DEVOTIONAL FROM PASTOR DAVE MAY 3 2023

This painting of Jesus dancing with the children is one of my favorite paintings that hang here at the church. It’s in the hallway near the offices. It depicts Jesus with a big, broad grin holding the hands of children of various colors and cultural backgrounds and dancing with them in a round, while adults of various ages stand behind them, smiling and clapping. It reminds me of that old song, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight! Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

This past Sunday was Children’s Sunday at Signal Crest. In both services we celebrated Jesus’ love for all the children, and we highlighted our church’s ministry with our children and families. Chamar Drane led the children in singing “This is the Day,” “I’ve Got a River of Life,” “I’ve Got Peace Like a River,” and “Rejoice in the Lord Always,” with Sheila Rogers accompanying on piano. Michael Huseman led the children’s bell choir in presenting “This Little Light of Mine.” I got tickled when they shouted “No!” when all of us were singing along in our heads, “Hide it under a bushel…”

In the children’s message, Marti Wayland sent the children to distribute Life Savers throughout the congregation. The choir sang a beautiful contemporary arrangement of “Jesus Loves Me.” We prayed a blessing upon our rising kindergarteners and graduating 5th graders. A video depicted some of the children describing what they love most about Jesus, and one of the preschool boys said “he is always with us.” And Rachel Dow delivered a profound meditation on how we can find hope, peace, and joy in Jesus’ presence with us in the midst of the darkness and storms of life. I told her that was a fantastic sermon, not just for Children’s Sunday but for any Sunday!

We saw on Sunday that great things are happening in our children’s ministry, but there is still plenty of room for it to grow and to reach out and engage even more children and families. Children’s ministries in churches have been among the slowest to recover from the pandemic, as children were among the last to be approved for vaccines and children’s programs were among the last to return. So let’s each one of us do what we can to ensure our church’s children’s ministry continues to grow and to reach others with the love that Jesus has for all God’s children.

Here are some things you can do to help our children’s ministries to grow:

• Invite children and families at your school, on your sports teams, or in your neighborhood to come with you to worship or to Sunday school or to Wednesday Night Fellowship
• Tell your babysitters and friends that we are hiring paid nursery caregivers for Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings (they must be at least 18 years old)
• Sign up with Rachel to volunteer periodically in the nursery (or in our upcoming Children’s Worship) to allow our parents to more fully experience the worship services
• Serve as a small group leader for the K-2 or preschool Sunday school classes
• Sign your kids and grandkids and neighbors’ kids up for Vacation Bible School July 24-27, and volunteer to help out with it
• Stay connected with what’s happening in the children’s ministry through the church’s website and social media, and share the announcements with friends and families

In three of the four Gospels, Jesus is recorded as saying, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs” (Matt 19:14, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16). Let’s do what we can to bring them to Jesus so that they can join the eternal dance of love and life in him.