THE GIFTS
CHILDREN REALLY NEED
Steve W. Reeves
stevesermons.blogspot.com
INTRODUCTION:
A. Direct from the North Pole comes this year’s
list of most popular toys for Christmas: 1. Juno The Elephant, 2. Bloom Dolls, 3. Batman Super Action Figures, 4. Any toy
that has “Frozen” in its name including the Little People’s Palace Ice Castle,
5. Tumbling Hedgehog, 6. Hot wheels Mario Track, 7. Mind Magical Unicorn,
8.Candy Locks Dolls, 9.Cubby the Curious Bear.
B. It is not always easy to be a child. According to the U.S. Census Bureau:
1. In 2016, 73.6 million people — 23% of the U.S. population — were children.
2. Approximately 66% of the nation’s child population — 48.6 million kids total — are
age 11 or younger. The remaining 25 million children are 12 to 17 years old.
3. Over the past two decades, the nation’s population grew by 20%, from 269.4
million in 1996 to 323.1 million in 2016. During this same time frame, the nation’s
child population increased by only 5% — from 70.2 million to 73.6 million. As a
result, children now represent a shrinking share of the U.S. population.
4. Many children in American face significant challenges. According to information
provided by the University of Arkansas School of Medical Science, in 2007,
1,760 children ages 0 to 17 in the U.S. died from abuse and neglect.
C. In the midst of such heartbreak may I proclaim as forcefully and emphatically as
possible that the West Side Church of Christ loves children. We want this church to
be one where children are loved, valued, safe, taught, mentored and prepared for a
life of Christian service.
1. Children mattered to Jesus.
a. According to Matthew 18:1-6, “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and
said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child
to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you
are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of
heaven. 4 Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever receives one such child in My name
receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to
stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around
his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea
1.) Jesus obviously saw qualities in these children that He desires in all of us.
2.) He saw qualities of honesty and sincerity. He saw qualities of humility and
simplicity. Qualities of love and care.
b. In Matthew 19:13-14 (Also see Mark 10 and Luke 18) our Lord demonstrated
compassion for children, “Then some children were brought to Him so that He
might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But
Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me;
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
1.) It was not uncommon for people to bring their children to a person of
authority such as a priest, prophet or rabbi to ask for a blessing. These people
obviously recognized that Jesus was a man of God.
2.) The apostles reflected a common attitude in the ancient world that children
were not important and should not interrupt Jesus as He taught. Jesus, on
the other hand, saw great importance in these children.
3.) He said, “This is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.” Then, He gathered the
children to himself. He tenderly placed his hands on them and blessed them.
He said, “This is who the kingdom of heaven belongs to.”
D. There are many gifts a child may receive. I want to tell you about the gifts children
really need.
I. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
A. In the book, The Blessing, Giving the Gift of Unconditional Love, the authors Gary
Smalley and John Trent give four reasons why we need to give and receive
unconditional love.
1. It is counter-cultural. In a world where value and importance are based on
performance and talent, the gift of unconditional love helps a child to understand
their worth as an individual.
2. It lays a foundation for their understanding of God, who is the true source of
unconditional love.
3. It heals the wounds and emotional scars that the world inflicts upon us.
4. It models the God we serve.
B. Jesus demonstrated unconditional love in so many ways.
1. As He laid his hands on the children He communicated love.
2. When a woman who had been ill for twelve years touched Him to be healed He
did not rebuke her. Instead, He commended her faith and told her she was
cured.
3. When a woman who had committed adultery was brought to Him, He said,
“neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”
C. Do you ever make a mess in life? A man was desperate for money and thought he
would rob a bank. He found an old rusty gun and took a paper bag. He rehearsed
what he was going to say, “Don’t mess with me, this is a stick up.” When he got to
the teller he was so nervous he gave her the gun, pointed the bag at her and said,
“Don’t stick with me, this is a mess up.”
1. When a child “messes up,” they certainly need correction and instruction.
2. The most important thing they need is to know that they are still loved.
II. UNENDING ENCOURAGEMENT
A. Encouragement is to a child what water is to a plant. Children thrive on
encouragement.
1. In your job do you respond more to a boss who is always “nit-picking,” or to one
who encourages you? It’s like a poster I saw with a big gorilla that was saying,
“The beatings will continue until morale improves.”
B. Bill Glass, a prison minister, asked the inmates he served, “How many of you had
a father who said, “you’ll never amount to anything?” Almost all of them raised
their hand.
C. In Deuteronomy 6:6-7, God, through Moses, commanded the Israelites,
“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You
shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your
house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise
up.” There is no substitute for a parent’s encouragement when it comes to the
development of a child’s faith.
.II. UNCOMPROMISING DISCIPLINE
A. Proverbs 19:18 admonishes us, “Discipline your son while there is hope, and do
not desire his death.” In the New Testament Paul admonished, “Fathers, do not
provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of
the Lord.”
B. In the historical archives of the Library of Congress is a small, handwritten journal
that is almost 300 years old. It was written by a young boy named George
Washington and is entitled, “Rules of Civility.” These are basic principles
Washington had been taught. Among them:
1. “Cleanse not your teeth with the table cloth.”
2. “Spit not into the fire.”
3. “Put not another bite into your mouth until the former one be swallowed.”
4. “Think Before You Speak.”
IV. UNWAVERING FAITH
A. In an article that appeared in The New York Times on December 5, 2019, Dr. Erica
Komisar, a psychologist who specializes in childhood and adolescence wrote the
following, “As a therapist, I’m often asked to explain why depression and anxiety
are so common among children and adolescents. One of the most important
explanations—and perhaps the most neglected—is declining interest in religion.
This cultural shift already has proved disastrous for millions of vulnerable young
people.”
1. Dr. Komisar went on to cite a 2018 study done by Harvard researchers that
reveals, “Children or teens who reported attending a religious service at least
once per week scored higher on psychological well-being measurements and
had lower risks of mental illness. Weekly attendance was associated with higher
rates of volunteering, a sense of mission, forgiveness, and lower probabilities of
drug use and early sexual initiation.”
2. She then comments regarding today’s children, “Pity then that the U.S. has seen
a 20% decrease in attendance at formal religious services in the past 20 years.”
3. Her conclusion is that passing down a family faith tradition is a key component
of mental health.
B. One of the apostle Paul’s closest associates was a young man named Timothy.
He thought enough of Timothy to leave him in Ephesus to teach those Christians
how to conduct themselves in the church (1 Timothy 3:15).
1. Where did Timothy’s faith originate?
2. In 2 Timothy 3:14-15 Paul said of Timothy, “ You, however, continue in the
things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you
have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred
writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through
faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
C. Giving our children the gift of unwavering faith is one of the most precious gifts
they will ever receive.
CONCLUSION:
A. Poem: The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole
An old man going a lone highway, Came, at the evening cold and gray,
To a chasm vast and deep and wide. Through which was flowing a sullen tide
The old man crossed in the twilight dim, The sullen stream had no fear for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side. And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near, You are wasting your strength with building here; Your ourney will end with the ending day, You never again will pass this way; You’ve crossed the hasm, deep and wide, Why build this bridge at evening tide?” The builder lifted his old gray ead; “Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said, “There followed after me to-day A outh whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has bee as
naught to me To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be; He, too, must cross in
the twilight dim; Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!”
B. The
greatest gifts you can give your children – the ones they really need – will
not be
under your tree, but in your heart.
