"A Little Child Shall Lead Them: A Boy Who Could Speak for God"

SERMON TITLE:   “A Little Child Shall Lead Them:  A Boy Who Could Speak for God”
SERMON TEXT:    Jeremiah 1:1-19
PREACHER:           Rev. Kim James
OCCASION:           September 20, 2020, at First UMC
 
 
INTRODUCTION
 
                In 1956, my mom graduated from high school in the small town of Libby, Montana.  By graduating in the top 10% of her senior class, she earned the right to go on a school-sponsored spring trip to the University of Montana in Missoula.  Her high school faculty knew that they had to help their students travel that 200 miles over poor highways so the students could imagine what it would be like to enroll in classes in that relatively big school and city.  My mom would have very much liked to go, but her impoverished family couldn’t afford for her to go on that overnight trip, let alone enroll and attend college.  I’m not sure how many times in my childhood and youth years I heard my mom tell me that story.  But it definitely sunk into me.  My mom’s sadness at not being able to afford college was like a calling to me to fulfill her dream.  It was as if, before I was ever born, my mom’s dream of going to college was planted in me.
                During this month of September, we’re focusing our attention on the theme of “A Little Child Shall Lead Them.”  With that verse from Isaiah 11:6 as our basis, we’ve been reviewing some Bible stories about children to see where they might lead us.  First we read about Samuel, a boy who heard God’s voice.  Then, in the story of Naaman’s healing, we read about the unnamed servant girl who offered God’s help.  And, today, we move to Jeremiah chapter one, which tells about the calling of “a boy who could speak for God.”

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