Date: 8/11/2021

Questions

Riddle: There was a man on a boat and he saw another boat but he did not see a single person on that boat. Why? – Cora

1. Because he’s towing the second boat behind him.
2. Or the people he does see on the second boat are all married.

How many words are in the Bible? – Lofton (age 9)

1. In the original languages of Hebrew and Greek there are 545,202 words.
2. English Bibles vary because we’re translating from one language to another.
   1. KJV = 783,137
   2. ESV = 757,439
   3. NIV = 726,109
   4. NLT = 747,891

Does God answer our prayers? – Cora

1. Yes. 
2. I’m going to ask Laura and Shaun to give some examples of God answering their prayers.
3. Me:
   1. Someone who wasn’t able to talk began speaking recently. 
   2. Someone in our church was worried about a medical diagnosis. The doctors discovered it was a reaction to medication and something easy to fix.

Why did Jesus ride on a donkey? – Maylee, Age 6

1. Jesus riding on a donkey into Jerusalem was a fulfillment of a prophecy in the OT.
2. One of the books we looked at in Finding Jesus was Zechariah
3. Zechariah 9:9 — Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey — riding on a donkey’s colt.

Why do people raise their hand during church? – Cora

1. Raising hands is a sign of submission and praise to God.
   

Did any of the scribes turn to Jesus before he died or any people that had sinned a lot? – Aliza, Age 8

1. Yes. Lots of people who sinned a lot turned to Jesus.
2. In fact, most often the people who were considered the worst of sinners are the ones who saw their need for Jesus to save them from their sins.
3. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are where you can read about people meeting Jesus and believing in him.

When I don’t trust God, how do I remind myself to trust him? – Annabel, Age 8

1. This is something that adults struggle with too.
2. Start with the Bible. Verses like “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT)
3. Remind yourself of God’s faithfulness to you. What are some times when you trusted God and he was faithful? A journal is a great way to be able to remind yourself.
4. Talk with other Christians. Sometimes we need to borrow some faith from others when we’re struggling to trust God.

What does it mean that Jesus is in the right hand of the Father? – Easton, Age 8 // Why does Jesus sit at the right hand of God? – Sawyer, Age 7

1. “At the right hand of God the Father” is a place of honor, royalty, and authority. 
2. Jesus, being there, shows us that the work he came to do is finished and it was effective.

Who made God? – Brayden, Age 7

1. No one. God has always existed.
2. If someone else had created God then that someone would be God.

How is God always with you? – Ragan, Age 8

1. When you believe in Jesus, God the Holy Spirit, lives in you. 
2. What’s hard is that God’s presence with us is spiritual (instead of physical). So it’s not something we can see, or touch, etc…

If the Jews are still looking for the Messiah how do we know that the Messiah truly already came? – Rhiya

1. Something to know is that, besides Jesus, there were others who claimed to have been the Messiah. Yet their claim didn’t prove true. Which should make us wonder, “Why not and why are our Christian claims that Jesus is the Messiah true?”
2. Here’s just one reason. Jesus fulfilled prophecies from the OT and the others didn’t.
3. A conservative number would be that Jesus fulfilled 300 prophecies in the OT.
4. An illustration puts this in perspective. I’ve heard the illustration given a few different ways, but the idea is this. Imagine our state of Ohio. Now in your mind, cover the whole state two feet deep in silver quarters. Now — in all of the quarters there’s one that’s red — only one red quarter in all of those quarters all over Ohio. So what’s the chance that a blind man or woman — on the first try — would wander around all of Ohio, reach down, and grab the red coin on the first try? Nearly impossible, right? Well those are the odds of Jesus fulfilling eight prophecies in the OT. But he didn’t just fulfill eight prophecies. He fulfilled 300. The only way that’s possible is because he is the true Messiah.
5. Unfortunately, many Jewish people today — and anyone who doesn’t believe in Jesus — haven’t yet seen him for who he is. The Savior of the world. Though they don’t realize it, they think that he just got lucky and happened to grab that red quarter on his first try — so to speak.

Date: 08/24/2022

Questions from kids

Awhile back we did a family service and it was started by saying how important children are and how they are part of the congregation. Since that is true, shouldn’t we do family services more frequently? My kids had a blast and we decided to do it more frequently as a family but it would be nice if more kids were around as well.

1. The service being referred to was back in early July at our County Road 9 Campus (North Main Campus did a family service as well).
2. Kids also sang in the services on Mother’s Day at both of our campuses.
3. May do more of these in the future. I think we’ve got some planned for next year already on the calendar.
4. For parents, I’d encourage you to bring your kids into the worship services early on. If you want them to go to Kidway as well, stay for two services and serve in the second service while your kids are in Kidway.
   1. Back in June of 2020 Becca Green wrote a great article on Worshiping as a Family in “Big Church” that can be found in the Gateway News section of our website too. 
   2. Here is a link for the show notes: https://www.gatewayepc.org/gateway-news/2020/6/18/worshipping-as-a-family-in-big-church?rq=Family
5. I think the biggest connection for the kids was that they were familiar with the songs we sang during the service because they sing them in Kidway regularly. A way to help familiarize you and your kids with the songs we sing is on Spotify.

Why did God wait until Abraham was near 100 years old to give him a son? – Cohen (age 8)

1. Great question Cohen. Probably a better question than my answer.
2. We don’t know exactly why God waited for Abraham to be so old. Though it definitely makes it a miracle and shows us that Abraham having a son was all part of God’s plan. It was also a test of Abraham’s faith: Did he really believe that God could give him a son in old age?

Was sin around before the earth was made? – Haily (age 9)

1. Sin wasn’t around until Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden. 
2. Satan had rebelled against God, but there’s nothing in the Bible that calls what Satan did sin. Only what Adam and Eve — and all of us humans have done — is called sin.

Did Paul ever see Caesar after the shipwreck? – Cora (age 10)

1. The Bible doesn’t tell us.
2. But church history suggests that Paul did stand trial before the emperor and was eventually killed because of his faith in Jesus.

I know God has been around forever, but how long did he wait to create the Earth? – Claire (age 10)

1. These kids ask some great questions. I wonder how many of these they asked their parents first and they were like, “Send that one into pastor Josh.”
2. Claire, we don’t know how long God waited to create the Earth because — get ready for your mind to be blown — because time wasn’t created either.
   1. Time is part of God’s creation. And that means that for eternity — everything prior to God saying “Let there be light” — there wasn’t time. 
   2. So we don’t really have a way to measure how long God waited other than to say he waited an eternity or forever — which sounds really weird.

Claire’s got another question: Why don’t we live as old as people in the Old Testament? // Why did people live longer in the olden days? – Grady (age 8)

1. We do live as old as some people in the Old Testament. But there’s definitely some who lived way longer than what’s normal today.
2. In Genesis, after the list of people who lived for hundreds and hundreds of years, there’s the account of the wickedness on earth and then there’s the flood and Noah and the ark. In the midst of this section of Scripture, we read, “’Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.” (Genesis 6:3 NLT)
3. No more than 120 years — which — is what we see today and throughout the rest of history.

Why do people say Jesus hung on the cross in the middle of his hand, wouldn’t the nails tear through his hand? – Claire (age 11; a different Claire)

1. You’re right. The nails would’ve torn through his hands if you’re thinking about the palms of his hands. 
2. Most likely the nails went through his wrists where the bones would’ve held the nails in place. 
3. There’s not really a distinction in the New Testament between a person’s hands (meaning their palms) and their wrists. In Acts 12:7, Peter has his hands chained up while in prison. An angel touches him and the chains fall off his wrists. The word translated as “wrists” is also the word translated as “hands” when Jesus is crucified.

What happens to our pets when they die? – Mrs. Renee’s 1st graders

1. Scripture doesn’t specifically tell us. There are some things we can piece together from Scripture, but there’s no clarity regarding our pets after they die like there is for humans.
2. A helpful book is Randy Alcorn’s Heaven for Kids. This is a kid’s version of his book on Heaven which I think is the best book on the topic. If you’re a kid listening (or a parent or grandparent), get a copy of Heaven for Kids and begin reading the book with your children to talk about the wonderful subject of eternity with God.

Release Date: June 14,  2023

Questions

Do you know my mom and dad? – Gavin (3:00)

Do you know my dad? What age are you? Do you have a dog? – Matthias (3:50)

Why are you preaching here? – Whitley (6:30)

How did you get the job to be a pastor – Haley and Haddie (7:30)

Why is God’s name God? – Whitley (9:20)

Are you cool? How old are you? Can you cross-stitch? You’re cool! Do you have a girlfriend? – Anna (9:50)

How old are you? Do you like being a pastor? – Kaliah (11:10)

What is your favorite football team? What is your favorite soccer player? – Levi (11:55)

What happened to the people who crucified Jesus? Did they go to heaven or hell? – Autumn (12:25)

What did they do all day in bible times – Daniel (13:35)

Do pets sin if they potty in the house even though they know they aren’t supposed to? (15:15)

Is heaven crowded or spread out like the world? – Haddie (16:35)

How did Jesus or an angel move the boulder? – Tatum (7:45)

Does Satan do anything right? – Anna (18:40)

Kids and Youth Questions:

Ephesians 6:12 talks about how we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood but then lists the things we DO wrestle against. One of these things is “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” I thought that evil couldn’t be in heaven? – youth

In Mark 2:15, a student’s study Bible points out that the ‘Levi’ being referenced is Matthew. Why don’t they just say Matthew?  – 6th grade youth

Does God always forgive us?

I thought God would never leave us. But in Romans 1:24, it says he left them. We’re confused about when God will stay and when he will leave. Did God try to get the people to come to him?

1 Kings 13:4. What exactly happened to Jeroboam’s hand? Was it his hand?

What are angels? Did God make angels? What is the devil? Why do people always draw him with horns? Is he an angel that got kicked out of heaven?