"Let The Little Children Come"

This week, the CMB will be filled with the sounds of… eating, praying, singing, laughing, crying, yelling … and that is just the sounds of the workers!

We are looking forward to ministering to different children this week, through our VBS program.

V.B.S. is always an exciting time. It takes a lot of work, preparation, money, praying & sacrifice… and some people always ask themselves... Is it WORTH it?

Is it worth all the time and effort put into these children for the next five days…??

To answer that question… I will ask this one…

What did Jesus think about children?

We are going to answer that this morning and as we do, we will find an answer that we can use as an example in our preparation for our VBS Program this week.

Meat:

We are going to look at 2 examples of how and when Jesus was dealing with Children… Open your Bible’s to Matthew 18… (Read vv. 1-6 and 19:13-15)

This isn’t part of your notes, but I feel it is worth mentioning… Jesus’ disciples were ordinary people… they weren’t selected to be disciples because of their amazing abilities to speak, they weren’t selected to be disciples because of their astounding good looks, they weren’t selected to be disciples because they held prominent positions in the city… they were disciples because Jesus said “follow Me”… and they did.

They were called the same way that each and everyone of is called… and we have to make the decision of whether or not we are going to follow Him.

Now, I say that, to say this… even after they chose to follow Christ, like us, were not perfect. They still had their faults, they still made mistakes… and this is the prime example of one…

In the verses we just read in chapter 18, I think Jesus made it very clear that children were important to Him… that must have gone in one ear and out the other with the disciples, because here in Chapter 19, they are shewing these kids away.

How often do we do the same thing? We hear a sermon about a topic or read about it in our devotional time and then the very next day, we are falling straight into the sin that we were just hearing or reading about…??

Thank God for His Grace and Mercy that renews every morning!

So, what did Jesus think about Children???

The first thing that I want you to see is the fact that…

1. They Were Brought To Him

That is exactly what v.13 says…

“Then little children were brought to Him...”

NOTICE that it doesn’t specifically that they were brought by their PARENTS … although that may have been the case with SOME of the children. The unfortunate fact is… Not every parent is interested in the spiritual well-being of their children.

Some parents:

- Don’t know Jesus and aren’t raising their children in a Christian home.

- Don’t care about the spiritual condition of their children and will just drop them off at V.B.S. so we can “baby-sit” them for a couple of hours, so they can have a night “free from children”.

- Don’t understand the importance of teaching there children about Christ. They want them to wait until they are old enough to decide for themselves about spiritual things … or go to church.

A preacher wanted to show off his garden to a man who wouldn’t let his children attend church … he wanted them to wait until they were old enough to decide for themselves. When they walked into the garden, it was full of weeds, which were choking out his squash, beans & okra. The man said: “This is a pitiful excuse for a garden!” To which the preacher replied: “I just wanted to wait until the vegetables had a chance to decide for themselves what they wanted to do!”.

Y’all, the amount of garbage that kids are exposed to today… even elementary school aged kids, talking about things they should have absolutely no idea about…

We used our van this year to help with Aleta’s release time Bible class for the Sand Lake elementary school kids. The things that these kids would talk about, the movies they’ve watched, the games they’ve played…

VBS is a way that we can minister to these kids and share with them the Love of Christ. Through VBS we can get them away from that toxic environment and introduce them to Jesus.

Matthew 19:13 says that the children were brought to Jesus…

1.1 For A Blessing

“Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray...”

It was a common thing in Bible times for people to bring children to a prophet or priest for them to bless their children … like a “Child Dedication Service”.

As a prophet of God, they wanted Jesus to pray for the children, to tell them how much God loved them, and give them a special blessing from God. They knew that Jesus was anointed by God, and wanted their children to share in God’s anointing.

I am certain that Jesus has a special blessing He wants to share with the children this year at V.B.S. For some it might be to let them hear for the FIRST TIME that Jesus loves them.

For others it might be to let them experience a Christian environment … around those who love them and love Jesus.

For others it might be to plant the seed of the gospel, that later will be ripe unto harvest… and for maybe just one, it might be to touch their heart to trust Jesus as their personal Savior.

I don’t know HOW Jesus is going to bless His children this week. BUT – I DO KNOW, that Jesus WANTS to bless the children.

The second thing that I want you to notice about these children… is the fact that…

2. They Were Hindered

“Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.”

They were hindered…

2.1 By the Disciples

The Disciples rebuked those who brought the children to Jesus! They thought that Jesus was too important to mess with little children. They thought that they were a bother, a nuisance, trouble.

“Can’t you see that Jesus is busy with more important things than children? He’s got to do the work of Almighty God … leave Him alone! He’s busy teaching US … He doesn’t have time to waste on little kids!”

The Disciple tried to keep the children away from Jesus… Even though, as I mentioned before and we will look at in a bit, that Jesus thought very highly of children.

There are times when we ourselves, are guilty of the same thing.... We may not even realize it, but we do cause different hindrances at times.

We can be guilty of causing the hindrance of neglect…

So often children are overlooked in the ministry.

We have a tendency to view children differently:

Some people may not prepare themselves in teaching their lessons … like we would if we were teaching adults.

Some people might treat Children’s Sunday School and Children’s Church, like a time to “occupy” the children to keep them from interfering with “adult” worship.

Some people might ignore the children of our church because they can’t contribute to the church … they are a liability and not an asset … an expense and not a source of revenue.

Some people may not want the kids to be in church until they can sit properly and quietly… to that i would pose the question… how can the children learn to sit in church if they are not in church??

Do you think that all the children that were brought to Jesus were perfectly well behaved???… … I think the ones that brought the kids to Jesus were parents of boys and the only explanation for their stubborn attitude and behavior must be demon possession…

So they brought them to Jesus in order to have the demons cast out... and as these tired moms are explaining their woes, their boys are running around in circles, hitting the disciples with sticks and running away…

I can picture one trying to run passed Jesus and swoops down, picks up the rambunctious lad, looks at him and says “You are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of Almighty God.”…

The little boy wipes the booger from his nose, looks at Jesus and says.... “Cool!” Jesus sets Him down and as the child runs away, Jesus says to the mother, with a smile on His face… “Boys will be boys”

Jesus did not neglect the little children and neither should we…

We can also cause a hindrance of example… One thing that I encourage everyone to do and something that I strive to do myself is… to be a good example… a godly example…

The Disciples sure weren’t being very good examples to these kids, and we need to make sure that we don’t make the same mistakes…

BY EXAMPLE, they were teaching the little children that they weren’t important to Jesus.

If you want your kids to live for Christ… You should be living for Christ.

If you want your kids to be in Church… You should be in church.

If you want your kids to be respectful to other people… you should be respectful to other people.

A big factory was having a company wide lunch catered in for all the employees and their families. One the guys has brought his wife and his 6 year old son, Timmy. Timmy asks his dad “daddy, are we going to meet your boss today?” His dad says “I am sure he is around here somewhere.”…

A little while later, the boss man is walking around and so Timmy’s dad introduces him to the family “This is my wife… and this our son Timmy”. As Timmy and the boss man shake hands, Timmy says with excitement “I’ve always wanted to meet a troll!”

Timmy’s dad is instantly embarrassed, apologizes for Timmy’s comment and asks Timmy, “Why would you say that?”… Timmy replies, “Well, every time you talk about your boss, you say that he is an overpaid troll”…

We need to be a good, godly example because our kids are following in whichever way we lead.

There are so many other hindrances for our children in the world today… let’s not be one of them!

These kids were brought to Jesus...

They were hindered from seeing Him, but only for a minute…

But Jesus let his disciples know something about these kids…

3. They are Important

Going back to Matthew 18…

The Disciples must have thought they were pretty important …

v.1 “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Full of themselves, they argue over who is the greatest in Heaven… it has to be us Adults, right? Jesus is definitely more interested in us than He is in some bratty children… we do all the important things… mow grass, clean the buildings, teach a class, serve in the nursery, bring food to potlucks… tithe....

In their minds… they were the important ones…

In Mark’s account, he says that the disciples were actually arguing over who was going to be the greatest.

And then Jesus gives them a reality check and shares with them what is most important.

vv. 2-3 “Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Children are important…

3.1 For Life Lessons

Jesus has a great LESSON to teach these self centered disciples… and He used a child to do it. The Lesson that He taught, was a lesson of GRACE.

Jesus’ love for you isn’t based on what you DO … it’s not based on PERFORMANCE … it’s not based on ACTIVITY. It’s based upon GRACE.

The Disciples were trying to out-do each other to earn favor with Jesus … so He would promote them to a high position when He set up His Kingdom on this earth. They were trying to EARN favor with God.

We can get caught having the same attitude… God owes me… for everything that I have done for Him… He owes me…

That is the attitude His disciples were having… we’ve done all of this stuff for Jesus, He has to give us a great position in the Kingdom, He owes us!…

Right then, Jesus picks up this child and tells the disciples to gather around.

What had this child DONE to DESERVE the love of Jesus?... Had he put a substantial amount of money in the offering plate? Had he taught a Sunday School class … or practiced to sing the choir special?

NO! Jesus shows His disciples a living picture of GRACE … unmerited favor. Jesus shows them LOVE for a little child who hadn’t DONE anything to EARN it. Jesus shows them what His GRACE is all about.

Here comes the life lesson… (vv. 3-6)

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”

And then in verse 6 He warns against hindering a child...

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Jesus is using this child to teach these grown men a life lesson. He put them in their place and that place is below the Children… Jesus tells them: “You don’t receive THEM … you don’t receive ME!”

You would think that strong of a lesson would stick with them… but instead, just a little while later, as we looked at in Chapter 19, these disciples tried to hinder the children from coming to see Jesus… and Jesus rebuked them for it.

This is how important children are to Jesus…

When recording the account of the disciples trying to keep children away from Jesus, Mark says this…

Mark 10:14 NKJV

14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.

This verse says that Jesus “Was Greatly Displeased...” Some versions may say that “He was moved with indignation...”

The Greek word that is used here, literally means “He felt a violent irritation...”

Remember when Jesus cleansed the temple of all the dishonest money changers?? We say that He acted with “righteous anger”… This is what we are seeing here as well… another example of “righteous anger”…

The Disciples were saying: “Jesus doesn’t have time for your children … take them to Burger King (Maybe back then it was “Fish King”)… The disciples said, these kids are not welcome here … take them to somebody who cares!” … and Jesus felt a violent irritation.

He just got done telling them… a short time before…

“Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”

Essentially Jesus is saying “The way you treat a child is the same way you are treating Me!”… I believe I would be violently irritated as well…

The more you look at these accounts, the more you realize that children are what the Kingdom of God is all about.

What we are doing this week in V.B.S. … is about the Kingdom of God. It’s not just about songs … it’s not just about fun … it’s not just about your time … it’s not just about giving away cool prizes… IT’S ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

When we INVEST in our children, we are investing in the Kingdom of God. AND … WHAT we invest in our children, we are investing in the Kingdom of God.

Studies show that 83% of those who come to know the Lord, do so before the age of 18… and only 17% are saved after age 18.

And that, my dear brothers and sisters,… is why Jesus said…

Matthew 19:14 NKJV

14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

So, what did Jesus Think about Children???…

4. They are an Investment

Children are an INVESTMENT … an ETERNAL investment. Where will this church be 20 years from now if we don’t invest in our children TODAY?

Closing:

I will leave you with this…

o We invest in HOUSES that will get eaten by termites, burn down, or get swept up in a tornado.

o We invest in CARS that will rust, break down, and get crushed for scrap metal.

o We invest in CLOTHES that go out of style, get too small, and we throw them away.

o I won’t be able to take my HOUSE with me to Heaven …Praise God, I already have one there waiting for me.

o I won’t be able to take my CAR with me to Heaven … I will travel at the speed of thought.

o I won’t need any CLOTHES in Heaven … Because I will be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

The things I spend my time and money on here on earth won’t mean SQUAT in Heaven. BUT … what we invest in our children this week during V.B.S. will count for ETERNITY.

CHILDREN are our HERITAGE … they are an ETERNAL investment. V.B.S. is an INVESTMENT in the Kingdom of God.

And even if you are not physically involved with the program, would you please commit to praying for us every night. We start at 6pm, you could set an alarm on your phone and just say a quick prayer that the Word of God and the Love of Christ will have a positive effect on all the kids and the leaders throughout the night…

That would be a huge help to all of us… May we be a church that reflects Christ and may we be a church that says “Let the Little Children Come”