Hi everyone, its Aunt Frenita
Today's story is called "Up, Up and Away"
The memory verse is Romans 6:23
'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.'
Today's message is 'God's grace is the gift of eternal life.'
"But I don't wanna go to bed," complained David to his older sister
"You know we all need to rest," Martha answered
"We always will in this life
But when we get to heaven, we won't need to rest like we do now"
"How do you know?" asked David
"Let me tell you what I read in the bible about Elijah and Elisha, David,
Then you will understand too."
God had something wonderful planned for Elijah
God wanted to take him straight to heaven without dying first
This was a special honor
that God had only given to one other person
Enoch
Elisha was Elijah's assistant
Elisha knew that soon, the prophet Elijah would end his work and it would be Elisha's time to carry on
Many of the prophets who worked with them
also knew that Elijah would soon be leaving them
God's gentle voice had told them so
One day, Elijah took Elisha on a last journey to visit God's School of the Prophets
The prophets in these schools were asking Elisha
"Did you know God is going to take Elijah today?"
"Yes, I know." Elisha said
The thought of losing Elijah the prophet
filled Elisha with sadness
He was probably a little nervous about taking over Elijah's work too
Elijah also knew that he would also soon be leaving Elisha
So he gave his helper a test
At each school they visited
Elijah told Elisha
"Stay here, I need to go on"
But each time, Elisha insisted on going too
He didn't want to let Elijah out of his sight
He wanted to be with him till the last moment
"As the Lord surely lives, and as you live, I will not leave you"
Elisha said
So the two of them walked on
Soon, they came to the Jordan River
Elijah took off his coat
Rolled it up, and hit the water with it
The water parted and the two men walked across on dry ground
On the other side, it was time to say goodbye
"What can I do for you before I am taken from you?" Elijah asked Elisha
Elisha could've ask for a lot of things
He could have asked for money
He could have asked to be famous
But instead, he asked for a special blessing
"Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit" he answered
He knew that the only way he could do the work
he bad been called to do, was with extra help from God
"If you see me when I am taken up from you, it will be yours
otherwise, not." Elijah said
And they kept walking
Then suddenly, a chariot and horses of fire appeared and separated the two men
Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind
Elisha called after him, "My father, my father!"
"The chariots and horsemen of Israel!"
But Elijah was gone
Elisha tore his clothes to show his sorrow at losing his teacher and friend
Then, Elisha saw Elijah's coat where it had fallen
He picked it up, and walked back to the Jordan River
Rolling up the coat
Elisha hit the water with it, just as Elijah had done
Again, the waters parted
And Elisha walked across on dry ground
God had indeed given Elisha the gift of his spirit
God wants to give us good gifts too
His very best gift is the gift that he gave Elijah
The gift of eternal forever life
And like Elisha
we have to ask for the gift
We have to keep our eyes on Jesus
Just as Elisha had to keep his eyes on Elijah
And we have to believe our prayers have been answered
and act in faith
We have to believe
just as Elisha did
when he hit the water with Elijah's coat
Closed Captioning by Natasha Ten