1 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,280 All right, this session we're going to talk about how to have 2 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,720 a heart for special needs people, how to have a heart for 3 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:22,280 special needs people, Shakespeare said. 4 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:28,080 Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have 5 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,680 greatness thrust upon them. I think most of us could 6 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,400 probably relate to the last part of that quote. 7 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,440 When it comes to teaching special needs children, It's not 8 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:43,640 necessarily something that you felt a deep calling in your soul 9 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:45,720 to be a part of. Now, for some of you, it might 10 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:47,600 be. Some of you might be a special 11 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:51,840 Ed teacher, and that definitely would be a special calling, 12 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,640 right? I was not called into the 13 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,880 special needs world. I was given a son with special 14 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:02,160 needs. Therefore I was thrust into the 15 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:04,599 special needs world. But I didn't grow up thinking, 16 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:07,760 oh, I want to work with special needs kids When I grow up, I 17 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,800 want to be a special Ed teacher. I want to have a special needs 18 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,000 ministry. I didn't have that calling. 19 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,240 And I would guess that most of us sitting here probably in that 20 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:22,800 same boat. Most of us are probably just 21 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:27,480 find have found ourselves in a situation where we're dealing 22 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:29,960 with special needs kids. It's not necessarily something 23 00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:34,560 that we have asked for or wanted to deliberately be a part of. 24 00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:39,360 This is how most special needs parents feel too. 25 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:42,960 Most special needs parents are not like I really want to be a 26 00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:46,920 special needs parent one day. It's just something that God 27 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:48,720 sees fit to put into into our lives. 28 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,800 And I get told this fairly regularly. 29 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,720 Well, God only gives special children to special people. 30 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:58,880 You heard that. Yeah, I'm saying a no, I agree. 31 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:01,640 I don't agree with that statement. 32 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,600 God does not only give special children to special people. 33 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:14,640 I don't even want to get into the logistics of the special 34 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:18,440 needs world and how kids are mistreated, but just in a 35 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,840 general census, I don't think I'm special and I'm not special 36 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:24,520 just because I have a special needs son. 37 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:29,360 However, I do believe that if we surrender our will and our 38 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,720 desires to the Lord that He can help us become the special 39 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,120 people that are special needs kids deserve, whether we're a 40 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:39,040 parent or whether we're a worker. 41 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,800 So like I said, you may not have felt a deep calling in your 42 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,480 heart to start a special needs ministry in your church. 43 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:50,960 Maybe you have, I don't know. I know most of you here. 44 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:52,320 I don't know the people watching online. 45 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:55,800 Maybe that is your desire that you're like, pastor, I want to 46 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:57,720 start a special needs ministry and that's amazing. 47 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:03,320 But for most of us, it's we felt called to volunteer to help in 48 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:04,800 our children's ministry at our church. 49 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:09,240 And while we were doing that, we realized we had kiddos in there 50 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,200 with special needs. And so now we're faced with this 51 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,800 situation where it's like, well, I don't know what to do. 52 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,160 How do I help these kids? How do I make them feel like 53 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,800 they're a part of my class? You want to teach them about 54 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:24,560 Jesus. You want them to feel like 55 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,320 they're included, just like what Brother Adam spoke about 56 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:28,960 earlier. You just don't know where to 57 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,280 start. So let me quote another very 58 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:35,800 wise person and say, let's start at the very beginning. 59 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,240 It's a very good place to start. Who knows where that comes from? 60 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:45,720 Sound of Music, yes, very wise. Sister Maria, otherwise known as 61 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,880 Julia Andrews. That's it. 62 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:51,400 I'm a music teacher too, so I have to throw those in 63 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,720 somewhere. So for me, the very beginning of 64 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:59,960 rising to greatness as a teacher of children in general and then 65 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:05,640 as a teacher of special needs children in particular is that 66 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:11,760 we have the right heart. If we have the right heart, then 67 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,120 everything else flows from the right place, right? 68 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:18,360 The Bible says that out of the heart flows everything to do 69 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,640 with our life, right? That we're to protect our heart, 70 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:22,840 that we're not to trust our heart because the heart is 71 00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:25,840 powerful, the will our our emotions. 72 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:30,840 So if we have the right heart and our heart is in the right 73 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:34,960 place, then we will be able to have an influence in the lives 74 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:37,160 of the children that God has placed in our care. 75 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:42,640 So the Bible says in Lamentations 3 verse 51, you do 76 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:47,920 have notes on this, by the way, Lamentations 351, the Bible 77 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,880 tells us that our eye effects our heart. 78 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:56,280 Our eye effects our heart. So we're going to use our eyes 79 00:04:56,280 --> 00:04:59,440 and we're going to look at what the Bible says about special 80 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:01,840 needs. Does the Bible mention special 81 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:03,600 needs? Does the Bible talk about 82 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,680 special needs? Funnily enough, if someone had 83 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:11,360 asked me that before my son, I would have probably been like, 84 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:13,520 Oh yeah, it mentions it in in passing. 85 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:17,480 The longer I'm a special needs mom, the more I see special 86 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,000 needs in the Bible. It's everywhere. 87 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:24,440 And God's heart for special needs people is very evident in 88 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:28,000 the word of God. So we want to make sure that our 89 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,560 heart lines up with what God expects, right? 90 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,120 The Bible says in Psalm 62, verse five that my expectation 91 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:39,440 comes from God. So I want to know, what does God 92 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:43,440 say about special needs people? How does God feel about special 93 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:45,760 needs people? And then I want my heart to 94 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:51,000 match up to what he says, right? OK, so let's turn to Exodus 95 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:57,720 chapter 4. I'm going to read a ton of 96 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,480 scripture today. We are not going to turn to all 97 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,200 of them for sake of time, but they're all written in your 98 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,000 handout. So you can go back later and 99 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,600 look at them, mark them in your Bible, whatever you want to do. 100 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:11,480 I'm just not going to have time for us to turn to all of them. 101 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:13,760 I actually have them printed out, so I don't even have to 102 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,120 turn to all of them. But I think this is very 103 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:21,120 important that we understand God talks about special needs in His 104 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:22,800 Word, and I think that's important. 105 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:28,800 So #1 there it says are special needs mentioned in the Bible, 106 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,240 Exodus 411. So I don't feel like I need to 107 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:37,680 give a ton of background here, But this is where Moses happens 108 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:41,560 upon the burning Bush. And God is laying out his plan 109 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,920 to him on how he wants him to be the deliverer for the children 110 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:49,960 of Israel. And of course Moses has a fear 111 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,160 of why he can't do this right. And it's because in verse 10 it 112 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,600 says, And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not 113 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:02,440 eloquent, neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken unto thy 114 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:06,840 servant, but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue. 115 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:10,480 Moses had a speech impediment. I fully believe that he had a 116 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:14,320 speech impediment. And I love God's response. 117 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:18,880 He says, And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth 118 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:22,440 or who maketh the dumb or the deaf? 119 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:26,720 Now, I don't think I need to say this, but just in case I do dumb 120 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,080 in the, in the King James version of the Bible is 121 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:31,040 referring to mute. It's not referring to 122 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:34,880 intelligence. So he says, who maketh the dumb 123 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,280 or the deaf or the seeing or the blind? 124 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:40,760 Have not I the Lord? So here at the beginning of the 125 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:44,080 Bible in Exodus, God is telling us, Hey, I made special needs 126 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:47,720 people. I created special needs people 127 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:54,240 and, and maybe not depending on the situation, maybe didn't even 128 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:58,000 create a person with special needs, but certainly in his 129 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:01,040 Providence allowed a situation to take place where maybe 130 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,840 special needs ended up becoming a part of somebody's life, 131 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:05,240 right? Whether it's an accident or an 132 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:09,080 illness or something like that. But there are people who God 133 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,400 created with special needs. My son is one of those people. 134 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:15,760 He was born with special needs. It's not something that happened 135 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:18,080 to him later. You have a child with Down 136 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:21,600 syndrome. They were created with that that 137 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,720 different DNA makeup. They were created to have 138 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:27,080 special needs. And it's funny because sometimes 139 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:28,880 people will say, well, why would God do that? 140 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,000 I think we weren't why in the other session, right? 141 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:37,120 Because God says, hey, those that seem more feeble, you can 142 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,360 learn from them. And I've seen this by being 143 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:47,280 around special needs kids. They just glow with the love of 144 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:48,920 God. They really do. 145 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:53,920 And it just, I have several friends that have kids with Down 146 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:57,600 syndrome and they are the most loving. 147 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:02,880 They're just so sweet, these kids that I know and I just 148 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,320 every time I see there's one little boy in particular I'm 149 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,400 thinking of every time I see him, he gives me the best hug. 150 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:14,240 And it's just like, man, that's like we get caught up in our, 151 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,560 you know, fears or our insecurities or our, well, what 152 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:18,640 would they think or what would they? 153 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:23,120 He just loves And that is purely from God. 154 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:25,360 And so we can learn. We can learn from him. 155 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,360 So not only did God create, but God has a plan for those with 156 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:33,200 special needs. He wanted to use Moses. 157 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,920 Even though Moses had a speech impediment, God still had a plan 158 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,440 for him. All right, turn to Deuteronomy 159 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:43,320 chapter 27. I've reached the age where I 160 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,480 need readers, so I have to keep putting them on and off and on 161 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:48,440 and off. I could leave them on, but then 162 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:53,440 you're all blurry. All right, Deuteronomy chapter 163 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,840 27. OK, let me give a little bit of 164 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:58,280 background here while you all are turning there. 165 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:06,320 OK, so in Deuteronomy chapter 27, God is getting ready to take 166 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:08,160 the Israelites into the Promised Land. 167 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:14,000 OK, they're about to have the battle of Jericho, and Moses is 168 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,680 about to be taken to heaven. Joshua's about to become the 169 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:19,040 leader. But God does something really 170 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:25,080 powerful to the Israelites, and he takes them to this valley, 171 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:29,360 and there are two mountains on either side, like there normally 172 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,720 would be with a valley. And one mountain was a luscious 173 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:37,360 and green, and the other mountain was desolate and like a 174 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,160 trash heap. And God split the tribes of 175 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:45,760 Israel into two, and he put half of them on the luscious Green 176 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,880 Mountain, and he put half of them on the desolate mountain. 177 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:54,760 And then the Levites were in the middle, and the Levites recited 178 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:58,320 these blessings and cursings from God. 179 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,920 And when the Levites would say what the blessings were, they 180 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:04,440 would look towards the luscious Green Mountain. 181 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:07,720 And of course, the picture is you follow my commandments, I 182 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:09,560 will bless you. You will be fruitful, you will 183 00:11:09,560 --> 00:11:12,120 prosper. And then when they would recite 184 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:14,640 the cursing, they would turn toward the other mountain. 185 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:18,360 And the Levites would say, if you do this, you will be cursed. 186 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:21,000 And of course, the picture there is their life would be the 187 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:25,520 opposite, right? Very brief kind of summary of 188 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:29,640 what's going on here. OK, so let's look in verse 18. 189 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:37,520 So God gives them, if you start in verse 15, I think is where, 190 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:41,560 yes, 15 through 26 we see all these cursings. 191 00:11:41,560 --> 00:11:44,080 OK, look at number. Look at verse 18. 192 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:49,120 Look at this cursing. It says cursed be he that maketh 193 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:51,920 the blind to wander out of the way. 194 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:55,000 And all the people shall say Amen. 195 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:00,600 Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. 196 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,320 What's God saying here? You better take care of the 197 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,200 special needs people. You better look after them. 198 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:09,480 Don't be causing them to stumble. 199 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:11,560 Don't be causing them to be hurt. 200 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:14,440 Don't be causing them to feel like they're left out. 201 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:19,680 I will curse you if you make the blind to wander out of the way, 202 00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:24,640 out of all of the things, of all the cursing that God could have 203 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:29,560 given them, that was 1 He chose. I think that tells us the 204 00:12:29,560 --> 00:12:31,840 importance of special needs people to God. 205 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,280 I don't think I'm stretching it to say that. 206 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:41,040 So under Deuteronomy, you have God expects us to care for those 207 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:45,400 with special needs, and the Israelites would be cursed if 208 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,320 they treated a special needs person with meanness. 209 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:54,200 All right, turn to Jeremiah 31. I starting to see God's heart 210 00:12:54,200 --> 00:13:00,640 here, His heart, his care, his his tender loving care for 211 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:04,080 special needs people. This one may be my favorite 212 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:10,280 though, Jeremiah chapter 31. So here we're getting to where 213 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:15,000 Jeremiah is prophesying that the Israelites are going to be 214 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:18,560 removed from the promised land. God's going to judge them and 215 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:20,120 bring chastisement into their life. 216 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:21,760 They're going to be put into exile. 217 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,360 But just like how God is with us, he always gives them that 218 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:27,800 hope, right? Of well, when you obey me, when 219 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:30,120 you come back to me, I'm this is what's going to happen. 220 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:36,480 So in chapter 31, Jeremiah is giving the promises of what will 221 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,560 happen should the Israelites turn their life back over to 222 00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:44,240 God. OK, so Jeremiah chapter 31 in 223 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:50,600 verse 7 it says, For thus saith the Lord, Sing with gladness for 224 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:54,720 Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations, Publish ye, 225 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:58,920 praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant Israel. 226 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:03,360 Behold, I will bring them from the North Country, and I will 227 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:05,200 gather them from the coast of the earth. 228 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:08,080 So he's saying, I'm going to bring all my people back. 229 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:14,880 OK, now look what he says. And with them who the blind and 230 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:21,040 the lame, the blind and the lame, the woman with child and 231 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:24,520 her, that Travaillus with child together a great company shall 232 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:28,320 return hit her. These are what would have been 233 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:34,560 considered the feeble, right? Women weren't necessarily highly 234 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:40,760 regarded in that society that God is being sure to tell them 235 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:44,600 here, hey, when you all go back to the promised land, I'm 236 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:46,360 bringing the lame and I'm bringing the blind. 237 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,160 They're coming back and you're going to take care of them like 238 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,080 I told you to when I all the way back in Deuteronomy when I said 239 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:54,440 you would be cursed if you didn't and blessed if you did. 240 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:57,800 I'm going to bring them back and then look what it says in verse 241 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,840 9. They shall come with weeping and 242 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,040 with supplications. Will I lead them? 243 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:08,240 I will cause them to walk by the rivers of water. 244 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:12,600 Wait a minute, who's he bringing back the lame? 245 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:17,760 I will cause them to walk by the rivers of water in a straight 246 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:21,920 way wherein they shall not stumble. 247 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:25,160 Who is he bringing? The blind right? 248 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:28,000 Do you see the beautifulness of this here man? 249 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,640 I love the Bible. He's telling them I am going to 250 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:37,200 bring back the weak amongst you that need the most help and I 251 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:43,680 will help them. I will fight for them, for I am 252 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:47,640 the Father to Israel and Ephraim is my first born. 253 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:52,840 Do you see God's heart man? This is what He wants from us. 254 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:57,320 This is the heart He wants us to have for special needs people. 255 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:02,600 That we will care, that we will be their ally, That we will be 256 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:06,760 the one that helps them to walk and not stumble. 257 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:09,840 And I just, man, I love the Bible. 258 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:11,880 I don't know how people say the Bible is boring. 259 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:17,440 OK, so we see God expected those with special needs to be 260 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,040 included. You're going to hear that word 261 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:23,360 so many times today. And I love when God does this. 262 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,600 My husband and I pray separately about what our sessions are 263 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:28,240 going to be. And then we have a meeting and 264 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:32,640 we discuss together and it's incredible how we both were 265 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:35,080 like, it's about inclusion. And I'm like, well, that's 266 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:37,360 obviously what God wants us to be about because he put it on 267 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,400 both of our hearts. So God expected those with 268 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,240 special needs to be included with those who returned to the 269 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,360 promised land. They were not to be left out. 270 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:51,360 God has always valued the life of those who have disability. 271 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:56,280 He valued the life of those, oh man, there's a whole study we 272 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:57,320 could do there, but I don't have time. 273 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:02,800 So we're going to keep going. All right, point #2 Jesus is our 274 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:07,480 best example. Jesus is our best example. 275 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:14,040 Jesus's main purpose when He was here on earth was to preach 276 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:17,000 salvation. We see that in Luke 532. 277 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,119 Now this is where I'm going to rapid fire verses. 278 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:24,160 OK, so I have them all printed. Look, because I'll have time to 279 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:28,359 hit them all, OK? Luke 532 Jesus says I came not 280 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,200 to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance, OK? 281 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:36,120 Jesus's whole purpose for being here was to win souls, right? 282 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:40,200 To establish his church, to show us the Great Commission. 283 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:43,560 It was all revolved around the gospel, OK? 284 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,680 His earthly ministry was to preach salvation, and the end of 285 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,200 his earthly ministry was his death and resurrection and then 286 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:52,760 of course, his ascension into heaven. 287 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:57,360 However, Jesus was never too busy for those with needs. 288 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:00,800 He was never too busy for those with needs. 289 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:06,600 So his main goal was to preach the gospel right, but he was 290 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:08,680 never too busy for those with needs. 291 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:15,160 So many times in Scripture we see that it says that Jesus saw 292 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:18,040 the need. He saw the need. 293 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:23,360 Here's just a few verses. Luke 1310 ten through 13. 294 00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:25,920 We see where he heals A crippled woman. 295 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:31,120 And it says, And when Jesus saw her, he called her unto him, and 296 00:18:31,120 --> 00:18:33,680 said unto her, A woman thou art loosed for thine infirmity. 297 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:36,640 And he laid hands on her, and immediately she was made 298 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:42,240 straight and glorified God #2 We see the woman whose son died. 299 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:48,080 We see this in Luke 711 through 15, and it says, And it came to 300 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:51,640 pass the day after that, when He went into a city called Nain, 301 00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:54,880 and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. 302 00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:58,360 Now when He came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there 303 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:01,920 was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she 304 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:05,360 was a widow, and much people of the city was with her. 305 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:10,120 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said 306 00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:12,680 unto her, Weep not. And of course Jesus raised her 307 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:17,800 son back from the dead #3 We see the lame man at Bethesda. 308 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:24,400 And we see that in John chapter 5 verses one through 9 it says, 309 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:29,680 when Jesus saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long 310 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:33,680 time, in that case he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 311 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,320 So he saw right? We said that earlier our eye 312 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:40,280 effects our heart. Jesus saw these people with 313 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:42,760 needs and he intervened for them. 314 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:48,840 And then we see the 10 lepers in Luke 1711 through 19, the same 315 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,440 thing. And when he saw them, he said 316 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:54,280 unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priest. 317 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,000 And it came to pass it as they went, they were cleansed. 318 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,560 So Jesus healed all of these people or raised them back from 319 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:02,240 the dead. But what did He have to do? 320 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:04,520 Before he could help them, He had to see them. 321 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:10,080 If he had been so focused on his goal of preaching the gospel 322 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:12,960 that it blinded him to everything else that was going 323 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:15,160 on, he would not have seen the need. 324 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,960 Now we know he couldn't do that because he was God and he is 325 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,160 able to see everything. He knew what was going to happen 326 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,440 before it happened. But I do think that it's an 327 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:28,600 example for us, right? Sometimes I can be so focused on 328 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:32,920 what I need to do that I don't notice the people around me, 329 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:35,360 right? Even this morning, I was like, I 330 00:20:35,360 --> 00:20:36,960 got to do this, I got to do this, I got to do this, I got to 331 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:38,600 do this. And then people started coming 332 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:40,600 in and all of a sudden I was like, I'm not even saying good 333 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,800 morning to anybody because I'm like, you know, and we can be 334 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:46,520 that way, right? But Jesus wants us to stop and 335 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:50,760 to see. He wants us to take a minute and 336 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,760 really look. And so you may be like, well, I 337 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:56,480 already see the special needs kids in my class because they're 338 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,720 drawn on the wall and they're rolling on the floor and 339 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:04,680 they're, you know, a JS new thing is making this awful 340 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:06,880 sound. He does. 341 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,040 It's like a bird call. It's probably going to crack the 342 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:13,680 mic if I do it, but it's like, and he'll just do it like 343 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:17,000 constant for a long time. And I'm like, can we can we 344 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:21,280 please stop? We see, right, But this is a 345 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,080 little bit more than just visually seeing right? 346 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,880 It's noticing. So maybe we need to take a 347 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:30,800 minute and look at that special needs kid that's in our class 348 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:33,640 and see not just that they're there. 349 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,120 What do they need? Right? 350 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:39,480 Jesus didn't just see a blind man. 351 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:41,280 Oh, yeah, I see you. And off you went. 352 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,520 Right? His seeing prompted him to an 353 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:50,000 action and he saw the blind man. And then he helped the blind 354 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,680 man. He healed the blind man, so we 355 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,880 want to make sure we're not just seeing visually. 356 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:56,800 Yeah, we acknowledge they're there. 357 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,120 What need do I see? What do they need? 358 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:04,800 How can I help? What could I do to make my class 359 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:10,480 better for them, to make them be more included, to make them? 360 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:15,080 Maybe it's a behavioral issue. What can I do to help kind of 361 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,640 offset this behavior? It's not just saying I see the 362 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:21,360 behavior, but what could I do, right? 363 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:23,440 And we're going to talk about some of those things later, more 364 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:29,920 practically of what we can do. So Jesus saw the need point #2 365 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:32,880 it says. And he was moved with 366 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:37,120 compassion. He was moved with compassion. 367 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:40,280 I feel like these two have to go together, right? 368 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:44,160 If we see the need and we don't have compassion, then we're not 369 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:48,720 going to do the work, right? It takes me a lot of time to 370 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,920 make all those things that are on the back table. 371 00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:55,960 Takes me a lot of time. It takes the church some money, 372 00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:59,680 right? But you know why I do it? 373 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,640 Because I want to have compassion on the kids that need 374 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,720 it. And if I don't have compassion, 375 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:10,640 it becomes a burden, right? The days that I'm just doing it 376 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:13,320 because it has to be done. I don't do it with a good 377 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:18,200 attitude, but the days that I remember, this little girl needs 378 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,600 this, this little boy needs this, this, this will help this 379 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:23,120 little one know more about Jesus. 380 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:26,040 This will help this little one know that they're loved by God. 381 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:31,760 And I have compassion that then enables me to do the work that 382 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:35,560 needs to be done right. It enables me to put the time in 383 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,640 to do the study, to do the research, to talk to the 384 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,040 parents, to take the time to find the things, to print the 385 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,480 things, to cut the things, to laminate the things, to cut the 386 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:48,680 things again, right? It, it helps me to do that, and 387 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:53,080 it also lets me do it as an act of service rather than a chore. 388 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:55,520 OK, but that comes from a place of compassion. 389 00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:02,480 So #1 He had compassion with a leprous man, Mark one verse 41 390 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:06,400 says, And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand 391 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:10,000 and touched him, and saith unto him, I will beat thou clean. 392 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:14,640 Two blind men in Matthew 20 verse 34. 393 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:18,600 So Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes and 394 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:21,040 immediately their eyes received sight and he followed him. 395 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:29,440 The man with the withered hand in Matthew chapter 15 verse 32 396 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:32,320 to 39. Then Jesus called his disciples 397 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:36,480 unto him and said, I have compassion on the multitude. 398 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:38,880 Wait a minute. Nope, sorry, wrong verse. 399 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:43,080 Matthew 1211 through 13. Sorry, I don't have that one 400 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:45,480 written in here. Let's turn there then, because I 401 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,400 don't want to miss it. Matthew 1211 through 13. 402 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,880 And I know that we know this already, but sometimes seeing a 403 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:01,040 volume of verses about a subject, it just makes you 404 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,920 realize how much emphasis God put on it. 405 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,360 And so we should too. OK, so verse Matthew 12. 406 00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:10,680 Verse 11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among 407 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,920 you that have one sheep? And if it fall into a pit on the 408 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,840 Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? 409 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,640 How much then is a man better than a sheep? 410 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:22,600 Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days. 411 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:24,880 So this one doesn't say compassion. 412 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,640 Verse 13, It says, Then he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thy 413 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:31,120 hand and he stretched it forth and it was restored whole like 414 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,240 as the other. So this one isn't doesn't say 415 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,760 Jesus had compassion, but he fought against the social norms, 416 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:41,080 right? The Pharisees were saying, well, 417 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:42,400 you can't do that, it's a Sabbath. 418 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:46,160 What caused Jesus to do that on the Sabbath? 419 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,320 Compassion, right? He had compassion. 420 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:53,880 So when I read this one, I, my thought process was, you know, 421 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:57,280 maybe we have to do something a little bit different, right? 422 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:00,560 Maybe it's not the way our church normally did it. 423 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,680 It's not the way our church has has done it for years in the 424 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:05,880 past. But maybe this situation 425 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:10,160 requires that we break outside social norms or the, the, the 426 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:13,080 structures that we have put in place. 427 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,760 Now, I am not suggesting that you go against your pastor or 428 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:17,680 whoever is in charge of your children's ministries. 429 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,040 They are the leader that God has put in place. 430 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:22,560 But it doesn't mean you can't talk to him, right? 431 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,360 It doesn't mean, look, my husband has no clue what goes on 432 00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:27,640 back there unless I tell him or unless Miss Cassandra tells him. 433 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:29,720 He doesn't know he's not in there. 434 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:33,280 Your pastor maybe doesn't know that you're having the struggle 435 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:35,400 or this issue or whatever, right? 436 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,760 So maybe it's something that you need to bring to him and just 437 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,880 say, hey, can I talk to you about little so and so? 438 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,480 This is what I think would help. What is your opinion? 439 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:47,520 Would you pray? Pray about it for a little 440 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,800 while, but then trust him because like my husband said, he 441 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,160 is the shepherd of all the flock, not just that little one. 442 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:54,920 And he might know something that you don't. 443 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:59,320 But I think having that heart of compassion makes it that we will 444 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,960 kind of push back against what has normally been done right. 445 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,120 And for the record, the Pharisees were wrong. 446 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,400 And so that's why Jesus was trying to show them, hey, you're 447 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:10,640 wrong. I'm not working. 448 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:15,800 I'm helping on the Sabbath, OK, and then feeding the multitude. 449 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:21,680 In Matthew 1532 to 39, Jesus said. 450 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,040 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him and said, I have 451 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:28,720 compassion on the multitude. So he saw that they were hungry, 452 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:30,120 they were tired, they had a need. 453 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:33,360 Now not all of these things that I mentioned to you were special 454 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:39,440 needs, right? But the blind, the lame, the man 455 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:45,440 with the withered hand, there were several throughout. 456 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,160 Or the man who was lame, those would be considered special 457 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,440 needs, right? The others were areas where 458 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,160 people just simply had a need. And Jesus saw it and he was 459 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,520 willing to help it help with that need. 460 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,920 So your next point down there, it says not everyone Jesus 461 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:04,320 helped got saved. That's important that we 462 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:06,640 recognize that. The 10 lepers. 463 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:09,480 Where's Peyton? Can she hear me? 464 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:14,240 Hey, Peyton, how many of the 10 lepers thank Jesus? 465 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:16,120 One. That's right. 466 00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:17,200 We just did that in Sunday school. 467 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:20,200 Oh, I could have asked Lana too. She's right there. 468 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:24,360 How many of the 10 lepers thanked Jesus, Lana? 469 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:26,240 One. That's right. 470 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,760 So the other nine, they didn't even go back and tell him thank 471 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:34,280 you, never mind follow him. And Jesus knew that, and he 472 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:39,040 helped them anyway, right? So again, Jesus's main goal, his 473 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:43,360 main purpose was preaching the gospel, but that didn't stop him 474 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,240 from helping those people in the way that needed help. 475 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,480 OK, so the gospel is our main purpose. 476 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:55,840 Also, 1000% if my husband and I teach anything, we teach that 477 00:28:56,320 --> 00:29:00,280 even our special needs people need to be taught the gospel. 478 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:02,920 It's imperative. It's a command. 479 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:06,400 Matthew 2818 through 20. We have the Great Commission. 480 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:13,800 Matthew 516 The Bible says, Let your light so shine before men, 481 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:16,280 that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father, 482 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,600 which is in heaven. Mark 1615 And he saith unto 483 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:23,000 them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 484 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,960 creature. We are not doing our job if we 485 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,840 are not preaching the gospel right in our classrooms. 486 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:33,000 We are not teaching little little ones about Jesus and 487 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:35,800 about his salvation. We are not doing our job. 488 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:40,600 We have several little ones in our Sunday school and junior 489 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,240 church that are not saved yet. And I know Miss Cassandra and I, 490 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:45,640 we pray all the time for them that they will get saved. 491 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:50,520 That's our main goal, right when we're planning our lessons and 492 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:54,040 when we're, we do a thing in our class where we teach the same 493 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:55,960 lesson for Sunday school and junior church. 494 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:59,840 I'll probably talk about that a little bit more later, but we 495 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:02,880 started that because we did have quite a few special needs kids. 496 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:09,080 Excuse me, but when we're preparing those lessons, oh, 497 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:12,360 that's what I was going to say, we do this thing where we look 498 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,560 for the Godshot. So in every lesson we're looking 499 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:19,040 at, not just can we teach them this story, but what can we 500 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,680 teach them about God, right? I think that's important. 501 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:24,800 We're not just teaching them a fairy tale, right? 502 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:28,000 These are stories that are in the Bible that God has put 503 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:31,280 there, but they're put there so we can learn more about Him and 504 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:36,400 our relationship to Him, right? And so we do, we talk about it, 505 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:38,760 we pray on it. We, we, when we plan our 506 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:42,440 lessons, I'm constantly thinking, how is this going to 507 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,280 teach them about Jesus, right? And that is what we should be 508 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:49,040 doing. However, I don't want to be so 509 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:53,040 busy that I don't have time for those with needs. 510 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:56,160 OK. Now this could be kind of 511 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,560 practical in the sense that there may be some days where you 512 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,160 have a little one and they're not doing OK. 513 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:07,840 They're having a rough day. What is more important, getting 514 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:10,720 through your lesson or helping that one with the need? 515 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:14,320 I would say helping the one with the need because that is being 516 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:17,440 the hands and feet of Jesus. Now again, if you heard the 517 00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:20,200 first session, my husband is, we're not saying they get to 518 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,160 take control of your classroom. I'm not suggesting that. 519 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:27,200 I'm just saying that sometimes we can be so focused on, well, I 520 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:29,080 have this lesson and I have to get through it. 521 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:31,120 And if I don't make it to the end, then we haven't. 522 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:34,160 What if we don't do the activity that I planned, right? 523 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:38,400 And we're so focused on what we need to get done that we miss 524 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:40,840 the needs that are going on in the classroom. 525 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:43,240 And I think some of that comes from we need to be more 526 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:46,440 sensitive to the Holy Spirit because there have been times in 527 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:50,760 my classroom where I've had a lesson planned and the Holy 528 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:54,200 Spirit has said, no, their heart is tended towards salvation, 529 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:55,240 right? Now you need to spend a little 530 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:57,680 bit more time on salvation. And we should be sensitive to 531 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:00,280 that, right? But it also means, do I see the 532 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:01,720 need? Do I have compassion? 533 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:06,600 And if I've been prepared and all the things that I'm doing 534 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:08,960 aren't working, maybe we need to pivot. 535 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:11,960 Maybe we need to sing some extra songs to give that one a little 536 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:14,720 time to regulate, even if it means we have to cut other 537 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:18,440 things short, right? So we don't want to be so busy 538 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:20,880 that we miss. Those with needs. 539 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:23,280 Do we see? The need in our. 540 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:32,510 Own church and community. And do we have compassion for? 541 00:32:32,510 --> 00:32:37,030 Those who need our help. This April. 542 00:32:37,270 --> 00:32:39,710 That passed. My husband and I were asked to 543 00:32:39,710 --> 00:32:44,270 go and help. The trailers would normally be 544 00:32:44,270 --> 00:32:48,600 here today, actually, Brother Rob and Miss Anna, they have a 545 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:50,280 funeral today, so they're not able to be here. 546 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,800 But in April, my husband and I had the privilege of going to 547 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:56,760 Connecticut to their church, and they had their first autism 548 00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:00,520 awareness Sunday. It was absolute blessing to my 549 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:04,480 heart to to be a part of that, to see a church have a desire to 550 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:07,760 do that. But Mr. Miss Anna and Brother 551 00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:13,200 Rob have a son with autism and Tommy? 552 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:16,480 I was so convicted by this little boy. 553 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:22,000 They were having this Autism Sunday and he went to everybody 554 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:25,640 and his class at a school. Anyone who would listen, you 555 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:27,560 need to come to my church, we're having Autism Sunday. 556 00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:29,600 You need to come to my church, we're having Autism Sunday. 557 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:32,040 He had people show up that his parents didn't even know we're 558 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:34,960 coming. It was amazing. 559 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:37,240 It was absolutely incredible. But you know what? 560 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:40,600 They saw the need. They saw the need in their 561 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:44,600 community that I don't know the statistic off the top of my 562 00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:49,880 head, but the number of special needs families that leave church 563 00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:52,760 is astronomical. Astronomical. 564 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:56,960 And if you were to take a survey of special needs families, I 565 00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,960 actually talked with our sons BCBA about this 'cause she deals 566 00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:01,440 with a lot of special needs families. 567 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:04,720 And she tells me, she says the one thing that parents tell me 568 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,920 they struggle with the most is feeling like they don't have 569 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:10,760 their faith community anymore. That's awful. 570 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:14,719 That's awful. Shame on us. 571 00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:17,440 Shame. That's horrible. 572 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:21,600 Now, in fairness, it may not be the church's fault. 573 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:25,360 It could be the parents that they're not willing to work. 574 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:27,679 You heard what my husband said we had to go through to get my 575 00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:30,520 son to sit in church. OK, So I don't want to place all 576 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:32,159 the blame on the church. I don't mean it that way. 577 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:34,360 But I do think we could do better. 578 00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:36,920 I do. Think we could do better? 579 00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:41,560 But that takes seeing the need and it takes having compassion. 580 00:34:43,639 --> 00:34:46,639 You may not have started. Volunteering in your children's 581 00:34:46,639 --> 00:34:50,159 ministry with the purpose of helping those with special needs 582 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:52,440 you probably. Started. 583 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:55,639 Because you have a burden and a desire to bring young ones to a 584 00:34:55,639 --> 00:34:59,200 saving knowledge of Jesus. Yet here you are. 585 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:07,920 And you probably have a classroom that has special needs 586 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:10,560 child in it. Or maybe you don't. 587 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:13,720 Maybe you have a family member that has special needs and 588 00:35:13,720 --> 00:35:15,720 that's why you're here, because you want to know how to help 589 00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:18,600 them. Nonetheless, you're sitting at a 590 00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:21,760 conference talking about ministering to special needs 591 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:26,320 people. And you want to. 592 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:31,560 Know how can I help and my husband and I get asked that all 593 00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:33,560 the time. We don't know what to do. 594 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:35,440 We don't want to do the wrong thing. 595 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:38,880 What is the right thing? What is expected of us? 596 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:40,960 What is asked? What is what means what am I 597 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,320 being asked that's maybe too much like where? 598 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:47,040 Where do I sit in all of this? I don't know what to do. 599 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:49,920 And I want some help to know what to do. 600 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:51,360 And that's why you're sitting here. 601 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:53,760 And I commend. You for that I. 602 00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:57,440 Truly, truly do. However, we must make sure that 603 00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:02,720 our heart is in the right place. It can't just be. 604 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:07,800 Well, I want to know what to do so that little Johnny behaves in 605 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:10,920 my class. Is that important? 606 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:15,600 It is, it absolutely is, and I do. 607 00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:18,080 We do have some things to talk about that will help with that, 608 00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:22,640 but your main goal should not be What do I need? 609 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:26,880 To do so that he is quiet. And that he stops disrupting all 610 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:28,560 these other kids from learning about Jesus. 611 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:31,480 Nope. Who needs to learn about Jesus? 612 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:34,840 Him too. He needs to learn about Jesus. 613 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:38,920 So it can't just be well, I want all the tools and the tricks and 614 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:41,640 the tips to know how to keep my classroom managed. 615 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:43,480 OK. Is that important? 616 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:46,720 Yes, because our purpose is to preach the gospel. 617 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:49,800 And if we don't have a managed classroom, we can't do that 618 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:52,800 well. But that cannot be our heart. 619 00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:57,680 Our heart has to be. What do I need to do so that 620 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:03,120 Johnny, in whatever capacity he is capable of, can learn about 621 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:07,720 Jesus, right? I don't know. 622 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:11,560 If my son will ever reach the place where he will ask Jesus to 623 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:14,640 be his savior, I don't know that he's 14. 624 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:19,680 He understands sin. He. 625 00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:23,040 Knows when he's being naughty. I don't know that he understands 626 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:25,360 that he needs a savior. I don't know that. 627 00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:29,800 I don't know if he ever will. My son doesn't just have autism, 628 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:31,520 he has an intellectual disability. 629 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:37,160 And so it may be that intellectually he never gets to 630 00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:39,800 a place where he comprehends the gospel. 631 00:37:40,240 --> 00:37:43,200 Therefore, he is safe, right? He does. 632 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:45,440 He will. He may never reach the age of 633 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:48,360 accountability. I don't believe the age of 634 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:50,560 accountability is a specific number. 635 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:53,000 You know why? Because if it was a specific 636 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:55,280 number, I think it would be in the Word of God. 637 00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:59,240 There is not a number. I don't think it's a specific 638 00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:03,000 age. I think it is a level of 639 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:06,200 understanding. OK, I really do believe that. 640 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:09,480 And I thought that before I had a son with. 641 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:11,840 Special needs. I'm not trying to make the Bible 642 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:14,080 fit what I wanted to say, but I mean. 643 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:19,000 He does not understand. Miss Cassandra teaches him about 644 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:20,600 Jesus. I teach him about Jesus. 645 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:25,760 He. Can tell you things about. 646 00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:29,600 The Bible, which is amazing. If you ask him who rose from the 647 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:33,880 dead, he'll say Jesus. But if you ask him why did Jesus 648 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,200 die? Doesn't really. 649 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:39,320 Understand that. But we keep teaching, right? 650 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:43,000 Because I don't know, I said this at conference before. 651 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:48,080 We don't just witness to somebody when we think they're 652 00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:50,640 ready to get saved. We. 653 00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:53,280 Witness and we. Witness and we witness we 654 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:57,920 witness and we witness and This is why in the nursery we sing 655 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:00,920 Jesus loves me this I know the Bible. 656 00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:03,880 Jesus loves the little children Are the nursery kids going to 657 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:05,920 get saved? No, but we're. 658 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:07,880 Planting a seed. Right. 659 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:11,360 The Bible says some plant some water, God gives the increase. 660 00:39:11,640 --> 00:39:14,920 We plant the seed. That's our job as children's 661 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:18,680 ministry, children's ministry workers, that's our job, is to 662 00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:21,600 just plant the seed and to put a little water on it. 663 00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:23,960 Then the next week we plant another seed. 664 00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:28,520 We had a little more water. It's not for me to decide. 665 00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:32,200 Whether my son will get saved or not, it's my job to be obedient 666 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:35,080 to what God asked me to do and to raise him up in the nurture 667 00:39:35,080 --> 00:39:39,640 and admonition of the Lord. So if my heart. 668 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:43,960 Is well, I just want AJ to be quiet so that all the other kids 669 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:47,880 can learn about Jesus. Then I have a heart problem I 670 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:48,640 have. To line. 671 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:52,640 My heart up with God. I have to make my heart walk in 672 00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:55,440 his footsteps, right? And when we look at the 673 00:39:55,440 --> 00:40:00,440 footsteps of Jesus, we see He saw he had compassion, He did 674 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:04,520 something, He saw he had compassion, He did something. 675 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:07,600 All the while preaching the gospel, right? 676 00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:11,800 All the while working towards his main goal, which was to die 677 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:15,160 for our sins. But he'd never He wasn't so 678 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:18,480 focused on Calvary that he missed all the people between 679 00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:21,680 his earthly ministry starting and his crucifixion. 680 00:40:22,240 --> 00:40:24,720 How sad would that be? We wouldn't have any of these 681 00:40:24,720 --> 00:40:31,360 amazing stories in the Bible. Jesus didn't view. 682 00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:36,040 Those who needed his help as an inconvenience, they were not a 683 00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:41,040 roadblock in the way of him doing more important work. 684 00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:45,520 I'm going to say that again, they were not a roadblock in the 685 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:48,960 way of Him doing more important work. 686 00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:56,040 They were part of the work, an integral part of the work of 687 00:40:56,040 --> 00:40:58,040 bringing glory to His heavenly Father. 688 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:02,760 You go back and you read later, you read some of those verses 689 00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:07,880 that I put in here and you see how many times it says and they 690 00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:12,440 glorified God and they glorified God, and they glorified God and 691 00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:14,720 they glorified God and they glorified God. 692 00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:18,720 Jesus helping, seeing the need, having compassion and helping 693 00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:24,480 those people that brought glory to God, us. 694 00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:26,320 Helping our. Special needs kids. 695 00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:30,840 And then how excited Cassandra did people in our church get 696 00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:33,920 When AJ comes out and he knows a Bible verse or something they 697 00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:36,080 like get. So they're like his biggest 698 00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:38,880 cheerleaders. I love our church so much, but 699 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:41,800 you know what that's doing? It's not glorifying Cassandra 700 00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:46,080 and I, it's glorifying God. God gets the glory from that. 701 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:48,720 If my. Son reaches the point. 702 00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:52,000 Where he is able to understand salvation and accept Christ as 703 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:55,000 his Savior, that will glorify God. 704 00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:59,640 But that only will be possible because we saw the need and we 705 00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:01,760 had compassion and we did the work. 706 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:05,000 We have to have the heart of the Lord. 707 00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:10,400 We have to see these precious ones. 708 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:14,520 As people, we can help people who the Lord has brought into 709 00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:19,480 our churches and into our lives specifically in order that we 710 00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:23,960 might minister to them. And in doing so, we can all 711 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:27,280 bring glory to our Heavenly Father after. 712 00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:29,920 All he is. The one who truly has all the 713 00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:31,400 greatness. I know the quote in the 714 00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:34,080 beginning. It's kind of playing on words. 715 00:42:35,240 --> 00:42:36,600 Some were. Born great some. 716 00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:39,120 Achieved greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them, 717 00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:42,560 implying that we're the ones that have greatness thrust upon 718 00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:45,440 us, right? But it really the greatness is 719 00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:50,320 of him, right? Anything that I have learnt that 720 00:42:50,320 --> 00:42:53,880 I'm able to share with you today that helps you is because of 721 00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:56,120 him. It's not because of me. 722 00:42:56,520 --> 00:43:00,960 It's not because of my husband. God has put so many people into 723 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:04,760 our lives that have taught us. God has shown us things in his 724 00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:08,520 word that have helped us. The resources that we've learnt 725 00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:13,600 about those all came from Him. And when you take those things 726 00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:16,320 and you take them back to your church and you use them in your 727 00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:18,680 classroom or with your family member or however you're 728 00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:22,760 planning on using them and it helps them, then that's glory to 729 00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:24,680 God. And. 730 00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:26,800 The cycle just repeats. Itself, right? 731 00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:29,360 Because that's what we were created for. 732 00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:34,520 We were created to fellowship with God and to bring Him glory. 733 00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:40,800 So when we have the right heart and we are able to truly help, 734 00:43:41,240 --> 00:43:45,840 see the need, have compassion and help, then not only are we 735 00:43:45,840 --> 00:43:48,760 able to witness and and preach the gospel to these little ones, 736 00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:52,400 but we are part of the process of glorifying our Father. 737 00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:55,880 And isn't that really what we all want anyway, right? 738 00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:57,960 Isn't that? Isn't that our whole purpose of 739 00:43:57,960 --> 00:44:01,800 being? So he is the one that is truly 740 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:04,280 great. We are just the vessels that He 741 00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:06,520 chooses to use to be the hands of feet. 742 00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:08,880 Hands and feet of Jesus in our classroom. 743 00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:14,000 I'll close with this. One of my favorite passages is 744 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:17,800 in Matthew. Oh, and the reference just 745 00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:19,160 escaped my mind. I'll find it. 746 00:44:19,160 --> 00:44:23,240 I'll bring it later. But Jesus is telling the people, 747 00:44:25,120 --> 00:44:28,800 thank you for feeding me, thank you for bringing me water, thank 748 00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:32,680 you for clothing me. And the people said, when did I 749 00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:34,440 do any of that? When did we clothe you? 750 00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:36,480 When did we bring you water? When did we feed you? 751 00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:42,280 And Jesus said, when you do it to the least of these, when you 752 00:44:42,280 --> 00:44:45,800 do it to the least of these, you are doing it to me. 753 00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:49,360 And that's what I think we all want to be able to do in our 754 00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:52,600 classrooms, right, is to be that hands and feet of Jesus to 755 00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:55,680 minister to the least of these, remembering that when we do 756 00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:58,080 that, we're really doing it as unto the Lord.