Title: Happy New Year
Contents Main text: Ephesians 1:3-6
Let us praise the Heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has given us all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ (verse 3).
Now the new year has dawned. Shall we say hello to our friend next door? "Best wishes for a Happy New Year!"
Everyone, do you know a thing called ‘jori’? 1) Jory was used to filter out stones from rice when washing rice. But in the old days, adults called this cooking ‘bokjori’ on the new year, so they hung it at their house hoping that good fortune would come to their house, and anger and unhappiness would go away. And the Chinese wrote the word fortune in large letters and put it upside down on the door, hoping that every time people read it, it would bring good fortune into their home. It is said that the reason the letters were put upside down was because they knew that good fortune came from heaven.
In this way, everyone in the world wants to be blessed. Do you want to be blessed too?
But if you think about it carefully, the greeting ‘Happy New Year’ doesn’t seem appropriate for us Christians. Because we are already living enjoying the blessings and graces that God has given us every day. So, I think we should greet the new year with a different greeting, which one would suit you?
In today's text, Paul's letter to Ephesians, it is said that "God has given us all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places." Wow~ What kind of expression would you make if you received that good blessing from heaven? 2) Yes, you will be happy and your mouth will open. But the friends here have already received that blessing. That spiritual blessing is that God has chosen us to become His children. God has already ordained us as objects of blessing in Jesus. How grateful are you? Therefore, for those of us who have already received a lot of blessings, it seems more appropriate to say ‘Happy New Year’ rather than saying ‘Happy New Year’. Now, shall we say hello? “Happy New Year.”
But we, who have received the blessings of heaven, have work to do. What? Like the greeting we just shared, it serves as a channel to deliver blessings to people.
There are two famous lakes in Israel. One is the Sea of Galilee as we know it well, and the other is the lake called the Dead Sea. The word ‘dead sea’ means ‘dead sea’ using the words ‘dead and dead’. Why Dead Sea? That's one reason. Water flows from high places to low places, but since the water level of the Dead Sea is low, water that enters the Dead Sea cannot flow out any more. So, as the seawater continues to stagnate, the salinity has increased, making it a lake where no living creatures can live anymore. Not letting out what has come in is no different from being dead.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are people who have already been blessed by becoming children of God. The reason we can live happily is because we have received this blessing. But this is half a blessing. For the blessings we have received to become true blessings, the blessings must flow through us. Like the Dead Sea, which is a dead sea, we must not let the blessings we receive remain in us. That blessing must be passed on through me and passed on so that as many people as possible can receive the blessing of heaven.
If so, how can it become a channel that conveys the blessings of heaven?
First of all, I need to know well that I am receiving abundant blessings as a child of God. Unfortunately, the Israelites kept forgetting that fact and suffered a lot. God took responsibility for me, and I often threw away the blessings that God gave me. Then, he longed for only the things he could see right away, so he often lost his mind to idols and vain things. So when Jesus, the true blessing, came, he denied Jesus and had him crucified. In fact, sometimes we too are more interested in and liking the splendid things of this earth than the blessings of heaven. But the things of this earth may give you temporary pleasure, but never true happiness. Therefore, remembering that we are children of God, we should focus on the blessings of heaven.
The first step as a channel of blessing was said, ‘Remembering that I am a child of God who has received abundant blessings from heaven!’ So, should we move on to the next step? The next step is to help others bless me through you. This is really important. My kind and righteous deeds make people happy, and the more people I help, the more beautiful the world is! This is the path to good fortune.
Now the new year has dawned. We hope that this year more people will be blessed and benefited through us than last year. First, let's say hello to the teacher. “Happy New Year.” Now, say hi to your neighbor. “Happy New Year.”
I will pray. “God, thank you so much for making us God’s children and for making us a channel of blessing. Please help us to share the blessings we have received in abundance to as many people as possible. Send more blessings in the new year and lead them to become the children of the Lord who live in love. I pray in Jesus name. Amen."
| 1 | Demonstrate the actual cooking or explain by showing pictures or drawings of the cooking.
| 2 | Have the children make their own facial expressions. Like the host of 'Brain Survival', a cultural broadcasting program, it is also good to ask 'Make a facial expression'.