Raise Up: Move Up Sunday | Part 3

Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast.

We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for tuning in.

Well, like Molly said, this is the third and final week of our series, Raise Up, where we have been highlighting and celebrating different generations of our church.

Our vision as a church is to awaken this generation to new life in Jesus.

And connected to that vision, one of our foundational pillars is to raise up the next generation of world changers.

And today, as you have already got a taste, we are celebrating the kids of our church and giving you a little glimpse of all the fun that we get to have with them.

Today we celebrate them because Jesus celebrates them.

When Jesus was on earth, he lived in a time when culture saw kids as insignificant and unimportant.

With all the education and research that we now have about child development and how amazing kids are in every phase of growing up, we've come a long way in seeing the value in kids.

Or have we?

As I scroll through social media and read the news and hear people talking about kids, it makes me wonder if we've come very far in seeing the value in kids at all.

From debates in the New York Times about kids getting to ride first class on an airplane, to parents of small children receiving that side-eye glance when their little one makes any sort of sound in public, we may have more to learn about the value of children than we think we do.

This morning, we're going to look at a few teachings of Jesus to see what he really thinks about kids.

And our whole goal this morning is to celebrate the kids in our midst as they are in a mode of excitement as this school year comes to an end.

Every year when Move Up Sunday hits my calendar, I get so excited because I love celebrating.

Weddings, babies, birthdays, Fridays, everything.

I'll take any reason to celebrate.

And when I'm planning a celebration or attending a celebration, one of the questions that is always on my mind and in discussion is what do you think the food is going to be like?

Is anyone with me when you're going to a party?

And I'm always most interested in the dessert portion of this.

So when we're the one planning, we're thinking about the time of day, the people attending, the dietary restrictions represented, unfortunately, the budget.

Connected to this topic of food is also what the food is going to be served on.

At a fancy dinner party or wedding, you might have something like this: a beautiful set of dishes that's reserved only for the most special and fancy of occasions.

This plate, I'm gonna try to hold this and not drop it, is a part of a set of dishes that was passed down to me from my grandma.

And so my grandma had three sons, no daughters, and then out of all the grandkids, I'm the only granddaughter.

And these plates have traveled with us.

We just moved a couple of weeks ago, and these were packaged.

We took great care to package these and to pack them in a way where they wouldn't get jostled around or they wouldn't get broken.

And in my cupboard, they go on the very top shelf so that they don't get bumped, they don't get cracked, they're not gonna accidentally get broken in our day-to-day life.

These are not the plates that I use in my everyday life.

They're reserved for the most special of celebrations.

We typically use these plates for Thanksgiving dinner, where they are promptly hand washed and set right back in their place on that top shelf.

And when we do use these dishes, they're for adults and maybe some big kids only.

My seven-year-old might have her first chance to use one this Thanksgiving, maybe, but keep this between all of us, please.

Don't tell her, because then I might have to own up to that.

You may remember as a kid your mom or grandma having special fancy plates that were for looking only not to touch.

This plate, however, is one that my three-year-old has dropped, has banged against the table, has used as a drum, and on very special occasions thrown across the room.

But here it is, right?

We throw these in a bag when we're going out and about.

They're not gonna get broken easily.

And if they do, they're only$2.99 for a pack of six at IKEA, so we're fine.

These plates aren't special by any means, but they are perfect for our everyday meal with our kids.

This morning, I'm gonna take you into a story of a meal that Jesus hosted.

So turn with me in your Bible to John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

It's also in your digital bulletin, and it'll be up on the screen behind me.

Starting in verse 1.

Sometime after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee.

That is, the Sea of Tiberias.

And a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick.

Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat with his disciples.

The Jewish Passover festival was near.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?

He asked this only to test him, for he already had in his mind what he was going to do.

Even if you're familiar with this story and are jumping to what's about to happen in your mind, pause here.

Linger with me.

Let's get into the mind of the disciples right now.

They've been traveling with Jesus.

They have seen his amazing miracles, they've seen him miraculously heal people, they've heard his teachings.

That over and over again it says the people were amazed.

They've watched these crowds be amazed, and they've watched these crowds follow Jesus from place to place, like literally follow him wherever he went.

The disciples here, they're looking at this massive crowd that has followed Jesus.

And Jesus said to them, How do you think we should feed them?

Now remember the detail that Jesus already knew what he was going to do.

So he asked them this question.

And they start scrambling for an answer, a plan, a solution.

In verse 7, Philip answered him, it would take more than half a year's wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite.

Jesus said, Where can we buy bread?

And Philip does some quick math with the crowd that he sees in front of him to come up with an answer.

That plan's not gonna work, Jesus.

Um, I don't think we make that kind of money to feed all of these people.

This story shows up in all four Gospels, and in other accounts of this story, the disciples suggest, let's send them away.

Jesus, let them get their own food, send them home.

Most of the disciples are looking at this crowd in front of them and thinking, there's no way that we can feed all of these people.

We don't have enough money or food, it's getting dark.

Jesus, this is a lost cause.

We see that the disciples just don't know what to do, which to be fair, on their own power, they have very valid concerns.

Feeding 5,000 people on a whim is not exactly an easy task.

But one disciple answers this question a little bit differently.

In verse 8, another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up.

Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish.

But how far will they go among so many?

Jesus says we need to feed these people.

And Andrew says, Hey, look, I found some food.

He finds the food, and notice who has that food.

This might be a detail you haven't noticed before, especially if you're thinking of one of the other gospel accounts.

Andrew notices a boy.

We're unsure of this boy's age, but the original text points to him being a little boy who has five barley loaves.

Now, barley indicates that this family was likely poor, that they didn't have much.

And he has two fish.

Sometimes we think of like a fish on like a filet of fish that's like kind of big.

This is different than that.

This, these fish were tiny and were likely used as a spread for the bread.

So we're talking about a tiny amount of food here.

And Andrew brings this up as notable, but also is like, what can this really do?

Now I can relate to Andrew in this moment.

I'm a mom of a little boy, and when I have a big problem on my hands, like maybe feeding a ton of people when I didn't expect it, is my response more likely to ask him to help, to ask my three-year-old to help me solve this problem, or am I more likely to send him outside to play with his sister while the adults figure out the solution to the problem?

Okay, we can be really honest.

It's clearly the second one.

My typical reaction is to create space away from my kids so that we're able to think and discuss how to solve the problem.

I rarely think to call on what they might bring to the table to solve my grown-up problems.

Often what they have to offer feels too small or insignificant to make any sort of meaningful difference, like maybe five loaves of bread for 5,000 people.

But when Andrew says, Hey Jesus, there's this little boy here who has a tiny bit of food, this must be the answer Jesus was looking for.

Because he responds in verse 10, have the people sit down.

There were plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down.

About 5,000 men were there.

Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.

He did the same with the fish.

When they all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, Gather the pieces that are left over, let nothing be wasted.

So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

Jesus could have performed this miracle in a lot of ways.

He could have changed something into food like he did with water to wine.

He could have made the bread rain down from heaven like the manna for the Israelites, but he didn't.

Jesus does something different here, something new.

He takes the loaves from the little boy, he gives thanks to the Lord, and distributes the bread to every person as much as they wanted.

And when everyone's full, there's leftovers.

Jesus chose to use this tiny offering from a little boy to not only perform what is still to this day one of his most famous and amazing miracles, but to also set up his teaching in the very next day where he declares, I am the bread of life.

Jesus chose this little boy to play a vital role in revealing who he is.

How do you think this boy saw Jesus?

What do you think his perception of him was?

When I think of my little boy, he's not going to give up his snack for just anyone.

This snack that we prepared together, that he's been carrying with him in anticipation of enjoying it himself.

He's not gonna share if he's feeling pressured, he's gonna pull back, he's not gonna share if he feels if he's being bribed with something that he can't see.

It's an act of deep love when a child shares their beloved snack with someone.

My little boy needs to know the person, he needs to like that person.

That type of sharing flows out of relationship, even if they just met.

Jesus must have made this little boy who was willing to give up his bread and his fish feel so loved and comfortable with him.

And how does it seem that Jesus viewed this little boy?

He didn't dismiss the idea from Andrew.

He embraced it.

He invited this little boy into the miracle, not as a bystander, but as a key part of what he was doing.

Jesus decided that this little boy would be necessary in the miracle.

He could have done it himself.

Jesus was capable of that.

He could have used an adult's offering, but he didn't.

Jesus chose to rely on this little boy to provide a tiny offering that he would use to impact thousands of people.

Take a look at this illustration from the Jesus Storybook Bible, my very favorite kids' Bible.

You may not be able to see it, but in this illustration, Jesus is winking at the little boy with the knowledge of the miracle that he's about to do.

Notice their posture.

They're very comfortable with each other.

Jesus knew what he was going to do with those loaves and fishes.

He knew that this little boy would be a part of the miracle.

And I love how this illustration really embodies the relationship Jesus and this little boy shared in this moment.

A special moment between them as the crowd waits in anticipation.

This story is a window into how Jesus related to kids, how he treated them and how he viewed them.

As we continue reading in the Gospels, Jesus gives clear teaching on the position that kids have in his kingdom.

Turn to Matthew 18, starting in verse 1.

At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

He called a little child among them and placed the child among them.

Now remember, this child came willingly to Jesus.

And he said, Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

If anyone causes one of these little ones, those who believe in me, to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Wow.

Then they traveled on.

Jesus and his disciples traveled on to the next place.

And in the very next chapter in Matthew, I don't even have to turn my page, that's how soon it is, he says, the text says, Then people brought little children to Jesus to place his hands on them and pray for them.

But the disciples rebuked them.

Jesus said, Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

So from this warning in Matthew 18 to the story in Matthew 19, the disciples clearly didn't get the message.

Jesus told them, Welcome these children.

And if you don't, it's gonna be pretty bad for you.

And then just after that, in the very next place that they went, they are scolding the parents who are bringing their children to be blessed by Jesus.

Even though this was a very appropriate thing to do in their culture, to bring your child to be blessed by a rabbi, the disciples saw these little ones as insignificant, unimportant, outside of their circle, and the type of people to exclude from having an encounter with Jesus.

We've come far from this, right?

Friends, I think sometimes we're like the disciples in these stories.

Sometimes we think that kids aren't old enough, that they're not smart enough, that they're not mature enough, that they're not as important as the adults in the space to really learn important grown-up things, to help in any meaningful way, or even to experience the presence of God in the same way that we do.

But Jesus knew something that the disciples were missing, something that sometimes we're missing.

Jesus knew that every child is created in the image of God.

Now I could stand here and tell you some funny stories of things kids say and do, because sometimes they do things that are funny.

But sometimes when we do that, we're discrediting them.

I want to tell you about some of the kids that I know and how amazing they are.

These aren't benchmarks for kids to reach, but they are glimpses into how God has created every kid in an amazing way.

There's the two-year-old who has great compassion for her friend every week when she's crying and unprompted brings her a toy to cheer her up.

There's the three-year-old who knows every single word of every single song in Frozen, even without the soundtrack playing.

There's the four-year-old who can tell me every single name of every dinosaur, even some that I have never heard of before.

There's the five-year-olds, all the five-year-olds, who ask over 400 questions every single day.

That's a real statistic.

There's the first grader who can blast through an entire chapter book series in one summer.

There's the second grader who does literal cartwheels and flips and handstands, and every Sunday wants to show me his new trick.

There's the third grader who knows how to navigate technology like she invented it.

There's the fourth grader who just last week in her classroom heard a Bible verse said out loud three times and then was able to recite the entire thing back word for word.

And then there are the fifth graders who choreograph a dance in the time that it takes to tear down church, and they still know it the next week.

Every kid, every kid, every kid is created in the image of God.

And every kid has the God-given potential to be in the presence of Jesus, to walk in step with the Spirit, and to love the Lord their God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.

And if this is really true, if every child is created in the image of God, then kids have a divine capacity to believe, to love, to care, to trust, to reason, to lead.

And when we welcome them, when we get to know them, when we include them, we are welcoming the very Jesus we follow and worship.

The Jesus who rose from the dead, the Jesus who is the King of all creation.

He says, Whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me.

When we welcome children, three things happen.

First, we share Jesus with the next generation.

The ages of four to fourteen are a pivotal time for kids to hear about Jesus.

What is referred to as the four to fourteen window is that people are most likely to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior between the ages of four and fourteen.

I have a couple of statistics for you.

In a 2015 survey, it was found that 63% of believers came to faith between the ages of 4 and 14.

Another survey showed that up to 85% of believers decided to follow Jesus before they turned 18 years old.

Now let me repeat that.

Somewhere between 63% and 85% of all believers first made the decision to follow Jesus as a child.

When kids know from a young age that God created them, that God loves them, that Jesus rescued them and wants to be their friend, that is the truth that will define their lives as they grow into adults.

It becomes their very foundation of life that they can return to over and over again.

It's the faith that will carry them just like it carries us.

When they know Jesus, they have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them just like we do.

This 4 to 14 window is why kids' ministry is so important at our church and why serving in kids' ministry is so valuable.

Our leaders aren't babysitters.

It's this team that's made up of about 40 adults and teens who are personally sharing Jesus with this generation of kids.

Serving with kids' ministry or Camp Wonder is this great way to welcome kids into the presence of Jesus.

Awakening kids exist to awaken the kids of this generation to the wonder of Jesus and the truth of God's word.

Kids have an innate sense of wonder.

And at this developmental stage in elementary school, they're learning to decipher between fact and fiction, and they love to know the difference.

When we share Bible stories with them that invoke this sense of wonder, like this story of Jesus feeding 5,000 people with just five little loaves of bread, then we can help them categorize this story as true because Jesus is real and because truth is found in the Bible.

As they learn, this is building their faith in who God is.

When kids are in elementary school, they're motivated by fun.

So when we make learning about God fun by playing a game or giving them something that they can touch or letting them act out the story, which is their favorite, their hearts are becoming open to letting this truth sink in.

And they will be able to point back to that truth throughout the rest of their lives.

When we welcome kids, when we meet them where they're at, we're sharing Jesus with the next generation.

And when we welcome kids, we get to experience the presence of God.

Those thousands of people who were fed by those few loaves of bread, they got to experience the power and miracle of Jesus through this tiny offering of a little boy.

Have you ever heard a child pray?

Or maybe seen a child worship through song, or snuck a peek at a child absolutely devouring the Bible?

I get the great privilege of getting to experience these things here at church on Sundays.

But I get the even greater gift of getting to see it happen in my own home.

When my babies were tiny, I would rock them to sleep and I would sing worship songs over them as lullabies as they drifted off to sleep.

Somewhere around three years old, I remember the moment when each of them started singing along with me.

These songs about how beautiful the name of Jesus is and the goodness of God went from sweet lullabies of God's love to praising the Lord together before bed.

Their sweet voices singing out to Jesus about how wonderful and good he is, bring me straight to the presence of God in a way that I haven't experienced in any other setting, even when the bridge of the song turns into the ABCs.

Pastor David Fitch said it this way in a chapter in his book about the importance of kids in the church.

He said, When you receive a child into your presence, you also receive the presence of Jesus.

A space is opened up where God can work.

It's a space where God in Christ not only transforms children's lives, but the adults in the space as well.

The stunning reality is that being with children is an encounter with the living Jesus.

Parents in the room, remember as you go through your days that as you're interacting with your kids in the regular moments of life, you are able to experience the presence of God through them.

And, parents, make space.

Make space in your life and in your family for people who don't have children in their home.

When I was in college, my dearest friend had two toddlers, and it was the greatest gift in my life in that season to be welcomed into their family and to get to have the most precious relationship with her two little boys.

Allow your family to be this space for another adult, maybe a college student in this room, to get to experience the presence of Jesus through being around your children.

When we welcome children, we get to experience the presence of Jesus.

And when we welcome children, we learn what faith that inherits the kingdom of God looks like.

We read this morning Jesus speaking to the value of children in the kingdom.

And each of these teachings was paired with a call for his disciples and us.

He said, unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Then he said, The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

And he said, Whoever then humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Kids, show us how to enter the kingdom of God.

Now I don't want you to misunderstand me this morning.

This is not a sermon that's telling you that anything that you will do will get you into God's kingdom.

It's quite the opposite, actually.

Jesus uses those words, become like little children, humble yourself.

The emphasis here isn't that kids lack pride because sometimes they don't.

What Jesus is actually saying here is that children will receive a gift and they don't think about how they need to earn it.

When a child sees a present, first of all they want to know if it's for them.

And then when it is for them, they drop everything.

And they can't think of anything else until they get to open that present.

They aren't thinking about how they've earned it or what they need to do to earn it.

They just want to open it and enjoy whatever is inside.

Kids also have a willingness to be dependent.

They don't feel guilty for accepting help or wonder how they can pay their parents back for all that they do for them.

Infants are completely dependent and unable to provide for themselves.

Everything is done for them and they willingly accept it.

So how does the kingdom of God belong to us?

When we willingly accept the gift of salvation that Jesus is offering.

When we don't try to earn it, when we don't try to make ourselves worthy or pretend that we don't need it, Jesus gave his life to rescue each of us and bring us back to relationship with God for eternity.

When he says we need to become like little children, he's saying that we need to accept his beautiful gift of the kingdom of heaven the way they do.

Without striving and without trying to do it on our own.

When we welcome children, we get to learn what faith that inherits the kingdom of God looks like.

Jesus said, When you welcome them, you welcome me.

So this brings me back to my plates that have been sitting here collecting dust as I've been talking.

Sometimes, when we talk about matters of faith and kids, we treat faith like this fancy china.

It's put up on a high shelf, and kids are only allowed to use them once they're old enough to be trusted to not break it.

We take spiritual disciplines like prayer or scripture reading or some of our church sacraments like communion or corporate worship, and we tuck them away.

We deem children too young, too immature, too distracting, not smart enough, not ready.

Now, there's a piece of this that is knowing what's age appropriate for a child.

And sometimes our intellectual version of faith, especially in this very well-educated community, doesn't match their developmental level.

And every child is different in what is appropriate for them.

But we tend to hold back too much.

We tend to put too much emphasis on what they might not understand, and we put that fancy china plate back on the top shelf for too long.

But when we remember that every child is created in the image of God, we can approach sharing faith with them more like this plastic IKEA plate.

It's for everyday use.

Jesus is able to be accessed in the everyday, at every age of someone's life.

This looks like telling them Bible stories.

It looks like praying with them and inviting them to pray out loud with us.

It looks like welcoming them into corporate worship settings like this.

Even if they don't know every word that's spoken on the stage.

It's about sharing the Holy Spirit with them and teaching them that they are able to listen for the voice of God.

When kids are welcomed and invited to access Jesus now, when they're little, their lives will be built right on him with a faith that won't easily be broken.

They will have the opportunity to welcome Him for a lifetime.

Taking us back to Matthew 18, Jesus said, Truly I tell you, until you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

When we welcome children, we welcome Jesus.

When we get to know kids, it shows them that they matter to us.

When we're glad to see them at church, when they greet them like we want them here, when we know what sport they're playing and how many siblings they have, it shows them that they are welcome in God's family.

And even more than that, it shows them that they belong in God's family.

It opens the door for their faith and for every generation that follows after them.

And also, when we get to know kids, when we greet them like we are really glad to see them, when we welcome them, we are really welcoming Jesus and getting to experience Him and His presence.

When we pause our busy, sometimes self-centered adult lives to connect with a child and get down on their level, we get to encounter the living God.

So how do we do this?

How can we start this like right now, like today?

There's three ways that you can do this here at Awakening this summer.

First of all, once a month this summer, we're going to begin our services with family worship, where the kids and the junior hires will be welcomed into this space just like we did today to worship together as an entire church body.

After worship, the kids will still head to kids ministry for the fun that I shared about.

On these Sundays, this is an opportunity for you to put this into practice.

If you're someone who doesn't have kids who will be sitting with you, be intentional about greeting the kids around you.

Welcome them into this space as if you're welcoming Jesus.

Because he says that you are.

Find joy in their wiggliness and the questions they ask, because that's exactly how God created them, and that's part of them experiencing God in this space.

And if there's a kid near you who seems to be disrupting your own worship experience, before you glance back at their parents, keep in mind that this is a chance for you to experience God's presence in a way that you might not expect.

Second, you might be feeling a little tug to do a little bit more than that.

I wasn't gonna come up here and not say this.

Come explore serving in kids' ministry with us.

Thank you.

That's probably one of our leaders.

It like I said, it's not babysitting, it really is sharing Jesus with the next generation.

When you see kids get baptized up here, the leaders in kids' ministry are celebrating wildly because they got to play a part in that kid's faith journey.

They are the ones who know about their broken bones and their dance recitals, and knowing who a child is leads them to be able to have true conversations about God.

A first step in this could be serving with Camp Wonder in a couple weeks.

We need some more adults.

And if you want to explore these ways that you can serve with kids' ministry, write it right on that connection card and bring it out to that booth right after service.

And lastly, maybe as I was teaching this morning, you had a kiddo or two or ten that were on your mind.

A way that every person in this room can celebrate Move Up Sunday is by affirming the kids in your own life, whether they attend our church or not.

We have a table right outside.

I think there's the balloons on it that I was holding, but maybe middle schoolers took them, but it's right outside.

On that table are various encouragement cards that are sorted by phases of life.

On those cards, they have a little prompt.

I have one here that I can show you.

Every card has a prompt on it that you can fill in.

You'll choose a card, you'll fill in that prompt, and then you can hand deliver it or mail it to a child or children in your life.

Your own kids, kids of friends, kids you serve with, nieces or nephews, grandkids, neighbors, any kids in your life that you can think of.

Our words about how smart and kind and creative they are will likely stick with them for a really long time.

As you encourage the kids in your life, you are letting them know that you believe in them, that you value them, and that you see that they are created in the image of God.

So after service today, when you see all those kiddos running around like crazy outside, especially the ones who ate a whole cotton candy and didn't share, remember this.

Every child is created in the image of God.

And by welcoming them, you are welcoming Jesus.

Will you pray with me?

Jesus, thank you for the way that you value little ones.

Thank you for the way that you teach us how to experience you more closely through them.

Jesus, we welcome you in this space.

And I pray that this morning each of us would take a little step closer to welcoming children the way that you do and seeing them in the way that you do.

Jesus, would you be in this celebration today?

Would you let every kid know how much you are celebrating them and smiling at them?

And Jesus, with the kids and the students of our church, would they walk with you for a lifetime?

And would we get to be a little part of that by welcoming them into your presence?

We hope you are blessed by this message.

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And hey, we'd love to connect with you.

Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.