Be Care Full!

I never want to think I know it all in children’s ministry and I pray a lot about how God can make me a better minister.  One of the things I pray about is for God to give me the right words to say to a child when I talk to them about Jesus.  As an exercise in simplicity I want to document 10 thing I want kids to know about Jesus.

#1) Jesus is real and He’s still alive!  – The world has been fairly successful in painting a picture of Jesus as a semi-fictional character that lived a couple thousand years ago and started some sort of crazy religion.  The world has also done a good job of painting the resurrection as a scam and that Easter is about a big honkin’ bunny that give us candy and not about the fact that a man came back to life and changed the world forever – Truth is Jesus is Real and He’s alive- PERIOD!  Matthew 28:1-10

#2) Jesus Loves You! – This concept seems distant to so many people so with the kids I try to let them know how important this is. I love to see when a kid finally figures out that the same God who created the entire universe loves them like crazy.  It’s just cool! John 3:16

#3) Jesus has a plan for them! – People pay good money to people so that they can tell them how to live their lives and how to succeed in it. Jesus will do it for free and it’s the best plan ever!! Jeremiah 29:11 – PS – I’m not knocking good council – just the “Self-Help Guru’s” that says it’s all about your power and what you can do with it.  We are limited in power = Jesus is not! I’d rather follow the advice of the most powerful.

#4) Jesus loves kids! In the book of Mark, Jesus gets on his disciples who were aggravated at the noisy, pesky kids that wanted to check out Jesus.  He tells them to chill out and says “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  You can bet that made the disciples scratch their heads!! Mark 10:13-16

#5) Jesus always obeys his Dad! – Jesus knew he was about to get beaten & crucified he asked God (His Dad) to make his anguish go away but ultimately tells God “yet not my will, but yours be done” – in other words – what ever you say Dad! Luke 22:42

#6) Jesus was a kid too! Newsflash… I bet you Jesus was a completely dependent baby, a potty-training toddler and a playful school kid, went though puberty and had growing pains just like the rest of us in our pre and teenage years.  He was fully man and fully God.   How he handled his “accountable” years was the thing that differentiated Him from us.  He did not sin! Do you remember your puberty years?  I know I was a sinful wreck! Thank God Jesus wasn’t. Luke 2

#7) Jesus knew God’s Word! – Jesus as a child taught others about God’s word yet he had no formal training.   He not only knew God’s word – He was Gods word. John 7:14-16

#8) Jesus was no wimp! Jesus was raised by a carpenter.  He learned how to build stuff and use his hands.  He had to carry lumber around and use primitive tools to build things.  Jesus was not the wimpy guy he is often portrayed as.  I believe he was a man’s man of sorts and that’s another reason his disciples were willing to follow him. In one scene in the Bible Jesus get’s fed up with how the Temple of God was being used and clears out a whole slew of merchants, animals and money-changers from the area using a rope and turning over tables.  FYI – Wimps would never even think about doing that.  John 2:12-22

#9) Jesus loved to have fun! I don’t have a lot of scripture to back me up on this but if you look at some of the things Jesus did you can see that he attended weddings, had large picnics, liked to fish, liked to go into town, mesmerized large crowds with his teaching, loved to hang out with kids and he hung out with a bunch of crazy guys.  You just know he had to have a really good sense of humor and fun side without having to sin.  My opinion anyway!

#10) Jesus wants to be your best friend! Absolutely the truth!!!  Would your best friend die for you?  Probably not – but Jesus did and did it so He can spend eternity with you.  Now that’s a friend! John 15:13-15

So there you have it!  The things I want children to know about Jesus. He wasn’t a stuffy, sad, wimpy dude like some would have the kids believe.  He was as so awesome that he changed the world for all eternity.  I want kids to fall in love with Jesus and realize that if they live their lives with Jesus as their guide, that they will live happier, more exciting and more fulfilling lives. They need to know they will still have problems and issues, but with the Attitude (Philippians 2:5) of Christ those rough patches in their lives will be easier for them to handle.

I love kids – they just get it!

Brian