This morning we talked about fire. Fire is a curious, dangerous, useful, and sometimes misused thing. Well, okay, we didn't really learn about fire, but about one of the most well-known stories for kids. The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. These three men refused to bow to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar (neb-uh-cud-nezz-er), and this refusal got them into some serious trouble. Their punishment for failing to obey the king was to be thrown into a fiery furnace - like super, extreme, uber-fiery. The three men said that they would NOT bow, but that their God would save them from the fire. But even if God did NOT save them, they would still only worship the true God. We read in Daniel chapter 3 that this maddened the king to order the already-hot fire seven times hotter. Then in they went. And it's hard to say whether the more mind-blowing thing is that they didn't burn up, or that they saw a fourth person walking around in the fire with them. Either way, Nebuchadnezzar was mind-blown and decreed that no one should say anything bad about their God because he was clearly the God with unbelievable power.
Today is also the second Sunday in Advent, where we focus on Peace. And just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could not have conjured up their own peace about being thrown into a fire, we remember and await the return of Jesus, the One who brings peace both in the middle of storms and in the future when he will return to bring peace once and for all. As you continue the conversation this week, remember to start with gratitude like Pastor Barry said, and involve your kids in that same practice.
As usual, some questions to get your conversation going...
Elementary
- If you didn't know the outcome of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, would you think they were crazy?
- How hard would it be to take the same stand for God that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did? Do you have that kind of faith? How do you think they felt after coming out of the fire?
Preschool
- If fire is so dangerous, why would Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be willing to get burned? What were they saying 'no' to?
- How powerful and miraculous is God? Can anyone just walk around in fire and not get burned?