The Church of God of Carmichael

After many years, Moses died. And God said to Joshua, "Lead My people across the Jordan River. Each place you set your foot will be yours. Just be strong and do not fear. For I am with you wherever you go."

God told Joshua exactly what to do in order to take the city of Jericho. First, Joshua gathered men into an army to march around the city. Then came seven priests, each one carrying a trumpet made from a ram's horn. Behind the priests came the ark of the covenant, and following the ark came more armed guards.

They paraded around the city of Jericho one time each day for six days. During this time, the priests blew on the trumpets, but everyone else marched quietly.

On the seventh day, the Israelites paraded around Jericho six times. All the while, the priests blew their trumpets, but everyone else remained quiet.

Then on the seventh time around the city, Joshua called out a signal. Everyone yelled and screamed and shouted - with all their might!

At the sound of that noise, the walls of Jericho began to crumble and then they fell, tumbling to the ground. And all who were inside the city ran in fear. 

The Walls Came Tumbling Down!

The Israelites may have felt foolish marching around the city of Jericho for a week instead of going into battle, but the LORD instructions were clear and the Israelites chose to obey.

We often think that God's instructions don't make sense, but let's follow the Israelites' example and take it one day at a time as we follow God. Often, we will not see the logic of God's plan until we have completely obeyed his Word.

This is the story about what happened after Jesus died on the cross.  Jesus died on a Friday. It was a very sad day.  It was sad because Jesus’ friends didn’t know what was going to happen. They didn’t understand why Jesus had to die.

Late on that Friday afternoon, Jesus’ body was taken down from the cross. It was wrapped in long strips of cloth. And it was buried in a rich man’s tomb.  A large stone was rolled over the entrance to the tomb, and soldiers were standing outside to make sure that nothing happened to Jesus’ body. Jesus was dead.

Early on Sunday morning when it was still dark, Jesus’ friend, Mary Magdalene, went to the tomb and saw that the large stone that was rolled over the mouth of the empty tomb was gone! So, she ran away.

Why do you think Mary ran? She was afraid, the stone was rolled away.

Mary ran to two more of Jesus’ friends, Simon Peter and another friend that Jesus loved very much. So, Peter and the other friend that Jesus loved ran very fast to the tomb.

The friend and Peter looked inside the tomb. They saw the strips of cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ body. They saw the cloth that had been put on Jesus face. It was neatly folded in a corner of the room. The second friend saw and he believed. What did he believe? Jesus was dead, but God raised him to life.

Mary didn’t believe. She was sad. She thought Jesus was missing. The friends went back to their homes, but Mary stayed at the tomb, and she cried.

A man came to Mary. He said, “Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” Mary said, “If you took him away, please tell me where he is. I’ll go and get him.” He said her name, “Mary.” It was Jesus! He had been dead. But now he was alive! Now Mary believed! She wanted to touch him and hug him! Jesus said, “Not yet. I’m going to the Father. And he is your Father too!” Then, Mary ran away again.

Why do you think Mary ran this time?

Mary had good news! She was going to tell her friends, “I have seen Jesus! He was dead! But now He is alive! He is risen! HE’S ALIVE!!"

Very early in the morning, the soldiers brought Jesus to Pilate, the governor at the time.  Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"  Jesus replied, "Yes, I am."  This upset the chief priests because they were jealous of him and the friends He had made with the Jews.

Pilate listened to the complaints of the people that brought Jesus, but he couldn't find any reason to punish Him.  Pilate questioned Jesus, but Jesus didn't stick up for himself (He knew that they wouldn't listen anyway).  He had done nothing wrong.

Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people and said to them, "I have talked to Jesus, and I find no reason to kill Him."

After they heard that all the people shouted, "We want Jesus!  Release Barabbas instead!"  Barabbas had been in jail because he had killed someone, and the people wanted him to be free, and Jesus to be punished. 

Pilate didn't like this one bit.  He wanted to let Jesus go, so he tried to talk to the people but they didn't let him.  They just kept shouting, "Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!"  Pilate wanted to please the crowd so he freed Barabbas and sent Jesus to die.

The soldiers led Jesus into the palace and made Him put on an old royal robe and they twisted together a crown of thorns to put on His head.  Then they made fun of Him and said, "Hail, king of the Jews."  They didn't understand that He was a king, that's why they made fun of Him.

Next the soldiers led Jesus toward a hill called Golgotha.  They made Him carry the cross on His back, but Jesus couldn't carry it the whole way, he fell down.  The soldiers had whipped His back and it hurt so much that Jesus couldn't handle the weight of the cross on His shoulders.

A man named Simon happened to be near Jesus when He fell, and the soldiers grabbed him, and made him carry the cross the rest of the way.  The soldiers offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh.  This was supposed to help make it less painful, but Jesus refused to have any.

When they reached the top of the hill they nailed Jesus to the cross.  There were three crosses, Jesus was in the middle and there was a criminal on His right and on His left.  Pilate made a sign to be put on the cross.  It read what He was being punished for: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

The soldiers watched Jesus and made fun of him, they even divided up his clothes to be even more mean.  And some people walked by and shouted, "You saved others, why can't you save Yourself?"  Jesus could have saved himself, but he chose not to, He wanted to save us instead.

Jesus ignored the people, but He did see his mother, his aunt, and some other women he knew.  Jesus felt bad for His mother, she was so sad to see her son die.

Then Jesus saw one of his disciples close to his mother, and he said, "Mother here is your son, and friend here is your mother."  Jesus couldn't say to much, he was very weak.  But he wanted his friend, the disciple to be like a son to his mother, and take care of her.  And from that day on he did.

Later, Jesus could not handle the pain any longer and He said, "It is finished."  That is when Jesus bowed His head and died.

Suddenly, a huge curtain that hung at the temple was torn in half, from top to bottom.  And a man that had wanted Jesus to die saw all of this and he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"  He realized he had been wrong about Jesus.

It seems like a really sad story, but its one of the greatest stories of all!  Jesus died knowing that you would do things wrong (that is what a sin is), things that you're not supposed to- like not obeying your parents, saying something mean to your sister or brother, or not telling the truth.  He knew what you would do when He died so many years ago.  Jesus died for everybody's sins, so now when we ask God to forgive us, and we are truly sorry for what we've done - He will forgive us.  That's right and He even forgets what we did!  Now that doesn't mean we should ever make the same mistake again, because by doing that it's like we're hurting Jesus all over again.

So next time you do something you're not supposed to, remember to say sorry to Jesus, and remember what He did for you!

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.  John 3:14-17

It was spring-time and the flowers were growing. It was time for everyone to go to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. Jesus and his disciples were traveling to Jerusalem also.

Before Jesus entered Jerusalem, He told two of His disciples to go to a village. He told them they would see a donkey with its colt tied there.  He said they should bring the animals to Him.  If they were asked what they were doing, they were to say that the Lord needed them.

Wow!  Jesus had a plan.  Somehow, He knew where the donkey and the colt would be. The disciples found them just as Jesus had said, and they brought them to Jesus.

When the crowds saw Jesus coming into town, they worshipped Him by laying down their coats and palm branches on the ground.  The people shouted praises to Jesus, saying, “Hosanna!  Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Everyone was so excited.

Jesus came to earth for a purpose—to live a perfect life, and to die to pay the price for the sins of all people.  It was not a popular thing for Jesus to hang on a cross, be spit upon and whipped, and die.  The crowds didn’t understand what was going on.

But Jesus did not stay dead!  He rose from the dead three days later!  And when Jesus returns, He will come in power and glory and honor.  He will show the world that He IS the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  The Bible says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.  Let’s not wait to do that when Jesus comes back.  Let’s start now!

Pray that we will make Jesus the King of our life.

And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. Matthew 21:9-11

Freddy the frog, lived with his family on the edge of a large pond. His favorite thing to do, was to sit on a rock and eat flies and bugs. He had a really long tongue, and was quick to catch anything flying by. Day after day, he’d sit on his rock and eat bugs.

The leaves began to change colors and the nights got colder, but Freddy just sat on his rock and ate bugs. Soon, old Grandpa Toad said, “RRRBT, RRRBT” in his deep bass voice, “it’s time to jump into the pond, and go down into the mud for our winter hibernation”, and in jumped Grandpa Toad. SPLASH!! But Freddy just sat on his rock eating flies.

Then Grandma Toad said, “RRbt, RRbt ~ hurry up now you youngsters, it’s time for our winter nap, time to go jump in the pond”, and off she went. SPLASH!! Freddy just said, “it’s too early, there’s plenty of time, there’s still too many bugs to eat”, and he sat on his rock and ate some more flies. One by one all the other frogs made their way to the pond, and Splash, Splash, Splash, they all jumped in. Freddy shook his head and thought, there’s still plenty of time and now there’s more bugs for me, and he slurped up another fly.

But the days and nights were getting colder. One night, Freddy could hardly sleep he was so cold, and he thought, I will go jump in the pond in the morning. But when the sun came up the next morning, he thought, well it’s nice a warm today, I’ll wait a couple more days and eat some more bugs.

A couple nights later, it got really cold, the wind was blowing and it started snowing. Freddy was cold, he was shivering so hard he could hardly stay on his rock. I better get to the pond right now, he thought, and he began to crawl toward the pond. It seemed like it took hours to get there, it was so cold and the wind was blowing so hard.

Finally Freddy made it to the pond; he gathered his energy to jump into the pond. He jumped, but instead of Splash into the water, it was SPLAT onto the surface. The pond had frozen over and the surface was ice. Freddy jumped again and again, until he couldn’t jump anymore. But it was no use, the pond was frozen solid.

The next morning, the farmer’s son walked by the pond on the way to school, he saw something green out on the pond. When he looked closer, he saw it was Freddy the frog, frozen and dead. “What a foolish frog”, he said as he walked away.

Are we like that foolish frog? Do we listen when our parents tell to do something? Do we obey, or do we say, I’ll do it later or another time? What about God, do we listen to Him? Or are we telling Him, “I have other things to do right now, I don’t have time to serve you now”?

For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

2 Corinthians 6:2

Jairus' only daughter contracted an illness that brought her to the brink of death.  Her frantic father desperately sought for Jesus that He might come and heal this daughter.

After consenting to come heal the young girl, Jesus journeyed with his friends, Jairus, and a crowd of people to Jairus' home.  Along the way a woman was healed of a lengthy illness when she touched Jesus' clothes.

"Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."  Mark 5:34

When Jesus arrived at Jairus' home, all were mourning over the death of the young daughter.  However, Jesus changed the mourning to joy as he raised the daughter back to life.

Never before had one been raised from the dead or healed by merely touching the clothes of some person.  But Jesus was not just another person.  He was Emmanuel - God with us.  He has all power in heaven and in earth.

"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." Matthew 28:18

 Timmy was a typical young squirrel with a few major defects.  The biggest one was that he was very proud of his tail and would spend as much time a possible displaying it to anyone who was unfortunate enough to come close.  Secondly, he mocked Mary Mouse's tail, which he called a little "string of a thing", and Benny Bunny's tail, which he said was hardly enough to be called a tail at all.  Lastly, when his parents asked him to help gather nuts, he was so preoccupied with his tail that he often neglected to obey them.

One day when he was supposed to be gathering nuts for the winter, he meandered to the edge of the forest.  His parents had warned him of the dangers of the meadow, but this time he thought he was old enough to take care of himself.  While exploring the meadow, he discovered a pond in which he could gaze at his reflection.  He continued to resort to this pond whenever possible in order to gaze at the reflection of his beautiful tail.  Unfortunately, one day his tail was caught in a mousetrap and he was nearly captured by an eager young boy.  At the last second, he pulled his tail out of the trap and escaped.  Fortunately, all he lost was most of the fur on his tail and his pride.  Through this incident he learned the following lessons:

1.  Pride comes before a fall.

2.  Be sure your sin will find you out.

3.  Don't be wise in your own eyes.

Sometimes, squirrels - and people also - learn their lessons the hard way.  Either way, we must learn them.

"As for God, his way is perfect:..."  Psalms 18:30

Naaman was a good man who commanded an army in the country of Aram. But Naaman had a problem. He had a bad disease called leprosy.

"Naaman should go see the great prophet Elisha," said a Hebrew girl who worked for Naaman's wife. "Elisha could heal Naaman" So Naaman gathered gifts of silver, gold, and fine clothes, and set off for Israel. When he finally reached Elisha's house, Elisha didn't even come out. Instead he sent his servant to Naaman.

"Go and bathe in the Jordan River seven times, " said the servant. "And then you will be healed." But Naaman didn't like this message.

" I could have stayed home and bathed in my own river!" said Naaman. "I expected more from this prophet."

But Naaman's servants convinced him to give it a try. So he did. He dipped one, two, three, four, five, six, seven times. When he obeyed what had been told him, his leprosy was gone. He was so happy! He said, "Your God is the only true God. Please accept these gifts as my thanks."

"As the Lord lives, I will not," said Elisha. For Elisha did not want to be paid for what God had done.

Naaman was not healed until he obeyed God. When God tells you to do something, just obey. Don't question the words of the prophet. (The "prophet" for us today would be our pastor and the scriptures, the written word of God.)

Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. 2 Kings 5:14-15

Jesus, his mother, and his disciples were invited to a wedding feast held in the village of Cana.  As the feast progressed, the wine diminished until none was left.  The governor of the feast became distressed, as he obviously had not planned appropriately.  Noticing his anxiety, Jesus' mother asked Jesus to help him.

Jesus commanded the servants to fill the waterpots with water.  After they had obeyed, he instructed them to pour some into a cup and take it to the governor of the feast.  It was at this point that Jesus first miracle was performed.  Jesus had changed the water into wine.

This was merely the beginning of many miracles and wonderful works of Christ.  Truly Jesus was God in the flesh, as he proved by his life, death, and resurrection.  He is worthy of all our praise, love, and service.  We can believe in Him, not only because of his marvelous power as history records it, but because he still performs miracles today in the lives of those who trust Him.

"Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see:  The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up , and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me."  Matthew 11:4-6

"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.  Amen."  John 21:25

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever."  Hebrews 13:8