What Christmas is All About

In September we began a youth group for elementary kids. As it started, I expected four kids. My two, and two others. We just moved here this summer and my kids had no friends to invite. Those two others invited their friends though, and some of those friends because as consistent as the pastor’s kids. Then one of those kids invited one of their friends who started coming regularly. We were growing slowly but surely.

As we began to approach Christmas, a retired teacher saw the potential of the kids who came to worship. We began working on lines for a Christmas play. Our regulars to junior group committed to coming on Sunday morning to practice alongside some kids who came to worship every other Sunday.

Then, on our very last practice the mom of these little boys brought their friend who had started coming to junior group. Could he be part of the play? Yes! We found him a spot.

Yesterday was the day. I got up early and headed to church nervous for them. Guess who was the first family through that door? Yep, it was that little boy who had joined the cast at our last practice with his dad and two younger brothers. As the rest of the cast arrived, they went into the nursery to make sure these little brothers had someone to play with. Another dad joined them to make sure the dad was welcomed too. Then two wonderful women joined them to watch the boys until the play began.

Siblings, grandchildren and cousins all filled the pews to watch the good news shared by our kids. They did great as they shared what Christmas is all about. But before worship even started, they had already shared what Christmas is all about when they invited their friends and made sure new people belonged.

My husband, reflecting on this Sunday, shared the truth that for most of these kids, they wouldn’t have had this chance at a mega-church. Sure, some of them would. But for those who are not theater geeks, whose parents work on weekends, who didn’t become part of the cast until the last practice, this chance to welcome their parents into their church wouldn’t have happened. These kids needed a church flexible  enough to make space for them.

I am really proud of our church kids. Not because of their acting and singing skills (yes they were great!) but for the way they welcomed people into their church family and for their willingness to do scary things for God.  I think that if they keep on doing those two things, God will keep giving them new kids to welcome. I pray that us adults can do those two things too. I pray that we can help these kids’ parents belong at Tanner Valley UMC. I pray that we can do scary things for God. If we can do those two things, we may find we too have room to grow. We may discover what Christmas is all about.  

A Reckless Love

“Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah”

–lyrics to Reckless Love of God

The kids and I were listening to this song last night, and my son asked about that lyric, “leaves the ninety-nine.” It’s a strange text without a little context. The Ninety-Nine refers to a story Jesus tells in the gospel of Luke. Jesus is being criticized by the temple leadership for wasting his time with what they would consider faithless people. Jesus tells three stories in a row, all with similar plot lines. In one, he tells of a farmer who leaves 99 of his sheep in open country to go rescue one lost sheep. Jesus says this is how God’s love is. Jesus doesn’t look at these people as riffraff, but as people who don’t yet know how much God loves them and desires them to be part of God’s family. Jesus chooses to love them, to spend his time and energy on them, even if it means sacrificing time at the temple. It is a reckless act to those in the temple. It after all is not how ministry is done.

               As I explained this to the kids, we ended up talking about some of the “reckless” ministry our family has been part of in La Fontaine. Ministry that wasn’t always approved of, but was vital to reach those who didn’t know how much God loved them.

               Then as we were going to school this morning, we heard another song on the radio that took on a whole different meaning. 

I wish somebody would have told me babe
Someday, these will be the good old days
All the love you won't forget
And all these reckless nights you won't regret
Someday soon, your whole life's gonna change
You'll miss the magic of these good old days

-lyrics to Good Old Days

            This morning a line popped out in this song. I bet you guess which one, right? “And all these reckless nights you won't regret.” It felt like a heavenly confirmation that those nights of recklessly loving people outside our church doors won’t be regretted.

With every move, there are things that are hard to let go, but there are moments when God whispers, “I’ve got this.” When you know that the risks you took for God’s kingdom really were worth it. When you know no matter what the future holds, God has transformed hearts and minds through your offering of love.

If we are really doing what Jesus did and loving people, people who are often hard to love, we are going to have some reckless nights. We are going to take some risks. We are probably going to have some people tell us we did it wrong. But God tells us,  we won’t regret those reckless nights when we go looking for that one lost sheep.

Because They are Loved

I don't often get a chance to verbally reflect with my leaders after KICK. Usually, we are busy getting registration forms for new kids, cleaning up, and supervising the kids staying for Wednesday Worship. Yesterday, my husband came to help, so after Wednesday Worship and spaghetti, I got a chance to talk to somebody about it.

KICK is an afterschool program that meets every other week at LaFontaine UMC. Since 2014 the program, more than a decade old, has grown from 12 students to 43 students per meeting. The program offers an afterschool snack, Bible lesson, craft, active game, and singing. One of the sources of our growth has been a much higher retention rate of students. Kids try it once and keep coming back. They invite their friends. If we can get one kid in a classroom excited, it often isn’t long before we have a quarter of that class coming.

The part that Nick and I reflected on is how not-big-church the program is. I mean, we don’t have top notch equipment and often have to yell over 40 kids in a cement room. We don’t use a kit for curriculum. I write the lessons, the craft person finds the craft on Pinterest, and the games rarely have props. The songs are the same ones I was singing 30 years ago, and probably my mother was singing when she was a child. They are led acapella, usually after I have lost my voice due to the lack of sound equipment downstairs.

I would not use the term “cool” for our crew of adult volunteers. A couple grandparents, a couple moms, and a couple of single adults with chronic diseases. No one would look at any of us and be like, “I bet they were really popular when they were in high school.” None of us are particularly gifted when it comes to working with kids. We aren’t people who are professionally trained to work with kids like teachers or daycare workers. We are just a bunch of nerds who think it’s important to share Jesus with the next generation. That is it.

The kind term we use these days for a program like KICK is that it is “grassroots.” It doesn’t have any of the glitz of well-polished productions. It’s not perfect. No one would use it for a marketing program. So…how in the world are we growing? Why do kids keep coming back? Why do they invite their friends? I asked Nick this question, after reflecting on all of the glitches of the afternoon. 

He said, “They keep coming because they are loved.” 

I think he’s right. The kids don’t come to KICK because it is the kind of program that Christianity Today would run an article about. They come to experience the love of God. They don’t love the leaders because we are cool. They love us because we love them. They love us because we care about them so much that we show up to love them despite being amateurs. They don’t care that we meet in an old basement, on antique chairs, and sing acapella. They hear their stories in the Bible. Not just stories about miracles and heroes, but stories about people who were forgotten. They learn about being kind, being seen, and being loved.

That is what makes KICK a success.They keep coming because they are loved.

Making Disciples through VBS

We had a great week of VBS full of God encounters and making disciples.

When we talk about making disciple of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, there are four things we do that we know produce authentic disciples. Those are Worship, Intentionally Develop Faith in Small Groups, Serve Others, and Make New Disciples. All of those things happened through VBS this year.

Serve Others. Fifteen adults, including Hattie, served the children of our community this year and showed the love that marks our faith with those kids. Patricia was so caring, she even had a little boy ask about her marital status! Service is never just a one-way street, though. Older kids helped younger kids cross the street and partnered up with them for activities.

Small Groups. Small groups are all about intentionally developing our faith. The kids learned how God gives us hope, special abilities, forgiveness, and family this week. We ate together, played together, and learned together, and prayed for each other. In fact, one of our rough-and-tumble kindergarten boys offered a prayer for Von when he had to leave to take care of his sick mother. We all learned that this little boy’s gift is prayer!

Make New Disciples. Monday night we only had 7 kids at VBS, so I challenged the kids to double that number for Tuesday night. With that challenge one girl came up and asked with all seriousness, “Can I invite more than one friend?”  The next night we doubled in attendance, and every night after new kids came because every kid was excited about church and busy inviting friends. What started at 7 swelled to 26 kids.  By the end, 6 kids had brought 12 friends to church.

Worship. The kids had me sweating Friday night. It was 2 minutes before the program, and one family and my kids were all that had arrived for the program. But sure enough, by 6:05, we had 19 kids and 22 adults, a total of 41 people worshipping together! The kids sang praise to God. We offered $144.50 for God to use in his Lenca church. We heard the messages of hope, calling, forgiveness, and community. Lastly we thanked God for those who had served and praised God for a birthday in our midst. Lastly, our kindergarten boy prayed for our meal together, its own form of communion.

            God used VBS in some unexpected ways. I wasn’t expecting the crowd who came. I wasn’t expecting the gifts those kids shared. I wasn’t expecting the number of friends they would bring. God is always doing unexpected things and it is clear that he was busy working through VBS this year. We offered ourselves to his mission, and he used us to produce an unexpected harvest. I don’t think he is done yet either. What will he do through the relationships we built during VBS? I don’t know…and I can’t wait to find out!

Wednesday Worship from a Kid's Perspective

           
             I asked my daughter, Lydia, if she would be a guest writer. She wants to share about Wednesday Worship, and I thought you would enjoy to hear about it from her perspective. So without further ado, here is Lydia!

Just in case you were wondering, I’m only in third grade, and as she said in my introduction I’m going to write about Wednesday Worship. The service starts at 5:15 and ends at 5:45. The kids get to do most of the jobs such as lighting the candles and taking the offering. Also reading scripture. We started this November 2^nd. We usually have about 20-30 people there. I like Wednesday service a lot because it’s not like regular service and I and my brother and other kids get to help. I like stretching to the music at the beginning of the service. I think it’s helpful in education of Jesus and if you are reading scripture, it can also help with your reading skills. It can teach you manners too because you have to be respectful in the sanctuary.

               There’s a lot of our friends there. There’s people who are new at church and people who go there on Sundays. There are more kids than adults but they all have a grown up to be with. I met most of them through KICK.

               We have a meal at the end. We have some parents cooking. Sometimes their kids are in service. On KICK days the kids will be in KICK while they are in the kitchen. At suppertime you might sit by family or you might sit by a friend. On the table there is a card with questions. You can ask your friends or family the questions on the card. One question is “How is you soul doing? Or how was your day?”

At this point Zeke chimed in and this is what he had to say. I like to stretch because I get to move around. If we are doing the Acts prayer, we start with A. A is for adoring God, so say something you adore about God. C is for Confess. T is for Thanksgiving. S is for Supply. That’s when we ask God to supply our needs. We use colored sticks and everybody prayed something. I tried to pray for yellow so I tried to pray for everyone. My friends Tripper and Cash come. Makaylee is my friend to and she comes. Kadence came to play at my house and stayed for worship.

Lydia finished with this: I hope the service grows and I hope families that come are not just KICK families or families who come on Sunday. I hope some of our neighbors that we invited come and I hope other people would invite people we don’t know.