Alpha & Omega
By Pastor Evan Goranson, Hope Covenant Church, Orland Park, Illinois
Stained glass window with Alpha & Omega
THEME: God is the begining and the end in the circle of salvation and life.
BIBLE VERSE: Revelation 22:13, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."
PROMPT: Pictures of the Greek letters Alpha and Omega, possibly from within the church itself such as stained glass windows.
MESSAGE: Have you ever looked at the windows of a church and wondered what the strange looking letters were that you saw? (Point children to example in church or show them sample above). You probably know your own alphabet very well and can say the whole thing, expecially if you sing it in the Alphabet Song we learn when we are little. Can you sing that with me now?
"A B C D E F G, H I J K L M N O P, Q R S, T U V, W X Y and Z. Now I've said my ABC's, tell me what you think of me." That was very good. You started with the very first letter A and ended up with the last letter Z. Those are the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet.
Well the letters you saw in the window/picture are the letters Alpha (Α) and omega (Ω) and they are the first and last letters of the Classical Greek alphabet. This would be similar to
referring to someone in English as the "A and Z". So when we see the Greek letters Alpha and Omega, we are seeing the symbol for God as the first and the last.
Now many things that were written in the Bible used the Greek alphabet and in our Bible verse for today, we read from Revelation 22:13, which says, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." God was telling us that he is the begining of life, our creator and father. Then the verse tells us he is the end, the final salvation for eternal life.
We also need to remember that not only is God the first and the last, he is everything in between. From the day we are born we should be ready to let God be our guide through our whole life. We should pray to him for guidance when we need help, we should follow his commandments as we live our lives, and we should share him to everybody we meet along the way so they to can have the good life that comes with following God.
Ask the children to join you in a closing prayer. "Dear Lord, please be my Alpha and my Omega. Please help me each day to follow you and to feel safe and happy, knowing you are the first and the last thing in my life each day. Amen"
BIBLE VERSE: Revelation 22:13, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."
PROMPT: Pictures of the Greek letters Alpha and Omega, possibly from within the church itself such as stained glass windows.
MESSAGE: Have you ever looked at the windows of a church and wondered what the strange looking letters were that you saw? (Point children to example in church or show them sample above). You probably know your own alphabet very well and can say the whole thing, expecially if you sing it in the Alphabet Song we learn when we are little. Can you sing that with me now?
"A B C D E F G, H I J K L M N O P, Q R S, T U V, W X Y and Z. Now I've said my ABC's, tell me what you think of me." That was very good. You started with the very first letter A and ended up with the last letter Z. Those are the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet.
Well the letters you saw in the window/picture are the letters Alpha (Α) and omega (Ω) and they are the first and last letters of the Classical Greek alphabet. This would be similar to
referring to someone in English as the "A and Z". So when we see the Greek letters Alpha and Omega, we are seeing the symbol for God as the first and the last.
Now many things that were written in the Bible used the Greek alphabet and in our Bible verse for today, we read from Revelation 22:13, which says, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." God was telling us that he is the begining of life, our creator and father. Then the verse tells us he is the end, the final salvation for eternal life.
We also need to remember that not only is God the first and the last, he is everything in between. From the day we are born we should be ready to let God be our guide through our whole life. We should pray to him for guidance when we need help, we should follow his commandments as we live our lives, and we should share him to everybody we meet along the way so they to can have the good life that comes with following God.
Ask the children to join you in a closing prayer. "Dear Lord, please be my Alpha and my Omega. Please help me each day to follow you and to feel safe and happy, knowing you are the first and the last thing in my life each day. Amen"