Helping Or Hindering

Transcript

Well good morning everyone. If you would please turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 10. We’ll begin at verse 13.

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them. And the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, Let the children come to me. Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them

— Mark 10

(ESV)

. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray. Our Father and our God, we come before you in deep dependence. We posture ourselves the same way we do every time we approach your Word. Needy. Empty-handed. Recognizing, Father, that

unless you give us the help that we need, we won’t know anything of spiritual significance. And so we pray, even now, that your Spirit would come and open up our hearts and our minds and our eyes to the truth contained in your Word. We pray, Lord, as we see your heart for children, that you would conform our hearts to be more in line with Jesus. Help us as we unpack this powerful passage. We pray these things in Christ’s name. Amen. Well, one of the greatest gifts of grace God has given us is when children are born into a Christian home. When a child is born to a home where the gospel is proclaimed, both in words and actions, is one of the greatest means God uses to bring children to faith in him. One of our distinctives, and something that we often pray, is that God would help us to evangelize our city and our

world, but we often fail to see the providence of God in giving us this little mission field of children in our homes and in our church. So we should see this as a gift from God and use this gift for our advantage. But this great gift from God, if not handled with wisdom and care, intentionality and stewardship, could and sometimes does have devastating effects. We’ve all heard the stories of people who were raised in a Christian home only to reject Jesus in their adult years as a direct result of what their professing Christian parents modeled, or better yet, failed to model for them in their youth. Homes that placed more weight on morals than on the gospel. Homes more concerned with looking like a Christian rather than actually being a Christian. Homes flooded with hypocrisy. Homes that hindered children from coming to true faith in Jesus because of a lack of real spiritual investment. And this, brothers

Are We Helping or Hindering?

and sisters, is exactly what I’d like to address this morning. And I’d like to use this text as a bit of a launchpad to ask this most important question. Are we helping or are we hindering our children from coming to Jesus? Now this is a question that has immediate implications for parents. But this question is not relegated to Christian parents only. So if you’re a member of this church, dear single person, dear married couple without kids, I’m asking you this question. Are you helping or are you hindering our children from coming to Jesus? Now before we dive into our text to answer this most important question, let me first begin by setting some framework. Last week, if you remember, we discussed in great detail how God has meticulously designed marriage and how we are to follow his beautiful blueprint when it comes to this most sacred union.

And so it would only make sense that Mark would, by design, place this narrative dealing specifically with children to immediately follow his discussion on marriage. Mark, by design, has stitched these two narratives together not because they belong together chronologically, but because Mark is aiming to string together this mini theme on family issues. And so what I want to do this morning is spend a little bit of time unpacking our passage so that we know exactly what this passage is telling us. But then after briefly dealing with this text expositionally, I want to spend the rest of our time working out some practical implications of the text, okay? So we use the exposition as a springboard to give us an extended period of application. So let’s dive right in to verse 13. And they, meaning the parents, were bringing children to him that he might touch them. So this narrative doesn’t give us

much in terms of context. In fact, Mark just jumps right into action. Last week, the text ended with Jesus having left a large crowd to make his way into a house so that he could talk to his disciples about some of these family issues concerning divorce and remarriage. Here and now, it’s obvious that Jesus is out of the house and begun to make his way into a large crowd. Now, we don’t know if Jesus is preaching or teaching. For all we know, Jesus could have just been hanging out. But what Jesus is doing isn’t really a significant point here. What is important is that the people in the crowd, particularly parents, are bringing children to Jesus. The question is, why are all these parents bringing children to Jesus? Well, in this culture, children were among the most vulnerable population. You have to remember, this is the first century. There

weren’t hospitals or pediatricians. And so if a child became sick or hurt, things could turn devastating quite quickly. And like any good or loving parent would do, when given the opportunity, they would bring their children to a rabbi because rabbis were considered to have a spiritual connection to God. So the rabbi would lay their hands on people’s children and pray for them, pray for protection, pray for physical health. They would also have rabbis bless their children so that the children, under the blessing of the rabbi, would grow in wisdom, would grow in understanding and in prominence, and most importantly, their children would grow in godliness. This was part of the Jewish tradition. Now, the text doesn’t tell us the exact age of the children that were being brought to Jesus. We don’t really get those details. But in Mark’s gospel, we come across a

story of a man named Jarius who approached Jesus to help his child who was facing death. The same word for child in this verse is used in that story with Jarius, whose daughter was around 12 years old. And in Luke’s account of this narrative, the children are referenced as babies. So the children being brought to Jesus could be anywhere between the age of an infant or someone around the age of 12. But regardless of their age, the people in the crowd were over-the-top enthusiastic to bring their children of all different age groups to Jesus. Now, you could imagine what this scene was like. Very loud, very crazy, out of control, as kids typically are. Imagine a playground during recess, or imagine my home on a Monday morning. That’s what the scene was like, full of chaos. But as the kid chaos continued, the disciples, for

The Disciples’ Wrong Response

whatever reason, became very frustrated. And so they decided to put an end to the kid chaos. And we see that in the second half of verse 13. And the disciples rebuked them. So it’s not enough that the disciples simply shut down the child train. They actually go so far as to rebuke the children. Now, this word rebuke here is the same word used to describe the way Jesus dealt with demons. It’s strong, harsh, and a forceful word. And you see the disciples’ response to the children reveals so much about their own hearts, but also the way that they view children. The disciples viewed children the same way the culture in the first century viewed children, and that was unimportant and insignificant. To the disciples, children were simply in the way. They were a bother, perhaps a great distraction to the ministry. Now listen, even though we can see from this side of

the story how completely wrong and ridiculous the disciples were for rebuking the children this way, parents, can I be real with you for a second? You know this kind of response all too well. Or maybe it’s just me. But I’m pretty convinced we’ve all in some way, whether we’ve been preoccupied with work, or whether we’re in the middle of a discussion with another person, or maybe you’re reading an article, or you’re on your phone, or you’re just focused on something important, and all of a sudden the kids start running around and screaming and having fun, and you just blurt out, kids, can’t you see I’m busy right now? Go to your room with all that crazy noise. Well I imagine this is a bit how the disciples responded to the children. They want the kids out of the way because they’ve got more important things to attend to. And you know when we

do that, we are functionally saying to our children, you’re a burden. You’re in the way, and that your needs are far more greater than the needs of your children. Now brothers and sisters, we have to be mindful when we do that. I have to be mindful of when I do that, and make the necessary adjustments to not do that. We need to be kind and gentle with our children. Raise them in godliness, but be gentle. So the parents want to bring their kids to Jesus, but the disciples, because they’re frustrated, are blocking the children from coming to Jesus. Now think about the irony in that for a moment. The disciples, called to be fishers of men, the ones commissioned by God to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth, the ones tasked to invite people to become children of God, are the ones creating the biggest impediment to the children of God. The disciples are

treating these children as unimportant and not worthy of Jesus’s attention. And this just shows you that the disciples had taken so much of their cues from the culture, and that they had so much to learn from Jesus as it pertains to Jesus’s love and priority for children. And look at how Jesus responds to these rebuking disciples in verse 14. But when he, when Jesus saw it, he was indignant. At the sight of these disciples hindering the children, Jesus became severely angry. Now this is the only time in the New Testament where Jesus is said to be indignant. So we should take notice. Jesus is exceedingly angry. And I love how Mark consistently documents the emotions of Jesus, because you get the full spectrum of our Lord. From his love and compassion, to his anger and frustration. And it’s good for us to see Jesus’s severe anger here, because his anger reflects the

seriousness with which he considers children. So don’t miss the heart of Jesus in his anger. You see his love for children by his anger towards those who would hinder children from coming to him. You remember just a few weeks ago, what Jesus said about causing one of these little ones to stumble? Yes, he was speaking primarily about young converts, but he was also talking about literal little children. Children were in that category. So Jesus was making this warning, and he was very serious about that. So he’s exceedingly angry. But notice, Jesus doesn’t just sit in his anger. He doesn’t keep his anger to himself and just get frustrated. He confronts his disciples about it. Look at the second half of verse 14. And Jesus said to them, let the children come to me. Do not hinder them, for to such belong the kingdom of God. So the disciples

created a roadblock, because they think that kids are not really important. But Jesus straightens up their foolishness and their cultural thinking concerning children. He says, don’t hinder them. Don’t stop them from coming to me. And take note of that, because we’re gonna spend some time unpacking what it means to hinder children from coming to Jesus. Jesus not only tells them not to hinder the children, but Jesus goes so far as to say, these very children that you think are so unimportant and insignificant are the very ones to whom the kingdom of God belong to. They’re that important, and they’re that significant. Don’t miss what Jesus is saying here. He’s saying the kingdom of God belongs to these children. What’s interesting about what Jesus is saying here is that it’s both general and specific. So the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these

children being brought to Jesus, but the kingdom of God is also for these very specific children being brought to Jesus. And why that’s important is because we need to understand that this really puts into perspective how the disciples are quite literally blocking children from accessing the kingdom of God to the ones he’s granted access to. That’s crazy. This is why Jesus responds so aggressively. Last week we heard Jesus say, what God has brought together, let no man separate. Here Jesus is almost saying to the one who God has granted access to, let no man hinder from entering. If I’ve granted access, don’t block the gate. This is why Jesus is so aggressive. And not only does the kingdom of God belong to these specific children and others like them, but Jesus actually ups the ante. Look at verse 15. He says, truly, I say to you, whoever does not

receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. Here Jesus goes even further by saying, not only is the kingdom of God for children, but if adults intend to enter the kingdom of God, they must come like these children. Now this would be shocking in this culture. If you want to come into the kingdom of God, you must become like the lowest class of society. You must become like the most insignificant ones in the world. That was the cultural paradigm of the day. And you see, this is why I love Jesus. Jesus is consistently flipping the power dynamics upside down when it comes to his kingdom. Now what does Jesus mean when he says we need to receive the kingdom like a child? Does he mean this literally or figuratively? Well, let’s start first with what Jesus doesn’t mean. Jesus doesn’t mean if you want to enter the kingdom of God, you

must be little and cute or innocent. We know children are not innocent, naive, inexperienced, or unintelligent. That’s not what Jesus means. Jesus means helpless, dependent, without anything to offer, no social credibility, no credentials. The children in this culture, as well as in our culture, if you think about it, are helpless. They can’t do much, if not anything, on their own. They are in every way dependent upon their parents for provision and protection. To put it quite simply, children are needy. They’re needy. And you see, this is what the gospel is all about. Recognizing your need. It’s a fully orbed understanding that you can do nothing on your own to enter or to earn the kingdom of God. You are dependent in every way to receive it from God. You see, that’s what faith in Jesus works out in his children. Provision and protection. Trusting in

everything he has done to provide a ransom for your sins when you were helpless and hopeless to do anything on your own about it. He provided his life to protect you from his own wrath. Jesus is saying, if you want to enter the kingdom of God, you must come empty-handed, helpless, and dependent. Just like these little children. And you see, what’s implied here is that if you come empty-handed, helpless, and dependent, he will receive you. Just like these little children. And look at how Jesus receives these little children in verse 16. And he took them in his arms and he blessed them, laying his hands on them. And you see here this most beautiful picture, illustrating the heart of Jesus. All who come to him empty and helpless, desperate and needy, he will receive in his arms and bless. And it’s here in this verse where you see that

Three Ways We Hinder

Jesus is both provider and priest. If you come to him, he will receive you and he will bless you. And you see what a contrast, what a juxtaposition between Jesus, the one who helps children come to him, and these disciples who are hindering children from coming to him. And as you see this contrast in the passage, as you see it so plainly laid out, my question again for you this morning is, are you helping or are you hindering our children from coming to Jesus? Does your parenting style or your approach to children’s ministry reflect the heart of Jesus or the disciples in this narrative? Have you ever stopped to ask this question? Have you even thought about this question? My assumption is that any genuine believer desires for their children to come to Jesus. But you should at minimum be asking this question, is what you desire actually

taking place in your home? You see if you’re not asking this question often and honestly, then you could very well be unintentionally hindering your children from coming to Jesus. And so the next question logically should be, in what ways might we be hindering our children from coming to Jesus? Well this morning I want to give you three ways to know for sure, you can definitely know that you’re hindering your children from coming to Jesus. The first way to know if you’re hindering your children is if you fail to express to your children your own sense of neediness before Jesus. Let me repeat that, if you fail to express to your children your own sense of neediness before Jesus. If you’re the type of parent who seemingly has everything together, you have everything figured out, those who in attempt to look strong and composed shield your children

from seeing your need of Jesus, or even seeking help from God’s people, then this will have devastating consequences for your children. If you pretend that you have no need for Jesus, that you’re somehow good enough and moral enough to be accepted by God, then your children will grow up pretending that they have it all together. That they’re good enough and moral enough to be accepted by God. The world is seeking to catechize your children at every turn, and their creeds are independence, self-reliance, self-sufficiency, autonomy, and self-help. The world is telling your children that you don’t need God to be a good person. And to that statement, we as parents must tell our children it’s not true. No one is good. God alone is good, and we need a good God to save us from all the bad things we do. The world is telling your children that religion is nothing more

than a crutch for weak people, and to that statement, we as parents must say, yes, that is true. The religion of Christianity is a crutch for weak people. Christianity is by definition for weak and needy people, and we should put that on display for our children. If we as parents are never going to Jesus with our needs, how can we expect our children to go to Jesus with their needs? So what this means practically is in your home, if you have financial needs, don’t hide it from your kids or from your family. Pray with them publicly that God would provide for their needs. You have physical needs? Don’t hide it from your kids. Pray with them that God might heal bodies. If they have friends who are not Christian, don’t pretend that’s not a reality for your children. Pray with them for their unbelieving friends. Your prayers with your children

should be baked in deep dependency and need. The song that you constantly sing in your home should be the song of neediness because that is what real Christianity is. If we don’t model to our kids to go to Jesus with our needs, they will never come to Jesus with their needs, and this includes their greatest need, their need for a Savior. In fact, the very word Savior stresses a neediness to be saved from something, and that something is their sin. No amount of self-help, no amount of self-sufficiency can take their sin away. They need a Savior like you need a Savior, so you model your need so that they can see their need. Listen, if your children learn nothing else from you in this life, let them learn of your need for Christ. Let them learn of your need for Christ. The second way to hinder your children is this, to refuse to cultivate Christ-centered

conversations in your home. Okay, I’ll say that again. Refuse to cultivate Christ-centered conversations in your home. Parents need to engage in ongoing, age-appropriate, spiritually intentional discussions. The home needs to be a place where we’re talking about Jesus all the time, where Jesus is normal and commonplace. You know, I’ve talked to a lot of Christians who have said, you know, I don’t want to institutionalize my child. I want them to come to Jesus on their own terms. I want them to figure it out for themselves. And if you’re that kind of parent, let me just say this to you as loving as I can. That is not wise. That’s not wise. In fact, it’s the opposite. It’s foolish. And not only that, it’s a dereliction of duty. And it is perhaps the most unloving thing you can do for your children. To do that is to take this amazing gift of

God’s grace and to squander it, to throw it away. You need to be talking about Jesus with your children constantly. And I’m not just talking about the simple, Jesus loves you kind of conversations. But I mean deep and meaningful ones. You need to be consistently talking about his glory, his heart for sinners and wayward people, his law, his power over all things, his power to change things, his presence, his beauty, his creation, his design, his closeness, and most importantly, his divinely inspired word. Are you talking to your children about God’s word? Are you talking to your children about the church? Are you asking questions about the church? Are you asking questions about the sermons that are preached? Are you having conversations about the songs that we sing? You know, one of the reasons why we do communion every week is so that our children might see what we’re doing and ask questions about it.

Every week, the pastors lob you a soft pitch. What are you doing with that? Listen, if you’re not talking to your kids about Jesus, then your kids won’t talk about Jesus. And if they’re not talking about Jesus, you can rest assured they’re not even thinking about Jesus. Okay? You know, one of the most basic ways to cultivate these kind of conversations is to engage in ongoing family worship. Are you doing that? Are you doing that? Are you setting aside time dedicated to cultivate these kinds of conversations? Now listen, I know life is busy and stressful and schedules are hectic, so I’m not talking about this kind of rigorous and regimented routine for family worship. What I’m asking is if you’re setting aside any time intentionally to create these kind of conversations. If you’re not, then you need to start. And listen, you all know that I was not

raised in a Christian home. So I had no framework for family worship. And so some of you, like me, might not have had these glorious treasures handed down to you from believing parents. But this, brothers and sisters, is one of the most tangible benefits of the church. You get to watch and learn from other people in the church who have had these glorious and godly principles handed down to them. A lot of what Heather and I have learned concerning parenting has not been taught to us from our parents, but has been caught from mature Christians in the church. So if you have no idea where to start in terms of family worship, in humility, expressing your neediness, ask other families in the church for help. Find out those in the church who do family worship well and ask them what they do. Ask them to share with you their resources. And families who do this well, if

families come to you and ask for help, you better help them. You better help them. Invite them over for dinner and let them sit with you and observe how you do family worship. Let them glean from your treasure. And hopefully, God willing, you will help them to create a legacy of treasure that they will hand down for generations to come. Don’t keep that wisdom to yourself. Be open-handed with it. And one more thing. There isn’t some kind of one-size-fits-all template for family worship. Each family is different. Each family has unique challenges. So each family will do things differently. The point is, are you making it a pattern to set aside time to regularly engage your children with Christ-centered conversations? What’s crazy is some families will make every effort to talk about their kids’ school, their after-school programs, because they want their kids to learn and succeed in school so that they can live a successful life. But they

care nothing about raising their kids in godliness or setting aside time to talk to their kids about Jesus. They’re not even thinking about how to invest in their children’s life when it comes to God. We must make Jesus the priority in our home. You need to always be talking about Jesus. And when I say talking about Jesus, I mean joyfully talking about Jesus. It does no good for their young and curious hearts to hear you only talk about Jesus when you’re checking them, when you’re correcting them. Let your conversations with your children concerning Jesus be sweet and joyful and full of life. And thirdly, if you really want to hinder your children, make sure that your life and your actions fail to match what your words profess. Make sure that your life and actions fail to match what your words profess. You know, one of the most consistent prayers that

I pray as a husband and as a father is, God, please keep me from being a hypocrite. Please don’t let my wife or my kids see me one way at church and then another way at home. Parents, be careful not to be hypocrites. Kids have a sixth sense for sniffing that out. Now listen, this doesn’t mean that you live a sinless and perfect life. That’s impossible. But what it does mean is that when you sin against your kids, you own it. You own your sin. You seek forgiveness from God and from them when you sin against them. One of the easiest ways to ruin your gospel influence in the home is to never admit that you’re wrong, is to never admit your sin. So be a confessing parent. Be an honest parent. You might think that admitting your sins to your children will somehow lead your kids into sin or create

a context in which they minimize sin, but that’s not true. If you confess your sins to your kids, it will lead your kids into confession and repentance and forgiveness. That’s how it works. And listen, this is one of the most liberating truths in parenting, that every failure can be turned into a gospel conversation. That’s liberating. There are countless times when I have sinned against my kids and I’ve had to go to my kids and ask for forgiveness. Maybe I’ve been short-tempered. Maybe I’ve been unkind. Maybe I’ve been too busy to pay attention to them or to their needs. Maybe I forgot to do what I said I was going to do. I’ve had to own all of those sins and ask my kids to forgive me for all those times when I’ve sinned against my kids. And in all those failures, there was a redeeming quality connected to them

because I confessed my sin and I’ve repented. And this is also true for you. This is one of the easiest ways to get your children thinking about confession, repentance, and God’s forgiveness. If you show them in real life and in real time what it looks like when you sin against them. So don’t be too proud to admit your sins. Own it. Ask for forgiveness. Go to Jesus with them and pray to God with them that God might help you to be a better and faithful father or mother or parent. So listen, these are just three ways in which you can definitely know that you will hinder your child from coming to Jesus. But I don’t want to leave you with just the ways in which you hinder children. I’d like to leave you this morning with just a few practical ways for how we can help our children come to Jesus.

How to Help Children

And this is really practical. Number one, recognize that your children are not your own. Now for some of you that might sound obvious, but that is a very powerful reality. You need to recognize that first and foremost, your children belong to God. God has entrusted his kids to you for his sovereign purposes. And you see when you live that way, when you live according to that truth, you will begin to take the job of parenting more seriously. If we understand that our kids are on loan to us by God, that they’ve been entrusted to us for his purposes and for his gospel work, then we will work hard at gospel parenting. And that gospel work begins with dependence. It begins with dependence. And dependence most practically plays itself out in prayer. You need to be praying for your kids. The best thing you could do, the most practical thing you can do, the most powerful thing you

can do is pray for your kids daily, even before your kids are born. You need to begin praying for your kids. If you’re a couple, you’re thinking about adoption, start praying for your child now. You need to be praying, God, save my kids. Save them at an early age. Keep them from falling deep into disastrous sin. Help them to know your ways and to follow the path of righteousness. Help them to be lovers of your word, lovers of your people, and lovers of the church. God, help them to hold fast to the faith that we’ve been teaching them. God, help us to teach our kids.

Which brings us to the next point. This gospel work includes teaching and training them the truths of Jesus. You’ve got to catechize your kids. You’ve got to catechize your kids. It’s going to be you catechizing your kids, or it’s going to be the world catechizing your kids. To catechize just simply means to indoctrinate them with the truth. Now I know that can sound like an ugly word, but really that word just means put the doctrine in, indoctrinate. And indoctrinate is only bad if the doctrine going in is bad, which is precisely why you must teach them the truth so that they can discern what is bad doctrine

so that they can know truth from error. And listen, dear Christian, if you’re struggling a bit in this area to teach your kids these deep truths about Jesus, might I recommend that you connect with some mature families in this church and ask for help. Don’t be too embarrassed to ask for help because this is so critical to the life of our children in this church. Ask for help. This is what the church is for. This is the beauty of God’s diversity in the church. So ask for help.

Remember, we’re a family. We can have these honest conversations, go out for coffee and say, listen, I’m really struggling, man. I’m having a hard time teaching my kids all that it means to be a good Christian. And here’s another practical way, another practical way you can help. Members, we’re on this Facebook member group, right? If you’re not on there, jump on there. I know some of you are not on Facebook. Here’s a very practical way. This week, jump on there and start sharing resources that you’ve used to catechize your kids. Share resources, show what has worked. That’s one of the most tangible ways to help. One of the easiest ways to teach your children is to prioritize church. Bring them to church. Don’t be passive about church. Have them participate in worship. Have them engage in the songs we sing. Listen, we don’t sing bogus songs here.

We don’t sing fluffy songs, feel good songs. We sing songs about the truth. Why do we sing songs about the truth of who God is and what he’s done for humanity? So that we can be reminded. So have them engage in the songs that we sing. Ask them questions about it. Have meaningful conversations with other Christians. Invite other Christians over to your house and have your kids ask them questions. How did you get to know Jesus? How did you learn about Jesus? These are great ways. Listen, children have an amazing capacity to take in spiritual realities. This is precisely why Jesus says to the disciples, unless you come like a child, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. Because there’s great sensibilities when it comes to children. Okay, children have an openness to the truth because they’ve not been jaded by the long-term effects of sin. Listen, this doesn’t mean that they’re without sin. It just means that they’ve

been in this world with sinful people a lot less. So they’re less jaded. And listen, all that we’ve said this morning concerning helping and hindering children is not just for parents. You hear that? If you are a member of this church, it is also your responsibility to pray for our children in this church, to teach our children in this church, to care for the needs of our children in this church, to help them grow in godliness, to minister the gospel to them through your words, through your actions, through your presence, and through your investment of time. You are not off the hook if you have no kids.

Remember, God has given us this little mini mission field. This is a blessing from God. Amen. Amen. And just a side note, the ministry of children in this church should be so important to you, whether you’re a parent or not, that we should never have to ask for help to serve in the children’s ministry. And I don’t mean that to guilt you. I mean to show that to you as a privilege. This is a very practical way for us to minister to our children, is to serve this way. This should be a no-brainer. And for those who faithfully serve in the children’s ministry, I am deeply thankful for the many ways in which you love our children. Thank you for helping bring our children to the feet of Jesus.

You see, brothers and sisters, when we live like our children belong to God, we can pray and we can teach, but most importantly, we can trust that God will sovereignly work out his salvation purposes through us as we help our children come to Jesus. This is huge. Trinity Church, we need to be a congregation that is helping children come to Jesus, that is being intentional, that is making that a priority.

A Message for Children

We need to be a congregation that reflects the heart of Jesus with our children. Now, I want to close this morning by taking a few moments just to speak to the children in our congregation. If you’re a child in this congregation, I want you to raise your hands. Hi. Hi. I just want to see where you are right here. Okay. I know my kid right here. Okay, okay. Very good. Listen,

I want you to know how much Jesus cares for you this morning. I want you to know how special you are to Jesus. This is why Jesus said, let the little children come to me. This is why he said that because he loves kids so much. Hey kids, kids, listen to me.

Did you know that Jesus told adults and parents that if they want to follow Jesus, they have to be more like kids. Isn’t that strange? Isn’t that funny? Why would Jesus say that? Because kids have a way of understanding when they’ve done bad things more than adults. Kids have a way of admitting when they’ve done bad things better than adults. Did you know that it’s sometimes easier for kids to believe that Jesus is God than it is for adults. It’s kind of like a kid’s superpower. It’s true. You see, both adults and children deserve to be punished for all the bad things we’ve done. Kids, can you think of some of the bad things you’ve done? Maybe you’ve disobeyed mom and dad. Maybe you’ve fought with your brother or your sister. Maybe you’ve been dishonest. Maybe you’ve said some really mean things to someone at school. Listen, if you’ve done some of those things, you deserve to be punished

for those things. And you might have done some of those bad things and never got caught. But just because you didn’t get caught doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve to be punished for those things. And here’s the truth. Jesus knows all of the bad things that you’ve done. And because Jesus is a good and perfect God, he has to punish all the bad things you’ve done. And part of that punishment means that we can’t have a relationship with Jesus because God is so good and so perfect and so pure. The bad things we do, it ruins our friendship with God and with Jesus. But here is something so amazing and so wonderful. Listen to this, kids. Because Jesus loves you so much and because he did not want to be separated from you, because Jesus wants so badly to be your friend, you know what Jesus did?

He took all the punishment for all the bad things you’ve done. All the bad things that you’ve done in the past, all the bad things you did yesterday, those might have been quite a few because it was a Saturday. He even took away all the punishment for the things that you’ll do in the future. That’s how much God loves children. Even though Jesus was perfect and never did anything bad, he never did anything bad. He didn’t deserve to be punished. It didn’t matter. He took the punishment that all kids deserve and all adults deserve for all the bad things we’ve done so that we could be friends with Jesus. And listen to what Jesus says. Jesus says, if anyone, that means adults and children, if anyone believes that Jesus is God and that Jesus took the punishment for all the bad things you’ve done, that you could be friends with Jesus.

If you just believe that you could be friends with Jesus, you could be friends with God. He loved you that much that he took all the punishment away. And hear me, if you want to follow Jesus, if you want to be friends with Jesus, you can do that today. Just ask your parents today, mom, dad, tell me about Jesus. I want to follow Jesus. I want to trust in Jesus. I want to believe in Jesus. Help me to follow Jesus. And your parents will talk to you about that. And if your parents need help talking to you about Jesus, your parents can come to any one of the pastors here and we would love to talk to mommy and daddy or whoever and all of the kids about Jesus. We want to talk to you about that. It’s so important. You can do that. Jesus loved you so much that he paid for all of the punishment you deserve so

that you could be friends with God. And you can have Jesus today by believing in him, believing that Jesus is God and that he paid for your punishment. Let’s pray. Oh Lord, thank you for loving your children so much that you paid for all of the bad things that we do so that we could be friends with Jesus.

Lord, we pray that you would help parents in this church to help children to follow Jesus. We pray Lord that you would help the adults in this church to help our children follow Jesus. And we pray for the children in this church that today might be the day where they believe in Jesus, that they follow Jesus, that they trust in Jesus.

Lord, would you make children in this church friends of Jesus this morning and help us to come alongside our kids, to love them well, to take this amazing gift that you’ve given to our people in this church with these children, to love them, to pray for them, to teach them, to lead them to the feet of Jesus. Because if they come to Jesus, Jesus will embrace them in his arms and he will bless them. We pray that you would help us to lead our children to Jesus. In Christ’s name, amen.