THE TIME AND PLACE
Where will children respond and receive from God, unless you give them a time and a place to do it? Trust me, they won’t wait until they get home to respond! I’ve been guilty of this:
Once upon a time, in a church far from here, when I was a much younger man… I saw the “moment” happen. You know what I’m talking about (I think I blogged about it a while back), it’s the “moment” when you realize that the connection has been made in these kids during the service. I was teaching away and I realize that the “moment” was present – God wanted to do something! But alas, there, at the back door were the parents waiting (how did they get out of church before us?) I panicked scrambled for what to do. So, I said something to the effect of:
“Kids, I know that God wants to do something special in your lives today… but we’ve run out of time! I want you to go home and get alone with God and let Him do that something special this afternoon…”
Do you think that these kids did it? Most likely NOT. When these kids leave your church, they are going to go do a variety of activities: go out to eat, go over to a friends house, go visit relatives, they have homework to do, they’re going to go out to play – these are KIDS with busy lives!
Everywhere else the world has the attention of your children. These kids have been given a time a place to respond and receive from the world on an hourly basis; Think about commercials, television shows, peer pressure at school and even in your own backyard. “Here, try this… this is fun… just do what I do… you need one of these… buy this!” And then comes the response from the children… “Ok, I’ll try it… this IS fun… mom, I want that… I need that… buy that for me!” You need to give them a place to respond and receive. The words I love to hear on Sunday mornings are, “I need that… I want that… Lord, give me that… I want more!”
A few items to be aware of:
- God wants your kids to come to Him – reread the story of Jesus and the kids.
- The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He will often times move the strongest when you have planned for Him and make the room in your service for Him (yes, make no mistake,there will be those times when He will surprise you).
- God can and will speak to kids… if you allow kids to Hear His voice.
So true man! Hope others read this as I am learning these things through trial and error, but it would be better to get advice from those who have already gone through these times and found ways to let the Holy Spirit work. Keep it up man.
Benjamin – you're great my friend! Thanks for the kind words. Keep looking up and if I can ever be of help to you, let me know!