Text: Romans 1:20,21

Props: a poster of autumn leaves or a picture of Natural Bridge, Virginia, USA.

Summary: Jesus uses his creation as a witness to unbelievers.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. – Romans 1:20,21

Look what I brought with me today. These are some leaves that I found on a trip to Natural Bridge, VA. Over in the mountains during this time of year the countryside has been painted by God with beautiful colored leaves: some yellow, some orange or red, and some brown and gold. We also saw this natural bridge which was carved out of rock by the great flood waters as they drained off the earth into underground caverns.

What season of the year do these leaves tell us it is? Autumn (or fall). Have you ever wondered why trees loose their leaves? I think it is because Jesus wants to give them a new pair of clothes and they need a rest from holding on to them all year long. Have you ever tried to hold on to a leaf for a whole year? Do you think you would get tired, too? Jesus knows we get tired, so he gave us a day of rest. We use that day to rest and thank God for all he has done for us.

Now, have you ever thought about all the people who use the day of rest to do things for themselves, and who never go to church? How does Jesus tell them about himself? He can use you to tell them, but even if they won’t listen to you, he has another way. He tells them through his own creation. Listen to the scripture. (Read Romans 1:20,21.)

Look at the picture of the natural bridge. Anyone who sees such a wondrous place comes away with a feeling of amazement. Only God in his power could carve out such a place with water. So it reminds them of God’s judgment (Noah’s ark and the flood) on those who do not recognize that Jesus is God, so they do not have an excuse.

Think about the leaves for a moment. If we wore the same pair of clothes all year what a mess they would be! Do you see the dirt on the leaves and the holes eaten in them by bugs? Jesus gave us seasons to remind us of the renewal we need. There are times we need to let go of the bad habits or things we have done. That is called repentance. Then Jesus can grow new habits on us, just as he grows new leaves on trees in springtime. Jesus uses him own creation to tell us about himself.

Let’s be sure to thank Jesus for the beauty of all he made today.

©1997 by Jim Kerlin. All rights reserved.

Text: John 12:20,21

Prop: a poster of Jesus

Summary: We should live in a manner so that others can see Jesus in us.

A week before his crucifixion, Jesus entered Jerusalem in a manner that fulfilled the words of the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 9:9) Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. The whole country knew who Jesus was and they wanted to see if he would come to the feast of Passover. The Pharisees had sought to kill him because he made himself equal to God. He was a wanted man: both by those that hated him, and those that believed on Him.

(Read Text) And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.
I grew up in a small town in Alabama. My parents took me to church regularly. It was an Episcopal parish with a small congregation of about 100 people. The wonderful pastor, Colonel Ray, was a genteel man, retired from the Air Force, but still serving the Lord. On one occasion he was teaching the youth about church traditions and giving us a tour of the church. He explained the nave and the sanctuary. Then he explained the pulpit. It was a large pulpit, and being short as I am, I could barely see over it from where he stood on Sundays. It had a small reading light, and taped neatly behind it was a small piece of paper that simply said: Sir, we would see Jesus. I asked him what it meant. He referred to this scripture and said whenever he preached it was his reminder that the whole world was searching for Jesus, and it was his job to show Jesus to them. I thought that was neat. Every time I see this scripture I remember that.

Some people have never seen a Bible. Some people have tried to read it and didn’t understand it. Jesus said to the unbelieving Pharisees that made it their work to understand the scriptures (John 5:39), Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. If you want to understand God’s Word you ought to meet the Author: Jesus. The Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible, Word of God. My dear Aunt Jessie wrote this in a Bible she gave to me when I was young: “The Bible is God’s Word. And I mean from Genesis right through Revelation. And as God’s Word it’s true. Whether you believe it or not doesn’t hurt it one bit. That’s true of any truth. But like any truth it’s absolutely worthless unless you believe and act accordingly.”

I’ve heard people question the truth of the Bible. They would ask, “Do you really believe God created the world the way it is described in Genesis? Yes, I do. Jesus believed it. In John 17:5,17,24 he said And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth… for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. In Psalm 33:6,9 David wrote: By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. I haven’t found any place in the Bible for evolution. In Romans 1:20,25 the Bible says that some will deny the Creator: For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Sir, we would see Jesus. Jesus is our Creator. If you would see him today, you must understand He created us. It says so in Colossians 1:16,17: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. If we want to understand and see Jesus, we must read his Word and believe it is true. In Romans 10:17 it says So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. We can show others Jesus and his love by the way we treat them and how we live our lives. The whole world is still searching for Jesus. When they look at us, will they see Jesus in us? Sir, we would see Jesus. Let’s be the light of the world to tell others that Jesus is alive forever and that he loves them.

©1997 by Jim Kerlin. All rights reserved.

Text: Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7-8

Prop: any article of clothing or a toy with a “Made in (country)” tag on it

Summary: God created man; he did not evolve. Our “tag” is a soul designed in the image of God.

Look what I brought with me today. What is it? [a sweater] Now if we look more closely, we can find out where it was made and from what material. See this tag? It says “Made in Scotland.” It was made from the finest sheep wool in the world in Scotland. Many items we can buy have tags such as this one that tell us about it.

Now I have a question for you. What about man? Where was he made and from what? [Listen to answers.) Some scientists say man wasn’t made at all, that he evolved over millions of years. That is simply not true and science has proof. There is no “missing link.” The Bible is truer than science. We have recorded in Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. We learn that God created man in the land of Eden. He placed him in a beautiful garden that God had planted. Notice the Bible says that God didn’t merely command the creation of man (in the manner he did the animals), he personally breathed life into him. God took the “dust of the ground” and made a living man. Man was God’s crowning work in all of creation; he was to rule the earth and have fellowship with God. Thus, Adam was made in Eden.

God has given us a tag that shows he made us. Do you know what it is? It is our eternal soul. God is the giver of life. We were created in the image of God. (Read Genesis 1:26-27] Man can see, hear, smell, touch, and speak. Man can reason what is right or wrong. Man has emotions. He is capable of being angry or loving, happy or sad. He stands upright and doesn’t crawl on four feet like an animal. He is able to return love to Jesus, the Creator. All human life is precious in the sight of God because we are made in his image.

Something went wrong in that beautiful Garden of Eden. Man didn’t obey God and was punished for his sin. But God provided us a way to heaven, a more beautiful place than Eden, when Jesus died for our sins on the cross. All we have to do is accept Jesus as our personal Savior and God will accept us into his kingdom. God seals us with his Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus as Lord. This is far more important than any tag because he marks us as his very own. Let us thank God for making us and loving us as his children.

©1998 by Jim Kerlin. All rights reserved.

For more information, please see Center for Scientific Creation online. I recommend you purchase a copy of Walt Brown’s book In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood.

Text: Genesis 1; Psalm 33:6,9; Colossians 1:16

Prop: a poster of The Lord Creating out of the Sea or a globe of the world

Summary: The story of creation.

Have you ever wondered how we got here? The Bible tells us that God has always been here and always will be with us. God loved us so much he wanted to create a beautiful place for us to live so we could learn to love Him. God thought of everything. In fact, Jesus was with God the Father in the beginning and it was by Jesus that all things were made, whether seen or not seen. (Colossians 1:16)

Now God has always done things decently and in order. God can do anything just by speaking the words or thinking it up. The very first verse in the Bible says In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. He just called it into being from nothing. Psalm 33:6 says By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. And then in verse 9 it says For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. Wow! What an awesome God we serve! He just spoke the words and they came to be from nothing!

The first thing God did after creating heaven and earth was to form light. We know that light is made of many different kinds of light: visible light, x-rays, ultraviolet light, gamma rays, microwaves, and more. And imagine this: He had not even made the sun yet! Then he started spinning the earth so we could measure time, a day and a night. That was the first day. Then God made a water vapor above the earth that we call the atmosphere. It would protect the surface of the earth and give us air to breathe. That was the second day. Then God moved the water around into seas and oceans and pulled up the dirt to form dry land. Then he made trees and plants and food. That was the third day. Then he made the stars and the sun and moon so the plants could grow. He made billions of stars and stretched out the universe so far we could never see the end of it. That was the fourth day.

Then God made fish and whales and everything in the sea. He made millions of different kinds of fish and sea creatures. Then he made a whole bunch of birds of many colors and taught them how to fly. That was the fifth day. Then God made all the land animals, and reptiles and insects. Even the slimy bugs and snakes… Yuck! And to top it all off God made the first man, Adam, and Eve from a rib in his side. He put them in charge of all that He made to take care of the earth. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (verse 31) That was the sixth day.

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (Genesis 2:3) It only took God seven days to do all that! He could have done it in the snap of his fingers, but he intentionally took seven days to give us what we call a week. He knew we would need a day of rest, so he gave us the example to rest every seven days so we wouldn’t wear ourselves out working all the time. God didn’t need millions of years for things to evolve, he is the Great Designer of everything that is. And God loved us so much he even made YOU! We love you, and God loves you. And that’s how everything was made!

©1999 by Jim Kerlin. All rights reserved.