I had the pleasure of spending a few minutes with a little
girl yesterday. I greeted her family while they were checking in to the
Greenhouse (our children’s ministry area) as I do most all of our families on
any Sunday morning. This was a special morning for this family. They were
hoping to run into me. Their middle daughter needed to talk to me. She had made
a life changing decision earlier that morning. She prayed with her parents to
ask Jesus to be her savior and she wanted to get baptized.
The mom was super excited and asked her daughter to tell me
all about it. Like most 2nd graders, she wasn’t ready to share all
the details on the spot so I said she could go on to her class and I would
connect with her near the end of the service.
This is one of the best parts of my job as a children’s
ministry director. I love sitting with kids and hearing their stories. I love
teaching them about God’s big story and how he has specific plans for each one
of them. I love sharing the Gospel with them and helping them connect with
their purpose and place in God’s story. It is not just about their salvation,
but about leading them to become a healthy member of God’s family and part of
his mission. I want them to know that God has created them with specific gifts
and talents that he will use to make his name great so they can help lead
people of every tribe, nation and tongue into worshipful relationship with him.
They are the future of the Church in this world and it is such a pleasure to
lead them and their families.
Anyway, I digress; back to this awesome little girl I hung
out with yesterday.
Near the end of her class I went to get her so we could
talk. She was part of a rousing game of Octopus (one of 1,000 versions of tag)
with her classmates after they had learned about how God blessed Peter so he
could be a blessing to others. We walked into my office and I realized I only
had one chair. I told her I would go get another chair, but stopped abruptly
and said, “Let’s just sit on the floor instead.” She smiled big and responded, “Yeah
that’s good.”
I asked her to tell me about her morning. She clarified, “The
whole morning?” I said, “Well, how about the parts that led to you wanting to
get baptized.”
She began her story.
“Well, I got up early at 6:11 this morning. I was sitting in
my closet reading my Bible. Not the Bible with all the verses in it, but one
with pictures. I wanted to finish it.”
I was already hooked and couldn’t wait to hear what she was
going to say next.
She continued, “I was reading about a guy who baptized
people and ate grasshoppers with honey. After I read that I wanted to get
baptized.”
I explained that she was reading about John the Baptist and
asked if she knew anything else about him. We spend a couple minutes talking
about his ministry and how he prepared the way for Jesus.
Then I asked if I could draw her a picture.
I drew her
as a stick person on a line on one side of the board and God on a line on the
other side of the board (just G-O-D, not sure how to draw a stick figure of God).
I described the gap between her and God like the Grand Canyon since she knew
what that is. It is impossible to get across all by ourselves.
She said, “Maybe
we could cut down a tree and build a bridge.”
I turned to
her and rejoiced! “You are right…that is exactly what God did.”
On her side
of the board there was sin and death. On God’s side was the gift of eternal
life. God sent Jesus. God cut down a tree so some people could build a cross. I
drew the cross between the two sides. Jesus
lived a sinless life and died on that cross so we don’t have to pay the penalty
for our sin (bad choices for my little friend’s understanding). God built a
bridge so we can cross over to receive his gift of eternal life through Jesus.
“For the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus
our Lord.”
She pointed
to her stick figure and drew a bridge through the cross toward God. “I can
cross the bridge and have eternal life”, she declared.
“And what
happened 3 days after Jesus died on that cross?” I inquired.
“He came to
life again!”
I gave her a
big hug. She got it! Jesus defeated death once and for all.
Then I asked
her, “Do you know what we are now that you have accepted Jesus as your savior?”
She looked
at me with a perplexed look and I informed her that we were now sisters in God’s
family. I explained that we are sisters to anyone who is a part of God’s family
because he is our Heavenly Father.
“So what
does that make your mom?” I asked.
Her eyes got
wide and bright one more time and she exclaimed, “That makes my mom my sister
too.”
I reminded
her that she still has to obey mom and dad, but it is pretty cool to call them
brother and sister. Then we talked about baptism being her public declaration
of her faith in Jesus and the bridge he is between her and God.
I am so
thankful to have this privilege.
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