"Why Can't the English?"

In the early days of Sermons4Kids I gave little thought to language.  I assumed that my audience lived in the USA and spoke English just like me, my neighbors, and the members of my local church.  As the years have passed, God has greatly expanded the reach of our ministry.  Last year there were over three million visitors to our web site from more than 200 different countries around the world.  Our Sermon of the Week email mailing list is approaching 75,000.  This has resulted in some enlightening experiences for me!

Recently our lesson was based on Exodus 16 about God providing manna in the wilderness for the children of Israel.  The object used to launch the message was called "Monkey Bread." I even provided a simple recipe made from canned biscuits.  Here are some of the comments I received from our friends in the United Kingdom:

"What are canned biscuits?"

"What you call biscuits, we call scones."

"What we call biscuits, you call cookies."

"Do you mean scones or biscuits?"

"What people in the U.S. call a can, we call a tin."

"Why would anyone put scones in a tin can?"

"How much butter is 'a stick of butter?'"

Oh my! What I thought was a simple lesson to teach children about manna in the wilderness turned out to be a lesson in "English" for me.

Most of our lessons include a coloring page.  In the UK, they think it should be a colouring page.  A few weeks ago our lesson was about "Playing Favorites."  The word "favorite" was used in the word search puzzle.  I was reminded by a friend from "across the pond" that he had to explain to his children that "favorite" should actually be "favourite."

It all reminds me of that song, "Why Can't the English?" from "My Fair Lady."

Feet of Clay

Several years ago, I wrote a children's sermon entitled "A Miraculous Turn Around."  The lesson was based on Luke 7:11-16 where Jesus encountered a large crowd that was mourning a young man's death.  Jesus approached the boy's mother and said, "Don't Cry." Then he said to the dead boy, "Get up!"  The young man rose and returned to his mother.

At the time I wrote this lesson, Lance Armstrong was at the pinnacle of his cycling career.  He had overcome cancer and had won the Tour de France a record seven times.  That is a record that is not likely to ever be broken.  He was certainly a prime example of "A Miraculous Turn Around."

Even if you don't follow bicycle racing, you know what has happened since that time.  He has been accused by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency of cheating through the use of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs.  Armstrong denies cheating, but refuses to fight the charge stating that he has cleared hundreds of tests and has never tested positive for any banned substance.  He has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and has been banned from professional cycling.

To many people Lance Armstrong is still a hero, but to many he is a disgraced cheater.  I don't know which is correct, but I do know that his story teaches us that it we must avoid the worship of idols.  It has been demonstrated time and time again that the idols we worship tend to have "Feet of Clay."  (Daniel 2:31-33)

A New Direction

I don't remember when I started this Blog.  It was really just an experiment to see what it was like.  Of course the fact that it was free made that more appealing.  Not having anything creative to say, I began posting sermons that were already appearing on our Sermons4Kids web site.  I only updated it about once or twice a year!  Not much of an incentive for anyone to follow our blog.  Well, I still don't know what direction we will take, but we either need to change what we are doing or abandon ship, so if you have any ideas, let me know.  You can offer feedback through the contact page on the sermons4kids.com web site.

Social media is all the rage these days.  Sermons4Kids has a Facebook page, a Twitter page, and a YouTube page, but I'm not too sure I do much better with those than I do with this Blog.  I had a meeting last week with the College Minister at my church and enlisted his help in finding an intern. We are looking for someone with technical savvy and a heart for ministry to help us in managing our Social Media.  I pray that the Lord will send just the right person to fill that job just like he sent someone to translate our lessons into Spanish and someone to create group activities to enhance our Sermons4Kids lessons.  God is good at finding people!

Stay tuned and we will see where this Blog takes us.