My children’s message for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost (July 19, 2026).
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Bring the book Du Iz Tak?
I’m so glad you are here today and I brought with me a picture book I have in my office called “Du Iz Tak?” It’s by Carson Ellis and talks about what fantastical things might happen in our backyard. I’m going to read the story, invite you to pay attention, and then we’ll talk about it.
Read the story. Note: it has a made up language in it.
So what happened in the story? Accept answers. I’ll admit I had a bit of a hard time following along because it was in a language I didn’t know. In fact, it was in a language no one knows since the author made up. Paying attention to the words helped us sense what different characters were experiencing. But what we really needed to focus on was the images and what the characters were doing to see what happened. The words helped but focusing on the movement, the pictures, and what they showed us reveals what is really going on.
And that, I think, is a reminder that when we listen to our Bible, we should pay attention to the movement within the stories too. The Bible is full of words and very important words. Yet often these words invite us to paint a picture in our head – to use our imagination – to see what’s going on. God wants us to have and to recognize all the words – not just the important speeches – but also the setting, the movement, who is in the story, and also who isn’t. And paying attention to what happens within these words – specifically what the characters do within the story helps us get a sense of what God is inviting us to know. So in a few moments, we’re going to hear a reading from the very first book in our Bible – the book of Genius. And it’s going to talk about a vision – an experience Jacob had – of a ladder reaching up into the sky. God gave him this vision for him to better understand how God works in our world. And so while we listen to the story – pay attention to what the angels do; where they’re going; and also what Jacob doesn’t do. And when we do that, we discover we have a God who keeps showing up in our lives in ways we don’t always realize – and who comes down to us rather than focusing on us trying to chase our way up the ladder to meet God.