Think Orange: Leverage Influence

Personal Comments: Before we get into our message this morning, I want to thank all of you for your prayers and words of encouragement this week following my car accident this past Sunday afternoon.



As you can see from the photo on the screen, I am truly grateful to be able to walk away from this “head on accident” with just a few bruises and a banged up knee. The amazing thing is that last Sunday, Cindy Garland shared during a Communion Meditation about her recent car accident and some spiritual lessons that she learned from that experience. As I listened to Cindy’s testimonial, I had no idea that in approximately 5 hours, I would be experiencing a car accident of my own!

It is truly amazing how many times what is shared or discussed on Sunday mornings, I will personally experience that specific challenge during the coming week. With that said, we would like to schedule upcoming testimonies of individuals who have recently won the lottery, or have recently experienced the challenges of unexpected blessings in their life! If you have had that experience, then please let me know and we would like to schedule you to share in the weeks to come!!  Seriously, we are looking for more individuals who would share communion meditations as we plan for an exciting fall at Southwest Church. Let’s Pray (Hurricane Irene)!

Introduction: This morning, we are going to wrap up our 5 week discussion on learning the importance of beginning to “Think Orange.” Throughout this message series, we have looked at the importance of the church (represented by the color yellow) and families (represented by the color red) combining efforts to Think Orange and have a greater impact in the lives of children and students!

This morning as we draw this series to conclusion, we hope that it is only the beginning of us Thinking Orange and learning to Leverage (our collective) Influence to make a difference in future generations not only in the church, but in the community. And as we think about our theme this morning which is for us to understand the importance of learning how to work together as a church and families and Leverage Influence to make a difference in the lives of children and student. How are we doing? And how can we improve? Traditionally the church has approached children’s ministry and student ministry with a “teaching approach” model seen through Sunday School Classes and/or some type of classroom instructional model. And yet we have to ask ourselves: Is that the most effective way to lead the next generation to become passionate followers of Christ?

Bear with me this morning, as we seek to draw a parallel from a popular activity for some of our teens and adults … rock climbing or its more challenging cousin, “mountain climbing.”




Can you imagine how silly it would be for us to schedule an hour presentation or class on the subject of “Mountain Climbing” and think at the conclusion of that presentation that everyone in attendance would be proficient rock climbers? Or even for that matter would you be inspired to begin rock climbing?

The truth is that the best way to learn how to climb a mountain is to begin climbing … whether it is in Joe Garland’s garage or at the Urban Crag in Dayton and then eventually build up to climbing a mountain. My hunch is that Joe Garland, would tell you the best way to teach someone how to climb is to hand them a rope!

Well … what’s the best way to help the next generation become Lover’s of God and followers of Christ? Is it to simply put them in a class once a week, or is it to help them put into practice what faith they do have so they can exercise and develop their faith. That is why I was so encouraged a few weeks ago, when I walked out of the Y following our Sunday morning services to find a note on my windshield that my car windows had been washed by the 5th and 6th Grade Students! I thought … wow we have teachers who are getting it!!! The same is true for students and adults as well … this fall along with our 4 week September series, our small groups are going to be experiencing in October and November a very different small group series entitled, The Tangible Kingdom, in which we will be encouraged and challenged in small groups to put our faith into practice in tangible ways.



Remember what the Bible says …

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:17 NIV

That is why I like what … Reggie Joiner the author of Think Orange said, when he wrote …
“If what they have heard doesn’t move from their heads to their hands, it will probably never make it to their hearts” - Reggie Joiner “Think Orange”

So as we plan for the future “Thinking Orange” let’s look for ways that the church and parents can work together to help leverage our influence to help future generations truly experience in a personal way, Wonder, Discovery, and Passion.

Let’s first help the next generation of worshippers to experience the wonder of …

A Dynamic Faith in God (Wonder)
Listen to the powerful instruction on this matter found in Psalm 78 …
O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past— stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us.

We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD, about his power and his mighty wonders. For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them— even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children.

So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands. Then they will not be like their ancestors— stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God. Psalm 78:1-8 NLT

Let’s look for creative “hands on opportunities” that the church and parents can work together to help the next generation set their hope anew on God!!! Let’s continue to look for worship experiences both in our collective setting together and in our homes & beyond to help our children and students to truly be amazed at how great God is and give their hearts to the LORD!!

Back to our parallel this morning, let’s not simply talk about rock climbing … let’s hand them a rope! Let’s not simply talk about worshipping God, let’s create opportunities for our children and students to sense the wonder of God and to give Him their hearts!!!

Think Orange: Elevate Community

Introduction: As we continue to think Orange, we have on stage not only the Orange Cones, but also three Orange Basketballs.



Does anyone know why basketballs are Orange? And it is not because Syracuse or Tennessee invented it! Before 1950, Basketballs were dark brown, but Tony Hinkle, the coach of Butler University (in Indiana) came up with the idea of making basketballs orange, so they could be more easily seen by both players and spectators.

It is very appropriate for the object of a great team sport to be the color Orange. As we continue our present discussion of the importance of the church and parents working together to have a greater impact in the lives of young people we want to learn more about how parents can team together with others in the church to help impress upon our children and teens to love the LORD with all of their hearts, soul, mind, and strength and to become lifelong followers of Jesus!

In fact today, we are going to be combining yellow (representing the church) and red (representing family) in a practical way this morning as Tony (dressed in red) and myself (dressed in yellow) will be tag team teaching to share the importance of emphasizing the Elevated role of Community in the mission of leading children and students to Christ!

This morning we are going to continue to examine the example of a guy named Nehemiah, who lived 450 years before Christ and led an amazing effort to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. As we shared last week this was a major undertaking (just as raising kids and teens to love God). And even though Nehemiah serves as a great example of spiritual leadership, the successful re-building of the walls of Jerusalem was also a testimony to the collective effort of the Jewish Community. This morning, we want to examine some important Catalysts for Spiritual Growth (in the context of living out our faith in community) …

Our first catalyst this morning is …
Pivotal Circumstances
The pivotal circumstance of Nehemiah’s day was the destruction of the walls around Jerusalem. It was this circumstance that lead Nehemiah to rely on God and to call the Jewish people to work together as a team to rebuild the wall around that great city. Let’s read about this tremendous effort in …
We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset. And half the men were always on guard. I also told everyone living outside the walls to stay in Jerusalem. That way they and their servants could help with guard duty at night and work during the day. During this time, none of us—not I, nor my relatives, nor my servants, nor the guards who were with me—ever took off our clothes. We carried our weapons with us at all times, even when we went for water. Nehemiah 4:21-23 NLT

We can see it was truly an intense team effort to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. There is a strong parallel between Nehemiah’s leadership of the Jewish People and the combined effort of parents and the church in the lives of children and teens. The parallel is to accomplish this major undertaking it takes tremendous teamwork!! And it took a collective turning to God to see this feat accomplished. In fact this circumstance led a whole nation to turn back to God!!

In the lives of children and teens, there are pivotal life circumstances that can lead our children to either see their need for God or turn away from God. Pivotal Circumstances, such as entering a new phase of life (jr hi, hi school, or college), peer pressure and rejection, life challenges, life disappointments and setbacks. It is a natural temptation for parents to try to soften the blow of these pivotal circumstances and yet it is these pivotal circumstances and the pain that accompanies them which help people of all ages see their need for a relationship with God.

Let’s make sure that both the church and parents are there to lend support when our children and teens go through pivotal circumstances and the challenges of life change. It was in the midst of this challenging time that Nehemiah reminded the people of a very important …

Life Changing Truth
So on October 2 the wall was finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God. Nehemiah 6:15-16 NLT

Nehemiah reminded the people when they completed the construction of the wall in only 52 days, that this great feat was the result of God’s intervention in their lives and God’s miraculous help. Let’s make sure that we continue to rely on God’s help and power as we seek to impact children and teens. This is why we have launched a new initiative of seeking prayer sponsors (Show Picture) for each of our jr hi and high school students. If you would like to participate it is not too late to sign up … just put on your communication card that you want to serve as a prayer sponsor!

The greatest life changing truth that we can hold out for our children and students both in the church and in the home is that God loves them and He is the true source of hope for their lives!

Significant Relationships
Nehemiah could not have rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem by himself; he needed others to accomplish this great faith feat!! As we continue our reading, we see that Nehemiah continued to see his need for help from others …
After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were chosen. I put my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah, the commander of the palace, in charge of Jerusalem. Hananiah was honest and feared God more than most people. Nehemiah 7:1-2 NCV

Nehemiah learned the importance of having some trusted significant relationships in his life to accomplish God’s calling in his life! The same is true for parenting. Christian Parenting is not simply an individual calling but it a responsibility to be lived out in the context of community.

It is important for parents to recognize their need for additional significant relationships in the lives of their children. One such significant relationship is another Christian adult who can serve as a mentor in the lives of your children. Author Reggie Joiner wrote in Think Orange, “As kids grow older and move toward independence, it is critical to establish another clear voice in their lives, especially in a culture that challenges their faith at every level.”

As I think back on my own faith development, as much as I respected my parents and their personal faith, it was another genuine follower of Christ closer to my age who really influenced me to become a follower of Christ. Frankly sometimes as my kids were growing up, I didn’t recognize how important it was to have other important role models in their lives. At times, my personal pride led me to think if I could just be a “super dad” then my kids would all become devoted followers of Christ. Looking back I overestimated my personal example and influence. Now I am not contradicting what we said last week about the importance of parents taking a personal responsibility to do something each and every week to help impress upon our children the importance of love and serving God.

And yet at times, personally I went to the other extreme of thinking that it all depended upon me. The truth is that as our kids get older they will listen to other “voices” and it is crucial that we intentionally welcome, pray for, and seek those positive voices that can point them to Christ.

The truth is that I am far from a perfect parent and my 3 kids that I love dearly are far from perfect as well. And as I look at my own children’s faith development and at times faith struggles, I can see a pattern or direct correlation between when they have done well and when there was a Christian Mentor besides myself or my wife in their lives. And at times when they struggled or continue to struggle with their faith, it is due to them having no other significant “faith voice” in their lives!

Who are the significant faith relationships beside yourself in your children’s lives? Who will come along your children and speak consistently into their lives so that they too will become a follower of Christ!! Let’s recognize our need for help in the area of parenting and let’s pray for and welcome other trusted followers of Christ to speak into our children’s lives, whether it is their small group leader, a youth sponsor, a faith mentor, or an older follower of Christ.

Think Orange: Reactivate the Family

As we continue our focus on Think Orange, we want to begin with a random trivia tidbit on the color “orange.”



Did you know what color carrots were originally? They were originally purple, yellow, or red. It wasn’t until about 500 years ago (16th century) that the Dutch crossbred yellow and red carrots to produce the color that we know today of Orange.

Now some of you might wonder what that has to do with our message today on “Reactivating the Family.” And the answer is absolutely nothing! And yet we wanted to review the importance of Thinking Orange and as we focus this month on combining the color of red (which represents the family) and yellow (which represents the church), we discover orange, which is the color that represents a combined influence in the world to make a difference in the helping children and teens live lives shaped and led by God!

This morning, we are going to look at a fantastic story in the Bible that will help us recognize a parallel path to “Reactivate the Family” and influence our children and teens to Love God and Love People! We are going to examine the incredible leadership of a guy named Nehemiah.

Nehemiah lived about 450 years before Christ walked on the earth. He was a Jewish man who was living in the powerful ancient country of Persia (modern day Iran). Nehemiah, we will learn was living in Persia because his family’s native city of Jerusalem was destroyed almost 140 years earlier originally by Babylon (which was located in Modern day Iraq), only to be later taken over by the nation of Persia (in modern day Iran).

While Nehemiah is in captivity serving the King of Persia, he learns that although some of his fellow Jews had returned to Jerusalem, the city remained in shambles after being destroyed more than 100 years earlier! We read in the first chapter of the Bible book, Nehemiah, that the title character receives bad news (or a bad report) about the condition of Jerusalem. Let’s read it together as Nehemiah …

Recognize the Problem
They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”
When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:3-4 NLT

I don’t know about you, but I am impressed with the heart of Nehemiah! Nehemiah had a heart for God and His People. He was deeply troubled by the condition of the capital of his homeland, Jerusalem, which was also the focus of their worship of God!

This past weekend I attended the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit, which was a gathering of church and business leaders all over the world. One of the main speakers, an African- American Woman from Chicago, named Brenda Salter McNeil, moved my heart as she called the crowd to allow our hearts to be broken by the things that breaks God’s Heart!

So I have made it my commitment to pray every day, that I will love the things that God loves; hate the things that God hates, and have my heart broken by the things that breaks God’s heart!!! Will you join me in praying that prayer? (Let’s Pray that Prayer together right now.)

I am convinced that one thing that breaks God’s heart is the weakening fabric of families!

Approximately 1/3 of the people living within 20 minutes of where we now sit are 18 years of age or younger; and we have to ask ourselves are they spiritually prepared for the challenges ahead that life will bring! With the problems that our region faces with social pressures such as materialism, alcohol abuse, drug addiction, cutting, destructive cliques, bullying, teen pregnancy, depression and suicide, we have to admit that many are not prepared to even face the teen years.

For some of us we need to assess the strength of our own families and the present spiritual condition of our family, children and teens. Now don’t get me wrong, I am encouraged by many of the children and teens in this church, who are growing in their love for God. And yet we must recognize the problem that exists in many families and for many young people in this community and surrounding communities.

In face of the challenge that laid ahead for Nehemiah, he did the only wise thing … he turned to the LORD in prayer! And I would encourage you to read this amazing prayer of Nehemiah recorded in chapter 1 verses 5-11, so that you can read this prayer of praise, confession, thanks, and remembrance (which sounds like it could have been taken directly out of our song, “Your Grace is Enough.” “Remember your promises!”). [And by the way as I mention the importance of reading this prayer, it is a great reason to bring your Bible to our Worship Gatherings, so that you can always read the context of every verse that we read together.] But in light of our focus this morning, let’s zero in on the last portion of this powerful prayer, in which Nehemiah specifically prays for SUCCESS! Let’s read this bold prayer as Nehemiah:

Pray for Success
O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.” In those days I was the king’s cup-bearer. Nehemiah 1:11 NLT

Did you know it was OK to pray for success?! It is OK for us to pray for success in school, at work, in relationships, and in our families. … And of course the question that begs to be asked is … What is successful? I think we get some insight into that question from the context here because Nehemiah is one who had as his greatest delight to honor the LORD in everything! That is why I believe true success is defined as being & becoming what God designed you to become!

From time to time, I drop by our new worship and community center (show picture), walk inside, and pray that we would be successful in honoring God as we move into our new worship and community center. And I want to encourage you to stop by sometime (preferably the workers aren’t working) and pray for the LORD to be honored in this new facility!!

And as we prepare to start another school year (and students I hate to tell you that this is your last full week before school start … but just be thankful you don’t live in Indiana, because most of their schools have already started), it is OK to pray for success in your pursuits in school. And it is also a great time to kick off a new initiative here at Southwest Church and that is to have an organized approach to be praying for our jr high and high school students. And we would love for you to consider signing up today (on the communication card) to be a prayer sponsor for one of our teen students, and that you will commit to pray every day for this particular teen! Let’s pray boldly for success in our own lives and in our ministry to children and teens.

Not only did Nehemiah pray, but he was willing to …

Take Personal Responsibility
As the king’s cup-bearer, Nehemiah served in the trusted role of testing the King of Persia’s wine prior to him drinking it to make sure that he wasn’t poisoned by a political enemy. Pretty cool role unless there was an assassination attempt. After Nehemiah told the King of Persia the condition of Jerusalem ….

The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?”
With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied, “If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.” Nehemiah 2:4-5 NLT

I love Nehemiah’s response to the King. He didn’t say can you send a committee to evaluate the damage and develop a plan to rebuild the city. He didn’t say send someone else. Nehemiah said instead, “Send me so that I can rebuild the city!”

My fear is that many parents shift the moral and spiritual development of their children to someone else. It is easy to think that it is the school’s role to teach character and values, when the primary role lies with the parents. It is easy to think well it is the church’s role or the children’s minister or student minister to teach my kids faith and to instill in them a sense of right and wrong. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe the church has a very important role to play in the life of children, and this is why we are heavily invested in providing a strong children’s and student ministry and yet the primary role continues to remain with the parents.

One of the observations that I have noticed through the years is that sometimes when a parent is facing a difficult time with one of their preteens or teens, who for some reason is not connecting with the youth/student ministry of that church, they will sometimes think if we just switched churches then my teen will miraculously get involved and fall in love with Jesus. Now again, I am not minimizing the importance of us having a strong student ministry (and frankly I think Tony is laying a strong foundation for an every growing student ministry) and yet what I have seen play out so many times is that the parents who themselves are connected into relationships within a church leave and go to a church with a bigger youth group and often times when I check back with the family a year or two later, their children are still not plugged into a student ministry and the parents themselves are drifting in their spiritual walk. Parents, we have to be careful that we don’t communicate to our children the wrong (unhealthy) impression that if you don’t like something in a church then simply leave and find another one, as opposed to teaching our children to take personal responsibility for their spiritual growth and to even take responsibility to address a problem within a church or a specific ministry within a church.

Nehemiah was a man of action!! And as we keep reading in the book of Nehemiah he called others to …

Answer the Call (to Action)

This morning, we don’t have time to read the entire book, but if you would go back and later read this fascinating book, you will learn in chapter 2 and 3, Nehemiah mobilizes God’s people, in the face of opposition, to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. This was an incredible feat when we realize that Jerusalem was a city that had a land mass of @ 12 acres (approximately the size of the Y and Church property combined) and they together completed the wall and fortified the entire city in 52 days! Hey maybe we could start praying for our church building to be completed in 52 days from the beginning of September … that would be late October!

By the time we get to Chapter 4, we learn that Nehemiah has received quite a bit of opposition and even some discouragement from within the Jewish People. Let’s read about their progress and Nehemiah’s leadership in light of some of the opposition and challenges to others who had answered the call to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem as it is described in chapter 4:

So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart. Nehemiah 4:6 NIV

Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”
Also our enemies said, “Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.”
Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” Nehemiah 4:10-14 NIV

This is a great example of Godly Leadership and a great example to those of us who long to provide spiritual leadership for our families. This morning in the rest of our time together, I want to ask each parent here this morning … What kind of parent are you to your children? This morning we are going to identify four types of parents … which one best describes you?

Aware Parents

These are parents who are aware of their need to provide spiritual leadership for their children, and although they are interested in becoming better parents, they don’t really know how to begin. Often times these parents have not placed spiritual growth as a high priority in their own life, so they find it difficult to provide leadership for their children or teens. And often times as the children get older the parents become more desperate for answers and help. And yet for some aware parents they can be searching for that “magic” youth group or peer group (that we talked about earlier) to solve their parental dilemma and all of their preteen or teen’s challenges.

Involved Parents

These are parents who have started taking steps to get involved in the life of the church so that they can influence their children in a positive way. Possibly for some it is simply sending or bringing their children to church services or activities. Although a good step, Reggie Joiner the author of the book, Think Orange, writes, “There may be a belief on the part of both the church and the family that these are better parents simply because they attend church. Unfortunately, most church strategies stop here. Most leaders assume that if parents are attending adult programming and kids are plugged into kid’s programming, they have accomplished their goal of being a place where families experience spiritual growth.”

Joiner goes on to write, “These activities are like ministry placebos that make us feel better about connecting parents when nothing really changes at home.” Our goal as a church as we plan for the future is to not simply call parents to be involved in the church, but to become personally engaged in the spiritual leadership of their children not just for the one hour a week that we worship together, but the 3,000 hours during the rest of the week, that you can influence your son or daughter to love the LORD and to love and serve others!

Invested Parents

These are the parents who are devoting time and energy to partner with the church to make a difference in this world. They understand the mission of the church to Love God, Love People, Serve the Community and to Share Jesus with others and they have bought into it, and as result they are growing personally spiritually! This is a fantastic place to be as an individual and as a parent and yet it is important that these parents not fall into the trap of thinking that if I devote my time, my money, and my energy in the life of the church, that my children will automatically catch on and become followers of Christ as well. You see that is not always the case!

And this is why we are calling every parent here no matter what category you might have identified yourself as being up to this point, to become an…

Engaged Parents

Become personally engaged in the life of your children’s spiritual development. Become intentional about doing something each and every week (apart from church activities) to help your children develop spiritually. Become prayerful and passionate about your role as a spiritual leader in the life of your son and/or daughter. Joiner writes, “Just remember that parents who engage in small ways can make a big difference in the lives of their kids or teenagers.”

Maybe for some of you it begins by asking your child or teen over Sunday lunch or dinner … “what did you learn in church today?” We send home every week a little handout to encourage parents to ask your children about the value for that particular morning.

For some of us it might mean initiate praying with our children. Reading a Bible story together, or build into our schedule a family devotional once a week. Possibly for some of us it is writing out in a card a Bible verse or Bible promise or possibly for some even texting a Bible verse to our teen. Realize that we aren’t talking about necessarily spending hours in intense Bible Study, but it is important that we begin to build into the rhythm of our week intentional small ways that will impress upon our children the importance of seeking the LORD in their lives and Loving Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength!!

In closing just as Nehemiah taught the Jewish people to fight for their family, their sons and daughters, we are each called by God to …

Fight for Your Family
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:9-10 NIV

Closing Illustration: Reggie Joiner tells the story of a time that he had a confrontation with his 7th grade daughter. In the midst of the conversation, she said something very personal and painful to Reggie. He was so deeply hurt that he left the room, left the house, and went for a drive. About 15 minutes into the drive, his mobile phone rang and it was his daughter calling and saying, “Dad, I’m sorry, you know that I didn’t really mean what I said.” And then she continued, “Why did you leave? Why did you walk out? I need to know that our relationship is worth fighting for!” … Are you willing to fight for your family? Let’s Pray!

Think Orange: Refine the Message

Welcome to Southwest Church and our special Family Worship Experience. We thought it would be very appropriate to provide an opportunity for the entire family to worship together as we have come off a fantastic week of Vacation Bible School (or VBS).

And by the way the whole concept of a Family Worship Experience made a lot of sense during our present focus as a church to Think Orange!



During the month of August, we are going to be examining together as a church what it means to combine the efforts of the family (represented by the color red) and the church (represented by the color yellow) and to create a combined effort of Orange!

This morning, we want to talk about what it means to refine the collective message that we want as a church and parents to teach our children and students. Well during the week of Vacation Bible School, we tried to keep the message really simple as we focused on a story from Jesus life every night. Jesus told us that our simple focus should be the Bible verses on the bulletin cover:

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”Matthew 22:37-39 NLT

In fact, to help remember or relive the highlights of VBS, I brought up on stage with me some souvenirs from our week at VBS. First of all I have my baseball cap that says NYC, because the theme of VBS this week was Big Apple Adventure. So I wore every night this actual souvenir from our family vacation to NYC a few years ago.



2ndly, I brought up on stage a sword (show picture of Roman Centurion) to remind me of the Roman Soldier (or Centurion) that we learned about the first night as we learned that …
“Jesus loved people and helped them.” Matthew 14:14

And on this occasion, he healed this Roman’s Soldier’s helper!



I also brought up on stage a vase that I actually brought back from my recent trip to Jerusalem as a souvenir, and this vase reminds me of a perfume container and the woman we learned about on Tuesday night who cleaned Jesus feet with her tears and hair, and then poured perfume on his feet as she said,
“I love you, Jesus.” John 21:17




We also have on stage this morning, a beard that I wore on Wednesday night as we learned that Jesus walked on water and so did Peter as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. On that night we learned that,
“Jesus is God’s Son.” John 20:31

Now some of you might say, well my Bible reads a little different on these verses. Realize that since I had the privilege of working with preschoolers all week, that I am quoting this morning from the PSV (Pre School Version).



I also brought up on stage this cup to remind me of the Samaritan Woman who was asked by Jesus for a drink of water, and she in turn found living water, and then went and told her whole town about Jesus. And we learned:
“Tell everyone about Jesus.” Matthew 28:19-20



And my final souvenir from VBS is this small stretcher (which actually carried Winnie the Poo), and it reminds me of the story we learned on Friday night of the man who was paralyzed (couldn’t walk) and his friends wanted so badly to get him to Jesus that they lowered him into the house that Jesus was staying and teaching at the time so they could be healed. We learned on that night the importance of each of us taking to heart:

“Help one another in love.” Galatians 5:13

Well as you can see we had a great time at VBS this week, and these objects or souvenirs help me remember all of these special moments that we shared in the preschool portion of VBS and the children, who were known as Broadway Stars!

This morning, I also have brought up on stage two other objects that Jesus told us to use as reminders of him. I have a loaf of bread and a cup of juice. Jesus told us that when we take these two objects they serve as souvenirs if you will of the time that that he spent on earth and showed us how much God loves us.

In the Bible, we find the following description of what is supposed to take place during a time of communion:

For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NLT

So as we observe this time of special communion, we want to encourage all of the children and parents alike to be really quiet and allow these objects (or souvenirs from Jesus) to remind us of what Jesus means to each and every one of us and to remember that it is only by GRACE that any of us can have a relationship with God, forgiveness of our sins, and eternal life!
Let’s Pray!