Raising children is not for the weak. With each passing day, what the world throws at young people is more and more difficult to deal with. Children naturally recognize their need for protection, provision and most times, guidance. Today, we will look at how Jesus invites children into his presence and how they model the faith He is looking for from all of us.

We are embarking on our favorite week of the year. We love spending time with all of the precious children that join us. We love the music, the games, the laughter, the friendships, the energy and everything else that comes with being a part of VBS. But we don’t do all of this for the experience. We do it for a bigger and more enduring reason. What we’re doing this week reflects the very essence of who we are. We are witnesses. Jesus has done an amazing and powerful work in our lives and we want to share that with everyone we can. This morning, as we kick off the week, we’re going to remind ourselves about what we’ve witnessed, who we share it with, and what it does for others!

Today’s world is filled with power struggles. They think that the way to win is have and use more human strength than the next person. Wars are fought with this understanding. Political campaigns often run in this mindset as well. Most people generally accept that the person with the most power wins. Then the God of the Universe shows up in human flesh and sets His power aside. How do we make sense of that? Maybe He wasn’t telling the truth about who He was? Today, we’ll look at a moment when God made it clear who Jesus was and what He was here to do. This episode had a huge impact on those who witnessed it. And its message still matters for us today. God still chooses something different than overpowering others. His way still works!

Many people today call themselves Christians. Basically, they are saying that they follow Jesus. But do we know what it means to follow Him? Jesus describes it in these verses, and it seems like most “Christians” would be shocked at what He says. Instead of talking about what someone gets, He talks about the price someone has to pay. He describes a seemingly impossible situation where a person loses their life to save it. What can that even mean? It seems like being a follow of Jesus demands that we give everything we have. Let’s reset our minds and hearts and respond to the call Jesus gives to come and follow Him.

Have you ever thought you saw someone you knew only to realize when you approached them that you were mistaken? Something about what they looked like resembled your friend so much that you were sure it was them. While those misunderstandings are generally low-stakes, the passage we read today is about the highest stakes. Do we recognize Jesus? Some people think they know who He is, but they are mistaken. We will remind ourselves from Luke’s reporting of who Jesus claimed to be and what He came to do.

Planning a party can be stressful. Imagine that you are hosting something and you don’t know how many people are coming. What if it could be 50 people – or 100 people – or 1000 people. How do you get ready for something like that? In this story, the disciples didn’t even know that a party was coming – and then Jesus told them to feed everyone. It seems like the disciples thought Jesus was joking at first, mostly because there was no way He could be serious! But Jesus goes on to demonstrate something that echoes into all the places where we feel like we have too little. It is never about what we have. It is always about the One who has us!

Being a father is a high calling. It takes courage, strength, integrity, and honor. Unfortunately, many of these are in short supply today. But perhaps the greatest secret is that most fathers wonder if they have what it takes to step into all that they want to be as a dad. The ache in our soul is there, but is it possible to find a way to be all of that? What we read today teaches us that Jesus empowers those that He calls. He sends His disciples out on a mission. These men are not Jesus, but they go out and start unsettling everything as they act under His direction and trusting in His power through them. These realities will bring life into the soul of any person overwhelmed with their calling in life.

We all know what hopeless looks like and feels like. We witness it from afar, hearing about things broken beyond repair in someone else’s life. But it hits differently when it’s our own life. Most of the time, it shocks us because we never thought we would be facing something like this. Some of the time, we have lived with the problem for long enough that it feels settled: we will always have this brokenness. Today, we look at two stories intertwined by time and place where Jesus teaches that the answer for hopelessness is to know and trust the One who can do the impossible. Today is an invitation from Luke to learn how to trust Jesus like these people and to watch His power work in our lives.

What would you do if Jesus Himself walked into your kitchen as your family was sitting down to dinner? There would probably be a million thoughts running through your mind at the same time. You might wonder if you’re in trouble, if He is here to give you something, or if you are hallucinating. You may try to figure out what to say or what He might want to eat. You’d probably get a chair for Him at the table if it seemed like He wanted to join you. But one thought that probably would not go through your mind would be to tell Him to get lost. We can’t imagine rejecting Jesus when He’s standing right in front of us. But that’s exactly what Jesus faced when He was on earth. In this story, we see His power to do incredible good. Yet everyone wants Him to go away. Let’s see if we can understand what is at the root of this. Then, we can look in the mirror to see if any of that mindset lives inside us.

We often call trials and struggles in our lives “storms.” It is a word that seems to fit because it describes the feeling of danger and chaos. It also sums up our powerlessness in the face of the circumstances. Since this is such an easy-to-understand picture, it is not a mistake that several stories of Jesus’ time on earth have to do with storms. In this one, Jesus give direction right into a storm and then promptly falls asleep. We can all probably identify with the panic of the disciples, but will we hear the words of Jesus and embrace what He shows us in this episode?