Passage

Philippians 2:5
"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus"

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This is the devotional service for the Sunday school children.
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has raised our children and kept them so they can offer this devotional service today.
I also give thanks to all those who have prepared for this devotional service with all their hearts, minds, and souls.
Dear Sunday school children, to make me happy as your Senior Pastor, what do you think is the number of children who should go into New Jerusalem?
Ten? Or a hundred? I want all of you Sunday school children to go into New Jerusalem.
I want you to live a happy and enjoyable life forever in a most beautiful and wonderful place.
But are you preparing yourselves to enter into New Jerusalem?
Just because a person wants to enter New Jerusalem does not mean that they can go.
Then, how can you enter? What do you have to prepare?
Today's reading passage is the answer. Shall we read it together?
"Have this attitude in yourselves / which was also in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:5)
If we have the fullness of the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we can enter into New Jerusalem.
From this point on, please listen carefully to understand what you have to do to have the heart of the Lord.
I hope all you children of Manmin will have the heart of the Lord so that we can all go into New Jerusalem!

Main

Dear children, to have the heart of the Lord, first of all, you have to live a Jesus Christ-centered life.
What is a 'Jesus Christ-centered life'? It is to live by the will of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You Manmin children know a lot about the word of the Lord.
For some of you, from the time you were in the womb of your mothers, or since you were new-born babies, you began to learn the word of God.
But are there any of you who still give an unkindly look toward your brothers, sisters, or friends, or anyone who plays games when you are supposed to be studying?
If any of you are doing this, you should now obey the word to not hate anyone and to not love this world, shouldn't you?
If you want to keep the word as well as know the word, you have to concentrate on the word of the Lord everyday.
Not only when you are attending a worship service in the church, but you should always see, hear, speak, and act within the word of the Lord wherever you are.
For example, what do you think the Lord wants your pretty eyes to see all the time?
Is it exciting cartoons movies or singers and movie stars on TV?
No, He wants you to read the Bible and the word of God.
He wants you to look at the cross hanging on the wall or the painting of New Jerusalem when you wake up, and He wants you to think of the Lord seeing the sky, trees, and flowers as you go to school.
What do you think He wants your ears to hear?
He will probably tell you, "My dear child, listen to the word, praise songs, and only good stories," wouldn't He?
He probably wants your lips to pray and sing praises, and speak only loving and kind words.
He wants you to be faithful in the church and study hard helping your friends and store up your rewards in heaven with your hands and feet.
This is the way to live a Lord-centered life: to see, hear, think, and do the things that please the Lord.
Of course, you always want to live like this, but sometimes you can't.
But if you keep on trying to obey the word of the Lord everyday, soon it will be much easier.
Such an excellent figure skater like Yuna Kim wasn't good at skating in the beginning.
But because she kept on practicing hard since she was very young, now she is very good at skating.
If you also keep on obeying the word again and again, it will become easier and easier to obey the word of the Lord.
As you keep on obeying again and again, God gives you joy in your heart and He answers your heart's desires, too.
Then, you will realize that it is so good to live by the word.
If you realize it, you can joyfully obey the word even though nobody tells you to.
You will feel more fun reading the Bible, praying, and praising God than playing with toys and video games.
You will have more desire to study, too.
Then, your heart will be filled with the Lord more and more, so the worldly things will not affect you.
Though you are still young, you will cast away untruths from your heart one by one. You will diligently run towards New Jerusalem.
Those children who diligently live by the word, looking only up to New Jerusalem, want to come before me often.
They see me every week, but they want to see me even more, and they want to shake hands with me more often. That is what your parents tell me.
Dear children, I also want to see those happy children who are running towards New Jerusalem more often.
I want you to diligently obey the will of the Lord and tell me about your many testimonies.
I pray in the name of the Lord that we will be together all the time in New Jerusalem.
Dear Manmin children, to have the fullness of the heart of Jesus Christ in you, secondly, you should have the habit of praying to God as if you were talking to Him.
For example, suppose a child has come to the Daniel prayer meeting, and his mom tells him that he should pray for half an hour and then do homework.
So, for half an hour, he kneels down, and prays with his hands together.
Because his mom is next to him, he prays with a loud voice.
If the camera is on him, he prays even harder with a passionate display.
But what he prays is same all the time.
He just prays repetitively, as if he were chanting something.
Then, when the 30 minutes is up, he immediately goes out to the church yard to play with other children.
Do you think this child is praying very well?
This is praying on the outside, but not with the heart.
Prayer is to talk with dear Father God.
Prayer is to talk to God just as you talk to you mom and dad and your good friends.
Do you keep secrets between true friends? You can be straight forwardly honest and open hearted with true friends.
It is also so much fun talking with your friends that you don't even notice the passing of time.
God the Father also wants to have a conversation with you this way through your prayers.
I think you know about the prophet Samuel very well.
Samuel lived in the Temple of God. He was set apart from his mom and dad from the time he was very young.
But, he never cried or fretted saying he missed his parents and he wanted to go back home.
It's because he always prayed to God as if talking with Him.
Every time he prayed, God was with Samuel like his mom and dad and like a true friend.
So, even though nobody was praising him or watching him, he always prayed hard by himself.
Because he had prayed since he was very young, Samuel loved God more than anything.
He could keep himself from being stained by the world or committing sins. He could keep his heart pure.
Also, like a good friend, he understood the heart of God very well. Samuel was also able to deliver the will of God to the people.
I hope you will also pray to God like you are talking to Him.
If you tell Him that you are thankful for keeping you for the day, about happy things and what you did well during the day, He will also be happy.
If you tell Him about bad things that happened and what you did wrong, He will forgive you and comfort you.
If you pray saying, "God, help me cast away everything bad in my heart, the black heart,' He will give you the strength to do it.
If you pray to Him saying, "Give me the wisdom to study well, and make me a worker for God's kingdom," then He will answer your prayer.
You can also receive blessings and give your testimonies.
Furthermore, God will give us the Canaan Sanctuary more quickly through your prayers.
He will also help us accomplish world outreach more through your prayers.
Even though you are young, your prayers are strength to the church.
So, I hope all you children of Manmin will talk with God the Father every day and fill your hearts with the heart of the Lord.
Dear Manmin children, to have heart of the Lord Jesus Christ in you fully, thirdly, you have to remember that God always sees your heart that is not seen.
Because you long for New Jerusalem, you want to become good workers for the kingdom of God.
For example, many of you want to become pastors who can preach on the pulpit.
Also, many children want to become members of Hallelujah Praise Mission or Power Worship Dance Team.
They look wonderful because they sing and dance in beautiful costumes on the altar.
Many boys want to be security guards to guard the senior pastor and protect the church members.
Because you long for these things, you praise God with singing and dancing from time to time on the stage.
You also give the representative prayer in worship services and preside over the worship service very well.
But in whatever you do, if you want to please God and receive greater rewards, you have to do these things with a good heart.
You want to have a good outward appearance that is seen by others, but God first sees the heart.
Suppose some children sing with happy smiles on the stage, but when they go home, their good mood changes.
They complain and fret asking their mom and dad for newly released video games or new clothes.
Also, when they practice the singing, they give a hard time to their friends.
Then, will God be pleased with the singing of these children? God will rather feel sorry about it.
Even though they sing beautifully on the stage, the aroma of their heart is not given. Then, God cannot give them rewards.
But, even though their singing skills are not excellent, there are some children who are obedient to their parents and teachers.
They make their friends who are practicing with them happy with smiles on their faces.
When these children sing, they offer the aroma of this beautiful heart to God.
Not only in praises, but it's the same in everything like in prayer and studying.
You have to do everything with your love for God and a good heart.
Whatever you do, I hope you will do everything with a good heart like the Lord so you can always please God.

Conclusion

Dear children of Manmin, you can see the big painting behind me can't you?
Like in this painting, the Lord, our bridegroom, will come to take us.
Now, we cannot see our hearts with our eyes now, but by then, we will be able to see clearly.
It's because, according to our hearts, we will wear different kinds of garments.
The more you cast away the black heart and become sanctified, the whiter and brighter your garments will be!
At this time, whose garments will be the brightest? Those who did the most work for God?
No! Those who have gained the heart of the Lord the most will wear the brightest garment.
I hope you children of Manmin will wear the fine linen that shines most beautifully.
I pray in the name of the Lord that when the Lord sees you, He will praise you saying, "How much you resemble me!" and guide you into New Jerusalem.
[For parents and teachers]
Upon hearing the Word there are some children who understand it by themselves and diligently practice it.
But there are many more children whom the parents and teachers have to help to understand the Word and practice it.
Thus, please explain the Word in a way that they can understand it and apply it in their everyday lives.
I urge you to encourage the children to be able to obey the Word.
Please pray for them to overcome the world and plant in them the hope of New Jerusalem.
Also, whenever they practice the truth, rejoice with them and encourage them even more.
I also urge you to make a good environment so that they will come in contact with only the things of the truth.

2009-10-20 Posted
2010-01-09 Updated