8-Year-Old Preacher: ‘God’s Got My Back’
In Matthew 19:14, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Most likely, Jesus is very proud of 8-year-old Samuel Green of Jackson, Miss., who at his tender age is bringing the kingdom of heaven to the masses. An active member of Berean Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Jackson, Green has been preaching for more than two years and has been the subject of many newspaper articles and national news broadcast segments, bringing the glory of the Lord through the media.
NBC’s Today hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb interviewed Green about the confidence he displays in the pulpit.
“I really don’t get nervous because I know God has my back,” Green said.
Green delivered his first live sermon in Birmingham, Ala., at the age of 6 in May 2011. That’s when his mother, Joann, first realized her son’s gift.
“I was very surprised—my husband and I were very surprised just to hear Samuel preach without any notes or anything,” she told Gifford and Kotb on Today.
Green’s mentor, Beverly Coleman, has worked with Green since he was just over a year old.
“He was brought to me at 13 months. By 18 months, I knew he was gifted academically,” Coleman said on Today.
Green has his own website, samuelmgreen.com, and his own local television show, The Simple Truth, which airs from 11 to 11:30 a.m. on Jackson, Miss., Comcast channel 18.
Green also is a member of the New Heights Seventh-day Adventist church choir.
Green told Gifford and Kotb that he plans to continue to deliver sermons and wants to become a pediatrician.
“I want to grow up to be a preacher and a doctor that takes care of children,” he said.
