Grace and peace to you through Jesus Christ who has made us acceptable to God. Amen.

1 Peter 2:4-10 As you come to him, the living Stone-- rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." ⁷ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone," ⁸ and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message-- which is also what they were destined for. ⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Lord Jesus, as you have invited the children to come to you, so move parents everywhere to bring them. Let their parents teach them the truths of Christ at home and enroll them in Sunday Schools, Lutheran elementary schools, and Lutheran high schools as they have opportunity. Fill the children with the desire to learn more of you and to grow in their faith, to increase in knowledge and understanding of your Scriptures. Amen.

There are a lot of popular television that the public loves to watch. There is the whole crime scene investigation genre: CSI, CSI Miami, CSI New York, Cold Case. There is the whole Law and Order franchise. There are the gross out or Survivor or "who wants to marry me" type shows.

One of the genres that seems to be doing quite well is the makeover shows. These are the shows where they take a person or car or home and renovate it. The TV is full of these types of shows: What Not to Wear, Trading Spaces, Monster House, Monster Garage, American Hot Rod, and one of the favorites – Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

In Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the crew usually goes to a family who has fallen on very hard times. They completely tear down and rebuild their home in seven days. When everything is finished, the home is beautifully decorated and suited to the special needs of the homeowners.

I think the attraction of these shows is the pressure and the creativity and the hard work. The biggest attraction, though, is that we want to see someone or something better than it was before – new and improved and amazing!

The theme for our sermon is Extreme Makeover: Christ Edition. In the makeover shows, there are a group of experts who all work together to make something better. Today, in our Education Sunday, we will see that with Christ as our expert, we are all working together to make our church and school’s education programs better, new, improved, and amazing. Today we learn that in order to be successful in Christian education, we need to be built upon our Rock and we each need to play an active role – our Rock and role.

When constructing any type of building, you need to have a good, firm foundation. Without a firm foundation, the building will crumble. Our young people, too, need a good, firm foundation in their lives. Many of you are probably like me and think that young people today have it easy. They enjoy so many conveniences we never had. Many have cable TV in their bedroom; they have their own bedroom; their own cell phone; they are able to go out for sports and extra-curricular activities; they don’t have to grow up working on a farm. I think you would agree that young people today enjoy a lot of conveniences we never had.

You would also have to agree with me, then, that young people today are faced with more pressures and temptations than we ever faced. In 1940 the major concerns in public schools were talking, chewing gum, running in the halls, getting out of line, and missing the wastebasket. In 2005 the major concerns in public schools are rape, assault, guns, suicide, drugs and alcohol. On top of that, the media, lawmakers, and public school boards tell kids that they aren’t able to control themselves – so here are condoms so you don’t get pregnant, and you don’t have to tell your parents if you want an abortion.

Kids today also face low self-esteem, cliques, depression, the temptation to become involved in PDAs – public displays of affection. There is a lot of pressure to look and act a certain way – the girls to look like Barbie and the boys to look like Schwarzenegger.

For many kids today, their parents are just too busy for them. In one survey, only 33% of teens say that they spend more than 15 minutes talking to their parents a day. About 1/3 say adults generally don’t value their opinion.

That’s for the teens. It is probably almost as bad for our middle school children. I had a 2^nd grader tell me the other day that she needed to bring her roller blades to school to be in the "popular club." Where can all these kids go for help, for support, for strength and encouragement?

In a survey in USA magazine on Teens and Self-Image, students cited religion as the second-strongest influence in their lives, outranked only by parents, and surpassing teachers, girlfriends, boyfriends, peers, and the media. "It’s like a safe place," says Jolisha, an 18-year-old from Louisville. "It’s a hope that there’s a way to live that’s better." Jolisha should know. She’s been arrested for shoplifting and has two friends who were teen mothers. "I had to make a change in my life," she said. "You can get on bad drugs, become an alcoholic; in Kentucky, kids get killed over shoes. It’s scary." But her newfound faith has given her new hope. "I became drug-free and an A student. The key was my faith in God."

Studies show that religion is one of the most powerful influences on young people. There aren’t a lot of positive things that predict avoiding risk – not IQ, economics or location. Faith in God is one of the positive things you can add to your child’s life.

Our kids need a good, firm foundation. Jesus Christ and his Word is that foundation. As Peter says, "You come to him, the living Stone-- rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Jesus Christ is the Rock and Foundation. When our youth are feeling unloved, Jesus promises that he loved them enough to give his life for them. When they are feeling alone and afraid, Jesus promises that he is always with them in good times and bad. When they are feeling depressed and stressed and tempted, Jesus promises nothing will be able to take them away from him. When they are feeling guilty for past mistakes, Jesus promises forgiveness and holding no grudges. Jesus is exactly what our kids need.

Jesus is the reason our children speak loudly the Lord’s Prayer and make us proud. Jesus is the reason our children put crosses and empty tombs and Bible passages on our bulletin covers. On Thursday night at our Home and School meeting, while the littler children were off playing, I heard two of them singing, "These words are written that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Alleluia." They were only about 5 and 6. Jesus is the reason these children have their faith.

In talking with our school and Sunday School children, they aren’t afraid of death. One of the kids told me she didn’t cry at her great grandmother’s funeral because she was happy for her. She knew her Great Grandma wanted to go to heaven. Some of our 3^rd graders gave me handmade cards thanking me for teaching them God’s Word. I cherish those cards. Our teens look forward to hanging out together and playing ping-pong and darts in the Parish House. But they also look forward to studying and applying God’s Word to their difficult and confusing lives. Christ is turning worthless, empty lives into lives filled with love and value. He is changing sinners into his saints. He is turning little heathens into his beloved children.

Don’t shortchange your children. They need God’s Word. They need to have their faith built upon the Rock. He is the foundation for our spiritual building project at Epiphany and WLS.

Rock and role. Jesus is the Rock and now what is your role in this building project? The Bible says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Training our children – whether it is potty training, or training to ride a bike, or training how to act on a date, or training in the doctrines of the Bible can be challenging and frustrating. They can also be fulfilling and rewarding.

Training a child in the way he should go does not mean drag your child to church and Sunday School and send him to Christian camps, and then someday when he is old and decrepit, after he sows his wild oats and has had his worldly fling, he will come back to God. What this verse is saying is that when a child brought up in the faith grows to adulthood and later becomes a mature, seasoned citizen, he or she will still be a child of God.

"When he is old he will not turn from" his training doesn’t mean: "Well, my kids are baptized and they know about Jesus. I don’t have to go overboard. Go to worship? When it’s convenient or when they sing. Sunday School? Optional, especially if they already go to WLS. WLS or Shoreland? When it doesn’t cost so much. Pioneers? When soccer and basketball are over. Home teaching of the Bible? Did it when they were little. It’s like the ABCs – you never forget." If you or anyone you know thinks along those lines, consider this: Just because you let up, don’t think that Satan will let up. He’s not going to say, "Whoa, that kid’s been baptized; he’s heard about Jesus; can’t touch him; I’ll move on." Do you think our culture will cut him some slack: "Oh, you’re a Christian; we won’t talk about evolution or bombard you with alternate lifestyles or promote pornography."

You need to be active in protecting and training your children. That’s your role. Faith is the most precious treasure parents have to share with their children. Holy Scripture bears this out. "Fathers … bring up your children in the training and instruction of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4) Earthly statistics also demonstrate the need for parental involvement: If both mother and father attend church regularly – 72% of their children remain faithful in attendance. If only dad attends regularly – 55% remain faithful. If only mom attends regularly – 15% remain faithful. If neither mom nor dad attends regularly – only 6% remain faithful. This shows that God has given parents, and especially fathers a huge responsibility in raising their children in God’s Word.

However, parents aren’t the only ones who take responsibility for the spiritual growth of children. All of us, as members of this congregation, have accepted the responsibility of helping parents raise their children in God’s Word. I read recently in the Racine newspaper that it costs between $8,000 and $12,000 per student in the Racine public schools. It costs about $4200 to educate a child at WLS. That’s a bargain! Member parents only pay about $525 for tuition. That’s even more of a bargain! As members of this congregation, we believe that educating out children in the Bible, along with math and science is extremely important. That is why we subsidize our children’s education.

We are fulfilling the words of Peter. He says that Jesus is the Rock: "As you come to him, the living Stone-- you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house." Christ is the cornerstone of our church, school, and faith. We are the living stones, who derive our life from Christ. We are the bricks of God’s spiritual house, and God cements us together with the mortar of his Word.

In the old days, parochial schools like WLS were created for our members to educate their children in God’s Word. People became members of the church and then sent their children to the school. Nowadays, though, people are sending their children to our school and then hopefully joining the church. We are able to use WLS not just as a mission tool for our own children, but also for children from unchurched families – who don’t know Jesus all that well.

As we grow in size in our church and school, we add more bricks to God’s spiritual house. We become a stronger building. Through Word and Sacraments, Jesus gives our spiritual house strength, support, and stability. Each of us is a brick in this building, and we each do our part in this construction process.

Christopher Wren, who designed St. Paul’s Cathedral in London – one of the world’s most beautiful buildings – wrote about the reactions of construction workers who were asked what they were doing. Those workers who were bored and tired responded by saying, "I’m laying bricks" or "I’m carrying stones." But one worker, who was mixing cement, seemed cheerful and enthusiastic about his work. Asked what he was doing, he replied, "I’m building a magnificent cathedral."

Together we are building a magnificent, spiritual cathedral here at Epiphany and WLS. It may not be expensive. It may not be elaborate. It may not be immense. But it is beautiful, because we are the beautiful living stones built upon the beautiful living stone of Christ our cornerstone.

Christ asks for all kinds of spiritual sacrifices from you in your role of making over sinful children into God’s saints. He asks for your dollars, your time, your expertise, your sweat, your support, your prayers … your sacrifice. At times you may feel tired, overworked, and burned out. That is when you need to remember what you are doing here and whom you are doing it for. You are doing it for the Lord. You are sacrificing for the children. You are fulfilling your role in saving lost souls and bringing them into God’s kingdom. You are building something that will last – a church, a school, and faith in our children – a faith that will last for an eternity.

God has blessed us with children. By combining the blessings of God’s Word with the blessings of our children, we are doubly blessed! May God fill you with all joy as you fulfill your role of building up your children’s faith upon Christ, our Rock. Amen.

"Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Amen.