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VBS Sermon Outline This sermon outline is offered as a resource to help you plan a VBS-inspired sermon. You are granted permission to adapt this sermon for your personal preaching style and needs. Be sure to insert local references leading into the week (commissioning) or as a wrap-up (Closing Program) to your VBS week. 4 Theme Verse: "Oh, the depth of the riches . . . of God!" (Romans 11:33) Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord, Savior, and Leader, Jesus Christ. Amen. Nearly fifteen years ago, Nintendo released a new gaming system called the Nintendo Wii. Perhaps you've played one. It's the type of system where your movements with the controller determine the movements in the game. One popular game was a series of sports that included bowling, baseball, golf, and tennis. You could swing your controller in the proper motion for each sport. (Demonstrate as you feel comfortable.) Another game had a follow-the-leader trail run. It was pretty simple. You just ran in place with your controller in your hand. Your movements were simulated on the screen, so it looked like you were running behind your guide, your leader. The leader would change paces occasionally, and you were supposed to keep up. If you went too slow, your guide would wait for you, but if you went too fast and got ahead of your leader, the game would make you trip and fall flat on your face. You couldn't ignore the leader. You had to follow him, or things would go horribly wrong. For the past week of Vacation Bible School, we've learned about how God leads us through the adventures of life to the depths of the riches of His love and mercy. We learned about how God led Noah and his family through the floodwaters to dry ground. We learned how God led Moses and the people of Israel by giving them the Ten Commandments, instructions for how to live. We learned how Jesus invited His disciples to follow Him. We learned how Jesus leads the way by healing people, even those who are outcasts. And we learned how Jesus leads us to share His love with our neighbors. We most clearly see the depth of God's love for us in His Son, Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for us and rose to new life on the third day. Jesus leads us to the depth of the riches of God. Jesus leads the way to eternal life. But we don't always care to follow Jesus, do we? Sometimes, we wander off on our own. Sometimes, we want to have it our own way. Sometimes, we even tell God how things should be. Our theme verse for the week is from Romans 11:33. In its fuller context, this is what it says: "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!" And the next verse is this: "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?" Sometimes, we try to be above God, to be His counselor. When we seek to counsel God, to lead the Lord, we are in the wrong place and it will not go well. When we tell God how things should be and wander off on our own, we will always fall flat on our face, just like the Nintendo game. This is what happened to the people of Israel over and over again. God sought to lead the Israelites by giving them the Ten Commandments. God had already led them out of slavery in Egypt and across the Red Sea on dry ground. Now, on Mount Horeb, God gave Moses instructions for how the people were to live as God's people. But the Israelites continually failed to follow God's leading. They made a golden calf to worship. They grumbled against God and against Moses because the Israelites didn't care for the miraculous bread that was being provided for them to eat. And after the Israelites finally entered the Promised Land, they flip-flopped back and forth between worshiping the one true God and worshiping false gods. Over and over again, Israel fell flat on its face. The same thing happened with Jesus' disciples. He called them to follow Him, but sometimes, they went their own way. When little children were coming to Jesus, the disciples tried to stop them, but Jesus told His disciples to let the little children come to Him, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. The disciples would have prevented Jesus from coming to Jerusalem for what we now call Holy Week, knowing He might be arrested. And on the night before Jesus' death, when Judas came to betray Jesus, all of the disciples fled, running away from Jesus rather than following Him. They all fell flat on their faces in fear. And the same thing happens to us. As we seek to follow Jesus, we fail. We fall flat on our faces. We confess this every week toward the beginning of the worship service. We confess that we are sinful, that we have sinned in our thoughts and words, in what we've done and what we've failed to do. We confess that Jesus Leads the Way Romans 11:33

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