"People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them" (Mark 10:13-16 NIV).
This past Sunday I worked in the WCC children's ministry during both services. As adults and as leaders we can sometimes lose sight of how the world looks from a child's perspective. It's easy to forget the kids. But I'm convinced that you can tell a lot about a person, a family, or a church by the way they treat the children.
The truth of the matter is that most of us made commitments to follow Christ before we turned 12 years old. In fact, most missionaries and pastors felt a sense of call before their 16th birthday. Children and young people are willing to make life long commitments to Christ.
We spend a lot of time, money, and effort on offering a quality worship experience for our adults at WCC. But a greater opportunity for Kingdom impact may really be with the children's ministry. That's why we're ramping things up in our children's ministry. Even though working with kids is an unseen ministry (to the adults attending), we're convinced that Christ takes notice.
This past Sunday, we handed off the preaching responsibility to a member of our teaching team. Believe me, I don't give up the pulpit easily. I love to preach! But I wanted to model to the church how important our kids are to us (I was actually nervous with excitement on Sunday morning to work with the kids).
We interrupted the adult worship a couple of times with video reports of how "Pastor Gary is doing" in the children's department. Everyone seemed to love it!
Now, I have people coming up to me and calling me Mr. Rogers. Perhaps a job at PBS is in my future, if only I can find a sweater I like.
First of all, you have a "pulpit?" Second, nope, that's all.
Posted by: mike w. | September 07, 2009 at 10:45 PM