Good Morning. Usually I ask you to wait to pet Reggie until after we finish our prayer. This morning we’re going to do this differently. But first, we need to make a deal. You can pet Reggie now IF you will do two things for me. (1) Watch how Reggie reacts when you pet him (2) When I ask you to sit back down, you will do so immediately. Do we have a deal? O.K. You can pet Reggie.(Children gather around Reggie, petting him.)

Now, would you sit down please? Thank you.

I know Reggie likes for you to pet him. What does Reggie do that tells me that? He wags his tail! That’s right. And he laughs. (Demonstrate with a happy pant.) He gets excited and wiggles around. So Reggie tells us he is happy and that he likes to be petted.

I wish Reggie could talk. At least I think I wish Reggie could talk – knowing his personality, I probably couldn’t shut him up! But Reggie can’t talk. Sometimes I pretend that he can talk because he sure can tell me without words what he likes, doesn’t like, needs, and wants me to do.

Some time ago when the water bottle on his crate was dry, he would keep working until he got it off the crate and then he would bring me the empty bottle. That was pretty hard on the bottle so I anchored it to the crate. Now, when the bottle is empty he just comes and sits down in front of me and looks at me. I can usually figure out, if an ear scratch doesn’t do it and he has just been out, then the water bottle must be empty. So Reggie lets me know without words what he wants me to do.

Sometimes I wish God would talk to me – out loud, so I could actually hear his voice. God doesn’t usually speak to us in a voice we can hear, but he does tell us what he wants us to do. One way God speaks to us in through the Bible. That is why it’s very important to learn Bible verses so we can remember them. Verses like "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so whosoever believes on him should not die, but have everlasting life." "Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself." We memorize these verses so we can always hear God’s voice telling us that he loves us and that we should love him and others. God also speaks to us thorough Sunday School teachers, Worship and Wonder, Pastor Kimball, and maybe sometimes God may even speaks to you through Reggie. Still another way God speaks to us is in our heart. When we open our hearts to God he will let us know in our hearts what he wants us to do – even without words we can hear.

SO I wish Reggie could tell me how he feels and I wish God would speak to us out loud in his own voice. But even if they don’t, they both communicate with us. You know Reggie is happy when he wags his tail. And if you open your heart to God, he will speak to you through the Bible, other people and in a still small voice in your heart.

Let’s pray:

Our heavenly father, Thank you for talking to us through the Bible, through our teachers, and in our hearts. Help us to listen for what you have to tell us. To God be the glory! In Jesus Name. Amen

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