Let The Children Come

Let the Children Come

Mark 10:13-16

January 18-19, 2025

Rev. Brian Bill

After preaching at an evangelistic service, D.L. Moody reported, “we had two and one-half conversions.” One of his colleagues inquired, “I suppose you mean two adults and one child.” ‘No,’ Mr. Moody replied. “I mean two children and one adult. The children can give their whole lives to God, but an adult has only half a life left to give.”

On this Sanctity of Human Life weekend, we affirm, along with thousands of other churches, that every child, from conception on, is an image bearer of God, stamped with divine dignity and worthy of protection so they can give their whole lives to God. We’ll return to our “Journey to Joy” series in Philippians next weekend. Handouts of the prayer from Philippians 1 are available at the Welcome Center.

Some pastors have chosen, for various reasons, to remain silent on the sanctity of life. I don’t see that as an option. We’re compelled and constrained to communicate God’s heart with conviction and with compassion. Proverbs 14:25 summarizes our role: “A truthful witness saves lives, but one who breathes out lies is deceitful.” I submit that while abortion is, and should be debated politically, discussed emotionally, and described medically, at its primary roots, the protection of the preborn is a decidedly moral matter.

I’ve preached over 30 different Sanctity of Life sermons over the years and have asked the Lord to give me a fresh idea for this weekend and I’m thankful He has done so. As we walk through several passages in the gospels, we’re going to discover this truth: Because every child matters to Jesus, every child must matter to us. Incidentally, the word “children” is used 511 times in the Bible and 51 times in the gospels alone!

Our own community powerfully demonstrated the truth that every child matters when four-year-old Blessing Aoci went missing early Thursday morning and found nine hours later. The Rock Island Police Department did an incredible job taking the lead on the search, along with other area departments, the State Police, the Sheriff’s Department, the U.S. Marshals, and the FBI. Nancy Grace posted this story as did People magazine! Believers were mobilized to pray and my pastor friend Doug Rowland from Rock Island Bible Church was out most of the day searching for Blessing. In addition, the Quad Cities Missing Person Network, where I serve as chaplain, was invited to launch their Search and Rescue team. Traditional media and social media did a fantastic job getting her picture out, with thousands upon thousands sharing the information online.

As I thought about why there was such a unified response, and how quickly people were mobilized to get involved, it struck me it’s because inherently, everyone knows that children matter and must be protected. Everything possible must be done to make sure every child is safe and secure.

I submit that we must have this same unified response and rapid mobilization to protect all children, including the preborn.

Because every child matters to Jesus, every child must matter to us.

1. The preborn are drawn to Jesus. When Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist and Mary was pregnant with Jesus, they met and greeted each other. Listen to Luke 1:41, 44: “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the BABY leaped in her womb...for behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the BABY in my womb leaped for joy.” A fetus was the first to rejoice at the news of Jesus.

In Luke 2:16, the same word BABY denotes Jesus as a newborn: “And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the BABY lying in a manger.” The same word is used for both the preborn and the infant because what is in the womb is a BABY.

May the wonder of God’s work in the womb cause us to worship and leap for joy today!

2. Jesus affirmed a young boy for giving what he had. In John 6:1-14, Jesus asked Philip where they could get some bread to feed thousands of hungry people. Philip did some calculating and said it would take most of someone’s annual salary to do this. Andrew jumped in and said there was a young boy with five barley loaves and two fish but dismissed the idea that a little boy’s lunch could feed everyone. Jesus received the loaves and fish from the young boy and miraculously multiplied it to feed five thousand men. This miracle may not have happened if the young boy had not provided his lunchable to the Lord.

Paul Tripp writes, “No one in the crowd would have thought that this boy mattered…we will never know which little person God will use, and how.”