Body Armor #3: The Shoe's of The Preparation of The Gospel

You Need To Be Prepared!

Because there’s lots that’s going to come at you in your lives. and if you’re not prepared to not only live, but defend your Faith in Christ. then you may find yourself joining the enemy rather than defeating them. and I don’t want that to happen to any of you.

It’s My Job

Its my Job as your pastor to help make sure that you’re prepared for the world that you have to live in. You are going into a world that sometimes is open hostile to those who profess to be Christian. WE are told that our beliefs are out dated, or not inclusive enough. we are told that what we believe run counter to what science says, or what others believe, so we should keep our faith to ourselves.

And to a little bit I don’t blame people because Us Christians have been some of the most Ignorant people on earth. We are the ones who condemned people for saying that the earth is round! and we did the same when scientist said that The earth was not the center of the universe, but simply a part of it.

It is Christians that are some of the biggest deniers that Climate change is a thing… and it’s kinda funny, in a sad way because Christians should be the ones taking the best care of our planet. But I digress...

This Week is About Being Prepared

Being prepared to face the world and confidently saying Yes! I am a Christian, I know what I believe and Why. I believe it is the primary job of this Children's Ministry, because if I don’t do it… who will?

So who remembers the Armor of God?

(Allow a volunteer to do it for 5 bible bucks)

Let’s do it together

The Belt of Truth (Hands on Hips)

The Brestplate of Rigtheousness (Fist to heart)

Shoes of the preparation of the Gospel of of Peace (Tie Shoes)

The Sheild of Faith (Hand out to Protect), and

the Sword of Faith (Hand high with sword)

Repeat a couple of Times

Let’s talk about Shoes

You have to wonder why Paul is writing about Shoes… when he talks aboutthe armor of God… there must have been other parts o armor for him to right about… maybe the:

Javelin of the Gospel (maybe not of peace)

Neck scarf of the gospel?

Maybe the Shin guard of the Gospel?

The Gauntlets of the Gospel?

See there are many parts of any armor that could have been mentioned… so why shoes? why stinky smelly shoes?

well lets take a look at some shoes shall we?

(Pull out vibrams) What Kind of Shoes do you think these are?

So if I was preparing for say, church… would these be the right shoes? No?

(Pull Out Crocks) What kind of shoes are these?

So if I was preparing to say… go for a run… would these be the right shoes? No

(Pull Out Flip flops) what kinds of shoes are these?

So if I was preparing for a day on the beach… would these be the right shoes? Yes!

So having the right shoe for the right situation is important!

Each of these shoes has it purpose and are useful and purpose built for a particular use.

The Roman Sandal

The Romans had shoes Iike no one else had at the time… it was a simple and important innovation and one that we still use today.

(pull out soccer Cleats) What kids of shoes are these?

What are they used for? Most of you know exactly what these are and what they are used for, but did you know that before the Romans came no one had anything like this… why do you think this was important? (allow for some answers)

(show Sandal Slide) Having shoes with cleats (well nails) in them allowed the Romans to walk longer and run faster because unlike the smooth bottoms sandals and shoes of the time the roman shoes had grip! so no slipping and sliding around…

It’s like when you are pushing against someone… if you’re wearing shoes and they are just in socks, who’s going to win? (allow answers). having these suds or cleat on the bottom of their shoes made the roman soldiers just like a person pushing against someone in socks in battle. it was a HUGE game changer for battle and That is why he mentions shoes...

The Christian Sandal

Just like the Roman soldiers needed to put on their SPECIALLY MADE shoes for battle we must prepare in our own SPECIAL way for spiritual battle.

How do we prepare for doing battle in the world? when we are putting on our spiritual armor what is it that is our “shoes with cleats” what is it that makes us different from the rest?

Lets read something from the Bible, this is in 1 Corinthians 15:1-6

1 Corinthians 15:1–6 NKJV

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

The Truth of Jesus’ Life Holds our Faith

Shoes with cleats or studs help you to hold onto the ground for better traction… And this is what we have that gives us Spiritual traction… it’s our beliefs...

Paul here is reminding the church at Corinth That the story of Jesus was just some fancy story that someone made up. Jesus was actually seen by many people. Paul even names them as people who would be trusted not to lie. but this is what we have faith in this is our spiritual cleats. the thing that helps to hold us firm that Jesus ACTUALLY lived, ACTUALLY died, and ACTUALLY rose again. these things were witness by many, many people.. they are not a matter of something we think MAY have happened. they are a matter of record. The people who deny it are simply denying fact and that’s why we will always win.

See we don't serve a God that had some prophets that said some things and then that was it… we serve a God that sent his OWN Son to shoe us the was and to save us from our sins.

He did it in a way that people could see and verify, He did it in full view of all the people that were there.

Why Did Christianity Spread so Quickly?

One of the reasons that the Gospel spread so quickly in the early days of Christianity is that people could literally go out and find people who KNEW Jesus.. or where ACTUALLY there when we was crucified, or REALLY saw him when he rose again. and because there were people there who ACTUALLY saw these things and people could see that it was the truth , they believed.

Now we can’t go and find someone who actually knew Jesus anyway, but the authors of the Bible were smart. they wrote down all the proofs so that we could read about them later on.

And it’s this TRUTH o the scriptures, that people went through the trouble to make sure it was provable that can give you faith when you are talking to people about your Faith.

The facts about Jesus would have been easy to verify.

IT has to be true… could you imagine these guys writing these letters and putting actual names of actual people in them, if they weren't truly there it would be easy to find out.

And besides… why lie about something that would be easy to find out AND would likely get you killed? remember the Romans, the Jews, the Pharisees, The Grecian… actually no one was fond of the early Christians. Outing people by name would have been dangerous especially if either was caught lying.

(Show Jesus World Map) Jesus lives in a relatively small area of the world and was seen throughout his life by literally thousands and thousands of people. He was known by religious leaders and political leaders, The was known by famous and not so famous people. The was literally known by so many people that it would have been virtually impossible to fake the facts of his life.

The Facts Anchor our Faith

If all we had was our faith that Jesus live and died and did all that he said He did… If there was no proof that He really lived and really died and really was risen. If there was no proof that he really was the Son of God that He claimed to be. then our faith would bee like Sandals with smooth bottoms… we would be constantly moved by whatever others said that challenged our beliefs. and really Christianity would probably have died out a ling time ago.

But because we have proof our faith becomes like the Roman sandal. we have cleats that help us stand our ground against the attacks of others who would tell us that our faith means nothing.

When someone tells you that Jesus isn’t real… you know that Jesus is real. there is proof

When someone tells’ you that the Bible is a fiction… you’ll know that it isn’t true because there is proof that the Bible IS real.

And that is what the Shoes of Preparedness means.

Let’s Pray: