Reading: Matthew chapter 19 verses 13-16:
Quote: The Message:
“One day children were brought to Jesus in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus intervened: "Let the children alone, don't prevent them from coming to me. God's kingdom is made up of people like these." After laying hands on them, he left”.
There is a well-known saying:
• “Never work with children or animals”.
• The reason being both are unpredictable and don’t always respond they way you expect.
Ill:
• Peel Common – heaven story.
• Xmas quiz talk – “Who gives the best gifts?”
• Chickerall, Weymouth - No-one has ever seen Jesus.
3 things to note from this Bible reading:
(1). A Welcoming (vs 14a).
“Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me”.
Ill:
• During his days as president,
• Thomas Jefferson & a group of companions were travelling across the country on horseback.
• They came to a river which had left its banks because of a recent downpour.
• The swollen river had washed the bridge away.
• Each rider was forced to ford the river on horseback,
• Fighting for his life against the rapid currents.
• The very real possibility of death threatened each rider,
• Which caused a traveller who was not part of their group to step aside and watch.
• After several had plunged in and made it to the other side,
• The stranger asked President Jefferson if he would ferry him across the river.
• The president agreed without hesitation.
• The man climbed on, and shortly thereafter the two of them made it safely to the other side.
• As the stranger slid off the back of the saddle onto dry ground,
• One in the group asked him,
• “Tell me, why did you select the president to ask this favour of?”
• The man was shocked, admitting he had no idea it was the president who had helped him.
• “All I know,” he said,
• “Is that on some of your faces was written the answer ‘No,’
• And on some of them was the answer ‘yes.’
• His was a ‘Yes’ face.”
Jesus had a ‘yes’ face regarding children:
• At the time of Jesus, children were thought of as very incidental in ancient society:
• They very much lived by the motto: “Children are to be seen and not heard”.
• All though the Jews saw their children as a blessing from God & valued them.
• In public life children did not have a role to play.
Ill:
• Men ruled the roost.
• Women were secondary – and a very distant second at that!
• And children were way, way below that.
• “Children were to be seen and not heard”.
The disciples probably thought they were doing Jesus a favour by their actions;
• After all they were allowing him to conserve his strength;
• And to protect his voluble time.
• Yet, Jesus did not drive them away,
• For him this was a good use of his time and strength.
• He was irresistibly attractive to children.
• And the children knew it!
Ill:
• D.L. Moody
• “How many converts?” He answered; “Two and a half”
ill:
• One of the very first Church Fathers was a man called Polycarp;
• He was said to have known the Apostle John and to have been taught by him.
• Polycarp was Bishop of Smyrna (today known as Izmir),
• A city on the west coast of Turkey.
• He was martyred for his faith
• But just before his martyrdom at the age of 95 he said,
• "For eight and sixty years I have served my king and he has done for me no harm".
• Thereby declaring that he had been converted at the age of 9.
• Ill: Mathew Henry was brought to Christ when he was 11.
• Ill: Richard Baxter when he was 6.
• Ill: Robert Moffat was only a young boy;
• Ill: Helen Cadbury, (the founder of the Pocket Testament League) was 12.
• Ill: Rosalind Goforth was 11.
• Ill: Isaac Watts only 9.
• Ill: All Catherine Booth's 8 children had been led to Christ before they were 10 years old.
• Ill: Jonathan Edwards and Mary Slessor were converted at 7.
• Ill: Amy Carmichael at 9,
• Ill: Jim Elliot at 6.
The disciples probably thought they were doing Jesus a favour by their actions;
• After all they were allowing him to conserve his strength and protect his time.
• Yet, Jesus did not drive them away, this was a good use of his time and strength.
• He was irresistibly attractive to children.
• And the children knew it!
(2). A rebuking (vs 14b).
“Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them”.
• It is good that we have contact with so many parents:
• Who are willing to allow their children to be taught about Jesus Christ:
• We have friends who will not let their children go to anything ‘religious’.
• They want them to wait until they are old enough themselves;
• To decide for themselves about spiritual things;
• To decide for themselves about going to church.
• YET … they don’t let them wait until they are old enough to decide for themselves;
• If they should go to school, visit the dentist, or clean their room.
Note:
“Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them”.
• Did you notice that in this verse Jesus actually gives a double command:
• (1). "Let … [them] come" and (2). "Do not hinder them."
Ill:
There are two words that have a magical effect on children (and also adults):
• First has a negative effect: “Go”.
• “Go away”, “Go to your room!, “Go and tidy up”, “Go and say sorry!”
• Second has a positive effect: “Come”:
• “Come over here”, “Come and have hug”, “Come and join in”.
Jesus uses that word ‘Come’ in a welcoming positive, insistent way:
• And he then goes on to tell us why he wanted the children to come:
• Because children actually model the conditions of entry into the kingdom:
Question: In what way are children a pattern?
Answer:
• In their humble dependence on others.
• Their receptivity.
• Their acceptance of themselves and their position in life.
• Children live by faith.
• By faith they accept their lot;
• Trusting others to care for them and see them through.
We too must enter God’s kingdom by faith.
• Becoming a Christian is not childish;
• But it is child-like!
• We too must recognise we are unable to save ourselves;
• We are totally dependent on the mercy and grace of God.
• When children have problems and difficulties;
• They take it to their parents (ill: heavenly Father).
Ill:
One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof.
• The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms,
• Calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you.”
• He knew the boy had to jump to save his life.
• All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness.
• As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof.
• His father kept yelling: “Jump! I will catch you.”
• But the boy protested, “Daddy, I can’t see you.”
• The father replied, “But I can see you and that’s all that matters.”
• Children exercise faith;
• Even when they do not have all the answers!
(3). A blessing (vs 15).
“When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there”.
Ill:
• As a minister was addressing a group of men,
• He took a large piece of paper and made a black dot in the centre of it with a marking pen.
• Then he held the paper up before the group and asked them what they saw.
• One person quickly replied, “I see a black mark.”
• “Right,” the preacher replied. “What else do you see?”
• Complete silence prevailed. “Don’t you see anything other than the dot?” he asked.
• A chorus of no’s came from the audience.
• “I’m really surprised,” the speaker commented.
• “You have completely overlooked the most important thing of all—the sheet of paper.”
• Then he made the application.
• He said that in life we are often distracted by small,
• Dot-like disappointments or painful experiences,
• And we are prone to forget the innumerable blessings;
• That we receive from God each day!
• But like the sheet of paper and the dot,
• The good things are far more important than the adversities that monopolize our attention.
Quote:
“As you travel down life’s pathway, may this ever be your goal:/ Keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole!”
ill:
• A sixth form teacher asked her class what they thought;
• Were the seven wonders of the world:
• The most popular answers were:
1. Egypt’s Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter’s Basilica
7. China’s Great Wall
While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one quiet student;
• Hadn’t turned in her paper yet,
• So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list.
• The girl replied,
• "Yes, a little. I couldn’t quite make up my mind because there were so many."
• The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help."
• The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are
1. to see
2. to taste
3. to touch
4. to hear
1. She hesitated a little, and then added,
5. to feel
6. to laugh
7. and to love
• So often the those things we overlook as simple and "ordinary";
• Are truly wondrous.
YET THERE IS A GREATER BLESSING STILL:
Quote: BILLY GRAHAM who said:
“Children will invariably talk, eat, walk, think, respond, and act like their parents.
Give them a target to shoot at. Give them a goal to work toward. Give them a pattern that they can see clearly, and you give them something that gold and silver cannot buy”.
• We cannot and are not trying to do the job of a parent:
• But we can and intend to “Give them something that gold and silver cannot buy”.
Ill:
• At age 16 Andor Foldes was already a skilled pianist,
• But he was experiencing a troubled year.
• In the midst of the young Hungarian’s personal struggles,
• One of the most renowned pianists of the day came to Budapest.
• Emil von Sauer was famous not only for his abilities;
• But he was also the last surviving pupil of the great Franz Liszt.
• Von Sauer requested that Foldes play for him.
• Foldes obliged with some of the most difficult works of Bach, Beethoven, and Schumann.
• When he finished, von Sauer walked over to him and kissed him on the forehead.
• “My son,” he said, “when I was your age I became a student of Liszt.
• He kissed me on the forehead after my first lesson, saying,
• ‘Take good care of this kiss—it comes from Beethoven,
• Who gave it to me after hearing me play. ‘
• I have waited for years to pass on this sacred heritage, but now I feel you deserve it.”
You and I with the children we have or those we encounter have something far better to pass on:
• What we share is not for the gifted few;
• But for the ‘Whosoever’,
• Ill: Boy what does ‘Whosoever’ mean?
• He replied: “Everyone in the whole wide world and me!
Ill:
One day King George V:
• Was to give the opening address at a special disarmament conference,
• The speech was to be relayed by radio to the U.S.A.
• As the broadcast was about to begin, a cable broke in the New York radio station,
• And more than a million listeners were left without sound.
• A junior mechanic in the station,
• A man called Harold Vivien,
• Solved the problem by picking up both ends of the cable;
• And allowing 250 volts of electricity to pass through him.
• Harold Vivien became the living link that allowed the king’s message;
• To get through to the people - I am sure you can see the application!
• You and I are living links;
• Allowing the kings message to pass through us to the next generation.
MANY ADULTS (ESPECIALLY MEN) FIND IT HARD TO TRUST OTHERS:
Ill:
Not a lot of people know this;
• But if elephants in captivity do not get regular foot care;
• They are prone to infections that can be fatal.
• But clipping the toe-nails of an animal;
• That can weigh as much as 6 tons can be risky business
• One man has invented an “elephant flipper”;
• His device allows keepers to restrain an elephant and safely turn it on his side.
• The device stands 12 feet high, weighs more than 15 tons;
• And costs $100,000.
Why am I telling you this riveting information:
• Just as the elephant cannot appreciate the keepers want to do good for the beast;
• They want to keep it healthy and prolong its life.
• We humans too will not trust a stranger;
• Until we discover for our selves God is trust worthy then people will not trust him!
• If you want to know if God is trustworthy;
• Look to the cross!
Ill:
Song
