Working with Children (Part 1)

Now, the subject is pretty evident. From the outline, you're going to find a typo here and there, perhaps. It's hard to get good help these days.

But I'm not quite sure how it ended up that I'm the one that's on the feet right now. I don't remember drawing lots or flipping a coin or however it happened, but so is the case. And this isn't a disclaimer, as I said I might make at the beginning, but to give credit where it's due.

A good lot of what we're going to be looking at today is material that Brian has handled in the past and maybe just revised and shuffled around a little bit. Much to be noted there. So, children's work, as it says at the top, is missing something.

That's one of our typos. We forgot to put the apostrophe in. So this isn't a plural of children, but be that as it may, this is all about children's work.

And as I said, there in praying, an awful lot of what we're going to look at today is common. Things that perhaps we've done for years, but the ambition then is perhaps to get some fresh insight, but as well to confirm things that we have done for the years and to see the necessity of continuing with it. So the first thing we want to do, of course, is to read the Word of God.

We're going to look at the first reference that's on the outline there, Deuteronomy chapter 31. Deuteronomy chapter 31, we'll actually start reading in verse 11. When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

Gather the people together, men and women and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God. And observe to do all words of this law, and that their children, which have not known anything, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as he lives in the land whither he go over Jordan to possess it. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 18.

And we're just reading the first phrase of verse 2, the first half of the verse. Matthew 18, 2. And Jesus called a little child unto him. And then the final reference, just to get a sense of direction in the opening, is 1 Timothy.

Please, in chapter 3. Sackerson, yes. My health, I use the airline. 2 Timothy, chapter 3. Verse 15.

And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. Now just a couple of comments, and then we'll turn to the outline and start working our way through it. As you've noted, on the outline we have seven different sub-titles, or sections that we want to try and use to progress through the subject of working with children.

We've got two hours to our disposal here. I suspect that the bulk of our comments will be given to the third and fourth points to preparation and presentation. So, maybe just to give us some sense of timing and direction, if we can aim to be hitting presentation somewhere near the second hour, that will hopefully spread things out in an effective way, time-wise.

One other thing I should say relative to the outline, and this is no reflection on Brian, we did fail to add a third point under preparation. We've got preparation of the saints, preparation for the occasion, we should have had preparation of the speaker, the individual that's going to communicate the word of God to the children. So that will be a third point under preparation.

Now just in reference to what we've read, I appreciate very much the direction that Brian gave in coming back to Deuteronomy chapter 31. A lot of what we are going to read then will give us principles, not necessarily a direct commandment that will quote children's work. But these portions of the word of God, and a lot of our children's work is based on that very thing, principles.

There are the precepts of communicating the word of God, as Deuteronomy 31 verses 11 and 12 give to us, to all persons of all generations. But some of the things that we will look at today are principles that are drawn just from things that we see in the word of God that are common. And we apply that to working with children.

The thing I appreciate here, as verse 13 says, that their children, the their, T-H-E-I-R, suggests to my mind that the Spirit of God through Moses was making a distinction between the children of the stranger in their midst and the people of Israel with their children. And that the indication was that there was going to be people who would have children who would have no knowledge of the Lord God and His word. And as we have here on the outline, I'm just looking at one picture here, we are, if ever, in this country, and in Brian's home land, my former home country, in Canada, we are living in the midst of a Bible-illiterate society, and particularly that of a couple of generations that are so far removed from any instruction from the word of God that this portion, verse 13, to my mind is very, very relevant.

What is it that the Spirit of God is indicating? That teaching the word of God will teach them to fear the Lord. We have a society that has lost the fear of the Lord, and therefore it's lost its moral bearings, and you've got kids growing up that just don't literally have a clue. And comments can be made in that direction.

The Lord Jesus, of course, is an example. The example. Prime example.

And we read that in Matthew chapter 18, just verse 2, when it just simply says He called a little child and began. That's the objective. To be the tools, the instruments, and the hand of the Spirit of God, of the Lord Jesus, to draw children to Christ.

How is it to be? 1 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 3 rather, and verse 15 tells us very clearly. It is through the knowledge of the scriptures. So let's not let ourselves be fooled into thinking that the kids don't get it.

When it's taught to them, they learn it. And what are they learning? The scriptures that are able to make them wise unto salvation. We all know, especially if you raised any, or are in the process of raising any, children are sponges.

And whatever they're exposed to, they're soaking it up. Now, learning Bible verses by a program doesn't ensure salvation. But Deuteronomy teaches us it will, as it were, stir the fear of the Lord in the individual.

2 Timothy teaches us that it is then the means of salvation through faith in Christ. Pretty basic, isn't it? But these are things then that we can reconfirm to our own minds and hearts, and gives us a basis to work from. So we're going to look then, starting now, at the subject of purpose.

Why do we do this? We'll head into the pattern. What's involved? What is the pattern for this work? As I said, we won't find a clear, distinct thing about, you know, this is where you've got to have a Sunday school, or you should be doing a children's work on a Monday night, or, you know, something like that. But we're looking at principles, patterns in the Word of God that will give us direction.

Then we will go to preparation, three headings that we've suggested to look at in particular, and then, as a, oh, we can do this in a timely fashion, head into the subject of presentation somewhere around the hour that's earlier, and we work our way through it, and there's time on hand at the end. I, maybe I shouldn't say this, but who's ever complained about being done early? Generally, you don't hear that. Every time I've said that, it didn't work.

But be that as it may, let's start looking at the subject then under the heading of purpose. Why do we have, or should we do, a children's work? I think you've made a very important statement there in regards to the generation, not just this one, but the one before being illiterate as far as knowledge of the scriptures, especially, I can speak from a Canadian perspective, with our embracing of multiculturalism and pluralism and all these things. There are kids that are supposedly Christian background, and they haven't got a clue.

They haven't got a difference. They haven't got any knowledge of the difference between what the Bible teaches and what other books teach because they're not exposed to it, whether it's at school. It's taboo, and I know it's the same down here.

And so, there is that purpose. Like you say, it's the fear of God. If you go to Romans chapter 3, isn't it? With that 14-point indictment against men, all the things that men are guilty of, and we see the reason of it at the end.

There's no fear of God. And so, that's why society the way it is today. That's why kids and young adults do what they do because there is absolutely no fear of God because they do not have the knowledge of God and the concepts and the principles of the Word of God.

So, the reference we've looked at in Deuteronomy 31, of course, in its immediate context, is the people of Israel. And coming to the place where the Lord is, of course, was coming to Jerusalem. So, we're not so much looking to that as to be a pattern.

We're not jumping ahead here. But we are drawing from this the purpose. And as Brian has said, to teach people the fear of God.

Of course, we all understand what fear of the Lord means, do we not? It's not some dread that is stirred in the hearts of individuals. Sure, there is then that great concern that kind of erupts in the soul when conviction of sin takes place. But it is to learn to reverence God and respect God.

Know that He is and that He's got to be dealt with. If not now, who will come in the future? Just how illiterate is our present society? I'm sure some of you have got examples. More recently and distinctly, not that I didn't have some idea of this in the past, but just this past fall, Brian and I were having a gospel series in my home assembly in Sherman.

And family that lives right next door to Nancy and I. And we've had some interaction with them a little bit. First interaction with them wasn't favorable, quite frankly, several years ago. But now there's a family, there's children involved.

And I had known that this man, he's probably in his late 30s, had come to the Sunday school in Sherman Gospel Hall when he was younger. Parents, I'm believers. But now, here he is, all these years later, and he's got his own family.

And we've tried to re-contact him over the years, tried to get some interest, and finally opened up a bit this past October. All this to say, his, two of his kids, three of his kids are coming to our Sunday school now. Two of them are in Nancy's Sunday school class, my wife's Sunday school class.

Those kids didn't even know the connection of Christmas and the Jesus of the Bible. They didn't legitimately have a concept of it whatsoever. And the Bible to them was a book that, what's about? With gods in the Bible, that's all about God.

Like, they were as dark as somebody that had never, you know, heard the names in the past. So, that's where we're at now. So talk about teaching basics.

And that's what Nancy's been enjoying in a sense, but frustrated at the same time. These kids don't know, I think. And I'm sure you're running into it as well, with children that you're meeting.

The other verse we've got here, as to the purpose, of course, is, as the Lord Jesus exhorted his disciples, it is the common pattern, or purpose, in preaching the gospel. Mark 16, verse 15, the reference we have there, He said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And there is then this sense that now broadens, and it takes it out of the context of Deuteronomy 31 in Israel, coming to the place where the Lord has put his name in Jerusalem.

This is the Lord Jesus giving New Testament disciples, his apostles in particular, this exhortation, that this is a worldwide effort. It's not given to a specific location. So it's the general command of spreading the gospel.

And children's work is one of the ways. Now, this was supposed to be a Bible reading, wasn't it? Yes, it was. Thanks, Brian.

And it means also speaking up. I hope we're speaking loud enough for the recording device here, but those other voices, I can't hear them just now. You mentioned society.

Well, it's true that we're not, as Christians, going to change society. That's not our focus. It's to preach the gospel and see people saved for glory.

Nonetheless, the effect upon the Word of God on a society as a whole, from the children onwards, is a huge thing. We see it in this country. We see it in my homeland.

And when there are fewer and fewer children going to a Sunday school where the Word of God is open in some format, you're exactly right. We're seeing the results of it in society. And the reality is that we are living in a generation that has been for some time, and it's going to get worse, that know not God, have no concept of God, and, you know, even in stories of different ones, like John Grant preaches quite a bit in Scotland.

He works in a lot of the inner-city housing developments. And he went in and told them about having children's meetings, and they said, What are children's meetings? And he said, Well, we get together, and we sing songs, and we read from the Bible. And he said, I couldn't believe it when one of the kids said, What's the Bible? He thought he'd never hear the day, his day, in Scotland where someone would actually say to him, What is the Bible? So we have the privilege of sowing the seed in young hearts and changing lives and changing attitudes in society in general as it relates to the fear of God, as it relates to the existence of God and that we're not going to be here forever.

So it is a great privilege, and I think one of your points in the outline was that it's a long-term one. It's not something that we may necessarily see the results here. But even we ourselves have had the privilege of seeing and meeting those who were taught many years before, the faithful Sunday school teachers or whatever, and even though they hadn't gotten to see it until much, much later in life, they never forgot what they learned.

I've been impressed the last few years in particular that even though our society has degenerated so much in its lack of the knowledge of God, there's one thing I take encouragement with regarding that, and it's this. We are now working with a generation that does not have a bias relative to the Bible and the Gospel. They are so far removed from it.

They remind me of the likes of Acts 17 when Paul went to Athens and he saw the island there, the podium, not the word, and he said, to the unknown God. That's the kind of culture we're working with right now. And to my mind, there is a sense where it will be easier, and that's a human term, easier to preach the Gospel to them, see some influence in them, than it will be to a culture even 20 years ago that was walking away from Christianity in our society because of how it had failed, because of Protestant liberalism and that sort of thing.

There were those that were poisoned by the liberal theology of Christendom, and they were walking away from it. Those people, my generation, in a lot of ways is almost beyond reaching. They are so turned away from the Gospel.

But the kids that are being raised up now, to my mind, are perhaps in far more fertile ground to work with. So take encouragement, though you're dealing with total ignorance. Acts 17, the unknown God.

Romans 1 and 2, the knowledge of God through creation, the knowledge of God through conscience, those things can't be eliminated. Now our society has gone to great lengths to eliminate the knowledge of God through creation by the educational system, but be that as it may, we do have a culture, or rather a generation that's growing up that might be far easier to influence with the truth of God than even my generation, which was poisoned by liberal thinking. Overall question on the Jildons' work.

Is this more of a work on our part for aiming towards their salvation, or is this aiming towards teaching them about the Bible and about God? I think the reference that Mr. Thompson read there from 2 Timothy, it's interesting that he says that it's through the teaching of the Scriptures it's not the preaching of the Gospel, it's the teaching of the Scriptures that make them wise into salvation. So it's not, we do present the Gospel when we are teaching them, but it was through the study of the Word of God, telling them the stories, that's what made them wise into salvation. When they saw the faithfulness of God, the judgment of God, and all these things that they would read in the Scriptures, that's what made them wise into salvation.

And when he heard the Gospel, or the Gospel was preached, it was a more receptive spirit to a person. When they'd seen the hand of God and all these other things, so it was the Scriptures that made them wise, I'm sure the preaching of the Gospel was in there as well. So it is, yes, it's in the end in view, well ultimately we're going to get to it.

The end in view, yes, it's salvation of their souls, but the end in view of all of this type of work, whether it's Jildons' work or Gospel, it's the glory of God, the glory of the Word of Jesus. That's the ultimate end, but yes, a soul to be saved and rescued from the cycle of sin. You see, that's the biggest problem with society today.

I worked a lot with Mr. Thompson's father-in-law, and we went over to a little community about 40 miles east of where we lived, and we were there for, well they still do children's work there, it's been probably 34 years, but you know, there's just a cycle of sin there. You know, naturally speaking, we're not going to break it. But by the Gospel going in there, people have been reached and saved.

Souls have been saved, and they have been able to, through the power of the Indrawing Spirit, they have been able to change what would have been a natural progression for them to just foster another generation of ones just like themselves. So yes, their salvation is what is in view, but ultimately it's the glory of God, because that's who gets the glory of it. I think it should be pointed out too that when it comes to our New Testament, what we find there prominent is a wife teaching her children in the Lord.

When it comes to Timothy, that's what he learned from his grandmother and his mother. And the reason I'm saying this is because we do children's work and have children in to a class, and I'm saying this not because I know of any that's doing this, but I've heard of it in the past, what that does is it allows some parents, because my children get it in a children's class, they forego teaching their children in the home. And that's a sad generation in which we're living, even in Christendom, where it might in the past have been parents that taught their children the Bible, and taught them the Word of God, because they're involved with, and I'll mention Awanis, it's a detriment to our society today really, some of the things that they teach them.

That being said, that is taken away from parents teaching in the home. I think Scripture still is very plain that parents are to do that. But I think what we're looking at here today is going beyond the walls of the home.

We're going into a community, we're going into areas where these children have never, perhaps even heard the Word of God other than in a swear word. And that's what we're seeking to draw out. And in doing that, a secondary goal, if you will, is that we might eventually reach the parents as well.

Yeah, if we look at the outline of the pattern there, the references that we have, one from the Old Testament, 3 Jesse 12, and we can make comment on that. New Testament, we are referred to Matthew 18. There's chapter 19 again, where the word Jesus uses it, brings a child to himself.

And then the two portions of 2 Timothy. Chapter 1 is what our brother Orr has been speaking of, a faithful grandmother and a faithful mother. Now it doesn't say that they taught Timothy specifically, but by the time we get to 3.15, and we find this Paul reminding this young man to learn the Scriptures as a child, the conclusion is rather evident.

Now, having said that then, what we are talking about today, what the assembly ought to be doing then, is what homes aren't doing. And that is ungodly homes. So, Sunday school work, and, I mean, sure, we want our kids in Sunday school, a more structured thing where they're learning verses among their peers and whatnot.

Sunday school work is also a tool for reaching the community. Children's work during the week, whatever night you use, and we'll get down to that more particularly, this is to fulfill what has been lost in the home. To communicate the Word of God.

To do as Deuteronomy says, instill the fear of God in young souls. And ultimately, as Anthony even questioned, what's the overall purpose? To see them saved. But that's even not the end itself, too.

It is to see, and don't, Brian's been referring to the city of Mattawa. My in-laws actually moved there for a while to try and establish that work. And I don't say this to discourage anybody, but it never really developed.

Yeah, they saw a few souls saved, and there was changes made in homes, but after 30-some years of working in that community, so we can't be discouraged with this work. As Brian said, what really I find just pleasant and surprising is to meet somebody that got saved in midlife who was taught at a Sunday school, never forgot what they heard, and was a lot of blabbering, with no Christian family or whatever, and then meet somebody that shares the gospel again with them when they're an adult in midlife and find God reaches and saves them. Yes, let's be realistic.

Often, it's a soul-weakening work. It's a foundational work. But boy, what a joy when you do see some of the kids reached and saved, and they are delivered from God.

So, the pattern is, Ecclesiastes 12-1, teaching the kids to remember the Creator, their Creator, in the days of their youth. The pattern is from the New Testament, the Lord Jesus took an interest in children. Let me say this real quickly.

This will lead into something of our manner and our way of working with the kids. I know I'm going to emphasize it later, and others will say it too. Loving them.

This is bottom, foundational. If you're not loving these kids, showing a genuine interest in them, you know, kids read this like a book. You know, if you've raised children, you know that real quick.

You can't put anything over on your own kids. You can't put anything over on the kids if you bring it out in the community. They read us real quick.

The Lord Jesus met them at their level. And there are examples of that we've known from others that we highly esteem, that we've learned how to pay attention to children. Norman Crawford, in his home assembly, one young man that's in the assembly now, where we are at home, he says, what impressed me about Norman when I was a little child, was that he would get down and crouch down in front of me and look at me eye-to-eye to talk to me whenever he met me at the gospel hall.

You know how a lot of you just say hi to the child and just walk right past them. Not at all. So the kids know.

They read us very quickly. As far as this pattern goes, we get these principles from the Old Testament and the New Testament. Solomon, again, Crawford says, train the child in the way he should go.

And when he is old, he will not deply from it. When you look, if this was somebody else doing the Bible reading, they said it's a good little survey, and I'm going to do that. But if we just stop and think, how many of us were saved as youngsters, younger children? It would be a high percentage.

And as you see, the percentage, as people get older and older, it gets smaller and smaller and smaller. I read somewhere, and I didn't write this down as far as my reference, so I'm like Frank Pearson, he said, I either read it, heard it, or made it up. It's one rule of three.

But 75%, 75% of Christians, at least in his day, when he was still moving, he says, were probably saved by the age of 17. 75%. And so you can see how important it is.

And the Lord stressed that as far as the disciples. Well, let's focus on the old folks. Focus on the adults.

When the children came, shoo them away. And he took them up in his arms, and he said, he'd be converted, become his little child, he shall in no way enter the kingdom of heaven. So there is that importance there.

I know that children make a ruckus. We're going to get into that. And there are lots of old folks that that just drives them crazy.

Well, stay home. You know, if it drives you crazy, you don't have to come. I mean, there's others that will do that work.

But do not be a hindrance to that work because the pattern is certainly there. The Old Testament, we could have read other references there, whether it was in Joshua or in Ezra, when the word of God was open, it wasn't just the old people there. The children were with them.

Those that could hear, those that had understanding, they were there. So the word of God is meant for that. And just maybe a comment on doing what homes aren't doing as far as teaching them.

When you go to Leviticus 19, on that chapter there about reverence in God, it's interesting that before we are told to fear the Lord our God, verse 3 says we're to honor, we're to fear our mother and our father. So that is where that initial fear of God is instilled by the authority of parents in the home, which, if lacking today, I mean, kids, you know, call dad Bob or mom Helen or whatever, you know, and then there's no reverence there. And so that is what we have to step in and do.

And that's why it seems like, you know, it seems so basic, but we're going back one step almost in doing what's not being done in the home. But we have a title for it. We have scripture to back up that that's exactly what we should be doing.

So when it says in Mark 16, 15, preach the gospel to every creature, that's what it's talking about. They are creatures sometimes. Well, let's move on.

Preparation. So on the outline, notice that we're missing one point. The third one should have been in there, the preparation of the speaker.

We'll start with the preparation of the saints. And let's read our reference there, Romans chapter 10. So again, as we've noted, we're not going to see a distinct statement about doing the work with children, but we are finding the principle of God's word.

So Romans chapter 10, verse 12. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the neighbor, what shall he say? How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent, as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.

So this little portion here lays the foundation for us in this sense. That preparation isn't just limited to the time, to the point we have excluded from the outline the idea of the speaker getting ready with a message. The preparation begins long before there's ever the first children's gathering made and conducted.

And it's the spirit of God working with us to believe. So on the outline we haven't really put any detail there at all. What I would just remind us all is this.

It starts with a burden. And it might be just one of the individuals in the assembly. It might be because of where they live.

You know, kids in the neighborhood that they see have no affiliation with any kind of quote church. And so they see an opportunity. And there's a burden there.

They pray about it. Maybe they share with one or two other individuals and they start talking and soon the exercise can grow in the assembly and say, well this is what we could be doing. And that's not what we could be doing.

This is what we should be doing. So how did the work begin with the children? It began with the very beginning of Romans chapter 10. Being sent of God so that people are instructed so they know why they should call on the name of the Lord.

How it is that they could ever be saved. So preparation of the saints really is the first step of any work, but of course what we're talking about is children's work here in particular. Let me just throw in here then as we're all silent for the moment.

Was there an occasion? A psalm occasion? Something called a moment of silence? When there is a work that's there's a desire there's an exercise move with the power of the assembly at large. Go ahead with the fellowship of the oversight of the assembly. Wait for that if necessary.

I wasn't involved in my younger days when Nancy and I were first married with reaching out in a new area, but we had a series of children's meetings. I wouldn't stand in front of somebody an audience at a gospel meeting rather than teach kids any day. It made my stomach turn big time to try and teach kids.

Whether it was sitting down in the center school class or more so in a children's meeting. Didn't like the thought of it at all. But we had a series of children's meetings where they invited a worker in the home assembly and I started getting my feet a little wet doing the singing or something like that or quiz questions.

One of the overseers came to me afterwards. This student was a tremendous influence in my formative years and he said, Stu we don't have a children's work going on here in the center school but we really should be doing something during the week because we think you should get it going. You know.

Fortunately I had a good wife and I just still have her. And so that was the start of something that went on for several years in that assembly. The kids called it Monday night meetings.

Monday night is the community night. We'll get to that. the pattern or rather the preparation starts with the believers.

But it's best when there's an exercise in the assembly and the oversight is in step with it. But it starts with a burden. You see not just children's work but when you see different revivals in the history of the children of Israel and it usually came down to one man.

Starting with one man and you can see how that grew like wildfire. And same with children's work. I can remember growing up in Sudbury in the summer time there was a lady who lived just on the street around from us now.

She wasn't a fellowship in the assembly but every summer for two weeks she had a backyard and she got in the neighborhood. Kids I remember going and she taught messages from the Bible. Like you say you went there, you knew she was glad to see you, she loved you.

She had all the right things to keep you coming back. The right kind of cookies and things. And that sticks in my mind.

Just one lady with a burden for her neighborhood because there were all these kids running around with nothing to do in the summer time. And so it obviously was a burden. It obviously was on her heart to do this to present the gospel.

To do this work out of drudgery or because you have to you'll find no satisfaction in one's life. There'll be no reward, no joy to do because of the burden that God has placed on your heart. Even sometimes you go home and you pull your hair out after it's all over.

There is still that sense of joy that... There's still that sense of joy and peace that you get knowing that you've given them something that they wouldn't have gotten if you didn't. Yes. The burden is formed with prayers.

There's some parts of prayer that you mentioned the Bible and so did Israel. You know, in the books that we read about the Bibles that have taken place in the world, it started with a man or a woman or several brethren or women getting together and praying or something. The burden was all there.

It was an even greater burden than getting strength from God to do something about it. So that burden then seen in the life of one is infectious and infects others. Others are able to share in that with you and desire to help you in that.

So the next. Preparation for the occasion. I'm assuming that so far and probably like I said most of the time, we're not going to be seeing much that people haven't got some feel for or understanding of already.

But when we look at the preparation for the occasion, we've got some individuals, we've got an assembly now that sees an opportunity and a need and there's a burden that's grown. Where are we going to do this? Preparation for the occasion. Not where only.

When are we going to do it? I mentioned to you that the children's work that we got our feet well wedded with and embedded in in formative years we called it Monday Night Meeting and that really kids made it there after a period of time. After the assembly, we tried different nights and this night left and we threw Wednesday night up while we didn't, because Wednesday night might conflict with the assembly meeting or the assembly had a meeting on Thursday night. We'll try Wednesday night.

Well, Wednesday night we found all kinds of other community programs going on and the kids weren't available. Friday night, that's getting to be, you know, that was a family night generally back in those days but families not so much now. But Monday night seemed to be the night so there's got to be some exercise about which evening to do it.

But what's the incentive here? Now, I'm not eliminating the fact that we can't eliminate the fact that the believers have got to be available but primarily when can we get the kids? When are they available? And do I need to make some adjustments in my schedule or my program to do this? If I'm going to be a help in it. So, when are they available? And that's one of the biggest things that we deal with in our present time is kids have so many things to do. Now, I don't know if the kids that you're working with out of Milwaukee here primarily whether there's that many conflicts of opportunity.

Of course, the schools have their extracurricular things and what not but there's, that's got to take a lot of thought. When are we going to do this that it might be best opportunity for them? Where, where, where? I need to determine where. Well, if you've got a good hall in the middle of a good neighborhood, well, it might be not a bad idea to try that.

I can remember in the assembly where I was in for quite a few years, there was a junction, there was a time when it was in the midst of a whole neighborhood of kids. All those streets had kids on them. Sunday school, we have pictures there on the wall of the Sunday school and, you know, that literally, well, the hall was small then but, you know, literally overflowing.

Well, all those kids have grown up. They're either in jail or moved on and you know, it's just the retired folks that live around there now. Well, we're a little nowhere.

Well, we can have the best looking children's meeting sites, we can have the best, you know, singing and, but if there's no kids what's the use? And so we've had to move, they've had to move to where the children are, so they have some they have children's work off-site. And so they have found a, you know, one place with a community center where you can still get into school, they have a school and so you go to where the children are, basically, if you want to have children's work. If you just want to have church meeting, well, have it in the hall and have nobody there.

What you're saying is to use wisdom and open your eyes to the neat around and if you need to change, change accordingly. And while you're able to get them in your area so we, if you can find a convenient park in the summer, that's what we have done, or you can find a building which we've tried and haven't been able to, for example we've done in the past, but you still need to pray and look to the Lord for the opportunity. And sometimes, and you have to have to understand too, that sometimes well, if you want to get down to prizes and things like that you're going to have to open the wallets a little bit you know, the assembly is going to have to back it in a financial way in a spiritual way for sure but there has to be that financial support for it as well, because you know, some of these things just don't happen, they're not, everybody's not lucky to get a park I guess lucky is not a good word, but everybody doesn't have the opportunity to get a good park or something like that and so when you go off site yeah, there might be some expenses that are involved, but if we have a clear vision, a proper vision of what is being done, then hey, it won't hurt quite as much.

So if you have a great building and a good neighborhood, how do you get the homes around for these children to really have contacts in that neighborhood? Not mentioning any locations in particular, but you're saying yeah, well there's obviously going to be a lot of kids that are out there and you're in a residential area and it's not going to happen this week. We've already been through a children's week and we've seen the results there, but that doesn't mean you give up. It's getting more and more difficult to get people to open their doors and you cannot blame people one bit to be very cautious about where you're letting the kids go if they're any kind of a parent at all.

Some parents are glad to see them go just to unload them for the hour, to have some peace and quiet in their home. Well, I mean, if we're the ones in great, we have that opportunity. I know we've talked about this tidily.

I think you've got a good opportunity here to start something in the summer outside with a tent or a shelter or something like that. An education bible school, if you want to use that term. I've called a summer bible class in the past too, something that's really visible.

And a little track where kids are riding down the road on their bicycles and they see some other kids doing something and wow, what's going on? You need a spark plug. And it's amazing what one kid does. How are you going to find that for a child who's only through prayer and fasting? Well, I don't know what fasting is, but the Lord is going to have to open a door somewhere.

You're going to be cast upon that. Nobody's living here. Right in the immediate neighborhood.

But there'll be a spark plug. You've got to work with kids in the neighborhood. There'll be an individual that will get the doors open.

Let me just say this real quick. It's saying a lot. We've been talking about going through a generation around the Nixon Junction, Gotham Hall, North Bay, and Nancy and I saw that too back in the 12th in that work that started in our formative years.

When your kids are going to be in a public school and I'm not going to go into all the pros and cons of that, but there's only just so many years when your children can be tools to other homes. But when that opportunity's there, take it. When your kids are making connection with other kids there, do your best to draw them in using your own families wherever the situation is.

But that's what it takes. It takes some children to make contact with other children and start a long handful and hopefully it grows from there. But having said growing, you can only handle so many effectively.

Brian will attest to this. I would far rather have 20 kids that are paying attention than 100 kids and you can hardly get them to sit still. It's... There's got to be some restraint.

Anyway, the preparation is both the saints and the location and there's a time. These things will be determined. As you said, Steve, with wisdom, prayerful exercise and God opening the door.

And as Stu's already said, but it needs to be repeated, the meetings are for the children. We have to make it convenient for us as well so that folks can get time to get there and show up. We have to think of the kids first as far as the time.

When you expect kids to come, well, the parents don't want them getting home at 8.30 at night or something. Most parents at least. It's a school night.

And locality, where it's close. I know up in Canada, you don't seem to have the issues here, but we're so limited as to transporting kids. If they're under a certain age, they've got to be in a car seat.

If they're above a certain age, they've got to be in a booster. And by the time you get all those seats in there, you have room for three kids. We found it far easier to, well, where are the bulk of the kids coming from? Well, that's where we've done it.

But you don't seem to have that issue here. You pack in as many as you can, I guess. But it might come, and that would be the case.

But the big thing is, you know, it's for the children, so don't make it convenient for me. I might have to be inconvenienced a bit. But if we want it for the children, then we do it.

But like Stu says too, sometimes you think children's meetings, it's a secret society. You know, you don't let anybody else know outside the walls what's going on, wondering why the kids aren't coming and what. It is, we want them in.

So there's the advertisement. I know a man and he had shown his meetings up in England, Ontario. It's a small town.

And at the beginning of the week, the first day, he shot himself a bottle of helium. And he blew up about 50 balloons with a burst on it. And he walked down the streets, up and down the streets.

And all the kids come running, what's going on? Well, he gave them a balloon and he gave them an invitation to the children's meetings as well. He just made himself visible. That's all he did.

So, you know, there are those things that, to make yourself visible, it's going to be, it's going to take a while. I mean, you're new in this area especially. It doesn't seem like there was much young people emphasis with the old group.

And so it'll take time. But once, like Stu said, you get a hold of that one fireplug that's got 100 friends and he'll ask them all. That's when it starts to grow.

That's when it starts to build. I've got a question here for the young men and the boys, the Milwaukee kids. You're doing tremendous work.

That's not a question. That's a statement. What are their parents saying when their kids are out so many evenings during the week relative to school work? Or do they not care? Anybody getting any feedback that way? Don't all speak first.

Or at the same time. Some of you speak first. But not all at the same time.

It seems like any given week a number of kids should spend it anyway. Say what? It seems like any given week a number of kids should spend it anyway. So the emphasis on academics So school work's not a real priority here.

Well, there are exceptions. Sure. There's some of these are involved in school.

Some of these kids one of the boys attended some of the children's meetings. Speak up, John. He's a friend of the gospel meeting here.

Can you turn your arm up? He can't read. So there's another thing you're dealing with. So audible learning is the only way that kid's thinking, isn't it? When you think about it he was praised teaching his children he was praised preaching the gospel to them with a considerable amount of adult supervision goes by.

How would you like that for him in the classroom yourself? I wonder. Can you imagine what such a teaching environment is? So the last point I would emphasize here. Brian's already talked about the advertising idea.

The kids themselves are the best advertisers. You can't beat that. I'm going back to some more experience.

There was one girl she came from a Christian home, but Nancy's Sunday school class that she taught back in those years when we were younger was all built around that one child. She had a classroom of nine girls. I was desperately outnumbered.

Nancy was working in the hospital as a nurse then and I had to take her class every other weekend. I pulled out the Bible reading and went and did the Sunday school class every other weekend. Nine girls.

That all happened because of one child. That went on and several of those girls professed to be saved. There is a cycle.

When it comes to advertising, you guys, you're technos. You know how to use a computer. Some of you have got some great skills.

If you're doing an invitation for children's work, it's got to be an invitation for children's work. Not something that looks like it's being posted up so maybe grandpa might catch it. I wonder what's going on.

It's got to catch their attention. It's got to have some appeal to it that's youth oriented. Put the scriptures in.

There's one verse there somewhere, but design it in a way that it conveys the generation that you're after. I haven't seen any of your work per se, but I enjoy doing invitations. I generally do it at home for sure.

The problem is that you do it so seldom that you've got to relearn every time you sit down. It takes me hours on the computer to get something put together, but we've got technology now that we don't have to depend on somebody else and pay big bucks for it. Just an hour on your computer, you can put something pretty sharp together and it'll convey a good message.

We've seen evidence in the past of children bringing their children. We're seeing it now in the present also. I think that's well to remind ourselves that we are prone to be discouraged or disheartened when we're visiting around doors and we do see the children.

I think some were here when they saw school buses pulling up, and all the children were born out. It's just long for that opportunity to try and make an impact, but I guess it's worth reiterating, by way of a person, it'll take one child by prayer, as Brian says, that we might find that one child of one family. Some of the older ones here will remember Chelsea.

When she came, I think she was four and a half, and she ended up bringing an entire apartment complex. We rented a 15-passenger to pick him up during the special week, and she brought others. Here we saw no dad around, and her mom just barely remembered us.

Take what you want, and bring her back as late as you can. From what we heard later, I still occasionally see her grandmother. Her mom moved up to the Dell, but she left school at Australia Institute.

We'd love to see her again, we'd love to find out if we can see her, but there's other ones, the older ones, and some of the younger ones too, that have been through it, and every once in a while they stop by and go, is John around? Or they come in and ask, and they're older, and some of them have children of their own now. Some of them are living near Jeremy and Matthew, and they're still in the community, and you still see them. When we're out giving out the seed store tax, they look at it, and right away, they knew what you were about, they remembered to care that you had for them, or that if you had it, and again, just when we're prone to be so disheartened as to say, what's the point? Remember, just trying to remember, I don't think so many of us use the term the firecracker or whatever, it's sort of the brain all over us, that can really transform a thing, and like you suggested, we're right near a park, in an area where in the summertime, when the kids are out more, we put up a tent, there's some good ideas and opportunities that we have in the exercise, and the willingness, and we're willing to put ourselves out, put our own, maybe put our own vacation plans involved, and put it out for a summer program, from which you can then draw into the winter months and have the kids still come.

Because what is, and we're going to see that near the end of the outline, what we're going to see the end result is so often when we reach the children, the spin-off effect, into the homes, it just naturally progresses there, and people, even when you've seen that yourself, when you have special events, whether it's a treats or what, for the children, the adults are that much more prone to come because of this, it's less intentional, per se, for the children, but they're getting the same message. And so that is the, we're going to see that with the potential near the end. And you have great potential here.

Your biggest obstacle right now, really not an obstacle, but what you have to do is get yourself known in the community. People want to find out, hey, they're just about normal, those people there. And so you do that by, just about, like you've got a big parking lot there, or even, you know, a meet-and-greet type of thing there, that you can draw people in, and that goes a long way to just breaking down that initial barrier of, you know, what's it all about.

Preparations. Third point that's not on the Atlanta Convention, the speaker. This would be Psalm 126.