Catechetical Point: 3Rd Article: the Holy Spirit
Dale Critchley
11/29/2018
Children’s Sermon
Catechetical point: 3rd Article: The Holy Spirit
Message: Who is the Holy Spirit? What does He do? (Gives us faith in † so we can live forever.)
Scriptural Anorexia
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Text: (John 7:37-39) On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
This is the Word of our Lord. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
I.Introduction
A.One of the frustrating parts of parenting is the eating habits of children
1.One day, they’ll eat everything they can get to their lips
2.But the next day, or even the next meal, two bites may be all it takes before “I’m done”
3.And it seems inevitable that the small meals come when you’re planning a late supper or otherwise really need the child to eat a larger meal
4.Yet with most children, they will eventually eat when they’re ready and will be fine
B.But imagine how you’d worry if your child rarely if ever was willing to eat
1.You’d worry about malnutrition
2.It would be called an “eating disorder” and could be very dangerous
C.Yet as important as it is to feed our bodies, it’s even more important to keep our souls well-fed
1.God has provided us with an abundant feast
2.He gives us His Word to feast on every day
3.He even gives us His own Body & Blood to literally eat to feed our hungry souls
4.But sin gives us an eating disorder
a)Like the Israelites in the wilderness
b)God provided them with manna to eat every morning
c)But they took it for granted and got tired of it
d)They wanted something different—what God gave them to keep them alive wasn’t good enough
e)God has so richly provided for us by making Bibles easily and even freely available to us
f)But It’s easy to get tired of God’s Word
g)And instead of an appetite for God’s Word, we have an aversion
II.But in the last day, the great festival, Jesus stood and cried out, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink."
A.This was the festival of tents when the Israelites remembered the time God preserved them while they were living in tents during the Exodus
1.It was the feast where they remembered the manna God gave them
2.And they poured out water on the altar from a golden pitcher to remember the water God provided from a rock
3.And so Jesus, the Rock of our Salvation, the One we depend on for eternal life,
a)Stands up (Rabbis usually sat while teaching)
b)And in front of thousands of people, He points to Himself as that rock
c)He is the source of refreshment
B.What Jesus provides for us is better than the best water you can find
1.If you go to the store and buy a bottle of water
a)You’ll find that it’s fortified with all kinds of vitamins, minerals, and flavors
b)Besides needing water to survive, that water is good for you because it has other nutrients in it as well
2.But the water Jesus offers satisfies a much deeper thirst
a)Jesus’ water satisfies the soul
b)He gives life forever, not just until you’re thirsty again
c)He refreshes you with forgiveness of all your sins
d)And the water He gives can even raise the dead!
III."He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said, 'Out of His belly will flow rivers of living water.'"
A.If you haven’t had waters flowing out of your belly lately, you may be confused by this.
B.There’s some debate as to whose belly (or womb or innermost being) this verse refers to
1.It could mean that this river flows from the Christian
2.Or it could mean that the rivers flow from Christ Himself
3.Is it the Christian or Christ? The answer is, “Yes.”
C.Because Christ is the source of this blessing
1.Christ became one of us to fulfill the Law of God in our place
2.Christ died on the cross as the final act of fulfilling the Law on our behalf
3.Christ sent the Holy Spirit to us
4.And Christ lives in us and acts through us
D.So while Christ is the source, He shows that love and life through us
1.When you love your spouse and children
2.When you set aside your wants to provide for your neighbor’s needs
3.When you do your job to the best of your ability
4.And when others know that you do those things in thanks to God for giving you eternal life,
5.Then those rivers of living water flow not just to you, but through you to others
IV.But this He spoke about the Spirit Whom those believing in Him were to receive, for the Spirit was not [received] since Jesus was not yet glorified.
A.How could they believe without receiving the Spirit?
B.That’s not what’s intended here
1.We know that the Holy Spirit is the only One Who gives faith
2.And faith is, after all, what we’re talking about here
3.Since faith alone gives that peace and eternal life
C.Rather, the Spirit had not revealed Himself yet as He would at Pentecost
1.On that day, we see God’s Spirit active as never before
2.The timid apostles boldly proclaim the Good News of forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus Christ, the Gospel
3.But He has been with us every since
4.He comes to us through the living waters of Baptism
5.He comes to us through the inspired (“in-Spirit”) Word of God
6.And He works in us through the Body and Blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper
D.Christ alone, through the Spirit, satisfies our hunger
E.Christ alone, through the Spirit, gives us faith to trust in Him to give us eternal life
F.And Christ alone has risen that all who believe will rise as well to eternal life in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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