The Joy Of The Lord

I've talked before about why I love children's ministry and why it's important and how kids understand so much more than we give them credit for. But it's worth mentioning again.

For the summer, we're doing a one-room Sunday school (ages 3-11), because of how often people go on vacations, etc. Today, for example, we only had 4! But the hour I spent with them prepared my heart in such an astonishingly beautiful way for the next hour and a half spent in worship with the congregation.

We sang this song: I've Got The Joy, and of course did all the dance moves/actions along with it. Watching these kids sing about having the joy of the Lord in their hearts with such excitement and passion reminded me of what it means to be joyful in salvation. Then each child prayed for the class, thanking God for the day, for Jesus' death, for the ability to praise the Lord. We're studying some of the Psalms this morning, and Psalm 1 was for today. After reading it, we started talking about it, and they truly had learned so much from it. They kept talking about being righteous in Christ, and outside of Christ we are just like the wicked from the verses they read. And then I got the chance to start to teach them a song in Wolof. They were thrilled to hear more about the global church and the bigger world around them, that there were kids in Africa singing just as they were.

This all prepared my heart in such a profound way that when, in church, we sang things like "How Deep The Father's Love For Us", "Jesus Messiah", and "And Can It Be That I Should Gain", I found myself staring at the cross with tears flowing freely. Between songs of praise, we read as a congregation from Romans 4,

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
    and whose sins are covered;
⁸ blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. (Verses 7-8)


The only reason we have the joy of the Lord in our hearts is because God so loved the world that He chose to sacrifice Himself for us in the person of Jesus Christ. Maybe I read too much theology yesterday, but the fact that I, solely because of the grace of God, was chosen to experience this joy, was so overwhelming. I think this must be exactly what it is to use our theology as a windshield to see the greater glory of our Lord. 


What a great, great God we serve.