The Truth About This Sunday

This weekend may very well be just another weekend for you – not so different than the one that came before or the ones to come.  It may be a weekend just like any other in your life.  Saturday, you’ll spend some time preparing for your Sunday lesson.  You’ll get a good night’s sleep Saturday to be ready for the kids in your children’s ministry on Sunday morning.  You’ll get up Sunday morning, get the family fed and ready to go, head off to church, and do your part in your church’s children’s ministry.  After church, you’ll socialize for a little bit then head out to lunch with the family before heading home for some heavy duty relaxation on Sunday afternoon.  For you, it will be just another Sunday.

However, to the kids you minister to, this may be just another weekend for them too.  What they call “normal” however might make your stomach churn.  He will come to church after a morning of hiding from his parents so that they can’t inflict anymore physical pain on him.  She will come to church with Mom and Mom’s new boyfriend who she doesn’t really like and isn’t all that comfortable around.  He will come to church suffering emotional trauma because he is convinced that his parents split up because of something he did.  She will come to church mourning the loss of her favorite grandparent.  He will come to church hungry.  She will come to church not knowing where she will sleep that night.  He will come to church never having known what true love really is.  She will come to church afraid that someone, somehow, will discover her secret.

But, when God crosses your “normal Sunday” with their “normal Sunday” the result can be extraordinary.  Where God gets involved, you have anything but “normal.” This Sunday, you could be the one who introduces that child to his heavenly father.  You could be the one who God allows the privilege of shining the light of his unconditional love into a child’s life.  You could be the one that God works through to bring that child into his kingdom.  You could be an eyewitness to the of miracle transformation as God gently lifts a broken soul and transforms it into a co-heir with Christ.  This Sunday could be a whole lot more than “just another Sunday.”

Every Sunday, those of us who work in Children’s Ministry are blessed with the opportunity to serve God’s kids and teach them about him.  Shame on us if we ever view that opportunity as a burden or as “just another Sunday.”  We are also given a tremendous amount of responsibility in teaching God’s children and leading them towards him.  The work we do every Sunday is anything but ordinary, and we should approach it with the excitement that lies in the possibility and hope that comes through God.  And, we should approach it in reverent fear of our creator that we would not abuse or neglect the responsibility that he has graced us with.  What will you do this weekend to make sure that it is not “just another weekend?”  This Sunday could be the day that a child’s life changes for eternity!

Related posts:

1. Book Review: Truth and Grace Memory Book (Edited by Thomas K. Ascol)