Sunday mornings Jesus Loves the Little Children May 16th 2010
Matthew 19:13-15 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
1.- Children Were Brought To Jesus
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.
Not every parent is interested in the spiritual well-being of their children. Many are still struggling with their own spiritual well-being. Therefore we are to be sensitive to the spiritual needs of ALL children not just our own.
Some parents:
Don’t understand the importance of teaching them about Jesus. They want them to wait until they are old enough to decide for themselves about spiritual things … or go to church. But they will not be able to make an intelligent decision out of a vacuum.
The children were brought to Jesus. That’s what Jesus wants YOU to do, … He wants YOU to bring them to Him.
2.- Jesus Wanted To Bless Them
It was common 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 child, to tell them how much God loved them, and give them a special blessing from God.
Jesus has a special blessing He wants to share with the children.
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.
For still others, it might be to touch their heart to trust Jesus as their personal Savior.
I don’t know how Jesus is going to bless these children. BUT – I DO KNOW, that Jesus WANTS to bless the children.
3.- There Were Hindrances To The Children
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 work to do … 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.
Sometimes, without realizing it, we provide hindrances to little children.
1.- The Hindrance Of Neglect – Children often get overlooked in 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. After all they are just kids.
Some people might treat Sunday School, Wednesday Night Youth & 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.
Let’s not hinder our children by neglecting our children … Jesus didn’t!
He felt they were important enough to give them His full attention.
2. The Hindrance of a Poor Example –
The Disciples sure weren’t being very good examples, WERE THEY?
BY EXAMPLE, they were teaching the little children that they weren’t important to Jesus.
What kind of LESSONS are we teaching our children … What kind of EXAMPLES are we … WHEN:
We don’t bring our children to Sunday School or Caravan on Wednesday nights?
We only come to Sunday Morning Worship Service, occasionally, if nothing else comes up? The only thing they hear about Church is negative? They don’t see that Jesus is important in YOUR life?
The WORLD is full of HINDRANCES for our children … drugs, sex, violence, TV, movies, bad influences, peer pressure, etc.
Let’s be a POSITIVE ENCOURAGEMENT to our children … not a HINDRANCE to them.
4.- Jesus Teaches The Disciples Humility & Grace
The Disciples must have thought they were pretty important … MORE IMPORTANT than a group of children. They thought Jesus was more interested in THEM … after all, THEY were the ones who did all the IMPORTANT things … tithed, taught Sunday School, sang in the choir,
mowed the grass, kept the nursery …
What had this child DONE to DESERVE the love of Jesus? Had he sacrificed to put money in the offering plate? Had he taught a Sunday School class … or practiced to sing the choir special?
NO! Jesus shows them 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.
The Disciples were saying: “Jesus doesn’t have time for your children … take them to McDonalds … they’re not welcome here … take them to somebody who cares!” What a shame.
The Disciples had “rebuked” those who brought the children … Jesus “rebuked” them!
Jesus is telling us that … “The way you treat a child is the same way you are treating Me! Children are what the Kingdom of God is all about!”
When we invest in our children, we are investing in the Kingdom of God.
85% of those who come to know the Lord, do so before the age of 18.
Only 15% are saved after age 18.
Child Evangelism: The church spends 85% of their evangelistic dollars trying to reach adults and only 15% on Children.
But we are only 15% effective with Adults & 85% effective with children.
NOW you see why children were such a priority with JESUS … NOW, you see why children ought to be OUR priority!
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?
We invest in HOUSES that will get eaten by termites, burn, or get washed away in a by flood waters.
We invest in cars that will rust, break down, & get crushed for scrap metal
We invest in clothes that go out of style, get too small, & we throw them away.
I won’t be able to take my HOUSE with me to Heaven … I already have one there waiting for me.
I won’t be able to take my CAR with me to Heaven … I will travel at the speed of thought.
I won’t need any CLOTHES in Heaven … I will be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
The things I accumulate here on earth will be left here for someone else to acquire. BUT, what we invest in our children will count for ETERNITY.
CHILDREN are our HERITAGE … they are an ETERNAL investment.
What an OPPORTUNITY we have before us concerning kids!
Let’s not trivialize it … let’s not minimize it … let’s not waste it.
How can God use you to take a child … and lift them up … and place them into the loving arms of Jesus.
Lord What Can I Do?
Van Driver, 2nd hour, Sunday School Helper, Vacation Bible School…
Come and pray for our children……
