UP, UP, AND AWAY
Objects
Prepare a miniature, cemetery in a paper box. Put in it little tomb stones
Paper cut outs of people, include, a baby, mother father, etc.
Tape a nail on the back of some of the paper figures.
Picture of Jesus. Tape a large magnet to the back.
__________
I am opening the Bible to the book of I Thessalonians and reading one of the most interesting passages in the Bible. I can not say it is the most, but one of the most interesting parts. I Thessalonians 4:13-18.
"Our brothers, we wont you to know the truth about those who have died, so that you will not be sad, as are those who have no hope. We believe that, Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will take back with Jesus those who have died believing in him. What we are teaching you now is the Lord's teaching: we who are alive on the day the Lord conies will not go ahead of those who have died. There will be the shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise first to life first.. then we who are living at that time will be gathered to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord . So then, encourage one another with these words."I have here a cemetery. Well, I am calling it a cemetery our city's none is over the gate. You see the dirt in the box, see the little tomb stones? That scripture said that when Jesus comes, the dead in Christ will rise from the cemetery. We, alive, will then meet them in the air. Together we will be with Jesus.
Now, I have here a picture of Jesus. I want you to watch and see what happens. Jesus will appear in the sky, he will come close to earth, like this picture is doing, but He will not touch the ground. He sweeps over the cemetery and look what is happening. Up, up, comes some individuals. People are coming out of the ground.
Yes, I know there is a nail taped to the back of these paper people. And there is a magnet taped to the back of the picture of Christ. Jesus does draw he draws this picture of a teenager, this one of a mommy and daddy, this one of a older person even a baby who has died.
If there is something inside a person that will respond to Jesus, then they are going to be lifted up. Now, look. There are some who we have buried in our little cemetery who did not experience a resurrection. Why. Yes, they did not have a nail taped to them. But what that says is that some people die without the Lord and when death comes, they will not experience a part in the first resurrection. There is one here and one over there.
Now you see why I think this is one of the most interesting stories in the Bible.
