There is a wonderful verse in the Gospel of John, "If you continue in my word... and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free."

Recently I was asked to give a brief talk to young children, age 4 to 9, on this verse. This was a bit of a challenge. Looking into Bible Commentaries, I was astounded at how complicated theologians could make the verse. They dig into Jewish history and theology. They wonder if Jesus is referring to Jews or to non Jews or both, and on and on. Then it occurred to me that they are taking a simple truth, a truth that kids can understand, and making it difficult. Some sermons are guilty of this.

It is simple and kids can understand it. This is talking about the truth about God... and when you know the truth about God you feel better about yourself. You feel good and free inside.

The truth about God is that God is always with us. Sometimes we feel very alone. Like when we awake in the middle of the night. Or when we move and go to a new house or a new school or a new job. God is with us at those loneliest times.

The second truth is that God gives us strength. When we face a tough test, or are afraid to go to school (or to work), God gives us the strength. Wow, what a great feeling.

And the other truth is that God loves us. We together sang, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." And then pointing to each one of them, I reminded them that "Jesus love you... and you... you... and yes, Mr. or Ms. reader of this blog,... Jesus loves you."