October 6, 2003

CHILDREN OF THE WORLD

One-third of the people now alive on earth are under 15 years old. Many of these 1.8 billion children live with danger and insecurity from the moment they are born.
* 17 million die every year from malnutrition
* 100 million live on the streets
* 200 million are involved in child-labor
* 300 thousand are in the military
* 10 million are involved in the sex industry
* 1.2 million are HIV positive
* 140 million are not able to go to school

Someone coined the phrase “throwaway children” to describe these young victims. Many of them are brought into the world and then essentially discarded. Needing and deserving nurture, they experience only neglect, maybe even hostility. Some of them are used—in child labor, in sexual exploitation, etc.—until they are used up. Their lives are over before they’ve begun.

Think of the contrasting vision of the value of children in the old Sunday School song:
“Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are precious in his sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

“All are precious in his sight.” All! All! Even the children that are far beyond our reach. Even the children that we consider beyond hope. Each and every one is personally loved by Jesus. That’s what the song says.

Jesus once went by a merchant who was selling sparrows two-for-a-penny. He told his disciples that God valued each one of these common little birds that were traded by people for next to nothing. Not one of them could fall without him feeling the loss (Matthew 10:29-31). If this is the way he cares about a sparrow, what must he feel for innocent children who are suffering because of adults’ cruelty or indifference?

This Sunday, we’ll be given a chance to choose sides: Do we stand on the “throwaway children” side or on the “all are precious in his sight” side? There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.

MISSIONS SUNDAY AT ABC
OCTOBER 12, 2003
“CHILDREN OF THE WORLD”

11:00 AM Morning Worship
Guest Speaker - Nancy Tichy of the U.S. Center for World Mission
Music - ABC’s Sunday School Children
Dress Code - Try to wear clothing from another nation or culture.
12:30 PM Potluck Meal
Please bring International or Ethnic food if possible.
(There will be no Evening Service)

–Pastor George Van Alstine