All God's Children

John 4:35

[This sermon contains many statistics.  In many cases, you can make them say whatever you want to say.  However, for this topic, I used conservative averages of many estimates from reputable sources, including government and secular agencies too numerous to document.  Most can be found thru simple internet search, but be careful about which sources you tap.  I'm sure some of these numbers are not exactly accurate, but I feel confident they are in the right 'ballpark,' and the story they tell is powerfully accurate.]

Roughly 30% of the world's population are minors.  The median age on earth today is in the young 20s.  Many these days are saying that the field of missions is dying.  Actually, it is being born every day!

John 4:35
Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

While 2 people die each second, about 4.5 are born each second!  It's amazing when you realize that 50% of those who are alive today were born in the last 30 years.  And high child to adult ratios are especially found in the 10/40 window where we are trying to send more missionaries.  Orphans abound.  God loves them.  He wants them all to be His children!

Are we all God's children?  No.  We are all His creation, and He longs for us to become His children, having been born again into His family as sons and daughters of Him, the Heavenly Father.

The world's population is increasing at the rate of over 10,000 per hour, with the rate ever increasing exponentially. World population hit 1 billion in 1804.  2 billion in 1927.  But our last billion [7] was achieved in just 12 years.  The current total is 7.7 billion plus.  Most people believe that upwards of 10% of all humans who have ever lived ARE ALIVE today!  And that’s from people who believe man has been around for a hundred thousand years, rather than the 6,000 years we know it to be.

In 1 AD the world's population was 150 million.  And all of this is in spite of declining birth rates.

There were only 1 billion people on planet earth in the days of Charles Spurgeon and Dwight L. Moody, and they each won over a million souls to Christ. The enormity of our responsibility today is staggering, to say the least.

In our day, people are living longer. Worldwide, the life expectancy from 1965 to 1970 was 54 years; from 1985 to 1990 it was 62 years. In 1997 the life expectancy in America was 75 years. And every day it takes a long time for the Today show to tell you about every 100 year old they have put on a Smuckers jar!

It is estimated that we are reaching the world with the gospel at the rate of 3 to 4 million souls a year, worldwide. It is estimated that 3 billion people who are alive today have never heard a clear presentation of the gospel, or even the name of Jesus. Most of Christianity knows about the rapture and the second coming of Christ, and yet most of the world knows nothing about Jesus Christ coming the first time.

If we could line up, single file, every missionary that even borders on the truth, the line would be 15 miles long: while the population of the world grows at the rate of 120 miles per day.

There are 25% fewer Independent Baptist missionaries today than thirty years ago. Combine that with the average age of a missionary being over 50 and you can see the problem.  We need to send willing young families to the mission field, and we need to be willing to go, ourselves!

How about America?

America makes up less than 5% of the world's population. There are 47,000 Southern Baptist Convention churches in America, with 10,000 of those churches not averaging one convert a year for several years. 85% of American churches have reached a plateau or are declining. 4,000 churches in America die or go out of business every year. Few are opened in their place.  America used to send 90% of all the missionaries around the world.  Today, we send less than 1/3rd.  Many countries send missionaries here!  What might the future hold considering the trends?

These numbers weigh heavily, and most of us are thinking, Is there any hope?  I surely can't make a dent of a difference!

        Yes, you can.  You can make an eternity of difference in one person, and odds are, they are a child!  That’s why we have VBS / Lifewise / Word of Life Clubs / Jr. Church.  That’s why we go canvassing Saturday.  That’s why we dedicate our kids, and ourselves to their education.

Jesus said to bring the little children to Him!