Rector's Welcome Message
As we celebrate our children throughout this month of
August, and especially as we gather for our Children’s Harvest on Sunday,
August 23, 2026, my heart is drawn to the beautiful and deeply significant
words of Jesus in Matthew 19:13–15:
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
At first glance, this may appear to be a simple and tender
moment in the ministry of Jesus. Parents were bringing their children to Him so
that He might lay His hands on them and pray for them. Yet the disciples
attempted to stop them. Jesus immediately corrected the disciples, welcomed the
children, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.
Within these few verses is a pattern that has profoundly
shaped the world and continues to point the Church toward the kind of community
Christ intends us to become.
The passage begins with children being brought to Jesus.
The desire of those parents was simple: they wanted their children to encounter
Christ, to receive His touch, His prayer, and His blessing. Yet between the
children and Jesus stood the disciples—people who loved Christ, followed
Christ, and believed they were protecting His time and ministry. In their
minds, perhaps there were more important matters requiring Jesus’ attention.
Jesus saw things differently.
He said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not
hinder them.”
This is one of the remarkable ways Jesus changed the world
before us. He challenged assumptions about who was important, who deserved attention,
and who belonged at the center of the community. In the society of Jesus’ day,
children were loved within their families, but they possessed little social
authority, power, or status. Yet Jesus intentionally brought those whom society
regarded as “little” into the center of the kingdom conversation.
The disciples saw interruption.
Jesus saw significance.
The disciples saw those who were small.
Jesus saw people who belonged to the kingdom.
The disciples attempted to restrict access.
Jesus opened the way.
This is the Gospel pattern that has continued to transform
the world.
Jesus repeatedly taught His followers that greatness in the
kingdom of God is different from greatness as the world defines it. In the
previous chapter of Matthew, when the disciples asked, “Who is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven?”, Jesus placed a child among them. He told them
that unless they changed and became like children, they would never enter the
kingdom of heaven. He taught them that whoever humbles himself like a child is
great in God's kingdom.
Remarkably, only a short time later, those same disciples
were attempting to keep children away.
There is an important lesson here for every generation of
Christians: it is possible to follow Jesus and still need Jesus to correct
the way we see people.
Our Children’s Harvest therefore gives us much more than an
opportunity to celebrate our children. It invites us to examine the kind of
church, families, and community we are creating around them.
Jesus shows us that children must never merely occupy the
edges of the Church while adults conduct what we consider the “important work.”
They are not simply the Church of tomorrow. They belong to the Church today.
Their voices matter. Their worship matters. Their questions matter. Their gifts
matter. Their spiritual development matters.
When Jesus said, “Do not hinder them,” He placed a
responsibility upon every adult disciple.
We must ask ourselves: Are we making the way to Christ
easier for our children, or are we unintentionally placing obstacles in their
path?
Our children learn about Christ not only from what we tell
them but also from what they see in us.
They observe how we worship.
They observe how we speak to one another.
They observe how we resolve disagreement.
They observe how husbands and wives treat each other.
They observe whether adults practice forgiveness.
They observe whether prayer is merely something we speak about or something we
genuinely practice.
They observe whether the faith we proclaim on Sunday shapes the life we live
during the week.
Therefore, when Jesus points us toward children, He is also
pointing adults toward a pattern of behavior.
Children remind us of humility, dependence, trust,
openness, and receptivity. A child comes with empty hands and receives. This
stands in contrast to a world that constantly teaches us to prove ourselves,
promote ourselves, protect our status, and compete for recognition.
The kingdom of God operates differently.
Jesus calls adults to rediscover the humility that allows us
to depend upon God, the openness that allows us to learn, and the sincerity
that allows us to love without always calculating what we will receive in
return.
At the same time, our children must also learn from the
pattern of Jesus. Being welcomed by Christ does not mean remaining spiritually
immature. As children grow, they are called to grow in wisdom, obedience,
compassion, responsibility, and service. They must learn to honor parents,
respect others, develop their gifts, pursue excellence, care for those around
them, and increasingly understand what it means to follow Jesus personally.
The Church therefore has a sacred partnership with families.
Parents bring the children.
The Church helps create the environment.
But ultimately, Jesus must remain the destination.
Our greatest goal is not simply to raise successful
children. We desire to raise children who know Christ, love Christ, serve
Christ, and understand that their lives have divine purpose.
Matthew tells us that the story begins with people bringing children
so that Jesus might lay His hands upon them. The disciples interrupt that
movement, but Jesus removes the barrier. And the passage ends exactly as it
began—with Jesus placing His hands upon the children.
The obstacle did not have the final word.
The blessing did.
That is our prayer for every child of the Anglican Church of
the Resurrection.
May every obstacle standing between our children and a
deeper knowledge of Christ be removed.
May our homes become places where faith is modeled with
authenticity.
May our Church remain a place where children are seen,
heard, nurtured, protected, taught, challenged, and given opportunities to
serve.
May our young people discover that their identity is not
ultimately determined by popularity, academic achievement, social media,
possessions, or the expectations of the culture around them, but by the God who
created them, loves them, calls them, and has entrusted gifts to them.
And may we adults never become so occupied with our
responsibilities, traditions, ministries, or positions that we fail to hear
again the voice of Jesus saying:
“Let the little children come to me.”
As we celebrate our 2026 Children’s Harvest, let us
renew our commitment to becoming the kind of community Jesus demonstrated
before us—a community where the small are valued, where the vulnerable are
protected, where no one is considered insignificant, and where each generation
intentionally makes room for the generation coming behind it.
Jesus changed the world by reversing the world's
understanding of greatness. He placed the child beside the leader, the servant
beside the powerful, and the humble above the self-promoting. He showed us that
the kingdom is not built by pushing others aside but by making room for them.
That same Jesus is still pointing us forward.
To our children: Come to Jesus. Grow in Him. Discover
your gifts. Serve Him boldly. Your life matters in the kingdom of God.
To our parents and adults: Bring them to Jesus. Model
Christ before them. Encourage them. Listen to them. Pray over them. Do not
hinder them.
And to the entire ACR family: may we build a Church in which
every child can encounter the touch of Christ and grow into the person God has
called him or her to become.
May the Lord bless all our children, bless their parents and
families, bless their teachers and mentors, and continue to make the Anglican
Church of the Resurrection a place where generations encounter Jesus together.
Happy Children’s Harvest 2026!
Ven. Sunday Bolarin
Rector
Anglican Church of the Resurrection
