A Sunday worship is usually for everybody, but if you are here as a child you have a wonderful opportunity to go to Sunday school. Today we have a different service, and Sunday school is not an option. But if you feel that the service is too long, you can stand up and do some stretches. You are really free to do that.
It’s important that the worship is not only for the adults but for the children as well? Do you know that Jesus wanted the children to come to Him? It’s interesting that the disciples didn’t find this a great idea, but Jesus asked the parents to bring the children close to Him and He said:
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
We can say so many good things about why it’s good to be like a little child, but today let’s think about this story a bit differently.
So there were the 12 disciples who were close to Jesus and there were also other people who wanted to hear Jesus’ stories, wanted to see Him. When they noticed who Jesus could do miracles and that there was power in His words, they wanted to bring their children to Jesus as well. And this is the most beautiful thing that parents can do.
Imagine the situation, you come to church and hear about Jesus who can change your life, who can wash away your sins, who can make you totally new, who can give you incredible peace and joy. When you feel in your heart how Jesus loves you what would be your next step? Yes, maybe you want to know more about Jesus but as a mother I can tell you about my next step: I would go and tell everything I know about Jesus to my loved ones and want them to know Jesus too. “My loved ones” means my family and also my friends, my neighbours, everybody.
And when in the church more people recognize how Jesus can help us in our families, the whole atmosphere will change and we will start to have worships where we really want to praise and adore God for His love.
But let’s take a moment and think about why we want Jesus to be present in our families. In the Old Testament we can find this passage: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

If we want to understand this text in terms of our families, you have to think about your real family. The Bible is really practical and it says that it’s better if you have somebody who is with you, who can help you when you need help, but the best when a third person is with you also. Let’s think about it with a real family. Can I have a family come up?
What would be the most ideal here in Kirkwall? When all of our families are close to God. That’s why we started the 36 days of prayer today. Family is really important and it’s still important even when you don’t have children or your children are grown up and live far away. We still have to think about our church family. We here in Kirkwall want to be close to each other and to God.
Let’s look at another story about families from the Bible. Abraham’s story is at the beginning of the Bible. He was the one who didn’t have any children until he was one hundred years old. What a story. Abraham’s whole life was about promises from God. He lived far away from the land of milk and honey, Canaan, but God promised Him the land and a big family. And Abraham believed in God. When God told him to go out of his homeland, he left that land but he still didn’t know how he would have a family when he didn’t even have any children. In the old times to have a big family meant everything, especially prosperity in the future. Let’s see why. I need two children to volunteer, who will use only one of their fingers to put a block into the basket…
We hear stories about Jacob having 12 sons, and the kings had more because to have big families was almost the most important thing to them. That’s why it was really important that God promised not only big family to Abraham but a future as well.
Is it easy to believe in somebody being 100? Let’s see. I need a volunteer … I promise that you won’t get wet. You have to follow my instructions and you won’t get wet. Let’s see…
Today we also have a big promise from God, that the Kingdom of God belongs to the children. Who are the children? We, here in Kirkwall. Do we need a future? Do we need blessings? Stay close to God. Stay close to God in your family. Stay close to God in your church family, because everybody matters. Amen