text stringlengths 7 443 |
|---|
[1136.26 --> 1142.06] in this passage He says, I identify with your vulnerable children, and when you welcome them, |
[1142.06 --> 1151.62] you welcome me. So now as we hold this passage, the one that invites us to become like children, |
[1152.08 --> 1157.08] to protect and love children, and then to receive and welcome children, what is it that Jesus Christ, |
[1157.40 --> 1164.36] the teacher of this passage, wants to give us as we listen as the church today, 21st century Canada? |
[1165.00 --> 1169.66] Let me suggest just a few things that have been weighing on me and working around in my heart as |
[1169.66 --> 1176.74] I listen to this passage. The first thing that hits me is just what a heavy responsibility we have |
[1176.74 --> 1184.86] as a church. God has entrusted a lot of children into our care. You know, just a few stats to share |
[1184.86 --> 1191.96] with you. Last I checked in our church between both services, we have 80 children under the age of eight. |
[1192.54 --> 1197.08] Did you hear that? 80 children under the age of eight. I'm aware that there's a few more on the way. |
[1197.08 --> 1204.28] That's a lot of kids. Just this year alone, with Tot Romp and Storytime, two of our children's |
[1204.28 --> 1212.04] ministries in our community, we had 315 children this year participate in our ministries who are not |
[1212.04 --> 1217.00] part of our church but getting to know us through these ministries. In the last two weeks, we had well |
[1217.00 --> 1222.70] over 100 kids from our community participate in our summer camp. That is a lot of children |
[1222.70 --> 1234.60] that God places under our care. This is a big deal. And interestingly, earlier this year, as our |
[1234.60 --> 1237.84] leaders were talking about sort of where we want to take the church in the next number of years, |
[1238.32 --> 1243.38] two people pointed out there's a natural skill that every church has, a natural strength. And one of the |
[1243.38 --> 1249.34] natural skills our church has is caring for children. It always seems to be the case that we have the |
[1249.34 --> 1253.86] volunteers we need, the help we need, new ministries often emerging organically that care for and |
[1253.86 --> 1258.34] enfold children. And we praise the Lord for that. It's a natural gift of our church. It's sort of a |
[1258.34 --> 1264.38] muscle we flex easily, and it blesses our neighborhood. Think of just all some of the |
[1264.38 --> 1268.22] ways that we do that. We do it through Tot Romp and Storytime, which are drop-in ministries for our |
[1268.22 --> 1273.50] community. We also do it through summer camp, which we celebrated today, and through our cornerstone |
[1273.50 --> 1279.24] ministry where kids are upstairs every Sunday. It also includes things like fostering and adoption, |
[1279.24 --> 1283.64] and there's a number of families in our church that care for kids whose parents are going through |
[1283.64 --> 1289.04] a tough time or have adopted children who needed a home and made space in their own home and family. |
[1289.84 --> 1293.56] This is also, by the way, why this year we've partnered with what's called Safe Families BC. |
[1294.36 --> 1297.74] That is a ministry where people in our church, even now, they come alongside families in our community |
[1297.74 --> 1302.36] whose parents might be going through crisis, mom and dad are struggling, and we help the kids, |
[1302.44 --> 1306.10] we help the family so the parents can get healthy, and then we reunite the family at the end. |
[1306.10 --> 1311.70] But this is just another way we're trying to serve and care for families. And here again now, |
[1311.70 --> 1320.18] Jesus saying, whenever you welcome one of these children in my name, you welcome me. |
[1322.02 --> 1325.86] And I think there's a lot of parents, a lot of grandparents, a lot of family members, |
[1325.86 --> 1331.70] a lot of people serving even at the daycare in our church. There's a lot of tired and difficult days, |
[1331.70 --> 1337.30] and hear the encouragement from Jesus himself, you welcome me, you receive me, |
[1337.30 --> 1339.54] as you receive these children in my name. |
[1341.78 --> 1345.78] But the way that that responsibility is real, and I think this is where I'm going to name a temptation, |
[1345.78 --> 1352.10] a temptation for Western people in general is that we just do our own thing and we let other people |
[1352.10 --> 1356.66] do their thing. We don't take responsibility for other people's kids. Sometimes we don't even take |
[1356.66 --> 1361.14] responsibility for our own kids, right? We give them devices, we keep them busy, we keep them |
[1361.14 --> 1366.10] distracted. Sometimes, I'll even get closer to home, we try to offload the responsibilities of |
[1366.10 --> 1370.34] parenting on this program, that program, this school, that school, rather than saying, hey, |
[1370.34 --> 1375.86] I'm the one that God has entrusted with this child. I am going to be the primary person that disciples, |
[1375.86 --> 1383.06] loves, teaches, and cares for this child. Taking that responsibility, being part of their story, |
[1383.06 --> 1386.90] and I just want to say, I'm not just speaking to parents here. I just think as a church of Jesus |
[1386.90 --> 1394.10] Christ, God entrusts all of us with children. And whenever we baptize a baby, we have everyone |
[1394.10 --> 1398.58] stand up and you know, I'll say, will you bless this family? Will you care for this family? As God |
[1398.58 --> 1402.66] gives you opportunity, and you say, yes, we will, God helping us. Those are important words. |
[1403.78 --> 1410.10] And maybe this is not true of every family, but I have a huge family. I always had relatives that I |
[1410.10 --> 1414.34] called uncle or aunt that were not my biological relatives. Is that true in any families here? |
[1414.34 --> 1418.58] You've got that uncle or aunt? Oh yeah, I see one over there. I had an Aunt Carol. I still don't even |
[1418.58 --> 1423.62] know how our family got to know Aunt Carol, but she was part of all the birthday parties. She was full |
[1423.62 --> 1428.66] of love. She was one of the safest people you could talk to about anything. And I praise the Lord for |
[1428.66 --> 1434.90] Aunt Carol. And you don't have to have kids or be biologically related to someone to be that adult in |
[1434.90 --> 1441.30] the lives of the children around you. And I'll share with you the findings from a book called |
[1441.30 --> 1445.46] Sticky Faith. If you're a parent or you're involved in the life of a kid, this is a great book. Ten years |
[1445.46 --> 1452.10] old by now. They did this exhaustive study on children as they believe, children of believers who sort of |
[1452.10 --> 1455.30] went through high school with all the challenges, went through universities with all the challenges, |
[1455.30 --> 1460.02] and ended with a sense of, I believe in Jesus and I want to follow him. They interviewed and studied |
[1460.02 --> 1464.34] those children. They asked like, what were the ingredients that led to what they called |
[1464.34 --> 1470.42] resilient faith? And you know what the most common thing that was discovered? That in those children's |
[1470.42 --> 1478.02] lives were five adults, not the parents, five non-parent adults who cared for them, loved them, |
[1478.02 --> 1483.14] listened to them, showed up, celebrated with them, and just made themselves available. |
[1484.34 --> 1489.78] And the practical pastor brain here is like, that's not very complicated. You get to show up to birthdays |
[1489.78 --> 1494.98] and celebrations and holidays. You get to just be there as a someone who loves and cares for and |
[1494.98 --> 1500.82] listens to. What a gift it would be. And I hope even now as you're listening, the Spirit might be |
[1500.82 --> 1505.86] just putting people on your mind, your heart, maybe as a sort of the adopted grandparent or aunt or uncle |
[1505.86 --> 1513.78] or friend or family member to come alongside kids and love them to life. Allow God to use you as one of those |
[1513.78 --> 1518.90] safe people who really do want to see that child flourish and grow up to use the gifts that God has |
[1518.90 --> 1524.50] given them and flourish as a follower of Jesus as they get older. I can speak on behalf of young parents |
[1524.50 --> 1530.10] who would love for people in our church to come alongside them in the journey of parenting their kids |
[1530.10 --> 1534.74] because most parents are struggling in one way or another and they want the help. |
[1534.74 --> 1542.50] Let me finish with a story that I heard a number of years ago. It's a story about a girl named Kendra. |
[1544.10 --> 1549.30] Kendra was born with so much of life stacked against her. She was born with more than one physical |
[1549.30 --> 1554.74] disability as well as a cognitive disability. The basics of life were hard for her. Speaking was |
[1554.74 --> 1558.58] difficult. Moving was difficult. There's a lot of assistance from the very beginning she needed from |
[1558.58 --> 1564.66] the medical community. And her educational life was not easy, right? The classroom was an exhausting |
[1564.66 --> 1569.54] place and that's not even to mention some of the complex social dynamics that come with being the |
[1569.54 --> 1576.26] student who needs a little more care in the classroom. In grade two, Kendra entered Miss Lowry's class |
[1577.14 --> 1582.98] and Miss Lowry was one of those teachers who just saw her. You know, we all have that teacher who just, |
[1582.98 --> 1588.42] they are so good at their job. And Miss Lowry from the very beginning who saw this girl, Kendra, |
[1588.42 --> 1595.14] come to her class, wanted to teach her and love her as best as she could. On one particular occasion, |
[1595.14 --> 1599.06] there was Valentine's Day. And this is a number of years ago. And so I think nowadays, at least in my |
[1599.06 --> 1603.62] kids' classrooms, everyone writes everyone a card. That's not the case here. People only wrote |
[1603.62 --> 1608.82] Valentine's cards to the person they liked, that boy or that girl. And Kendra, of course, did not receive |
[1608.82 --> 1615.06] many Valentine's cards. But she did receive a little card from Miss Lowry and it had one sentence |
[1615.06 --> 1621.38] written in it that changed her life. You know what that sentence was? All she wrote was this, |
[1621.38 --> 1632.90] I wish you were mine. True story. She held on to that Valentine's card for years. She first stuffed it |
[1632.90 --> 1637.22] into her little pencil case, then later it was in her backpack, and then later as an adult she kept that |
[1637.22 --> 1644.82] in her purse because those words changed her life. The words that represented a teacher who saw her |
[1644.82 --> 1651.62] and said, I'm going to welcome Kendra. She's going to receive the best care I can give her. She's |
[1651.62 --> 1656.50] going to read the fullness of my teaching and my love and the season I have with her. She is welcome |
[1657.14 --> 1665.54] with me. And let me ask, who are those people for you? It's hard for me to imagine many of us not having |
[1665.54 --> 1672.18] any children in our lives, any possible connections that we can grow and build and sustain. Who are the |
[1672.18 --> 1677.06] people where even as you listen now you're like, yes, this is the child, the grandchild, the family, |
[1677.06 --> 1683.46] the neighbor kid that I can invest in and be the kingdom influence for, that safe person that they |
[1683.46 --> 1695.54] see the love of Jesus in. Christ invites us to become like children and He warns us to protect children. |
[1695.54 --> 1705.46] And then He says, when you welcome them in my name, you welcome me. Would you join me in praying for our children? |
[1712.66 --> 1720.02] Father, we begin by thanking you for every child in this church family. We praise you because they are |
[1720.02 --> 1727.86] fearfully and wonderfully made. They are a gift from you, so thank you. And we pray that your blessing |
[1727.86 --> 1734.58] would rest on them, that you would give us everything we need from the energy to the strength to the |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.