WHAT'S CLOSE TO GOD'S HEART

I wonder if you’ve heard people talk about what a person really cares about by saying - “That’s something close to their heart.” 

It doesn’t really mean that if you opened them up and looked at the organ that pumps their blood, you’d see the things they care about stuck to their heart.  What does it mean?

·              Give me some examples of things that are close to people’s hearts?

·              Why do you think knowing what’s close to someone’s heart helps you know them better?

I want us to look tonight at some things that are close to God’s heart, and one reason for doing this is so we can get to know God better.

I cut out a BIG heart because we’re going to think tonight about what is close to God’s heart, and I think of God as having A BIG HEART!

So I have few verses in the Bible to look up - Sword Drill or Volunteers:

Proverbs 22:22

“Do not rob the poor because he is poor,

or crush the afflicted at the gate.

For the LORD will plead their case

And take the life of those who rob them.

What is this verse saying: Proverbs gives us the way to live wisely in this world.  Maybe you could think of it as walking through life with God’s light showing us the way.

(Walk using flashlight)

So this part of Proverbs is saying what?  What group of people is it talking about?  And what is it saying about them?  How are we to treat them?  Who is looking out for them, and ready to punish those who hurt these people?

Why does someone look out for someone else, or get angry when someone is harmed?  It’s because they are special to him.

So let’s write on this part of God’s heart what we just learned He cares about:

xxxxxx

One more verse:

Zechariah 7:9-13

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: Administer true justice, show mercy and compassion to one another.  Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor.  In your hearts do not think evil of each other.”

(HAVE THIS WRITTEN ON THE BOARD)

So what does this verse say about what or who is close to God’s heart?

Let’s write these on God’s heart too

Have markers and ask for volunteers - there are three things and 4 types of people that we hear about in this verse.

Now God cares so much about these people that a verse or 2 later, he says that he is angry with his people because they have seen people in need and made their hearts like stones - hard!  And it says God became very angry.  And one result of God’s anger was that when these people called to God, he wouldn’t listen.

Now it is a very bad thing to find out that God isn’t listening to you.  But it didn’t have to be that way.  If they had taken their hearts of stone, and softened them like God’s heart, God would be anxious to hear their prayers.

So, let’s make some connections to you and me.  Here is the heart that shows just a few of the things close to God’s heart.  There are many more, but these are important ones.

And we learned from the verses in Zechariah that when people make their hearts like stone against these people, God is very angry.

What then does that tell us about the kind of heart God wants us to have towards these people?

Now here’s a way to think about it.  I wonder if you have ever noticed that there is something about you that is just like your mom or dad.  Maybe it’s the color of your eyes, or the way your ears look, or how your toes look.

Or maybe it’s the way you say something, and someone laughs and says - you sound just like your dad!

God wants his children to look like Him.  He wants people to look at His children and say - oh, don’t they remind you of their father?  God!  God wants your heart to be tender to the things His heart is tender towards.  He doesn’t want His children to have hard, stony hearts towards the poor, and orphans, and widows, and strangers.

He wants my heart and your heart to be like his - to look at people in trouble with mercy and compassion, not with cold rejection.  And you know that’s just what he did for you and me.

Let me read you one more verse - James 2:15-16

If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

Your warmest thoughts towards someone who is poor - is worthless unless you give them what they need.

And so we’re going to do something through AWANA that will help people who don’t have the warm clothes they need, and we’ll do it because we know God’s heart is warm towards the poor, and we want to have hearts like our heavenly Dad.

I’ve brought some examples of what you might have in your home.  These are really nice coats that my kids wore, but they can’t wear them any more - they’re too small.  But they would be perfect for someone else.

Here’s another coat.

Now look - are they okay?  Do they have holes, or are they smelly?  No.  They’re in good shape, and a kid wouldn’t mind wearing them.

And so we’re going to look for coats that kids would like to wear.  We want you to talk with your moms and dads, and ask them who you could ask to give coats.

Maybe it’s an aunt or uncle.  Maybe it’s families in your neighborhood.  Maybe it’s people at your church.  We could do a great drive just by asking Westerly people to help.  But who will ask?  If you want to talk with me afterwards about how to get this church to be a part, please come up after council time.

If you go to another church, you could ask your mom and dad how do to that.

I think we can know that God is very pleased by this.  We’re caring for people very close to his heart.