1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,000 Let me get centered in front of the camera where mom if you're watching online, good 2 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:11,000 morning. 3 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:17,280 They're on their way from Kansas City from visiting my sister. 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:20,880 So they're going to try to look it up. 5 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:22,920 I gotta let my eyes adjust too. 6 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:23,920 It's bright up here. 7 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:29,120 I'm surprised you don't wear sunglasses. 8 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:31,600 A little bit about me. 9 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:35,080 As far as the chair goes, so you're kind of aware. 10 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,320 Tashauna, would you bring up the water bottle? 11 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,840 I already forgot that. 12 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:48,200 I was injured in 2015, so I am a quadriplegic now. 13 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:55,400 Two of the things that go along with my disability that make it a little challenging for me are 14 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:57,880 one is my blood pressure. 15 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,320 Basically the two are related. 16 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:06,800 My blood pressure runs as low as about 70 over 40, which if you're familiar with blood 17 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:14,080 pressures, that's pretty low. 18 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,000 So I adjust myself in my chair quite a bit. 19 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:22,880 So you might see me going back and forth and you'll probably notice that a lot of the times 20 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,780 I'm reclined in my chair. 21 00:01:25,780 --> 00:01:27,080 And sometimes I recline more. 22 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,560 And that's why it's so I don't pass out. 23 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:37,360 And I haven't passed out in a few years now, but it does require some awareness. 24 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:44,400 And then I also, probably because my blood pressure is so low, I get cold pretty easy. 25 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:46,840 My blood's not flowing real fast. 26 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:53,040 So the hat and the hood that I wear aren't a fashion statement. 27 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,240 It's not a desire to scare people off. 28 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:59,040 I let my face do that. 29 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,720 It's not what the hood is for. 30 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:09,560 I just go around glaring and trust that to communicate. 31 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:10,880 So those are a couple things about me. 32 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,240 My mouth also gets dry. 33 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:17,520 So I take lots and lots of water breaks. 34 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:19,280 But we'll enjoy that. 35 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:26,520 This morning, I'm going to connect Jesus to Pokemon. 36 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:31,160 That's my little intro. 37 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:36,680 I'm going to say that if Jesus were here with us this morning, he would be really interested 38 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,800 in Pokemon cards. 39 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:49,200 Not because Pokemon themselves are especially interesting, but because to a lot of kids 40 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:57,160 here, and one kid in particular I'm thinking of, Pokemon cards really matter. 41 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:01,060 And kids really matter to Jesus. 42 00:03:01,060 --> 00:03:06,400 So if there's something that really matters to kids, then I think it would really matter 43 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,080 to Jesus too. 44 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,480 So that's the little connection we're going to make. 45 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,680 We'll take a little while to get there. 46 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,440 But that's where we're going. 47 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:22,160 Looking at Mark, let me open with prayer and then I'll get back to Mark. 48 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:26,960 Father, we thank you so much for the opportunity to gather this morning. 49 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,880 We thank you for your word. 50 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,000 We pray that you'll lead us and guide us. 51 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:40,560 I pray that you would be with my body and my mind, that I would be able to speak clearly, 52 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:46,000 that I would not become distracted as I deal with some of those things. 53 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:53,200 And I pray that you would help us to open up our minds to laugh together, to listen 54 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:57,920 together, and hopefully to hear your spirit say something. 55 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,140 Amen. 56 00:04:00,140 --> 00:04:06,360 So we've been working through Mark and my favorite verses in Mark, because they really 57 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:11,480 set the table, are verses 1, 14 to 15. 58 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:17,280 And they read, after John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good 59 00:04:17,280 --> 00:04:18,920 news of God. 60 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,360 The time has come, he said. 61 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,160 The kingdom of God is come near. 62 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:29,240 Repent and believe the good news. 63 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:35,720 So toward the beginning, Jesus starts his ministry by announcing, pay attention, something 64 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:37,880 new is happening. 65 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:44,080 It's something you've been waiting for for a long time, but it's also different from 66 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:46,300 how you'd imagined it. 67 00:04:46,300 --> 00:04:54,680 You're going to have to pay really close attention to notice what it is and figure out the priorities 68 00:04:54,680 --> 00:05:01,280 that it has, because it's different from anything you've understood before. 69 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:11,040 Now last week, Pastor Greg walked us through how Jesus had now been identified as Messiah 70 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:15,000 in chapter 8, halfway through. 71 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:19,480 So we don't have a lot of time left in Mark. 72 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:29,120 And chapters 14, 15, and 16 are mostly made up by the betrayal, the crucifixion, the resurrection, 73 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:30,520 those things. 74 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:38,480 So we have a precious few chapters in there from when Jesus first predicts his crucifixion 75 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,940 in chapter 8 through to the end of Mark. 76 00:05:42,940 --> 00:05:46,480 And chapter 9, he predicts his crucifixion again. 77 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:48,960 He's only going to do it three times. 78 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:56,280 So the pressure is mounting and mounting what's going to happen next, what's going to be accomplished 79 00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:57,840 in this ministry. 80 00:05:57,840 --> 00:06:03,880 Now one thing that the disciples are concerned about is they're advancing toward Jerusalem. 81 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,240 This new kingdom is coming. 82 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:12,160 The Messiah has been identified is this. 83 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:14,480 Who is going to be the most important among them? 84 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,520 Who's going to be the leader? 85 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:24,480 Because Jesus is not going to have 12 equal advisors in his kingdom as they probably would 86 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:25,480 have thought. 87 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:34,520 He'll probably have one or two main advisors, main people that he appoints for his kingdom. 88 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:46,080 And so we find that they're having this conversation in Mark chapter 9 verses 33 through 37. 89 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,560 It says they came to Capernaum. 90 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:54,240 When he was in the house, he asked them, what were you arguing about on the road? 91 00:06:54,240 --> 00:07:02,480 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. 92 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:08,600 Sitting down, Jesus called the 12 and said, anyone who wants to be first must be the very 93 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:10,900 last and the servant of all. 94 00:07:10,900 --> 00:07:15,760 He took a little child whom he placed among them. 95 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:20,960 Putting the child in his arms, he said to them, whoever welcomes one of these little 96 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,520 children in my name, welcomes me. 97 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:31,000 And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but the one who sent me. 98 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:38,040 So when is it example of the kingdom of how the hierarchy of the disciples is going to 99 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:39,160 work? 100 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:44,800 He didn't start to identify who is first and who was last, but he brought a child in the 101 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:49,640 middle and said, here's our example. 102 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:53,640 Here's how the kingdom is going to work. 103 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:58,440 And so the disciples and probably the readers of Mark, probably us today are going to be 104 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:06,320 surprised to hear that as Jesus lays out his kingdom, children become a focus. 105 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:15,240 A little bit later on, we find in Mark chapter 10 verses 13 through 16 that people were bringing 106 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:20,240 little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. 107 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,560 But the disciples repuked them. 108 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:25,520 Remember the time is short. 109 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,000 They're on the way to Jerusalem. 110 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:34,040 The Messiah is going to be betrayed and then he's going to come into his kingdom. 111 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:36,720 Everything's about to change. 112 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:43,400 Jesus does not have time to be blessing children individually. 113 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:45,080 He has work to do. 114 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:49,240 He has to have important people to meet with. 115 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:56,460 He's doing his teaching for the disciples, the last time for teaching that he has. 116 00:08:56,460 --> 00:09:05,360 So the disciples working to prioritize to advise Jesus time the best they could started 117 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:11,760 sending people away for bringing the children to Jesus. 118 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:16,500 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. 119 00:09:16,500 --> 00:09:22,640 He said to them, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for the kingdom 120 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:26,320 of God belongs to such as these. 121 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:32,840 Only I tell you anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God, like a little child will 122 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:35,560 never enter it. 123 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:46,180 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. 124 00:09:46,180 --> 00:09:50,840 In both of those passages that I read, one thing that I really enjoy is that it says, 125 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,580 and he took the children in his arms. 126 00:09:54,580 --> 00:10:00,360 It shows an intimacy and a beauty there that's special blessing them. 127 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:06,360 You could imagine blessing them with oil on their foreheads or having a child come and 128 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:10,200 stand in the middle and the teacher discussing them. 129 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,040 That may have been more dignified. 130 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:18,440 It might be something more, more used to thinking of when it came to Jesus, but it says that 131 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:23,920 he took them in his arms as he blessed each child. 132 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:29,880 When he called the child into the middle of the disciples to give them an example, he 133 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,400 took the child in his arms. 134 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:38,920 It's beautiful, but the disciples were still trying to make sense of this. 135 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:45,280 They struggled to understand the place of children in the kingdom, why they were the 136 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,620 example being used. 137 00:10:48,620 --> 00:10:55,140 I want to take a moment now to shift this morning to think about kids today. 138 00:10:55,140 --> 00:10:59,320 What keeps them from being honored in the kingdom? 139 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:07,600 What can keep them in our culture from being recognized in their rightful place as honored 140 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:15,080 as folks that are special to Jesus, even in the midst of their imperfections? 141 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:20,760 Those of us who know kids well, which I think we've all had encounters with children, know 142 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,480 that kids can lie. 143 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:25,080 Kids can cheat. 144 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:26,940 Kids can steal. 145 00:11:26,940 --> 00:11:32,920 So I don't mean to idealize them in such a way that they're always little cherubs and 146 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:36,400 that we're always to treat them that way. 147 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:41,800 But despite knowing their weaknesses and their flaws, Jesus still gave them this esteemed 148 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,720 status. 149 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:54,000 Now today, and especially lately, I've heard more about how kids today have it easy. 150 00:11:54,000 --> 00:12:02,080 A lot of times you hear how kids today are soft, how the culture that we're in coddles 151 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:04,320 them too much. 152 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:09,360 And I just want to put that in perspective for a moment. 153 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:17,760 I heard a comedian in his 50s, not long ago, saying that he always had to get, he always 154 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,880 had to change the channel for his dad. 155 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:24,960 His dad would call him to change the channel on the TV. 156 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:29,840 And his son asked him, why didn't you just tell your dad to do that himself? 157 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:38,400 And he said, yeah, tell my World War II Marine dad to get up out of his chair and go over 158 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:43,360 and change the channel himself so I wouldn't have to. 159 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:45,880 That was never going to happen. 160 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:51,360 And if it did, it would only happen once. 161 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:58,100 Now the example being that each generation looks at the generation after it and has some 162 00:12:58,100 --> 00:13:01,900 of the same thoughts. 163 00:13:01,900 --> 00:13:07,000 Imagine the generation where electricity started to be a normal thing. 164 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:12,360 What do you think the generation before them thought, these kids are going to be soft. 165 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:13,360 They've got it made. 166 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:17,640 They just flip a light switch and the lights come on. 167 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:24,200 And there is a generation after that where cars became to be more and more prevalent. 168 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:31,220 Tractors where you didn't have to go and plow the fields with ox or with horse. 169 00:13:31,220 --> 00:13:34,640 That generation is going to have it easy. 170 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:38,000 They're probably going to get soft. 171 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:41,640 And so we see that that's not a new thing. 172 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:47,640 The kids today that we look at today, the generations that we look at today will probably 173 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:52,440 say the same things about their kids. 174 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:56,020 You think 10G is slow? 175 00:13:56,020 --> 00:14:02,480 We had 5G back in my day. 176 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:06,600 It was nothing like it is now. 177 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:12,820 Who knows having to swipe on your phone, having to drive your own car, who knows what other 178 00:14:12,820 --> 00:14:15,080 things that they'll look at. 179 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:19,880 So we should very much hesitate before we look at kids today and think to ourselves 180 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:22,920 or say they've got it easy. 181 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:25,440 They're going to be soft. 182 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:27,680 They're not going to know how to work. 183 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:30,500 They're going to be lazy. 184 00:14:30,500 --> 00:14:35,680 Probably every generation has looked at this generation after them and said those same 185 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,480 things. 186 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:40,820 Be careful not to judge. 187 00:14:40,820 --> 00:14:45,240 It's never easy to be a kid. 188 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:47,020 It's never been easy. 189 00:14:47,020 --> 00:14:50,360 It never will be easy. 190 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:57,200 I think of some of the things that our kids face today that those of us in this room never 191 00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:01,320 did. 192 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:04,240 I still remember when Columbine happened. 193 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,280 I was in junior high. 194 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:15,120 The idea of a school shooting, of a mass shooting was so foreign, it was the changing of tide 195 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:19,480 in our culture that something like this had happened. 196 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:21,860 Where did we go wrong? 197 00:15:21,860 --> 00:15:23,920 Was it video games? 198 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,760 Was it single parent homes? 199 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:28,840 Was it teachers? 200 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:31,080 All of these things, everything was quenched. 201 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:35,640 Was it the TV shows that we watched? 202 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:46,640 But today, to hear about a school shooting, it's more of a question of where and how many. 203 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:48,220 How many were killed? 204 00:15:48,220 --> 00:15:50,220 How many were shot? 205 00:15:50,220 --> 00:15:57,160 What type of weapon was used and we can probably guess. 206 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:01,360 Those things aren't things that most of us grew up with. 207 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:04,400 It's not easy to be a kid today. 208 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:13,240 Metal detectors, sniffing dogs, a lot of those things that kids face today are different. 209 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:18,200 In the Cold War, I hear about, I didn't live through, but in the Cold War, I hear about 210 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:24,120 kids getting under their desks and putting books over their heads because you were worried 211 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:29,720 about a nuclear strike from the Soviet Union, the Cold War. 212 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:32,200 Now kids do safety drills. 213 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:37,680 They know where to go in their building if there's an active shooter. 214 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:44,840 They know how to prepare, who needs to lock the doors, where to go, signals to put on 215 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:49,560 the inside, outside of the rooms, all of these things. 216 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:53,160 It's not easy to be a kid, is it? 217 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:59,520 We should be careful before we pass judgment about what it's like to be a kid today or 218 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:02,100 how easy it is. 219 00:17:02,100 --> 00:17:11,200 We think of the social media that kids face today, TikTok, these different things. 220 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:17,160 Now I think again, it's good for us to remember kids didn't invent that stuff. 221 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:25,160 A lot of times we look on judgment on how much kids stream, how much they text, how 222 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:32,980 much they use these different devices, the attention culture, trying to get likes. 223 00:17:32,980 --> 00:17:37,020 Kids didn't invent any of that, did they? 224 00:17:37,020 --> 00:17:40,840 That came a generation before. 225 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:47,040 The idea now we understand of kids being addicted to social media or younger people, that wasn't 226 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:49,680 by accident, was it? 227 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:54,160 We found out as different things happened that actually there had been algorithms and 228 00:17:54,160 --> 00:18:02,040 different things that were specially designed to get people addicted, for our brains to 229 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:09,200 respond, for those likes and those different things, not just to be selfish or appealing 230 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:20,960 to our own vanity, but to try to hook us in for greed, for monetary profits, to find different 231 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:25,200 ways to get us more involved, to keep us clicking. 232 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:28,720 And it works on us adults too, doesn't it? 233 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:34,440 Our brains are more formed where we might be more able to filter that through, but the 234 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:40,040 kids are not. 235 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:47,760 And by kids I admit, and I apologize to teenagers or older kids in the room, I am using kids 236 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:49,720 to cover a spectrum. 237 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:52,600 I'll go even all the way up through high school today. 238 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:54,360 I know that's not fair. 239 00:18:54,360 --> 00:19:00,560 I know it's probably annoying, but at the same time to differentiate between the generations 240 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,040 in there would be tricky. 241 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,580 So I'm going to throw in kids. 242 00:19:06,580 --> 00:19:08,120 So I apologize for that. 243 00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:14,720 When I was 16, I didn't want to be told I was a kid and hear the issues kids were facing 244 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:19,320 today, but I think it's important for this morning for us to get a grasp on some of these 245 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:22,420 things. 246 00:19:22,420 --> 00:19:27,280 So when kids or youth or whatever they are, when they're struggling with some of these 247 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:41,000 things, identity, bodies, body shaming, suicide, depression, isolation, they did not invent 248 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:45,220 the factors that contribute to these things, did they? 249 00:19:45,220 --> 00:19:48,600 They didn't come up with the internet. 250 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:55,360 They usually don't go out and buy their own phones, do they? 251 00:19:55,360 --> 00:20:01,880 Those come from adults, the access, those different things to the internet, the content 252 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:03,880 that's on the internet. 253 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:05,640 They're not responsible for that. 254 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,100 It's not easy to be a kid. 255 00:20:08,100 --> 00:20:12,480 They face a lot of things today that even my generation, and the more I say that, the 256 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:17,640 more I realize 36 is older than I want it to be. 257 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:23,200 I work with a 20 year old and it really helped me to start to realize when she mentioned 258 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:31,000 her fall drip, I had no idea that drip was describing clothing style. 259 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:35,400 And then I heard it in a commercial and I was kind of excited because I was like, I 260 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:39,640 know what that means. 261 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:44,160 And then I heard the term goblin mode. 262 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:46,280 Has anyone heard of it? 263 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:51,400 Okay, that makes me feel better, Bradley, because I heard it and I was all excited because 264 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:56,880 I read it in an article probably on CNN that was like the new thing that the kids were 265 00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,280 saying and the new thing in the dictionary. 266 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:02,880 And then I asked a bunch of kids, like, we don't know what you're talking about. 267 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,480 Like, dang it, I'm still old. 268 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:09,520 I'm trying to use a phrase that kids might like and they don't know it anyway. 269 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:15,120 So I'm still not the person going up and saying, you know, hey, I know the new term you kids 270 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:20,280 are using and they have no clue what I'm talking about. 271 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:22,480 Missed it again. 272 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:26,800 But even just working with a 20 year old, I find myself saying a lot, you know, in my 273 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:36,960 generation, or your generation, I even thought one day when I saw the kids and youth group 274 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:44,040 coming up here and helping lead, which was so cool, I thought to myself, it's so good 275 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:49,320 to see young people today participating in the church. 276 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:57,600 And then I thought, okay, grandma, I specifically remember old ladies coming up to me in church 277 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:04,640 when I was a teenager and saying, it's just so good to see young people in church today. 278 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:08,960 It's so good to see you involved and enjoying being here. 279 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:11,960 I worry about kids your age. 280 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:14,480 We see fewer and fewer of them in church. 281 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:19,480 And I remember rolling my eyes and being like, what are you talking about? 282 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:20,480 Whatever. 283 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:22,280 I'm just here. 284 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:28,200 I enjoy being here, but also my parents make me come. 285 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,200 And yeah, now I say it today. 286 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:39,440 It's so good to see the young people up there saying the prayers, singing the songs. 287 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:43,000 So I'm there with a lot of it. 288 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:50,080 But yes, I recognize that the generation before me also probably thinks my generation is soft. 289 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:56,400 And now the generation, including mine, is complaining about the working from home and 290 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:57,960 it's going to ruin everything. 291 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:01,320 And there's probably some truth that there's value in being in the office. 292 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:07,320 But every generation looks at the one after it and says, boy, they're really going down 293 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:11,400 the tubes. 294 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:13,040 Still here. 295 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:18,080 I think about some of the things like participation trophies, some of that stuff that you hear 296 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:19,720 people complain about. 297 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,160 Everybody gets a trophy. 298 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:26,000 Kids did not assign themselves trophies, did they? 299 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:31,360 They didn't all get together one day and say, let's have a meeting. 300 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:35,680 This year when we distribute the trophies at the end of the soccer season that we as 301 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:42,280 eight-year-olds organized and recruited people to coach, we've decided that we're going to 302 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:48,160 give out the trophies this year to each person that participates rather than to one team 303 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:50,000 that did really well. 304 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:54,240 We're responsible for that, aren't we? 305 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:59,440 Someone in here came up with that and decided to go with that. 306 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:05,000 And judging how many parents are involved with sports teams, right, it wasn't just one 307 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,880 parent that decided to do that. 308 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:09,800 Nobody wanted to say no. 309 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:11,580 Nobody wanted to hurt the kids' feelings. 310 00:24:11,580 --> 00:24:19,040 So it's not their fault. 311 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:20,040 Being a kid isn't easy. 312 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:23,800 It wasn't easy then in Jesus' day. 313 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,600 Kids were often overlooked. 314 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:32,040 They did not have the value that Jesus was trying to show that they should have. 315 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:41,080 The special place that they have in the kingdom then, but it's still true now. 316 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:51,760 Going ahead now to look back one more moment at what Jesus saw in kids that he said, these 317 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,960 are the focus of my kingdom. 318 00:24:54,960 --> 00:25:02,440 Now this is what I call speculative theology right now. 319 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:05,960 Okay I used to Jesus also. 320 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:11,520 Where I'm going to choose to decide what I think Jesus was thinking and make it fit my 321 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:13,920 sermon. 322 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:17,000 Hopefully it's not quite that egregious. 323 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:24,080 But I think that using Scripture as a whole and using what we've learned through the church 324 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:30,600 over the generations and what we recognize ourselves, we can try to put together some 325 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:37,420 of what Jesus saw in kids that connected to his kingdom. 326 00:25:37,420 --> 00:25:45,480 One thing that I love as I look at kids and now I'm talking about younger is how excited 327 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:50,200 they get about a small gift. 328 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:56,800 Doesn't the father want us to recognize the gifts that he gives us and get excited? 329 00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:00,760 To not take them for granted. 330 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:05,680 To not get up each day and say, oh geez what do I have to do? 331 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,040 What's on today's list? 332 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:17,640 We had one foster kid, I'll call him Jeff, he would run to my room every morning and 333 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:21,400 knock on the door and say, Scott are you up yet? 334 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:22,400 Are you up yet? 335 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:27,840 Because he was so excited to see me that morning, he was so excited to get a hug, tell me what 336 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,080 he was thinking and feeling that day. 337 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:34,960 And it was wonderful, it was beautiful, I loved it. 338 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:41,240 That's the kind of joy that's so much fun to experience. 339 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:48,400 If my wife did that I would be totally freaked out, I'd be like whoa chill. 340 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:53,240 Fortunately neither one of us are like really big high energy morning people, she is more 341 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:55,840 than me. 342 00:26:55,840 --> 00:27:01,640 But she does not roll over and say, hey it's a great day. 343 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:05,520 I don't think I'd like it if she did. 344 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:11,000 But kids also value gifts differently. 345 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:17,680 I decided that I was going to get one of our foster kids who had been with us for a while 346 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:19,840 a new bike. 347 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:27,720 He loved to ride the bike and the bike that he was riding was a bike that my parents had 348 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:36,220 found by the side of the road that was painted different colors and had no brakes. 349 00:27:36,220 --> 00:27:40,160 So I made him get off it like a block away before we got to an intersection and he had 350 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:44,400 to walk his bike because I didn't want him to roll through the intersection. 351 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:48,160 So it was not a pretty bike. 352 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:52,920 I always felt a little embarrassed when we would go around the neighborhood that he didn't 353 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:54,360 have a little bit nicer bike. 354 00:27:54,360 --> 00:27:58,480 It wasn't the safest bike, I felt bad about that. 355 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:03,120 And so I got him a new bike and when I got him a new bike I wanted to get him a pretty 356 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:05,000 nice new bike. 357 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:06,080 I was excited. 358 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:09,640 I'd always wanted this kind of bike when I was a kid. 359 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:14,660 I wanted him to have something to ride that he was really proud of. 360 00:28:14,660 --> 00:28:17,160 And so I did this big reveal for his birthday. 361 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:25,400 I have an elevator in my house for my wheelchair but I thought it would be cool to put the 362 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,880 bike in the elevator and open the door. 363 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:35,480 And so I opened the door, bring out the new bike and I look at his face and I'm expecting 364 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:40,280 a response and he gives me kind of a confused look. 365 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:44,800 And he said, but I have a bike. 366 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,440 It's laying right over there. 367 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:49,680 He didn't see the need for it. 368 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:51,760 He wasn't worried about the paint job. 369 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:56,680 The three different colors were okay with him. 370 00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:00,680 Why worry about brakes when you can just slide your feet on the cement? 371 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:06,160 I mean after all I buy his shoes what is he doing? 372 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:07,800 You can just wear him out every other week. 373 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:11,040 He doesn't need brakes. 374 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:18,360 And it taught me a good lesson that he saw the world very, very differently. 375 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:21,680 That he didn't need gifts to look a certain way. 376 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:29,880 He was grateful for what he had and he would have much preferred a five dollar baby Yoda 377 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:32,920 from five below. 378 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:40,040 Which I'm guessing he got to then this new bike when he already had one. 379 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:44,920 I went to a kids program not too long ago and they were making valentines and I was 380 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:53,760 asking the kids who they were making valentines for and the little girl looked at me and she 381 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,720 set the one for her mom aside and she started making a new one and I said who's that one 382 00:29:57,720 --> 00:29:58,720 for? 383 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:00,720 And she said it's for you. 384 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:04,000 You're my new friend. 385 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,200 And she started I told her I like that she was painting a black valentine. 386 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,240 I had never seen it. 387 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:11,120 One with black on it. 388 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:15,880 And so she immediately started putting my new favorite color on it. 389 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:17,280 Asked how to spell my name. 390 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:19,120 All those things. 391 00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:24,640 Ran out of room you know so like half the words you know ran over from one side. 392 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:28,400 That cute way that kids do. 393 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:33,080 I think that type of friendship that type of love that type of affection isn't that 394 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:39,000 what the father wants from us. 395 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:44,360 When the disciples are debating who's the most important. 396 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:50,480 Is it possible that that's what Jesus was calling a child and in the middle for. 397 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:55,920 To remind them of some of those things some of those lessons that were true of kids today 398 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:59,360 and true of kids then. 399 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:04,320 Now how do we handle kids here at the house. 400 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:08,200 Our church is a special place for children. 401 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,520 We value children very much. 402 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:16,760 When we had tree house back there you could hear the feet of kids. 403 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:19,980 I never heard anyone complain. 404 00:31:19,980 --> 00:31:22,560 Now we have tree house out there. 405 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:24,520 Is it convenience. 406 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,840 No is it loud. 407 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:28,840 Yes. 408 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:34,160 Does it look kind of funny to have those temporary curtains up when you come in. 409 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:35,160 Yes. 410 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:40,560 But Pastor Greg did you think twice about any of that stuff. 411 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:46,160 I want to go out on a limb and say no because kids are important here. 412 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:49,240 And that's focused on more than anything else. 413 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:53,640 We do a food pantry at Earl Hansen. 414 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:54,640 That's the name right. 415 00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,720 I always hesitate. 416 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:00,320 Michelle leads it. 417 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:01,920 And can you wave hi Michelle. 418 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:03,960 Just so I know she hates it. 419 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:10,160 But if you want to volunteer to learn more that's who you go talk to. 420 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:13,240 This last week. 421 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:15,960 The last time we had it was it two weeks ago. 422 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:24,440 Two weeks ago over 50 kids received food from the food pantry. 423 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:29,760 Over 80 people we have each person that comes in sign in and write down how many people 424 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:33,760 were in their household and how many kids. 425 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,000 Over 50 kids. 426 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:37,840 Over 80 people. 427 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:39,600 That's beautiful isn't it. 428 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:44,600 I think it's awesome and it's so much fun to meet the people as they come through. 429 00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:50,880 I learned that some of the people coming through speak language Karen. 430 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:59,360 And that they moved here from Thailand but their families were originally from Burma. 431 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:00,360 It was really cool. 432 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:01,360 It was so interesting. 433 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:06,840 And now I have my little list of words that I'm trying to learn in Karen. 434 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:11,560 It's going to be ugly but I'm going to try. 435 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:15,240 And it's so fun to see the kids they interpret for their parents. 436 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:18,240 They have so many jobs. 437 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:20,960 Being a kid isn't easy. 438 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:26,720 But Jesus wants us to see how they behave and model it in the kingdom. 439 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:29,280 We do angel tree. 440 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,080 We do closet to closet. 441 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:34,800 We do all these things. 442 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:36,040 And now I'm going to wrap up. 443 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:37,040 What else. 444 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:38,360 What else can we do. 445 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:43,440 Or could we do. 446 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:44,680 Two simple things. 447 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:50,080 Learn a kid's name and ask a kid a question. 448 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:53,080 That would bless kids in our church. 449 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:55,600 A lot of us know kids. 450 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:59,800 But learn one kid's name that you don't know. 451 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:02,360 I had a conversation with. 452 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:04,280 I'll go ahead and call my friend Wallace. 453 00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:07,960 I don't know if he'd call me that but I'm going to call him. 454 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:11,720 I asked him what are you looking at. 455 00:34:11,720 --> 00:34:15,720 He was looking at Pokemon cards. 456 00:34:15,720 --> 00:34:18,800 And he immediately started to tell me about the Pokemon. 457 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:23,400 Now I know a decent amount about Pokemon from growing up. 458 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:26,520 From kids with Pokemon cards. 459 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:30,580 I still had no clue what he was talking about. 460 00:34:30,580 --> 00:34:36,120 If you knew about Pokemon five years ago you have no idea what's going on now. 461 00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:39,440 It's all changed. 462 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:42,760 But not only could he tell me about the Pokemon. 463 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:47,640 He could tell me what store he got each deck at. 464 00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:50,000 And who he was with. 465 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,600 I got this one at Target with my dad. 466 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:55,840 We got it two weeks ago. 467 00:34:55,840 --> 00:35:01,360 And he could tell me each store how much they cost at that store. 468 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:04,200 Who had the best packs. 469 00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:06,360 The best cards in it. 470 00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:07,800 He could tell me so many things. 471 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:12,880 And so I got to learn a lot about his world. 472 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:15,140 Who he spends time with. 473 00:35:15,140 --> 00:35:17,140 Where he goes. 474 00:35:17,140 --> 00:35:19,000 How he spends his money. 475 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:22,040 Or his parents money. 476 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:24,880 But what he values. 477 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:26,800 And it was such a fun moment. 478 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:30,860 And so you don't have to know about Pokemon. 479 00:35:30,860 --> 00:35:34,340 You don't have to know about what kids are into. 480 00:35:34,340 --> 00:35:39,540 You don't have to know what interests them to break into their world. 481 00:35:39,540 --> 00:35:41,920 To bless them. 482 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:47,320 And to be a church where we know about kids in a special way. 483 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:48,840 Where we know their names. 484 00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:51,000 Kids that we didn't bring to church. 485 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,640 Or aren't friends of our family. 486 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:59,140 I think would take us to the next level of honoring kids and showing them their special 487 00:35:59,140 --> 00:36:01,880 place in the kingdom. 488 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:03,920 Amen? 489 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:08,800 So if you learn a kid's name and ask them a question. 490 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:12,380 I'll have a prize for you next week. 491 00:36:12,380 --> 00:36:15,080 Kids will do anything for a prize won't they? 492 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:19,800 They don't even have to know what it is. 493 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:23,120 So we're going to operate by that principle. 494 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:30,240 Next week either after church today or at a community table or before church next week. 495 00:36:30,240 --> 00:36:33,240 Ask a kid their name and ask them a question. 496 00:36:33,240 --> 00:36:35,280 I love to ask what did you have for lunch today? 497 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:37,800 What did you have for breakfast? 498 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:40,400 Something even as simple as that. 499 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:43,680 What's your favorite thing at school? 500 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:44,680 Lunch or recess? 501 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:48,520 And you know what do you like to do at recess? 502 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:52,120 There's always another question you can ask. 503 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:55,560 Alright let's pray. 504 00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:57,960 Do I do communion directly after that? 505 00:36:57,960 --> 00:36:58,960 After I pray? 506 00:36:58,960 --> 00:36:59,960 Alright. 507 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:19,960 Pastor Chris and Pastor Jen if you guys would come up and then we'll do communion. 508 00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:26,360 I'll pray first and then we'll pass it out and I'll pray again. 509 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:30,280 Father we thank you for kids. 510 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:34,560 We thank you for the blessings and comforts that kids have today that they haven't had 511 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:35,560 in the past. 512 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:40,160 But we also recognize it's not easy to be a kid. 513 00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:41,160 It's not now. 514 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:42,160 It never has been. 515 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:44,520 It never will be. 516 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:50,680 And you call us to protect them and love them in a special way. 517 00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:53,880 Help us to fulfill that. 518 00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:58,840 Help us to ask kids their names and ask them questions. 519 00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:08,160 And I thank you for the way that we honor kids in our church every week, every day. 520 00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:10,800 And we thank you for leaders that value that. 521 00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:15,520 In Jesus' name, Amen.