I walk at night beneath majestic skies, And all behind them is a God all-wise, Who fixed all stars, each in its lonely place, And wrapped them in a darkened robe of I see the moon, the stars in distant space And think of how the God of Matchless Such wonders that on earth cannot be known. Almighty God! How wonderful are Thou! To love the world while hands before me bow. I feel to come, we've held it all somehow. Almighty God! How wonderful our God! I scan the heavens with rapture in my soul And wonder how the God who made the whole Could ever fix his thoughts on such as I And give his Son upon the cross I feel to comprehend it all somehow. Almighty God, how wonderful art thou. Almighty God, how wonderful art thou. Amen, all right, thank you, children. And you can go ahead and be seated. And if you're 6543201, you can be dismissed to go with Mrs. Shore to the creche. That'd be great. All right. Some of you are trying to figure out your age, okay. We'll get it figured out. All right, Mark chapter nine. And obviously from the scripture that we read, you understand that we're gonna look at children's ministry this morning and think about it and what the word of God has to say about it. Paul said this about ministering to children, but they were really adults, but in 1 Corinthians 13 verse 11, he said, when I was a child, I speak as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. And Paul's just saying, To the church at Corinth grow up, you know, you're adults now be adults, but he spoke about being a child when I was a child You know, I was childish in my speech when I was a child. I was childish in my understanding When I was a child, I was childish in my thoughts and that's what makes for us this week Children's ministry is tough. It's tough to minister to kids. Those of you that are parents know what it is to raise kids, and kids are a great blessing. But there is a lot of work. Mothers understand the hours that go into that, and the frustration, the extra patience, the extra grace. And that's why Paul again was encouraging the church to grow up, because it's tough until that maturity is found. But that children's ministry as we've already seen it in Mark chapter 9 and 10 is a very important part of what God's called us to do in our church and what we can do for the Lord. We've already mentioned this morning, pastored six miles from here and became a great evangelist, really became a great evangelist as he came to Scotland and God used Moody in England and Scotland for revival. But D.L. Moody started with children's ministry and he was a product of children's ministry. But as a child, or as early in his ministry days, Neil Moody got burdened for the young people in Chicago about having a Sunday school that was a mission school that would reach the unreachable, would reach those that perhaps weren't welcomed into a proper church. And so it says in this wee story, I'll just read to you real quick, that He thought the average mission school was not calculated to reach the lowest strata of society. There was too large a requirement of order, too little allowance for the homes from which the pupils had come. Accordingly, he decided to begin a mission school of his own, and so on the north side of the Chicago River, there was a district called The Sand, sometimes also known as Little Hell. Today, some of the finest residents of Chicago stand there, where in the early 50s and 60s of the 1800s, crime and debauchery reigned supreme. It was to this home of vice Mr. Booty went to begin his work. He found a deserted shanty which had formerly been a saloon. And by the way, the hall that is the church that Moody and Sankey started was a atheist hall before they took that. So Moody has done well to change places to good places from bad places. But it was a saloon hiring this ramshackle place. started out to drum up children to fill it. At first, he found it hard to get at the young street Arabs. Then he filled his pockets with maple sugar and judiciously distributing it among those who promised to come, soon had his little room overflowing with barbarians. One who visited the school in those days has described his experience. When I came to the little old Channy and entered the door, he said the first thing I saw by the light of a few candles was a man standing up holding in his arms. And he says a Negro boy, because that's just the way it's a little black boy to whom he is trying to read the story of the prodigal son. A great many words the reader could not make out and was obliged to skip. My thought was if the Lord can ever use such an instrument as that for his honor and glory, it will astonish me. When the meeting was over, Mr. Moody said to me, I've got only one talent. I have no education. But I love the Lord Jesus Christ, and I want to do something for him. I've watched him since and have come to know him thoroughly. And for consistent walk and conversation, I've never met a man equal to him. And he was a man burdened for children. And what a testimony of what he did. I mean, he just started out saying, I'm just going to reach kids for the Lord Jesus Christ. And so as we come into this, this week that God's given to us, that's our goal. Our desire is to be used of God to help raise children for the Lord Jesus Christ. And I wanna, as I start this message, remind the kids here that what we're gonna look at as far as ministering to kids applies to them too, because each one of them can reach out to their kids that come the same way that the Bible's speaking about for us as adults to reach out to them, if that makes sense. So this isn't just geared to adults, and it's not just geared to those that are gonna be helping us work this week. It's really how we can bring people to the Lord. And it actually applies to having anybody come into our church, how we treat them, how we care for them, and how we minister to them. And so we're just going to have the Lord to help us as we consider that topic this morning. Let's pray. Father, as we come to your Word now and as we just examine these verses and have some thoughts from the Word of God, I pray the Spirit of God would help me to speak clearly. And Father, give us grace to listen to the Holy Spirit. Well, that's the main thing. I just pray the Spirit of God would just speak. I pray, give us grace to get ready for the good work that you desire to do this week. Father, we know that you're able to do an eternal work in the hearts of these kids. And not just the kids, there's gonna be some adults that come into these meetings and hear the word of God taught. And maybe on a level that is best for them because they don't have a church background. They don't have all the stories and all the things understood. And so Lord, it's gonna help them understand the Bible better. And so we pray, Spirit of God, that as best we can be prepared for that through this message that you see fit to do that to your glory. And certainly we do pray again, if any are unsafe this morning, may this message speak in particular to their heart about their need to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. And thank you for your help now. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. And so I've entitled it, Basically, I'm a child in your church. So what am I to expect or what should I get when I come as a child to your church? And the first thing is let's love the children this week. Let's love them. It says in Mark chapter 9 in our text that he took, verse 36, a child, set him in the midst of them. And when he had taken him up in his arms, he said unto them, Can you just picture the Lord Jesus, the creator, the designer, the one that made, and my wife said, you know, it's a good thing kids are so cute recently, you know, speaking about Mac, and you just realize that that means something. So you adore them, so you care for them. I mean, they're just a bundle of joy, aren't they? And you can see the Lord Jesus taking his child up in his arms, and that's a picture of his love. And obviously in our day, we can't do that as easily. We have to be very cautious about putting our hand on any child in any way whatsoever. But you know, we can show kids love without physically touching them. We can show them our concern for them as they come to our church. And here's just, it's just gonna be practical today, okay? But let's learn their names. That's the way we can show them our love is learning their names. John chapter 10, verse three, is a very precious verse to us as believers. Those of us that are saved, we've entered into the sheepfold of God. And the Bible says in John 10 verse three, the sheep hear his voice and he calleth his own sheep by name and leaveth them out. That means something to us. That means when God calls us by name, it means he knows me. It means he loves me. He cares for me. And so that's a very nice thing for us to do, is to learn their names. And it takes effort, doesn't it? You might not be very good at remembering names. Sometimes we're good at it, sometimes we're not. My daughter asked me this week as we were out and I saw a guy that we witnessed to with Jonathan Washer when he was here, up on top of the beam, this guy Jordan, we spoke to him. But I was able, by his grace, to call Jordan by name and she said, how do you do that? Well, I'll share in a second one way God helps me to do that sometimes, and not that I'm that great at it, but that's important, isn't it? There's times where you see somebody and they call you by name. What's it tell you? It said, hey, they care about me. They took the time to learn my name. And so that's important. So let's learn their name and show them love by knowing their names. But be excited, secondly, that they're here. Be excited that they've come, these kids come into our Bible club this week, and this is not, again, just for when the kids come, it's in our church, when people come, there ought to be an excitement that we let them know, hey, we're glad that you're here, we're so thankful that you're here. I'm gonna share a negative example, okay? But we had many good experiences when we traveled in the States and to raise our support to come over here. And we were in 280 churches. And most churches, very warm, very loving, very gracious. But one church was a large church. And it had a church that had a mission's name. And we got there, and I just remember, I didn't know where to set up or anything or what to do, and I finally found an assistant pastor that could tell me where to set up my table, my display table, tell them about what God's called us to do. And then the service started. I thought, you know what, I haven't even met the pastor. And I'm standing there, and the pastor's up on the platform, and he goes like that, and I go up there, and he said, now are you, and he said the wrong name. I said, no, I'm Ben Shore, I'm going to Scotland. And he said, okay, great. And he said, you'll have 10 minutes, and you can either show your presentation, or you can say something. And so I just, I'd driven 200 miles, I spoke for a minute, and they played a presentation, and that was fine. Afterwards, the pastor didn't come up, and he was having a wedding practice, and it was time, we're packed up, ready to go, and I thought I could just leave without saying anything, but I thought, well, I'll walk up, I'll walk over, interrupt the wedding practice and say, pastor, thank you for the meeting. And I'm driving 200 miles back to where we come from, And I'm just thinking, Lord, that's not like Christ. It's not. Now I can give that pastor a lot of excuses, and they're probably legitimate. And that probably never happened to anyone else, and I hope it didn't. But you know, we don't want somebody to come to our church and feel like I was there, nobody said anything to me, nobody cared about me, nobody greeted me, nobody let me know, hey, I'm excited that you're here today. You know, this is something easy, isn't it? Any one of us could walk up to a kid this week and say, hey, I'm just glad you're here. I'm so thankful that you took the time to come. So that's good, let's show them our love. And then let them know that you're going to pray for them. Let them know that. As they come, that's something simple, show love and say, hey, You know, I'm praying for you. And then come to the 9.30 prayer time that we're having every day from 9.30 to 10 and pray for them by name and ask God, God, where can this kid's heart this week? I said I was gonna share how I remember names sometimes. When we travel in churches, I would sometimes have people ask me, how do you remember so many names? Well, one way that I would do it is, as I meet people, I pray for them during the week that we're there. If we're there for the week, then those are people that I'm praying for by name, asking God to work in their lives that week. And you know what? It really helps you to bring that name to mind. God did that with me this past week. I prayed for Owen Thompson, our MP. And I know Owen. And I saw him this past week. But when I saw him, the first thing that popped in my mind was his name, because I prayed for him that morning. you know that's that's what God can do and another way I just I'm just sharing personal testimony the way I do it is a lot of times I see somebody come in I'm saying Lord please remind me what their name is and actually in my phone sometimes when I meet somebody I put their name in there Whatever it takes, but let's say a personal and say hey, you know, I'm excited you're here and welcome glad you're here I know your name and I'm gonna be praying for you that God would work in your life this week That'd be good to show them God's love then secondly Let's let's treat the children like Jesus this week. Let's treat him like Jesus this week Mark 9 verse 37 It says, whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name. Receiveth me, and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me. Isn't that precious? A child comes and you say to them, hey, come on in, I'm so glad you're here, and the person that you're bringing in is not that child, according to the word of God, it's Jesus Christ, and it's God the Father. It's like you're receiving the Lord, and by receiving them and treating them, and the Bible speaks about that in other ways, doesn't it? It speaks about that and giving a cup of water, If you just give a cup of water to a disciple, the Lord Jesus Christ, it's like he gave it right to the Lord. And so let's give them those cups of water. You might look at a child this week and you might notice a need nobody else notices. They've got a need and you can meet that need and just meet it. Just provide for them. This past, was it a week and a half ago, the kids had their birthday party. Katie does a birthday party every year for the kids in their class and the kids get a present. Well, this year it was a bouncy ball and I'm just going to share a testimony of when somebody did this, but that bouncy ball, Matthew's bouncy ball got bounced and where did it end up? up on the roof, you know? And that's sad to a kid, isn't it? That's traumatic. I mean, that's the price that Benson had a yo-yo, and Benson took his yo-yo and gave it to Matthew. I'm going to break on Benson, because that's what we're talking about, isn't it? It's about taking what you have and saying, hey, I can meet with that. Can I say this without being, what's the word? Disrespectful, that's not the right word, but blasphemous. Benson gave a yo-yo to whom? The Lord. Is that true? I mean, if you take what you have and you give it to a child to meet their needs, you're treating them like Jesus, then you're giving it to the Lord. I mean, if you give a glass of water, why not a yo-yo? Why not something else? You might look at a child and say, hey, you need a new pair of trainers. You know, or you need something physical like that. And you can meet that need and provide for them. Matthew 25, 40. It says, and the king shall answer and say unto them, verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto the one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me. One of the least of these. Well, that certainly applied to a child that is a child that's believing in the Lord Jesus as you treat them, that God sees that and God's gonna reward them. And so let's treat them like Jesus. Let's help them find their place, meet their needs, but let's help them find their place as well. I've already mentioned D.L. Moody, and I'll mention him two more times. Here's one of them. But his Sunday school teacher was a man by the name of Mr. Kimball. And it says, one Sunday, the young man appeared in the Sunday school of Mount Vernon Church, and the superintendent, Mr. Palmer, to whom he gave his name, took him to the class taught by Mr. Kimball. And he took his seat among the other boys, says Mr. Kimball. I handed him a closed Bible and told him the lesson was in John. The boy took the book and began running over the leaves with his fingers away at the first of the volume, looking for John. Out of the corners of their eyes, the boy saw what he was doing. and detecting his ignorance, glanced slyly and knowingly at one another, but not rudely. I gave the boys just one hasty glance of reproof. That was enough. Their equanimity was restored immediately. I quietly handed Moody my own book open at the right place and took his. I did not suppose the boy could possibly have noticed the glances exchanged between the other boys over his ignorance, but it seems from remarks in later years that he did. And he said in reference to my little act in exchanging books that he would stick by the fellow who had stood by him and had done him a turn like that. Isn't that a nice story? Just caring enough to do something little that sticks with somebody that they look back at and say, hey, that means something to me. You know, it's awkward not knowing what to do. Somebody might visit our church sometime and they don't know that we use a hymnal with page numbers and with the music in it and how that works, or how the Bibles work, or the kids come and they don't know what class to go to, when to go there, how to get there, where the toilets are, or anything like that. Somebody just taking the time to say to them, hey, this is where you're going. This is what it's about. This is what's up, that that means something to them. And so let's help them find their place, just like we treat the Lord Jesus Christ. And then let's not offend the children this week. Let's not offend them. Mark chapter nine, verse 42, says, and whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea. It doesn't mean offend like, oh, that offended me, or in that sense, it means that we put a stumbling block in their way. As they come in, these kids might come from an unchurched background. I should say, it's very likely that they'll come from an unchurched background. They might say things that, as believers, we don't say. They might show that they're in the world. But let's not give them occasion to stumble or turn away from coming. I had a man that... I invited at Greg's to come and visit our church, and we were at the mall here in Edinburgh, and as I handed him a track and I said, I'd just like to invite you to visit my church, he pointed at the tattoos on his arms and says, last time I went to church, they saw these and said to me, don't ever come back. You know that's sad, isn't it? That somebody would be coming towards Christ and that, and again, this may not be an evangelical church, let's hope it's not, let's hope it's not a true Bible-believing church, but they offended somebody that was seeking after God. We don't wanna do that this week. We don't wanna, you know, by saying something unkind to a child that's here and not caring for them and not meeting their need, turn them away from Christ. So we need to be so careful about that. And so let's not let our attitudes or actions turn them away from Christ. And then let's not be put out with children this week. Mark chapter 10 and verse 13, it says, and they brought young children to him that he should touch them. And his disciples rebuked those that brought them. Yeah, see, I mean, as a parent, if I was there, I certainly, be desirous of bringing my kids to the Lord Jesus Christ and say, you know, I want them to come into contact with the Savior. And so these parents are bringing their kids that and they're just maybe overwhelming the Lord. There's so much going on. It seems to the disciples as they look at it. So the disciples think they're doing what's right. And they say, no, no, no. You can't do that. Don't bother the master. He's too busy. He has more important things to bless these children. But you know, they should have said, hey, praise God. That's what it's all about. And rejoice that those kids were coming to the Lord. They should have received them with gladness. This past week, I had some car repairs, things I've had to do. And I had to go to a couple of different places. One place, the last place I was at, I heard the mechanic in the morning out cursing as he's having a rough start to his day. The other places you walk in, I mean, as soon as you come up this little aisle, this lady is there smiling at you, greeting you, and shaking your hand, saying, would you like some coffee? Would you like some tea? And who are you here to see? And the care was so good. That's important, isn't it? Again, as we have the kids come, there ought to be that sense that, hey, I am glad you're here and excited, no matter who you are, and not bothered that you're here. James 2, verses one through four says, my brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect to persons. For if they come unto your assembly, a man with a gold ring and goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment, and you have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing or the nice clothing, and saying to him, sit thou here in a good place, and say to the poor, stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool, are you not then partial in yourselves and are become judges of evil thoughts? God says, whoever comes, They're welcome. I mean, the House of God is open to anybody. If it's a child that comes and we sometimes have to work with kids and encourage kids, we're certainly not going to let them use whatever language that they desire to use. But we'll be saying, hey, you know, say the right things. You know, we really want you to be here. We're glad you're here. But no matter what that child is, no matter how hard that child is, we've had some difficult kids at times in children's ministry, and church knows that. But you know, those kids are welcome, and we want them to be here, and it's not a bother to the Lord. So we don't wanna be put out with children this week. But then let's encourage children to come to Jesus for salvation this week. Let's encourage them to come for salvation. Mark 10 verse 14 says, but when Jesus saw it, so the disciples had just said, all right, no, no, don't bother the master. And they reviewed the people that are bringing them to Jesus. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased and said unto them, suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of God. No, let them come, because those are the kids that are gonna believe, those are the kids that are gonna trust. Such is the kingdom of God. I remember as a little boy sitting in church, and this was my thought, someday I'm gonna remember, and it worked, because I do, someday I'm gonna remember how much I can understand as a little boy sitting here. It's kind of a weird thought, I know, but, I mean, kids can understand, and sometimes we think, oh, the kids aren't getting anything from this, but kids can understand. You know, they can understand the gospel. How many of you were saved as a child? My hand's up. Yeah, I got saved when I was five. A lot of my kids have gotten saved at five, six, seven years of age. It's great as a child to accept the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole rest of your life, you're saved. The whole rest of your life, you can live for the Lord. What a blessing, and we praise God for adults that get saved, but children can get saved. Again, I mentioned D.L. Moody, and we go to him one more time here, and D.L. Moody got saved a little later, but he was 17. But his salvation was because he had a Sunday school teacher that cared enough about his kids to follow up. And so here comes Mr. Kimball to the shoe store where Moody works, Holton Shoe Store, and it says, when I was nearly there, I began to wonder whether I ought to go just then during business hours. I thought maybe my mission might embarrass the boy, that when I went away, the other clerks might ask who I was, and when they learned, might taunt Moody. and asked if I was trying to make a good boy out of him. While I was pondering over it all, I passed the store without noticing it. Then when I found I'd gone by the door, I determined to make a dash for it and have it over at once. I found Moody in the back part of the store, wrapping up shoes and paper and putting them on shelves. I went up to him and put my hand on his shoulder, and as I leaned over, I placed my foot upon a shoe box. Then I made my plea, and I felt that it was really a very weak one. I don't know just what words I used, nor could Mr. Moody tell. I simply told him of Christ's love for him and the love Christ wanted in return. That was all there was of it. I think Mr. Moody said afterward that there were tears in my eyes. It seemed that the young man was just ready for the light that then broke upon him. But there at once in the back of the shoe store in Boston, the future great evangelist gave himself and his life to Christ. Now, I understand Moody's 17. I mean, he's old enough to understand it. And so Mr. Kimball, as he went, he's not thinking, oh, he's not old enough to understand. He's thinking, I'm kind of nervous. I'm going to go there. What are these other people going to say? There's all these excuses. What were those from? Those are from the enemy. Satan didn't want Mr. Kimball to go to witness the DL Moody, because when Moody got saved, Moody was going to be a powerhouse for the war. And Satan doesn't want the young people that come this next week to get saved. He's going to want them as far away from God as possible. So he's going to attack. And part of that might be us thinking, these guys aren't getting it. They can't understand. They're just a child. Kids can't understand the gospel. They can't understand the cross. They can't understand the crucifixion. They can't understand the resurrection. They can't understand putting a faith in Jesus. But the answer is they can. It's what the word of God says. It says it right here, it says kids can believe, kids can trust, kids can get saved. And so as we're seeking to do the ministry this week, let's encourage them to come to Christ. We're careful in our church about how we give an invitation to children, because we want it to be of them. We want them to initiate it. We don't want them to come say, I want to do what that minister said when he was up there talking, and he said, I need to do this, so I want to do this because he said it. We want them to do it because the Holy Spirit's speaking to their heart. But you know it's obvious when God's speaking to a child's heart. We've said before, and this is probably what we'll do this week, but we'll tell the kids, hey, during game time, if God's spoken in your heart and you wanna get saved, go speak to an adult. We'll speak to you about the Lord. We'll say during, you know, afterwards, when it's done, come up to us and talk to us and ask us. We're not gonna have a high-pressure invitation necessarily. We wanna be careful about that. But you know, the Spirit of God can speak to the hearts of kids. And this week, let's have confidence. God, you can save these kids. We wanna see them get saved. And even if they, let me say it this way, even if they never step foot in our door of our church again, because maybe their parents never let them come again or whatever, we want them saved. We want them to have the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior. So let's encourage them to come to the Lord. Let's not be put out with them. Let's love them. Let's treat them like Jesus. Let's not offend them. And then let's trust like Jesus this week. Let's trust, I'm sorry, let's trust like children this week. Mark 10, 15. Again, Jesus goes on to say, he said, no, no, send those kids. Send those kids. Why? Verily, truly, I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. Now, what he's not saying is this. He's not saying, okay, if you didn't get saved as a child, then it's too late. You can't get saved. That's not what he's saying. But he is not speaking to kids anymore. He's speaking to adults. He's saying, whosoever of you, You gotta receive the Lord as a child. It means like a child. It means you have to become, in a sense, like a child to get saved. Well, when you think about that, what's that mean? Well, there has to be childlike humility. Is it humbling for a child to be a child? No. They are a child. But you know, it's humbling for an adult to become like a child. Isn't it? It's humbling for an adult to put himself in a place of childlikeness, if that makes sense. And that's exactly what the Lord's saying. There has to be that humility that submits just like a child to the Lord. Kaylee was reading a book this past week. She's our bookworm. She was reading a book and it was about, it was a fiction story that was written. But it was based, it was historic fiction. It was based upon a real man, his life, and at the end it told the story of this man. His name was Dr. Pace. Dr. Pace was a black man that stuttered terribly and probably born in like the 1930s time frame in the United States. And his teacher, when he was learning his alphabet, he couldn't say his alphabet. He got disciplined because of that, but he couldn't say it because he stuttered so terribly. And he never went back to school. So he had no education. But he got drafted into the military and served during the war. And he got to the beach at Normandy three days later. after D-Day. And so he was working. He comes back, can't read, can't write, gets a job. His wife signs the checks. She takes care of the bills. She does everything. The kids, when they are growing up, they come to their dad and say, Dad, will you read this to me? And he never told them he couldn't read. It was a secret between him and his wife. His employer didn't know. Nobody knew. And he's He'd say to the kids, he'd say to the kids, go, I'm too busy, I've worked all day, go talk to your mom, she'll help you. And he said it really hurt him to have to say that, but that's what he said. Well, he ended up coming to work with a guy that was a believer, he got saved, and then he couldn't read the Bible. And it really, he was burdened. I mean, he couldn't take the word of God up and serve himself and learn about God. And so finally, after he's retired, he's 62 years of age, he goes to Bob Jones University, Knox, you know, goes in to talk to somebody and the lady speaks to him and he said, I'd like to learn to read. That's humbling, isn't it? 62 years of age. So I can't read, I'd like to learn to read. He's got tears in his eyes, he's speaking to a lady, she goes, we can't help you here, we're a university. And she says, well, no, I think he left not knowing anything, but she called him and got him in touch with a literacy program. He starts going, and he's in class with primary one students, first graders, and sitting there. And so he's saying to them, I'm in school just like you guys are. You know, think how humbling that is, 62. and you're in school with first graders. And after three years, he still can't read. And he's weeping about it one night and praying and saying, Lord, I still can't read your word. He wakes up the next morning and he can read his Bible. He couldn't read other things very well, but he can read his Bible. It's a neat story. Dr. Bob hears about it and asks him to speak in chapel. He said, who am I to speak? I'm a, he just, hey, come speak to the students. And this is the university I went to. It's a large university. And so he stands up to speak. When he gets done speaking, They gave him a standing ovation. And it's kind of unusual to get done speaking and have that happen. He is put onto the literacy board. And he said to them, I don't have any education. They said, no, you've got the heart and you've got the ability to talk. We want you on this board. He is invited by the president, the president's wife, Barbara Bush. to help read something at a special event. I mean, it's just, the honors go on. He's called to Bob Jones for commencement ceremonies, and he comes there, and they say, put on your cap. And he's like, the only cap I ever wore was in the military, and I didn't have that with me. And they put a graduation carb on him, gave him an honorary doctorate. So he's Dr. Pace. Why? Because he humbled himself. Everything that he benefited from was because he humbled himself. You know there's so many times that we don't get the benefit because we won't humble ourselves? And that's what the Lord's saying, hey, just become like a child. Just put yourself in a place where you're teachable, where you're yielded, where you might be an adult that has to say, but this is something kids do. No, it's something adults do when they need to. Get saved, get baptized, humble yourself like a child and obey the Lord. Go through believers baptism, go under the waters of baptism and obedience to the Lord because that is the humility that God desires. So childlike humility, but then childlike faith. You know, when a dad says something to his kids, his kids believe it. And I like to be cheeky sometimes, and I have to be careful, because I don't want to warp my kids, you know? Because they'll believe it, right? And thankfully, most times, as parents, we're telling them what's right. But kids will fight. They'll say, oh, no, my dad said. My mom said, no. I mean, they'll tenaciously grab hold of it and say, no, my dad said that. You know, that's childlike faith, isn't it? It says, mom and dad said it. It's true. Isn't that precious? That's the kind of faith that we need to have when our Heavenly Father says something to us. No, my dad said that. In the beginning, God created. Now, I don't buy that evolution stuff. No, because my dad said. No, I don't buy that homosexual marriage stuff, because my dad said, I'm speaking about God the Father. I don't buy that be like the world stuff and you can get along and be a Christian at the same time, because that's not what God my father says. He says I'm to be different. He says I'm to be holy. He says I'm to be set apart. I'm to be sanctified. A child like Faith just takes it and says, hey, I'm going to trust God. That's what we need, isn't it? I mean, we don't need it just for salvation. We need that thing all the time. We come in this week and we're saying, God, we desire to see you work this week. Childlike faith, 9.30 prayer time to 10 o'clock. Childlike faith, just claiming the promises that God's given to us in his word. And then lastly, this morning, let's bless the children this week. Let's bless them. Mark 10.16. It says, he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them and blessed them. You know what Jesus did? He reached out and grabbed some of God's grace for those kids. He was a conveyor of grace. You know, don't we want to do that this week with the kids? They're not taking them physically up into our labs, as the Word of God says, but conveyers of grace. I mean, we're speaking about that. Let's convey God's grace to them. Let's get a blessing for them. Let's come to the 9.30 prayer time. Let's go to the throne of God and let's intercede and let's ask God to give his blessing, to give his grace to these kids this week. Let's feed them as they come and hear the word of God. We share these stories and we have the opportunity to introduce them to the gospel, God helping us. Let's take the word of God, let's set it before them and let's convey God's grace to them. Let's bless them this week. So you look at this children's ministry. It's tough, it's tough. You come, you might pull your hair out if you have some, right? It's tough. But God helping us, this could be a great week of ministry. This could be a great opportunity for us to minister to them. How do we do that? Let's love them. Let's learn their name and pray for them by name. Let's treat them like Jesus and say, come in. Oh, I'm so glad you're here. And I'm gonna minister to you just like I minister. I would minister to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's not put a stumbling block in front of them by having an attitude or saying something in front of them or doing something in front of them that would offend them and say, if Christians are like that, I don't want anything to do with Christ. Let's be very careful of that. Let's not be put out with them, you know, as they come. I mean, the ministry's for them this week. Yes, come, I mean, we're so glad you're here. Bring whoever, and just come. And as they come, let's encourage them to make a decision to trust in Jesus Christ, to put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And perhaps today, as we've looked at this, it may be that God's speaking to your heart about childlike faith. As a believer, just taking God's word and say, I'm gonna trust God. As an unbeliever saying, you know what? It's humbling, but I'm gonna become like a little child and accept Jesus Christ as my savior. If you need to do that, just encourage you to do that today. Let's pray. Father, I praise you for the grace that you'll give this week. We're excited about this week. Father, this week's a highlight. It's such a blessing to have Grace Baptist from Taylorville, Illinois with us to help us with our ministry this week. And Father, we're excited about the kids that are gonna come, kids that we've never met. We're excited about the way the Word of God is gonna open their hearts and their minds because God, it's possible for children to get saved. And Father, we're excited that the Spirit of God's gonna have a platform to grow fruit. And Father, we pray for that. And Father, beginning this morning, there's a commitment we need to make with our parts, how we're gonna... do children's ministry this week. God, give us grace to do it. Father, help us to get outside our comfort zone. Help us to get involved in ministering to children this week and love it and embrace it as an opportunity to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, again, if somebody's here that's not saved because they've never humbled themselves like a little child to accept the Savior, Father, I pray, mid-today to the day, that they learn the blessing of obeying the gospel. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Let's stand, please, and sing. We'll sing a children's song, all right? 628, Jesus loves me, 628.