Evening Service for 8/15/2010
“What Would Jesus Hate? Denying Children Access to Jesus”
Introduction:
A tired stay at home mom opened the front door of her home to find the preacher from the church who said, “I’m collecting donations for the new children’s home we’re building. Just asking you to give what you can.” “Absolutely,” said the tired woman. “I’ll give you two boys, two girls, or one of each.”
WBTU:
A. Read Mark 10:13-16
B. What would Jesus Hate? Judging sinners, disciple dividing, legalism, and denying children access to Jesus
C. Vs. 14 Jesus was indignant= anger around by something unjust or mean. Other translations say he was greatly displeased. The Amplified says that he was indignant and pained. He was sad and angry at the same time.
D. What was Jesus indignant about? The disciples stopping the little children from coming to him.
E. There are some good topics here to discuss like vs. 15. Must receive the Kingdom like a little child. Children are trusting and innocent. Don’t want to focus on this.
F. Vs. 16. Jesus was a fun guy to be around and he loved children. Don’t focus.
G. Focus on the topic of how people deny children access to Jesus.
H. Before we get started let’s talk a little (not focus too much on this) about how the world denies children access to Jesus. This goes beyond denying children access to Jesus but also denying children access to many good things in life.
I. The lack of care for children plagues many societies. It is survival of the fittest, the law of the jungle, in some countries. Children are ignored at the best or abused at the worst. Young children in some countries are enslaved to work in sweatshops. Must watch out for buying products from these sweatshops. Other children are forced into prostitution. Tim Harlow tells a story about a prostitute in a slum in a third world country that got pregnant and had a little girl. When that girl turned 3 years of age, that mother sold out her daughter to men. The mother was greatly pleased because she could make a lot more money selling out her daughter than doing prostitution herself. Other children are thrown before cars so that when the driver gets out of his car to see how this child is doing other family members mug him, steal his car and kill him. Other children are taught how to steal to provide for the family. Other children are brought into the illegal drug trade at a young age to provide for the family. Think about all of those children in Haiti without a father or mother.
J. At the North American they were talking about adopting children through various missions organizations to get these children in the poorest of the poor into a children’s home. There they would be given an education and an opportunity to live a different life. The dream is to have these children grow up and make a difference for the gospel.
K. In this country we have problems like the ones above but not at such an alarming rate. In our culture, we allow advertisers to pose children in sexually suggestive ads for clothing across the page from a story about child molestation. We permit the media to glamorize violence, sex, and drugs in programming targeted for children and adolescents. We allow industries to conduct psychological studies on how to entice children to buy products that have been demonstrated to be addictive and harmful to health. Protecting profit margins is apparently more important than protecting children. We allow and in some cases even encourage parents to skip out on the responsibility of providing financial support for children that they brought into the world, so that the child must cope with poverty as well as the absence of a parent(s). There are few orphans here. Most in foster care and children’s homes have parents but they are not fit or able or willing to take care of their children.
L. Go to Matthew 18:1-5 Oh look Jesus is being so nice and lifting up little children. Vs. 6 and 7 he changes his tone. This is how much Jesus thinks of little children!
Thesis: Let’s talk about how the church sometimes denies children access to Jesus.
For instances:
1. By not offering ministry to children whose parents are not members of the church.
A. Here we have a wonderful Wednesday night program. At least with the teenagers that come, half do not have parents who attend church anywhere. Our challenge is how to get them born again Christians and how to get them involved in things beyond Wednesday night.
B. These children are at risk, and many have never known unconditional love and acceptance from caring adults.
C. Many teenagers are left alone to raise themselves, and they could go either way.
D. I regret that I have not done more.
2. by not welcoming children.
A. We need to put out the welcome mat for children and teenagers. Greet them in a warm and friendly way. If someone comes to our house, what should we do? Make them feel welcome.
B. Does the homeless person feel welcome in our church? Does the person who has few nice clothes feel welcome in our church? Does the person who lacks social graces feel welcome in our church? Do people from different races feel welcome in our church? Question for us tonight: Are children and youth made to feel welcome in our church?
D. This is the situation in Mark 10:13-16. The disciples believed that they and Jesus had more important things to do than deal with the unimportant children. Not concerned with the least of these. Amazing thing is that Jesus has been dealing with divorce and remarriage right before this. Don’t we think children play a part in marriage?
E. Our attitude toward children surfaces in how we care for the facilities for children in the church, in how much of the budget is designated for their care and training.
F. Talking about getting a youth minister. Don’t abandon that.
3. by not allowing children and youth to participate.
A. I think we have two extremes in churches. We have one church that holds to the idea that the family needs to be together in worship. This same church offers very little for child and youth. Another church has everything broken up into different age groups. The children have their worship, the teenagers have their worship and the adults have their worship. Almost never is the whole family together. We need a balance here.
B. Went to England and the missionary there introduced us to a family that so loved the church. After meeting them, the missionary said that they love being able to worship together as a family. In the Church of England, there is Sunday school for the children, no Sunday school for adults. The worship service is mainly for the adults. If children are brought, most of the time they are seen as a nuisance. No wonder the Church of England is not growing.
B. I like Junior Worship here. They stay with the family until the sermon. Need to get used to worshipping together as a church and as a family.
C. But what is our motivation for having Junior Worship? Is it to get the children out of our sight and earshot so that they cannot disturb what we regard as more important- our own worship?
D. What if they don’t know how they are expected to act in the worship service? What if they whisper and pass notes to their friends? What if they wiggle and squirm and disturb our worship?
E. Reminds me of the mother who had her baby with her in church. The baby was having a grand time and cueing to everyone behind her. She was smiling and the people behind her were responding and it was starting to make a distraction. Finally, the mother took the baby and spanked her and tears came to the baby’s eyes. She said, “There. That is the way to behave in church.”
F. I think a way to promote children and youth feeling a part of the worship here is to give them something to do. Not as cute performers, who sing their song, but give them some parts that make them feel important and valued as part of the church. After all, this is all preparation for the day when they will take on an important part.
G. Don’t have anyone coming up behind us and serving? Children and youth.
H. Max looks forward to the day when he can play drums in the church. Will we let him? Max has talked about delivering a sermon, will we let him?
4. by rarely talking about spiritual things at home.
A. (Deu 11:18 NIV) Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.(Deu 11:19 NIV) Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
B. Not that we have to have an hour of devotions as a family every day, but make mention of spiritual things in the home.
C. Whose responsibility is the spiritual life of your children?
D. Some parents have decided to leave the child’s spiritual beliefs up to the child without giving guidance. These same parents will give guidance in diet, manners, and will insist that the child attend school, study and strive for good grades. If we give guidance in these areas, shouldn’t we insist on the same in spiritual matters? Many times they don’t know what is best for them. That is why they have parents.
