  Members of the audience were given sheets with numbered samples.  When the movie screen showed number three, for instance, everyone would scratch number three and then smell roses, or popcorn, or whatever scent matched the picture the screen.

God made all our senses, so he knows how pleasant it is for us to smell something fragrant.  He meant for us to enjoy our sense of smell and to be delighted with an appealing scent.  He uses the following comparison to encourage us to use kind  words, " The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume or incense."  (Proverbs 27: 9)

You don't ever have to be critical or stern, bossy or spiteful when you speak to someone.  Instead, find a way to deliver your message with peaceful words, encouraging words, and words of hope and help.  The people who hear you will listen much more carefully - drawn to your kindness in the same way that they would move toward the smell of fresh - baked - cookies.

" Heavenly Father help us to be kind and to speak kindly to others.   In Jesus name we pray. "  Amen

God Bless,
Linda Shields

Gospel for God's Children - Sunday, June 28, 2020

Once there was a rich man who had a son.  The son was very much loved by the father.  This son was very tender hearted and he would often walk through the town stopping to talk to people he met.   He would often stop to talk to a poor beggar,  and give him some money. 

The beggar sketched portraits.  While talking one day, the son told the beggar that his father loved art and had a huge art gallery full of beautiful paintings.   The beggar liked the son and wanted to sketch the son's portrait for him to give to his Father. The son said yes, and the beggar gave him the sketch.  

After awhile the son stopped coming by and the beggar wondered what had happened to him.   One day he picked up his mat and supplies and decided to go to the father's  mansion.  There he saw the watchman and he asked about the son. The watchman said the son had died and then the father died.  The beggar said, " Oh, I didn't know. "  The watchman then said the father's  huge art collection was to be auctioned off today.  The beggar wondered if his sketch of the son would be in the collection?  He decided he would clean up the best he could and go to the auction. 

When he entered the mansion and saw the beautiful paintings he was amazed to see his humble sketch there in the middle of all the splendid works of art.  The auction started with the auctioneer stating that it was the will of the Father that the sketch of the son was the first piece of art to be auctioned off.   None of the people wanted the sketch and refused to bid on it.  The beggar pulled out what coins he had and said "I will give all I have for the son. " He received the sketch.  Then the people said, " Now, can we start the bidding for the real works of art?"  The auctioneer said, " No,  for the father's second stipulation was that whoever receives the son would also receive all of the art collection. "

This parable told by Dr.  Ravi Zacharias  illustrates God's  will for us in that when we accept Jesus Christ, His son, we also become his children and joint heirs with Christ.   (Galatians 3: 29 and Galatians  4: 7)

“ For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  John 3: 16.           

God Bless,
Linda Shields

Gospel for God's Children - Sunday, June 21, 2020

From " Did you know” devotions

When you're out on a golf course, you will hear a lot of golfers yelling  the word "fore" and then hitting the ball.  Why did they pick the number four,  and why aren't they getting in trouble for screaming it?

Actually, it doesn't mean a number at all.   Golfers are actually  copying something soldiers from long ago used to do.  Soldiers had to stand in rows when they shot their guns at the enemy in a war.  The back row of soldiers needed to warn the soldiers in the front row to move out of the way so they wouldn't get hit by bullets from behind.   The soldiers would yell, "Beware before!" which meant " Get out of the way or you'll  be shot!"  Then the front row would kneel down, and the back row could shoot over their heads.  But after a while the soldiers got tired of yelling the whole warning, so they shortened it to " Before!" and finally to just "Fore!"  So when a golfer swings at a ball, he will yell "fore" to say, " Everybody, get out of the way of my golf ball, just in case in might hit you!"  This is one time when it isn't considered rude to shout; instead, it's the most polite thing to do. 

The Bible says: “The Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”   (Please read Isaiah 52: 12, NIV)

When you are God's child, it is better than having a whole row of soldiers behind you for protection.   Because God loves us, he gave us the Bible to tell us every way to keep ourselves safe.  The Bible doesn't  shout, but what it has to say is loud and clear. 

God Bless,
Linda Shields

Gospel for God's Children - Sunday, June 7, 2020

A photo of a little 7 year old boy, Trey Elliot, praying over a Tulsa police officer has gone viral getting shared more than 10,500 times as of Wednesday morning. Trey has already prayed for several officers. 

In 1 Timothy 4: 12 Apostle Paul writes, “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you're young.   Be an example to all believers in what you teach in the way you live, in your love, your faith and your purity. 

God has called children throughout the scriptures to help teach and spread the gospel as in the Old Testament Bible stories of the baby Moses pulled out of the Nile river in his basket boat by Pharaoh's daughter,  David the shepherd boy who went to battle against the giant Goliath,  or the little girl who was Naaman's wife's maid who told her mistress about the prophet Elisha whose God could heal Naaman's leprosy, and also Samuel, whose mother keeping her promise,  left him with Eli the priest in the temple as a very young child to serve God. 

In the New Testament God continued to call on the youth to help. Jesus blessed the loaves and the fishes from the young boy's lunch his mother had prepared for him and the boy offered to the disciples to feed the 5
thousand people who had come to hear Jesus teach. Timothy the eager young assistant recruited by the Apostle Paul to teach the gospel, and there are many more stories of children mentioned in the Bible.

All through scripture God has called upon children and young people to help spread his word to the world.  God calls upon you also to help spread the Gospel by the way we live.  Live pure lives by minding our
parents, getting along with siblings and friends, sharing with others, telling others about Jesus. Like Trey you too can pray.  Pray for your country, pray for your church, pray for others needs and healing.  God can use us no matter our age to spread his word and blessings.  

In Psalms chapter 8 verse 2 King David writes, " You have taught children and nursing infants to give you praise.”  Let us give our God praise today. 

God bless,

Linda Shields
First Presbyterian Church
Independence, KS









Gospel for God's Children - Sunday, May 31, 2020

First please read Luke 11: 1 - 4, 

We say "The Lord's Prayer" during church every Sunday morning, and in this model prayer which Jesus taught his disciples to pray to his Father respectfully addressing Him as, "Our Father who art in heaven hallowed" be thy name.”  Hallowed, what does that word mean?  We hear God's name used so much during passionate outbursts of frustration or anger, or in television shows, movies, and in conversations so frivolously, without thought or reverence and honor which His name so richly and rightly deserves.  There doesn't seem to be much "hallowed" being shown in respect to God's name. 

Jesus taught us in the Lord's prayer to call His Father's name "hallowed" which means holy, to be exalted, worthy of complete devotion, as one who is perfect in goodness and righteousness. Jesus honored his Father with respect, reverence and love, setting the example for all of us. 

In the Ten Commandments, (Exodus 20: verse 7) God instructs us saying, "Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God.  The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name."  God commands us to treat His name with the honor and respect which He so richly deserves. 

Jesus taught us also to treat his father's name with the same love, honor and respect that he held for his father.   To treat God's name holy. 

We who are God's holy people, who have been made holy by Jesus suffering and sacrifice on the cross for our sins, show our love and respect to our heavenly Father by remembering to use His name reverently. God's name is hallowed.  Let us remember when we use God's name to say His name with all the respect and
honor His hallowed name commands. 

God bless. 

Linda Shields

Gospel for God's Chilldren for Sunday, May 24, 2020

"Birds of the Air"

In the scriptures birds are mentioned nearly 300 times.  Specific species such as sparrows, eagles, ravens ostriches, mother hen, doves, the list goes on. Turtle doves are mentioned 66 times in the Old Testament, 11 times in the New Testament. 

In Matthew 6: 25 - 26 Jesus reminds us to look at the birds of the air and how God takes care of them, and we are more valuable than they are, or in Matthew 10: 29 - 31 Jesus tells how God cares for the sparrows, worth only " half a penny" yet one can't fall to the ground without God knowing it, and again we are still more
valuable to Him.  

I'm referencing these scriptures because on the farm this spring Grandpa and I have had encounters with the birds on the farm. We've  had to postpone certain tasks we planned to do because birds decided to build their nests in areas where we wanted to work (we will get the work done after the fledglings have flown). 

We've had some very severe storms that have had some very powerful winds come through this spring. One storm had 70 mph wind with horizontal rain.  The trees and large shrubs that held the nests of robins, turtle doves, and the orioles whipped in the wind.  I thought of these scriptures as the next morning the birds emerged from their nests unscathed.  

Every year a Canadian Geese family builds their nest on the point that juts out into the lake.   Grandpa and I
don't like to see that because the point goes under water during the spring rains.  One evening during a storm the mother goose sat fast upon her nest, papa goose sat a ways off on guard, as the water rose closer and
closer to the nest.  As night came and the storm continued, Grandpa and I were down hearted because we were sure the lake water would wash over the nest and the eggs would be lost.  But the next morning the mother goose was still there,  she was rolling the eggs farther upon the point and a few days later this goose family had 2 babies hatch.  Also, the morning after a violent storm another goose family appeared on the bank of the little pond with four babies.

Living by a lake we have lots of barn swallows.   They are good little hunters flying and darting about eating insects.  They also build mud nests attaching them to inside corners of buildings.   They don't  mind at all building their little mud nests in the corner of our porch that I worked on cleaning this spring, setting out my patio furniture to sit on to enjoy the summer.  

A barn swallow couple kept flitting up over the porch and sat on the rail. I thought," Oh no you don't, I'm not going to have you carrying mud up here on my clean porch."  I remembered Great Grandma had some old plastic owls in the shed that she used in the garden, so I got them out and hung them on the porch to scare the birds into not building their nests there.   Well it worked for a couple of days.  Then one morning I looked out and found that they built their mud nest on top of the owls head (unfortunately I was unable to paste the picture to this story.   I gave up.   You win birds. I guess if they will take care of the insects, I can lend them a corner. 

Yes God watches over the birds of the air,  but more importantly He watches over us.  Matthew 6: 26
"Look at the birds. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them.  And you are far more valuable to Him than they are." 

God bless.  Linda Shields

Gospel for God's Children for Sunday, May 17, 2020 by Linda Shieilds



During this time of "Coronavirus" many people have been recognized as "heroes," and they are.   Our health care workers,  first responders,  others making face masks,  people donating time and money to those in need,  and those who have organized food drives and distribution sites.   Many have come together during this unusual time to help their neighbors.  We have seen God's love demonstrated by His people obeying His command "love one another, just as I have loved you, you should love each other."   (John 13: 34)  

We pray for our country during this difficult time.   We pray for God to grant our leaders’ wisdom in making very important decisions that will affect all of us.  May God help them and give them the guidance to make wise decisions.  

May God care for His Church.   Help us to be His hands and feet as we share with the world His love and saving grace.   Matthew 28: 19 - 20, Jesus said He would be with us always as we spread the good news of His
love. 

May God remind us that He does hear us when we call upon Him,  He is listening to our prayers,  and in His perfect time through Him our needs will be provided (1 Peter 5:6-7)  He wants his children to give Him our
worries and cares.   

Most of all as we pray for our heroes,  let us remember the Greatest Hero of them all.  Christ Jesus, whose greatest act of self-sacrifice was for all people of all time.  Through Him we have been promised that our sins have been forgiven,  our needs will be provided,  through Him we can be called children of God,  and because of Him we have a home in heaven where we can be in  the very presence of God our Father.  What a wonderful Hero we have in Him!

Continue to pray, love others as Jesus taught us, and wait patiently on our God.  Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4: 8 that we are pressed by troubles and are perplexed but we don't  give up. Jesus stated in John
16:33, " I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.   Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.   But take heart, because I have overcome the world."

Gospel for God's Children for Sunday, May 10, 2020 by Linda Shields

A lesson from "The Book of Mysteries" between the Teacher and the Student.

"I'm going to teach you how to speak Hebrew," said the teacher, "or at least one sentence."  
 "I'm ready."   
 "The Hebrew word for 'with' is 'eem'. And the word for 'us' is 'anu'."   
 "Eem'.... anu," I said.    
 "And the word for 'God' is 'El'."
“El." 
"So, how would you say 'With us is God'?" he asked.    
 "Eem... anu... El."   
 "Say it again."   
 "Eem... anu... El.   Eem anu  El ...Immanuel! "   
 "Yes, Immanuel.   So Isaiah prophesied of Messiah, "A virgin shall conceive and give birth to a child and call
Him Immanuel."
"The Name of Messiah."   
 "And more than a name.  In Hebrew, it's a sentence.  It's a declaration, a reality.  It's the reality of Messiah.   His very life on earth was this Hebrew sentence, a declaration in Hebrew- eem  anu  El. " 
"How was His life a sentence?”  I asked 
 "When He was sorrowful, who was it that was sorrowful?"
 "Immanuel."
"It was Immanuel in sorrow." said the teacher, "Eem anu El in sorrow.  It forms a sentence: 'God is with us in sorrow.'  And when He was in the boat on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of the storm, it was Immanuel in the storm Eem anu El in the storm.  It forms another sentence: ' God is with us in the storm.'  And when He was despised and rejected often, it was Eem anu El in rejection. "
 "God is with us in rejection," I replied. 
 "When He hung on the cross in judgement, it was Eem anu El in judgement."  "God is with us in judgment."
 "And when He ascended to heaven, where He is, it is Eem anu El forever."  "God is with us forever."
"Immanuel came into the world and to every circumstance of life so that we could say, 'Eem anu El, God is with us...in every place, in every moment, always... and forever. "

The Mission:  Today, practice the Hebrew of His name.   In every circumstance speak and fathom the reality of eem anu El - God is with you, always. 

Please read Isaiah 7: 14; Matthew 1: 21- 25; and Luke 8: 22 – 25 with the children.

Gospel for God's Children for Sunday, May 3, 2020 by Linda Shields

Grandpa asked me to help him with cleaning the brush and small trees growing in the fence around Great Grandma's vegetable garden.  Years ago Great Grandpa put up the fence to keep the neighboring farm's goats out of Great Grandma's garden. Over the years the trees,  vines, and weeds had come up in the fence rows prompting Grandpa to get the backhoe out to dig up the trees and pull up the fence. 

Grandpa pulled up the brush with no problems on the east side of the garden, but on the west side, about half way through, as Grandpa raised the shovel to bring down on the tree, a turtle dove suddenly flew out of the tree.  Grandpa stopped and asked me,  " Does she have a nest in the tree?"  I looked,  and sure enough there was a nest full of eggs.  

The mother bird had flown to another tree a few feet away and was watching intently. 

Grandpa said, " Well,  we'll  have to wait until the eggs hatch and they leave the nest. "  

We decided the garden had gone this long, what are a few more weeks?  We left the area and worked in another area the yard.   We could see the mother bird slowly work her way back to the nest.  

So Grandpa and I will wait.   We've  wanted to clean up the garden for a long time and when we got the chance we have to wait. 

We find ourselves waiting now, not because of the birds, but due to the pandemic.  Waiting to be with family,  friends,  and being able to go places.  We are not able to go to church,  school,  or to a favorite restaurant.   For weeks we've  been confined  to our homes, told to stay at least 6 feet away from others,  only able to talk to
extended family through messenger, Facebook or phone. It's been frustrating and sometimes we wonder if God has been listening to our prayers or if He cares about our suffering. 

In Matthew 8: 23 -27, even the apostles at one time wondered if Jesus cared.  They were afraid that they were about to drown in a storm that had suddenly arose on the lake.   Jesus was asleep on the boat they were in and the apostles frantically awakened him.  Jesus said,  " Why are you afraid?   You have such little faith. "  Then Jesus rebuked  the wind and waves,  and suddenly all was calm. 

God has not turned a deaf ear towards us.   He is not silently sitting back watching us suffer.   He is working for our behalf.  His timing is perfect.

We learn to depend on Him, and realize that when we are weak, He is strong. Our trials teach us to wait on the Lord,  depend, and trust in Him. 

This won't last forever,  it will end,  and we will come through it stronger and wiser.  

Grandpa and I will wait on the mother turtle dove and her babies to leave the nest when they are ready, while we also wait on God to end this pandemic.  Thank you God. 

Please read  John 16 : 33,  Isaiah 40 : 31. James 5 : 16b. Matthew 8 : 23 –27 with the children.

Gospel for God's Children for Sunday, April 26, 2020

Gospel for God’s Children by Linda Shields:

It's spring time on the farm.  In the spring the animals are busier than the other three seasons.  In the hot
summer time they lie in the shade of the trees, quietly trying to stay cool.   In the fall and cold winter they stay sheltered to try and stay warm. But in the spring time, our ducks are busy. The hens have to find the ideal place to lay their eggs.  Grandpa and I find duck nests under the back porch steps, tucked under growing vines, even in large planting pots and behind Great Grandma's yellow rose bush beside the garage.  We
permit the hens to use these spots to settle in to hatch their young, but there is one place where they are not permitted and that is in Mama Cat's little house on the back porch. Yet every spring, we see Mama cat either
lying in her house on top of a bunch of duck eggs or she is forced out of her house by a determined duck who has become a squatter in her house while she was out on a hunt.   

Grandpa has made enemies with little brown duck as daily he checks Mama Cat’s house and sure enough finds Brown's eggs tucked in the plush bed.  Little brown duck saw him toss out her eggs and she squawked at him.  She jumped up on the rail of the porch still squawking at him.   Little brown duck jumped down on the container under the porch where the cracked corn is stored and believe it or not, glared at Grandpa.   He said, "she stared daggers at me.”

Since then, Grandpa has caught her on the porch waddling towards Mama Cat’s house, and when she sees that Grandpa has spotted her, she stops in her tracks, then flies off the porch. 

Little brown duck knows she is doing wrong, (she proves that when she sees Grandpa, stops and flies away) yet she has continued to try and take over Mama Cat’s house.   

Sometimes we act the same way.  We are told not to do something, yet we do that something anyway.   We
don't really intend to do wrong, but we give in to temptation.  

This has been happening since the beginning of time.  In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Eve forgot about God's goodness and listened to Satan's lie rather than God's warning, and we know the rest of the story.  Sin entered the world, along with trouble, sorrow and death. 

But our loving and forgiving God did not leave us to our misery, brought on by our own disobedience.  He did not abandon us or forsake us, but promised He would never leave us.  Matthew 28: 20b - "And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

When we do wrong,   God said He is "faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanses us from all
unrighteousness."  What a wonderful God we have.  

So when we act like little brown duck, and do what we know is wrong, let us remember to be sorry, ask God to
forgive us and give us guidance to do what is pleasing in His sight.   After all He is always with us, and that is very comforting to know.  

Please read Genesis 3, Psalms 32:1-2, and 1 John 1:9 with the children.

Gospel for God's Children for Sunday, April 19, 2020 by Linda Shields

Earlier in the week Grandpa and I were putting seed planting trays in the little green house on the farm.   I was clearing off a shelf to set the planting trays on, when I found an old rusted bird cage that Great Grandma had
set in the greenhouse years before.   Grandpa remembered it as the one his folk's had in the house when he was a little boy for their pet bird.   I decided to take the cage to the house to clean and paint it, maybe
using it for some sort of decor.  

Later in the week I was surfing the internet and praying for an idea for the "Gospel for Kids," when this story from Paul Harvey appeared.   Is it a coincidence that it is about a "bird cage"?

The Bird Cage - by Paul Harvey

Boston preacher Dr. S. D. Gordon placed a beat up, broken,  rusted, old bird cage beside his pulpit when
he told this story. 

An unkempt, unwashed little lad about 10 years old was coming up the alley swinging this old caved in bird cage with several tiny birds shivering on the floor of it.   The compassionate Dr. Gordon asked
the boy where he got the birds.   He said he trapped them. 

Dr. Gordon asked what he was going to do with them.  The boy said he was going to play with them and have fun with them.  The preacher said, "Sooner or later you'll get tired of them.  Then what are you going to do with
them?"

The lad said, "I have some cats. I'll feed them to my cats. "

Dr. Gordon said, " Son, how much do you want for the birds?"

The boy, surprised, hesitated and said," Mister, you don't want these birds.  They're just plain old field birds.   They can't even sing. They're ugly. "

The preacher said, " Just tell me how much do you want?"

The grubby little lad thought about it.  He squinted up one eye.  He calculated and hesitated then said, "Two dollars."

To his surprise Dr Gordon reached into his pocket and handed the boy two one dollar bills.  The preacher took the cage.  The boy, in a wink, hurried up the alley. 

In a sheltered crevice between buildings Dr. Gordon opened the door of the cage and tapping on the rusty exterior he encouraged the little birds one at a time to find their way out through the narrow door and fly away.

This having accounted for the empty cage beside the pulpit, the preacher went on to tell what seemed at first like a separate story. 

About how once upon a time Jesus and the devil had engaged in a negotiation. Satan had boasted how he had baited a trap in Eden's garden and had caught himself a world full of people. 

"What are you going to do with all those people in the cage?" Jesus wanted to know. 

The Devil said, "I'm going to play with them, tease them. I'll make them marry and divorce, fight and kill one another.  I'm going to teach them to throw bombs on one another.  I'm going to have fun with them! "

Jesus said, "You can't have fun with them forever.  When you get tired of playing, what are you going to do with them?"

Satan said, "Condemn them!  They're no good anyway!  Condemn them! Kill them!"

Jesus said, "How much do you want for them?"

Satan said, "You can't be serious!  If I sell them to you, they'll just spit on you.  They'll hate you.  They'll hit you and beat you. They'll hammer nails into you.  They're no good. "

Jesus said, "How much?"

Satan said, "All of your tears and all of your blood."

Jesus took the cage and paid the price and opened the door.

This is why we love Jesus. 

(Please read Roman's 5:6-15 and Hebrews 10:1–20 with the children.)

Gospel for God’s Children on Easter Sunday, by Linda Shields

 The Chrysalis- The teacher and the student

(Have the kids pull up a picture of a chrysalis and a butterfly)

Read Romans 6: 4-8, and 2 Corinthians 5: 17

We were sitting outside under an olive tree.   The teacher's attention was drawn downward to a small dark object slowly moving along the ground.   "It looks like a worm,” he said, “but different from a worm... a
caterpillar, a fascinating creature... the child of a butterfly... an ugly crawling wormhole creature born of a beautiful winged creature.   And it has no idea of it's origin or who its parent is.   It goes through life crawling on the ground.  The only life it knows is a wormlike life."

He picked up the caterpillar and placed it on the olive tree.     

"But one day the caterpillar climbs up a tree, hangs upside down, and begins to form around it's body a hard
protective shell, a chrysalis.   In the chrysalis, that which was the caterpillar comes to its end.   Only in its dying as a caterpillar can the creature undergo a metamorphosis.   And when the metamorphosis is complete, a new being emerges from the shell of the chrysalis.   The new creature longer has anything wormlike about
it.   It is now winged and beautiful.   It will never again crawl through the earth and never again be earthbound.  It will live in the image of the one who gave it life... as the winged creature it was always meant to become. "

"It is an amazing phenomenon, "I said.

"Yes, within it a shadow.  

"Of...?”

"The caterpillar is given life by the butterfly.   We are given life by God.   As the caterpillar crawls through life, earthbound and unaware of the purpose for which it was born, so man goes through life earthbound and unaware of the purpose for which he was born.   We see with wormlike eyes, think wormlike thoughts, and live wormlike lives.   But to some of these earthbound creatures a miracle happens... They allow themselves to die to the old, to the earthbound wormlike life.   And yet in their dying to their old self they begin a metamorphosis.   The earthbound life dies.   But what emerges in its place is a different life, a new creation, beautiful and no longer earthbound but now heavenly and made to dwell in heavenly
realms... and what it was always meant to be... a heavenly being in the image of Him from whom it was given life in the first place. "

"The new birth, the new creation.”


"Yes, the metamorphosis of the children of God, born as earthly creatures, but reborn as the children of heaven... the Gospel of the butterfly" 

(From the "Book of Mysteries")

Palm Sunday Chidren's Time Message

Gospel for God’s Children - For Palm Sunday

The children and their parents need to read Genesis Chapter 22

This tells about God testing Abraham’s faith.   The Hebrew people call it the "Akedah" the offering up of Isaac. According to "The Book of Mysteries", that after this test, God sealed his covenant (His oath or promise) with Abraham.  In this test each had to be willing to do what the other was willing to do. Abraham was willing to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice, therefore God had to be willing to offer up His Son as a sacrifice.  Abraham brings his son on a donkey to the land of the sacrifice,  so then God would have to bring His Son to the land of the sacrifice - Palm Sunday,  Messiah is brought on a donkey to the place of sacrifice.  The father places the wood of the sacrifice on his son's shoulders; God places the wood of the sacrifice, the cross, on Messiah's shoulders.   The son carries the wood up the mountain to the place of the sacrifice.   Messiah carries the wood to the place of the sacrifice.  The father lays his son upon the wood and binds him to
it.   The Messiah is laid on the wood of the cross and bound to it.  The father lifts up the knife of sacrifice but is stopped.   The knife, the judgement of God, is lifted up, but is not stopped.  Messiah is sacrificed on the wood. 

What appears here in this account for the first time in all of scripture is the word "love". The first love in the Bible is from this account, the love of the father for the son,  just as the first love in existence was that of the Father for the Son. And yet the Father was willing to offer up the Son of His love, to save us.  And what does that reveal?  If God offered up the Son of His love to save you,  then He must love you with the same love with which He loved the Son.  As it is written,  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish,  but have ever lasting life.  So don't' ever wonder how much God loves you.   As much as He loves His only begotten Son,  the greatest love in existence,  that is how great His love is for you.

Linda S. Shields
First Presbyterian Church
Independence, KS