Good morning boys and
girls!
Has anyone ever told you
to get lost or go away? Has anyone ever told you that they didn’t want you
around? How did that make you feel?
There is one person who
will never tell us to go away. In fact, he wants all of us to come close to
him. His name is Jesus. Let me explain by reading a story to you from Mark
10:2-16.
One
day, Jesus and his friends were walking along the beautiful coast of Judea. As
they were walking and talking, and discussing the news of the day, other people
saw Jesus and wanted to hear what he was saying. Soon there was a very large
crowd of people following Jesus. Some of them were sick, and Jesus touched them
and made them well. Others had questions they wanted to ask and listened
carefully as Jesus answered them.
There
was a group of people called "Pharisees," who were leaders in the
temple. They liked to have long discussions and especially enjoyed arguing and
trying to trick one another. When the Pharisees heard that Jesus was nearby,
they left their work and rushed to join the crowd. They were having a good time
asking questions and trying to trick Jesus, but, of course, Jesus knew what
they were trying to do, and He gave them perfect answers every time. They could
not trick Jesus!
While
the Pharisees were having their discussion with Jesus, some mothers joined the
crowd. They knew Jesus was a very important man, and they wanted their children
to have a chance to see Him. Holding the hands of their children, they pushed
through the crowd, trying to get closer.
When
Jesus' friends saw the mothers and children trying to get to the front to see
Jesus, they scowled roughly. "Go away! Don't you know that Jesus is an
important man? Can't you see that he is busy talking with the leaders of the
temple? Take your children and go home!" Sad and dejected, the mothers
turned to guide their children back the way they had come and away from the
crowd.
However,
Jesus loved children very much and had a different idea about the situation. He
turned to his friends and kindly said, "No, don't send them away. Let the
children come to me." Jesus' friends quickly worked to make a path through
the crowd so the mothers and children could get up close to Jesus. The mothers
were full of joy and excitement as Jesus reached out his arms toward their
children!
One
by one, He scooped up the younger children into His loving Arms, held them
close, and prayed a special prayer of blessing. He gave each of the older
children a tender hug and also prayed a blessing for them. He spoke gently to
the mothers and gave them a smile of approval. After each one had seen Jesus
and been blessed, Jesus spoke to his friends, the Pharisees, and the rest of
the crowd, saying, "Whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God as a child
does, will not be able to enter into it." He was trying to help them all
understand that loving God is easy enough for a child to do, and all their long
discussions and arguing were unnecessary.
Here’s another story about
how much Jesus loves us. It’s a story about a little girl named Susie. One
morning Susie mother said to her, “Do you want to come with me to Saturday
School?”
“What’s that,” said Susie,
“I already went to school.”
“Saturday School is a place
for children who would be home alone all day on Saturday,” said her mother. “How come?” said Susie. “Because they don’t have a daddy or they don’t
have a mommy and there is no one to stay home on Saturday,” said her mother.
“You mean they have to go
to school another day because they don’t have a daddy or mommy,” said Susie.
“That’s not fair. It’s not their fault. I wouldn’t want to have to do school
work on Saturday.”
“We don’t do a lot of
school work,” said her mother. “It’s fun. You’ll see. You can help.”
That night after Susie had
taken a bath and tidied up her room, her mother came in for a Bible reading and
prayers. They sat together on the bed
and opened the Bible to a picture of Jesus sitting down talking to children. A
little girl was on his knee and others were standing around him. He looked
happy and so did the children.
“Did Jesus teach Saturday
School?” said Susie. “Well, you know,” said her mother. “He probably did when he lived in Nazareth.”
“Are those children with
Jesus because they don’t have a mommy or daddy?” said Susie.
“I don’t know,” said her
mother. “But I do know that Jesus wants them to have mommies and daddies, and
if they don’t Jesus would give them special attention.”
“Is that why we went to
Saturday School today?” said Susie. “To give the children special attention
like Jesus.” “Yes,” said her mother, “We were being like Jesus.”
“I like being like Jesus,”
said Susie.
All
of you are here today because someone loved you enough to bring you here. It
doesn’t matter if that person is your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles
or even a neighbour or close friend. We are thankful for each and every one of
you and for the people who loved you enough to bring you here.
Let’s bow our heads and close our eyes for a
moment of prayer. Dear God, we love the children just as Jesus loved them and
we are thankful that these children have someone who loves them enough to bring
them to Jesus. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Bibliography
1. Linda Sue Pochodzay
Edwards, “Fruit of the Spirit-Love: Jesus Loves Children.” Retrieved from stories@tscpulpitseries.is.to
2. Roland McGregor,
“Children’s Sermon for McGregorPage 838 Pentecost 19 (October 7, 2012)
Retrieved from childpage@mcgregorpage.org
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