The renowned British minister Dick Lucas once preached a sermon in which he recounted an imaginary conversation between an early Christian and her neighbor in Rome.

“Ah,” the neighbor says, “I hear you are religious! Great! Religion is a good thing. Where is your temple or holy place?”

“We don’t have a temple,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our temple.”

“No temple? But where do your priests work and do their rituals?”

“We don’t have priests to mediate the presence of God,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our priest.”

“No priests? But where do you offer your sacrifices to acquire the favor of your God?”

“We don’t need a sacrifice,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our sacrifice.”

“What kind of religion IS this?” sputters the pagan neighbor.

And the answer is, it’s no kind of religion at all.

(From Tim Keller’s King’s Cross, p.48)

It’s not about a religion….it’s all about a RELATIONSHIP. A relationship with One named JESUS. J

All the synoptic gospels, including Mark, saw fit to highlight the importance of children. Jesus chastised the disciples who thought He was too busy or too important to spend time with kids. Jesus responded with these words: “Let the children come to Me, do not hinder them…” Just as Jesus understood the value on life, regardless of age, we also place a high regard on those who make up our Children’s ministry.

I recently noted that our KBC search for a Pastor for Children’s ministry has once again resulted in an empty net. We have been in a search mode for over eighteen months and have culled a large number of resumes from all over the country. We sincerely felt that the void was on its way to being filled this past month but circumstances dictated otherwise. We passed on one individual, had another step away from being further considered and a third felt that after much prayer that he didn’t have the experience necessary for such a large ministry. Coming out of that, to be honest, we were disappointed. As we move forward I felt moved to drop a note and urge us all (regardless of whether we have children or not) to:

• PRAY – *For the Lord to teach us through this season. *For the Lord to protect and sustain our children (He cares for them more than we ever could). *For wisdom and discernment in our process. *For joy to be characteristic of those called to serve our children.

• BE PATIENT – Stories abound in Scripture where time (aka ‘years’) is required before the Lord sees fit – in HIS time – to answer as He deems best. This is a notable fruit of the Spirit for a reason.

• PRAISE – Commend and thank those who serve in the variety of areas within our Children’s ministry: Sunday School, Nursery, Pre-School, Children’s Choir, Children’s Church, AWANA, VBS. Whether it is a parent servicing our littlest ones in the Nursery or a leader in one of the divisions of AWANA please make the effort to express your appreciation.