As many of you know Pastor David is teaching is an awesome part of scripture that talks a lot about planting, watering, & God giving the increase. Of course, it is no coincidence that we had planned our servant appreciation week the week of all this planting talk. It’s also no coincidence that we are praying about the possible increase of a new building. So, whether you realize it or not - there’s a whole lot of growing going on.

I say all that because last night I was blown away by the shear volume of people who attended the servant dinner. I remember coming to my first servants breakfast and sitting in the 180 room enjoying eggs and grits, but last night we had a full youth sanctuary and overflow rooms filled with people who serve the Lord here at Calvary Chapel in many ways.

Today, though, I want to focus on you all who are near and dear to my heart - my CM servants. I say “my” because each one of you is part of this amazing family and so I count you as brothers and sisters. Each week I walk around the Children’s Ministry area and I am overwhelmed with the amazing things going on in the classrooms:

- The little babies & 1 year olds are being rocked and loved on.
- 2 year olds are sitting in awe as they learn biblical truths from puppets.
- 3’s & 4’s are listening to their teachers share Bible stories and fun crafts.
- Special needs children are engaged and sharing in the Christ centered environment around them.
- Kindergarten through 5th grade are laughing and learning as they watch skits, worship the Lord, and then dig into God’s word.

All of this is going on not one, not two, but four times a week. All that is made possible because you all have given of yourselves to minister to these awesome children. I know I may be biased, but I think CM is both the hardest area of service and the most rewarding area of service. That’s because in the same class you can have a child sitting in a seat upside down while singing Barney songs at the top of his lungs but then turn the corner and get a huge hug from a child who was impacted by your teaching. What a blessing.

1 Corinthians 3:8 says, “Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.” Each of you is building on the foundation of Christ, and our physical materials are paper, whiteboards, puppets, and crayons...but our other materials include a heart of God and a love for children.

I pray that the Lord rewards you each according to your hard work. Whether you see it or not, you are storing up treasures in heaven. After all, can you imagine getting to heaven and having a line of kids come up to you to say “thank you for teaching me about Jesus...I am here because of what the Lord did through you. Thank you for serving.”