Common Sense Reborn

Start the Party Part 5

¹⁴“You are the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14)

Kid’s Camp Day 5! Sadly, today, our home church, Compassion Christian, wrapped up the five-day elementary age “Vacation Bible School.” Mrs. Z and I had the absolute privilege of being able to volunteer for the entire week. We had so much fun. We witnessed over 460 kids making incredible memories, meeting new friends, and, most importantly, how to start a party for Jesus. Over the past five days, the kiddos learned that they could start the party; invite everyone; celebrate when the lost are found; that Jesus is the life of the party; and, today, they learned that they are the light of the world. Their large group message focused on the verse above. Today, parents were invited into the church, to witness how their children worshipped in large groups. The kids beat the parents at “Finish that Song”. While the game was rigged to let the kids win, most of them knew both the adult and kids’ songs. Then the kids sang their worship songs, heard the message that they are the light of the world, and finished up shouting “Start the Party!” as confetti cannons blasted silver strings across the auditorium.

After the kids all returned to their small group rooms, Compassion’s Early Childhood Leader preached a magnificent word to the parents/guardians in the audience. Mrs. Reeder, whose oldest child just finished high school, talked to the crowd about the steps she took to raise her children to be servant leaders in the church. Mrs. Reeder started by finding mothers of teenage children who were joyfully serving in the church, and she invited them out for coffee. At their coffee dates, she asked these mothers what the keys were, and this was their answers.

Number one, our kids are going to reflect the image they see from us. If we, as their parents, are not making Jesus the center of our lives, how can we expect our children to? If we are not making attending church a priority, how are we to expect our children to? If we are not spending time reading the Word, how can we expect our children to? If we are not joyfully serving the Lord, why would our children? If we are not spending time praying with our children, why would our children develop healthy prayer lives?

The second point she made was that “the sum of our child’s behavior is created by the five people they spend the most time with”. Mrs. Reeder pointed out the strength that comes when children find friends with kids their own age all attending church, youth groups, and growing spiritually together. I can attest to this as my faith was significantly shaped during my middle-school and high-school years through my youth group experience.

The third topic Mrs. Reeder hit on was to speak against technology and guarding our kids’ hearts against the evils of the world that sneak in when we cave and give children phones and tablets at an early age. She shared her personal struggles with ads that crept into her son’s phone and subjected him to images she could not simply erase. This part of her sermon really hit home for me, as I cannot stand the amount of time our oldest spends on her phone and we are in a constant battle with her to be more plugged into the world around her and not attached to her screen.

And with that, I will let y’all get back to your regular scheduled program, as I have a toddler begging me to “teekle” her. Here is one last “party” worthy song for when you throw a party for Jesus. This is last week’s release from Jimi Cravity. Start the party this summer and invite everyone over, especially the lost, to show them that Jesus is the life of the party, and you will be a light to the world.