Out of the Mouths of Babes By Joe hevesy

Call to Worship
Lord we are in your presence
Let us be in the right mind to worship you
Lord we are in your presence
Let the hills and valleys hear our prayer
Lord we are in your presence
Let our united prayers fold back the power of disease
Lord we are in your presence
Let our presence wash your feet with our grateful tears of joy
Amen.

Welcome & Covid rules - (Betty)

Opening Hymn - #20 Morning Has Broken.

Opening Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

Announcements and Special Days - (Betty)

 There will not be the usual collecting with plates for our offering.
A collection box is available...Thank You!

Offertory Prayer - (in unison)
We place these gifts into your hands, O God. Infuse them with your transforming grace that they may become seeds springing forth with new life, new songs of praise and new hope for people everywhere. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Hymn - #90 Put Your Hand in the Hand

Prayer in Troubled Times

Scripture: Psalm 8        &       Matt 19 1-6

Psalm 8 New International Version
1 Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
    in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

​Matthew 19:1-6 New International Version
Divorce
19 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Message:    “Out of the Mouths of Babes”

 Message - Out of the Mouths of Babes

I was 4 years old when I remember starting to ask about the the realities and uncertainties of the world around me.
“Sweet Mother, if I keep growing will I hit the ceiling someday?”
“Sweet Mother, is elephant soup made from elephants? Why isn’t it grey?”
“Dear Father, why is that man walking up the steps of the Jewish temple, or church?”
After a particularly poignant dream, I said to my father, “You know, I can play the violin.” 
My father was a total realist and pooh-poohed what I had claimed. “No, my Joe, you can’t play the violin yet, but some day, you might, with lots of practice.”
But I insisted that I could play it now. I told him I played it in my dream when I was asleep.
So he went and got my little violin from my toy closet and asked me to play it for him.
So, I did, and after several screes and screws, I put the little violin down and felt very sad. I knew that I had played it beautifully. See, it wasn’t so much that I failed to repeat my fluid dream performance. It wasn’t that I felt bad for myself. It was that I felt bad for my father. I knew how much he loved violin music, and I wanted him to hear it the same way I had played it in my dream, like an angel, perhaps.

You see, it is my belief that children have a special link to the Lord. It is a link born instinctively of love, a love that springs naturally from innocence and from an instinctive reaction to the world around them, carried forward by them at birth from their Creator. It is a love expressed by a need to share unselfishly in acts of giving, hugging, laughing, and creating. The creation is expressed in the way they play, the way they draw, the way they sing, the way they exuberantly give of themselves.

This is why Jesus spoke in Luke 18:15-17:
People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Unfortunately, most so-called mature adults lose this connection to God as they grow older. Even Paul said in 1 Corinthians:

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”

“I put the ways of childhood behind me.”

This is what adults do. They put childhood ways behind them. Of course, it is difficult not to do so. Childhood ways are often in conflict with our survival needs, so we suppress those ways, we forget our innocence, we forget our instinctive love for each other, we put behind “our childish ways.” These are the ways that I put behind me when I couldn’t play the violin for my father.

So, it becomes a challenge as we further and further suppress our childhood to remember and to retain the best parts of that childhood and to bring these with us into maturity. In a sense, this is what Jesus teaches us. When He says, Love God above all things, he is suggesting to us that God is the most important element of our lives. More important than any material or earthly concern. And how can we express that love for God? Love your neighbour as yourself. God is in us, God is in all our neighbours, God is present in all things, little children recognize this presence instinctively. So, our challenge is to retain this knowledge, this recognition, into our aging years and keep the God connection, the love connection with all people, our family, our friends, and also our enemies.

How are some of the ways that children express their love? Let me offer you some vibrant examples by kids of all ages and both genders.
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds ,
'What does love mean?
The answers they got were broader, deeper, and more profound than anyone could have ever imagined !

See what you think:

'When my grandmother  got arthritis , she couldn't bend over and paint
her toenails anymore.. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.' 
Rebecca, age 8

'When someone loves you , the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' 
Billy, age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne
and they go out and smell each other.' 
Karl, age 5

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him , to make sure the taste is OK.' 
Danny, age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and just listen.'​
Bobby, age 7 
(Let me stop for a few seconds while you all just listen for a bit…did you hear and feel the love?)

If you want to learn to love better you should start with a friend who you hate. 
Nikka, age 6
(we need a few million more Nikkas on Earth)

During my piano recital , I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared any more. 
Cindy, age 8

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes
and has to go out and buy new ones.' 
 Lauren, age 4  
(Now I’m not sure if that is entirely love, but I’m also not sure it isn’t.)


'You really shouldn't say  'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica, age 8
(I really, really, love that one.)


When I turned 5, my mother left my father and, together with my future stepfather, we escaped Hungary and eventually ended up in Montreal. A whole lot of things took place during that time, but what I want to bring out with this story is the reaction of a child to the event. The event of divorce. As you may know, Jesus was against divorce even if Moses approved of it in certain narrow circumstances. The point I want to draw out is that when parents divorce, it’s the children who take the greatest emotional hit. That, at least, was my personal experience. Now, I know there are many reasons parents divorce. Some are more readily justified than others. But I don’t want to delve into all those reasons, or even some. And children, to all appearances, can bounce back from the trauma and lead future fruitful lives.

I had a stepfather who raised me with fondness and a good heart. I received the benefit of his life experience and I was grateful for it. From him, I received fine examples of manhood in every possible way, hard work, physical activity, ethical behaviour, and tenacious attachment to principles. God was good to me. If I had to lose my father, He made sure I gained one just as good.

Of course, that didn’t remove the pain of finding out I would never see my birth father again, or so I imagined, even when at the age of 20 I met with him again in a bittersweet reunion. Even though my parents are all gone now, the pain of those early years of separation has never entirely washed away. That’s just the way a child hurts. It’s a permanent hurt. Oh, yes, I bounced back. I received no mortal wound, but it was a lifelong wound nonetheless.

That’s why Christ was so protective of all children. That’s why he said:

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. 
The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. 
  

The winner was a four-year-old child, whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman, who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old  Gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.  When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry.’

Children bounce back. Children are inherently optimistic. One year when I was coaching hockey with 12 year olds, one of the first things I taught them was to chant, “We’re No. 1, we’re No.1,” as they left the dressing room and took to the ice. Of course, there was always one kid who would ask, “But Coach, what if we’re not No. 1? What if we don’t win any games?”
​
So, I asked him, “Did I ever say anything about winning games, Ted?”
“No.”
“The thing is, Ted, you have to be No. 1 in your head and in your heart before you can be that in the standings. In fact, once you know that, the standings don’t matter so much any more.”

Adults may not accept the wisdom in that principle as easily as kids.

Here’s what I mean. A writer wrote this little story:

On my way home one day, I stopped to watch a Little League baseball game being played in a park near my home. As I sat down on a bench behind the first base line, I asked one of the boys what the score was.

“We’re behind 14 to 0, he answered with a smile.
“Really,” I said. “I have to say you don’t look very discouraged.”
“Discouraged?” he said with a puzzled look. “Why should we be discouraged? We haven’t been up to bat yet.”

Then there’s the little story about a young man named Jamie Scott. His mother knew he had his heart set on winning a part in the school play, but since he was the youngest boy trying out, she was afraid he wouldn’t win a part. On the day the parts were awarded, Jamie’s mother drove to school to pick him up. As she drew near, Jamie rushed up to her, his eyes shining with excitement. “Guess what?, Mom, he shouted.
“What?”
“I’ve been chosen to clap and cheer”   

There’s another boy who will grow up to be a winner.

Of course, we can’t always be constantly optimistic. We can’t always be brimming with confidence, no matter how strong our beliefs are. But we can always put our trust in a loving God. We can always know that he has our back, that we will never be left alone.

Closing Prayer, the babes speak.

Jesus God

We believe in you
Thank you for the joy and beauty of this world
Thank you for all the animals and the growing things
Thank you for the stars up in the ether and
Thank you for the oceans that surround us with a water world.
When we see all such beauty and wonder
We have to take it all in and when we do
We see your face and all the love in it.
Amen Lord. Amen



Solo - I Still Believe in You  (Joe - a cappella)
​
I Believe in You

I walked in wonder by the woods
as darkness claimed the day
I felt your presence, Lord, be near
It prompted me to say
Since You’re the all in all
I know what I must do
is whisper to the quiet night
that I believe in you.

And then my restless heart grew still
When came a sure reply
"My son, you are beloved to me
I heard your lonely cry"
Then all that was before
Was ever more so true
That anywhere within the night
I still believed in You.

I believe in You. I believe in You.
No one else could light the stars
And make the ocean blue,
I believe…in You.


And then the weight of all my fears
were washed away from me
I grew as placid as a cloud
And deep as any sea
Yes, I had wandered far
Much farther than I knew
When I decided to be still
I still believed in you.


I believe in You. I believe in You.
All the journeys I have made
Each a different hue.
I believe in You. I believe…In You.
You’re the one who lit the stars
And made my oceans blue.





Hymn - #29 Swing Low Sweet Chariot

Benediction & Choral Amen
      
Postlude: Nancy & Norm
 
 Announcements:  Welcome to our Rockburn Church Service!
     Thank you Joe, Nancy and Norm for leading us in worship today. 
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