Only During Service - At it Again.

We recently sat in a service with a preacher from the midwest.  He was an exuberant Baptist preacher preaching his heart out.  Needless to say, my daughter is not used to that preaching or those sayings.

He had handed out a paper with the verses he was using and some main points.  She was reading along and stopped puzzled to ask me why the verse went from 7 to 13 in one place.  I explained that he skipped some.  This disturbed her and she tried to figure out why, so she kept even a closer eye on him for the rest of the service.

He read some more verses and then stopped for some explanation.  Then he began reading the next verse saying, "Folks, it is by grace you are saved, not....."

I felt the little elbow in my side again and leaned down to hear what she wanted this time:

"Mommy, where does it say 'folks'?"

Thankfully, after that, we got to the end of the verses, and like any good Baptist preacher, he ended his sermonette with a brief explanation of salvation.  Because it was a kid's sermon, he used the power point with the two sides and a chasm inbetween.  Man and God separated by sin.  Then Jesus died for us, and the powerpoint showed the cross bridging the gap.  This particular power point showed the cross veritcal with the cross-beams bridging the gap unlike others where I have seen them lay the cross horizontal with the top and bottom bridging the gap.

I realized my daughter had never seen this illustration before when I saw her studying it carefully and listening.  when he finished his explanation, her elbow jabbed me again.

"Mom, it wouldn't do any good anyway for the cross to fill in the hole there because no one could cross over with that up and down part on the top.  No one could climb over it."
 
Yeah, well, um....

I actually appreciate that she talks like this and asks questions.  We are so used to this from growing up in Sunday School with it that we never stop to think how it will seem to a child.  He was speaking to a group of children who do not usually hear the gospel, and if she couldn't make sense of it when she knows her Bible pretty well for a seven year old kid, how much were they really able to take in?

With thanks to the Navigators whose illustration I copied, even though it was not the one he used.  His cross top piece was much larger.  And just to say, I really appreciate the work of the Navigators.