Truthfulness Under Pressure
Children's sermon
Object:
Gallon of milk
How many of you like to have a snack before you go to bed. Some kids like to eat cereal not only for breakfast but also for a nighttime snack.
There was a family of four hungry boys and every night they would eat cereal before going to bed. But this one night they accidently left the milk jug out on the counter. OOPS! Mom came into the kitchen in the morning and was not very happy. She had planned to make pancakes for everyone but the milk was all spoiled as it had been left out on the counter all night.
The mother tried to figure out which son had left it out. She began to ask, one after another, "Did you forget to put the milk away?" No one confessed to doing it...
The same kind of thing happened in our Bible story. The question was "Surely you are not another of this man's disciples?" Jesus had been taken away by soldiers and the disciples were very fearful what might happen to them next. But Peter, who was a very close friend of Jesus responded, "I am not." (John 18:17)
When we are under pressure it is very easy to cover up the truth. We want to look good and we think it will be easier to not tell the truth. Peter had several opportunities to tell the truth but each time he denied knowing Jesus just as the boys in our story denied leaving the milk out. We are often very fearful of people and in our story with Peter it was a young girl that was asking him this question.
When we fail to be truthful, we can get into a tangled mess. When you are tempted to deny the truth, realize you will need to live with our decision and that can be so miserable. Peter cared more about himself being safe than pleasing God.
How do we apply this to our lives?
Pray to God daily for courage to do what is right even though it is terribly hard. We see the outcome of Peter's denial. He felt so terrible... May we not give in to fear of people but instead respect God. The easy way is not always the best way.
There was a family of four hungry boys and every night they would eat cereal before going to bed. But this one night they accidently left the milk jug out on the counter. OOPS! Mom came into the kitchen in the morning and was not very happy. She had planned to make pancakes for everyone but the milk was all spoiled as it had been left out on the counter all night.
The mother tried to figure out which son had left it out. She began to ask, one after another, "Did you forget to put the milk away?" No one confessed to doing it...
The same kind of thing happened in our Bible story. The question was "Surely you are not another of this man's disciples?" Jesus had been taken away by soldiers and the disciples were very fearful what might happen to them next. But Peter, who was a very close friend of Jesus responded, "I am not." (John 18:17)
When we are under pressure it is very easy to cover up the truth. We want to look good and we think it will be easier to not tell the truth. Peter had several opportunities to tell the truth but each time he denied knowing Jesus just as the boys in our story denied leaving the milk out. We are often very fearful of people and in our story with Peter it was a young girl that was asking him this question.
When we fail to be truthful, we can get into a tangled mess. When you are tempted to deny the truth, realize you will need to live with our decision and that can be so miserable. Peter cared more about himself being safe than pleasing God.
How do we apply this to our lives?
Pray to God daily for courage to do what is right even though it is terribly hard. We see the outcome of Peter's denial. He felt so terrible... May we not give in to fear of people but instead respect God. The easy way is not always the best way.
