For the past few weeks, we’ve spent a lot of time with Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and their friends—and even more importantly, with Jesus’ words in John 15.
Be Loved. Be Kind. Be You. Be Brave.
When Pastor Heather and I first answered the call to build a worship series around Toy Story, one of our hopes was simply to find a creative, intergenerational way into the good news of Jesus. But along the way, I’ve realized there is another benefit to a series like this: it gives parents, grandparents, and all the adults who love children a language for carrying these conversations home.
Because as much as we need to hear these messages as a congregation, and as much as our world desperately needs people who know they are loved, choose kindness, live authentically, and act bravely, perhaps the people with whom these messages matter most are the people over whom we have the greatest influence.
I feel incredibly fortunate that I grew up with not only loving parents, but also involved and caring grandparents. When I think back on my childhood and adolescence, I can remember countless conversations when my grandparents reinforced something my parents were already teaching me—and then I heard those same truths echoed again at church.
Childhood and adolescence are filled with messages about who we are and who we are supposed to be. Some of those messages are wonderful. Others tell us that we aren’t worthy of love, that belonging must be earned, or that we need to become someone other than ourselves to be accepted. We learn that it might be safer to be guarded—or even cruel—than to risk the vulnerability that kindness requires. We learn to measure ourselves against everyone around us.
And into all those competing messages comes the good news of Jesus:
You are loved. You are invited to love others with kindness. You can become more fully the person God created you to be. And because you are rooted in a love deeper than approval, popularity, success, or fear, you can be brave—not only for your own sake, but for the sake of others.
That is the movement we’ve been exploring in John 15. Jesus doesn’t begin by telling his friends to go out and be courageous. He begins by telling them to abide. Remain in my love. Stay connected to me. Know where you belong. Our bravery grows out of that rootedness.
So, as we wrap up our series this Sunday with Be Brave, I hope you feel a little more empowered to carry this good news into the relationships that matter most. Maybe you’re watching Toy Story with a child or grandchild and suddenly see an opening for a conversation. Maybe a kid you love is struggling with friendships, belonging, identity, disappointment, or fear. Maybe you simply notice an opportunity to say, “Do you remember what we talked about at church?”
Who knows which conversation will stick?
Maybe years from now, your child or grandchild will remember sitting beside you watching Woody and Buzz. Maybe they’ll remember you telling them that kindness takes courage, that they don’t have to become someone else to belong, or that bravery doesn’t mean being unafraid.
And maybe, underneath all of it, they’ll remember the message you kept finding ways to tell them again and again:
You are loved. You belong. And the love of Christ goes with you wherever you go—to infinity and beyond.