Yes Lord - Children's Sermon

written with Jane Redman (my amazing Speech Writer) and going along with Dr. King's sermon God's "Yes" and Ours from the lectionary passage 2 Corinthians 1:18-22

There's a Christian songwriter named Kyle Matthews and he once told of how he visited many different churches while he was in college so he could experience different styles of worship.  One Sunday, he visited an African American church.  When it was time for the sermon, the preacher stood at the pulpit and said "Yes, Lord!" and the congregation responded "Yes, Lord!"
The preacher said it again, "Yes, Lord!"
The people responded, "Yes, Lord!"
They continued this for 20 minutes and each time the preacher said "Yes, Lord!" he got louder and more excited, and the congregation responded more enthusiastically.  At the end of those 20 minutes, the preacher quietly prayed: "Lord, you have heard our answer, now tell us what it is that you want us to do."

They were saying yes to God about something that they didn't even know was being asked of them!
This is important for us to hear because sometimes it feels like we live in a world where he hear "no" too much.  At school and at home, the answer to many of our questions and requests is "no." You probably say "no" a lot, too! When you were very little one of the first words you probably learned was "no" and I bet you used it a lot!

This week, I want you to practice saying "Yes."  When your teacher asks you to help clean up a mess that you didn't make, say "Yes Ma'am." When your mom asks you to do your homework or eat your vegetables, say "Yes, Mom." When your Dad asks you to turn off the video game, say "Yes, Dad."

When you have a choice between doing something that you know is wrong or doing what is right, say "Yes, Lord" and do the right thing. The more that you say "Yes" now to what you know is right, the easier it will be to say "Yes, Lord" when you fell that God is calling you to do something special.