Awana Closing

Awana closing message.

Awana’s Vision Statement is:

THE VISION AND PRAYER OF AWANA IS THAT ALL CHILDREN AND YOUTH THROUGHOUT THE WORLD WILL COME TO KNOW, LOVE, AND SERVE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

To Know:

John 1:12, (NASB95) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,

To Believe – Intellectually – To know about God.

James 2:19 (NASB95) 19You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

This would be more akin to knowing ABOUT God. Just knowing ABOUT God is not enough.

John 1:12, (NASB95) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,

To know about God and to be firmly persuaded to follow – faith.

To Receive – Intimately – to actively take, to grasp with the hand, as in a husband receives his wife and a wife receives her husband. There is a relational intimacy. To have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

John 6:40 (NASB95) 40“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

To behold means to gaze with interest, giving careful observance to details, and with awe and wonder embrace.

This is about knowing Jesus on a first name basis, face to face, and embracing Him.

Do you think you are on a first name basis with Jesus, embracing Him with awe and wonder?

This is the first task of AWANA. We want the kids and their parents to know Jesus on a first name basis, intimately, and with awe and wonder.

To Love:

We all know the Greatest Commandment:

Mark 12:30 (NASB95) 30and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

The Greek word to love comes from agape and means to have in mind the best interests of the other person. It also means to find one’s joy in someone.

Do we have God’s best interests in mind? Do we find our joy in Jesus?

This is what we are also trying to help the youth understand.

We are to love God with all our:

· Heart – emotions, passion, will

· Soul – relational aspect, spiritual growth and maturity.

· Mind – thoughts, study

· Strength – actions, works of service

And through that we find our joy and satisfaction in loving Jesus.

To Serve:

This comes off the final part of love which is loving God with all our strength.

John 14:12 (NASB95) 12“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

John 14:15 (NASB95) 15“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

What did Jesus teach? Are we putting into practice what He taught?

What did Jesus do? How did He love and serve those around Him? Are we doing the same?

So there is a progression here. We know so we can love so we can serve.

Unfortunately, some people try to put it backwards. They think by doing a bunch of good things in the name of Jesus, then that’s all He wants. They miss out on the earlier things, knowing, believing, receiving, and loving Him.

Matthew 7:22–23 (NASB95) 22“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’

23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

We don’t want a bunch of youth who just do good things, but don’t know and love Jesus.

Likewise, we want the youth to understand that if they do know and love Jesus, they should be doing good things. The latter flows out of the former.

So, that is the vision statement of AWANA, and that is what we try to do here at Lighthouse. Our goal is that all will come to know, love, and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

Questions to Ponder:

What about you? Do you know Jesus intellectually and intimately?

Do you love Jesus with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength?

Do you find your joy in Jesus?

Do you follow Jesus’ commandments and imitate His works of service?

If you find yourself answering no to any of them, but especially the first one, I encourage you to start today. Ask God to help you do those 4 things listed.

If you used to be able to say yes, but have wandered from that commitment, I encourage you to recommit tonight.

Let’s pray.