To see the world be changed

I have been very challenged by Russ’s sermon series these past number of weeks, Hope Lives.  I have been challenged to be aware each moment of the day to see the needs that surround me.   Knowing that God wants to use me through each day, not just ’some day’.

We have been going through this series in our kids programming as well.  Focusing on caring for and loving others.  This is a difficult concept for kids.  Kids are generally very me-focused, especially in today’s society.  They can easily tell you how they were not helped, but have a hard time understanding how they can help others.  We have challenged them in that thinking because they can grasp this concept.  We as adults need to be challenged and so do children, only they tend to me more receptive to it then we are.  They don’t say, “I’ll think about”, they do.  They don’t often contemplate too much.  If they believe it is good, they act.

At Tidal Wave this week we did a night focusing on missions and packed Samaritans Purse shoeboxes.  We provided stations that the kids went to, where they learned about poverty, then did an activity that applied in a small way.  They had a great time, and we planted seeds.  My prayer is not that kids will change their me-focused ways today, but that we plant seeds to last a lifetime. That they will begin to change the world in small ways.

How are you planting seeds in kids’ lives and your own children’s lives?

Reflect on the words of the Lincoln Brewster song “Power in your Name”:

Surely children weren’t made for the streets
And fathers were not made to leave
Surely this isn’t how it should be
Let Your Kingdom come

Surely nations were not made for war
Or the broken meant to be ignored
Surely this just can’t be what You saw
Let Your Kingdom come
Here in my heart

I will live
To carry Your compassion
To love a world that’s broken
To be Your hands and feet
I will give
With the life that I’ve been given
And go beyond religion
To see the world be changed
By the power of Your name

Surely life wasn’t made to regret
And the lost were not made to forget
Surely faith without action is dead
Let Your Kingdom come
Lord break this heart

Your name
Is a shelter for the hurting
Jesus Your name
Is a refuge for the weak
Only Your name
Can redeem the undeserving
Jesus Your name
Holds everything I need
Jessica