Child Like Faith

Well, we kicked off another year of Good News at Hyde Elementary last Wednesday. Each year, there is always some anticipation as to how many kids will come, who will return from last year and if all of the pieces will come together as expected. There is also anticipation as to what God is going to do and how he is going to work in the lives of the kids. I've been part of leadership in Good News Club for almost 10 years now, and I have to say that I have never seen God work in such a powerful way as He did last week. Of course, he does amazing things every year, which is one of the cool things about being a part of Good News Club. But at this first meeting, for some reason there was a feeling that God is up to something BIG. There was a feeling of His Spirit moving in our midst despite anything we were doing as leaders. I could see Him in the eyes of each child as they sang, laughed and listened to the message of Jesus Christ. Man, I'm excited to be along for the ride!

To give you a little perspective, last year we started club with about 15 kids. This year we began with a total of 46. I'll admit, I've never been a big "numbers" person. Whether it's in Good News Club or church, the number of people who show up should never be the driving factor of what we do. If one child showed up on Wednesday, we would have gone about things with the same excitement and passion as if there were 100. But the numbers do show us something very significant. God is touching more and more lives through this ministry, and for that we have to give Him thanks!

When I got home on Wednesday evening, I spent some time praying and thanking God for such an awesome club. As I prayed and listened to God, I was compelled to open up my Bible to Matthew 18, where it says, "And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me," It never ceases to amazes me how much I learn about God from spending time with children. And it reminds me of how simple our faith really is. As adults, we constantly try to make faith a complex system of in-depth knowledge and facts that somehow bring us closer to God. But is it possible that just the opposite is true?

When I look into the eyes of these beautiful children, and see them worshipping God with complete focus, innocence, humility and simplicity, I see God. I see Him moving in an unhindered way that is very rare these days. I see the kind of worship that I think God really wants. And I see how I want to become in my relationship with God. Like a little child. Imagine what our churches would be like if we all worshipped God like this. Imagine the excitement. Imagine the expectation. Imagine the power. And imagine the fun we would have!