Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Oct 21st, 2010 Keep Them Coming

Today’s Reading – Mark 10 & 11

But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. (Mark 10:14)

I have been saved now for over twenty years, and I have had the opportunity to observe  a variety of churches. One of the things that I see consistently in strong, healthy churches is the presence of a lot of young people. As a boy, growing up, I hated going to church. I tried to come up with every excuse as to why we should stay home. However, I am noticing that at our church and at many of the churches we are associated with, we have kids that want to be here. In fact, some of these kids are pushing their parents into bringing them. We also have a lot of kids that come on the bus without their parents. It thrills my soul to see young people who are excited about their faith, and really enjoy coming to church.

It is no secret that our church, and many others like ours, have been going through a financial trial. The money simply is not coming in like it used to. It has become painfully obvious that some things that we enjoy at church will have to be cut from the budget. But one thing I will never stand for cutting is the bus ministry. I believe the bus ministry has been the most effective tool that we have for reaching people. Last night on a rainy night, we had over 60 kids ride the bus to Kid’s Club, and quite a few of those stayed for the adult Bible Study that followed. I saw a lot of life in that bunch of kids. I bet that the Lord was very pleased as well.

Jesus wants the little children to come to church. He wants our churches to love and reach out to these children. For some, the spiritual influence they get from us will be the only light that they will ever receive. Let’s keep our churches “children friendly”. I know that children’s ministries (especially running busses) are expensive; but remember, when we invest in the children of today, we are also securing the future of the church.  The kids that we reach today will be paying all of the bills tomorrow.