children and church

Whew! I am still dragging today.

Last night was our TeamKid Kickoff party at church. Let me sum it all up for you: A gym full of inflatables, balloons, pizza, coke, cake, ice cream, registration, 23 volunteers, 54 kids, tons of energy and one very, very happy Minister of Education. Although, I might be wrong about the happy Minister of Education. He could possibly be terribly sad that our summer program is over.... (haha!).

Oh, you know, it sure is a lot of work to pull off a successful kids' program. However, the blessing of seeing the smiles on their faces and hearing their laughter make it worth every minute. The best part, though, is knowing we have the opportunity to shape their spiritual lives.

I was watching some of the children play and began to wonder what impact they will make on the Kingdom. One day, they will be serving in the local church, hopefully passing on the faith to other children just like it was passed on to them.

Please let me encourage you to take seriously the opportunities to serve in any type of children's ministry. It is so easy to pass them over, but we simply can not do that! In the book of Mark, Jesus says, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Right after that is a precious picture of our Lord, Mark 10:16, "And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them." If our Savior finds it important to take the children into His arms, we should do the same. Next Sunday, pass around a few extra hugs to the kids!