Our Ministry to Children
TEXT: Matthew 19:13-15 TOPIC: Our Ministry to Children Bobby Earls, First Baptist Church, Icard, NC, February 21, 1999 According to the Children’s Defense Fund, “every day in the United States: • 67 babies die before one month of life • 105 babies die before their first birthday • 27 children die from poverty • 10 children are killed by guns • 30 children are wounded by guns • 135,000 children bring a gun to school • 1,849 children are abused or neglected • 2,989 children see their parents divorced • 3,288 children run away from home” The question is, “where do they run to?” Our world is a difficult and dangerous place. Often the ones who suffer the most are those who are the weakest, most vulnerable, and innocent—children. Jesus loves little children. One of the most touching stories of Jesus’ ministry occurs in the 19th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. Our Lord had been teaching on the difficult subject of divorce. Next he turns to the subject of the value and significance of children. Matthew 19:13-15 In verse 13 our Lord’s disciples displayed the common attitude among many in that day regarding children. (and notice that it was the Lord’s disciples that he has to correct an error in judgment). Typically, children were regarded by most as having very low esteem in the first century world of Jesus’ day. (The Greek word pais does not necessarily imply younger or small children. However Jesus seems to indicate that it was small children who were brought to him.) Recalling the gruesome statistics I cited a moment ago, children are still often unappreciated, ignored and neglected still in our day. A few years ago a new doll was popularized that seemed to epitomize the attitude of many in our day towards children. They were called “Garbage Can Kids.” Occasionally we will hear about another newborn baby at the least abandoned in a public place and at the worst, stuffed into a garbage dump. Latch Key children is yet another phrase that describes the horrible condition that many of God’s creation must endure. The Bible says, Children are a gift from God; they are his reward. In this Bible passage today, I want you to see and hear Jesus affirming the value of a child. 1. OUR LORD JESUS RECEIVES LITTLE CHILDREN 2. OUR LORD JESUS PRAYS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN 3. OUR LORD JESUS BLESSES LITTLE CHILDREN First of all, OUR LORD JESUS RECEIVES LITTLE CHILDREN. Remember what had happened? Jesus’ disciples erroneously thought Jesus was too busy or too important to take time for children. Jesus taught them how wrong they were when he said, “Suffer little children to come to me.” The word “suffer” means “to go to any extent necessary to allow little children to come to me.” Don’t let anything keep them from me. Jesus loves little children. We have a song that says, “Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world; Red and yellow, black and white, They are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” Jesus further taught the importance of children when he said, “for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” A short, simple lesson about salvation is taught here. Unless a person becomes like a little child, “trusting and dependant,” he cannot enter into God’s Kingdom. The fact that Jesus took time out for children should teach us how very important it is that we too do all we can to bring children to him. We should realize that the majority of those who trust Christ as savior do so in their childhood and teen years! That truth should cause us to ask what we are doing to evangelize the little ones. Look for a moment at the previous chapter and very serious words of Jesus regarding the faith of children. (Read Matthew 18:3-6). Strong words indeed. Someone has said that children are our greatest natural resource. If that be so then we must ask, “What are we doing to excavate them?” 2. JESUS PRAYS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN We are left to imagine how Jesus must have prayed over the little ones that were brought to him that day. Did he pull them up on his lap? Hold them in his arms? But we know he prayed for them. Parents do you pray for your children? Teachers, do you? Do you pray for the little ones you have the privilege of teaching each Sunday? Oh what a wonderful privilege! To have a part in the shaping of a young mind and heart toward God! We must realize that we are but one generation away from paganism. We must instruct our children and introduce them to Christ and then teach them to be his followers, while we have the opportunity. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 4 “O Israel, listen: Jehovah is our God, Jehovah alone. 5 You must love him with all your heart, soul, and might. 6 And you must think constantly about these commandments I am giving you today. 7 You must teach them to your children and talk about them when you are at home or out for a walk; at bedtime and the first thing in the morning. 8 Tie them on your finger, wear them on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house! (Living Bible) J.W. Whitehead has said, “Children are the living messages we will send into a time we will never see.” 3. JESUS BLESSES LITTLE CHILDREN Both verse 13 and verse 15 makes reference to Jesus placing his hands on the children. What was that all about? The laying on of hands, accompanied by prayer, formed a typical Jewish “blessing,” asking God for his favor to rest on someone.” Genesis 48:14-15 14 But Israel crossed his arms as he stretched them out to lay his hands upon the boys’ heads, so that his right hand was upon the head of Ephraim, the younger boy, and his left hand was upon the head of Manasseh, the older. He did this purposely. 15 Then he blessed Joseph with this blessing: “May God, the God of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, the God who has shepherded me all my life, wonderfully bless these boys. That’s what Jesus did and that’s what we are to do with the children assigned to our charge. Bless them. Illustration: A Sunday School teacher paused after class to speak privately with a child that had just returned from a juvenile home and said, “Johnny, I don’t want you to come back. We don’t need bad little boys like you around here.” Unfortunately, little Johnny Dillinger never came back. A missionary had just returned from China and was staying in a fashionable Los Angeles hotel. A little Chinese lad tried to make his way into the hotel to see the missionary. He was stopped by an attendant who told him Chinese children weren’t allowed in that hotel. That little lad that we came to know as “Chairman Mao Sae Tung” could have turned a country and a world around if the missionary could have turned his heart. On page nine of Adolph Hitler’s “Mein Kamp” appears this statement, “What a difference it could have made in world affairs if the village clergy could have convinced young Adolph there was a better way of life.” We have a choice. We can bless our children or we can curse our children. Which will it be? W.A. Criswell says it is “impossible to emphasize too much the importance of the children in the life and destiny of the church. They are the only material out of which God makes his preachers, missionaries, church members, and kingdom workers. They are the race itself, the church itself, and the future redeemed of God itself. They are our tomorrow. We can begin today to determine our tomorrow. By choosing to bless our children. To pray for our children. To receive each child as valuable and important to God. We can take a giant step toward determining our own future. Although that would be a good place to end this message, I must make two or three practical points of application. 1. As pastor of this church, along with our wonderful Minister of Students, and other leaders of our children’s programming and ministry here at FBI who have labored long in prayer and planning, allow me to tell you that we are prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to improve the quality and competence of the ministry we offer our little ones here. In a very important meeting of preschool, children’s’ and youth teachers and workers this afternoon, we will introduce some very new plans and guidelines for the improvement of our children’s ministries. If you are one of the many who provide loving care and instruction to our children in any of these departments, please do not miss this important meeting. 2. If you are a parent of a child in this church, please give us your complete cooperation and support. You are the most important link of influence in your child’s spiritual life. Please see that your child has every opportunity to participate in every ministry event this church offers—from Sunday School, to children’s choir to Missions on Wednesday nights. 3. We need help. Let me say it again. We need help. With the structural changes we will be making in our children’s ministries and the schedule changes, we will need additional volunteers to step up to the plate. If you have served the Lord through children’s ministries before, or you are interested, please let us know. This could be just another sermon. Or, it could be the beginning of changing a troubled life. Our future begins today. Our future begins right now. Jesus loves little children. One of the most touching stories of Jesus’ ministry occurs in the 19th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. Our Lord had been teaching on the difficult subject of divorce. Next he turns to the subject of the value and significance of children.