125 Years and counting of Serving Our Community
125 Years and counting of Serving Our Community
Children’s Message for March 22, 2020 “Don’t be afraid…..”
Let us pray…..“Dear Lord, whenever we are afraid or frightened, we know that you have said to us “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.” Isaiah 41:10Thank you for all that you do for us and how you watch over us and our Families. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”
Have you ever been afraid of something? Like being afraid of spiders or the dark or even afraid of something you can’t fix, like getting sick?
We all, as people, are, and always will be afraid of something. That’s because we are human. God knows this and that is why he spoke “Do not be afraid for I am with you, always….” He actually said it 360 times in the Bible, because He knew we would be afraid. But God offers help and hope, by talking to Him in prayer and asking for His help.
God does listen to our prayers and He does answer our prayers. Sometimes not as quickly as we would like, but he does answer them. You are probably asking “How does he answer our prayers?....How do we know that He has answered?” Many times, He answers us through other people, like one of your friends, one of your parents, our Pastor or even a stranger we don’t even know.
When I was a young boy, about 7 years old, I had an operation on both of my eyes. I had bandages on both of my eyes, couldn’t see anything for a week while I was in the hospital. I was alone in a crib like bed in a ward with many other children with other operations, kind of like a recovery room. My parents would come and see me every day and then they would have to leave to got to work. Yes, I was alone and afraid, because I couldn’t see anything. I didn’t think I would see again. I didn’t know much about praying back then. My only hope was waiting for the nurses to come and take care of me. I would get anxious when lunchtime came around because I couldn’t see, but I could smell. I also knew that was the time my Mom and Dad would visit.
I would always ask them “When can I go home? When will I be able to see again? Why did you leave me here?”
Since I could smell and hear I do remember my father telling me “Don’t be afraid, we are always with you and thinking about you and you will be home soon. And the doctors said you will be able to see again”. I could tell it was my Dad, because I knew his voice and I could smell his hands when he touched me on my face.
These simple words gave me hope and faith that I was going to be ok. I wasn’t afraid anymore because he gave me hope. As you know by now, 60 years later, I was able to see again. God provided an answer to a prayer that I didn’t even know I prayed. He answered through my Dad.
With all the fear and sickness around us lately, I’m sure you all must be afraid that you too might get sick. I am afraid of getting sick too. But I remember those words from my Dad and I know now that God tells us the same words, “Don’t be afraid for I am with you always”.
But God also tells us to have Faith. Have faith and believe that He IS with us always and if we believe, have faith in Him, and pray to Him, He will calm our fears. Just as He helped me as a child through my Dad’s words, He will also help you. So don’t be afraid to pray to God and don’t be afraid about what is happening around us. We will all survive and we will get through this together because God is watching over us.
God bless you all.
You children and your families are being prayed for by all of us at Hillside Church.
Amen.
Annie Flores, Church Secretary
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