July 13, 2025 • 31 mins
Ever noticed how chaos seems to follow you everywhere? That's exactly where our journey begins today – amid falling building blocks, scattered Goldfish crackers, and the beautiful chaos of children worshiping in their own uninhibited way.
What happens when we're forced to worship through distraction? When the noise around us compels us to sing louder, pray harder, and focus more intently? This powerful message explores the revolutionary idea that perhaps the chaos isn't hindering our worship – it's refining it.
Drawing from Mark 10:13-16, we confront an uncomfortable truth: like the disciples who tried to prevent children from approaching Jesus, many churches today create subtle barriers that keep children from fully experiencing God's presence. Jesus' response wasn't gentle correction but righteous anger, declaring that not only are children welcome in His presence, but they're the very models of the faith He desires from all of us.
Through personal stories of childlike faith – from a daughter who plays "church" instead of "school," to spontaneous hugs from little ones who approach without agenda – we're challenged to examine our own attitudes. Have we replaced childlike trust with adult skepticism? Have we prioritized order over authentic connection?
This message isn't just for parents but for every believer seeking to build a church where the next generation of disciples can flourish. It's a call to reconsider what truly matters in our worship spaces, and to ensure that the children in our midst aren't just tolerated, but celebrated as full participants in God's kingdom.
What would our faith look like if we stopped forcing children into adult-shaped boxes and instead learned from their unfiltered approach to God? The answer might just transform your church experience forever.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
with building for just a little bit, okay, but I
promise you're gonna get to comeup and build again.
But before you go back to yourseats, I have something for all
of you.
Clean it up.
No, you don't have to clean itup.
Look, easton knows my trick.
I've got a surprise.
Clean it up, a parody, oneGoldfish.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Goldfish.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you, one for you.
Why do you have two?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
fingers up.
Oh, you need one for Liam too.
One for you, one for you.
One for you, one for you.
Baby doesn't need one.
Right, there you go.
Is that everybody?
Dan needs one.
No, I'm kidding.
(00:59):
Did you get one, noah?
Oh, we got goldfish.
I got a table.
She says I got a table.
Did I miss anybody?
Finn won't eat them.
He won't eat them.
Well, that's because you guyswere being too good.
(01:19):
Is that everybody?
I was going to say some of theadults are a little bit
disappointed this morning, Iknow.
Well, I have to be honest withyou.
I realized something thismorning during worship.
(01:42):
What I did to you guys thismorning may have felt unfair to
some of you Hold on, I can'teven get my iPad to work.
It may have felt slightlyunfair because you felt like you
couldn't appreciate musicministry for what it was because
of the chaos that was going on.
Did anybody feel that way?
And it's okay if you felt thatway.
There is no shame in that.
Here's what I realized about me.
It made me worship louder Rightin that.
(02:08):
Here's what I realized about me.
It made me worship louder rightBecause there was chaos going
on around me and I was standingin it.
I intentionally stood in it soI could hear it, but I had to
worship through it.
I had to worship louder.
Guys, life is not quiet.
The enemy will never be quiet.
He is always going to bepushing and prying and creating
chaos in your life.
Guess what?
You're going to have to worshipa little bit louder.
(02:28):
You're going to have to worshipthrough it.
You are going to have to standfirm on what you know God wants
from you.
He doesn't want you to give upbecause there was a kid standing
next to you crying.
How many times did JJ cry thismorning?
A handful.
You know what?
We found ways to fix it, didn'twe?
Didn't we?
I'm not saying there's anythingwrong with him crying.
(02:49):
I'm saying his mom will too.
Yeah, and I'm scared of her mom.
I ain't scared of his aunt, I'mscared of his mom, though I
realized she said she's crazy.
We already knew that, but nowit's on recording.
Well, both of them, but she wastalking about mom specifically.
(03:11):
Here's what I realized when Iwas standing there worshiping
and I had to worship louder Irealized that those kids were
not hurting anything.
Is anybody bleeding?
No, is anybody bleeding?
Did anybody lose a limb?
No, we are all okay, aren't we?
We made it through it.
(03:32):
Congratulations.
You survived chaos.
Can I tell you that if you aresitting here today, you have a
hundred percent success rate ofliving through chaos?
A hundred.
If you are sitting here today,you have successfully lived
through chaos 100% of the timein your life.
Have any of us lived a lifethat hasn't felt chaotic?
Have any of us lived a lifethat hasn't felt like there's
(03:54):
something wrong all the time?
I doubt it.
I doubt it, but I'm telling youGod is doing something through
these children.
Take these kids out of thesanctuary, we lose half the
congregation, right, we losehalf the congregation.
What is our responsibility asChristians?
To build disciples.
(04:15):
What are we doing every Sunday?
When we walk into this building, we are building disciples, not
just with each other, but withthe children in our building.
I have to tell you that Emmettrecently has found favor with
Pastor Rod over at DenisonFoursquare, which is good,
(04:39):
because he needs somebodybesides his dad who can
spiritually lead him.
Amen, because dads give advice,but sometimes it's dad advice
and not spiritual advice.
Is that fair?
Amen.
And so every year, emmett goesto camp and he goes with the
Denison kids, because we don'tusually have enough to send them
.
And, frankly, I ain't camping.
If I'm on camp it's going to bein a motel, six right, it's
(05:02):
still got to have some level ofair conditioning.
I don't do tents, I don't evenknow if I'd do a camper at this
point, but Emmett goes to campevery year and every year he
gets the top banana award in hisbunk.
Emmett, you're what?
Three for three when you atThree for three, that's okay,
(05:23):
three for three.
That he has gotten top banana,I love it.
And what I realized in that time?
He was building a relationshipwith somebody who was going to
instill the word of God in hisheart Amen.
And so Pastor Rod has reallytaken a liking to him.
And at the end of last camp hesaid to me he's like, hey, do
(05:44):
you mind if I pick Emmett up andtake him to get a cheeseburger
sometime or just take him out?
And I said, no, we would lovethat.
Emmett said to me yesterdayI've got Pastor Rod on my watch
now he's got a kid's watch thatonly allows him to call people
that we've programmed into thephone.
I'm not sure how that happened.
I assume that my wife did it.
But now he can call Pastor Rodanytime he wants.
(06:05):
Thank you, jesus, thank you.
I am thankful to have somebodyin my life that's also willing
to be in the lives of mychildren, to raise them up in
the way in which they should go,amen.
Now, the beauty is, they calledat the last minute because they
were going on this chocolatefactory tour and one of their
kids dropped out and they had anextra spot it had already been
(06:26):
paid for.
They're like does Emmett wantto go?
Do you know how valuable thatis, to be able to know that he
is in trusted hands and that heis going to be well taken care
of?
Listen, it is theresponsibility of each and every
one.
Some of you have already raisedyour children, amen.
How many of you have alreadyraised your children and they're
out of the house, right?
(06:46):
Okay, that's wonderful, but yousee, all of these kids.
We need your help.
We need your help.
There are a lot of them here.
Listen, we should be raisingthese children up in the way in
which they should go, whichmeans we should be instilling in
them biblical truth, right?
We should be able to teach themthe way that the Lord would
(07:09):
have them to go, and then theywill never depart from him.
Here's the challenge.
Each and every one of us knowthat at some point in most of
these kids' lives they will, infact walk away.
It is not because they don'tlove Jesus, it's not because
they don't know who Jesus is.
It's because they're trying tonavigate a very broken world,
(07:30):
amen, a world that doesn'tnecessarily care about who they
know that they are.
It's who it wants them to be,amen.
It is our responsibility as achurch to continue to pray them
through that we don't give upwhen we see somebody go to jail,
do we?
We want to pray them throughthat we don't give up when we
see somebody go to jail, do we?
We want to pray them throughthat we don't give up.
When we see somebody goingthrough a hard time in their
life, we continue to pray themthrough it.
(07:52):
Why are our children anydifferent?
They shouldn't be.
But guess what?
The disciples thought that,didn't they?
Mark chapter 10, verse 13.
It says one day, some parentsbrought their children to Jesus
so he could touch and bless them, but the disciples scolded the
parents for bothering him.
(08:13):
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
When Jesus saw what washappening, he was angry.
Now, this isn't the kind ofangry I get when my kids spill
grape juice on the carpet, right, this is a righteous anger and
he says so.
He said to them let thechildren come to me, don't stop
(08:33):
them, for the kingdom of Godbelongs to those who are like
these children.
I tell you the truth Anyone whodoesn't receive, who doesn't
receive the kingdom of God likea child, will never enter it.
Then he took the children inhis arms and he placed his hands
on their heads and blessed them.
Now Jesus became angry becausethe disciples wanted to stop the
(09:00):
children for coming to him.
And I have a question.
I have a question are we doingthe same thing today?
Does the church try to stop thechildren from coming to Jesus?
We like to talk a big game.
Right, we'll build all thechildren's ministry programs.
(09:21):
Amen, hallelujah.
We won't, because we ain't gotnobody to volunteer for them,
but we'd love to.
Right, we build all of theprograms, we can do the lock-ins
and we can have all of the funstuff for the kids to do, like
all of these amazing blocks.
But do we really want thechildren?
Are we encouraging the childrento come to Jesus?
The answer is simple no.
(09:42):
We want to stop them when it'sinconvenient for us, because I'm
going to tell you, there weresome people that didn't raise
their hands this morning, thatwill never step foot back in the
church because they're likethat guy's crazy, that guy is
crazy.
There was no way I'm going togo there and try to worship when
those kids are acting a fool.
I couldn't hear anything.
(10:02):
I couldn't experience thepresence of the Holy Spirit
because those kids were knockingthose blocks down.
Let spirit.
Because those kids wereknocking those blocks down.
Let me tell you something Ain'tgot nothing to do with them kids
.
Ain't got nothing to do withthem, kids.
Let me ask you something.
Let me ask you something howmany of you sit in your chair
every week and sleep?
(10:23):
How many of you sit in yourchair and don't crack your Bible
?
How many of you will sit inthat chair and complain about my
coffee wasn't hot enough or thebathrooms aren't clean enough?
Everybody will do it, but thesechildren will walk in this
building every Sunday.
Liam said it this morning.
He walked in and he goes.
I like coming to church becauseI have friends here.
Let me tell you something Jesuswants us to come to him with
childlike faith.
(10:44):
This place is not here toentertain you.
This place is not here to makeyou feel good about yourself.
This place is designed to tellyou the truth.
Amen.
This place is designed to.
I don't care, I will not be abarrier for a child to come to
the Lord.
I'm not going to stop, I'm notgoing to stand in their way.
I might not like it, it mightbe uncomfortable, it might feel
(11:05):
weird, right, but I'm going totell you that those children
deserve to be in the presence ofthe Almighty.
Those children deserve to be inthe presence.
Now I'm going to tell yousomething else.
Jamie's here.
Oh good, I was oblivious tothis conversation.
The young adults had a cookoutat Ashley and Andrew's.
(11:27):
Those are always interesting,to say the least.
We didn't get all of us in theroom.
We love it though, right, welove spending time with one
another, but there are a lot ofkids, right, because half of us
have young children.
We put up a water slide.
It was fun, it was a great time.
(11:51):
I was sitting there andoblivious to the conversation,
and I realized that at one point, I was very intentional about
making barriers from childrenbeing able to enter into worship
.
I would actively createbarriers so that they couldn't
be present at some of the eventsand it was the worst
realization.
My wife said to me.
(12:12):
She said did you hear what hesaid?
And I said no.
He said at one point somebodychanged the code on the nursery
door and during worship practicethey couldn't get in to have
the kids.
Now, at worship practice, it wasalways my rule that we didn't
have children.
The reason for that rule was wehad work to do and we didn't
want to be distracted.
Right Now, here's the thingJamie was coming and taking care
(12:39):
of the kids or sleeping.
It just depended on the day,right, jamie, I'm trying to
point fingers and just, thisdude will sleep literally
anywhere, in any position.
He's out, just out.
He's a hard worker, right, buthe was still willing to come
here and care for the childrenso that they could be here.
And I realized that by stoppingthat, by creating that barrier
now I don't know that I changedthe nursery door intentionally
(13:03):
or anything like that, but itwas very clear that we didn't
want children at worshippractice.
That forced him to say if mychildren aren't welcome there,
then I don't want to be there.
Church, did you hear me?
Are we actively telling peoplewe don't want them here because
we don't want to support theirchildren.
Is that what we're saying?
(13:24):
Listen, this church is built onthese kids right now.
Right, there are more of themthan there are of us.
There could be a mutiny rightnow and we're all in trouble If
they decide that they're runningthis place.
We are in trouble, right.
But here's the thing we makethose choices thinking it's for
(13:45):
the good of the kingdom, but thegood of the kingdom is for us
to embrace their childlike faith.
Here's what I remember aboutthose worship practices.
I'm not saying I was wrong inthe moment.
There was intention behind it.
It was good intention.
But when you have thatrealization, when God stirs you
up and makes you realize them, Iwould be.
We would be singing Lion orwhatever the song might be, and
(14:06):
the kids that were typically agroup of two or three girls.
They'd be out in the hallway assoon as that song would start.
Here they'd come and theywanted to be in here because
they wanted to hear that song.
Why are we willing to stop thatfor the benefit of being able
to get through practice?
Right, we need to work harder.
We need to focus better and notworry about somebody else being
(14:28):
able to worship.
Listen, have you ever walked inhere and seen somebody laying
face down on the floor?
Usually it's Holly, my wife andI.
We were talking about last yearat the Christmas party doing
what they call paper plateawards.
Has anybody heard of that?
You just make awards and youwrite them on paper plates, and
I had one that I had decided wasgoing to be for Pastor Holly
(14:51):
most likely to be on her face onthe floor in the sanctuary
Because it's true, but she knowswhat it's like to be in the
presence of the Lord.
Amen, amen.
Here's my question for you.
If she's willing to do that,does it make you uncomfortable?
Listen, I've seen some weirdstuff happen in this place.
I mean, I have seen some stuffthat you can't explain to people
, right?
Do you guys remember when theycast that demon out of Tina
(15:13):
Newman?
Holy Lord, have mercy, right?
I?
Speaker 2 (15:16):
was crying.
I was like I don't know whatelse to do Like there was.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
It was nerve-wracking , right, but I'm going to tell
you something.
You can't explain that tosomebody, but does that mean
that the presence of the HolySpirit wasn't on this place?
He was here, stronger than ever, in that moment.
Why do we try to stop ourchildren from being in the
presence of God?
They're going to learn it.
Do you know what they'relearning this morning?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
They're learning how to play with one another in a
healthy way.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
There are kids of all different ages in here, right,
if our goal is to raise updisciples, listen, older people.
I feel like I'm beating up thismorning.
I'm sorry, legacy members, it'snot my intention.
I understand that we grew up ina church where the kids had to
sit.
They had to be seen and notheard.
Amen, amen.
(16:05):
How many of you were raised likethat?
Whoo?
I was raised to be seen, notheard.
I didn't need to have anopinion, I didn't need to talk
loud, talking loud, running upmy light bill, right?
I ain't trying to.
I ain't trying to get myselfhigh five.
He says no, I'm out the ideathat we have to tell people or
(16:29):
tell people that their kidscan't do this or can't do that.
It's the wrong way to live life.
I'm telling you we can buildprograms where the kids can go
and worship so that it's not adistraction for adults.
But the adults need tounderstand that the kids should
never be a distraction.
They should never be adistraction.
I watched Tanya and Mike andChris come up here and worship
in the midst of the chaos.
(16:50):
In the midst of the chaos, theywere willing to give praise to
God.
The problem we are creatingbarriers for those children to
come to the Lord.
The disciples had goodintentions.
They wanted to protect Jesus'stime right.
They wanted to maintainintegrity in ministry.
(17:11):
I get it.
I get it, but can I tell youthat most of the time the adults
are worse than the children.
It's true, pastor Holly, howmany times do you get stopped in
or out of the prayer room,somebody wanting to tell you
something that you don't need toknow?
After you're under the presenceof God, amen.
When the anointing starts torest, I don't need to know
(17:34):
you're out of coffee.
When the anointing starts torest, I don't need to know about
your relationship problem.
When the anointing starts torest, I need to focus on one
thing, and one thing only, andthat is preaching the word of
God.
That is being able to pray youinto service.
That is being able to lift youup and preach an anointed word
Amen.
But the problem is listen.
(17:55):
Where's she at?
Where's she at?
Listen, I don't remember names.
You guys are no.
Where's she at Right here?
Christy's daughter?
Hey, kinsley, terrible Kinsley,come here.
What do you do every Sunday?
Whenever you see me, hug you,hug me.
Thank you.
(18:15):
That little girl will run up tome every Sunday and hug me, no
matter where I'm at, no matterwhat I'm doing, and you know
what I like that a whole lotbetter than hearing about your
problems, right?
She comes at me with she don'tknow I'm mean yet, she hadn't
figured it out, she hadn'tfigured it out yet.
(18:37):
But she comes at me withchildlike faith.
You guys come at me with yourproblems, listen, that's my job
and I want to support youthrough it and I want to love
you through it.
But at the end of the day, atwhat point do I just get to love
you?
At what point do I just get tosay I support you?
I can't, because every time Isay it, there's something new,
something else piling on topright.
When you go to the Lord, whenyou go to the Father in prayer,
is it, lord, let your will bedone, or is it Lord, let my will
(19:00):
be done?
Because I'm going to tell you Iguarantee none of these kids in
the presence of God telling himwhat they want right Now.
I want to be clear.
There are some things that wecan't let kids do and we're
going to talk about that right.
But what's happening right nowis not hurting any of us, is it
(19:24):
a little bit distracting?
I like JJ standing up hereclapping Like.
I'm going to be honest with you, I'm going to start selling
these seats right here.
Right, these are premium seats.
I'm going to put iPhonechargers up there.
You guys are going to have topay me per charge.
(19:46):
Snacks, snacks, beef, jerky,slim jams, roller meat for
Marcus.
Many churches will fall into asimilar trap.
We say that the children arewelcome, but only if they're
still and they're quiet.
Amen, only if they are stilland they are quiet.
We don't want them in here ifthey're going to be loud or
destructive.
We don't want them in here ifthey're going to be disruptive.
(20:07):
All we want to do is sit andhear worship, listen to the word
, do nothing with it and go home.
Right, how many of us aretaking away from what we've
heard?
How many of us are going homeand studying it out?
So few of us.
(20:30):
Jesus' response was a righteousanger and open arms.
Amen, every time you read thatstory if you don't listen to the
word angry and go.
Man, he had every right.
He had every right.
Jesus didn't just correct thedisciples.
It says that he was angry.
(20:53):
Jesus was frustrated.
Why was he frustrated?
Because they still don't get it.
He has been trying to get themto understand what the kingdom
of heaven is going to be likeand how you enter into the
kingdom of heaven, and they justcouldn't get it.
Every turn it was yeah, butLord, are you sure?
I think he would know.
I think he knows.
(21:14):
I think he's got it figured out.
His words were direct Let thechildren come to me.
He didn't want them to bestopped, he wanted them to be
able to come to him, just not sothat he could bless them, but
so that he could be in theirpresence.
Amen.
He told the disciples thatunless you have childlike faith,
(21:37):
you will not enter the kingdomof heaven.
If our programs and ourservices, our attitudes, if any
of those things at any pointhinder our children's spiritual
growth, we're not doing it right.
We're not doing it right.
So two things, two things.
(21:58):
I will directly apologize toanybody if I have ever put them
in a position where they feltlike their children weren't
welcome here, because I promiseyou, there is nothing greater to
me and my wife than to see thisbuilding full of children,
because if this building is fullof children, it is full of
growing families, If it is fullof growing families.
(22:18):
It is full of the nextgeneration of Jesus Christ.
Amen, and that's what we'relooking for.
Listen, some of us might be ahundred years old and go to
church every Sunday and do ourthings just like we're supposed
to do, and that is wonderful andI love you just the same.
But you have to understand thatthese children are not
inhibiting your ability toworship.
If anything, they should bestrengthening your ability to
(22:40):
worship.
They should be driving youdeeper.
Listen, when you look at one ofthose children and you say that
kid ain't got no shoes.
Look around this, bro.
How many of these kids ain'tgot shoes on right now?
A bunch of them just walkingaround in their socks, some of
them in their bare feet.
Well, actually they're humanfeet, not bare feet, but
regardless, all right, didn't goanywhere.
(23:02):
Jesus flips the narrative andhe says not only are the
children welcome, but they arethe models of the kind of faith
that God wants all of us to have.
Children trust easily, lovefreely.
Again, every time she comes andhugs me, she don't know I'm
mean.
She also don't care, right?
You ever had that kid in arestaurant that just stares at
(23:23):
you.
Jj does it to me on Sundaymornings during worship.
I'll be standing back in thebooth and he just stares at me.
Kid will not give me a highfive to save his life, but he'll
stare at me.
I'm hoping that just someday,without provocation, kid will
not give me a high five to savehis life, but he'll stare at me.
I'm hoping that just someday,without provocation, he'll just
give me a high five.
We'll see he's like one ofthose little circus monkeys that
(23:47):
walk around and you give him aquarter and he gives you a high
five.
Send bucks, geez, I don't needa high five that bad.
So why do we try to forcechildren into an adult-shaped
box?
Why do we look at children andsay they should be mini-adults?
When a child raises their handin worship, even when it's not
(24:10):
an appropriate time, they aredoing what God has called them
to do Amen.
When they're making noise, whenthey're moving around and
they're asking questions, godhas called them to this place
just the same as many of you arecalled here because of the
raising of your children Amen.
Some of you have church shoppedright and you realize that even
(24:35):
with the best kids programs,your kids aren't always welcome.
Listen, the second promise Iwant to make you is your
children will always be welcomein this building, anytime,
anywhere.
Now, sometimes that's going tomean you have to bring child
care right.
Sometimes that means you'regoing to have to call Jamie and
(24:56):
have Jamie come so he can watchit.
He's the best babysitter I'veever seen.
You drop Jamie in the nurserywith all of them kids.
They love him.
I think it's just because hefalls asleep and they draw
mustaches on him and whatnot.
But I don't know, maybe there'sno rules with Jamie.
But my point is we will alwaysfind a way.
We will always find a waybecause we want to raise the
(25:20):
next generation of disciples inthis building Amen.
We don't want to raise themacross the street.
We don't want to just raisethem in our own homes.
We want to, as a community,raise up these children, Amen.
Finn, what are you doing?
Oh, he didn't want to share.
Okay, fair enough.
Sometimes I don't like to shareeither.
(25:42):
When a child says Jesus loves me, when they write it in crayon,
that should warm your heart.
When I ask my children, wheredoes Jesus live?
And they tell me in their heart, it's the best feeling in the
world.
It is the best feeling when youfind out that your kids have
been praying in the car througha storm.
(26:03):
Best feeling in the world.
Best feeling in the world.
Now I'm going to brag on mydaughter for just a second.
There are so many things abouther that you can just say so
wonderfully.
But here's what I've learnedshe is the softest, gentlest,
most loving child you will evermeet.
She will hug you at every turn.
(26:23):
I tell her I love you and shesays I love you more than you
love me.
And I say I love you the most.
And she says no, I love you themost.
And we can do that for 45minutes.
Now that might be her justtrying not to go to bed, I don't
know, but she'll fool you withit, right?
And how do you tell her?
(26:43):
No, she'll come into thekitchen late at night.
She should already be asleepand she's got her.
Do you have your pretty pinkBible with you?
Can I see your pretty pinkBible?
She doesn't come to churchwithout it.
How many of you adults bringyour bible to church?
Oh, oh, she comes out with hermom.
(27:05):
Can we read my bible?
The girl can barely read, butshe reads the word every day.
She doesn't play school, she.
She plays church.
She has Bible studies.
She asks her mom can we start aBible study together?
Guys, my daughter is doingthings that us adults should be
(27:26):
doing, that we aren't willing todo.
Right, she's a child.
I'm going to tell you that sheprobably has more faith than
many of us grown adults sittingin this building today.
Listen, listen, this girl prayslike I ain't never heard before
.
When we pray before dinner, wehave family dinner almost every
(27:46):
night and one of us say grace,my boys, thank you for this food
.
Bless the hands that preparedit.
Amen, right, not sissy.
Bless it to the nourishment ofour body.
Bless the hands that haveprepared it.
She is sweet and kind andgenuine, and I realize that when
you see those qualities abouther, it is not because she's
(28:08):
been taught that throughphysical teaching.
She has seen it in her mother.
She has seen it in her mother.
She has seen it in her mother.
And then I have a realizationthat sometimes what I see in her
(28:29):
is so valuable because theworld is not going to afford her
that same love.
The world is not going to allowher that same love.
The world is not going to allowher to be centered on Christ.
It is always going to force herto be centered on it.
Amen.
What does the world want fromher?
What does the world expect herto look like?
(28:50):
How does the world expect herto dress?
How does the world expect herto behave?
Amen, and I pray every day thatthe world never gets a grip in
her life, because that childlikeinnocence is exactly what I
want to model my life after.
When I hear her pray, I think,man, I wish I could pray like
that.
When I hear her speak to peoplewith listen, this was the
(29:13):
moment that I realized how muchmy daughter actually loves me,
not just as her dad, but as hercaregiver, as her comfort.
Her hamster got out of the cage.
Sissy got a hamster.
Her name is Sophia.
She forgot that she had takenone of the stops out of Sophia's
cage and Sophia got loose inthe house.
(29:35):
Of the stops out of Sophia'scage and Sophia got loose in the
house, I got a call while I wasat work, or a text while I was
at work that Sophia was loose.
I left work immediately andwent home to find Sophia.
We looked, couldn't find her.
We looked some more, wecouldn't find her.
We finally said we'll wait tillthis evening when she starts to
move around.
Certainly we'll hear her.
(29:57):
I couldn't stand it it because Icould just tell she was
brokenhearted that this hamsterwas gone.
They were convinced that shehad gone down the register and
she was dead and gone forever.
They were convinced, so IGoogled it.
She couldn't fit down theregister.
So I was slightly morecomfortable and while they were
doing schoolwork I decided totake a break and I went looking
again and I walked into herbedroom and I pulled out one of
(30:19):
her bins where her toys are at,and sure enough, there was that
hamster.
Sure enough, there was thathamster.
I went and I picked her up andI dropped her off and I said to
him I said we're going to puther back in her cage and we're
going to let her rest Becauseshe's scared.
She hadn't slept all night.
We put her.
with building for just a little bit, okay, but I
promise you're gonna get to comeup and build again.
But before you go back to yourseats, I have something for all
of you.
Clean it up.
No, you don't have to clean itup.
Look, easton knows my trick.
I've got a surprise.
Clean it up, a parody, oneGoldfish.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Goldfish.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you.
One for you, one for you.
Why do you have two?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
fingers up.
Oh, you need one for Liam too.
One for you, one for you.
One for you, one for you.
Baby doesn't need one.
Right, there you go.
Is that everybody?
Dan needs one.
No, I'm kidding.
(00:59):
Did you get one, noah?
Oh, we got goldfish.
I got a table.
She says I got a table.
Did I miss anybody?
Finn won't eat them.
He won't eat them.
Well, that's because you guyswere being too good.
(01:19):
Is that everybody?
I was going to say some of theadults are a little bit
disappointed this morning, Iknow.
Well, I have to be honest withyou.
I realized something thismorning during worship.
(01:42):
What I did to you guys thismorning may have felt unfair to
some of you Hold on, I can'teven get my iPad to work.
It may have felt slightlyunfair because you felt like you
couldn't appreciate musicministry for what it was because
of the chaos that was going on.
Did anybody feel that way?
And it's okay if you felt thatway.
There is no shame in that.
Here's what I realized about me.
It made me worship louder Rightin that.
(02:08):
Here's what I realized about me.
It made me worship louder rightBecause there was chaos going
on around me and I was standingin it.
I intentionally stood in it soI could hear it, but I had to
worship through it.
I had to worship louder.
Guys, life is not quiet.
The enemy will never be quiet.
He is always going to bepushing and prying and creating
chaos in your life.
Guess what?
You're going to have to worshipa little bit louder.
(02:28):
You're going to have to worshipthrough it.
You are going to have to standfirm on what you know God wants
from you.
He doesn't want you to give upbecause there was a kid standing
next to you crying.
How many times did JJ cry thismorning?
A handful.
You know what?
We found ways to fix it, didn'twe?
Didn't we?
I'm not saying there's anythingwrong with him crying.
(02:49):
I'm saying his mom will too.
Yeah, and I'm scared of her mom.
I ain't scared of his aunt, I'mscared of his mom, though I
realized she said she's crazy.
We already knew that, but nowit's on recording.
Well, both of them, but she wastalking about mom specifically.
(03:11):
Here's what I realized when Iwas standing there worshiping
and I had to worship louder Irealized that those kids were
not hurting anything.
Is anybody bleeding?
No, is anybody bleeding?
Did anybody lose a limb?
No, we are all okay, aren't we?
We made it through it.
(03:32):
Congratulations.
You survived chaos.
Can I tell you that if you aresitting here today, you have a
hundred percent success rate ofliving through chaos?
A hundred.
If you are sitting here today,you have successfully lived
through chaos 100% of the timein your life.
Have any of us lived a lifethat hasn't felt chaotic?
Have any of us lived a lifethat hasn't felt like there's
(03:54):
something wrong all the time?
I doubt it.
I doubt it, but I'm telling youGod is doing something through
these children.
Take these kids out of thesanctuary, we lose half the
congregation, right, we losehalf the congregation.
What is our responsibility asChristians?
To build disciples.
(04:15):
What are we doing every Sunday?
When we walk into this building, we are building disciples, not
just with each other, but withthe children in our building.
I have to tell you that Emmettrecently has found favor with
Pastor Rod over at DenisonFoursquare, which is good,
(04:39):
because he needs somebodybesides his dad who can
spiritually lead him.
Amen, because dads give advice,but sometimes it's dad advice
and not spiritual advice.
Is that fair?
Amen.
And so every year, emmett goesto camp and he goes with the
Denison kids, because we don'tusually have enough to send them
.
And, frankly, I ain't camping.
If I'm on camp it's going to bein a motel, six right, it's
(05:02):
still got to have some level ofair conditioning.
I don't do tents, I don't evenknow if I'd do a camper at this
point, but Emmett goes to campevery year and every year he
gets the top banana award in hisbunk.
Emmett, you're what?
Three for three when you atThree for three, that's okay,
(05:23):
three for three.
That he has gotten top banana,I love it.
And what I realized in that time?
He was building a relationshipwith somebody who was going to
instill the word of God in hisheart Amen.
And so Pastor Rod has reallytaken a liking to him.
And at the end of last camp hesaid to me he's like, hey, do
(05:44):
you mind if I pick Emmett up andtake him to get a cheeseburger
sometime or just take him out?
And I said, no, we would lovethat.
Emmett said to me yesterdayI've got Pastor Rod on my watch
now he's got a kid's watch thatonly allows him to call people
that we've programmed into thephone.
I'm not sure how that happened.
I assume that my wife did it.
But now he can call Pastor Rodanytime he wants.
(06:05):
Thank you, jesus, thank you.
I am thankful to have somebodyin my life that's also willing
to be in the lives of mychildren, to raise them up in
the way in which they should go,amen.
Now, the beauty is, they calledat the last minute because they
were going on this chocolatefactory tour and one of their
kids dropped out and they had anextra spot it had already been
(06:26):
paid for.
They're like does Emmett wantto go?
Do you know how valuable thatis, to be able to know that he
is in trusted hands and that heis going to be well taken care
of?
Listen, it is theresponsibility of each and every
one.
Some of you have already raisedyour children, amen.
How many of you have alreadyraised your children and they're
out of the house, right?
(06:46):
Okay, that's wonderful, but yousee, all of these kids.
We need your help.
We need your help.
There are a lot of them here.
Listen, we should be raisingthese children up in the way in
which they should go, whichmeans we should be instilling in
them biblical truth, right?
We should be able to teach themthe way that the Lord would
(07:09):
have them to go, and then theywill never depart from him.
Here's the challenge.
Each and every one of us knowthat at some point in most of
these kids' lives they will, infact walk away.
It is not because they don'tlove Jesus, it's not because
they don't know who Jesus is.
It's because they're trying tonavigate a very broken world,
(07:30):
amen, a world that doesn'tnecessarily care about who they
know that they are.
It's who it wants them to be,amen.
It is our responsibility as achurch to continue to pray them
through that we don't give upwhen we see somebody go to jail,
do we?
We want to pray them throughthat we don't give up when we
see somebody go to jail, do we?
We want to pray them throughthat we don't give up.
When we see somebody goingthrough a hard time in their
life, we continue to pray themthrough it.
(07:52):
Why are our children anydifferent?
They shouldn't be.
But guess what?
The disciples thought that,didn't they?
Mark chapter 10, verse 13.
It says one day, some parentsbrought their children to Jesus
so he could touch and bless them, but the disciples scolded the
parents for bothering him.
(08:13):
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
When Jesus saw what washappening, he was angry.
Now, this isn't the kind ofangry I get when my kids spill
grape juice on the carpet, right, this is a righteous anger and
he says so.
He said to them let thechildren come to me, don't stop
(08:33):
them, for the kingdom of Godbelongs to those who are like
these children.
I tell you the truth Anyone whodoesn't receive, who doesn't
receive the kingdom of God likea child, will never enter it.
Then he took the children inhis arms and he placed his hands
on their heads and blessed them.
Now Jesus became angry becausethe disciples wanted to stop the
(09:00):
children for coming to him.
And I have a question.
I have a question are we doingthe same thing today?
Does the church try to stop thechildren from coming to Jesus?
We like to talk a big game.
Right, we'll build all thechildren's ministry programs.
(09:21):
Amen, hallelujah.
We won't, because we ain't gotnobody to volunteer for them,
but we'd love to.
Right, we build all of theprograms, we can do the lock-ins
and we can have all of the funstuff for the kids to do, like
all of these amazing blocks.
But do we really want thechildren?
Are we encouraging the childrento come to Jesus?
The answer is simple no.
(09:42):
We want to stop them when it'sinconvenient for us, because I'm
going to tell you, there weresome people that didn't raise
their hands this morning, thatwill never step foot back in the
church because they're likethat guy's crazy, that guy is
crazy.
There was no way I'm going togo there and try to worship when
those kids are acting a fool.
I couldn't hear anything.
(10:02):
I couldn't experience thepresence of the Holy Spirit
because those kids were knockingthose blocks down.
Let spirit.
Because those kids wereknocking those blocks down.
Let me tell you something Ain'tgot nothing to do with them kids
.
Ain't got nothing to do withthem, kids.
Let me ask you something.
Let me ask you something howmany of you sit in your chair
every week and sleep?
(10:23):
How many of you sit in yourchair and don't crack your Bible
?
How many of you will sit inthat chair and complain about my
coffee wasn't hot enough or thebathrooms aren't clean enough?
Everybody will do it, but thesechildren will walk in this
building every Sunday.
Liam said it this morning.
He walked in and he goes.
I like coming to church becauseI have friends here.
Let me tell you something Jesuswants us to come to him with
childlike faith.
(10:44):
This place is not here toentertain you.
This place is not here to makeyou feel good about yourself.
This place is designed to tellyou the truth.
Amen.
This place is designed to.
I don't care, I will not be abarrier for a child to come to
the Lord.
I'm not going to stop, I'm notgoing to stand in their way.
I might not like it, it mightbe uncomfortable, it might feel
(11:05):
weird, right, but I'm going totell you that those children
deserve to be in the presence ofthe Almighty.
Those children deserve to be inthe presence.
Now I'm going to tell yousomething else.
Jamie's here.
Oh good, I was oblivious tothis conversation.
The young adults had a cookoutat Ashley and Andrew's.
(11:27):
Those are always interesting,to say the least.
We didn't get all of us in theroom.
We love it though, right, welove spending time with one
another, but there are a lot ofkids, right, because half of us
have young children.
We put up a water slide.
It was fun, it was a great time.
(11:51):
I was sitting there andoblivious to the conversation,
and I realized that at one point, I was very intentional about
making barriers from childrenbeing able to enter into worship
.
I would actively createbarriers so that they couldn't
be present at some of the eventsand it was the worst
realization.
My wife said to me.
(12:12):
She said did you hear what hesaid?
And I said no.
He said at one point somebodychanged the code on the nursery
door and during worship practicethey couldn't get in to have
the kids.
Now, at worship practice, it wasalways my rule that we didn't
have children.
The reason for that rule was wehad work to do and we didn't
want to be distracted.
Right Now, here's the thingJamie was coming and taking care
(12:39):
of the kids or sleeping.
It just depended on the day,right, jamie, I'm trying to
point fingers and just, thisdude will sleep literally
anywhere, in any position.
He's out, just out.
He's a hard worker, right, buthe was still willing to come
here and care for the childrenso that they could be here.
And I realized that by stoppingthat, by creating that barrier
now I don't know that I changedthe nursery door intentionally
(13:03):
or anything like that, but itwas very clear that we didn't
want children at worshippractice.
That forced him to say if mychildren aren't welcome there,
then I don't want to be there.
Church, did you hear me?
Are we actively telling peoplewe don't want them here because
we don't want to support theirchildren.
Is that what we're saying?
(13:24):
Listen, this church is built onthese kids right now.
Right, there are more of themthan there are of us.
There could be a mutiny rightnow and we're all in trouble If
they decide that they're runningthis place.
We are in trouble, right.
But here's the thing we makethose choices thinking it's for
(13:45):
the good of the kingdom, but thegood of the kingdom is for us
to embrace their childlike faith.
Here's what I remember aboutthose worship practices.
I'm not saying I was wrong inthe moment.
There was intention behind it.
It was good intention.
But when you have thatrealization, when God stirs you
up and makes you realize them, Iwould be.
We would be singing Lion orwhatever the song might be, and
(14:06):
the kids that were typically agroup of two or three girls.
They'd be out in the hallway assoon as that song would start.
Here they'd come and theywanted to be in here because
they wanted to hear that song.
Why are we willing to stop thatfor the benefit of being able
to get through practice?
Right, we need to work harder.
We need to focus better and notworry about somebody else being
(14:28):
able to worship.
Listen, have you ever walked inhere and seen somebody laying
face down on the floor?
Usually it's Holly, my wife andI.
We were talking about last yearat the Christmas party doing
what they call paper plateawards.
Has anybody heard of that?
You just make awards and youwrite them on paper plates, and
I had one that I had decided wasgoing to be for Pastor Holly
(14:51):
most likely to be on her face onthe floor in the sanctuary
Because it's true, but she knowswhat it's like to be in the
presence of the Lord.
Amen, amen.
Here's my question for you.
If she's willing to do that,does it make you uncomfortable?
Listen, I've seen some weirdstuff happen in this place.
I mean, I have seen some stuffthat you can't explain to people
, right?
Do you guys remember when theycast that demon out of Tina
(15:13):
Newman?
Holy Lord, have mercy, right?
I?
Speaker 2 (15:16):
was crying.
I was like I don't know whatelse to do Like there was.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
It was nerve-wracking , right, but I'm going to tell
you something.
You can't explain that tosomebody, but does that mean
that the presence of the HolySpirit wasn't on this place?
He was here, stronger than ever, in that moment.
Why do we try to stop ourchildren from being in the
presence of God?
They're going to learn it.
Do you know what they'relearning this morning?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
They're learning how to play with one another in a
healthy way.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
There are kids of all different ages in here, right,
if our goal is to raise updisciples, listen, older people.
I feel like I'm beating up thismorning.
I'm sorry, legacy members, it'snot my intention.
I understand that we grew up ina church where the kids had to
sit.
They had to be seen and notheard.
Amen, amen.
(16:05):
How many of you were raised likethat?
Whoo?
I was raised to be seen, notheard.
I didn't need to have anopinion, I didn't need to talk
loud, talking loud, running upmy light bill, right?
I ain't trying to.
I ain't trying to get myselfhigh five.
He says no, I'm out the ideathat we have to tell people or
(16:29):
tell people that their kidscan't do this or can't do that.
It's the wrong way to live life.
I'm telling you we can buildprograms where the kids can go
and worship so that it's not adistraction for adults.
But the adults need tounderstand that the kids should
never be a distraction.
They should never be adistraction.
I watched Tanya and Mike andChris come up here and worship
in the midst of the chaos.
(16:50):
In the midst of the chaos, theywere willing to give praise to
God.
The problem we are creatingbarriers for those children to
come to the Lord.
The disciples had goodintentions.
They wanted to protect Jesus'stime right.
They wanted to maintainintegrity in ministry.
(17:11):
I get it.
I get it, but can I tell youthat most of the time the adults
are worse than the children.
It's true, pastor Holly, howmany times do you get stopped in
or out of the prayer room,somebody wanting to tell you
something that you don't need toknow?
After you're under the presenceof God, amen.
When the anointing starts torest, I don't need to know
(17:34):
you're out of coffee.
When the anointing starts torest, I don't need to know about
your relationship problem.
When the anointing starts torest, I need to focus on one
thing, and one thing only, andthat is preaching the word of
God.
That is being able to pray youinto service.
That is being able to lift youup and preach an anointed word
Amen.
But the problem is listen.
(17:55):
Where's she at?
Where's she at?
Listen, I don't remember names.
You guys are no.
Where's she at Right here?
Christy's daughter?
Hey, kinsley, terrible Kinsley,come here.
What do you do every Sunday?
Whenever you see me, hug you,hug me.
Thank you.
(18:15):
That little girl will run up tome every Sunday and hug me, no
matter where I'm at, no matterwhat I'm doing, and you know
what I like that a whole lotbetter than hearing about your
problems, right?
She comes at me with she don'tknow I'm mean yet, she hadn't
figured it out, she hadn'tfigured it out yet.
(18:37):
But she comes at me withchildlike faith.
You guys come at me with yourproblems, listen, that's my job
and I want to support youthrough it and I want to love
you through it.
But at the end of the day, atwhat point do I just get to love
you?
At what point do I just get tosay I support you?
I can't, because every time Isay it, there's something new,
something else piling on topright.
When you go to the Lord, whenyou go to the Father in prayer,
is it, lord, let your will bedone, or is it Lord, let my will
(19:00):
be done?
Because I'm going to tell you Iguarantee none of these kids in
the presence of God telling himwhat they want right Now.
I want to be clear.
There are some things that wecan't let kids do and we're
going to talk about that right.
But what's happening right nowis not hurting any of us, is it
(19:24):
a little bit distracting?
I like JJ standing up hereclapping Like.
I'm going to be honest with you, I'm going to start selling
these seats right here.
Right, these are premium seats.
I'm going to put iPhonechargers up there.
You guys are going to have topay me per charge.
(19:46):
Snacks, snacks, beef, jerky,slim jams, roller meat for
Marcus.
Many churches will fall into asimilar trap.
We say that the children arewelcome, but only if they're
still and they're quiet.
Amen, only if they are stilland they are quiet.
We don't want them in here ifthey're going to be loud or
destructive.
We don't want them in here ifthey're going to be disruptive.
(20:07):
All we want to do is sit andhear worship, listen to the word
, do nothing with it and go home.
Right, how many of us aretaking away from what we've
heard?
How many of us are going homeand studying it out?
So few of us.
(20:30):
Jesus' response was a righteousanger and open arms.
Amen, every time you read thatstory if you don't listen to the
word angry and go.
Man, he had every right.
He had every right.
Jesus didn't just correct thedisciples.
It says that he was angry.
(20:53):
Jesus was frustrated.
Why was he frustrated?
Because they still don't get it.
He has been trying to get themto understand what the kingdom
of heaven is going to be likeand how you enter into the
kingdom of heaven, and they justcouldn't get it.
Every turn it was yeah, butLord, are you sure?
I think he would know.
I think he knows.
(21:14):
I think he's got it figured out.
His words were direct Let thechildren come to me.
He didn't want them to bestopped, he wanted them to be
able to come to him, just not sothat he could bless them, but
so that he could be in theirpresence.
Amen.
He told the disciples thatunless you have childlike faith,
(21:37):
you will not enter the kingdomof heaven.
If our programs and ourservices, our attitudes, if any
of those things at any pointhinder our children's spiritual
growth, we're not doing it right.
We're not doing it right.
So two things, two things.
(21:58):
I will directly apologize toanybody if I have ever put them
in a position where they feltlike their children weren't
welcome here, because I promiseyou, there is nothing greater to
me and my wife than to see thisbuilding full of children,
because if this building is fullof children, it is full of
growing families, If it is fullof growing families.
(22:18):
It is full of the nextgeneration of Jesus Christ.
Amen, and that's what we'relooking for.
Listen, some of us might be ahundred years old and go to
church every Sunday and do ourthings just like we're supposed
to do, and that is wonderful andI love you just the same.
But you have to understand thatthese children are not
inhibiting your ability toworship.
If anything, they should bestrengthening your ability to
(22:40):
worship.
They should be driving youdeeper.
Listen, when you look at one ofthose children and you say that
kid ain't got no shoes.
Look around this, bro.
How many of these kids ain'tgot shoes on right now?
A bunch of them just walkingaround in their socks, some of
them in their bare feet.
Well, actually they're humanfeet, not bare feet, but
regardless, all right, didn't goanywhere.
(23:02):
Jesus flips the narrative andhe says not only are the
children welcome, but they arethe models of the kind of faith
that God wants all of us to have.
Children trust easily, lovefreely.
Again, every time she comes andhugs me, she don't know I'm
mean.
She also don't care, right?
You ever had that kid in arestaurant that just stares at
(23:23):
you.
Jj does it to me on Sundaymornings during worship.
I'll be standing back in thebooth and he just stares at me.
Kid will not give me a highfive to save his life, but he'll
stare at me.
I'm hoping that just someday,without provocation, kid will
not give me a high five to savehis life, but he'll stare at me.
I'm hoping that just someday,without provocation, he'll just
give me a high five.
We'll see he's like one ofthose little circus monkeys that
(23:47):
walk around and you give him aquarter and he gives you a high
five.
Send bucks, geez, I don't needa high five that bad.
So why do we try to forcechildren into an adult-shaped
box?
Why do we look at children andsay they should be mini-adults?
When a child raises their handin worship, even when it's not
(24:10):
an appropriate time, they aredoing what God has called them
to do Amen.
When they're making noise, whenthey're moving around and
they're asking questions, godhas called them to this place
just the same as many of you arecalled here because of the
raising of your children Amen.
Some of you have church shoppedright and you realize that even
(24:35):
with the best kids programs,your kids aren't always welcome.
Listen, the second promise Iwant to make you is your
children will always be welcomein this building, anytime,
anywhere.
Now, sometimes that's going tomean you have to bring child
care right.
Sometimes that means you'regoing to have to call Jamie and
(24:56):
have Jamie come so he can watchit.
He's the best babysitter I'veever seen.
You drop Jamie in the nurserywith all of them kids.
They love him.
I think it's just because hefalls asleep and they draw
mustaches on him and whatnot.
But I don't know, maybe there'sno rules with Jamie.
But my point is we will alwaysfind a way.
We will always find a waybecause we want to raise the
(25:20):
next generation of disciples inthis building Amen.
We don't want to raise themacross the street.
We don't want to just raisethem in our own homes.
We want to, as a community,raise up these children, Amen.
Finn, what are you doing?
Oh, he didn't want to share.
Okay, fair enough.
Sometimes I don't like to shareeither.
(25:42):
When a child says Jesus loves me, when they write it in crayon,
that should warm your heart.
When I ask my children, wheredoes Jesus live?
And they tell me in their heart, it's the best feeling in the
world.
It is the best feeling when youfind out that your kids have
been praying in the car througha storm.
(26:03):
Best feeling in the world.
Best feeling in the world.
Now I'm going to brag on mydaughter for just a second.
There are so many things abouther that you can just say so
wonderfully.
But here's what I've learnedshe is the softest, gentlest,
most loving child you will evermeet.
She will hug you at every turn.
(26:23):
I tell her I love you and shesays I love you more than you
love me.
And I say I love you the most.
And she says no, I love you themost.
And we can do that for 45minutes.
Now that might be her justtrying not to go to bed, I don't
know, but she'll fool you withit, right?
And how do you tell her?
(26:43):
No, she'll come into thekitchen late at night.
She should already be asleepand she's got her.
Do you have your pretty pinkBible with you?
Can I see your pretty pinkBible?
She doesn't come to churchwithout it.
How many of you adults bringyour bible to church?
Oh, oh, she comes out with hermom.
(27:05):
Can we read my bible?
The girl can barely read, butshe reads the word every day.
She doesn't play school, she.
She plays church.
She has Bible studies.
She asks her mom can we start aBible study together?
Guys, my daughter is doingthings that us adults should be
(27:26):
doing, that we aren't willing todo.
Right, she's a child.
I'm going to tell you that sheprobably has more faith than
many of us grown adults sittingin this building today.
Listen, listen, this girl prayslike I ain't never heard before
.
When we pray before dinner, wehave family dinner almost every
(27:46):
night and one of us say grace,my boys, thank you for this food
.
Bless the hands that preparedit.
Amen, right, not sissy.
Bless it to the nourishment ofour body.
Bless the hands that haveprepared it.
She is sweet and kind andgenuine, and I realize that when
you see those qualities abouther, it is not because she's
(28:08):
been taught that throughphysical teaching.
She has seen it in her mother.
She has seen it in her mother.
She has seen it in her mother.
And then I have a realizationthat sometimes what I see in her
(28:29):
is so valuable because theworld is not going to afford her
that same love.
The world is not going to allowher that same love.
The world is not going to allowher to be centered on Christ.
It is always going to force herto be centered on it.
Amen.
What does the world want fromher?
What does the world expect herto look like?
(28:50):
How does the world expect herto dress?
How does the world expect herto behave?
Amen, and I pray every day thatthe world never gets a grip in
her life, because that childlikeinnocence is exactly what I
want to model my life after.
When I hear her pray, I think,man, I wish I could pray like
that.
When I hear her speak to peoplewith listen, this was the
(29:13):
moment that I realized how muchmy daughter actually loves me,
not just as her dad, but as hercaregiver, as her comfort.
Her hamster got out of the cage.
Sissy got a hamster.
Her name is Sophia.
She forgot that she had takenone of the stops out of Sophia's
cage and Sophia got loose inthe house.
(29:35):
Of the stops out of Sophia'scage and Sophia got loose in the
house, I got a call while I wasat work, or a text while I was
at work that Sophia was loose.
I left work immediately andwent home to find Sophia.
We looked, couldn't find her.
We looked some more, wecouldn't find her.
We finally said we'll wait tillthis evening when she starts to
move around.
Certainly we'll hear her.
(29:57):
I couldn't stand it it because Icould just tell she was
brokenhearted that this hamsterwas gone.
They were convinced that shehad gone down the register and
she was dead and gone forever.
They were convinced, so IGoogled it.
She couldn't fit down theregister.
So I was slightly morecomfortable and while they were
doing schoolwork I decided totake a break and I went looking
again and I walked into herbedroom and I pulled out one of
(30:19):
her bins where her toys are at,and sure enough, there was that
hamster.
Sure enough, there was thathamster.
I went and I picked her up andI dropped her off and I said to
him I said we're going to puther back in her cage and we're
going to let her rest Becauseshe's scared.
She hadn't slept all night.
We put her.
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