string(7) "m-66998" Burnt Hickory Baptist Church

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Nov 08, 2020

All God’s Children 2020

All God’s Children 2020

Speaker: Matt Wilson

Series: Impact

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: children, missions, impact, adoption, christian living, spiritual development, sponsorship, sponsor, god's call, foster care, real-life stories, mission and outreach, all god’s children, create lasting change

All God's Children | Impact | Matt Petty & Matt Wilson | Burnt Hickory Learn how your love for God can help create lasting change around the world with Burnt Hickory Baptist Church. Missions and outreach help your spiritual development and answer God's call to you. Have a heart that reflects God's desire. Matt Wilson from Compassion International takes the time to show us how we as Christians can make an impact on the future generation by caring for vulnerable children. We also can assist families who are redeeming hope by fostering and adopting. Take the next step with us by sponsoring a child, financially supporting a foster family, or consider adoption. Find out more information at - https://www.burnthickory.com/one/

Well, welcome to church today, what a start, right? I can't think of another way that I would have rather stepped up and just talked about the day. Look, if you're a burn hickory person today, let me remind you that we are still under the COVID protocols, therefore, we're not passing a plate anywhere. And if you need a way to give, there's a lot of ways to give online or through the app. And you've been so faithful in that. But we just want to remind you that, if you're visiting with us today, or if you're just becoming a normal, or a family member of this place called Burnt Hickory, you picked a great day to be here. And let me tell you why. Two reasons. Number one, because this hour of your life can get you out of the news cycle, right? It can just give you a little rest from where you've been over the last week, it can just give you a little bit of different focus under the name of Jesus, that we're all in this thing together. And let me just say one thing, and then, so we can move on to what we're called to do here today. And it's this, in a time that our country feels the most divided. The church should be united. That's all I want to say this morning. Because I think there is this understanding in the Scripture and I know there's this understanding in the Scripture, that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is on His throne. And He's called us to love. He's called us to respect. And He's called us to honor. And if we as believers, no matter who you voted for in the booth, I don't care, can live that life, then we will win in the end.  We'll win and we'll show people who Jesus is no matter where or what animal we may ride.  Right? So that's what I would say. That's the first reason it's good to be here, because you're not glued and learning your maps this week. Number two, welcome to all God's children day. Welcome to a day that, we can celebrate the call that God has put on our lives, as believers in Jesus to do what we just talked about doing right here. You know, there are special days in the life of a church, to where we need to have a special emphasis, we need to have a special focus. And we need to call attention to things that we need to be living in our lives. And these last couple of weeks have been two of these days. Last week, we talked about what it looks like to live a missional life.  We had Mike Taylor in the house last week walked us through Ezekiel 37, and the fact that we're called to speak life into people to give life to people in the name of Jesus. And then this week, we're going to look even farther at that and say that we're called not only to just give life to people in general, but we're called to reach children. It's a biblical mandate. In fact, the first calling on every one of our lives, if you are a parent, is to raise your own kid.  It's to be the spiritual influence in your own kid and we just celebrate that. But the second call on all of our lives is this, we're called to come behind the vulnerable children of our communities. We're called to come behind the kids that that need people to be with them. They need people to walk with them, they need people to disciple them, and to resource them. Look, the reason that we're in the troubles today and a lot of the world of kids is because we've allowed the government to do the job that the church has always been called to do. But today, we're going to celebrate the fact that God has called us to reach the kids of this community. In fact, it's a biblical mandate. James 1:27 says this.  It says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and the widows in their distress."   And in fact, Jesus in this discourse was some people said this one day, Matthew 25:37, "Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit You?" Looking at Jesus and listen to his response?  "The King will reply, truly I tell you whatever you did, for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me?" 

 

So today as we walk through our response to the kids of the world, you may be asking yourself this question of, Matt are we just going to talk about kids today?  No, we're not just going to talk about kids. Because as far as I see the truest religion, one of the basics of our faith, is that we do unto others, as Christ has called us to do, in fact that we take care of the people who can't take care of themselves. And what this tells me is that when we do for the least of these, listen to this, we're doing it for Jesus, and to Jesus.  And, the vulnerable children of the world, they fit right in this category. You know, over the last couple of months and years, we have been asking ourselves, what is our response to the kids of this world? What is our response to the vulnerable of this world? What is our response to the needy of this world and you know, this church in 10 or 15 years, it's going to be known for a lot of things? But I'm going to tell you this, from this point forward, we're going to be known as a church that takes care of kids. It comes behind the vulnerable, and comes behind the needy, because we've been called to do it. And we've been called to love it. In fact, I want to introduce you to a ministry partner of ours that helps us do this here in our community. We are partners with Faith Bridge Foster Services here in our community. And you may have heard of him, you may have not, but I just want to shine just a little light for a few minutes to show you what it looks like, for every one of us to be part of the solution. Come over here. And I want you to join with us.

 

This is Matt Carter. Matt is from Faith Bridge Foster Services. And Matt is our partner here at Burnt Hickory, that deals with a lot of the foster care situations, a lot of respite care situations. And I just want you to hear his heart this morning, because it's incredibly important for us as a church that too much has been given to now much as expected. Matt, tell us a little bit about yourself. Tell us also a little bit about what is Faith Bridge?

 

Well, my wife and I, we, we fostered 8 and adopted 2, so we've been involved in this ministry going all the way back into our 20's. But Faith Bridge was launched in 2007, with the whole idea of a wraparound ministry called the community of care that we license foster families through the state of Georgia. But then we also develop volunteers to serve those foster families in areas of need, like meals, volunteering to bring rides, mentoring, and any type of support ministry.  We even have youth groups doing lawn care and laundry for families.

 

So Matt, what's the difference?

 

So, when we think of foster care, when we think of respite care, a lot of times we think of like DFCS, a government institution or some of the community homes or that kind of thing.  What is the difference between like a Faith Bridge and like a government DFCS program? So, we work very closely with the state of Georgia and DFCS as their homes fill up, they call us and fill up our homes that matter of fact, that just happened this Friday, here for a family here at Burnt Hickory.  But our main focus is bringing the Word of God within that training. So, you're going to get the same state required training, but you will also get the biblical basis of that training that comes along with it. So, as you work through the fostering process, you will have a biblical base to know and the knowledge to work through the issues as you are fostering. So just thinking about this, you know, sometimes when you think of foster care, you think of like out there.  You think of like maybe an inner city or another place?  Is it a need in Cobb County? Is it a need in Paulding County? Is it something that's happening like out there? Or is it literally right here in our backyard? I always start big.  I start with the United States.  Theyíre 440,000 foster kids in the United States. In Georgia, we have 12,000. But right here in Cobb County, over 500 children in care, with about 47% of those being pushed out of the county because there's not enough homes. And then in Paulding, over 130 children, and 53% of those children being pushed out. And when I say pushed out, there's just not enough homes to take care of these children. So, they are not just placed in Bartow and Cherokee and in Fulton, they're being moved to areas like Valdosta, and Savannah, and areas that are hundreds of miles away. And we know that the farther away a child is away from home, the more traumas introduced to their life, so we need more foster families here, so we can take care of those children.

 

So, you said Friday, I mean by just the sovereignty of the Lord, this is kind of crazy. Friday, we have a family here in our church that were placed with some children on this Friday of children's week. How cool is that? We couldn't have planned it any better. It was as if the Lord was like waiting.  He was like, now, go. Tell us.

 

Obviously, there are some people here that are like, I'm not. I don't know if I'm there yet. Yeah, I got six bedrooms. There's only two of us, but I'm not really sure I'm there yet. That one stung a little bit, didn't it?  But, tell us what could be done.  Like because somebody, everybody can do something. What is it that Faith Bridge does and what can we come behind you guys to do?  And so, this next week on the 15th, which is Sunday, a week from today, at 4pm, we're going to have an encounter event. Just share with you the deeper view of all that's going on, and different ways you can serve.

 

We'll talk more about the specific needs and take you through the process of what it would look like to become a foster family. What it would like to become a volunteer as part of a community of care serving those foster families. So, you have that opportunity in your worship guide today. You can go in and sign up directly through that worship guide and be a part of that event next week at 4pm.So, the reality is, there's what 650ish kids between Cobb and Paulding County? And, there's a lot of families in Cobb and Paulding County. What would it take, like do you know the breakdown, like if every church like had four foster kids or 10 foster kids?

 

In the state of Georgia, I met with Thomas Hammond with Georgia Baptist Convention. And I told him, I said, you know, you have 3700 churches that you're overseeing.  If every church took three children, just churches take three children, we wouldn't have an issue in the state of Georgia. You know, church, one of the realities is that, when we think of this idea of foster care, we think of respite care, when we think of the community of care around those people, we can make a dent, we can make a major dent in what this looks like, not only just locally, but in our state. And would you do us a favor Matt, would you just pray over us as a church? Because I know this is your passion. Would you pray over us as a church that God would just press some things in our spirit over this next week, whether it's to come join that meeting, whether to see what it looks like to come behind families that are in the process?

 

Would you just pray over us in this segment, just to show us and ask God to begin to press it into us real fast?

 

I'd be honored to. Let's pray. Dear God, we're honored to join you in this great work to serve vulnerable children and orphans, across the globe, across our nation, across the state, across our city. Lord, I know there are folks here right now that are praying and you're tugging at their heart to serve in some way, Lord, I just pray that you will work on their hearts, give them direction, encourage them to be a part of this meeting next week. And this ministry ongoing because we know we can make a difference. Bless this church. Bless the leaders.  In Your name we pray. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, we've looked at this idea this morning that if we're going to claim to be followers of Jesus, that He is redeemed, that He is saved, that He is adopted, and He has made us sons and daughters of the King, that we have a responsibility. First of all, as parents, we have a responsibility to raise our kids and knowing Jesus and following Jesus and serving Jesus. But we also have a responsibility. We've said this morning that we have a responsibility to reach the children of this community that God has put us in that He's planted us in.  Not only is it just in this community, like this faith community, which that is a part and all of us should have a place in our serving the King, but also, it's in this community as a whole. And what could that look like in your life, and I hope God is beginning to stir some things in your life of how you can come alongside someone, or maybe it's your family that is going to come alongside someone to step into the life of a child. But there's also a third calling that I believe that God has put on all of our lives as Christ followers. And that is that we have been given the responsibility to reach the kids of the world. We've been given it, why?  Because to whom much is given, much is expected. And let's really be honest in here that we've all been given so much, from the bottom of the income bracket to the top of the income bracket, if you live in this community, if you live in this state you've been given much on a comparative basis to where the world is. To where the world says. And we've been given this charge as the believers in Jesus to reach this next generation, in the name of Jesus. And in one of the things that really sticks out to me in those two passages we read earlier is that, you know, Jesus really, He does call us to have sympathy for other people. He calls us to live a life of sympathy, but he also says that that's not enough. So, He calls us to a life of empathy. There's a difference of sympathy and empathy. But He says that empathy is not enough. That's a great second step. But the third step that God has called every single one of us is to live a life of compassion.  It's to live a life of compassion for those people around us. And this goes even bigger than just a children's Sunday, right?

 

The compassion movement should be that we live a culture of honoring other people that we live a culture of having compassion on other people no matter where they are, no matter what views they have, we still exist with them to build a relationship to share the name of Jesus. Well, you know, God has called us to have compassion on the children of the world, it's what fits our narrative today. Last year, when we stepped onto the Sunday, kind of on our church calendar, we introduced a couple of things that were incredible last year.  We asked you last year to do a couple things. Number one, we asked you to give towards our Life Song Adoption Fund from this church. We started that fund last year really praying that big things would happen with it. And we asked you and challenged you to give towards that fund. And let me just say Burnt Hickory you gave abundantly.  We right now, I am so excited. I'm so excited right now we have over $50,000 in our adoption fund of this church ready to come behind families of this church and say, Hey, don't let money be the problem. We've got you. Don't.  Yeah, can we clap about that? I think we can. Right?

 

I think that's a good thing. Because we know that adoption is tough, and adoption is expensive. And there's a lot of stuff you faithfully did that last year. Also, last year, we launched our Kenya Girls Program. If you remember, if you've been around here for a little bit, we said that we wanted to adopt as many 13 to 18 year old girls in Kenya, in the slums of Nairobi, and Kibera, to give them job training, to give them mentorship and to give them a way to get out of poverty and meet Jesus. And I'll have to tell you, as of this moment, right now, 250 girls in the slums of Kibera are being sponsored by you guys, and saying, Hey, we want to give you a chance at life. And Peter is incredibly excited, because he's got another 750 in the program, by the way, hit the booth up after church. Um, it's all I got to say, so luckily, faithfully, we stepped into those two things and taking care of the kids of the world. But look that wasn't enough. That didn't sit well in my heart. There's more. There's more that we needed to do. So, we started to pray; God, what do you want us to do as a church? To whom much is given, much as expected, right? So, over the last couple of months, even during a national pandemic, I just want to tell you what you have done. All right, because you don't know yet, what you've done. You say Matt, how did I do it? Because you've been giving.  You know, over the last year, we had our best financial year in the history of this church, in the history during a pandemic of this church and here's what that enabled us to do, that enabled us to bless the world.  It enabled us to give towards the world. So in the last couple of months, what we've done is we have started and we have fully launched through Showers of Mercy Church in the mountains of Guatemala, a Children's Resource Center with Compassion International called Spring of Life. And here's what that means, because that doesn't mean a whole lot right now, but it's gonna mean a whole lot coming up in the future. Here's what that means. We have fully stroked the check. It is up, it is running. It is there. 200 Kids representing 1200 people in a community in the mountains of Guatemala are now hearing the gospel, being fed, being schooled and being discipled, in the name of Jesus because of what you've done over this last year. And that's incredible, because that's generational change.

 

So, this morning, as we talk about our sponsorship across the world, because this is only starting in Guatemala, we got big dreams for this in the community, big dreams in the church that we're partnering with, and big dreams with our compassion partnership. I want to introduce you to a friend of mine in just a second, but I just want you to hear what the people in Guatemala even during a national pandemic are saying back to this church check out this video. As you can see, we're already making an impact in over 200 kid’s lives. And I want you to meet Matt Wilson.  Matt is the church mobilizer for Compassion International that we've partnered with over the last year. And, Matt, I just want you to take us just for a minute and tell us, why is it that over 15 years of church ministry, you took the jump, and now you are in the kind of orphan care and prevention world now?

 

Absolutely. You know, like many people, if you ever stepped foot internationally, if you ever spend time with people in poverty, the most vulnerable children in the world, man, your life is changed forever. And I had the opportunity as a young man to go and then also to lead people to go to work in some of these very difficult places. I'll tell you what, that changes your perspective on things.  Our perspective even with our family, as well as we've been one of those foster families as well, because we knew the need that was happening in our communities, and actually led us about 10 years ago to adopt. And as an international adoptive family, man, we saw some incredible things. And just like that song said, we saw God move mountains beyond what we ever thought was possible. And for those who are sitting here wondering, can I do this? Yes, because God is with you and you can do it. But we saw some incredible things in 2010. I just remember coming back from Uganda. We're relieved, right? We make it home. And what we did realize, though, is that in that year, there's about 50 kids that were adopted, which is awesome. But there were two and a half million orphans in Uganda, we realized that adoption was the answer for some, but not for most. And we needed to do something to prevent more orphans in the world.  They’re 153 million orphans in the world. And we need to do the things we can as the church to stop that.  That's where we started the family partner with Compassion International. And now I spend my life telling this story to go, we can do this together as the church and so just man so excited to be here to partner with Burnt Hickory today.

 

So Matt, over the last seven months, eight months, in the middle of this craziness mission’s kind of came to a screeching halt when it comes to getting on airplanes. But we weren't just going to hit the pause button. We knew God was putting something in our hearts, a way for us to be involved somewhere, a way for us to go ahead and have fertile ground. Tell us exactly what have we done in Guatemala? What is this Children's Center? And what is it going to do?

 

Right. Well, hey a global pandemic is not going to stop the church is it? And we're gonna continue to do missions. So, at Compassion we work in and through local churches, we work in 25 countries across the world. In 8000, frontline church partners. Burnt Hickory, guess what you helped us do? You had the start to 8001 okay?  And so, through your generosity, we were able to walk alongside a local church, and then launch a child development center in Guatemala. That's incredible. Here's why that's incredible.  Because 200 kids and their families are now coming to this child development center and it's the hub of ministry that's happening in that community. So right now we've got 200; 3, 4, 5 and 6-year-olds, who we've made a commitment to, through this partnership to say, we're going to help see you through so that you're going to have education, you're going to have the physical needs met, we're going to help you with food, but also you're going to hear about the love and the message of Jesus Christ. And that's going to change this community in this region, forever.

 

And Burnt Hickory, what you're going to start hearing in the next months, is that we're not just going to do a Children's Center, we're coming beside a local church, to train that church to disciple that church to lock arms for that church to reach this community. And also, we're looking for volunteers to be a part of that.  This is going to be our Central American Burnt Hickory hub in the mountains of Guatemala three-hour plane trip from here to where we're going to adopt every one of these kids, we're going to sponsor every one of these kids from this church, I'm just believing in faith, right now that we're going to do that. And then we're going to be able to walk beside them year after year after year. And not only we just now have a picture on a refrigerator, we have a kid that we're ministering to their whole families, in their church and their aunts and uncles and across the board to seeing God move in this place. Matt, tell us just a little bit and I'm going to get out of your way and just let you just kind of speak from the word a little bit. Tell us how this can affect us at Burnt Hickory here, like how is this going to kind of roll into our spiritual development.  And then also, what is God calling us to do in this church and what is it going to do in this community? I'm going to give you that task. I'm gonna get out of your way. I'm just gonna let you bring the word because it's rich in this stuff. 

 

Thanks, man. What does this mean for a church in Guatemala, and we're going to talk briefly big picture? But ultimately, in the spirit of today, I want to talk about what it means for one child. And what it means for one family, Guatemala, what it means for one family here at Burnt Hickory Church. But can you imagine in this community that you have helped launch this Child Development Center at a local church, that hundreds of kids are going to hear the gospel, that hundreds of families are going to be impacted and give the chance to respond to the gospel? That as they grow up in 10 years from now, we're going to be asking the questions, what's the future for these kids, and they're going to be learning trades. And they're going to be learning skills. So again, they can be released from poverty and the chains of poverty in Jesus name. They're going to offer a place where that church can be a safe place, in a very difficult situation. I mean, you're helping launch a place where the church can be a catalyst for health and education. But more than anything, here's what you've helped start.  You've helped start a place where hope can be spread, you hear me say a lot is that poverty steals hope from people, people feel like they're in a hopeless situation. So now that we can bring a place of hope in the mountains in Guatemala, and you can be part of that right here. So again, today, I'm going to talk about some big picture stuff, I'm going to talk about from the word what it says that we have a call and a mandate to do. But ultimately, what I want to ask you to do today is to be part of life change in a child's life in one child's life. And that's the incredible thing is that we have an opportunity to have our families here in this church be connected to families here and across the world. And so ultimately, what we're asking you to do today is to say yes, you've heard opportunities already to say yes to foster care, you've heard opportunity to say yes to adoption today. And I want to give you an opportunity, I think every person sitting in the seats, and every person watching on the camera right now can say yes to and that is to be part of the life of a child and their family. In Guatemala, like Compassion International, we have a three-quarter approach to ministry. And all of these are weaved together, just like it says in Scripture. And as Pastor Matt has talked about, just to know that we are Christ centered with everything that we do. We are church based, and we are child focused. But again, what does that mean for that one child, that one child that we're asking that one family here today to come alongside? It means that we are providing that social justice type ministry, but we're doing it through the lens of the gospel. One of the things that we see all through scripture is it is all about the love and the message of Jesus Christ. And those are parallel tracks that we must run down. Because again, if we're just educating a child, or we're just feeding a child, although that is good, we are missing the point if they're not hearing about the gospel through that, or if we're just preaching to people with hungry bellies, we are missing it completely. Church, we have an opportunity through the local church in Guatemala, through a compassion Child Development Center to provide and release children from poverty in Jesus name. Let me share a couple verses that you've already heard today. But just emphasize these again, Jesus said, Matthew 25:35, and 36 is that, he said, "For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick, and you looked after me."  Why? Why don't we do that? Yes, because number one, we're Jesus followers, but also because there is a desperate need in the world, as we've already heard this morning. Is there poverty in our area? Yes, but it is a different type of poverty.

 

When we go into some of these places in the world Compassion International, only partners with churches that are in extreme poverty. And what does that look like? Extreme poverty means that this family they are living off of less than $1.90 a day. Let's just take that in for a second. $1.90 a day? What does that mean for your family? What it means for these families is that they're having to make some very difficult choices every single day. They're having to decide can we afford one meal a day or two? Or can they afford to pay their rent? Can they actually afford health care? Certainly, we can't afford the books for our kids to go to school. They're having to make some very difficult choices today. And let me say this today again, as a adoptive dad, who just has a heart for orphans and orphans around the world, is that as we look at the orphan crisis that's happening is there's 153 million orphans in the world, the majority of those still have a parent alive somewhere. But they've been abandoned. And 80% of those 143 million orphans in the world have been abandoned because of poverty related issues. You know what that means to me, they are preventable. They are preventable things that we can do. So church, here's what we're asking you to do today is come alongside and say, you know what, we're gonna do what it takes to keep the families intact in these areas. And we can do that. And it's through sponsorship program, that's $38.00 a month. So, let's look at what we do here. Number one, we are Christ centered with everything that we're doing. Man, of compassion, we are releasing children from poverty, in Jesus name, because Jesus has called us do one thing is to love our neighbor. Man, we've had opportunities a day to say yes to loving our neighbor here locally. And we're having opportunities to say yes, I will love my neighbor globally, as well. Because in job it says this has, I've not wept for those in trouble, has not my soul grieved for the poor. And I've got to ask us today as the church and have we truly grieved for what's happening in the world. The word compassion means that we just feel it deep inside, we feel it in our belly, we feel it in our bones is that when we see somebody in hurt, when we just feel they're hurt, we take it on, we have this great desire to do something about it. But yet many of us in the church today we are going to bed dry when there's millions of people who are crying themselves to sleep at night because they're hurting. We need to feel that.

 

You know what today, my family my one family will do something for one child today. I will say yes to that. In 1950, a man named Everett Swanson said yes to helping some children. They're orphans of the Korean War. They were living in garbage. They were piled up together and garbage to stay warm. He said, we've got to do something about this. We've got to help these children. And because he said yes to it. We look now many, many years later, and an organization like Compassion International exists to serve millions of kids because he said yes to the one child.  The one child that the Lord put in front of him, and he says we must do something right here. Because again, Jesus is our core, and the core of everything that we do, it means that we must have a heart that reflects God's desire in this. And here's what God's desire is.  God's desire for people to hear his name and be discipled. And so, we're not talking about that one child in Guatemala that I'm asking your family to sponsor today, here's the first step is that you can be part of that discipleship process that's happening in that child's life. When you sponsor a child with Compassion, you can write letters back and forth. You can speak life and hope into those children's lives, you can pray for them. But here's what's so amazing, they're also going to write letters to you, they're going to pray for you. And it's an amazing thing, how we are discipled to being part of their life as well. So yeah, we're Christ centered we're releasing children from poverty in Jesus name, but we are also church based with everything that we do. Burnt Hickory, you didn't go in and start a community center in Guatemala, you helped the church be the church.  You help the church be the center of that community, because that is God's plan, all the way through Scripture. And here's what this looks like, we work in partnership with the local churches, because that is our desire to equip to fulfill their role is salt and light to the world. So, what's happening right now? 

 

In this local church, in Guatemala, there are 200 kids who are coming and they're being fed meals, you know, through sponsorship, they're being able to have some supplemental education where, you know what, we're gonna do what it takes to make sure that they make it all the way through school.  Hey, they're coming to the local church to make sure that their health care is taken care of, that they are being healthy. If there's any specific needs based on if there's a pandemic going on, whatever we're going to address those things. And again, through sponsorship, you're able to do things like that. And most importantly, through all of those things, they are able to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ and hear about the hope that comes with that. And again, we focus on children. We're unapologetic, that we go into communities and we work with the most vulnerable in the most difficult places in the world. We work with mothers and we work with children. Because those are the people that get overlooked over and over again, they get overlooked here in our community, and they get overlooked all across the world. And Jesus heart was for them to come first. So that's our heart as well.    In Matthew 19:14 Jesus reminds us, He says, "Let the children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these."  But we know when we help a child, we're helping a lot more than just one child, don't we? Think about you who are teachers. You know how engaged you are with that entire family. Those who teach Sunday school here are those who are working in children's church, you know that the difference that you're making in their lives goes well beyond that child's life, you're impacting that family, and their extended family. So, imagine if you were able to actually help send that child to school, feed that child a meal, you give them a trade in the future, man, you're making an impact in a family. And when we impact children, we impact the families and that impacts the community. Again, it's kind of a bottom-up kind of strategy. It's a slower strategy to do that. But it's what God has called us to do. And again, Compassion, we're leading the way in a holistic child development because we are called by this one calling. And in Psalms 82:3 says this, "Defend the weak, and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor, and the oppressed."

 

As we walk forward, and we look at the opportunities that we are given, we want to walk into communities, and partner together. And to say, we are going to make a change generationally here. Because again, when the children of these poor places, no one knows their voice, nobody knows what's going on in their life and it is our calling to do that. Burnt Hickory you got an opportunity to do that today. In your worship guide, I know, it's digitally. And typically, if you've maybe you've worked with compassion before, you know, there's child packets and things like that, but they're in COVID, there's no child packets, we can't be passing around stuff. But in your worship guide, there's a thing at the bottom that talks about impact Guatemala, we're asking you to impact Guatemala with us today. And the bottom of it, it has very simple instructions that says you can just text BHBC - Burnt Hickory Baptist Church to this number - 83393, and one of those 200 children is going to come up who needs sponsorship. So that's what we're asking you to do today is to be part of that. You got your phones out in front of us just to text BHBC to 83393. And here's what our commitment is for us to do together. Number one, we are going to work together to make sure that children individually and holistically develop their mind and their body and their spirit. And again, we're gonna make a change in that area. We're gonna make a commitment that our children that we work with man, they have a safe place in a very tough situation. Man, we're going to help you and your family, I just want you to envision this Burnt Hickory about how you can use this to disciple your own children.

 

Because see, we're going to give you an opportunity to educate your family, we're going to educate maybe your children about the complex issues of poverty, and how it affects children across the world. So, as you're trying to figure out, how can I let my children have an impact beyond just what they see in their context and their school, man, introduce somebody new into your family, and it's a child you can sponsor today. And so I just want to encourage you to be part of that. But please know this together, we can fulfill what God has called us to do, to disciple children and reach into the world and it's to do this we want to give children across the world, and I mean, children here sitting in this room. And I mean, children across the world, the 25 countries we're working with, we want to give them a chance to learn about Jesus, we want to give them a chance to respond to the gospel. And we want to give them a chance to develop a lifelong relationship with God. So, I just encourage you make that decision to say yes to one child today. I love to talk more with you about that and how you can get you and your family involved back at the the mission center in the back and I'll be there. Or the easiest thing is just like you said, just to text BHBC to 83393. And you're able to be part of one of those 200 kids that we've talked about that your church has invested in and planted the seed that's going to grow for generations to come.

 

Church let me pray for you as we wrap up today and let me pray that again God moves in your heart. For what that one thing you're going to do today.

 

God, we love you. And I thank you for Burnt Hickory, I thank you for their leadership and I thank you for their commitment to you. their commitment to children around the world, their commitment to children here. God we all have been clearly challenged by Your Word by the story, the testimony, the visuals that we've seen today. We all have a part to play.  God show us what to say yes to today. Use us for great things God in Your name. I pray that many kids are released from poverty in your name.  And God that lives are changed in your name because it's all about You. And we give this time to You. Amen.

 

You know, today feels a little bit different. Because there is this focus today. But I'm just going to ask you to pray.  Just gonna ask you to consider what does this look like for our family today? For some of you this might change the dynamic of your family because God's putting something in your heart that's big.  I'm just gonna ask you to pray God honestly what can we do maybe for you; it's you look at a compassionate sponsorship. You look at Kenya girlís sponsorship, maybe for you, you start saving. Because here's the deal, there's pandemics going away. And we're gonna make a dent in this community with us and our talents. Maybe for you today is to give.  Maybe God has blessed you put some resources in you and you've been wondering what am I going to do this maybe for you it's to get with the missions team and go hey, I want to give towards this project and I want to see the gospel advance. This is not just a one-day event. Today's just shining a focus on this. As we sing this song or response this morning, I'm just praying the Holy Spirit moves in your heart. Let's stand and sing together.