Jeremiah 1: Don't Say You Are Only a Child

Introduction

"Sometimes we feel too young, not ready enough, and marked by our mistakes." On Sunday, October 25, 2026, the worship service at the Chiesa Battista di Milano was prepared by the young people of the church, with the help of the pastors. The theme they chose: God's calling. Three words went with it: courage, faith, and voice.

The text of the day was Jeremiah 1:4-10, the calling of a prophet who answers God: "Behold, I don’t know how to speak, for I am a child." Several young people took turns preaching. Each one brought their own perspective, with their own words and sometimes their personal experience.

Their message comes down to one conviction: God isn't looking for perfect people, he calls young people too, and he promises to be with them. It speaks to adults as well: instead of judging the new generation, learn to listen to it.

Outline of the Message

1. To Do Great Things, You Don't Have to Be Big

The message for the children opened the reflection with a simple question: if you are thirsty, how long does it take you to drink a glass of water? Twenty seconds, maybe half an hour.
Ryan, a six-year-old Canadian boy, learns at school that in some countries children walk three or four hours a day to find water, often dirty. He asks: "Can't we do something for these children?"
He is told that a well costs 70 dollars. He does small jobs around the house for four months. Then he learns that the well actually costs 2,000 dollars. He doesn't get discouraged: "I can't do it alone, but maybe with others." The well is built.
Years later, he is welcomed with applause: thanks to this well, children have been able to go to school instead of walking to find something to drink. He could have said: "I'm just a child, I don't know how to do it, I'm afraid." He didn't.
Jeremiah did say it. And the Lord answered him: don't say that, because I will send you and I will tell you what to say. God doesn't necessarily ask you to build a well in Africa, but to go to a discouraged person or to a child playing alone. "The Lord doesn't want us perfect, the Lord wants us to start things, and he helps us."

2. Jeremiah, a Young Man Who Sees Only What He Lacks

The first young person to preach dwelt on fear. Jeremiah expresses insecurity and a kind of self-effacement: how could he, just a boy, stand against peoples and kingdoms that were already established?
What reassured him in this passage: we always see the negative side of ourselves, what we lack, what we are not, what we wish we were. God simply answers: "I am with you." In other words: you are not alone. And if God is with you, you can face any problem.
The real problem, in his view, lies in faith. Young people in particular are "adrift" amid the information that bombards them every day. They no longer find the silence and inner peace that give the drive to live and to engage with the world through knowledge and study.
It is fine to doubt yourself, but not to doubt who we are, or the love we have for ourselves, or the faith we have. If we are all made in the image of God and it is God who sends us, "why doubt? Is it our message we doubt, or God himself?"

3. God Doesn't Just Say "Believe in Yourself"

A second voice chose the verse she considered the most important: "Don’t be afraid because of them, for I am with you to rescue you" (Jeremiah 1:8), followed by the gesture of God stretching out his hand and touching the prophet's mouth (Jeremiah 1:9).
God doesn't stop at saying "you must believe in yourself, go for it." He says: "I walk with you from beginning to end." He holds your hand, he tells you not to get lost and to keep going.
Being young doesn't mean being unable to do anything. This young person shared that they often underestimate themselves when facing situations at school, in the family, or in their private life.
They then remember that a God holds them by the hand and supports them before they reach their goals, after, and "above all during." Even when it feels like we are failing right away, God is always with us and never lets go of us.

4. "You're Young, What Do You Know?"

The third speaker asked a question: why does Jeremiah say he is not capable? Probably because someone else told him so.
Everyone has heard an adult say: "In my day…", "You're young, what do you know?", "You can't say you're tired, at your age I was doing…" These phrases leave a mark. The young person ends up thinking that their experience doesn't count, since someone else did twice as much or suffered more.
The result: the next time they feel bad, they won't say so, for fear of hearing that what they feel isn't worth much. "Unfortunately, this happens in churches too."
He thanked God for the space his church gives to young people. Elsewhere, any new proposal, a different form of worship for example, quickly becomes threatening: "Yes, but it won't work. We've always done it this way."
He noticed the fear of what some call "woke" culture. For him, the innovation of young people should be seen as an update: "It's not eliminating, it's updating," while keeping the roots that were handed down, "because without them a tree doesn't grow."

5. Uproot and Plant: Making Room for the New

The end of the text speaks of uprooting, tearing down, building, and planting (Jeremiah 1:10). For the speaker, these words are very timely, as demonstrations and clashes shook Milan and several European cities that week.
He sees videos on TikTok of adults claiming that the revolts of the past were more peaceful. He disagrees: historically, that has never been the case. If these young people didn't care about the place where they live, they wouldn't have taken to the streets, they would have left.
He acknowledges mistakes and excesses, but sets a limit: "We can condemn actions, but not people." He even hears young people of his own generation call the younger ones "ill-mannered." A generation that does things differently is not a problem, it makes room for the new.
He shared an example he was given the day before: in a large open space, if a wall blocks the light, it has to come down. Not the foundations of the house, only that wall, so the light can come in.
The Bible is full of young people whom God used: Jeremiah and his prophecies, David facing Goliath while his brothers and the adults didn't believe in him (1 Samuel 17), Jesus saying that God hides these things from the wise and reveals them to little ones (Matthew 11:25), and disciples who weren't so old and who changed the world through their witness. God is able to change the world through a twelve-year-old.

6. Becoming a Safe Place for the New Generation

Instead of condemning young people, judging them, and pointing the finger at them, we need to welcome them and listen to them. The speaker made clear that this is a general message, and it applies to everyone.
Many of those who "make noise" are angry inside and have something to say. If they found a safe place, they would talk about it calmly. "So let's become that safe place ourselves."
It isn't enough to pray that God will welcome them into his grace: "Let's welcome them ourselves, in the first person, and listen to them, because there is no threat. It is all for the renewing of the mind and spirit."
A rapper extended the message with a verse and a chorus on this idea: the new generation, don't scold it.
The pastor concluded by speaking to the young people: "We believe that the Lord is working through you and will keep working through you. You are a blessing. So don't be silent, keep speaking, singing, serving Jesus, and answering so much violence with intelligence and culture." She invited everyone to see the pain of these days as labor pains: a new world is being born.

Key Takeaways

God answers Jeremiah's fear with a promise: "I am with you." You are not alone in what he asks of you.
The Lord doesn't want you perfect. He wants you to start, and he helps you along the way.
God doesn't just tell you to believe in yourself: he holds your hand before, during, and after.
Phrases that disqualify young people reduce them to silence, even in the church. Innovating means updating while keeping the roots.
Rather than judging the new generation, the church is called to become a safe place where people are listened to.

Personal Application

What sentence do you keep repeating to yourself, like Jeremiah, to say you aren't able to answer what God asks of you?
Who around you is discouraged or alone, and toward whom could you take a first step this week, without waiting to be perfect?
In what situation at school, at work, or in your family do you need to remember that God holds your hand?
If you are an adult, do you ever say "in my day…" or "what do you know?" to someone younger? How could you listen to them instead?
What "wall" in your life or in your church keeps the light from coming in, and what should be kept of the foundations?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Jeremiah say "I am a child"?

The young people who preached at this service see in it the insecurity and fear of a young man who doesn't know how to speak in front of established peoples and kingdoms. One of them adds that he probably says it because someone else told him he wouldn't be able to.

What does God answer to Jeremiah's fear?

God tells him: "Don’t say, ‘I am a child,’" then "I am with you to rescue you." He stretches out his hand, touches his mouth, and puts his words there. God doesn't just say "believe in yourself": he walks with you from beginning to end, he holds your hand, before, during, and after.

What does "uproot, tear down, build, and plant" mean for the church today?

For the third speaker, the innovation of young people is not an elimination but an update that keeps the roots. Just as you take down a wall that blocks the light in a room without touching the foundations, you tear down what no longer serves in order to make room for the new.