St. Paul Church of God in Christ-MayMessage of the Month

July– YOUTH APPRECIATION MONTH

What a joy it is to watch a baby who has recently learned to walk run around with obvious glee. Proud parents are quick to acclaim the accomplishments of their children, or even more their grandchildren. Christian parents also known that our children actually belong to God along with ourselves. Hence, we are accountable to God for ourselves and how we deal not only with the children in our families but also those in our communities and the world. Faithfulness in ministry demands that we “leave no child behind,” not as a governmental slogan but we must serve children as a Christian imperative.

God Grants to us the marvelous ministry of co-creating, mentoring and being the earthly guardians of God’s human capital. In fact, parents are entrusted with the primary responsibility for the routine care, love and support of the children in our families but all adults share in the accountability to God for how the needs of children are addressed. The gravity of this responsibility is demonstrated in the story of Jesus blessing the little children. When his apostles seek to forbid the parents to bother Jesus by brining their little ones, Jesus sternly rebukes them. This is one of the few times in Scripture when Jesus displays anger. (Matthew 19:13-15) Jesus uses this (or a similar) incident to teach his original followers, and us, that we must become as little children to enter God’s Kingdom. (Mark 9:33-38) We must practice a childlike trust in God (our faith), but not become childish or unwise in our behavior.

Both of the two texts cited above clearly indicate that Jesus takes the ministry to children very seriously. Now the apostles who sought to keep the children away were probably well intentioned. After all, Jesus was constantly mobbed nearly everywhere he went and his divine mission was to teach the principles of Salvation and demonstrate the principles of godliness as a human being just like us. Undoubtedly, the preaching and teaching ministry of Jesus seemed to be much more important to the apostles than taking having Jesus’ precious time devoted to blessing children. Nevertheless, the very swift and strong correction by Jesus teaches us not to make such errors and illustrates the extremely high priority that should be attached to youth ministry.

Youth ministry ensures that God’s Kingdom grows to include the next generation plus, we can assist them to avoid many of the pitfalls in life. God Will Bless us for our service. May we aspire to greatness by becoming skillful practitioners of the teachings of Jesus as we seek to serve the youth and introduce them to the blessings of Salvation.

. Pastor John W. Redic, II


		July– YOUTH APPRECIATION MONTH What a joy it is to watch a baby who has recently learned to walk run around with obvious glee. Proud parents are quick to acclaim the accomplishments of their children, or even more their grandchildren. Christian parents also known that our children actually belong to God along with ourselves. Hence, we are accountable to God for ourselves and how we deal not only with the children in our families but also those in our communities and the world. Faithfulness in ministry demands that we “leave no child behind,” not as a governmental slogan but we must serve children as a Christian imperative. God Grants to us the marvelous ministry of co-creating, mentoring and being the earthly guardians of God’s human capital. In fact, parents are entrusted with the primary responsibility for the routine care, love and support of the children in our families but all adults share in the accountability to God for how the needs of children are addressed. The gravity of this responsibility is demonstrated in the story of Jesus blessing the little children. When his apostles seek to forbid the parents to bother Jesus by brining their little ones, Jesus sternly rebukes them. This is one of the few times in Scripture when Jesus displays anger. (Matthew 19:13-15) Jesus uses this (or a similar) incident to teach his original followers, and us, that we must become as little children to enter God’s Kingdom. (Mark 9:33-38) We must practice a childlike trust in God (our faith), but not become childish or unwise in our behavior. Both of the two texts cited above clearly indicate that Jesus takes the ministry to children very seriously. Now the apostles who sought to keep the children away were probably well intentioned. After all, Jesus was constantly mobbed nearly everywhere he went and his divine mission was to teach the principles of Salvation and demonstrate the principles of godliness as a human being just like us. Undoubtedly, the preaching and teaching ministry of Jesus seemed to be much more important to the apostles than taking having Jesus’ precious time devoted to blessing children. Nevertheless, the very swift and strong correction by Jesus teaches us not to make such errors and illustrates the extremely high priority that should be attached to youth ministry. Youth ministry ensures that God’s Kingdom grows to include the next generation plus, we can assist them to avoid many of the pitfalls in life. God Will Bless us for our service. May we aspire to greatness by becoming skillful practitioners of the teachings of Jesus as we seek to serve the youth and introduce them to the blessings of Salvation. . Pastor John W. Redic, II