Children’s Sermon

Acts 16:9-15

Listen for the Call

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Acts 16:9-15

Listen for the Call

Poem, “Wild Geese” can be found at :
http://www.poems.lovecanadageese.com/wildgeese.html
or
http://lookingup1.blogspot.com/2006/01/something-told-wild-geese-by-rachel.html

There are many animals, insects, and even fish that hear some sort of call telling them it is time to move to another place. We don’t know exactly how this happens.

Perhaps you have seen wild geese fly overhead in that beautiful v-shaped wedge. The poet, Rachel Field, in her poem “Wild Geese” says, “Something told the wild geese / It was time to go…” (Read the entire poem if it is appropriate to your situation.)

The same thing is true for whales. Something tells them it is time to move to another location. On the island where I live, we see grey whales swim by our shores in the spring. They are on their way north after spending the winter in the waters near Mexico.

Salmon that swim in our big oceans also get some sort of signal that tells them it is time to return to the rivers and streams where they were began as tiny fish. We don’t know exactly how this happens.

You could say that we get calls too. Have you ever had the feeling that you need to check in with someone to see how they are doing? Or perhaps you have felt the need to do something special to make someone feel loved. I believe this is God’s Spirit calling us to move – to do something for others.

The Bible tells us that the disciple, Paul had this experience. Paul’s call from God came in a dream. “A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, begging him, and saying, ‘Come over into Macedonia and help us'” (16:9).

Paul was called to go to Macedonia to tell the people about God’s love. No one had done that before. While Paul was there he came upon a group of women and he sat down and spoke with them. One of the women, Lydia, was especially eager to learn. She accepted what Paul told her about God’s love and her entire household was baptized.

This story teaches us that we too can listen for God’s Spirit to call us to service – to do something for others. Your call may not come in a dream as Paul’s did, but you may have a “knowing within you” that you are being called to do something special. Listen for your call.

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible