So what was today's topic? (unintelligible) Wasn't today: Who is Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus Christ? That's what we want to think about right now. We thought about: who is God? Who is man? Who is Jesus Christ? So, I think I might have a picture here that will help us. What do you think? Are you all getting tired of seeing that? Children: Yes! Tim: Is that Jesus Christ? Children: No! Tim: How do you know? Hey, isn't Jesus called "the Rock"? Okay, you're right. You got me. That is not Jesus Christ. That's a rock. Okay, we're going to get better at this right? How about that? Children: No! Tim: That's not Jesus Christ either, right? Children: No! Tim: Let me tell you a story. Let me tell you about the true Christ. You know what that is? What is that? That is a manger. The manger is not the little shack. A manger is not a barn. A manger is a feed trough. They would put hay or oats or some kind of food in there, and the animals would come up and they would eat out of that. That is what a manger is. A manger for animals. Now you might find those in a barn or in a stable. And here's what you need to know. God. God came down and He became flesh. Can you imagine this? God - who is bigger than we can imagine. You can't put any limits on Him. He is so big and He is so wise. God actually came to this earth as a man. And the thing that you need to realize, God could have gone into palaces. He could have gone into the most expensive places. He could have been born into a king's family or into a president's family. He could have been born in the best place, the best parents, the richest place with the best things. But you know where God would be born? They placed Him in a manger. In a manger, God became man. And Jesus - let me tell you something. In the book of John's Gospel, seven times - that's a good number - seven times Jesus says, "I am." You know what He said first? "I am the bread of life." We're thinking about who Jesus is. Jesus wants you to know that He is like bread. What's bread like? What happens if you don't eat bread? What happens if you don't eat? You die. I'm not talking about the bread. Yes, if you don't eat the bread, it gets stale. But if you don't eat, what happens? You die. And Jesus is bread. He said, "I am the true bread that came down from heaven." And He said, "if you eat this bread, you will have everlasting life." You know what else He said He was? He said, "I am the light of the world." And He said this: if you follow Him - you see, that's bright - He's like that. He's like light. Light. Under here, it's dark. You can go in the back room, you can go in that bathroom over there and with the lights off and you shut the door, it's real dark in there. And you know what? When it's real dark, you don't know where you're going. But Jesus said this, "I am the light of the world." And He says, "whoever follows Me will have the light of life." You know what else He said? What's next? Anybody know? He said, "I am the bread of life." He said, "I am the light of the world." What's next? Does anybody know what's next? (unintelligible) He didn't exactly say that. The next one I have in mind is, "I am the door of the sheep." See, here's the door. And Jesus said: I'm like that door. And He said if you enter through Him, you will be saved. And you will go in and you will go out and you'll find pasture for your soul. You know what else He said? He said, "I am the Good Shepherd." And you know what the Good Shepherd says? He said, "I lay down My life for the sheep." So think about this. He said, "I am the bread of life. If you eat Me, you will not die." "I am the light of the world. If you follow Me, you will not walk in darkness, but you'll have the light of life." He said, "I am the door to the sheep." And He said if you come in by Him, you'll be saved. He said, "I'm the Good Shepherd." And you know what the Good Shepherd does? He lays down His life for the sheep. How about another one? He said in John 11, "I am the resurrection and the life." And He said, "Whoever believes in Me, though He die, yet shall He live." And He said, "He that lives and believes in Me shall never die." This is an empty tomb. Jesus came out of it. He's not dead. You'll never find a tomb for Jesus that has a body in it because He is alive. How about another one? You remember? Jesus said to His disciples, "you know where I'm going." And they said to Him, "Lord, we don't know where You're going. And how can we know the way?" And Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." And He said, "no one - no one goes unto the Father except through Me." He is the bread. He is the light. He is the door. He is the shepherd. He is the resurrection and the life. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Who knows what this is? It's a grapevine. And Jesus said, "I am the true vine." "I am the vine, and you are the branches." And He said this, He said except you abide in Him, you can't bear fruit. You see, "without Me," He said, "you can do nothing." You can't do anything that is valuable to God unless you abide in Him. You see this branch right here? And it's got fruit. But you see right here? Is it cut off? It's attached. Jesus said, "I am the true vine." You have to abide in Him. That means you've got to be attached right there. Because if you cut it, what happens? All those leaves shrivel up, and then what it says is it's good for nothing but to be thrown in the fire and burned. You've got to be attached. Does anybody know how to get attached? See, this is just a picture. Jesus says, "I'm like this vine. You're like that branch." How do we get attached? You get attached by trusting Him; by believing on Him. Listen, what did He do? What is it that you should believe Jesus for? Who is this Jesus? Look at this. Do you see what's happening there? Do you see that sword? Where's it going? What's that a picture of? But what's happening? Whose sword is this? God. God is striking His own Son. That is the sword of God's judgment. It's believing this sword - that's for you. That's for me. Do you know what? When John the Baptist came, He said God, He has this, and He's ready to chop down the tree. And the tree is you and me. He's ready to chop that tree down. That is the sword of God's wrath. And Jesus went to that cross in our place. You see, that's what you need to be believing. He died for me. Now James, give me some full blown volume here. I want the full effect. Watch this, children. Narrator: Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the radiance of His glory, the exact imprint of His nature, who upholds the universe with the word of His power. He is the holy and righteous one, the Author of life, the Lord of glory, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Word become flesh, God with us. And He was wounded for our rebellion and crushed for our sins because the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. God cancelled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. And so, God made Him who knew no sin to become sin, so that in Him, we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus Christ died for our sins. He was buried. And He was raised on the third day just as the Scripture said. And after making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now the righteousness of God has been revealed. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Now, these things have been spoken so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name. For the Lord Himself has said, "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread? And your labor for that which does not satisfy?" Tim: This is a picture of people that are empty. Narrator: I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me shall not hunger and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me. And whoever comes to Me, I will never cast out. For this is the will of My Father that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life and I will raise them up on the last day. Tim: Did you hear that promise? Children, if you go to Jesus and you trust Him, He's going to raise you up on the last day. This is an animation, but what it's showing you is truth. You saw those people with a big hole in them? It's people who are just empty. They're empty because they're drinking at this world's cups. And it can't satisfy. Children, I know you. And you know what? Even right now, you like friends and you like toys and you like ice cream and you like fun and you like going to the zoo and you like candy. You like all those things, don't you? And you know what? When you get older, it will become other things. And you try to get money and you try to get stuff and you try to enjoy this life, but you know what? The whole time, like I showed you yesterday, everybody is moving towards death. Everybody's moving towards death. And that sword that came down? If Jesus is not your Savior, that sword is going to strike you. And God will be good in doing it. You know why? Because we're bad. And you're bad too. You're young, but you're bad. And Jesus came to save us and make us good. He came to wash away all the guilt. He came to save. And that's what He says here. That if you will come to Him - you know how to come to Him? Not get up and run over here. You can run over and you can touch this. You can get up and you can come to me. You could get up and you could go back there to the camera. Or you know where the bathroom is. How do you get to where Jesus is? You know what? You don't have to. Because He's right here where you are. You can talk to Jesus Christ any time. You don't have to come to this building. He's right where you are all your life. All you have to do is talk to Him right where you are. That's how you come to Him. You just begin to talk to Him. Lord, I do have sin. On that last day, He will raise you up. That sword will not strike you because it struck Him. And there's peace. There's peace. I'll tell you who Jesus Christ is. The one thing you want to remember about Him all your days: Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and there is no other. There is no other Savior. He is the only one. If you won't trust Him, there is no other. You can't save yourself. You can't. There's one Savior. It is Jesus Christ the Lord. And I'll tell you what that said, there's a day coming when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Every tongue. Your tongue. You will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Mine will. Our knees are going to bend. Every knee shall bow before Him. And you know what? You don't want to be forced down. You want to willingly go down because He saved you and now His ways are joyful to you. Listen, He's a good Master. He's a good Master. He's the only Savior. And He saves well. But He is an absolutely terrifying Judge if you stand before Him in your sins. Children, don't run from Him. Don't run from Him. Many of your mommy and daddy's, we ran from Him for a long time. But you know what? When we quit running and we bowed to Him and we asked Him to save us, we found Him to be altogether different than we thought. We found Him to be kind. And we found Him to be good. And we found that He saves to the uttermost all those that come unto God by Him. He is worthy to be trusted. You want to trust Him. We found Him so good and kind to us; so willing to save us - and save us to the uttermost - and He'll do the same. You know what He said? He said, "If you come to Me, I won't cast you out." If you talk to Him, He'll never slam the door in your face. That's the kind of Savior He is. He won't slam the door in your face. But children, if you slam the door in His face, oh... you don't want to do that. Because you will have to face Him one day. And that day's coming very soon. Call upon Him. Father, I pray, do a work in the hearts of these children. And I ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
